A quilt for Elena

 Finished this fresh, modern baby quilt yesterday with the final stage of hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt. 

Even though it takes a lot longer I think the soft look of hand-quilting is worth the extra time and a couple of sore fingers from pulling the needle through.

These random wavy lines around the border were harder than I thought. I ended up unpicking my first attempt as it looked too uniform and intentional but I'm glad I persevered because I love the end result.

This quilt was a custom order for a friends first grand-daughter. The overall design and choice of fabrics were left to me to decide as long as it was predominately blue and modern which I hope I've succeeded in. Tomorrow it will be on its way to Ireland...

Just a little bit of sewing.....

 These four cushion covers are at this moment making their way to a new home in North Carolina.  They were a custom order which as you may know I love to do as it means I get to find out a little bit about the person I'm sewing for. These covers are going to a rustic stone cabin and will bring a little spring into their owners lounge.

 The backs are just a simple envelope closure with a little of the spring flowers print added to the edges.

 

 The fronts are backed with a light layer of batting then quilted with random wavy lines in coloured embroidery threads.

 And this quilt top is what I've been working on this week. It's once again a custom order and will eventually be making its way to Ireland . I pretty much had creative license on this baby girls quilt except that it should be predominately blue and the fabrics should have a very modern vibe to them so I have included fabrics from Amy Butler and Heather Bailey who just happen to be 2 of my favourite fabric designers.

I have used a traditional patchwork pattern called 'tumbler' and I thankfully had the foresight to cut out enough blocks to make 2 quilts so one will be up for sale in my online shops. I am planning to hand-quilt this little quilt in simple swirly circles.

Journal covers in the making.....

I can't remember what my inspiration was when I started making these journal covers but I do know that I like to have pen/pencil and paper at the ready when inspiration strikes. I also know that I like to make plain, everyday items pretty and inspirational to look at. The above journal cover set was the first one I made and my good friend Darleen promptly purchased it as soon as I showed it to her so I guess that spurred me on to make more. 

Of course the best thing for me about making these journal covers or keepers is putting the fabric combinations together. Out of the 3 sets above I think my favourite would have to be the one on the right made from one of Heather Bailey's prints. I love her fresh modern retro vibe she has put into this fabric collection, the vibrant colours and the detail in the paisley motif. 

I have just added these sets to my shop this morning. The larger size fits an A5 journal and the smaller fits a A6 journal so the smaller one is perfect for on the go journalling/sketching down of ideas as they strike. The elastic bands holds everything together and the elastic pen holders ensures there is always a pen handy as well as the paper :-)

Back to my happy place......

 This past weekend I got back into my Sewing Attic aka "my happy place" :-). Not much sewing or much at all has been happening around her for a couple of weeks due to a minor operation on the arch of my foot to remove a sunspot. Although the operation itself was minor the recovery was very unexpectedly not so minor and I have had to keep walking to a minimum even resorting to getting crutches to help get myself get around more easily. (Whilst hopping around was good for working those abdominals it was hard work and crawling up and down stairs is slightly undignified.) Thankfully my girls have been very helpful, cooking, cleaning and hanging out our washing etc... plus I have good friends and neighbours that have also helped us out. I am getting around a little bit better today and the stitches come out on Wednesday so hopefully I'll be even more mobile by the end of the week as my eldest, Amelia, turns sweet 16 on Thursday :-)

For this project that I'm currently working on I have picked out some mainly turquoise/blue prints and have even cut into some favourite 'Amy Butler' and 'Heather Bailey' prints to get the right mix of prints. These colours are so me. My bedroom has various shades of aqua/turquoise and I plan to redecorate my lounge one day soon in these colours. They are so calm and restful don't you think?

What goes around comes around.......

I had the pleasure of working with some pretty fabrics from my stash last week to up-cycle this thrifted lamp for a very good friend and neighbour last week.  She has been a very supportive friend to me in these past months, and has the ability to make me smile and laugh when I need to and always comes out with the wisest of words to uplift my spirit. 

The lamp is for her daughters room who just happens to be a very good friend of my youngest daughter. For her birthday 2 years ago I made her this cushion so we used similar fabrics and colours for the shade.


The fabrics are mostly Heather Bailey because like me my friend has good taste in fabrics :-)

She painted the base white which I think makes the pretty fabrics in the shade stand out well and don't you just love that beautiful mirror hanging above the drawers.

Bedside lamp makeover...

 

Another wee makeover and a pretty dramatic one actually if only I had taken taken photos before I ripped the shade apart to show you....

but here is the old fabric which is terribly faded and stained and now I can't think why I put up with its sorry state for so long. It also used to have a blue fringing along the bottom edge the same shade as the braiding.

 

I used one of the unpicked segments as a pattern and used 4 different fabrics on the main shade in similar aqua colours. Above is a Michael Miller dot and an Amy Butler print.

 

And on this side a Heather Bailey print .

 

Some pretty ric-rac trim around the top or crown of the lamp.....

 

For the bottom edge I used some leftover bias binding and added the turquoise and green beading but when I put it back on the lamp base it just didn't look right... sort of like it had a crop top on.... so I added the white pompom trim which added the extra length it seemed to need. I was going to remove the beading once I'd added the pom-pom trim but have decided to leave it and it adds a bit of sparkle and did take quite a bit of time to sew on.

Now the base was originally a very dark brown so I gave it a couple of coats of white gloss spray paint which I must say looks way better than the drab dark brown.

Now I have never spray painted anything until this project and I learnt the hard way to always read directions when trying a new technique or product. It says on the side of the can to shake for a minute before spraying and because I didn't do this to begin with I was wondering why I wasn't getting good coverage. :-D

Farmers wife - weeks 2 & 3

 

So after promising myself that I would make 5 blocks per week I fell off the wagon at week 2 but have since been beavering away to complete 10 blocks to make up for it. I actually completed an extra one so am ahead now for next week. I'm not sure what happened on week 2 but other things seemed to get in the way of any sewing that week. It is quite a task to print out the templates, mount them on cardboard, cut them out, then decide on fabric choices, cut out fabric and sew. I wish I wasn't so indecisive when it comes to fabric choices for each block but I do tend to weigh each choice up rather than just going with my gut instinct. I'm working on that personality flaw :-)

Block 6 - Big Dipper - easy fabric choice here and easy to piece too.

 

Hmmmm this is block 7 - Birds in the air - like this block design and my fabric choices but it did not go together well at all and am sort of  embarrassed to even put it up on my blog but I'm endeavouring to keep it real here by showing it. The problem I think is my seam allowance which was less than 1/4 inch by a smidgen and of course that made all the difference when piecing those tiny triangles. I think I will have to start again with fresh fabric pieces.

 

Block 8 - Bouquet - Love this block and it went together beautifully after adjusting my seam allowance.

 

Block 9 - Box - Not sure about this block design, like it, but don't love it....

 

Block 10 - Bowtie - Easy block to put together and really like this one.

 

Block 11 - Broken dishes -  Once again went together well despite all those triangles. Thank goodness I had my seam allowance sorted.

 

Block 12 - Broken Sugar bowl - love the striped print in this block.

 

Block 13 - Buckwheat - Really love how this block turned out.

 

Block 14 - Butterfly at the crossroads - Isn't this a great name for a block!

And finally Block 15 - Buzzard's Roost - Just love the shade of green in this print, actually really love that print.

So that's what I've been working on these past few days, a farmers wife marathon of sorts :-) Like most of the North Island we have been having lots of  rain this week and more to come I think which is good as it makes me want to sew. Today I have managed to fit in a run between showers and once this post is done I will be cutting out this weeks Farmers wife blocks and some fabrics I've pulled to go with those beautiful tea-towels I posted about here. 

How's you week coming along??

Just flown in....

New additions to my stash arrived yesterday with my husband who is finally home from the US. Knowing that he'll bring back fabric for me always sweetens the deal when he goes away for a few weeks. This time he bought me a lovely fat quarter bundle of Kaffe Fassett prints and some more of Heather Bailey's 'Nicey Jane prints which are always welcome in my stash.

Here's a better photo of those bright and bold Kaffe Fassett FQ's. Looking forward to playing with these babies!

And this is what's happening in my attic this week. Yes it's taken me a while to get started on quilting this quilt but I've finally settled on a quilting plan. I found some pretty variegated thread to do some machine quilting  then I will do a little hand quilting as well having tracked down some Perle cotton in nearly all the right shades. I have 3 more quilts to quilt after this one and I'm determined to get them all done and dusted sooner rather than later. There I've said it publicly so now I have to!

Fit for a princess!

This post has been a long time coming but finally I can share some photos of  my daughter Amelia's newly decorated room. Her old room was upstairs on the top floor of our house but we decided to redecorate what  used to be our spare room and move her in there which pleased her greatly. We painted the window frames white and Amelia chose the turquoise blue wallpaper, the charcoal curtains. and the new light fittings herself. I'm really pleased with how this room turned out. It is nice and bright and perfectly stylish for a nearly 14 year old girl and she now has way more storage space than she used to.  

 She has a wardrobe with shelving which she never had in her old room and a door to slam shut if she feels the need :) In her old room she just had curtains across the entrance.

The dressing table used to be mine when I was her age and hanging next to it is the wall hanging I made her to match this quilt.

A garland of hearts made in a crazy patchwork style with scraps from the frock quilt.

She now has room and a place to display all those essential girl things.

Her cushions I made her here and here are now nicely displayed on her bed.

Above her bed is a new light fitting and her dream catcher plus you can see the pretty swirls at the ends of the new curtain rails which match the swirls in the curtains.

The wreath I made her here also hangs above her bed.

Some favourite things on her bedside table.

Her new desk with a pink Swiss ball as her chair and the memo board I made for her last Christmas. The turquoise blue in the Heather Bailey fabric used on the memo board was the inspiration for the bedrooms wall colour.

And finally this little bird house and bird has been hers since she was about 2 and now hangs above her desk. Moving into her new room also meant being able to have a good clean out and deciding what she did and didn't want to keep. A lot of stuff was thrown out or passed onto her sister but I'm so glad she wanted to keep this birdhouse which was the starting point to decorating her first room with a garden theme.

I hope you enjoyed seeing Amelia's newly decorated room. I'm still working away on my Bliss quilt top but hoping to finish it within the next 2 days!

Happy Monday!