Amelia's quilt....

 My eldest daughter Amelia turned 18 last month and since it's been a few years since I've made a quilt for her I decided an 18th birthday was special enough to make her one. This year has been a big year for both her and I as she moved out of home and into a Halls of residence in Wellington. She is doing a Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria University majoring in Film and Theatre. It was so very hard to leave her in Wellington once I had helped move her in but it has been so very rewarding to see her grow and mature into an independent young adult. She loves her new life down in Wellington as a student and loves what she is studying. She has a sign on her bedroom door at home that reads "Sorry out living the dream" and that is exactly what she is doing. I am so very proud of who she is becoming and what she is achieving so far. I can remember when she was just a few weeks old, pushing her along the road and commenting to someone who had stopped to admire her that I couldn't wait to see what and who she was going to grow into. I was eager to see the future her but also enjoying that first time motherhood period. 

When we were choosing items for her new room she had a definite colour scheme in mind of tuquiose, aqua, green. Once all her room was dressed with all her new things it looked fresh and modern which helped me choose a fresh, simple and modern quilt design. It had to be fairly simple as I didn't leave myself much time to complete it.

 All of the prints are from my stash of fabrics so the only purchase was some more solid grey print and the aqua and white spot for the backing.

I gave myself added pressure by being determined to hand-quilt it but I just love the look of a hand-quilted quilt.

 It should keep her nice and warm in Wellington's slightly cooler temperatures with it's inner layer of wool/polyester batting.

And of course a quilt isn't complete without a label. "Inez and James" is my new Etsy shop.

The Sewing Attic - a little tour...

 I've just had a bit of a tidy up and re-arrange in my 'sewing attic' mainly due to finally putting my old sewing machine into semi-retirement and replacing it with my new to me Janome. I had come home early from a school Cross country trip with Caitlin and had an hour or so to spare and thought I would spend it wisely swapping my machines around but ending up having quite a tidy/clean-up. You know how once you get started tidying up one area it sort of leads on to another area and before you know it 2 hours has gone by. Anyway it also occurred to methat this would be a good time to take photo's to share on my blog. I always find it fascinating having a peek into the studios/creative spaces/sewing rooms of fellow crafters so I hope you enjoy this little tour!

Here is my new machine surrounded by my favourite things ie; favourite hand cream, pretty box of tissues (at the back), mini red drawers filled with machine needles etc.. Above and to the right-hand side is a wire recipe holder that my Grandmother made and which I now use for holding pattern instructions.

My sewing space is on the top floor of our home which is an 'A' frame house therefore making the top floor like an attic space with its sloping walls. The downside of it is that it is not as big as I would ultimately like and the lighting is not so great but I love having a space that's totally dedicated to what I love to do. Also when I'm sitting at my machine I can look over the railing and down into our lounge or out our big lounge windows. The view from these windows looks out over Whangamata and out to the ocean beyond plus I can be nosey and see who's driving up our street or my girls walking home from school. And because it's on the same floor as Caitlin's and what used to be Amelia's rooms I've never felt shut away from what the rest of the family is doing. I am also proud to say that my machine still sits on a sewing desk/table that I made years ago when I bought my first machine. It has 2 large cubby holes or shelves on each side that store books, magazines, scissors and all those things that need to be handy.

 Behind my sewing machine I have a set of wire shelves holding patterns and other various sewing/crafting needs. On an old trunk sits my wooden sewing box and a few baskets filled with my latest fabric purchases. Having some fabric especially newer fabric on display keeps me inspired :)

The bigger baskets hold larger pieces of different types of fabric and the red vintage vanity case has small scraps of girly fabrics that I can't quite throw away.

To the left of my sewing machine is a wooden box full spools of thread with an old fashioned styled lady pincushion sitting on top that my Mum made years ago. Under the cover is my Janome overlocker bought from my dressmaker neighbour. This part of my sewing table also serves as a small ironing/pressing space which is why I have an old towel on it.

 At the end of the sewing table is a collection of some of my quilts and items either finished and waiting for new owners or works in progress. At the moment that would be 3 quilt tops!

Underneath that happy pile of quilts and things is this lovely trunk that came (along with the other trunk in a previous photo) across from Ireland with my Great Grandparents. 

And ah yes this where I store the rest of my fabric stash. While it's not immediately accessible due to having to haul all those quilts and things off to get inside it, it is a nice safe way to store fabric.

And just around the corner on the other side of the trunk is this little display of cushions and Caitlin's Zig-zag quilt. And of course in that picnic basket is more fabric....my collection of Batik fabrics.

 So technically we are out of my sewing area now but I thought I'd share this photo of vintage suitcases. The bottom 2 were rescued from my parents garage and I can remember them being used on holidays when I was young along with that red vintage vanity case. The smaller blue one is an old school suitcase that I used at primary school and the top one was my kindergarten case which I think my brothers used before me.

This space is to the left of my sewing space and is a little mini library/reading area for the girls. It's a lovely place to sit and do some hand sewing or to just read of course because it gets the afternoon sun which is especially nice on a cool winters day. Out the window the view (beyond the neighbours house) looks towards the bush clad hills that surround our town. This space is also a favourite place for our feline friends to snooze in as well. The little red chairs used to be the girls when they were smaller but now make great cat beds. 

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this rather long post! 

I really hope you enjoyed seeing where I create! As I said at the beginning I love looking at other peoples creative spaces so if you would like to share your creative space on your blog let me know(in the comments) and perhaps I can compile a list here on my blog for us all to look at :)

Have a great weekend!!

I've been making..........

....little handmade buttons from Michelle's tutorial except instead of a ribbon shank I made a loop with the embroidery threads then stitched over the loop with a blanket stitch.

The buttons were made for these bright and fresh cushions that were inspired by the cushion I made for Deb here. I had some left over half square triangles which I added to, then played around with some designs and ended up with 2 cushions.

A zig-zag design....

and this one with alternate colours. They are both simply machine quilted with straight lines echoing the patchwork design.

I used up some scraps for the backs which I like as the fronts.

Although I'm sure I could find a place for them in my home they are up for sale in my etsy shop here.

The Zigzag revealed!

I'm really pleased with how this quilt has turned out and Caitlin loves it too. It's a throw size and because its machine quilted and far from perfect I am not as precious about it as I am with her other hand quilted one. As I was finishing the quilting on it I decided that I was going to use up the leftover squares and do prairie points instead of the usual binding. I have always wanted to put prairie points on a quilt and I think this quilt really lends itself to them. They were quite easy to do except that on the long sides the quilting goes all the way to the edges so I had to undo 1/2 an inch of those lines and re-sew them once I'd completed hand sewn the backing around the edge. No drama really just took longer than I'd anticipated. Next time I won't quilt all the way to the edge if I'm putting on prairie points. I thought in a later post I could do a tutorial on 'prairie points' so you don't have to go searching through books and magazines like I did to find out how to do them.

With the quilting I just followed the zigzag pattern and did 5 lines along each 'zigzag' and then an extra zigzag between every 2nd pieced zigzag which created the intersecting lines . I had no problems with puckering on the back only a little on the front which I can put up with. I can thoroughly recommend the use of basting spray although I also pinned it just to be on the safe side.

I love the back as much as the front!! I used up some leftover 1/2 square triangles for a strip down the centre which I think goes really well with those prairie points. I also love the main backing fabric because it reminds me of a drawing set called 'Spirograph' that I had as a child and still have.

A little bit of machine quilting

I have finally started to machine quilt the zigzag quilt. I'm just making it up as I go along. I got it basted last night using basting spray for the first time and also used safety pins to make sure the layers stayed together whilst quilting as I have had trouble in the past with puckering on the back but so far it all looks good. I'm hoping to get a lot done tomorrow as I have no work (hopefully as they often ring up at the last minute wanting me to come in) Not really complaining as its good to have that extra money but how's a girl meant to get any sewing done around here.

Zigzag quilt top!

Drum roll please................ The top is complete and I'm pretty pleased with it . So is Caitlin ! I'm not sure whether to put a border around. I'm kinda liking it as it and I want to break out of doing borders for all my quilts. It's bright, sunny, cheery and fun. This quilt contains 3 vintage fabrics that I got from my Auntie. I would say they are from the early seventies or late sixties. Oh and at the top right hand corner you can see Caitlin's cats tail which is kind of appropriate.

Now I have two quilt tops to quilt which is a first for me as I usually don't start another quilt till I'm finished the quilt I'm working on completely.

Zigzags!

I've been able to find just small pockets of sewing time this week. The zigzag quilt is coming along nicely though. Three rows are done, five to go.

You naughty kittens, you lost your mittens!

A picture of innocence? Butter wouldn't melt in our mouths? Mmmmm...... Went downstairs last night to do some stuff and I could hear these two little tornado's running around the lounge chasing each other. I thought it sounded funny at the time but I'd forgotten about the half-square triangles I had laid out on the floor. I had left them there to take photo a later on.

This is what I found..... They must of had lots of fun slipping and sliding on these around the room! Did manage a bit of sewing today and have made a start on getting the zigzag quilt top together.

Zig Zag quilt along

This is the layout of my zig zag quilt so far. It's a bit hard to imagine the zig zags. I have omitted 3 or 4 fabrics because I just didn't need them and also they were too beautiful to cut. I will use them in another quilt that shows them off a bit more. I'm quite liking it so far though. I'm keen to go to the next step. Check out the other quilts using the Old Red barn quilt along button on the left side bar.

Playing with fabrics.

I decided to join the Old Red Barn Co second quilt a long. We are making a zig-zag quilt using half square triangles which sounds easy enough. Spent a good hour playing with my stash trying to get the right fabric combinations. I think I've got it right now give or take one or two. Have decided that this one is for Caitlin as it has a few butterflies, ladybirds and caterpillars on some of the fabrics and she is that kind of girl.

I also came up with this group of fabrics which could also make a lovely quilt using half square triangles. It includes some Amy Butler , Heather Bailey and Kaffe Fassett prints plus two beautiful butterfly prints. What a dilemma! Should I make 3 quilts. ( I'm already working on one quilt for Amelia). What do you think?

Batik Cushions

These blocks are going to be cushions to go on my parents sofa. Mum and I go to the Hamilton Craft show every year and 2 years ago she picked out 5 fabrics to be made into cushions. Yes its taken a while for me to get around to it. Sorry Mum! We did have visions of my eldest daughter making a couple but that just hasn't happened. I'm still working on her, maybe encouraging her might be a better word to use. The top 2 blocks are based on Amy Butlers Daisy Chain

Strippy Quilt. The zig-zag blocks are based on a tutorial from this blog A quilt is nice. I am still working on some log cabin blocks. I added some more batik fabrics from my stash which I purchased in Bali a few years ago. Found a whole row of fabric shops near a large market place in Denpasar and I was in heaven!