I've been playing around with a selection of white and cream fabrics, and lace trimmings, and printing vintage pictures onto fabric (I always use EQ printable sheets that I buy from my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven). I made a scrappy log cabin block and added more fabric in random shapes and sizes until I had a piece that was approx 18" square. Once I was happy with the layout, it was layered onto a piece of muslin with some wadding inbetween (I used an off-cut of Quilters dream cotton wadding, select weight that was left over from another project) and spray basted the layers together using 505 spray. I quilted the layers together, and free motion quilted a large angular spiral on the log cabin block... ...once the quilting was completed, I machine appliqued the vintage picture into place, and stitched a few vintage buttons randomly. 3 rows of lace trimming were finally added. The front and back of the cushion were layered up, and the binding was added... ...I used 2 fabrics for the back of the cushion (I think this adds a bit of interest to the back, and like things that I make to look pretty on the back as well the front!) and used a concealed zipper as the closure. This looks really neat, and had a small label sewn into the side seam too... ...and here's the finished cushion. A plump feather cushion is used to fill this out. It was time for a quick photoshoot this morning, as it was raining when I finished this yesterday, then it needs to wrapped up for my baby sister who has a birthday coming up!
2 Comments
Here's the same pattern AGAIN - "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I've got a HUGE box full of lace trimmings, and love mixing them with vintage fabrics and photographs of rather saucy ladies. (These were printed onto a sheet of EQ printables that I'd bought from my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven). The picture was appliqued onto the front of the bag. Some lace trimming was used to embellish this one.
Last year my friend Lynette's son Eddie married his beautiful bride, Emma. I had started a very special gift for them soon after the wedding, using one of their wedding photographs, then I was distracted by other projects, until finally a few weeks ago it was completed. Initially a selection of vintage fabrics, lace and buttons were collected together. I'd printed the photograph onto an EQ printable fabric sheet (I buy packets of these from Quilters Haven). This project was quilted very simply with lots of straight rows using the quilt-as-you-go method. Some cream lace was added, and some vintage buttons from my button tin were used to embellish it... ...the back was made with some sepia-toned fabric depicting vintage ladies in their lingerie and also some fabric that had once been a Laura Ashley duvet cover (I'd had this as a wedding present many years ago and although it had seen better days, I was still able to put it to good use). A zipper is hidden under the flap, and one of my labels was added to the side seam before the binding was stitched into place... ...and here is the finished project - this was posted out to Emma a couple of weeks ago, and arrived safely in Australia in time for their 1st wedding anniversary.
Well I don't normally do 2 posts in one day, especially at the weekend, but as I'd spent the afternoon busy sewing yet another bag, I thought I'd share it now! I used some lace and vintage buttons and a suspender and a rather saucy ohhh-la-la picture printed onto an EQ printable fabric sheet that I appliqued onto the front panel of another toiletry bag. Again, this is based on the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa... ...these ones are a bit larger, so can be used as a toiletry bag - it would hold several small bottles of all the essentials you'd need for a weekend away or a holiday, and is washable too so it doesn't matter if anything gets spilled inside it.
One of my friends, Sue, asked me if I could do a commission for her. Sue's daughter is getting married today, and Sue wanted a matching toiletry bag and cosmetic bag to give to her daughter to take away on her honeymoon. I can remember Lizzie when she was a little girl, running around when her dad used to play cricket against Mr F's team, many many years ago before I had my own girls (gosh that seems like another life!!) Sue said the wedding colours were purple and cream, with a little bit of green. Well, of course it just HAS to be Lecien fabrics, and of course it HAS to be an AnnAKa pattern! The cosmetic bag is based on the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung", and is available from Lappedilla and Lapp-Elisa. I had some gorgeous velvet ribbon trimmed lace, in green and purple, that went perfectly with these fabrics. (This lace is from Little A Designs)..... .....once the cosmetic bag was completed, it was time to get started on the toiletry bag. "Toalettveske" designed by Elin R Roland was my choice for this - I used the same fabrics that I'd used for the cosmetic bag, (I really do love these Leciens!) and added a strip of cream swirl fabric too. There are pockets inside the bag, to keep smaller bits and bobs in, and the long zipper ensures the toiletry bag can be opened fully..... .....and I embellished the cream strip of fabric with some vintage buttons, these colours matched the fabric perfectly! The toiletry bag was decorated with different lace trimmings so that both the front and the back will look slightly different. The ties keep everything neat and tidy at the sides, and finally one of my labels is stitched into the side seam..... .....I delivered this to Lizzie's mum a few days ago, and she thought Lizzie would love it! Well she's getting married later today, at 1pm, so does that means this will be packed in her case ready for her honeymoon? - I do hope so!
My husband's brother and his wife are celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary today, and so I've been rather busy making their present. I borrowed one of their wedding photographs from my mother-in-law, which I then copied onto an EQ printable fabric sheet, and gathered together a collection of fabrics and lace and buttons and set about making it... ...I made the cushion using the quilt-as-you-go method, and added an assortment of buttons - some of these were the ones my mother-in-law gave me, and then decorated the cushion with some lace fabric and lace trimming too... ...it always looks "sew" much better once it's filled with a nice plump cushion pad! I normally use feather ones, but this one is foam, and does the job just as well... ...then I inserted a covered zipper on the back and added one of my labels too. I then machined the binding into place, and hand finished this on the back. Then it was time for the photo shoot out in the garden. Happy Ruby Wedding Anniversary Stephen and Betty!!
One of my colleagues had a VERY special birthday last week. Judy is a lovely friend, and she has been a great mentor at work - I really couldn't have asked to work with anyone nicer. I wanted to make her a special gift - so I set too with some fabrics and buttons and lace, and printed off a retro picture (I used a piece of EQ printables - these are really great for printing off pictures - they don't distort, and are lovely to sew with too) - I thought this picture would be perfect to have on a bag to keep all your beauty bits and bobs in..... .....anyway, I made up a rectangle using some other fabrics and a quilt-as-you-go method, then embellished it with some vintage buttons and lace. This was based on a pattern called "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. Well now I've just got to get this wrapped up, as Judy is coming round for afternoon tea today - as I'm still off work recovering, I haven't seen her to give her this earlier - hope she doesn't mind it being a bit late!
It's Tuesday again and so it must be "Sew Cute Tuesday "- hosted on the Better Off Thread blog, you'll find lots of gorgeous crafty stuff - and each week Janice features her favourites from the previous week - and I'm really excited, as this week Janice has featured my "Sew Laugh Love" picture that I had completed!! Anyway, this week I'm adding a picture of the Memory Cushion that I made at the weekend - there are other pictures on my blog here that show this cushion in progress! Now I'm going to grab a cuppa and browse at all the other lovely "Sew Cute Tuesday" goodies - why don't you join me?
Last year I made a very special cushion for a very special friend, using a picture of her with her mum, who had sadly passed away earlier that year. I never really appreciated how much Fran liked it, until she asked me if I could make another one, using a picture of her with her mum, for her aunty Margaret's birthday..... .....Fran emailed me a picture of her with her mum, which I then formatted into gray scale ready for printing onto a sheet of EQ printables fabric. I gathered together a collection of cream and white fabric, and some lace and sketched out some design ideas, and set about making it up. I quilted the whole of the cushion in a mixture of straight rows, and angular spirals..... .....I had a good old rummage in my button tin, looking for an assortment of old buttons that would compliment the fabrics that I'd used. I made a covered zipper backing, using a soft grey floral fabric. I also used a piece of this fabric with some white and creams for the scrappy binding too. And then one of my labels was added to the back for the final flourish. The binding was stitched in place by hand. Well Fran was really pleased with this, when she collected it yesterday, and I hope her aunty Margaret is too!!
I am SUCH a lucky girl!! A few days ago, a friend of my mother-in-law gave her a bag of buttons for me, as she had heard that I like using them on some of my projects. Well just look at these little beauties - I was like a child in a sweetie shop ooohing and aaahing over these! Some of these are really just GORGEOUS! I can't wait to get started on a new project and use some of them!
|
About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! Archives
July 2023
Blogs I followUK shopsThese are the UK shops that I use to purchase my quilting supplies - fabrics and threads etc.
Australian linksScandinavian links |