Blog Archives

Love and Friendship

28/2/2022

I really enjoy making smaller projects, and this was a a particularly lovely one to make. This pattern, Love and Friendship, is by the Australian designer Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs, and was purchased from Coast & Country Crafts and Quilts here in the UK. I've used some fabrics from the Super Bloom collection by Edyta Sitar that were leftover from a quilt I made back in 2020, and a selection of Cosmo embroidery threads in colours that matched the fabrics...

...the pincushion was filled with crushed walnut shells, so as well as keeping my pins sharp, it's got a bit of weight to it so it sits nicely on my sewing table. I used a piece of wool felt for one of the sides and a small button was stitched on top of the pincushion to finish it off. The quilted zippered pouch is quite roomy and is perfect for storing lots of sewing essential bits and bobs.

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A Cushion For Nanna Dawn

20/2/2022

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Now this has been gifted, I can share what my favourite sewing student has been up to! She's made another raw edge applique cushion - this one was for her Nanna's birthday. As before, the letters were traced onto Lite Steam-A-Seam 2, which is a double-sided fusible webbing, then adhered onto the wrong side of the fabrics. The letters are then cut out exactly on the traced line, the paper backing is removed and the latters placed onto the background fabric. Pressing with a warm iron ensures they are temporarily held in place, then each letter is secured with machine stitching approx one eighth of an inch from the raw edge. A zipper has been inserted into the back of the cushion cover - my studen is a quick learner, and was able to comple all if these steps herself with very little prompting. These lessons have been great for both of us, as her enthusiasm is infectious. Now we just have to decide on what her next project will be!

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Helårspynt - A Smaller Version

8/2/2022

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Yesterday I shared a picture of a tablerunner that I'd made for my dining table. The pattern was Helårspynt, by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa and was included in a kit that I'd bought from Lappedilla back in 2011. The kit also included enough fabrics for the 2 matching cushions, however I decided to use the fabrics for a smaller version of the runner for my coffee table. I've shortened the length and the width of the runner, and scaled down the size of the appliqued flowers.

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Helårspynt

7/2/2022

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I recently shared pictures of my VERY long list of kits that I'd been collecting and my latest project was one of the kits from my Norwegian list. Ths pattern is Helårspynt, ny the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and was purchased from Lappedilla back in 2011. The instructions were quite easy to follow even though they're written in Norwegian and are well illustrated with very clear line drawings. The main pieces for the runner were pieced together, layered with Pellon H630 wadding and backing fabric, then machine quilted very simply...

...for the machine quilting, I chose threads to match the colours of the fabrics, using a mix of 50wt and 40wt threads by both Aurifil and Mettler. The next step was the hand embroidery - once the stitchery design was traced onto fabric, I used a variegated Valdani perle thread (shade P1, which was purchased from Cross Patch in Wales, here in the UK) for the very simple hand embroidery stitches...

...the "flowers" are made with layers of fabric appliqued onto the quilted background. The flowers have been secured using a very fine needle (my favourite is a Clover Black Gold needle) and a very fine thread (I've used a 60wt polyester thread in a selection of colours). As you can see in this close-up of the flowers, a very fine needle + a very thread = invisible stitches! The stems have been machine appliqued to the quilted background using a 50wt Aurifil thread in a matching colour...

...and here's the completed tablerunner, ready to use on my dining table. The kit also included enough fabrics for 2 matching cushions, however I decided to use the fabrics for a smaller version for my coffee table. I just need to complete the binding, and I'll share a picture of that one tomorrow.

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Love and Friendship

A Cushion For Nanna Dawn

Helårspynt - A Smaller Version

Helårspynt

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