Blog Archives

We Are Family

31/3/2022

One of the projects on my long list of Australian kits is We Are Family - although I've admired Susan Smith's patterns for a long time, this was the first time I was brave enough to tackle one of her designs! The fabrics were supplied as a starter pack and was purchased along with the pattern from Pincushion Pantiles here in the UK...

...the quilt top itself is made of with lots of pieced blocks - stars and flying geese - which I've machine pieced. To make my blocks as accurate as possible, I've used my straight stitch needle plate, a fine Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle and Aurifil 50wt thread...

...and there are also lots of applique blocks - circles and quirky animals - which I've stitched by hand using Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Bigger Circles method for the circles and the Apliquick applique methed for the animals. Although the process for the circles was quite time consuming (there are only 2 templates of each size in the Bigger Circles pack) I think the end result is well worth all the extra effort. The appliqued animals have hand embroidered faces, my favourite is definately the lion...

...I've really loved stitching all these blocks together! I spent a long time deliberating over what fabric to use for the borders and the backing, then I discovered this pretty fabric from Fabrics Glore in London. Its a wide double gauze fabric, wuth tiny little stars printed on it. It's so soft, it will be perfect for my little grandson to snuggle under. And as it's wide, I can cut the borders from the length so they don't need to be pieced, as well as using it for the backing, and will have enough left over for the binding too.

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Wicker Crib for a Special Baby

26/3/2022

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I've been busy with another secret stitching project, which was made with this pretty white cotton fabric with an ivory spot from Fabrics Galore London as I neeeded to make a lining for a very special wicker crib. which I traced around the crib to make a template. The sides of the lining were joined together, gathered along the lower edge and machined to the lining base...

the top of the liner was folded over twice, and a casing made which I could thread eastic through, to enable the liner to be easily removed for laundering...

...this crib was specially comissioned by a local craftsman 30 years ago when I was expecting my first baby. Over the years lots of friends and family members have used it for their babies too. I was so excited when my daughter announced she was expecting her first baby and even more excited when she asked if we'd still got the crib as she wanted to use it too! So a quick trip up in to the loft, a sewing session in my studio, and the crib was ready for the new arrival, which is due very soon.

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A Notebook For Charlie

24/3/2022

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I've been playing around with some fabric scraps , making a small project for a very special little boy. He chose all the colours, fabrics and the applique design himself! I'm currently making a quilt for a new arrival - the We Are Family quilt by the Australian designer Susan Smith and Charlie has been watching my progress. Charlie's favourite block was the cute dog, so I thought he might like a journal cover with the dog appliqued to the front. The words on the front of the cover were simply written onto the background fabric with a fine nibbed Micron Pigma pen, then hand embroidered using 3 strands of Cosmo stranded embroidery thread. Once the dog was appliqued onto the background fabric, I used a piece of Vlieseline H630 for the wadding, and machine quilted around the applique. Finally 2 cute buttons were added for eyes and some small green buttons were added to embellish the dog's jumper...

...the main part of the journal cover is very simply constructed, with no raw edges showing at all! The simple machine quilting has been stitched in straight rows using Metler quilting threads in a variety of shades of blue to blend with the blue batik cover. The edges of the slip pockets have been edged with a green batik as Charlie told me that was his favourite colour...

...and here's the finished cover - Charlie was absolutely thrilled to bits with it.

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Kaikoura Baby Quilt

19/3/2022

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Another secret sewing project was made with this gorgeous collection of fabrics - Kaikoura, designed by Jessica Zhao for Cotton + Steel. My eldest daughter had seen this fabric online and requested a baby quilt using this material. I tried to source the fabrics from shops here in the UK but was unsuccessful as it had been launched in 2019 and was no longer available here. Obviously being the super mummy that I am, I didn't want to disappoint her, so despite the horrendous postage costs, I had to resort to buying them online from USA. Although the postage costs really were awful, the two suppliers I used were fantaastic - Bobbie Lou Fabric Factory and Riverview Fabrics were both incredibly prompt in sending out my orders and the fabrics arrived within a week. I also needed a co-ordinating fabric for the sashing and borders, so chose this sea-blue coloured Moda Grunge fabric from my local quilt shop, Kis Quilting Ltd...

...the pattern I've used is Charm Squares Baby Quilt designed by Elizabeth Hartman and is available as a free PDF download from her website. Once the quilt was pieced together, I used some soft bamboo wadding, purchased online from Oh Sew Sweet. This was then machine quilted very simply in straight rows just half an inch apart, using the edge of the walking foot as a guide. I didn't want the quilting to be too prominent, so used an Aurifil 50wt thread in a colour which matched perfectly, and the thread has just melted away into the background, leaving a beautiful soft ribbed effect. One of my pre-printed labels, ordered from Woven Labels UK, was machine stitched in place across the corner of the quilt on the back...

...last week was my daughter's surprise baby shower, which was the perfect opportunity to give this quilt to my daughter for her under the sea themed nursery. She sent me this photograph which shows that it definately has bump-approval! And the left over fabrics? Well they haven't gone to waste, as the baby's other grandma is using them for cushions for the rocking chair that she used for her children, which will soon by in the new baby's nursery!

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Fish Friday Quilt

13/3/2022

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One of my recent secret sewing projects is this cute Fish Friday quilt, designed by the Australian designer, Susan Smith. The pattern was rather elusive to find here in the UK so I ordered the PDF download from Susan's website. I've used a few of my favourite batik fabrics for this pretty little quilt, teamed with a variegated blue King Tut quilting thread shade 907. A mixture of bamboo wadding and quilting in lots of straight rows just half an inch apart, gives this quilt a lovely soft, ribbed effect. Once the pieced background was quilted, I added a striped batik binding, which was machined to the back of the quilt, folded over, pressed and then machined in place on the front of the quilt....

...the rabbit looks very jolly in his sailing boat! I enlarged the original applique templates and made a few extra pieces for the rainbow coloured shoal of little fish which where all hand appliqued into place on top of the quilted background...

...I was really pleased with this little doll quilt which is just 15" x 18" and is perfect for keeping teddy warm and cosy, or for using in baby's pram. The teddy used for the photoshoot belonged to my eldest daughter when she was a little girl, and both the quilt and the teddy were wrapped up and given to her yesterday at her surprise baby shower, ready for her own baby which is due in a few weeks time.

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Surprise Baby Shower

12/3/2022

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I've been keeping a secret over the past few weeks - along with one of my eldedst daughter's friends, we've bene organising a surprise baby shower for her, as her baby is due at the end of the month. I wanted her to have a beautiful cake to mark this wonderful ocassion, and was abolutely overwhelmed by this gorgeous cake supplied by Maddi's Cakes and Bakes. I chose a lemon sponge along with vanilla buttercream and lemon curd filling and I have to say it tasted as good as it looked!

...my daughter's friend did an amazing job of decorating her lounge ready for the baby shower which was held this afternoon, and we all had such a super time! I really can't wait for the new arrival to make an appearance!

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Kaffeslabberas

2/3/2022

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Over the past few weeks I've been working on another project on my long list of Norwegian kits, this one is also by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa - this is called Kaffeslabberas and was bought as a kit back in 2012 from Lapp-Elisa in Sweden. The pattern suggests machine applique, however I decided to use the Apliquick method of hand applique for the coffee cups and cup cakes - using Hugs n' Kisses brand of applique paper and a Sewline gluestick. The coffee cups were a little bit tricky around the inside of the handle, although I was pleased with how they've turned out. The "cherry" on the top of the cup cake is a cute little Suffolk Puff. ..

...once the blocks were pieced together, the borders were added and the runner was machine quilted in very simple lines, using an Aurifil 40wt thread in a pale grey colour for the top and a dark brown thread in the bobbin to blend in with backing fabric. The applique shapes were then held in place with a few spots of Roxanne's Basting Glue, then hand stitched to secure them. The original pattern uses ric-rac trimming however I decided to use some vintage lace, which was hand stitched to the runner in a matching colour thread, followed by a narrow single fold binding. As well as a table runner, there were enough fabrics in the kit to make a set of matching placemats too...

...although I'd finished this project last week, this is the first chance I've had to take a photograph. Oh and the cheese scones were homemade first thing this morning, as I have got some very special friends coming round for coffee today. Another project has now been ticked off that long list of Norwegian kits, I wonder which one will be next!

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We Are Family

Wicker Crib for a Special Baby

A Notebook For Charlie

Kaikoura Baby Quilt

Fish Friday Quilt

Surprise Baby Shower

Kaffeslabberas

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