Blog Archives

Tour de Fibre

30/6/2013

For a few years now, I have followed the blogs of 2 Norwegian quilters, Hanne and May Britt. For the last 3 or 4 years, they have a "Tour de Fibre" in the summer, where they stitch and sew and quilt and knit and generally catch up with unfinished craft projects. They invited me to join them, and this sounded like a great idea while I am convalescing! Although I am still very tired following recent surgery, and finding it difficult to concentrate on bigger projects, I decided to do a little bit of hand sewing to pass away the time! This kit has been in my stash for ages - it is called "Sew Laugh Love" and is by Leanne Beasley. I took it with me on a cruise to Norway last year, but didn't do very much - so yesterday I made a start on picking up where I left off. I'll give you plenty of updates on how I'm progressing - and hopefully by the time this project is finished, I'll be ready to tackle some bigger projects with my sewing machine! Oh and here is a peek of my progress so far this morning - stitching and eating breakfast in the sunshine!!

7 Comments

Fabric Therapy!!

29/6/2013

4 Comments

I've recently been in hospital for an operation, and as a "Get Well Soon" gift to myself, I'd ordered some fabric from Sew and So's at Bungay. It arrived on the day I came out of hospital, and when I opened the parcel look what was inside!! There are a selection of beautiful Lecien prints, which I will really enjoy using. Looking at these has helped me forget how sore and tired I am!! As soon as I've recovered enough to concentrate on sewing, I will put these to good use.

4 Comments

Velkommen Til Norway 2

28/6/2013

0 Comments

There is a lot going on over at my local quilt shop Quilter's Haven, today and tomorrow. Karin, the owner, (whose parents are Norwegian) is hosting another "Norway Days" - and the shop will be decorated with some of my Norwegian bags and runners, so if you're in the area do call in and have a look! Karin will be serving coffee and waffles, and Lucy the rep from Hurtigruten will be on hand to describe the epic voyage this ship takes along the Norwegian coast. I've been lucky enough to go on a few holidays to Norway but have never made the voyage on the Hurtigruten - oh well, maybe one day!!

0 Comments

Missing In Action - Again!!

26/6/2013

0 Comments

Well I'm afraid I'm going to be missing in action for a while as I'm going into hospital today for an operation. Yes, I know, I said all this 2 weeks ago - and unfortunately my surgery was cancelled at the last minute, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes ahead as planned today. Hopefully I'll only be in for a few days. My bag is all packed - actually I didn't bother to unpack it when I came home the last time! My "Wallander" books will keep me company, as I'll probably be bored stiff - I'm really not used to sitting around all day! Anyway, I'll soon be back, and I'll be busy making lots of crafty stuff while I'm recuperating!

0 Comments

Sew Cute Tuesday 25.06.2013

25/6/2013

0 Comments

Yes it's Tuesday again - and if you head over to the Better Off Thread blog, you can see lots of crafty goodies on show for Sew Cute Tuesday - I've linked all my projects from the last week - guitar straps, a journal cover AND a tote bag - goodness I have been busy!!

0 Comments

Purple Batiks and a Norwegian Pattern

25/6/2013

2 Comments

As most of my blog followers know, I love using Norwegian patterns, I love making bags and I love batiks - so what better combination to make a special gift!! These batiks have been in my stash for WAY too long and they were just perfect for the project that I had in mind. I used one of my favourite patterns "Mathilde's Sommerveske" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and set to work.....

.....inside it has a zipper pocket and a slip pocket too (I used a tutorial from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for this pocket panel - I make all my bag linings like this now). And there is a tab for keys to clip onto, and finished it off with one of my labels stitched into the side seam of the lining.....

.....this bag is quite roomy, and also has two pockets on the front with a flap - I have sewn magnetic fasteners to these, to keep the contents secure.....

.....the handles are made with a variety of the batiks for a scrappy look, and are a bit longer so this tote bag can be worn over your shoulder. This one is for my mum for her birthday next week so please don't tell her and spoil the surprise!

2 Comments

Quilt Labels

24/6/2013

1 Comment

I often get asked where I get my printed labels from that I use to decorate my bags and runners and quilts - and I always use a firm called Woven Labels UK. The quality of these sew-in labels is excellent (I've never tried the iron-on ones although I have ordered some today, ready to try on my latest projects!!) and the delivery service is very prompt. However, sometimes I want to do something just a little bit more special, and here are a few of my favourites for you to look at.....

.....the quilt below is one that I made a few years ago, the pattern is called "Ruth's Quilt" and is in a book by Leanne Beasley called "Living the Dream". This was made with 16 fat quarters, and the fabric is from the "Simplicity" range by 3 Sisters, for Moda. Leanne's book contains an alphabet, so I have often used that to help me with the lettering on quilts, as it is very similar in style to my own handwriting. I use a pale brown pigma pen to trace the words - although you do need a very steady hand as they are made with permanent ink - and sew with 2 strands of DMC embroidery thread.....

.....this next quilt is one that I made a few years ago for a friend's baby, (this made using a very old McCalls quilt pattern that I downloaded from their website - I don't know if it's still available, sorry!) and I just used the words "stitched with love" and then stitched a needle and thread - again this stitchery design is from Leanne's book.....

.....this was a quilt that I made for a book by Karin Hellaby, called "Sew Simple Logs" and stitched a "label" on the backing fabric, depicting who made it and when! There is no chance of this "label" being removed!.....

.....this one is a very simple quilt made with 3 packs of charm squares of "Shangri-La", another range of fabric by 3 Sisters, for Moda - you can see there is a theme going on here!! This one was made a little bit special with some added stitchery in a few of the plainer squares - this picture shows the "label".....

.....and finally, another quilt designed by Leanne Beasley incorporating stitchery. This one is called "Butterfly Garden" and one of the blocks was designed to be the label. These could be used to make individual labels to applique onto the back of a quilt for something really unique.

1 Comment

Bright Batik Quiltystuff

20/6/2013

2 Comments

I chose this beautiful bright batik for my latest sewing project - it has nearly every colour of the rainbow!! I decided to pick a plain colour thread rather than a variegated one, and used a deep blue Mettler quilting thread, shade 0790. The tutorial is by One Shabby Chick, and really simple to make. I've made scrappy ones before, and you can find them here and here - this was the first time I'd used the same fabric for the whole strap, and I'm really pleased with it. As usual I've used an Ernie Ball nylon guitar strap and removed the leather ends and slider to make a unique strap for a guitar-loving friend's birthday.

2 Comments

Shades of Grey

19/6/2013

1 Comment

No, it's got nothing to do with THAT book - I needed to make a special gift for a friend's birthday, and was drawn to these masculine-looking batiks, as I had the perfect project in mind. I had previously used a great tutorial by "One Shabby Chick" and made a guitar strap as a Christmas gift, and decided to make another one for my friend's birthday.....

.....I sewed lots of straight-row quilting, 0.25" apart on this strap. The edge of the walking foot makes an excellent guide! I used a variegated King Tut quilting thread, shade 902, which blends beautifully with these grey batiks. I had already bought a plain nylon Ernie Ball guitar strap, so just removed the hard wear and attached it to the batik quilted strip. Finally it was adorned with one of my "Quiltystuff" labels.....

.....then the second part of the gift. Using left-over scraps of fabric is ideal for making this journal cover. A selection of grey batik scraps was put to good use, along with an A5 journal from my local supermarket! This was quilted very simply, with lots of straight-row quilting 0.5" apart. I even managed to stitch one of my "Quiltystuff" labels inside the lining. The birthday boy can use this journal to jot down any musical thoughts and ramblings!! Better hurry now and get these wrapped up, ready for the birthday boy.

1 Comment

Sedona

19/6/2013

0 Comments

Oh I know - more retail therapy - how very naughty!! But who could resist these Sedona earrings by Amanda Davie? Sweet brass accents show of the lovely stack of tiny turquoise heishi beads. Amanda has sandwiched a tiny black Czech glass bead between the turquoise for an interesting textural element. I prefer lever backs on earrings as they feel much more secure, and Amanda replaces these on request for no extra charge. What super service is that! Oh now won't these look lovely when they're dangling from my ear lobes - now hurry up Mr Postman hehe!! ;)

0 Comments

<<Previous

Tour de Fibre

Fabric Therapy!!

Velkommen Til Norway 2

Missing In Action - Again!!

Sew Cute Tuesday 25.06.2013

Purple Batiks and a Norwegian Pattern

Quilt Labels

Bright Batik Quiltystuff

Shades of Grey

Sedona

About me...

Archives

Blogs I follow

UK shops

Australian links

Scandinavian links