Blog Archives

Foundation Piecing

15/6/2017

On Tuesday evening when I was at a local sewing group, Busybee Stitching, I had my first attempt at foundation piecing. This was a sample block for a mystery button club quilt by Lynette Anderson Designs, and rather use Lynette's fabrics for the sample, I decided to use some scraps of batiks (I love batiks and haven't used any for simply ages!). I printed the foundation pieced templates onto a sheet of Sulky Paper Solvy rather than use the actual pattern, and I was really pleased with the results, mainly due to the expert tuition of Gillian! I was so pleased with the results that I decided to use this small block in another project...

...a few more batik scraps of batiks, some wadding and thread, and I was able to make a very simple journal cover. I made the cover a bit wider so when the journal is closed the tabs on the page dividers are covered. This was just an A5 sized Pukka Pad spiral bound notebook, bought from my local supermarket...

...I think this proves that Lynette's designs are so good that they look great whatever fabrics are used! This notebook will be really useful to take with me when I'm off on my travels to Yorkshire for my annual visit to Philippa Naylor in a few months time! i'm always jotting down useful tips from Philippa and this will be the perfect notebook to use!

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Scandinavian Christmas - All Pieced Together

12/6/2017

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Here's the completed quilt top - Scandinavian Christmas. The set of patterns (designed by Lynette Anderson) were purchased at the end of last year from Patchwork Chicks, here in the UK. Lynette had sent me a bundle of fat eighths of her new festive collection "Frosty Friends" back in February, I knew straight away what I wanted to use those gorgeous fabrics for! They have been teamed up with some beautiful linen that I bought from Norway when I was there on holiday a few years ago, and it had been sitting in my fabric box, waiting for just the right project - and what could be more perfect than this one! This has been hand appliqued using applique paper and a gluestick and Apliquick tools (there is a great video on YouTube of Lynette demonstrating this method - if you're not lucky enough to see her to this "in person" then watching this video is a must)! The embroidery is also done by hand, using DMC embroidery thread, and the design was transferred using Sticky Fabri-Solvy (there is a previous blog post all about this if you scroll down). The blocks were then machine pieced together using Aurifil 50wt thread, a final press and it was ready to be delivered to the longarm quilter J-Quilts for some of her amazing freehand custom longarm quilting.

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Seaside Town - Month 3 Arrived in The Post

12/6/2017

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Month 3 "Seaside Garden" of the mystery button club Seaside Town by Lynette Anderson Designs arrived in the post a few days ago from Cross Patch in Wales. Due to other crafty commitments, I haven't finished month 1 yet! Foundation piecing is a new technique to me, so I'm going to have another look at the tutorial over on Lynette's blog. I've bought a packet of Sulky "Paper Solvy" to print the foundation templates on, and I'm going to do a trial run with some scraps of fabric before I make the actual block. I'll keep you updated with how I get on.

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Hello Blossom Pouch

11/6/2017

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My daughter is heading off on her travels, (a few months in New Zealand) and I wanted to make her a gift to take with her. It needed to be something small that would fit in her backpack, and useful too. I decided to make a small zippered pouch for her to put her electrical cables and chargers and bits and bobs in. I picked out the colours that I thought my daughter would like best of all, turquoise and teal and blue, and chose a piece of batik for the lining. As this project needs a zipper I thought this bright blue one would be just perfect! The quilting thread is a variegated one by YLI, shade V76 (Kyoto Garden). I'd bought several spools of YLI variegated thread a few years ago, (before I discovered Aurifil thread)!! and I'd forgotten all about them until I was sorting out boxes of goodies for my sewing room. These threads had been packed away for far too long! I used a blue Mettler quilting thread in the bobbin, YLI in the top, and quilted this very simply...

...and here is the finished pouch! These fabrics are a selection from the "Hello Blossom" collection by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley - Leanne very kindly sent these to me last year (thanks Teresa for being the courier)! The pattern is Anna's Sminkepung, by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I have made so many of these small bags I could probably sew them with my eyes shut! Alice was really pleased with it, and she's also taking the cosmetic bag that I made for her 21st birthday too - it's so lovely to make things for my family and friends and know that they get pleasure out of using them.

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Hello Blossom

11/6/2017

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Last year Leanne Beasley very kindly sent me a gorgeous bundle of fabrics to play with - "Hello Blossom" - and they've been sitting in my fabric box while I've been trying to decide what to make with them. So today they're on my cutting table, getting ready to be turned into a small project for my daughter who is off on her travels to New Zealand tomorrow. Her favourite colours are turquoise and teal and blue - I'm sure I can find some of those colours here!

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Scandinavian Christmas - Snowflakes & Hearts Border

10/6/2017

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...I used an assortment of linen, and fabrics by Lynette Anderson Designs for the background blocks for the applique. I love the scrappy look of using an assortment of fabrics for this project. I've recently started using Aurifil 80wt thread for hand applique and it really is perfect - teamed up with a Clover Black Gold applique needle, you can hardly see the stitches! The blocks were machine pieced together using Audidfil 50wt thread in a mid-grey shade (my favourite colour for piecing!) and you can see how I've machined along the outer edge of the border str

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Scandinavian Christmas - It's Santa

7/6/2017

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The fourth and final block is completed! This is "It's Santa" and is from the "Scandinavian Christmas" quilt pattern by Lynette Anderson Designs. These gorgeous fabrics are from Lynette's latest festive collection, "Frosty Friends" and they are absolutely beautiful to sew with. I've used a piece of linen that I bought from Norway a few years ago, and these fabrics really work well with it. Those cute churn dash blocks were all pieced together a few weeks ago. I bought this set of patterns just after Christmas from Patchwork Chicks, here in the UK - there is a also a list of stockists on Lynette's website, and the patterns are also available from her online shop, Little Quilt Store.

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Scandinavian Christmas - Angel House

3/6/2017

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Block 3 "Angel House" - this pattern is "Scandinavian Christmas" by Lynette Anderson Designs ...made with some Norwegian linen and a selection of Lynette's festive fabrics from her latest collection "Frosty Friends" which is absolutely gorgeous! This block has been machine pieced with Aurifil 50wt thread, hand embroidered using DMC threads, and hand appliqued using the applique paper and glue stick method with apliquick tools.