Blog Archives

Raffle Quilt

30/11/2012

This is another simple baby quilt, made with a Moda Honeybun. The fabric range is "Spring Magic" by April Cornell. Some white fabric from my stash was added for the borders and a nice bright yellow was used for the binding. The quilting was kept very simple, just Stitch-in-the-ditch using white Mettler quilting thread, then some straight rows of quilting in the borders. Again this had a little bit of stitchery added to the top and bottom border in coral coloured DMC thread that matched the colours of the fabric. This quilt was made to be raffled off a couple of years ago to raise funds for a maternity bereavement support group that I belonged to. A fundraising garden party/fete was held - "Celebrating Life Acknowledging Loss" and this quilt raised lots of money for a very good cause.

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Another Wish.....

29/11/2012

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This is another baby quilt that I madebased on the "Stacked Coins" pattern. This one was made with a fab range of fabrics called "Darla" by Tanya Whelan, and was very retro looking. As you can see, I added a little bit of stitchery to this quilt too. "We made a wish and you came true!" - and once again this stitchery quote was from the book "A Winsome Baby" by Nancy Halvorsen, and this time has been stitched with 2 strands of DMC thread. This was eventually quilted very simply "stitch-in-the-ditch" with white Mettler quilting thread, then I quilted some stright lines on the border.....

...this picture shows you the back of the quilt - this aqua floral fabric was from the same range, "Darla" and the large scale pattern suited this project perfectly. And here it is completed! This was a gift for a colleague and his wife a couple years ago, who had a baby girl called Lily. I wonder if she's still having lots of cuddles with it??

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We Made A Wish.....

28/11/2012

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I've had several emails from quilters asking about the patterns that I use for baby quilts, and this is another one of my favourites - this pattern was a free download from the McCalls Quilting website a few years ago. As you can see, I've made the quilt top with a collection baby fabrics in girly shades of pink and soft green. A mixture of flowers and spots and gingham. This was a commission for a friend a few years ago, before I even had a blog!!.....

...as you can see, I added a little bit of stitchery to this quilt too. This really does make the quilt unique, and has become my "trademark" when I'm making a baby quilt. This is one of my favourite phrases to add - "We made a wish and you came true!" - and once again this stitchery quote was from the book "A Winsome Baby" by Nancy Halvorsen, and this time has been stitched with 2 strands of DMC thread. This was eventually quilted very simply "stitch-in-the-ditch" with white Mettler quilting thread. It was finished off with white binding. All my baby quilts are machine washable, and made with cotton wadding - perfect for baby cuddles!

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Sweet Dreams Cushion

27/11/2012

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I've been busy over the past few weeks stitching gifts for friends for Christmas, and this is going to be sent off somewhere very cold!! The stitchery design is a pattern by Leanne Beasley - I had made the centre piece months and months ago, and finally got around to finishing this cushion! I had made the original centre and both inner and outer border with "Simplicity" by 3 Sisters for Moda. The back of the cushion is also made with "Simplicity" fabric and I couldn't believe it when I found this in my fabric box with a zipper already sewn in place - I just had to trim it to the correct size and bind the sides. Once the binding had been machined onto the right side of the cushion, I stitched the binding to the back of the cushion by hand. Add a label? Of course

..and finally completed, here is the cushion front. I'm really pleased with this, and I'm sure my friend will love it too - now I just have to get a few more gifts made and I'll be all ready for Christmas!!

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Yet Another Cosmetic Bag!

26/11/2012

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Yes another cosmetic bag, made with the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I had another rummage in my box of fabric, and found a piece of this lovely material decorated with dressmaker's dummies and thought it would be perfect for a cosmetic bag for a friend for Christmas. (Incase you're interested, the fabric is "Mrs Sew & Sew" by Dan Morris for RJR Fabrics, 2010) and this is to prove that the inside looks just as well finished off as the outside! I can't bear to see raw edges, it really does spoil the overall look of the bags, so the side seams are neatened with single fold binding. And I've added one of my "skinny" labels to the side seam too. I've even hand stitched the edges of the zipper. The fabric? It is Astor Manor, by 3 Sisters for Moda.....

...and the finished bag - I trimmed the lower edge under the binding with a piece of black ric-rac. I used a brown Mettler quilting thread for this project, and didn't mark any quilting lines for this - I just used my walking foot and freely quilted in a curved cross-hatch pattern.

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Orford Christmas Craft Fair

25/11/2012

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This time of year there are always lots of Christmas Craft markets in our local area, and this morning we managed to go to two!! We started off at Orford, a local town, where there was a Christmas Craft Fair in the town hall. The first person we saw as soon as we went in was my friend Jenny Cooper, who makes the most amazing cushions...

...we also saw Tracey Ranger, with a fabulous array of her knitted hats and scarves and bags, made from the wool from her flock of Wensleydales. Then it was off to Wantisden Valley to yet another Christmas Craft Fair, where there were all sorts of cakes and gifts for sale, and I was brimming with ideas on things to make for friends for Christmas!

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Cosmetic bag - Durham Anew

25/11/2012

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What do you do with this lovely Lecien fabric "Durham Anew"?? Make another cosmetic bag of course!! This cosmetic bag is based on my favourite pattern, Anna's Sminkepung, by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and although the dimensions are different to the original pattern, it is made up the same way. I had some left-over pink spotty fabric from the previous bag, and used this for the lining. here you can see that the inside is as neatly finished off as the outside. No raw edges for me! And one of my labels is sewn into the side-seam.....

...and here is the completed bag. I trimmed this with some of the lace that I bought from the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally back in October - this pink trimming goes perfectly with these fabrics!

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Cosmetic Bag - Flower Sugar

24/11/2012

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What do you do with this lovely Lecien fabric "Flower Sugar"?? Add some of this pretty pink spotty fabric?? Add some of this pretty broderie anglais?? Add some pretty lace?? And then you then make another cosmetic bag of course!! This cosmetic bag is based on my favourite pattern, Anna's Sminkepung, by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and although the dimensions of this cosmetic bag are different to the original pattern, it is made up the same way. Here you can see the lining and wading and outer fabric is quilted all-in-one. I didn't mark any quilting lines on this bag, I just used my walking foot and quilted some "free-style" lines in a cross-hatch design using white Mettler quilting thread...

..I added some lace to the edge of the binding, and used two different fabrics for this - some broderie anglais for the top binding and some pink spotty fabric for the lower binding (I used the pink spotty fabric for the binding too). Finally I added a hanging loop and a label - and it's finished!

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Between Dusk and Dawn

21/11/2012

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Well just look - I've started my Christmas shopping at the Amanda Davie Etsy shop!! "Between Dusk and Dawn" is the name for these ear-rings with sweet owl charms accented with lovely lemon yellow Czech glass accents. These are for a special girl who just loves owls - shhhhh - don't tell her! - it's going in her Christmas stocking!

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Not Much Happened - FNSI November 2012

18/11/2012

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Well not an awful lot happened on Friday evening for FNSI, as I spent ages sorting through fabric deciding what to make, and the evening had nearly ending and I still hadn't stitched anything! I just managed to make a start on this stitchery kit "Hope, Love and Friendship" by Rosalie Quinlan. I'd actually bought this kit and blogged about it a year ago!! Sorry I didn't have time to post the picture yesterday as planned, but I had friends round for some sewing and chatting - but I'll keep you up to date with my progress on this stitchery kit!!

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<<Previous

Raffle Quilt

Another Wish.....

We Made A Wish.....

Sweet Dreams Cushion

Yet Another Cosmetic Bag!

Orford Christmas Craft Fair

Cosmetic bag - Durham Anew

Cosmetic Bag - Flower Sugar

Between Dusk and Dawn

Not Much Happened - FNSI November 2012

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