The one with fabrics in...

Even the packaging was awesome!

Oh my days - what a fabric feast I am having!!  My package from The Village Haberdashery arrived this morning and I squealed with excitement - the poor postman made a hasty retreat!!  I couldn't resist opening it just to PEAK inside and can you believe it I actually waited until I got home for lunch to spread the contents out and drool!!  Such self constraint, yes?  Even the packaging it arrived in was yummy (can they make that into a fabric??!!). Here are some photos of the pure fantastic-ness that I now have in to play with all weekend.

A {few} Kona solids, some thread and some fun bird fabric.



Oh yes - some Ruby Star typewriters!

And here is the whole lot in a yummy-scrummy stack.  Lucky me!

Wellllll...which ones should I use first?  I might just keep re-arranging them over and over again and admiring them!  Once I've had enough of that I think I will work on my first solids block.

On Sunday I'll be checking out The Stitch & Craft Show in London.  There will be a display of some of the quilts that have been made for the Olympians who will be participating in the London games this summer.  I can't wait to see these and get some ideas and inspiration. 

So, I will catch you later - I'm off to admire my new fabrics [thanks again Annie]!
P.S. Tomorrow is National Quilt Day!!  How will you celebrate it?

WIP Wednesday, again!

Can you believe it is Wednesday again?  I feel as though I had a good sewing week.  Though I didn't finish anything per se, I did make some noticeable and noteworthy progress on a few projects!

Recap:  I managed to sew extra Mod blocks to make the quilt bigger, I sewed all the small sashing bits onto the blocks (see picture) and I will attach the long sashing momentarily.  I resolved my dilemma and did a test run of what the name badge will look like for my (secret) recipient of the name badge swap for the Fat Quarterly Retreat.  I can't share it with you yet - but soon!!  Also, I have decided on what I will make for the sample swap for the FQ retreat as well.  Plan A has been hatched (also a secret, for now).  I have to make four of the same thing to exchange at the retreat with a mystery partner.  How cool is that!!??  And daunting... Quilt Dad is in the group. 

I am sooo close to being done...

I also got the grass cut, chopped a thorny thing down, pruned a whispy thing, and tidied up a hedge in the garden - so I got a few WIP's crossed off in the 'garden' department too!  The weather was so nice that I couldn't help myself.

Pottery class update - I shall add a comment here when I return later tonight!!  Fingers crossed my large smooth coil pot turned out...  I always go to class with a small amount of anxiety and trepidation, wondering what I will find. 

And best of all, I did some shopping which also crossed a couple of things off one of my lists!  I visited The Village Haberdashery's new website shop = scrummy!!  Several metres (phew - not yards hahaha) of fabric later, I now have a selection of solids on its way to me so I can start sewing blocks with 'Sew Into Solids' group, and I also bought the fabric for my Noodlehead 241 Tote bag.  I am a happy girl.

One more thing - GIVEAWAY!!  The Village Haberdashery is having a giveaway - check it out over on Canadian Abroad's website.

On that note, have a great day and I hope you managed to finish a WIP this week.

Inches, metres, yards - oh my!

Well, I got myself in a muddle.  Inches, centimetres, yards, metres...  Metric vs. imperial.  Imperial vs. metric - arghh.  In 'Harry Hill' style - I like fabric in metres.... but I like fabric in yards.  Which is better?  FIIIIIGHT!!!   I think I have a winner.  Imperial.  I think.  I like it when the pattern calls for a '4.5" square' but hate when it says '1 yard'.  I know cm's because of school but most sewing things are in inches... unless you buy fabric in the UK which is sold by the metre...unless it is a fat quarter which is then cut to the quarter yard size!??  We mix imperial and metric on a daily basis here in the UK.  Miles per hour on the roads, millimetres for rainfall, Celsius for weather temperature, metres AND yards for fabric!  No wonder I'm confused.

I had GOOD intentions to complete my Oh, Fransson Mod sampler quilt top this past weekend but the garden, the (gorgeous) weather and deciphering units of measurement all got in my way!  A feeble set of excuses I know, but I did manage to make 6 more blocks for the Mod sampler and I did some sashing... but not much!

New set of Mod blocks - with SOME sashing attached! 

I'm linking up with Canoe Ridge Creations for {Sew} Modern Monday, even though it is Tuesday today, and also with Sew Happy Geek's Manic Monday!!  Where has the month gone?  I have so much I need to get done but not enough hours in the day to do it all!  Hope you are all getting 'stuff' done. 

TNT Thursdays - belated

[Experiencing technical difficulties so am hoping this post will finally publish!]

Over on Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day link up I discovered the blog Colour Me Quilty where I found Happy Quilting and her Trying New Things Thursdays (TNT Thursdays).

 

All of this reading prompted me to try to make my own blog button.  Alas, I got stuck at the 'what should my button be' stage and am still trying to think of something clever and catchy.  I'm already joining in with some very clever people for WIP Wednesday, TNT Thursdays and Fresh Sewing Day Friday - so what clever button and theme could I come up with?  Nothing yet.  :-)     

Anyways, HAPPY THURSDAY [now Saturday - sorry] and have fun 'trying new things'!

Finish it Up Friday

Phew - it's finally Friday.  What a long week.  The full moon made it extra weird and my theory about my mood being affected by the moon prompted Mr Crafty Shenanigans to say that I am a "lunatic".  Ha ha ha.

So it was a good thing that I started -and finished- my wonky log cabin homework block for the London Modern Quilting Guild 'March Challenge' on Monday when I had the time, energy and space (decorators were in painting so my tiny sewing space was awfully crowded with stuff from the rooms being painted), otherwise nothing would have been created.  My way of celebrating a 'finish' (though small), is to link up with Crazy Mom Quilts and her Finish it up Friday linky.

In other news, here are a few pictures of my final Oh, Fransson! Mod Sampler blocks that will be stitched together with some yummy nice crisp white Moda sashing THIS WEEKEND*.  I need to decide which way I will sew these together and cut all the white strips as well!
*this may or may not happen but it is the plan so if I don't do it please will someone yell at me? Thanks so much ;-)

I plan to sew and do some simple gardening this weekend.  What are you planning to do?


Mod Sampler blocks in colour order and type of block order.



Blocks placed in block order row by row, but in random colour order.

Mod Sampler blocks randomly placed. 
This is the one I like best - what do you think?

Non-sewing WIP completed!

Yay me!  At pottery class tonight I collected a pot that was in the kiln last week.  I love it (but see ways I could have improved it - but we are our own worst critics aren't we?).  I used my 'Jax stamp' that I made to stamp all my pots with as my 'signature' and filled the impressions with black clay slip at the leather hard stage and then bisque fired it.  The following week I then sprayed it with New Shiny White glaze which gives a shiny white glaze with iron coloured speckles all over, a reaction of the glaze to the iron in the clay apparently!  The rim has dots (and I love dots) on it so all in all I think it turned out ok.  There are eight Jax-dog impressions on the pot, some better than others.  It is a bit deep to be a water dish for the dog though - so what should I put in it?  Lindt-Lindor chocolate Easter eggs perhaps? 



My 'Jax-pot' - sorry for the photo quality!



My 'Jax-stamp' - sorry for the photo quality!

Homework - WONKY LOG CABIN

Ta-dah!  I've done my homework.  There is only one problem... I got carried away and made it bigger than it was supposed to be!  Oops.  The LMQG March Challenge was for the finished block to be 8.5 inches or 12.5 inches.  I made mine 15.5 inches, so it looks like I will have to make another (they are addictive - I warn you) which follows the challenge guidelines.  I'll let you know how I do!! 

Now that I see it here, I find the solid orange and the dusky pink print combo at the top of the block too heavy and too wide/thick, especially since they sit on top of the eyeballs of the owls.  Poor owls - they look a bit worried, don't you think!!?  I used eleven scraps of fabric from my 'scrap swap baggie' then raided my nicely-organised-by-colour-and-each-piece-ironed scrap piles for the other fabrics. These fabric scraps are now all over the place and no longer in any colour order.  Drat.  I wish I could be less messy when I sew!

I took a photo of the block on a piece of black fabric so the light turquoise on the left side could show up better than it did on my light carpet.  What a difference!  I quite like the black and would consider using black sashing between blocks if I were to make more.  Hmmm, something to think about anyways. 

That's it for Monday.  Time to tidy up my wee sewing space so I can do it all again tomorrow!  See you soon :)  

Ahhhh....Sundays

Aren't Sundays the best?  Despite this one being cold, rainy, super wet and quite windy, I thoroughly enjoyed it!  The best bit was meeting up with the London Modern Quilting Guild group for our 3rd meeting.  I chatted with a few of the new members today which is great and got to see some awesome sewing by a very talented group!  Oh yah - I bought a few bits of fabric from Tricolette where the meeting was held.

We shared our February Challenge items which ranged from a hot water bottle cover, a wall hanging or two, a mug rug, a set of coasters, a few bags, some cushion covers, a couple of quilts and a fabric basket to name but a few.  The challenge was open to interpretation and though many of us were not 'Valentine's Day' types of people, we managed to create a wide variety of awesomeness! Well done everyone!  The March Challenge is:

Using your bag of scraps from the swap, your own scraps and/or your favourite fabrics, 

create a WONKY LOG CABIN block or a CRAZY block that measures 8.5 inches or 12.5 inches

(finished size).  Feel free to create both blocks if you like!  We will share our creations at

the April meeting.  The aim is to use up some of your stash to create something fun,

colourful, wild and to perhaps take you out of your comfort zone.  Tutorials can be found on Tallgrass Prairie Studio, comfortstitching, Quilt Dad and Ellison Lane. 

Show & Tell of our February Challenge was a lot of fun because of the different variety of things shown.  I am learning a lot from seeing what other people are making/creating which has inspired me to make a few things I never thought I would want to do (I'll be making a fabric bunny one day soon, inspired by the one Sarah brought!).  

Scrap Swap contents - so much fun!



Close-up of some of the fabrics - aren't they great?

We also did a "Scrap Swap" today which was pretty cool and was a change from last month's 'ugly fat quarter swap'.  We each brought a sandwich bag full of scraps (scraps no smaller than 2" each) and we each took a different baggie home.  It was funny how we all got so excited for a baggie full of scraps!  Thank you thank you thank you for my bag of scraps.  I see some Sherbert Pip in there, some pinks I am in need of and I love the dog and number fabrics!  In fact I can see myself using EVERY scrap in there.  I think a few more wonky stars will be made soon.   

All in all a great day.  Let me know what made your Sunday special :)   

New kid on the 'blog' / Small Blog Meet

As a new kid on the 'blog', I get excited about practically everything!  I love seeing what everyone else is up to.  I get a lot of inspiration this way plus I get to see what is on trend right now (fabric and sewing patterns/ideas).  Over on Lily's Quilts she has shared a way for us new - or small - blogs to meet each other and see what we are each doing.  Her blog is amazing so I recommend a visit to her site PLUS visiting some (or all) of the other blogs who have linked up.  If you have found me through this 'meet' - yay to Lily's Quilts!  I hope you become a follower :)  Thanks!

The LMQG is meeting tomorrow and I have my February Challenge item all ready to go (Red scrap fabric basket) plus a bag of scraps to swap.  I'm part of the social committee so I just need to type out the March Challenge and I'm ready for tomorrow.  I love being part of a group again.  I shall leave you here with a picture of my Shaggy (rag) plaid quilt. 

Front of the Shaggy plaid quilt.

Detail of the back of the Shaggy plaid quilt

Modern Quilting magazine draw winner

Thank to everyone who entered my first draw!  It was great to find out where you are in the world and thank you for all of your comments.  Just a side note for you - the Modern Quilting magazine can also be purchased as a digital subscription so for all of you that live somewhere that may not stock it, do investigate the digital option.  What a modern word we live in! 

The random.org widget picked "thorngrove" as the winner so my congratulations to you!   I will be emailing you soon to get your mailing details!  I hope you enjoy the magazine (it is beginner-friendly) and have fun entering into this big world of modern and traditional quilting.   She wrote:

thorngroveFeb 27, 2012 08:05 PM

I've just started getting into quilting (and need all the help I can get)! ;-D

Have a great Thursday everyone.  I will end here with a photo of my favourite quilt (this was my second quilt that I made)!  Here is my plaid log cabin with scrappy band on the back.  Enjoy!


Pattern called 'A Gift to Myself' - plaid log cabin quilt

The back of my plaid log cabin quilt. 

WiP Wednesday

  



They call it WiP Wednesday so I have decided to confess all of my WiP's.  I have put them in list form so I can cross them off as they are finished.  This is the plan anyways!  Here is my confession:  

   

Current sewing WiP's: 
1. Mod Sampler quilt (top DONE - just need to make back, baste and quilt)
2. Union Jack quilt (1 block complete, 2 cut out ready to be sewn and 1 partially sewn)
3. Place mats (only tops complete)
3. Wonky stars (9 blocks completed, loads left to create!)
4. Wonky houses (5 houses and 2 trees completed so far)
5. Table topper (needs to be quilted then binding added)
6. Denim hot pads (cut out ready to sew)

Current pottery WiP's:
1. Three trees to glaze
2. Three bowls to bisque fire, then glaze UPDATE 22 March - two in kiln, one recycled!
3. Coil pot to bisque fire, then glaze UPDATE 22 March - out of kiln, just needs glazing and firing
4. Bowl and vase to re-glaze/repair
5. Welcome sign (needs decorative wire to attach stoneware stars)
6. Buttons
7. Secret project :)

Projects waiting to be started/have stalled:
1. Noodlehead 241 bag
2. A quilt using diamond shapes in Amy Butler Love fabrics (just need a push to get going on this one!)
3. Peppermint Neck Warmer from "Fresh Quilting" (almost all cut out)

'Earmarked projects'/inspiration piles/'one day I'll make these' projects:
1. Frog fabric cot quilt (need a pattern idea)

2. Purple, green and grey improv quilt (need some more grey fabric)
3. Joel Dewberry quilt using Aviary 2 (just need some olive fabric and a pattern idea)

4. Kaffe Fassett fabric quilt (I have been hoarding some of the shot cottons and striped fabrics - yum!)

5. Plaid quilt using pattern from "Scraps and Shirttails"
6. Black & white quilt (have been collecting fabrics)

Here is Jax 'helping' me with a bit of inspiration.  Awww so cute!  Am I the only quilter who doesn't own a cat?  

Happy sewing and a big thank you to everyone who entered my first draw!  Winner announced shortly.

Magazine launch and giveaway!

My yummy fabric purchases at the launch

I went to the All Craft Media launch of "Modern Quilting" (a new quilting magazine) at Ray-Stitch in London on Friday night - how cool is that?  I ate cupcakes and met the editor Vick Guthrie and designer Janet Clare, and chatted with a few of the other girls from the London Modern Quilt Guild who also attended. 

The reason I am so excited is that our picture (of the newly formed LMQG taken after our 1st meeting) is on page 4 and again on 111.  I know it is just a small photo, duplicated twice and my name isn't listed, but how cool is that anyways!!?  We got a 'goodie bag' for attending the launch which contained the new magazine, a block viewer and a magazine called "Sew Hip".  I also purchased a few bits of fabric, a swatch set of the Klona (not Kona) fabrics and a water soluable pen as Ray-Stitch offered those attending a 25% discount!  The magazine is on shelves on 28 February 2012.  The Sewing Directory has an offer on subscriptions here or you can purchase it at select retailers. 

I have subscribed so this means I have a spare copy!  To enter to win my spare copy of the first issue of Modern Quilting, please leave a comment here telling me why you'd like to win it.  For a second entry, blog about my giveaway on your blog and link back here, and for a third entry, simply follow my blog and let me know here in a comment.  Draw will close on 29 February and I will announce the winner on 1 March.  Good luck! 

Union Jack block (for quilt or cushion)

For Mr Crafty Shenanigans' birthday, I made him a Union Jack block with the promise of a whole quilt to be created - eventually!  He told me not to rush it so guess what?  I'm not!  Since the beginning of February, I've only cut out two more blocks worth of fabric but haven't sewn them together yet. So (or should I say 'sew'), this weekend I plan to do a few more.  These will be 'scrappy' ones and not red, white and blue!  Stay tuned.  By the way, my pattern came from the good folks over at Bramble Patch.  

Potatoes and garden(ing)

I am getting mentally prepared for my 2012 gardening season!  We only moved to this place last May so I didn't get to do any vegetable growing last year apart from a few sad tomato plants.  So, this year I am preparing to grow:

• potatoes - four types
• tomatoes - cherry and regular
• green, yellow and purple beans
• carrots - two types
• several lettuces
• several different herbs
• rhubarb - two types
• and I want to plant an apple tree plus whatever else I can fit in!

The yard is on a steep downward angled slope with really bad weeds and horrible grass, and has a flat-ish patch at the very bottom which gets 100% shade (now that we have a wooden fence).  I don't have a proper patio so I hope to make a levelled area too, in the area that the previous tenants made what they called a 'rockery' (an area of pebbles - bags and bags of pebbles and a few cigarette ends).  Nice.  I have three raised beds to put in but they need to be at the left side of the yard to get the sun, which is where a thorny rose plant and bush are.  These may have to be sacrificed!

I have my potatoes chitting away nicely here in the living room, ready for the nice weather to arrive, and a picture of the 'before-before' garden.   

This is 'before-before'.  Since this picture was taken we have had a wooden fence put up.

Happy gardening!

Shoulder (baby burp) blanket

One of the ladies I work with was anxiously waiting for her second grandchild to arrive - this little one was LATE!  This gave me time to create a little something for grandma to have when she babysits the little bundle of girlie joy that would enter the world!  I started with a wonky star in pinks, which I knew the grandma would like, and continued making it into whatever it wanted to be!  I don't actually possess many pinks in my stash or scrap collection so I used what I could.  For the back, I put some super soft dimpled cream minky fleece on the back and sewed it up into a rectangular blanket/burp pad/shoulder protector/mini play mat.  She was really pleased with it when I gave it to her and has commissioned me to do a cot size quilt!  Yay for me!  Sorry the photos aren't that great - I should have put the blankie on a darker background! 
 

   

Placemat tops

Last night, just before I went to bed, I sketched out two placemats.  The inspiration came from the two pieces of printed 9x9 inch scraps of fabric I had (one of cutlery and the other of tea cups).  I paired each print with a few coloured fabrics and left them on the sewing desk.  Changed a colour this morning on my way out to work and then I was ready!  So, tonight at about 7:30 pm I made the first one, making note of the dimensions of each piece.  Finished it in 50-55 minutes as I had no pattern and I was doing it improv-style.  Took a tv break and just made the second one in about 35-40 minutes.  Hopefully tomorrow night I will complete them.  WIP Wednesday!!


Purple, orange, mauve shot cotton and green shot cotton



Navy, red, turquoise, orange and mustard yellow dots



Lemony loveliness

Lemony loveliness.  "LOVE"-liness.  Yup this is one of my favourites - I love it!  Lemon Pudding Cake.  Simple, easy, delicious.  This will help make our Valentine's Day dinner quite yummy!  My husband, Mr Crafty Shenanigans, likes this recipe too! 


Just out of the oven.  Fluffy on top with a custard-like pudding on the bottom.

Recipe from 'Milk - Best of Milk Calendar Recipes, August 1991', Dairy Farmers of Ontario


  

St Valentine's Day fabric basket

I've been a busy girl and have finished my homework!  I was trying to think of what to make for the London UK Modern Quilt Guild February Challenge [St Valentine's so could be red/pink/love or however you interpret it!] and I was searching through the quilting blogs for inspiration and ideas and discovered Pink Penguin's tutorial for Fabric Baskets.  I whipped this scrappy one up in a couple of hours - and I still have a few days to spare before Valentine's Day!!

 

I will certainly make a few more with my stash of scraps AND with the scraps I will get at the March LMQG meeting (we are having a scrap swap). I zig-zag stitched some wadding scraps together for the inside and the bottom of the basket is actually a cotton/linen sample from John Lewis so this truly is a basket made from scraps!  There you have it - my St Valentine's themed scrap basket.  I LOVE scraps, I LOVE red, I LOVE plaid, I LOVE free stuff and I LOVE this basket.  Best of all it is MADE WITH LOVE!   

Jax - my little beauty

Awwww... isn't he cute?  This is Jax.  He's a big part of my life and I love him to bits.  He loves the quilts that I make and is often found sleeping under one. 

Dachshund/beagle = doxle

My sewing space

I live in a tiny place but I still managed to make sure I had a lovely corner  to do my crafts in.  I have a great Toyota sewing machine on a rescued old school table, which is actually too small for most things.  This is where the slightly bigger kitchen table comes in handy!  I finished all the Oh Fransson! Mod Sampler blocks this morning - just need to buy some bright white fabric for the sashing now.  I shall add this to my growing pile of 'works in progress' and carry on crafting!

My sewing station and Mod blocks all finished and ready for sashing.



Underside of Mod blocks showing my pressing.



Mod blocks showing the 12 fabrics used.