Radio silence

Well my plans for regular blogging really haven't gone all that well. I have been busy sewing and sharing progress on Instagram but that hasn't translated into blog posts. To those of you who still frequent these parts I'm sorry that you've been neglected. I will try harder, honestly.
I stepped in as an "Angel" for the Pillow Talk Swap Instagram edition so I've had a few fun days stitching up this cushion. I resized the templates from my Kaleidoscopic quilt to create this 18" square cushion. I used Aurifil to echo quilt in the diamonds for a subtle look, there was already plenty going on with all the different fabrics.

 It was slightly painful sending this one off today, I really hope it will be loved by the recipient. I couldn't resist taking a shot of it with the original Kaleidoscopic quilt.

I will be releasing the pattern for this quilt and a stand alone foundation template version very soon so please do keep an eye out for news shortly if you're interested. Catch you soon x

Wafers

As predicted I'm back with a finish! My Wafers cushion goes together in a flash and I'm just a little bit in love with it :) I pulled lots of my current favourite fabrics together for this autumnal piece. There's some Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt and Katarina Roccella alongside some other Art Gallery fabrics that came in a scrap pack I bought from Simply Solids. The deep orange solid that I used is a Kona FQ that came in my Fat Quarterly Retreat goodies bag.

I used a lovely rust coloured Aurifil thread to do my usual crazy-straight-line quilting.

Quite by accident I noticed that it produced nice little stars in the solid shapes, an added bonus :) After a little rummage in my fabric cupboard I found the perfect backing fabric from my favourite, Anna Maria Horner :) The colours are much richer in real life, for some reason unknown to me it's all washed out in the photos.

I've uploaded the PDF EPP templates for this project to our Payhip page. They're a bargain (even if I do say so myself) at £1. I've included a colouring sheet so you can see how the blocks fit together and practice your fabric combinations. I'm thrilled that it's already started to sell to some very keen ladies over on Instagram :)

Now I need to go and shackle myself to the sewing machine! Catch you soon x

Diamonds, kites and stars

I'm totally in love with my newest cushion! I've been told "it's a bit stiff but it'll soon get bashed into shape", hmm, teenagers! It didn't take long to transform from Saturday's sewing project into the finished object.

I went a bit mad with grey Aurifil thread for the quilting. I enjoyed the texture created by the random lines that I'd used on my last EPP project so reprised it for this one.

For the back of this one I decided to be a grown up and used a concealed zip for the closure! I probably should have pattern matched the fabric but I was so stressed about getting the zip in that I didn't think about it ;)

I brought it downstairs with me to show the hubby yesterday when I finished it and sat it on the sofa...it put some of the other cushions to shame so I may have to make several more EPP cushions soon ;)
Thankfully it lives on my bed at the moment so it's not showing the others up permanently.

When looking at this photo I realised just how much of a crazy-patchwork-lady I have become! That's not a bad thing, right?! Catch you soon x

Sew Mama Sew giveaway day!

It's that time of year again folks, Sew Mama Sew giveaway day! Thanks to them we get to peruse lots of lovely new blogs with the bonus of the chance to win some goodies :)
This time round we're offering 2 prizes to one lucky winner.

There's a festive table set of table topper and coasters in the ever popular Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater and a festive cushion in Bliss by Bonnie and Camille.

The table topper is approximately 9.5" x 15" and the coasters are approximately 4.5" square. I think they're festive without being too holiday specific.

The holly is raw edge appliqued with red Aurifil thread and I've used a lovely red fabric from the Rendezvous line by Kristian Howell for the backing :)

Yvonne has made a gorgeous cushion/pillow (depending which side of the Atlantic you're on) cover using one of the blocks from the Farmer's Wife Quilt book.

The colours are much prettier in real life, Winter lighting is so tricky! This will be sent without the pillow form to keep our postage costs low, it's a standard size so you shouldn't have any trouble finding an insert for it :)
So....now to the best bit. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment telling us your favourite holiday movie. If you fancy a second chance at winning you can click the follow button  and leave another comment telling us that you did or that you already follow us.
The giveaway will close on December 13th at 5.00pm PST. In the UK that's around 1.00am so you can rest assured I'll be tucked up in bed asleep then so I'll draw the winner using Random Number Generator when I wake up.
We're happy to ship Internationally but we obviously can't guarantee that the goodies will be with you before the New Year as the lasting posting date for guaranteed delivery by Christmas has now passed.
Again to remind you: 1st chance to win - leave a comment telling us your favourite holiday movie
                                   2nd chance to win - leave a comment telling us you are a new or existing follower   
I will try to answer as many comments as possible but please don't think I'm rude if I don't manage to reply to everyone as these giveaways can be so popular and I have a lot of sewing to be doing :) I almost forgot, please make sure I can contact you if you win by leaving an email address with your comment if you are a no-reply blogger. If I can't get hold of you and don't hear from you the day after the draw I will draw another winner.
In the meantime I hope you all enjoy visiting the other blogs taking part in the SMS giveaway. Good luck to all who enter. Catch you soon x

Updated to add - Winner of the giveaway was:

Thanks to everyone for taking part, sorry you couldn't all win something. Catch you soon x

I do like.....

...... to make and give presents.

I've been thinking of making 'thank you' gifts for two of our neighbours before we move on from our rental home.  They have gone out of their way to be welcoming and friendly and I wanted to show my appreciation to them.  

The first lady is in her late seventies and has traditional tastes so I delved into a box of vintage fabrics and put together an assortment of creamy florals.  I can't remember where most of them are from, just bits and pieces from here and there that I couldn't bear to part with because..... Well, because... they might be useful .... one day??   It was an interesting trip down fabric memory lane, not because the fabrics reminded me of something I'd made or worn years ago, but because they made me realise how my fabric tastes have changed over time. 

As they weren't fabrics from my 'precious stash' ..... hmm I think maybe I should be ashamed that I just said that?  So, moving on quickly and hoping nobody noticed what I said.... I decided that I'd try not to be fussing and faffing about placement and just wing it and see how the mini quilt evolved. Now, if you knew me well you'd be gasping at that statement!  Honestly, you would. If we wrote a family dictionary, the definition of fussing and faffing would be - Yvonne!!
 Why even my sewing machine is a Pfaff.  :-) Snap decisions and winging it just do not come easily to me. Actually, that's really quite an understatement. But I did it and I really enjoyed it and I like what I made, because I know she will like it too and that's what counts after all.

Disappearing nine patch blocks randomly placed

and framed by three different sized borders.

 

Excuse the light in the photo, as usual not sure how it happened!! 

 

Lavender bag to match.

 

Now that's a better photo isn't it? Sometimes I do get it right.  Although I probably have no more idea how I do than when I get it wrong!

 

She gave me some lavender to dry from her garden so that I could make lavender bags so it was only fair to make one for her too, wasn't it?  Actually, there was only enough for one bag but I didn't have the heart to say. :-)

 

The second gift was for a much younger lady and the fabric and cushion shows perfectly where my tastes and style are at right now. 

 

The front

 

You see, totally different.  I tell you, I had such a hard time handing this one over!  I think I remember she had to prise my fingers from around it.  Although, my brain has blanked the awful experience out of my mind! Self preservation I think. :-) 

The back

 

I love the back as much as the front. I even fussy cut the fabric for the buttons to match the centre hexie on the front.

 

Fabulous Pam Kitty fabrics, I think it's the Love selection by Lakehouse fabrics.  I still love florals and whimsy but the palette I choose is very much more diverse than previously. And thankfully, I still have fabric left to make myself another cushion!

 

I wonder have you noticed how your tastes have changed as you move through your quilting life? I'd love to know. :-)

 

Thank you so much for vising.

Take good care of yourselves and happy sewing. Xxx

  

Happy, happy!

Today I turned the Tile block in to a rather lovely cushion :) LOVE!!

Happy cushion :) 

 I did some basic straight line quilting on the machine to fix everything in place, then added some hand stitching in a vivid red Perle 8.

Close-up of quilting

I used another of the Ruby Star Shining prints for the back of the cushion. I just love this range. Melody Miller seems incapable of designing a crap range which is great news for us :) I used 2 different coloured buttons for the closure which goes against the grain of my normal need for symmetry but I think it works here.

Obviously I need a new cushion like a hole in the head but what can I tell you? I just love cushions ;) Catch you soon x