The Easy Peasy Christmas Sampler

Yvonne, Emily, Katie, Trash, Mandy, Tina, Paula, Mary, Sue, Virginia, Rosie and Maria did me proud.

Thanks to my trusty pattern testers I'm releasing the Easy Peasy Christmas Sampler pattern today!

Here's a badly lit photo of my finished quilt top. I used Kona solids and the stripy prints from Tula Pink's Elizabeth range for this cheerful kid friendly version.

I've designed this quilt to be a very quick project. There is no foundation piecing and all the blocks are designed to be chain pieced to speed things up when making multiple blocks. The Easy Peasy Sampler is made up of multiples of 5 simple blocks: Nutcracker, Candy Cane, Christmas Tree, Star and Stack of Presents. Here are Yvonne's cute print versions...

 

...and Trash's.

The 12 page PDF pattern is in pictorial format so there is very little written instruction, as such it is suitable for people with at least a basic knowledge of patchwork techniques. 

The pattern testers have all enjoyed the pictorial format and have found it very straight-forward to follow, I hope that you will agree. Here's an example of the page layout.

If you don't have time for a full quilt you can use any of the individual blocks as the starting point for smaller projects e.g Santa's sack, cushion cover, table runner. Simply refer to the individual block construction diagrams for cutting instructions and you're good to go. I'm going to turn this little chap into a Santa sack for Mackinlay.

 

 

The blocks are really simple and lend themselves to being blinged up if that is your thing. Yvonne went to town on this little nutcracker block.

 

 

To celebrate the release of this pattern we're offering it for sale at a 50% reduction until the end of November, so grab a bargain now! You can find it in our Etsy and Payhip stores.

 

We'd love to see any projects you make with the pattern so please do send us a picture or use the hashtag #easypeasychristmassampler on social media.

Catch you soon x

By Hand and a discount!

Hello all. I'm still suffering with the trapped nerve issue which is positively doing my head in! I'm awaiting MRI results which I hope will guide the people in the know to sort me out! Sewing machine time is seriously limited, I'm talking 5 minutes at the very most before I feel like crying, so there has been lots of hand-stitching and pattern writing going on to keep my equilibrium. First, I pattern tested a new design by Julianna which can be either Foundation Pieced or done with EPP. It goes together very quickly and is really quite fun to piece. You can find the free pattern here. Here's my version using some lovely Denyse Schmidt prints.

I also joined an Anna Maria Horner swap on Instagram before the pain got really bad so I've had to drum up a design that I can hand-piece so I don't have to drop out. This is one quarter of it; that is a lot of piecing! Thankfully the deadline is June so I should have plenty of time to finish this one :) Typically for me it's a riot of colour so I hope it won't scare my partner off too much!

I've just finished up the last blocks (all hand sewn) for the current Quilt Now BOM and am really looking forward to finishing the top off so I can send it away to Trudi to work her magic on it. You just know that it's going to be epic when Trudi is finished with it! I'm so glad I decided to piece this medallion as we went along rather than leaving it all to the end or I'd be in major hot-water right now!   I can't believe that Quilt Now has been around for almost a year now, bonkers. I'm really excited to be doing the next BOM for them too!!! Sorry for all the exclamation marks it's one of those days.
Finally, because we all know I need another project like a hole in the head, I've started up another Wafers EPP project, to give me a break from the epic piecing of the swap project, using a lovely selection of prints from Art Gallery Fabrics. I'm loving these earthy prints!

This leads nicely to the discount part of the title. I've just restocked our Etsy shop with some of our instant download patterns/templates (including this one) as it appears that Etsy will now be dealing with the VAT issue. To celebrate you can get 20% off everything in the Etsy shop this weekend only (10-12 April 2015) by entering INSTA20 at the checkout.
Hoping all is good in your world. Catch you soon x

Winner and a launch

Thank you so much to everyone that visited us for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway! It's been fun reading all your comments. I'm so glad to learn that we're not alone in being buried in WIPs. Apologies for not managing to reply to you all individually but I'm sure you understand how busy this time of year is. I've spent the last couple of days tweaking the pattern for the Doris project bag and thanks to the able of assistance of my pattern tester, Celine, it is now ready for launch! Woohoo!

Anyway, I'm getting ahead myself. First things first.The winner of this Doris project bag is...

...comment number 9.

Congratulations, Martina. I will email you shortly for your postal details,

Sorry you couldn't all win, better luck next time!
For those of you who haven't already clicked away from the page in disappointment I'll share the details for the launch of the Doris project bag pattern.

The 10 page PDF pattern is now available in our Etsy shop at the introductory price of £4.50. It will be available as an instant download until the 30th December 2014. Instant download sales will be suspended from 31st December until I work out the best way to deal with new EU VAT laws that govern e-services.
As a special incentive I'll be contacting the first 5 purchasers for their postal details so I can send them a little something in the new year!
Thank you all for supporting and encouraging us over the past 12 months, it's been a very busy and exciting time. Catch you soon x

Edited to add - The 10 page PDF pattern is now available as an instant download in our Payhip store for £5.50.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway - Doris project bag

Hello all. It's that time of year again when blogland comes to life for the Winter edition of Sew Mama Sew giveaway day/week.

If you've visited us before, our giveaway offering won't be entirely new to you but hopefully you'll think it's worth having. If you've not visited before I'll fill you in briefly, I know there are lot of other places to visit!

A couple of weeks ago I made a project bag to house my yarn projects instead of the grotty plastic mailing bag that I had been using for almost a year (oh the shame!). Since then I have become somewhat obsessed (sorry, Instagram friends) with making them and have now made 5! I made a few adaptations to the original design as I wanted to add a carry strap and zipped pocket to make it a functional bag outside of the home. It's since been named the Doris project bag and I've written a pattern for it that will be released shortly in our Etsy store. Payhip store.

For the SMS giveaway version I've used Pam Kitty Picnic, Country Girls, Flower Sugar, April Showers and Vintage Happy which I hope you'll find appealing.

The Doris bag is approximately 18"(h) x 16" (w) x 6"(d). It's fully lined and has been entirely machine sewn for durability. It closes with a satin ribbon drawstring that is neatly enclosed inside the bag. There's an elasticated fabric loop inside the bag for attaching things to or to hold things upright.

The bottom section of the bag is lightly structured so that it can be free-standing. The top section of the bag is less structured so that it can fold back over itself (please see photos) to allow easy access to your yarn when in use. There are 2 exterior pockets: one 7.5” x 11.5” open pocket for storing your pattern and one 7.5” x 11” zipped pocket for storing items that need to be kept safe in transit (e.g. crochet hooks, stitch counters or maybe your mobile phone). There is a 52” fabric carry strap that has a metal snap hook at each end to allow for easy removal of strap.

So, if the Doris bag is something you think you'd like a chance to win, please leave a comment telling us your current work in progress. We're buried under half finished projects at the moment so it will be nice to find out what everyone else is up to.
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 12th 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 bag will be with you before the New Year as the last posting date for guaranteed delivery by Christmas has now passed.
Again to remind you: 1st chance to win - leave a comment telling us your current work in progress.
                                   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

Edited to add the winner of the giveaway is Martina. Thanks for entering everyone.
Edited to add the Doris project bag pattern is now available in our Payhip store.

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 - The free pattern

Well guys and gals there was enough interest in the pattern for me to knuckle down and get it written :) I've added the pattern as a page at the top and the blog. You'll find links at the bottom of the pattern to a PDF version, along with PDF versions of the paper templates.

In a weekend of madness I've gone ahead and chopped a very limited number of scrap packs from my rather fabulous (even if I say so myself) stash. Many of the prints I used in these two cushions are included in the scrap packs which you will find in our Etsy shop. There are only 3 pink, orange red and radiant orchid (purple) packs and 3 navy, green and radiant orchid packs. I have learnt that I don't really enjoy cutting up fabric knowing that I'm not going to be sewing with it, so you can rest assured that scrap packs from me are going to be as rare as rocking horse poo!

As always I'd love to see any WIPs or finishes of this pattern so please do feel free to email me or upload a picture to our flickr group or use the hashtag #diamondskitesandstars on Instagram. There might even be a special little something for the first person who finishes their own version...   

I hope you've all enjoyed the weekend. Catch you soon x

Restock

Thanks to the throat and chest lurgy there has been absolutely no sewing going on around here this week. I can report on a restock though :)

After selling out of Jess' sewing note cards in record time we got straight on to Moo to order some more and while we were at it we got some of her new designs printed too! First up this set of 3 hearts - "Not just for Valentine's Day" hearts available in sets of 3 or 6

Button heart

Ribbon heart

Shell heart

And then this set of Home cooking inspired images available as a set of 4 note cards.

I'm pretty much in love with them all but then I might be a little bit biased ;)

On the sewing front, I'm hoping usual service will return around here very soon! Catch you soon x

Overwhelmed!

Excuse the shocking night-time photo but I'm writing this from my sickbed (again!). I just wanted to let you all know how overwhelmed we have been by the response to Jess' notecards! Thank you so much to all of you that have favourited them on etsy and to those of you who dug your hands into your purses/wallets and bought some...words escape us! Jess is currently cooking up some new designs to extend her product range so they should be up and running very soon.

We've requested another print run as it seems we were a little unprepared for the effect on sales that the enabler that is Katy unleashed today! So if you were planning on buying some and find that they are sold out, we are expecting delivery of another batch on Friday 7th February, so not too long to wait :)

Jess has blogged about her excitement at the response here if you're interested. Thank you so much for your support of our wonderful Jess :) Catch you soon x

Rose Blackout

Today I'm sharing a proud mama moment with you. Our lovely Jess has designed some rather snazzy notecards!

I for one love a good notecard for sending out with swap items and bee blocks and I've found it quite tricky to find something that represents what we creative-with- fabric-types do.

We've had these pretties printed up by Moo so they're nice and sturdy and have good quality envelopes which is important to me ;) Jess has her own brand in the making - Rose Blackout.

I can't really convey just how proud this makes me. As regular readers will know, Jess has faced many challenges due to her health and our subsequent foray into the world of home-education. This latest achievement is a firm middle-finger gesture to the crappy social worker that said Jess wouldn't amount to anything in life if she couldn't attend school! (Don't even get me started on that one!) I'm sure that given time there will be more additions to her photographic card portfolio. In the meantime if any of you fancy getting your hands on a set of these original notecards you'll find them for sale here. Even if you don't fancy owning any yourself we'd love it if you'd like them over on Etsy and let your friends know about them if you feel so inclined :) Thank you all for indulging my proud mama moment. Catch you soon x