Creeper!!

Yep, there is a Creeper in the house!

Dear son pieced his cushion top this afternoon, accompanied with cheers (well, 'Likes') from Instagram, and he loved every minute of it...

There was very little parental intervention, just a little pinning and seam pressing, but this is all his!

He was even keen to be an #auriboy - he used the best green thread in the house, of course!  And there were even enviable points...

Tomorrow should see the cushion finished, and one even happier lad; there were no harsh words nor fabric hurt in the making, so it's all good xxx

Man Present...

I promised you something a bit more interesting than my kids; oh that's not quite fair, but you know what I mean, so here you are...

My brother-in-law has a big birthday coming up, and I wanted to mail something to add to his collection of 'oh what on Earth is she going to send next time?' gifts!

Lots of Echino, a little Melody Miller plus some other bits and bobs from my stash, and I think suitably manly...

It finished up a little on the large size, 20" square, quilted with a mixture of Aurifil 40wt 2021, and the last few inches in Gutermann, because I ran out, dammit!

I have going from being totally unsure, to thinking it looks just the job; I just hope it receives a warm kiwi welcome.

Back tomorrow and I'll be linking up a little something with Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, hopefully! xxx

Jaybird Quilts Sew Along

I am over at Sara's today...

So please pop over and take a better look at this little beauty...

... and don't forget to check out all the prizes on offer if you come and join the fun.

xxx

Jaybird Quilts Sew Along...

I am over at Sara's today...

So please pop over and take a better look at this little beauty...

... and don't forget to check out all the prizes on offer if you come and join the fun.

xxx

Harry Potter and the Birthday Party...

Dear son is off to his friend's for a birthday afternoon on Saturday.  The birthday boy was meant to be going to Harry Potter World, but by the time his mum went to book, it was sold out until Half Term.  So, if the boy can't go to Harry Potter, Harry Potter will come to the boy!

I was convinced I had seen an HP cushion/block pattern, but googling, flickring and searching about revealed nothing, (maybe I did see one and it got pulled due to copyright of something), so I did some maths based on some pics on Google, and drafted my own.

So if you check the link you will see that I have not been original, definitely don't claim to be, but to be honest it was so simple, you couldn't 'sell' a pattern!

My basic measurements for the 15" cushion were a 6" (finished) strip for the face, a 4" wide scarf of 2" stripes, and a 5" cloak strip.

The hair was drawn onto bondaweb then cut, and after pressing onto his head, I top stitched as close as possible to the edge to make sure his locks won't flop off in the future.  I drew round a cotton reel for his specs, backstitched those and his scar and added a couple of buttons for eyes.

Fusible fleece and a piece of muslin on the back of the front(!), and simple envelope back.  I finished off by binding the inside edges, because I didn't want to break up to look on the outside; I could have used french seams, but I had a piece of left-over binding and fancied a bit of sofa time before the kids came home - I am back to work tomorrow, so this was my last bit of me-time!

The hair and cloak are from my ever-useful and sadly diminishing piece of Sketch flannel from Simply Solids, I think Kona Raisin scraps, some yellow Sketch and no-idea neutral.  The back is some bargain dots from here.   All pieced in magical Aurifil.

Dear son was satisfyingly jealous, and only happy once I had confirmed, on the way home from school, that it was smaller than his Batman & Robin cushion!

And the best bit for me, another instant project 100% from stash; told you I was going to bust it this year!

Sizzix Christmas - Blog Hop!

It's that time of year when I get to hob-nob with some illustrious bloggy folks, showing you Christmassy ideas that you can make with a Sizzix, (or without, if you must, and have way too much time on your hands).

I have been looking at some of our poor excuses for cushion covers; old, dirty beyond the power of Vanish, and figured that Christmas ones would be great whilst I ponder on what I want to make for the longer term.

So I turned to Touchdraw, and came up with this simple but fun design that would make use of some of my scraps and beloved 2.5" HST and 2.5" square dies...

To save you counting, for the main 16" panel you will need...

4 x white 2.5" squares
44 x mixed green HST-triangles
15 x white HST-triangles
1 yellow 2.5" square  - can be cut with the single die or by rotary cutter
3 x aqua HST-triangles
2 x 2.5" x 12.5" white sashing strips
2 x 2.5" x 16.5" white sashing strips
... and 1 brownish HST-triangle, for luck.

Even though the dies cut in multiples of 4, I still use them to cut one or two pieces from small or odd-shaped scraps.

You will also need fabric for the cushion back, a zipper if you so desire, binding and I always line my cushion fronts with fusible fleece, like Vilene H640 to give a more finished interior and make the quilting look better; but I will leave all that to you.

Cut all the tree pieces, and lay out into a pleasing arrangement.  Stitch into rows with a 1/4" seam and remember, with the Sizzix there's no trimming, press row seams in alternate directions, and join to complete the main panel...

I sashed my block, fused the fleece to the back and quilted with simple straight lines...

I like adding binding to cushions, and for this one, a simple envelope back, very quick and so simple to stitch together...

I used Kona white and cyan from Simply Solids, some home deco-weight from Terry's Fabrics for the perfect backing and scraps from all over the place.  All pieced and quilted in Aurifil 2021 50wt, of course.

A nice bushy tree, getting me in the mood for a real one in a couple of weeks time - woooah, not long folks!

So here's how the rest of the blog hop stacks up...
Monday 18th November - Katy Jones
Tuesday 19th November - Hadley Gordon - You are here!
Wednesday 20th November - Carolyn Forster
Thursday 21st November - Angela Southey
Friday 22nd November - Kerry Green

So do pop by them all, there's bound to be a lot more inspiration to get you in the Christmas spirit. I've still got this little bundle of Christmassy joy to play with, from Pin It & Stitch...

... so I am definitely on the lookout for more ideas for sure.

And what sort of blog hop host would I be if there wasn't a giveaway snuck in there!?  Please head over to the Sizzix site for the chance to win yourself all these...

657900 Big Shot Machine Only (Powder Blue & Teal) by Ellison
658317 Bigz Die - Hexagons, 1" Sides
658318 Bigz Die - Hexagons, 1 1/4" Sides
657165 Bigz Die - Dresden Plate, Small
657616 Bigz Die - Tumbler, 4"H Finished

(The giveaway is open to UK and EU residents only, sorry).

Well I hope you enjoyed my stop, and maybe you'll be adding a few Sizzix-y things to your list from Santa.
xxx

When ideas collide...

I bought the mirror ball dots last week with the vague notion of Christmas makes; so as soon as I won Megan's beautiful Hemispheres pattern, it was serendipitous!

I had been planning to make a Christmas cushion cover for my sister and BiL, so decision made.

I cheated by using my Sizzix to cut the fabric, which made my blocks slightly smaller than the templates, but I trimmed them as instructed by Megan; and having pieced the blocks yesterday, I turned them into a cushion today; no time like the present eh...

I backed the 14" block with fusible Vilene H640, and spiral quilted in 12wt Aurifil from the centre.  The dots are kind of sticky, and with the fleece on the underside, the tighter middle curves were just a leeettle bit awkward, but it turned out really nicely.

The white background is Essex linen, which I also used for the binding, along with a subtle section of creamy mirror dots, and I envelope-backed it with some Kona Aqua and Ash.  I lined it with a combo of Kona Calico, and some heavier-weight cream upholstery fabric to give it a nice weight.

I am really pleased with how this turned out; and I think Megan may have inspired me to use more solids and make a proper quilt using her pattern.  There's still time to maybe win a copy of the pattern if you check out this post, and why not join in the QAL?

My cushion will wing its way to the Southern Hemisphere come December; I actually can't quite believe how organised I am being!

And...  yes, there's an 'and', that wasn't all I got done today.  Far from it.  I am just waiting for the stuffing man to come good, then I will have a right pair of lovelies, yep, another FAL finish to show you.  On. A. Roll.

The morning after the night before...

I finished off the Architextures Spring Carnival cushion last night; I was not happy.

Don't get me wrong, I love everything that's there, but feel like maybe piping or binding would have made it better, but I am not going to unpick again.

Just to top my day off, the pillow form I thought would fit, was way too big, so I had to cut open a smaller one and then give it some extra stuffing and hand-stitch closed.

Oh and then, whilst parent's were no doubt away, some local teenagers were doing the sleep-free party thing all night, so not much sleep for us either, and more than usual grump round these parts today!

I did manage a few front and back shots inside and out before the rain came, and came and came...

Just for those who like a stat or two...
Fabric - Architextures - Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman
Pattern - Ferris Wheel aka Spring Carnival, templates from Katy Jones/I'm A Ginger Monkey
Pieced with Aurifil 50wt in 2021
Quilted with Aurifil 12wt in 2021
Wadding - Vilene H640
Finished size - 19" square

So I did not get my sewing machine out today; I thought it was better not to tempt fate, but played with Touchdraw, spent a few merry hours in a Brit Bee 'email conflab' and watched trash TV instead.

Hoping your weekend felt a lot more successful than mine xxx

Making the most of it...

Time is ticking until I have to go back to work.  Today I worked with the girls on their Out & About books, scrapbooks of their summer; their teacher is going to get complete deja vu when she looks at the second one, but they look pretty good and the girls are chuffed to bits with them, although they had gone to bed by the time I remembered to take a picture...

There was also time in the sunshine, as it looks like Autumn is coming knocking on Friday, and I am not ready for that either.

I meant to take some photos of my shopping from yesterday to show you, but the clothes have been put away, did I mention that I got a Cath Kidston pirate scarf?!

I also got myself a lunchbox - the kids all have their new ones, and as I am on a healthy-eating, lose-weight mission, I thought having a nice coolbag would entice me to take good food with me, not pick on biscuits and other crap all morning...

... we'll see.

Lastly, I managed to finish my first Architextures cushion this evening...

I machine quilted in 28wt Aurifil, and it looks and feels amazing, I'll get some finished pictures tomorrow.  I am aiming for the big one to be complete by the weekend, here's hoping. xxx

In The Pink...

So Monday Blues is more how I am feeling, but I've managed to get the first make of the week under my belt already.

This was one of the things on my 'need to do' list; a birthday present for the girls' best friend for Saturday.

After tea, I turned these Walk In The Woods scraps...

...into this...

Water into wine, pah!

I had the notion to construct the front block in a scrappytripalong stylee, but the pieces were not conducive so I had to just piece it longhand.  It finished up at 15" square and plumps up nicely with a 16" cushion form.

Not thinking a real Staple Dress and a Super Tote will come quite so easily this week, but here's hoping xxx

I don't give a ...

Flying Monkeys!!

Those words often fly from my mouth in the company of small children, especially when their shouts and screams are heard over the buzz of the sewing machine, and my intervention has been requested!

Anyway, enough of my parenting style, here is my little dabble in green.

The Pantone colo(u)r of the year is Emerald.  The official colour is not what I would particularly call emerald, but what do I know?  Ali of a²(w) however has deemed all green as good green when it comes to the Quilt Challenge.

I do love green, but more the brighter, limier(?), grassier greens, and this was blatantly apparent when I searched for suitable fabrics.  However a few trusty Summersville scraps and a FQ of ELB's Quilt Blocks fitted the bill, with a few others thrown in for luck.

I toyed with the idea of flying geese, and then had those pesky flying monkeys from the Emerald Forest, going round in my head; although it is not officially the Emerald Forest is it, just the Emerald City I think - but I am not a fan, so it's all a bit lateral thinking.  I do know the monkeys are really blue, but you get the gist!!

Anyway, long ramble short, bring on the Flying Monkeys cushion...

Pre-quilting, in the sunshine.

I started with a 12" block, 64 x 1.5" HSTs paired with natural Essex Linen.

I was going to quilt the panel in my thread of choice Aurifil 50wt 2021, but it looked just a little too skinny, so I unpicked and went with a lovely green 40wt (2888), and it looks way better.

I sashed with linen to make it up to about 17" square, then French seamed the two sides together.  Flea Market Fancy green seeds and some more Quilt Blocks with a 16" cushion pad, job done.

They're in the trees, they're coming!

It's not going to win any prizes, but I made it for the fun of it, the challenge was simply that, a challenge to go a little out of my comfort zone and start overhauling the lounge cushions, because they really are starting to look like they have seen better days.

Sizzix Quilting Blog Hop!

I am really excited that it's my turn to extol the virtues of my Sizzix cutter especially in relation to Christmas!  I know it is Thanksgiving elsewhere in the world today, but we'll gloss over that for now.

Did you see all the ideas earlier this week?  And there's more to come...

Monday 19th November - Angela Southey

Tuesday 20th November - Tacha Bruecher/Fat Quarterly

Wednesday 21st November - Katy Jones

Thursday 22nd November - Hadley Gordon

Friday 23rd November - Lynne Goldsworthy

Saturday 24th November - Lory Bucaria

Now, I am all for quick finishes and anything that makes my sewing life simpler and cheaper, and although I love stitching from scratch, as Brit quilters know, fabric is so expensive compared to our US friends, sometimes it is way more economic to buy ready-made items.  Using my Sizzix and beloved hexie dies, my first project combines the best of both worlds.

Thrifty Hexie Christmas Pillow Case
You will need:

Sizzix Big Shot Machine
Sizzix 1" Hexagon 658317 Die
Sizzix 1 1/4" Hexagon 658318 Die
Brushed cotton pillow case (I got a pair from TK Maxx for £5, flannel fabric would cost at least twice that)
Fabric pieces - I used mostly Cherry Christmas, with a few scraps of pink and yellow.
Bondaweb, or similar
Copy paper
Greaseproof paper
Sharp scissors
Thread, sewing machine & iron

• Measure the width of your pillow case, and calculate how many hexagons you will require, multiplying by the number of strips you wish to use; my pillow case required 10 hexies x 4 columns.
• Cut the number of hexie papers you require using the 1" hexagon die; folding a sheet of A4 into quarters and running through the Sizzix cutter will yield 16 perfect hexies.
• Prepare your fabric, giving it a quick press and layer 3 or 4 pieces onto the 1 1/4" hexagon die.  I used a combo of small scraps that covered a single hexagon up to 5" x 10" pieces folded in half to cut 8 hexies in one pass.  You can be as efficient with your cutting as you want.
• Baste and join your hexies using your preferred method.
• Once your panel is complete, press, remove all papers, press again, taking care to make sure the edges are all pressed under.
• Cut a piece of bondaweb slightly larger than the panel.
• Affix Bondaweb as per manufacturers instructions - I place the paper side up, on top of the back of the panel and place the whole lot on a piece of greaseproof paper to stop any ironing board catastrophes.
• Trim the Bondaweb as close as you can to the edge of the panel.
• Remove the backing paper and place in your desired position on the pillow case.
• Press with a hot iron to fix.  I also stitched round the edges of the panel at about 1/8" to make sure it wasn't going to come off.  If you apply to the side of the pillow case without the extra flap bit, it will be easier to manoeuvre.
• Fill with a pillow and admire your lovely new bedding.

As I had a pair of pillow cases, I made matching ones for the girls to have at Christmas already.

My second project was so quick and simple, I whipped these up within a couple of hours from when inspiration struck... emergency last minute gift anyone?!

Drunkard's Coasters x 6

You will need:
Sizzix Big Shot Machine
Sizzix Drunkard's Path Quarter Circle 657169 Die
Sizzix Drunkard's Path Arch & Fan Background 657168 Die
Sizzix 4.5" (4" finished) Square 657609 Die
Selection of fabrics at least 5" square - again, lovely Cherry Christmas
Heat resistant wadding
Thread, sewing machine & iron

• Cut 6 x 4.5" fabric squares for the backs.
• Cut 6 x 4.5" squares of wadding.
• Cut 3 pairs of Drunkard's Path pieces using the dies to create 6 DP pairs.
• Pair up the cut fabric pieces to make a pleasing arrangement.  
• Sew you Drunkard's Path blocks using your preferred method, lots of pins, no pins, flip and stitch, they all work!
• Quilt your DP blocks to the wadding squares as desired.
• Place the backing and DP block right sides together, stitch round using a 1/4" seam, leaving a 2"-3" gap for turning on one edge.
• Turn through, poke out those corners and press; stitch round the edges with a 1/8" closing the gap.
• Pour yourself a drink, sit back and enjoy, whilst making sure not to slop your beverage of choice on your pretty fabric!

I hope these have given you some ideas for Christmas, with or without a Sizzix cutter, and if you are making do without, read on...

To be in with a chance of winning a Big Shot machine and a selection of quilting dies worth over £130, click here! Closing date: Wednesday 28th November 2012 at 10am GMT.

Sadly this is open to EU residents only.   
For more information about the Sizzix patchwork and quilting range, please click here.

I am looking forward to seeing what Lynne comes up with tomorrow.

Spring Carnival Finish...

I have stitched away slowly on this one since June, and now summer is over, and it is done...

With a whopping 26" cushion pad, it has to be one of the comfiest lounging cushions ever, although it does not go with anything else in our living room!

I backed the carnival panel with some fusible fleece and did some simple straight line quilting at 3/4" intervals in aqua (5006) 50wt Aurifil.  Joined the front to the back with a french seam, and there's even a 'hidden' zip!

Ballet lessons start again this week, so I think I need to get sorting another little EPP project, to wile away those happy hours x

My Serene Finish...

Last night I finished my Girl On A Swing embroidery, and this morning I couldn't wait to get my cushion finished.

I had set my sewing machine up, and pulled the fabric for the sashing, all before the school run, so, by 9am, I was making!

The pattern in the book, you know, the fantastic Little Stitches, is a simple three piece treat, but having noticed yesterday that my chosen colours for the dress, leaves and indeed hair matched one of the beautiful Liberty Lifestyle prints I received a couple of weeks ago, I had to combine them, didn't I?

And so trimming my embroidery to 12.5" (conveniently the size of my ruler, any bigger gives me palpitations),  I was able to easily bring it up to a cute 16" cushion cover.  I added a little batting and simply quilted either side of the Liberty/Kona Snow seams, and sewed a little strip to the closing edge of the envelope back.

Honestly I couldn't be happier with how this turned out.

I had been planning on picking up a cushion inner in the village after school, but a quick look in a dusty storage bag I was sure only held bigger things, and I pulled out a new 16"pad.

Serendipity.