Yo b*tch!

My Dad's birthday is coming up, and having done the complete Breaking Bad 6 season box set recently, there is a bit of a Walter White theme going on with his presents.

The handmade gift is a simple patchwork cushion with fabric from Spoonflower, taking advantage of a BOGOF FQ deal a couple of weeks back…

Really hard getting decent photos this time of year eh!

I backed it with some thick/dense fleece, which my sewing machine took great exception too; I need to sew something else up sooner rather than later to make sure it was the fabric not the machine that is ailing; hoping it was just complaining due to lack of use!

So that's my birthday's out of the way for another year, just as the first Christmas card came through the mail today; no rest for the wicked, especially as at the time of scheduled posting I will be gritting my teeth and looking for a parking space to do a joint Brownies to Panto, Scout to, um, Scouts drop off.

2 posts in 2 days, just saying!

Jumping the Gun - Blogiversary Giveaway

I honestly think I am going round the bend with the sheer amount of stuff going on right now.  Today, an all-morning course-type-thing at work, followed by a Year 3 recorder concert.  All the regular days for school swimming and forest school are all swapping, swapping back and changing times; I am writing lists, trying to cross things off quicker than the list lengthens, but fear I am losing that battle.

I was convinced that I should be celebrating my 5th Blogiversary this week; a quick check just now tells me I should be waiting until next week, but I sewed my fingers off to get the prize finished, and as it's my blog, I'll do what I want to!

So would you like a chance to win this Cotton & Steel, Jen Kingwell Flutterby block cushion cover?

A little hand-quilting and my new favourite spotty binding, and bob's your uncle.

This little token of thanks will go to one of you lovely people.  I know blogging in general seems to have been hit by the rise of instagram, and I do understand entirely how it seems that everyone's lives have got increasingly hectic and something has to give, but I do still love my little part of the inter web.  I wish I had more time to devote to it, but then I would have no time to sew, so I just thank you for sticking by me.

In order to honour a little bit of tradition, I will leave this giveaway open until next Monday, 13th July, my real blogiversary.  I will mail, (without a cushion form, for obvious reasons), anywhere in the world, the only condition is that you are a blog follower, and not an un-contactable No Reply blogger - sorry but I am all done playing Inspector Clouseau!

So please do have a couple of chances; make one comment telling me how you follow, so should I feel the urge, I can check; and a second, separate comment telling me something you want to achieve in the next 5 years.  You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine!

I will close down the comments at 7pm next Monday, and let Mr Random pick a winner.  Please don't leave more than 2 two comments or I will delete them.  I am the boss!

Good luck folks xxx

Split Stars...

I can finally reveal another one of those secret projects I was working on in the months gone by, a little cushion project for Simply Solids.

As a member of the blogging team, the lovely Justine and Lisa sent me an awesome bundle of Cotton & Steel, and having a design in mind, I played about on Touchdraw and the Split Stars design was born…

If you pop over to the Simply Solids blog today, you will find my tutorial, including instructions for the alternating binding.

Please do go take a look, you may even find a little shopping discount code, you know, as a reward! xxx

#scrappylogcabinqal

I promised you a finish, so here is number 3 from my FAL list already, my #scrappylogcabinqal cushion…

Inspired by the instagram shenanigans, and enabled by the offcuts from my Amsterdam quilts' sashing, it seemed silly not to whip something up…

So on Sunday, as I dearly wanted to be able to do some hand quilting in front of the TV,  I set to it...

I finished up the binding last night; unfortunately the weather wasn't playing ball today, so no great photos I'm afraid…

Oops, hastily stuffed!

I used a tea-towel, with ready-sewn twill edge for the back; again, concentrating on using up what I have stashed away for those one-day-I-will projects!  I'm doing quite well at that so far this year; although when I show you what has been landing on the doormat this week, you may disagree ;)

Quick Stash Present...

The friend I sit next to at work, celebrated a big birthday this weekend, and she wanted to keep it low-key.

So I made a low-key present.

I had come across a small sample pack of Modern Folkloric from my FQR2014 goodie bag whilst tidying over Christmas, so supplemented with a few more co-ordinating prints, I was sorted…

I have no idea if this will clash horribly with her interior decor and reside in the spare bedroom for eternity, or until the next charity collection, but I am going on theory that it's the thought that counts.

I fused the top to Vilene H640 and quilted with Aurifil 50wt 2021; simple but effective.

It is not my usual colour scheme, but I like it.  The whole cushion came from stash, which makes me like it even more!

There but for the grace of God...

The girls came home from school with a letter today, telling us that one of the boys in their year will not be coming back to school this term and is currently in hospital up in London.

So the girls were immediately making cards and planning loom bands, and I got on with doing what I do.

A fussy-cut 'T for…' cushion…

It is at binding point now, so I will buy an insert tomorrow, and have it finished to drop off at school on Friday morning.

Apologies if you were hoping for the grand reveal of my Ode to GTSB tonight, it is finished I promise, so tomorrow I will turn my frown upside down and show you the pretties xxx

That's my boy!

He did it!

First thing this morning we, well he, got on with finishing the Creeper cushion.  I pulled a piece of duck cloth for a bit of fun speed stitching, attaching it to a piece of batting for lining.  Then a simple envelope back was prepared, and hemmed by the youngster.

We layered everything, and there was guided rotary cutting to square it all up; so with stitch 11, a straight-zig-zag combo, the whole lot was stitched together.

Then it was time to turn through and reveal...

Oh what a happy boy!!!

Luckily I had an cushion pad the exact right size, so it could be a proper finish...

And because even he is no stranger to what sells, he did his best Alex V impression...

He's my #auriboy !!

A quick run down...
100 2.5" Sizzix cut squares of misc greens and black Sketch flannel
Pieced with Aurifil 50wt in 2860
Backing Klona Grey and Kona Sprout
Finished size 19" square
Designed and sewn by Master O aged 9

I enjoyed every minute, and the beaming smile he has been sporting all day has made it doubly worthwhile.

He now wants to make a quilt!

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

Why not!

So yesterday saw me pulling some of my favourite fabrics just because.

No deadline, no commission, no guidelines nor necessity, just because I wanted to.  Something for me, something frivolous, and unnecessary!  It's been a while since I just made something because I felt like it, for no reason, spur of the moment.

At first I thought I might just make a mini-quilt, but my practical side got the better of me, and so I plumped for a cushion; yeah we don't need any more of those either, but it was just the ticket.

And here, as promised is what I made...

I finished the binding this morning in front of the TV with the kids, (the joys of a rainy half term), and I couldn't be happier.

It's not perfect, some of the points are pointy, some are not, the quilting is more organic than measured and the pillow inset I had waiting isn't very poofy, but I love it.

I used the spool block template from Kerry & Lynne's 500 Quilt Blocks, transferring it to template plastic to mark the corner angles onto my spool/butterfly wings.  This was so I could use slightly larger corner rectangles, cut them on the diagonal, line up with my markings and have a lot less wastage - if anyone wants a demo let me know.

It was all pieced and quilted in, altogether now, Aufifil 50wt 2021, using my new favourite blender, white dotty crosshatch which is on offer at Simply Solids, backed with a grey home dec fabric, which I used for Sarah's bag and bound in Sketch.  It measures up at 20" square.

Now back to the other things.  Don't get me wrong, the bonus is, they are all enjoyable too, these things for friends, things for Retreat and things to stop the kids being quite so annoying grumpy this week!

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

As if by magic...

Harry Potter II cushion is complete...

I went with his feminine side for the back, a nice scrap of Joel Dewberry Gryffindor-esque home dec, as this little fella is heading off to Justine's daughter, she's a bit of a Harry Potter fanatic, understatement!

He ended up with a new pair of specs the morning after the originals were stitched; they were framed with 3 strands of floss, but I went for the full 6, because they were looking a little too feeble.

So I have a FAL finish, and something to add to Sarah's Put Your Scraps To Work linky at the end of the month.  Super x

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

Any Porthole in a Storm...

... I've been at work, you didn't expect wit and wisdom tonight did you!?  I survived though, and the kids are all enthused and eager to go back tomorrow, hoping that some of that may rub off on me.

But if the weatherman is to be believed, this time tomorrow the summer will have gone, the temperature will have dropped by 12C, and we'll be needing that Ark after all!

For now, it is still mighty warm, and I managed to get some decent pictures of my Porthole cushion as promised.

I decided shortly after Retreat that I was going to stop at the two portholes I made in Lu's class and turn them into a cushion.  I bought some Aurifil 28 12 wt in my favourite 2021 off-white and when I got those bargain feather inserts at the boot fair, I was good to go.

I added 1.5" borders to the 10" blocks, fused them to some Vilene H640 and quilted in straight lines about 1/2" apart.  I had absolutely no problems machining with the thicker thread, and it looks and feels lovely...

Because it's double-sided, I had to put a zip in.  It didn't exactly turn out invisible, I sort of only read one online tute, and obviously didn't read all the important bits, but I am happy with this first half-arsed attempt!

So there you go.  Nothing Random for you this week I'm afraid, but check out all the other madness over at Cindy's, but linking instead with lovely Liz and her Brit Sewing Thursday...

My only actual sewing today has been 2 Rainbow Puzzle badges and a Cub Camping one - not even worthy of a photo!

Hasta luego 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