Q2 FAL Finish 4- EPP Star Cushion

And here we go with my 4th finish for the quarter, and rather chuffed I am with the finish.  This started out as an EPP project I could take on holiday last Summer to distract me from my revolting morning sickness, and it stopped at this until a couple of weeks back

I had originally planned for it to be part of an embroidery travel wallet but I had a change of mind and decided to make it into a cushion instead.  So I decided to add some rainbow borders, until it was a good 20 inches square (I like a big cushion) and backed it with Essex Yarn Dyed using the fabulous Svetlanas covered zip tutorial, and bound it with a Moda Etchings Text print.  

This pillow is now residing on my sewing chair, and very comfortable it is too :o).  Job done, and now I'm down to 12 WIP's, or I would be if I hadn't started the project I mentioned last time, whoops!

Ange x

Q2 FAL Finish 3- Giant Star Quilt

Well this quilt has been finished for well over a week now, and after waiting for the rain to stop, it finally did, but all of the pictures came back too washed out- i'm not complaining about the beautiful sunshine, I promise!  So I decided to take the photos indoors and get on with the post.

Ignore Jerry the Giraffe trying to photobomb hanging off the fridge!

This is a little shame faced finish for me, the fabrics were donated last year by the lovely Amanda at Scissors and Thread for a Siblings Together quilt, and it was all pieced and ready to quilt by February last year, and then was put aside whilst we moved.  Unfortunately, as I got to quilting it just before Retreat last year I was pregnant, and the hot weather seemed to bring on the most awful morning sickness.  The upshot was I missed last years deadline, so had to get this finished for this year.  

And so I have finished it, and now it is all ready to go off to it's new home, I hope it will be loved, it's large and snuggly and crinkly, and is a great weight off my mind- and yes I know that background is brown, it gelt like the right colour choice, and I stand by it!! ;o)

I have another finish that I will be back with shortly, which means I was back down to 12 WIPs, until I started this last night

 

Eeeeeek!  Yes that is a Better Off Thread New York Circle of Flying Geese, lets see how much swearing this causes shall we :o).

Ange x

Quick Fix Projects And Bee Blocks

I have managed to sew a few other items in the last few weeks, including these bee blocks for Annabella my Stitch Tease sister who requested 2 x 12.5 inch blocks. One in Autumn colours:

and one in Jewel colours:

I really enjoyed making these, they come together quickly and look pretty cute in different sizes, looking forward to seeing them all in a big quilt.


I've also finished a couple of peg bags, not very exciting I know, but my Mum requested a new one (she clearly doesn't think my skills are up to much!), and as I had needed a new one for about 2 years I decided to just make them.  As luck would have it, Love Patchwork and Quilting had a pattern by the lovely Karen (Blueberry Park) for a peg bag last month, so I wouldn't even need to think about it, yay!

My only problem was that the childrens hangers I purchased from Ikea were just a little too big, and as I had already cut the fabric I had to add some side panels to the fabric, but they turned out well in the end.

And finally, thanks for all of the sympathy over my poor thumb, which has now healed, so I have managed to finish the binding on the Siblings Together quilt, which I will blog about once I can get some photos.

After a busy Bank Holiday weekend, and a few visitors, I will hopefully get the chance to get back to my sewing machine, which I've rather missed, see you soon...
 
Ange x

FAL Finish 2- Paper Pieced Potholder

As I said last time, I have another finish for the FAL and once again it's something started recently, this time it's a bit of paper piecing for my kitchen.  This months fab pattern from Kristy at Quiet Play and the Sew Kitschy Sew Along was a teapot, and as I have a new kettle I figured it deserved a little pretty to sit on.  

As you probably realise by now, I'm rather partial to spots and polka dots, so I decided to include a few in the block, and here is what I came up with. 

I re-did the binding as the black bike path print I used originally (also on the back) just didn't work for me for the binding.

I will be back soon with another finish, unfortunately my thumb had a disagreement with a knike (and the thumb lost), so hand sewing down the binding is going to be a little difficult for the next few days :o(

Ange xxx

FAL- Cushion Finish

As I said last time, I have 16 things on my FAL list, and I am determined to make some good progress on the list this quarter, and with nearly a month down, I have made some great progress on 3 projects with 2 finished, and a third v nearly there (just sewing down the binding, planned for the evenings this weekend).  So first up was the cushion for Amelias Christening.

I managed to finish this at 11pm on the Saturday night before the Christening, so 12 hours before the deadline, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially for a project I made up as I went along.  
I couldn't get a pillow form the size I needed so I bought a bigger one and cut it in two, for anyone else thinking of doing this, don't!  Well not without considering the number of feathers crammed inside these cushions, and ensuring you work on a smooth floor rather that a carpet, whilst wearing something they wont stick to.  I don't know what the delivery driver who turned up half way through thought, but he looked pretty surprised when I answered the door covered in feathers looking like a giant semi plucked chicken!
 

The fabulous embroidery pattern is by LiliPopo on Etsy.  She's a fab UK based artist and pattern designer, based in Cornwall, and her designs have a really magical quality (in my humble opinion), I couldn't resist purchasing one of her multi pattern packages, so I definitely have more of these in my future.  The design is called Catching Wishes, which I thought was a pretty sweet idea for a little girl.


 The name is appliqued on using bondaweb and then sewn (by machine), and her middle name was embroidered on, as was her Chrsitening date.  The cushion has been lovingly received, I got a phonecall from Amelias mum the following day thanking me, she was still blubbing, and it was lovely to have a gift so gratefully received :o)

Right, I will be back soon for finish number 2.

Ange x

FAL Q2 List

Right, for Q2 I am going to put on the 14 unfinished items from Q1, plus add on the other things I have started in the mean time, which need to be done asap, so I should see some nice progress, and be able to tick a few things off the list (who doesn't love writing lists in order to tick things off them!?!).

So, the new items are:
1. Christening Cushion for Amelia (needs finishing by Sunday, eek!).

2. Potholders, or in this case, somewhere for my new kettle to sit and to protect my new kitchen worktop, using the fab Kristy at Quiet Play's paper piecing pattern for April, and these fabrics (including the £3 Bike Path as backing from Fabric Guild).

3.Crochet Blanket
4. Hexy 2
5. The Weekender
6. Secret Squirrel
7. My Sampler Quilt
8. Siblings Together Quilt
9. Plus Quilt
10. Stitch Tease House Quilt
11. Simply Solids Quilt 12. Star/Bright Sampler Blocks
13. Improv Mini
14. Portholes blocks
15. EPP Star Embroidery Pouch
16. Hand Hoop
I've put the ones I think are most likely to get done this quarter in Italics, but we'll see how things work out!!

Ange x

FAL Q1 Success

Before I update about my list, I need to say thanks to everyone for all of the lovely comments on my last post, I do have some more thank you's for lovely hand made gifts, if I can just get a few photos and a few minutes to spare!
 
Well I started Q1 with 18 items on my Finish Along List, and despite a rather busy quarter (on a personal level) I did actually manage a few finishes, well 4 to be precise, as well as making progress on some others.

 

1. Hexy 2
2. Hexy Pouch
3. Alphabet Embr Quilt
4. The Weekender
5. Secret Squirrel
6. Baby Quilt
7. My Sampler Quilt
8. Siblings Together Quilt
9. Plus Quilt
10. Stitch Tease House Quilt
11. Simply Solids Quilt 12. Star/Bright Sampler Blocks
13. Improv Mini
14. Portholes blocks
15. EPP Star Embroidery Pouch
16. Hand Hoop 
17. Skill Builder BOM 2013 blocks
18.Crochet Blanket

That progress would be all the better if I hadn't started some new projects, but fortunately some are smaller and have deadlines coming up, so will have to get finished fairly swiftly, more to follow once I set my new list for Q2

Ange xxx