Addicted

This week has confirmed to me that I am addicted to fabric and sewing. The first indication of the level of my addiction came with the arrival of my new sewing table. Excuse the mess I’m too tired to tidy but just about rested enough to do a small amount of sewing 😉 We decided against going down the homemade route for the craft table and instead relied on good old Ikea. This monster is nearly 5 foot square, no more scrabbling around on the floor while basting quilts, woohoo!

The second indication was that about 30 minutes after the postman delivering this gorgeous package from Sarah I was “racing” up the stairs to sew them together on the machine. Yep, first time using the machine since my op but well worth the exhaustion! I knew it was a good idea getting the ladies of the HipBees to make string blocks for me 🙂

The third indication was a bit groundhog day…up the stairs to the machine I went this afternoon with this package of goodies from Amy. The result was equally pleasing 🙂

This is most definitely going to be a favourite quilt! Look how gorgeous they are next to each other 🙂

If I hadn’t already been convinced of my fabric addiction the final indication was the overwhelming need to start another hand-sewing project having been woken in the middle of the night by an idea! I started with this tray of yummy fabrics (I’ve added more since this photo was taken)…

 and very soon these

became this.

I just love this combination of colours at the moment. I’m not sure how big this is going to grow but for now I’m just enjoying the process. Suffice to say I feel much more like myself now I’ve got some “proper” sewing done. I’m some way off wrestling with quilts but a cushion isn’t too far off achievable now 🙂  Catch you soon x

Brit Quilt Swap Completed

If I hadn’t have seen the sender of today’s parcel I would have been very worried when I opened the wrapping to discover this! Prepare for lots of exclamation marks!!!

 As I did know the sender I was super excited to get inside the box!!! My Brit Quilt Swap mini arrived today and feast your eyes on the fabulousness that is the Dark Side of the Pond by Hadley! I had admired it in the Flickr group so I’m completely delighted that it now resides with me 🙂

 This little bit of text print will cause me many giggles every time I look at it….I’m very immature 😉

 The frog prince peeking out at me, love Tula Pink!

The fabulous hand embroidered label 🙂 

 Hadley included this gorgeous little hoop which is so cute! I thought it was a nod to the brown purse I sent her but Hadley reminded me that I had specifically stated that I wouldn’t be impressed if I received a brown dog in a patchwork waistcoat 😀 lol, what do I know…clearly dogs in patchwork waistcoats are totally awesome!

 Finally, Hadley included this gorgeous flexi-frame purse! Check out those tiny Liberty hexies! The other side of the purse is also tiny hexies, so much work!! Thank you Hadley, you got me sussed 🙂

 Benji is feeling much better today, although rather grumpy after his trip to the vet, so I was able to get on and finish the mini for my Brit Quilt partner 🙂 I’m hoping my partner will excuse the rather wonky appearance of the edges of the quilt. I’m not quite sure what happened but what I thought was straight was not so I’ve lost the purple edge entirely on one side and part of it on the other, sorry partner!

I backed with a print from Good Fortune by Kate Spain. I’m hoping to get this posted tomorrow so not long for my partner to wait now 🙂 

Hope you all have a good weekend. Catch you soon x

Summer Sewing Contest

As I have a summery finish to show you I thought I’d link up with Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts‘ Summer Sewing Contest. There are some lovely makes over there!
                                                                

I’m entering this Central Park Triple Squared Tablecloth in the Home Decor category. I had originally intended this to be a quilt but regular readers will know that I’m not big on patience.As much as I love the pattern and the fabric I just couldn’t face making another 28 blocks so I stopped at 36 blocks which gives a lovely sewing machine table cover size!

The finished flimsy was around 36″ square. I’ve backed it with a print from Dolce by Tanya Whelan which works perfectly with the Central Park by Kate Spain. I was really lazy and just sewed the front and back right sides together, then turned it through the right way and topstitched around the edges. Nothing fancy here but I think it makes a beautiful addition to my sewing room when the machine isn’t in use.

Here’s a photo of the whole thing when it’s not draped over the table. I love this fabric line it’s so summery!

It’s funny how projects evolve. I think my impatience did me a favour this time round 😉 Don’t forget to go and check out the other lovely projects. Catch you soon x

Summery sewing

Way back in November 2010 I saw this fabulous quilt by Megan and promised myself I’d make one. Well you know how it is, new things appear on the horizon and I’m easily distracted 😉 So yesterday I dragged out my layer cake of Central Park by Kate Spain and consulted Megan’s triple squared tutorial, then I got busy with the rotary cutter.

A whole lot of squares and rectangles!

 I need to make 64 blocks for the quilt I’m making so I’m going to busy for a while! At least I’ve worked out how to chain piece them now though 🙂 Here are the first 4.

I love this fabric range; the colours are so summery. I’ll take some more pics when I’ve got some more blocks of four ready to assemble 🙂 It’s been really good to find a layer cake pattern that caught my fancy. I have a whole stack of layer cakes and never really know what to do with them. Have any of you got any tips for using up layer cakes that don’t involve cutting them into charm squares?
Catch you soon x