Celebrations!

A double celebration is happening here. Yep, we're joining the celebrations for Kate and Will's big day tomorrow but more importantly I'm celebrating being a winner!

I buy quite a few pieces of fabric from Courtney at Seamstar and just recently I've started to upload to the Seamstar handmade group on Flickr. If you've made something from fabric bought from Courtney she wants to see it, plus she gives you a little incentive too, a chance to win 1m of fabric. Each month she picks a winner - this month it was little old me! :o)

I uploaded my It's a Hoot baby quilt pics and my prize arrived today. I chose some Saffron Craig Little Bird. I just love that little bird sitting there - can you spot him?

Not sure what I will make with the 2 half yards, I'm pretty sure something will spring to mind soon. What I do know is I'll keep sewing and hopefully I may win again! Woo Hoo!!

Stash stroking

Well the great tidy up continued and I am happy to announce that my sewing room does look a whole lot better, it had to as it really couldn't have looked any worse....curse that mess fairy! ;o)

During the tidying process I managed to get some of my stash under control. I'm quite new to quilting so I don't have a mega stash - though that is my dream - but I have bought quite a few pieces just recently.

If you have eagle eyes and are good at spotting you'll be able to see some Amy Butler Love FQs, some Tufted Tweets half yards, some Tina Givens Opal owl and some more Momo It's a hoot - after the success of the baby quilt for my friend I just had to get some of my own. Then I bought a tiny bit more. And a bit more. You get the picture.

A couple of friends popped round last week and we got talking about general sewing and quilting and fabrics so I took them upstairs and showed them the stash. Even though they don't sew they did stand back and admire - on a strictly hands off basis.

Afterwards we got talking about where I buy fabrics from and general costs. I had a bit of a moan to be honest. It seems to me that fabric bought in the UK can at times be silly money compared to buying the same from the US. I have purchased from the US on a couple of occasions but then faced the sting of customs - it seems really unfair to have to pay an additional £12 just because the fabric came to $33! Grrrrrrrr. Just wondering how other bloggers and crafty folk get around this - do you accept the sting of customs or the sting of UK prices? Answers on a postcard please.....

Easter Sunday Sorting

Look at the state of my sewing room......yep I should be well and truely ashamed of myself for letting it get this way.....but I'm not, well maybe just a little bit. I haven't been in there for much sewing this week but I did pop in there the other day and was a bit surprised to have been visited by the 'mess fairy'. I'm sure my house isn't the only house to have a 'mess fairy' but she normally visits the children's bedrooms, playroom and sometimes the living room. Imagine my horror to find that she had been in the sewing room too!

So earlier on I set to a spot of sorting and tidying. My growing pile of stash was soon neatly piled and I even managed to tie most of it up into bundles/collections. I love my stash, I often just visit the sewing room just to stroke the stash. Perhaps I should get out more.....

I'm hoping that the kids can be occupied with chocolate eggs and a good film later today so I can get back up there, not for stash stroking but to finish the great tidy. Wish me luck!

WIP Wednesday

Today I have been working on a pillowcase dress for a little girl, not one of my own but one I don't know, one who lives far away, one who needs a dress. Louise is co-ordinating an appeal from bloggers everywhere to get sewing and make a simple pillowcase dress for little girls living in poverty around the world. This is part of the bigger 'Dressing a girl around the world' appeal. As a mum of 2 girls who love a pretty dress this was a no-brainer for me, I just had to do it. My own girls are very lucky to have a wardrobe full of nice clothes, most of them bought and a couple of handmade items. Looking in my growing stash of fabric it was clear that I didn't have any large enough pieces of suitable fabric for a dress and so this morning I headed down to my local fabric shop. Immediately I was drawn to this mint fabric with cupcakes on - what little girl doesn't like cupcakes? Once home I got to work. The dress is almost complete - just the binding needs adding. Unfortunately I'm out of purple thread until I can nip back to the shop tomorrow. I'm hoping to have it completed and in the post to Louise on Friday. Pop over there and see my dress and others too - Louise has promised to blog about each one she receives. While your there, why not take a look at the instructions too and find some time to make a dress to make a little girl smile.

It's a hoot baby quilt - complete!

Despite not being able to sew since last Wednesday I am pleased to say that the baby quilt is complete. Having been forced home from the allotment this morning because of rain I took the time to finish this little beauty off. Most of the piecing was done early last week and I'm glad I took the time to read up on making my own binding this time round as I love the way it all goes together.

Since working with this line of fabric I have since bought a charm pack and I am looking at buying some of the eggs print too, just to have in my stash, just in case I ever need it or just in case any more of my friends decide to have a baby who will need a quilt of their very own.

My friend is VERY happy with it - though she is still to see it in the flesh! I am too, and even more so as I seem to be getting better at mitred corners! :o)

WIP Wednesday

Here is my latest WIP, a baby quilt for my friend. I've been working on this since Sunday when I initially sorted the charm pack on the dining room table. Since then the top has been pieced, a scrappy piece added to the backing fabric and strips cut ready to be made into binding. The quilt is now sitting on my machine, already half quilted! I normally don't work so quickly, not that I can't but sewing sometimes has to take a back seat to normal family life and working almost full time.

The fabrics were chosen by my friend. She told me that she had bought some squares for a 'patchwork blanket' and then asked me if I could turn them into a quilt. When I found out that she had bought Moda's 'It's a hoot by Momo' I was so excited as I've been wanting to get my hands on some for ages now.

Together we headed for Seamstar to buy the co-ordinating prints and solid for the backing. I must say that Courtney offers a truely great service with a wide range of stock for all your quilting/sewing needs (No, I haven't been paid to say that - it's my honest opinion!).

Hopefully the quilt will be finished in the next couple of days. I'm making my own binding this time round, a first for me, so I'm off to read some more tutorials before I do.

On a roll.....

The wonky blocks Playdate quilt top that I started last weekend is complete AND I've just started to make a baby quilt for my friend who is due next month. Yes I am on a roll - thanks to the school Easter holidays, which are no where near Easter this year, but that is a completely different story!

Despite me cutting the blocks far tooooo wonky to begin with the quilt top is looking good, well I think so anyway and so does Digby. I had a massive amount of fabric 'scraps' because of my mistake so I have decided to put these to good use on a pieced back. Some sewing earlier on this afternoon and this is almost done too. I hope I haven't peaked too soon!

At last!

Here is the proof that I did manage to complete the Dr Seuss quilt, as if you ever doubted me ;o)

Big blocks with smaller pieces from the panel at the bottom. This layout certainly looks a whole lot better than the first time I did it. A quick rearrangement of the panel pieces and making the quilt a block wider seems to have worked wonders for it, and also for my sanity - I really, truely did not like what I had done and was beginning to doubt my own creativity.

Backed in a plain bright yellow cotton purchased from my local fabric shop and some similar coloured binding. I quilted in straight-ish lines across the whole width of the quilt either side of the seams. The wadding is slightly thicker than I was anticipating - again bought from the local shop - not sure that I will be using it again to be honest but it does give the quilt quite a nice feel.

But the main thing is that it is being used and is fit for purpose as the top photo shows.