Friday Finds ~ The Quiet Fox

There’s been no time for sewing around here lately, but that doesn’t stop me pinning cute projects when I come across them.

Ros at Sew Delicious has made this lovely pencil case, using a free applique template, designed by Cassandra at Cass Can Sew. If cute little foxes aren’t your thing (really?) then there is also a Russian doll template available. There are links to lots of examples of how folk have used them, in various crafting projects, to give you some extra inspiration.

Could be a contender for SIPIDI, which makes its return later this month. Will you be joining me?

Shop Your Stash

I’m back with my second Sunday Stash post. Thanks to those lovely people that took the time to comment on my first outing and make me feel so welcome.

As I mentioned last time, I’ve taken a pledge not to buy any more dressmaking fabric, until I’ve made three garments. I’ve almost finished my Lonsdale dress and an A line skirt. In the interests of moving things along, I shopped my stash today to find some fabric for a pair of PJ bottoms. This came from Fabricland last year. I had planned to self draft a pattern from a favourite pair, but I picked this Butterick pattern up in a sale last month so I’ll use that as my starting point and work from there.

The fabric above was purchased to make the A line skirt. I bought 1.5 metres, which is what it said on the pattern envelope, but cut it out from less than a metre. I’m not very tall! I’ve already used a fair bit of the leftovers to cut hexies for Grandmother’s Flower Garden blocks and rectangles for the tissue holders in Friday’s tutorial. I can just squeeze out a pair of PJ shorts, using the same pattern, for my daughter.

Fabric shopping is fun and I’ll never grow tired of it, but sometimes you have everything you need on hand already, which is quite satisfying.

Have you ‘shopped your stash’ for a project this week or bought something new?

A Friendship Quilt ~ The Leftovers {a tutorial}

So, you joined a Friendship Quilt square exchange. You bought way too many a few fat quarters and now that the project is almost three quarters of the way through, you realise that you have rather a lot of a little leftover fabric. What to do with it?

Enter the tissue holder. A very simple beginner sewing project. A great way to practise 1/4” seams. OK, it’s a bit late for that one, if you’re a Friendship Quilter. A last minute teacher gift or Summer Fayre fund raiser. A useful project from scraps.

I’d seen a few tutorials online, using the same fabric inside and out and then I saw these with a contrast binding at the opening. I pinned it for future reference, but when I looked at the instructions, it seemed like a lot of work for such a small project. I thought, ‘There must be an easier way.’ Do you know what? There is.

You’ll need a 5 1/2” x 7 1/2” rectangle of your inner (plain) fabric and 5 1/2” x 6 1/2” in the outer (printed) fabric. No need to cut a paper pattern. I just used my rotary cutter, but forgot to take a picture of the fabric pieces before I sewed them together.

Place the rectangles, right sides together, matching along one of the short edges. Sew a 1/4” seam. It doesn’t really show up here, but I’ve turned it over for the next picture. I matched my thread to the lighter fabric.

Now line up the other short edges and stitch another 1/4” seam.  As you can see the lining will bulge. Don’t worry, that’s how it’s supposed to look. The plain fabric is longer so that it shows on the outside to give a contrast trim. Turn right side out.

Centre the outer (print) fabric to give yourself a narrow border (approx. 1/4”) of the lining (plain) fabric on each side, as shown in the top example. Turn over. Press with the iron on the reverse so that it’s nice and smooth, as pictured at the bottom.

Fold in half by bringing the two borders together. Finger press at the top and bottom of the fold to mark the centre point. Unfold. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get those little creases in the centre to show up, but trust me they *are* there.

Bring the right hand side in to the centre mark and the left hand side to meet it. I didn’t actually pin my own, but this is the best place to put them so you can sew both ends, without having to remove the pins. Sew a 1/4” seam across each end.

Turn right side out. Push the corners out with a chopstick, or similar pointy stick. I like to take the tissues out of the cellophane before putting inside, but if you’re making these as a fund raiser you might prefer to leave them sealed. Try not to get too carried away, once you realise how easy they are to make!

I made these from my leftover floral skirt fabric and some plain blue cotton I had in my stash. If you’re cutting from a fat quarter and the long edge (22”) is intact you can get four out by cutting a 6 1/2” strip (outer) or 7 1/2” strip (inner) and then chopping into four 5 1/2” pieces.

I’ve never written a sewing tutorial before so if anything is unclear please shout and I’ll be glad to help, if I can. Happy sewing.

ETA Some of the photos show both sides of the project, or two stages, at once. I did this to avoid the post being too photo heavy. I had two sets of fabric pieces, to illustrate the different steps, which you won’t necessarily. Apologies for the confusion caused.

Coffee and a Catch Up ~ June 2014

Come in, come in. Your timing is perfect. I have an unexpected hour or two to myself, while The Mechanic is visiting his parents with the children. I’m taking advantage of it to get back to my dress, at long last. A bit of hand stitching and an episode of Mad Men on a Sunday afternoon. Bliss.

Do you sew? Perhaps you were put off by Domestic Science (I’m probably showing my age by calling them that!) lessons at school, like me, or did you have a positive experience? Maybe there was somebody in your family who encouraged you or whose example you followed. My Gran was a talented seamstress, which meant my Mum didn’t ever need to sew herself. Gran made me some beautiful dresses when I was a little girl. I must dig out one of the little outfits I made for my girl, to show you another day.

Can I offer you a slice of fridge cake with your cuppa? I’ve been meaning to try Mel’s recipe for ages. When I was sorting out the larder cupboard during the week, I found a box of Maltesers, which had been languishing there since Christmas. Luckily I had everything else needed on hand and I could whip up a batch. Melt, stir and pop in the fridge to set. Super simple. Leave it there as long as you can bear! I left the topping off as we’re not fans of white chocolate around here.

Would you like to see what we made in class last week? I was really happy with how my first attempt at a ‘flip’ card turned out. There are lots of special dies available now, that cut and score in one go, but they are quite expensive and I’m not sure how often I would make this style of card. There’s usually an alternative way to do it. Not quite as straight forward of course, but not that tricky either.

We’ve got a busy week coming up, with my girl starting her work experience and having her bi-annual appointment with the consultant. Two classes in two different towns for me and a follow up appointment for my Mum. My boy has begun phase two of his A Level studies, now that the Year 12 exams are over, and needs to narrow down his choices for further study so that we can visit some universities. A few more weeks of school left for us. How about you? The summer holidays can’t come soon enough for me.

I’m linking up with Abi’s little tea party today and looking forward to catching up with everyone else. I’ve visited a few of you already as you’ve popped up in Feedly. That seems to be behaving itself again at the moment. Are you a fan or do you prefer Bloglovin’? I couldn’t get on with it myself and find Feedly much more user friendly.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #262

Pretty much the same rubble as last week, with a few additions.

The purple lidded box, that I take to class, was dumped on the desk when I got home and has remained there ever since. While I was unloading the boot, I noticed the MDF Christmas tree, top right, that I won in the WOYWW crop raffle. I have plans for that, but I really can’t think about ‘seasonal’ projects when we are just getting some sun.

My clutch containing hexie sewing bits and bobs, that I took to the South West Stitchers meet up on Saturday. Always a great day out, with good company, delicious cake and free flowing coffee and tea. Oh, and some sewing!

The little scrap of blue and white spotty fabric was tying up a bundle of loveliness that arrived last week from Sian. The very first square for my very own Friendship Quilt. I may have been a little bit excited and unexpectedly a little teary. I can’t wait to see what else my month brings.

The pattern came with issue 2 of Love Sewing, along with a free tape measure. How many of these does anyone need? I’d rather have a slightly cheaper cover price, or extra magazine content personally. How about you?

The washing machine is bleating at me so I’d better make the most of the sunshine and get the next load on the line. Looking forward to catching up with you all, over at Julia’s, once it’s coffee time. ETA: There’s no linky today as Julia is poorly. I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

Only one more exam left, Physics for my girl tomorrow, then we’re done. Thanks to everyone who has left good wishes for her.

PS If there’s anyone, among my readers today, that fancies taking part in the “Ever Expanding Blog Hop” that I was part of yesterday, please leave a comment to that effect and I’ll tag you in.

Coffee and a Catch Up ~ April 2014

It’s that time of the month, when Abi invites us all to sit and have a cup of tea with her. Come in out of the rain. I’ve got a treat for you today.

I was talking pancakes on Friday. It occurred to me then, that they are very similar to the drop scones my Mum used to make sometimes for Sunday tea so I rustled up a batch in time for your visit. We mostly like syrup on ours, maple or golden?

I can’t believe we are now half way through the Friendship Quilt project. Are you taking part? It’s been such fun choosing fabrics, to suit each recipient’s chosen colour scheme. Those *might* be the trimmings from Deb’s block, which went in the post on Friday. I’m hoping that the postal system will get it to the USA a bit quicker than the one I sent to Australia, which is still out there somewhere after a month. 

I’ve stuck with a log cabin block for everyone, although I’ve been changing up the design a bit. I have a stack of strips and squares cut, ready to make duplicate blocks for myself. I love the thought of having a little piece of fabric in my quilt, that will also be in another, somewhere else around the world. I’m already thinking ahead to May and chose this fabric as the starting point for (the other) Deb’s Springtime colour scheme. I’ve set up a Pinterest board with all the blog posts, I’ve noticed, sharing blocks for the Friendship Quilt. If I’ve missed any, please let me know.

In other sewing news, the dress is coming along slowly but surely. Some hand sewing is the next job, which is not really my forte, slipstitching the waistband in place on the inside. The alternative is to stitch “in the ditch” so that the stitches disappear into the waistband seam on the outside, but they would show on the inside and (in my opinion) spoil the neat finish I’ve managed so far. Do you sew your clothes, or have plans to start? I commented on the Sewaholic blog the other day and that resulted in Linda visiting me. She has recently begun dressmaking and made her first dress a few months again. By some strange coincidence Linda chose exactly the same fabric as me! How I love the connections in the blogging world.

The first issue of a brand new magazine arrived last weekend. Among the many lovely projects and patterns in there, I came across this mini art wrap, which I’d previously pinned with the idea of making one for my girl. Next on the dressmaking list, is this cute sixties shift dress. It’s a reprinted vintage pattern and I’ll be making a plain version to begin with, but I think it would look good with the peter pan collar.

The children are back at school now after the Easter holidays, but it wasn’t much of a break for them this time. My girl has her art mock all day on Thursday and the rest of her exams the following week. My boy starts his AS Level exams soon too. Lots of revision, but we did manage to get out for an afternoon, over the Easter weekend. A walk in the sunshine, by the canal at Bradford On Avon.

Ah, its time for you to go now. Mind you don’t step on any of these as you leave. They are out in force after the heavy rain we had earlier. What news will you be sharing over our afternoon cuppa? I’m off to Abi’s place to find out.

My Month in Numbers ~ March 2014

March was a very busy month around here. In fact it was a here, there and everywhere kind of month.

On the very first day of March, I drove seventy miles for a sewing meet up in Exeter. The sum total of my productivity that day, was basting the seven hexagons above, for a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Block. I spent my time chatting to the other ladies and learning lots of tips and tricks from the lovely Kerry.

I taught two classes of nine ladies and we made six projects between them both. I finished the last fifty pages of Life after Life, which I really enjoyed, after a bit of a slow start. I read all four hundred pages of Half Bad, but I wasn’t that impressed. I started The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I took a “shelfie” for World Book Day.

I cooked three litres of Meadow Barn soup, two dozen Cornish Fairings and one dozen lemon drizzle cup cakes ready for a weekend away.

I packed up my car with crafting supplies and drove ninety miles to meet up with nine lovely ladies (and three husbands) for our annual DIY retreat in Herefordshire.

A table for eight crafters and a separate table for the two messy ones! A beautiful sunrise on the Saturday morning, the view from the back of the barn and the calm after the creative storm on the Monday morning. Three blissful days away.

I came home to my first two bunches of daffodils. Only one hospital appointment this month, with three panels of beautiful stained glass to look at while we waited. On the thirteenth of the month, I made a batch of rice crispy bars, using thirteen marshmallows and thirteen toffees, along with butter and rice crispies. Spooky!

I received one hand made card and two bars of my favourite Green & Blacks chocolate, wrapped in paper decorated by my two creative children.

One of them had two wrappers, but that didn’t stop me!

That’s my March and I’m linking up with Julie and all the other counters this month.

ETA: Oops! I thought the scheduling hadn’t worked, but it *might* be because today is actually the 11th and not the 12th!

Kickstarter ~ Print your Own

So you’ve found the perfect pattern and you have in mind the fabric you want, but you just can’t find it anywhere. Wouldn’t it be great if you could design it yourself and then print as much as you needed for your project? If By Hand London get the funding they need, through Kickstarter, then we’ll be able to do exactly that.

Having been very envious of American sewing bloggers who have access to a service like this through Spoonflower, I would love it if they reach their target. I’ve pledged, might you be interested in doing that too?

PS There is a lovely selection of sewing patterns on their website. The Anna dress is on my wish list.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #251

I missed last week, due to way too much going on around here. I knew I wouldn’t have time to visit anyone. Some of the teachers are striking today, which means I have my girl home with me. Because he has AS Level exams coming up very soon, by boy has to go, much to his disgust and her delight!

My desk is in a pickle. I’m continuing my task of matching patterns/ideas with fabric and making a note of what is needed to complete the garment/project. There may be a pretty notebook involved. Thanks Jess.

I probably should have cleared all the paper crafting stuff away first, rather than just dumping the fabric and sewing paraphernalia on top, but where would be the fun in that? Strike while the iron’s hot.

On the subject of ironing, you can probably see the bottle of Mary Ellen’s Best Press there on the right. I’ve seen it mentioned on quilter’s blogs and thought I’d give it a try. It’s supposed to get out those annoying creases from the fabric being folded on the bolt and receives glowing reviews all over the web. Perhaps my iron (or my technique) is rubbish, but it didn’t work for me. The creases are still there.

Head on over to Julia’s place to find a whole host of desks, pickled or otherwise.

PS Still plenty of time to join in with this month’s SIPIDI!, if you want to.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #242

Not a whole lot happening when this was taken on Tuesday afternoon. A distinct lack of light again. I was in the middle of clearing the decks, ready to begin kitting (not knitting!) for class today. To the left, a skirt pattern and a quilting book, for two projects on the go. To the right, the favourite game of the moment.

I decided it was best to keep things simple for my first foray back into dress making. It’s been a while. I had such great plans last year and then I couldn’t quite seem to get started. I bought one or two patterns and then couldn’t find the *perfect* fabric for them. I bought some a lot of fabric and then didn’t know what to make it into. Please tell me I’m not alone in this. No? OK then. Time to stop procrastinating.

I’ll be linking up with Julia before I head out and round to visit when I get home. Have a great day.

Intentions for 2014

It seems a little late in the month for a retrospective post, so bang goes my first intention for this month! Instead I’ll look forward to what the coming year may bring.

Project Life ~ I bought a small diary to jot down things that happen each day, as a basis for some pocket scrapping. I’m really keen to give it a go this year, having read with interest the blog posts of others on the subject, over the last year or so.

Instagram ~ I upgraded my phone a couple of weeks ago and for the first time I have a camera worth using. I’ve joined Instagram and am enjoying finding my way around there. I think it will also be a useful tool for PL and possibly a good way of sharing progress with the Friendship Quilt, for those that are on there.

Reading ~ Last January I began A Song of Fire and Ice, not really intending to read all the books published so far. That’s what happened though and I have about 200 pages left of A Dance With Dragons. This year I will be catching up with all the great books I missed out on. I’ve already downloaded one or two onto my Nook.

Crafting ~ There will definitely be more sewing in my very near future. I have plans for at least one other quilt, before I receive all my Friendship Quilt blocks in June. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that. If you’re taking part, look out for a post, with some thoughts on that project, later in the week.

Blogging ~ I want to get out of the rut I found myself in at the end of the year and have some plans to that end. I also have an idea for a monthly meme, which I’ll share next week. I really hope some of you will join me.

One Little Word ~ Last year I picked ‘Connect’ and that worked well for me. This year I am choosing ‘Engage’ and I’ll talk more about that another day.

There you have it. Another fresh new year ahead of us. Let’s enjoy it together.

A Friendship Quilt ~ The Nine Patch Block

I found that there were a lot of tutorials out there for making nine patch blocks using a rotary cutter and ruler, but not much in the way of alternatives. Here’s my attempt at putting one together for anyone who doesn’t have those tools on hand.

Pick your fabrics and iron them. Make yourself a 2.5” square template. I made mine from a cereal packet. Draw around it onto the back of your fabric. I used a Frixion pen, because when you iron it the marks disappear. Pretty cool huh? Cut along the lines as accurately as you can. You’ll need nine squares, but you knew that. Right?

Lay the squares out in your chosen design.

Take the 3 squares in the left hand column and lay them right side down on top of the squares in the middle column.

Sew each pair together with a scant 1/4” seam.

Open out and press, being careful not to stretch the fabric out of shape. I pressed the seam towards the darker half of the block, you can press it open if you prefer.

Now take a square from the remaining right hand column and place right side down on the middle square.

Sew together with the same scant 1/4” seam. I’ve marked a line on the bed of my sewing machine, with masking tape, so that it stays the same throughout.

You should now have 3 rows of 3 joined squares. Press the seams.

At this point I’m hoping that the seams line up pretty well, which they do. Phew!

Now take the top row and place it right side down on the middle row.

Match the raw edges along the top and line up seams. Sew together.

Take the final row of joined squares and place face down on the middle row. Matching the bottom edge and lining up the seams. Sew together.

Open out and press. There you have a nine patch block. It’s not perfect, but I’m OK with that. It’s also not quite as crooked as it looks at the bottom right corner! You can see that the left hand edge is not level all the way down, but it’s more important to me to have the seams lined up in the middle of the block.

Any questions ask away and I’ll do my best to help. I have a Sizzix die that cuts 2.5” squares. If anyone taking part in the Friendship Quilt project, would like some cardboard templates, I’d be happy to send you some. The die also cuts nice neat squares from fabric, if you have a Big Shot. Just sayin’.

If you are planning to make a simpler Four Patch Block, then you would need to cut the fabric into 3.5” squares and join two pairs together using the scant 1/4” seam.

That’s it from me for now. I’m so looking forward to seeing what arrives with Abi over the course of this month.

A Friendship Quilt Around the World

I’ve been toying with an idea for a long time, after seeing the many beautiful patchwork quilts, made by sewing bee groups, on Flickr. I’ve wanted to have a go, but all the participants seem to be experienced and the blocks they contribute are often quite intricate designs, as specified by each member of the group.

All a bit scary for a novice. They must have started somewhere though so I came up with a plan for a virtual sewing bee of my own. I sent out a few emails to blog friends just to see if there would be any interest in such a project. I didn’t want to blog all about it and then find nobody wanted to take part. To my surprise almost everyone said, “Yes!” and we now have a group of twelve ready to begin this year long venture.

Abi ~ Creating paper Dreams

Alexa ~ Trimming the Sails

Alison ~ Life in the Slow Lane

Amy ~ Over at Our Place

Beverly ~ BE Glorious

Deb ~ Paper Turtle

Deb ~ Debs World

Fiona (me!) ~ Staring at the Sea

Jacky ~ Scrappy Jacky

Jo ~ Buckingham’s Palace

Jo ~ Sugar and Scrap

Sian ~ From High in the Sky

The idea is that everyone in the group will be assigned a month and will choose their preferred colour scheme. During that month everyone else will make a block for that person to their own design. Allowing for the fact that we all have different levels of sewing experience. Many of us have never made patchwork before. I didn’t want anyone to feel put off by that. We all have to start somewhere, right?

You don’t need any fancy equipment. A pair of decent scissors, pins and some neutral coloured thread should suffice. I imagine most people will sew their blocks on a machine, but they could be sewn by hand if that suits you better. The blocks can be anything from the simplest four patch to something a bit more challenging. Whatever you feel comfortable with. I want it to be fun, not stressful.

For now all I need you to do is decide on a colour scheme. This could be fairly specific eg blue and yellow or shades of blue, more general eg Autumnal or Summery colours, or you could just embrace the hotch potch nature of patchwork and go for the ‘pot luck’ option. Your choice entirely.

I also need an address from everyone so that I can make up a master list to send out to all the participants. If everyone could contact me by the end of the week with posting/mailing details (including surname) and a preferred colour scheme, that would be great. I can’t wait to get started.

I’ll be back soon with more info, useful links and some tutorials that may be of help.

PS If anyone reading this post is interested in the idea of a virtual quilting bee, I’d be happy to organise another group.