Purple Patchwork Pillow

Well, it's really a cushion but pillow sounded better!

This is going to be a birthday present, and up until yesterday evening, it was a collection of fabric, and then I realised that we're meeting for dinner on Saturday night. It came together really quickly and I'm really pleased so far - hopefully the last piecing together goes as well!

Edited - I got impatient (and Hubs is playing Call of Duty....) so decided to finish this rather than mark my exam papers. Feeling very proud now.

Walking before I can even crawl?

The last few weeks have been really stressful - no one reason in particular, we just have too many things to do and not enough time to do them in! As a result, I've done very little sewing apart from some of the finishing touches on the cross stitch.

I decided that this is actually making things worse as I wasn't having any time to unwind - so I went (online!) fabric shopping! I bought a charm pack of Moda's Half Modern Moon which I *love* and I've found a relatively simple pattern on the bake shop website - but I'm cutting out some rows as I wanted a square quilt.

Hopefully there should be a photo of the layout below, the squares are organised in a vaguely rainbow pattern because this is a present for myself (T-2 months til my birthday) and I love them! I'll then add rows of white sashing in between.

So, we have fabric I really love, a pattern I've adapted, it's my first quilt and I'm using a machine borrowed from my lovely mother in law - what could possibly go wrong?!?

The Week of The Cross Stitching

I've not managed to get any machine sewing done this week - partly because my machine is still broken and I didn't check out my order at Simply Solids (oops.....).but mostly because I've been cross stitching instead.

One of my lovely friends back up North has just had a little girl, who looks absolutely adorable from the pictures. I started a cross stitch when B first told us that she was pregnant, and so I've been spending my evenings trying to finish it off.

Last time I did any cross stitching was at a Guide meeting when I was about 12, and I think I might leave it another 14 years before I try again! I have enjoyed some of the process, but it really hasn't been something I want to do again!

Now to finish it off, get it framed and post it off up North.

Link Up

In keeping with one of my New Year's goals of being more proactive and confident, I decided to link up with the Small Blog Meet organised by Lily's Quilts - who would surely think I'm stalking her from reading my last posts!

So, hello!!

Fabric Woes

I just can't seem to pick fabric, it's so much more difficult than I thought!

As I mentioned, I want to make a small quilt for Hubby for our anniversary. We're having the living room decorated and it's beginning to look a bit more grown up now that we're replacing our first bits of furniture (bought as students or when we first lived together in a tiny flat.) At the minute, we have a bright pink fleece throw that keeps us warm when we're watching TV. My parents bought it for me when I first went off to uni, and it's getting a bit tatty now, so I think I'll relegate it to the bedroom and try and make a replacement for Hubs.

I loved the idea of joining in with Lily's Quilts Dead Simple QAL as it seems very beginner friendly! However, I'm having trouble picking the fabric, it needs to mix well with the brown/teal-y colour scheme in the lounge and be quite boy-friendly (only comment from Hubs was "no pink!")

This is the Design Seeds pallette that I chose:

Then I bought these fabrics:

Kona in Chocolate, Khaki, Olive, Ivory and Teal

You can see the colour of our new sofa in the background. I like these tones, especially the teal blue, and they're very Scouty colours, so very approriate for us. I'm still not convinced though - are they the right tones, should I replace the green, do I need a print in there?? I then saw this gorgeous table runner, and am even more confused, as I think I like this even better!

Will have to think a bit harder about this before I start cutting I think (not that I can start sewing until I get round to buying a new pedal!)

PS - please excuse any faux pas in terms of QAL ettiquette - I've linked to everything so hope that's ok!

New Years Eve Resolutions

Happy NYE! I can't believe how quickly this year, and particularly this holiday, has flown.
I received some really thoughtful and beautiful gifts, including a hand knitted mug cosy and homemade sweets! My MIL also got me a bundle of fabric and buttons and beads which I loved!
I think our homemade gifts went down well too, even though I did have to hand finish them when the machine went puff.

Decorations made for a friend who couldn't find blue ornaments that he liked. In the rush, I didn't take any photos of the rest of the presents that I made - dafty!

Anyway, here are my aims and thoughts about the coming year - if I write them down here I've got more chance of keeping them!

1. Stop procrastinating and get the machine fixed!

2. Make something for myself, as everything I've made so far has been given away. I'm thinking about making a case for my kindle like this.

3. Make something for Hubby for our second wedding anniversary in April - hopefully a version of the Dead Simple QAL from http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/

4. Have another go at a cushion and get the backing right this time! Thanks for the helpful suggestions last time to fix the bodge I made of my hexie panel cushion, the velcro did work.

5. Get nice camera so I can take decent pictures of my triumphs and disasters rather than using my phone!

I wonder how many of these I'll be able to actually tick off in a years time....
Oh and I should add in resolution number 6 which gets made every year and never kept - get fit and get some work-life balance!

Christmas Presents Prep Continued!

I've been busy in the last few weeks starting all the Christmas presents.

So far we've got 7 jars of marmalade, with a sneaky bit of whisky for all our lovely grandmas and the other wonderful older ladies that we know. The chili vodka and mulled vodka are infusing (that's the best word that I can come up with, brewing doesn't seem right!) and the ingredients for shortbread biscuits, stollen and chocolate fudge are sitting in the cupboard waiting for the right moments.

I've been busy with the sewing machine and needle too. I'm making two different types of ornaments, one made out of felt:

either made up off the top of my head or using the tutorial here

The other type is a small cross stitch which I'm going to put in a mini embroidery hoop:

The big problem is my best friend's cushion. The front is finished and I'm really pleased (except for the little bits where the tension went a bit wonky, but I didn't realise until it was all too late!)

However, the back hasn't gone quite so well! I tried to do an envelope back, but I think I misunderstood (or mismeasured, or was just being stupid!) when I cut out the material. The actual sewing of it went really well, and I learnt so much from doing it, but the back seems really gape-y now:

Any suggestions for how to fix it? I was thinking that I could make some tags like those on duffel coats and attach these to the right side, then add some little pearl buttons on the left to hold it closed - would that work?

T-15 days - can't wait!