My favourite kind of quilt

You know what the best kind of quilt is?

One that has graduated from WIP to finished!

 One of my favourite online fabric stores had a sale a while back, and I grabbed a layer cake of Posy by Aneela Hoey. I knew I needed to use up that layer cake. Firstly, because I'm in love with the sweet, whimsical design. But also because I find that sometimes, my fabric goes...stale. Am I crazy for thinking that? Sometimes fabric gets stashed away, bypassed in favour of alternatives, then one day it's just not as appealing anymore.

After I bought the fabric and admired it for longer than I care to admit, I jumped onto Pinterest, hoping to be struck by amazing inspiration. Going back through my Quilts I Love board, I came across the Garden Fence tutorial by Hyacinth Quilt Designs. I knew it would be perfect, and after some quick recalculations to make the tutorial fit a layer cake, I started sewing.

I'm really bad at taking photos as I go. It's probably because I do most of my sewing in a hurry (during my little one's nap times) or at night, when the light isn't great.

But here are some more shots of the finished product anyway :-)

Measures 65 x 75 inches, sashed and bound with Moda Bella Solids, complete with a little bit of scrap improv at the back...because I failed to buy enough backing I'm cool like that.

Back with a baby quilt!

I'm back to my little blog that I love so much after a crazy, emotional couple of last months. Thank goodness for sewing, I think most of us here in the quilting blogosphere can relate to the feeling of therapy one experiences while creating. I've been focused on a few projects, the most recent finish has been a quilt for one of my closest friends' newborn daughter. I've used mostly scraps, but did cut a couple of strips of yardage off just to add some extra bulk and variety. I love looking at it up close, it's a game of eye-spy for lovers of designer fabrics!

These babies are 2 x 3 rectangles and 3 inch squares. I love the look of them, but for a short time I regretted choosing that size. Yes, that regret happened during the cutting stage.

I surrounded this sea of pink, purple and blue with a 6 inch white border, and just because I'm a little bit crazy I also made some teeny-tiny dresden plates that sit cheerfully in each corner. They are so much fun because the centres are stuffed with toy filling to give the quilt some dimension. I can imagine that sweet baby girl exploring and touching the quilt, it puts a smile on my face.

For the back, I did have several pieces from my stash that were almost big enough, but annoyingly just a little too small. I thought about it for a while, left it for a couple of days, then decided that a large scale patchwork would be a good idea.

What I loved about these 8 inch squares was how speedy they were to cut and piece. I think I'll do it again in the future - it's a great way to use large, oddly shaped fabric as backing.

I may have touched on this earlier, my Dad was very sick. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in February, it was melanoma. His first melanoma diagnosis was fourth stage, it started in the lining of his brain, no cancer site on his skin. On the 4th of September, he slipped away into the arms of Jesus, gone from our daily journey. Seeing him be buried was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. It was all too unfair, he was only 55, he had no warning, he isn't going to see his granddaughter grow up. Knowing that I will be reunited with him again one day brings great comfort but I miss him now.

Making this baby quilt has been a little bittersweet, it's a tangible reminder that life goes on, new life starts, others end. Grief that has started off as crippling is now easing slightly. Still very painful but I can carry on with daily essentials and the thought of cooking dinner no longer leaves me in tears.

One bright spot that has shone through my whole experience has been to know how loved I am by my truly amazing friends. I've had supportive phone calls, offers of practical assistance, gifts, meals delivered, and shoulders to cry on. If you have friends like this too, tell them how much they mean to you - it could change their day. And this blog entry here is for my beautiful friend Lauren, who came over today to plan a quilt together, and strongly encouraged me to get back into blogging. Thank you!

Uncluttering my head

I think I have overwhelmed myself with inspiration. Does that ever happen to you?

Every day, I read updates on my favourite blogs. That number has grown in recent times, and it is so lovely to see what different people are doing in their own unique style. Everyone seems to finish their projects so fast. It makes me want to have a go too.

I've got a lot on my mind that I'd like to achieve, and in an effort to empty my to-do list, I've just started making things. I've been rushing to fit all the sewing in teddy bear's nap times, and therefore botching things up. I'm really unhappy with the end results. Unhappy with colour choices, or techniques I've used. Also unhappy with how much time sewing has been stealing away from sitting and chatting with my husband, or at some times, my daughter. Insert a big sad face here!

Time for a reality check. Yes, it's ok for somebody else to make an amazing quilt. I don't need to make one as well, to make me happy. I don't need to fill up every spare second of my free time with 'doing'. I don't need to reinvent the wheel, or create a masterpiece in a day.

I'm not really sure what the exact point I'm trying to make is. I guess part of me needed to admit out loud that I need to slow down. When a passion becomes an obsession, step back and settle down. It's not worth burning out for something that is meant to be fun!

So in the spirit of simplicity, the last couple of things I've made were functional gifts. For my mother, I made a heat pack filled with linseed and rice for her sore back. For my mother in law, I made an oven mitt. Both projects were made from things I already owned - fabric from my stash, cotton batting (wadding) scraps that I sewed together to make wider pieces, even old tea towels that were sliced up. I can see why quilters get such satisfaction out of making scrap quilts, it feels great to be resourceful! Not that I had much choice, as at the moment our discretionary spending has been severely limited (ie. we're broke!!). I didn't get a picture of the oven mitt, but here is the heat pack.

I've tested the heat pack out and it took one and a half minutes in the microwave to get hot, and retained heat for about 45 minutes. There is approximately 600 grams of linseed & rice in there, for a rough guide.

On a much more cheerful note, I actually won a prize in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway! The lovely Gina who blogs at Party Of Eight: Our Story sent me an email to let me know that I'd won 3 fat quarters and a mini charm pack. I'm absolutely over the moon, I'd never won anything before! So a big, public thank you goes out to Gina! I'm grateful also to be able to ponder what I'll make with my prizes as I wait for its arrival from the States.

Kombi Cushion {Tutorial}

My poor husband. In all the years I've been sewing, I haven't actually made anything for him. (I'm sure he's really sad about it, haha). He's been away for work over the past week, and I took that opportunity to make him a cushion. Our old ones were all ruined in the move, and since I don't have a style to match it to, I went all out and made one I thought he'd like. A funky old VW Kombi. It's not rocket science, but I wrote up a little tutorial in case anyone would like to have a go at making their own, and needed some pointers.

Start off with a sketch of what you'd like to make. It doesn't have to be too pretty, but the more accurate it is at this stage, the easier it will make your life later. Keep in mind that whatever you draw will be reversed as an applique (important to know for letters). Then trace each individual component onto vliesofix, or any other paper backed, double-sided adhesive. For example, I wanted the bottom body of the van to be green, and the top to be yellow. So I traced each section separately onto vliesofix. Cut roughly around the traced outlines, then iron the vliesofix to the wrong side of the fabric.

This is a really great project for using up scraps, as you can see!
Cut around each piece now, on the drawn lines. 

Here is a look at the pieces cut out (minus the headlights). I was pretty happy with the result at this stage, so I went ahead and started piecing the cushion cover.

I thought a beach scene would be cool to attach the kombi van to, but it would also look good on a plain background if you prefer. You probably won't know this, but curved piecing was always one of my fears, something I was scared to even try. But I had nothing to lose here, so I gave it a go, and was so glad that I did. It wasn't that difficult, it just helps to be patient, go slow, and have a hot iron handy. If you are piecing a background, make it about 3-5 inches larger around all sides so you can trim it square.

Attach the kombi to the background by ironing it down. I find that the vliesofix doesn't bond permanently, so I like to stitch shapes down soon after ironing them. Here I used a regular stitch and raw edge applique with black cotton. I went around each edge three times, messily keeping the lines separate so that the end result yielded a 'sketched' look. It's probably my favourite detail.Next was to embroider on the VW logo and some windscreen wipers. I added a black and white striped border to echo the black stitching, and a sun in the sky because that corner looked bare! The cushion top at this stage measured 1/2 an inch bigger than the cushion insert around all edges.

I then lay down some plain white backing, cotton batting, and added the cushion top. Baste the layers together, and quilt in any way you like. I conquered another fear at this stage, free motion quilting! Gave it a go, and although I was happy enough with the result, I can't say I've mastered the skill yet. But I am so keen to keep using it! If you aren't confident with FMQ, I'd recommend using a thread that very closely matches the fabric colour, so mistakes aren't so obvious.

Last step is to add the cushion back. I used an envelope style closure, but any will do.

And there you have it!

Honestly, although I'm happy with the result, this was so hard to make because I couldn't add any pink, purple, or floral. It's not very 'me'. But it's very 'him', and that's all that matters!

Teddy Bear's Roses - A finished quilt

The quilt is done, and only four days too late.

I ended up straight-line quilting it. FMQ is something that I'm yearning to try, but given my trouble getting SL right, I may just need a bit more practice first! If you look really closely (or just enlarge this picture) you'll see the distortion where the top has been pulled by the process of quilting. It kind of looks like an optical illusion, which could be cool if it was the look I was going for. 

When you turn it over you can see that the quilting pattern is a quasi-Union Jack. That came about because I was getting discouraged with the long, straight lines pulling the fabric out of shape. So I switched it up, and I'm glad I did! 

The binding is my favourite part. I had trouble choosing what to use, as I wanted to use something existing from my stash. My stash isn't huge! But this raspberry red solid just made all the other colours pop, it framed the quilt like a picture. Best of all, it matches the front and the back. I used this tutorial by the amazingly talented Rita at Red Pepper Quilts, and it worked an absolute treat. I'm so grateful for her clear instructions, it made binding so enjoyable. It's the only part of my quilt process that went without a hitch!

I have a very long way to go with getting my quilts perfect. But that's ok. If you have any tips for me, please feel free to share them. Until then, I will keep practicing, sewing, making - sounds like a good excuse to have more fun!

Teddy Bear was sick this afternoon so we spent lots of time cuddled up here, cozy and warm. Doing nothing but peacefully watching Play School. Poor kiddo, but Mummy was happy to get some peaceful cuddles from her go-go baby!