Quilt number 10 - Rail fence baby quilt

This quilt was done in a bit of a rush...as per normal you could be forgiven for thinking..but I had a lovely new nephew born on boxing day and although I knew he was coming I wouldn't allow myself to start until I had finished off quilt number 9. So I had to pick an easy pattern for quick piecing. I went on the Ipad application Blockfab to find an idea for a simple one and thought I would try the rail fence pattern again, this time without the borders to avoid the mistake I did with quilt number 3.

I am really pleased with the way my fabric stash has built up as I was able to make this quilt from start to finish with only fabrics from my stash, which was handy as I had done enough shopping in the run up to Christmas.  In addition as it was only a cot sized quilt I had some spare wadding left over from a previous project.

I made the strips 2 inches wide and stitched the strips together in 3's before cutting into squares. I followed the simple rule of the safari print in the middle with a pattern on top and a plain on the bottom, apart from one row.

I also added a couple of plain squares so I could personalise it by adding his name in chain stitch (clearly my handwriting and stitching are both appalling as I was frustrated it didn't turn out better).

I tried randomly arranging the squares but in the ended followed a diagonal order to them as it saved any weird matching.

For a change I used the safari pattern fabric which is mini safari by timeless treasures for the backing as well, mainly as I think with hindsight I should have made the strips a bit wider as the pattern was lost somewhat on the front.

I didn't do a small border on this one as I wanted to keep the size smaller so just did the one border. The quilting

was a freehand meander, still not a completely flat back but better than normal. I didn't do it too tight as I wanted the quilt to have some movement as it was only small.

As it is being given to a family with a newborn I did warn them about not using it as a bedcover until their child is 1, quilts are not very breathable.

Drawstring bag

I made this bag in approximately 2 hours, the pattern I was following was really easy. It was lined and had box corners which I think gave it a smarter finish compared to most drawstring bags. My son picked the car fabric as the bag has been made to keep his inhalers in, it all came from my stash, you will recognise it from quilt number 8 that I made.

The pattern I used was from this blog: http://www.incolororder.com/2011/10/lined-drawstring-bag-tutorial.html the instructions were so clear with no ambiguity at all. I made it to the sizes given but having done it once think it would be easy to resize. I also added interfacing to the outer main fabric just to give it some structure.  I used ribbons for the drawstring but think it would look nicer if I used the  fabric and made some.

Christmas Stocking - Ugandan style

I had the pleasure of visiting my friend in Uganda in October and loved the fabrics that they had. The only issue was that you had to buy them in 3 metre units as this was the standard to make up a dress so I expect I will be making lots of things in the future with the fabrics (of which I bought 4 different types and my friend gave me her left over fabric).  However she did request that I make her a Christmas stocking, which of course I was happy to oblige.  As per normal this project was rushed on account of needing to get it posted to another friend to take out.

I cut out the main fabric first and then applied some fusable webbing to it to make it stiffer. Next was the applique and ribbon detail. I used cookie cutter applique with the african fabric onto a plan fabric that was already in my stash. I also added a small ribbon in order for it to be hung up.

I had to trim the seams to get it to lie flat (even then it was not as neat as some of my other ones)  for the finishing touch I made her initial letter for her out of a different fabric, one that is special as the cushions at a lodge we stayed at were the same.

Quilt number 9 - Quilt as you go

This quilt is the one I made as a replacement to the one I accidentally made with the swazstickers, I was needing to get it done quickly so I kept the pattern simple and used the quilt as you go technique to make the blocks before joining them together.

 I also did a couple of panels of applique to make it more fun and personalise it for the child.

I kept this quilt as a modern style in soft colours, knowing the parents I thought this would be more to their taste than the original colour scheme I went for.

 The main pattern fabrics came from John Lewis, who have recently extended their quiting range at my local store - just watch out for the labeling, the other day I saw some gorgeous elephant print fabric that would have been great on a baby quilt that was hand wash only, seriously - who has time to hand wash baby quilts.

Kept the blocking and binding simple too. I did try for the first time to machine stitch the binding on both sides so I could get it done quicker. Unfortunately this ended up looking a bit messy and I probably shouldn't have tried to so it so fast on my first attempt.

Uncle Sam Trousers

Another outfit for dressing up, this time for the May Fayre at the kids school, they also have a parade up through the village to open it. The theme for my DS was "America", which I was not daunted by in the slightest as DD had also had to have an american dress up theme a few years ago so I could already dig out the t-shirt (yes, I did stick on the 50 stars!) and the crumpled hat that I made from felt. Didn't think he would want to wear a red and white stripey skirt so I rustled up a pair of trousers.

Given my dislike for cutting and piecing patterns I thought it would be easiest to use an existing pair of trousers as the pattern as I knew they fitted. So after a bit of stretching and drawing I had cut out the pieces and then got to use my new toy - MY OVERLOCKER!! This humble piece of equipment is supposed to revolutionise my sewing, or that is how I sold it to my other half when convincing him of the need for one.  I was impressed with the professional finish it gave the clothes and the speed at which it could do alterations - just need to make sure that I don't over adjust as it cuts as it goes so there is no turning back once done.

As with all my dressing up outfits I did make the trousers slightly on the large side in case they were needed again in the future. Overall I was happy with the outfit.

Quilt Number 8

This quilt has taken rather a long time to complete - it was intended for a friend on the birth of her son but the boy is now 9 months old and she has only just received it.  This quilt was constructed on a cookie cutter applique course at hometown, taught by Marion.  The actual applique side of things was relatively easy, cutting round templates, using wonderbond and then stitching round - but what was really interesting on this course was designing the quilt yourself. I made up the layout myself and the placing of colours and then added the applique to the appropriate squares. The planning of the quilt was quite intense as although you only needed basic maths it did require a lot of concentration to get right, you can see my plans below and the numerous attempts to get it right.

The colours on this quilt are very basic, red, blue and white but sometimes I think it is nice to keep it simple and I didn't want to make another green colour quilt. There was also very little in the way of patterned fabric, I didn't want to draw too much attention away from the applique.

During the construction I used quilters tape for the first time to set out my design on the wall and was really impressed with how it helped with the visualisation of the colours and did lead to a couple of changes to balance out the quilt.

I loved how the front of the quilt turned out, I used free motion quilting all over the quilt which worked quickly but it wasn't without its problems - I managed to get a huge pucker part way down the back but had quilted so much before I realised that it would have ruined it to unpick it. Also the tension went strange when I changed the bobbin.  But the reality is that the more quilts I make the more I realise that I will never make the perfect one as my standards get raised each time.

I will add more photos when I find where I have saved the ones of the wip, so expect this post to change in the nearish future.

World book day - Mr. Bump and Coraline

Another year and another set of costumes, except this year I have two to make. Thankfully my youngest was a simple idea - Mr Bump. And daughter wanted to go as Coraline (yes, it is a book and not just a movie, but no, she has not read the book).

Coraline doll

I made this up as I went along, not following a pattern but just making sure that I cut the fabric in batches so the pieces matched up and were equal size.  The good thing about projects like this is that I can use up lots of scraps so didn't need to purchase any additional things.  I had been keeping my husbands old shirts in my scrap pile for a while which came in handy for both the legs of the doll (black and white tights) and the blue skirt.

I made sure to sew the button eyes and hair on the doll prior to completely stitching together and stuffing to make it a little easier. Although sewing the head on was a little tricky and you will notice from my first attempt I managed to sew it one backwards!

The skirt and top were fairly simple to put together but the mac did take a while and playing with paper to work out exactly how it would piece.

Anyway the finished item is below:

 Mr. Bump

I was going to make the shape out of 6 eggish shaped pieces but after cutting the first 4 decided it was going to be plenty big enough

I used a couple of rings of boning round the centre to help it stick out whilst also being flexible, the outfit had to be worn all day at school so I didn't want to use a hoop. I also got away with using a zipper foot to stitch the boning directly onto the fabric (blue fleece) so this saved time with additional pockets but was a bit hard due to the circular shape being created.

More old shirts were used to create mr bumps bandages and then I added a rolled hem on the neck line and threaded some ribbon through for a simple draw string opening.

When it came to the face I cheated...it was now 10.00pm the night before world book day and the pressure was on so I cut up some felt and stuck it with fabric glue.  Not sure if it was the fabricor the glue but it wasn't taking too well so I left it with pins in over night.

I didn't make arms or legs for this outfit as my son's school jumper was the right shade of blue (or close enough!) and he had a pair of trousers to match as well. I just cut slits for the arms to come out - no need to hem with the fabric.

So here is the finished article being modeled for you by my boy :)

Dinosaur bag

Ok...so the title of the post doesn't quite reflect the actual bag but it was a bag for carrying the dinosaurs that my son got from his Aunty and Uncle. The fabric was some safari fabric that just looked too gorgeous not to buy from my favourite fabric shop, Hometown, Rochester.  I originally tried to follow a pattern from another blogger that cut the entire outside fabric in one go but thankfully I realised in time that it would not work with fabric that had a particular direction.  See the pattern below that I originally made out.

I then reworked it to allow for seam allowances with directional fabric. I also decided to make the bag a bit bigger than the original pattern - this proved to be a bit of a mistake as the bag ended up floppy with quite a large opening.

The batting was attached to the lining which was a plain fabric.

To improve on this bag I would probably put a base in it next time. Despite my reservations about it my boy loves it :)

Cross stitch margaritas cushion

This cushion was sold as a kit from Vervaco but was actually only the cross stitch itself so I had to find the cushion and backing fabric to make it up.  The kit was a present and not the type that I would normally pick but I still completed it. The kit came with plenty of yarns, even though it may not look it at times, there were plenty of every colour. The instructions also recommend that you separate the yarns into their different colours at the start - I didn't do this straight away but wished I had, the greens were very close in colour as were the yellows. The kit was lacking a graph pattern to follow so you had to rely on the colour printed which was confusing at time and meant at times I had to wait for some natural light to complete sections.  I did use the photo at times to try and guide me.

When  making it up I didn't bother to make an opening, I figured that it wouldn't be the type of cushion that would be used much. The backing fabric was some I had in my stash following the making of cushions for the lounge.

This cushion is a little bit special as both my son and daughter had a go at completing some of it and it has inspired my daughter to get on with one of her tapestry kits that she had for Christmas.

Chair covers

About 4 years ago we purchased some seats to go with a table that had kindly been given to us from my in-laws, at the time there was a limited selection of dining chairs in dark wood to match but we found some that went well.  The seating was a plain beige colour which looked nice in the shop but sadly did not stand the test of time with a family with 2 kids and needless to say were getting pretty grim with dirt and stains.

Back in September my other half suggested taking them to an upholsterer to be recovered and was pleasantly surprised when I suggested that I do it myself.  I managed to find some lovely fabric in John Lewis to fit in with our kitchen (Oak and Aubergine units) and I set to taking them apart. The seats came off relatively easily but the previous covers had been stapled in place very securely, it took a couple of evenings to take them off with my wrist aching at the end. 

It was then very easy to cut a template from the cover out of the new fabric and then recover them. I invested in some fabric protector spray and gave them a good coat and soon they were looking like new.

The hardest part was finding some staples to fit the staple gun we had but a very helpful person in screwfix opened the box so I could try them for size in the store.  I mention the names of the businesses I find useful in my blog not because I get any payback or commission from them (although that would be great!) but because I believe in giving credit where it is due and assist you my lovely readers to know where good places for sourcing things are.

If you would like to see the end result then please admire the pictures below, I am going to attempt to do more work in progress pictures when working now but I am on a bit of a catch up projects that I have completed already.