Appliqued Cards

I'd wanted to try to make an appliqued card for a while but for some reason had always put it to the back of my 'project to do list'. I think I'd overcomplicated it in my mind. I made this card rather by accident I must admit. Having completed sewing a bag for a friend's birthday I realised I hadn't  actually got a card for her! As I had my sewing machine out and a selection of fabrics I quickly whipped up this.

When I said I quickly made this, I mean less than five minutes. And that is from the first thought to the finished product. I just used the regular foot on my machine, possibly not as easy as a free hand foot but I don't have one of those..yet. 

Going back to my favourite nature theme I cut out a random petal heart shape for the flower and just made it up as I went along. I think sometimes the most simplistic images, which are a little rough round the edges are the most effective. One thing I did find really helpful was a little pritt stick for the fabric to just hold it in place whilst I sewed along the edges, a wet glue would have soaked through, I just needed to tack it.  The little bee adds a cutesy touch. I did colour some stripes on the bee with a gold pen.

Now I know how simple it is I will be making lots more of these! I'm thinking maybe collections of cards. Different flowers, seasons, even insects?! I used this as a birthday card but it could be used for any occasion. Has anybody else in blogworld tried this charming past time?

The Queen's Jubilee

So, ever since Wills & Kate got hitched last year I have been a massive fan of our royal family. Living in a small English village in the middle of the countryside I have realised the importance of community. Also, living 30 minutes away from London, I do feel rather attached to The City. Together with some close neighbours we are holding a jubilee street party, only as you can only close side streets and culdesac, we are holding the party in our front garden which is huge and has views of our 900 year old church. Quite astmospheric.

Planning is already under way since it's only about 6 weeks away. I thought I would show you some jubilee inspiration that I have found around the web as I did my own party research. Are you celebrating the jubilee?

 

 

I'm thinking vintage garden party with the odd union jack themed accessory! Keeping it tasteful rather than garish! The picture on the bottom is the road I live on. If you look closely you will see the house beyond the tudor houses with a brick wall, that's mine! All photo credits are listed below. I'd love to hear if and how you will be spending the jubilee weekend!


Picture credits: http://vintageamethyst.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/royal-wedding-decor-ideas.html, http://roomenvy.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/garden-ideas-pretty-pastels/, http://www.teacupsandtiaras.co.uk/littlevintageteaparty.html, http://zinawright.typepad.com/messyart/party-ideas/page/2/, http://www.dovetail-design.co.uk/vintage_tea_party,http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1281365

Ribbons, Trims and Projects on the Go

So I've generally been a bit caught up in life recently - who hasn't?! I've been busy buying, planning and making though so not all has been lost! I seem to have a little issue though with buying ribbons and trims. I buy them because I love them but yet nothing much seems to happen with them and I take them out only to admire them! It's a good job the husband is neither interested or even pretends to care at my shopping habits! Hooray for that.

I just thought I'd show you a selection of my favourite bits. Some jubilee themed from my Lovely Mama, some sparkley and some just because. If anybody has any suggestions on what I could do with them, I'd love to hear them! I've also started Quilt Number Two.

Just thought you could see a work in progress. I've sewn roughly half the rows for the quilt. I did have the other half neatly arranged in order to be sewn but my darling child thought it would be fun to have a sort of confetti-throwing-but-really-using-quilting-squares play session. Still, at least he felt involved. Or something.

I've mentioned before that something which always inspired me is nature. I love bring the outdoors, in. A couple of summers ago I found some flat pebbles at the beach. They were fairly unremarkable as far as pebbles go but they stacked on top of each other really nicely. I carefully selected a few that decreased in size and took them home. I thought it would be a bit lovely to pretty them up a little so I decopatched them!

 It's a lovely activity to do with children too and toddlers love to stack them up different ways.

So, that's a little bit of what I've been doing just quietly getting on with.

Trees That Hold Hands

I absolutely love it when trees grow over and touch each other creating a tunnel. Since I was a child I had imagined that they were actually holding hands. When the sun shines it looks so magical but after dusk it changes dramatically and looks kind of eery. The second from bottom image is a tree tunnel shaped by trains in Ukraine! Apparently it's called The Tunnel of Love there...

A Cabin in the Woods & Other Inspirations

So, I've been thinking for a while about how I would love to go to Canada and live in a log cabin in the forest. A bear proof log cabin. Maybe with a gun. But then I figured I would really miss my family so decided that (frequent) a holiday('s) might be sufficient. But then I checked my bank balance (the dread) and came to the conclusion that a holiday to Canada would not be happening any time soon.

Looks pretty good, hey? I would have a little wooden fishing boat and wear a lot of plaid. 

These are some mountains in Banff I could ski down. But no matter how I present the idea of a trip to Canada to the Husband, we still can't afford to go. Yet. Cue another brainwave please...

Scotland.

It's a jolly sight closer. And cheaper! After spending a morning comparing images of Canada and Scotland I don't think you can really tell the difference, much. I have been to Scotland before and loved it but I still hadn't appreciated the beauty it really does have on offer. I am still planning on a Canadian holiday in a few years but I am totally ok with a Scottish substitute for now!


My tree quilt was stitched with a Canadian forest in mind. I find forests so inspiring, the range in height and colours of the trees and the trickling streams leading to massive huge lakes. I am planning some more projects of a forest theme.


What and where inspires you most? Would you be happy with a Scottish substitute?


xxx


p.s. this post is by no means sponsored by the Scottish tourist board!

A Very Clever Man & Other Things

So, as my earlier post mentioned, I've only gone and discovered quilting. Not what I would describe as 'fuddy-duddy' quilting but modern and beautiful quilting. Clean lines, simplistic yet complex and fabulous fabrics. To me that is a recipe for a wonderful quilt.

My main source of inspiration is a man called Kaffe Fassett. He is an amazing textile artist. Just google image him! As I am new (and slightly ignorant) to the world of quilting and fabrics I didn't realise that he also did a range of fabrics, which makes sense really. I only realised this when browsing his website and I saw that I had some of his fabric! I bought mine from Patch Fabric and  Haberdashery.


I was always slightly dubious about buying online as I wasn't sure if you could see the colours properly but in my experience of shopping at Patch, yes, yes you can! The fabric is of the best quality, orders are processed very quickly (I ordered at 3pm and received the order the next morning) and the fabric ranges are exactly the quirky and kooky style I favour.

How sweet is this Kaufman deer print? I unashamedly required that image from the Patch website. Here are some images of Kaffe's quilts to get you drooling...

Oh, the possibilities.

In which I get the quilting bug...

So I've had a long break and had a chance to figure out what it is exactly I want to do. Okay well, I'm still not certain on what I want to do long term, but short term I have got some fabulous projects to do!

I've given the commission work a long break. And actually, I feel happy about my decision not to return there - at least for now. I found my time was so taken up with trying to replicate somebody else's ideas that I didn't have time to dream up any of my ideas. I'll still sell what I do, and I will still personalise stuff, just not in the same way I was doing.

So the first project I started was this forest inspired tree quilt for my little Rory-kins. This little snap was taken 5 minutes ago on my iPhone as the boy was snuggled up watching Peppa Pig so not the best quality, I know! I need to get my camera and take some better pictures so you can see the colours.

I took my inspiration from the lovely Sharilyn at Lovely Design and this tutorial at The Purl Bee. I changed the original design to make it more my own. The only thing I kept was for obvious reasons the shape of the trees, the random placement of trees between the plain pieces and I loved the way the trees changed colour to reflect the seasons. I changed the size of the squares (mine are more rectangular) and the materials I used are, of course, different.

Whenever I saw quilts in the shop I always fancied one for my bed but always recoiled at the price. Having made one from scratch, I can see the prices are totally justified! This quilt has been 2 years in the making! It actually took me a year to find the quilting shop!! I had no idea it actually existed and spent so long trying to find green fat quaters I liked. But once I had started building the green fabric pile it got a lot easier. I did the majority of the work for this quilt in one week (the week before Christmas, no less) and for a first quilt I think I did pretty well!

I have even started colating more fabrics for the next quilt. A fabulous nautical affair in blues, whites and a dash of seaside-rock red. I can't wait to show you that. I also like the sound of an all white quilt, different whites and textures. Practical? No. Gorgeous? Oh yes! Think I have got the quilting bug.