Friday 29 May 2015

Farm Girl Friday!

Hello! I am really pleased to be able to share with you all of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks. Yes,  I am all caught up and completely up to date!! Yay!! Today is week five of the Farm Girl Friday SAL and, as well as the blocks from the previous four weeks, I have finished the blocks for this week too.  I do have to say that once I got started on the blocks they did become a bit addictive and I couldn't stop!!  So here they all are......

Week one: Apron Strings Block



Week two: Autumn Star Block



Week two: Baby Chick Block



Week three: Baking Day Block



Week three: Butter Churn Block



Week four: Canning Season Block



Week four: Chicken Foot Block



Week five: Churn Dash Block



Week five: Cool Threads Block



Hope you like them!  Don't look too closely at some of the points because they are far from perfect but, they have been great fun to sew!  It is also fun to visit Lori's blog to see what 'extra' ideas and tips she has. Have a lovely weekend!

Thursday 28 May 2015

Sugar Candies Mini Quilt

You may remember a short while back I wrote a post about a pattern I was testing for Nadra at Ellis and Higgs well, the pattern has finished being tested and today I am allowed to show you my finished version of this very pretty little quilt.



It is called 'Sugar Candies'.  All the different versions which Nadra's pattern testers made are being shown over on Nadra's blog today.  Why not pop over and have a look at them all... there is plenty of variety!



I made mine using some bright fabrics that I found in my stash which I think worked well with the pattern design.  Nadra's pattern instructions were very clear to follow and the little quilt went together very quickly and easily.



I machine quilted it using my walking foot and, I was very pleased with how the quilting looked.



Nadra is shortly opening a new online shop where this and, some of her other patterns will be available.  Why not pop over and take a look?



Wednesday 27 May 2015

Gail Pan Patterns: May Link Up

Hello, today is the next link up for the Gail Pan Patterns Sew-a-long hosted by Martina at Sunshine Quilting.



My project for May is this cute little free stitchery pattern which Gail first showed on her blog page in 2012 when she was Aurifil's April designer of the month.



As I completed most of the embroidery while I was away from home, I decided that it would be easiest to use just one variegated thread to stitch the whole design.  This meant I could just take one skein of thread rather than carry a number of different colours.



The thread I used was a hand dyed fine silk by Stef Francis.



I added a border made of scraps of Tilda fabrics and turned the embroidery into a mug rug. I added some cute little buttons on the border for fun!



Why not visit Martina's blog to see what everyone else has made this month?

Monday 25 May 2015

Bank Holiday Sewing....

Hello! I hope all of you who have had a long weekend this weekend, have enjoyed yourselves!  It was a nice sunny weekend here which always makes it more enjoyable.  For me, it was a busy weekend.  I would have liked to have spent the whole weekend sewing but, I did feel that the sunny weather meant that I should be outside at least part of the time so, I spent Saturday afternoon in the garden weeding.  I was very pleased to get that job done and the garden looks much better for it!



I did get a lot of sewing done as well.  I managed to catch up quite a number of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks but, I will show you those later in the week.



I also managed to finish off this little embroidery which I gave you a peek of.  It was a hand project that I took with me on my recent trip to Carlisle but, it is my Gail Pan project for the next sew-a-long link up, so you will have to wait until Wednesday to see it!



So, I have told you all about the projects which I can't show you this time but, what have I got to show you?  Well, I also managed to make two really cute little snap top purses. I used some of my favourite Tilda fabrics and a great video tutorial by Gourmet Quilter which I found on Pinterest.  They were great fun to make and took very little time.




I also decided to make a little Tilda character from the book 'Tilda's Spring Ideas'.  It is a cute little bug..... I thought it could be a 'June Bug'.




I think she's rather cute!



Friday 22 May 2015

Getting caught up.....

You may have noticed I've been a bit quiet here this week, that is because I have had a very busy 'getting caught up' sort of week.  Firstly, I had to catch up with all the laundry that we brought back from our weekend away. I also had to catch up with a stack of paperwork that has been waiting for my attention and, I have had the Farm Girl Fridays SAL blocks to catch up with too!


Well, I have done the laundry and the paperwork and, resisted the VERY great temptation of looking through two beautiful magazines which arrived for me yesterday.  The Spring and Summer issues of 'Crazy Quilt Quarterly' that I ordered have arrived!!  I could hardly wait to have a good read through the lovely magazines by Pamela Kellogg but, I needed to remain focussed on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks as I did not want to fall any further behind, so I just had to make do with a quick look through them. They look gorgeous!!


I set myself up a 'cutting station' on my dining room table and sorted through lots of fabrics. I have to admit to being a little out of my comfort zone with some of the brighter fabrics I think these blocks need as, I usually use much softer colours. However, that is part of the fun of joining in!!


Sorting through the fabrics did lead to some reorganisation of my boxes of scrap fabrics which, took longer than I had hoped but, I did eventually start work on the blocks and I now have six 12" blocks all cut out ready to be pieced together.


Luckily it is a long weekend here in the UK this weekend, so I am hoping that I will get some quality time in my sewing room and have the blocks all caught up by the beginning of next week.  I also hope to have time to sit and quietly read the magazines to get some inspiration for embellishing my next crazy quilt block.  If what I have seen is anything to go by, I won't be disappointed!!  Have a happy weekend!  

Monday 18 May 2015

Hurray! Monday.... Stitchery Link Up Day!!

I am just back from a lovely weekend away.  We went to visit some family who live in Carlisle, which is not too far from the Lake District, so we had a fabulous time walking around Buttermere.


We were very lucky with the weather and the scenery was spectacular. After we had walked around the lake, we also visited Rannerdale where we found a valley of beautiful bluebells... I have seen bluebell woods before but, I had never seen them growing in the open like this and it was quite a sight!


We travelled back this morning so, I am just in time to link up for this week's Stitchery Link Up hosted by Super Mom - No Cape.  Pop over and have a look what everyone else has shared!!


Today I am sharing a couple of projects which you can read all about here when I first posted about them.  I really enjoyed creating these little hoop art projects and I hope you will like seeing them too!


Hope your week is a good one!

Friday 15 May 2015

No Farm Girl Friday Blocks....

I know that I should really be writing a 'Farm Girl Friday' post today to show you the blocks I have made in the 'Farm Girl Vintage' sew-a-long but, I haven't got any blocks to show you..... yet!

My 6" 'Apronstrings' Block which I made into a pincushion

In the end, I decided that I shouldn't combine the birthday swap blocks  which I wrote about in my last post, with the 'Farm Girl Vintage' blocks.  I also think I am going to make a 12" version of the 'Apronstrings' block that was the first 'Farm Girl Vintage' block.  


June: Ohio Star Block (Lilac/Light Green): Julie 

Once I had made my decision, I started thinking which blocks I should make for the three June birthdays and, before I knew where I was, all my sewing time had been used up making the three June birthday blocks and there was no time left for the 'Farm Girl Vintage' blocks. So I'm going to show you the June birthday blocks instead!


June: Pinwheels (Pink): Claire

Now my 'Farm Girl Vintage' blocks will have to wait until next week.... I will have to catch up all of the blocks I have missed, including the ones that should be started today.  That will be four blocks in total, so I should have them all caught up by next Friday!


June: Broken Dishes (Pale Blue): Jill

I have a busy weekend ahead with family, so I won't be getting near my sewing machine but, I have prepared a little hand stitching project just in case there is a spare minute here and there!



Hope you all enjoy a happy weekend!

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Birthday Block Swap

At the beginning of the year I joined up to participate in a birthday block swap in one of the online quilt groups that I belong to.  The idea is that the ladies participating each make a block to send to you during your birthday month.  There are 15 ladies taking part and the blocks are 12" finished size.  That means for your birthday you will receive 15 lovely blocks (which have come from all over the world) to make into a wonderful quilt.  It is very exciting!!

February: Monkey Wrench (Blue/Green): Julie

You can make any style of block that you want but, you have to use the colours that the birthday girl has chosen for her quilt.  Here are the blocks that I have made to date.

March: Dutchman's Puzzle (Red/Cream): Nancy

There were no birthdays in January, so no need to make a block but in February I made a 'Monkey Wrench' block for Julie (green/blue). I think the block may have some other names too.

March: Dutchman's Puzzle (Purple/Teal): Tanya

In March there were three birthdays, so I made three 'Dutchman's Puzzle' blocks for Nancy (cream/red), Tanya (purple/teal) and Claire (light/dark green).

March: Dutchman's Puzzle (Light/Dark Green): Claire

For April I made a 'Dresden Plate' block for Christina (lilac/light green)

April: Dresden Plate (Lilac/Light Green): Christina

and for May I sent a 'Disappearing 4 Patch' block to Gerd (white/brown/sand).

May: Disappearing 4 Patch (White/Brown/Sand): Gerd

In June there are three birthdays, so three blocks to make.  As it is always a juggling act to manage to make time for everything that needs to be done, I was thinking that I could be clever and make the blocks from the 'Farm Girl Vintage' SAL (which come in a 12" size) as my June birthday swap blocks.... I would just have to use the colours that have been chosen by the swap participants, which won't necessarily be very 'farm girl' or 'vintage' but will still be the blocks from the sew-a-long.  It would save me some time.  What do you think? 

Tuesday 12 May 2015

May Snow Happy Heart Block

I was so excited to get started on my block for May's 'Snow Happy Heart Pattern' designed by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs, that once I got stitching I just couldn't put it down until it was finished.


I started by designing the layout of the block.  Once I had decided how the block was going to look and what size background fabric I was going to use for the applique, I cut a piece of fabric and traced through the words that I had decided to embroider onto it.  I then backed the fabric with some lightweight fusible interfacing and pieced the block together.


Once the block was pieced, I embroidered the words I had traced, using a backstitch. Next I completed the snowman embroidery as per Anne's pattern instructions and, once finished, I appliqued my heart in place on the centre panel of the block.  


I wanted to embellish the block with something that reflected the word 'blossom' which I had embroidered, so I added lots of little pink lazy daisy flowers to the background and a sprinkling over the rest of the block too. They were great fun to stitch and I think they work quite well as blossom. They also reflect the sweet little flower that the snowman is holding in the applique.


I am really pleased with the results! If you are interested in following along with my Snow Happy Heart Quilt I have, with Anne's kind permission, added a 'Snow Happy Heart Quilt' page to my blog which gives the details of the individual blocks and their measurements. The link is on the right hand sidebar under 'Pages' (below the photograph of the embroidered wheelbarrow).


I am a little late for those reading this in the UK but in the US it is still Monday, so I am linking this post to the fifth Stitchery Link Party over at Super Mom No Cape.