London Calling!

It's finished!  

I feel like this quilt has taken me FOREVER, but in reality, it's just been a process of patience and lots of love.  It all started in April, when it was my turn to be Queen in our paper piecing Wombat Stew bee.  I knew I had lots of quilts to make for 40th birthdays in the coming 12 months, so tried to think of one in particular that could use some paper piecing blocks.  It didn't take me long to propose London themed blocks, and the lovely Kristy designed some amazing patterns for us to use, as well as Alyce designing her own Big Ben block!

 

The finished blocks started arriving and I was gobsmacked at how fabulous they were!  I received seven in total, so then just had to make up the rest myself.  I ended up with 13 paper pieced blocks, and added two fabric blocks to make up the numbers.  The lovely Deborah Gun on Instagram sent me a fat quarter of London subway fabric - it's amazing!  Putting the quilt top together was painstaking......literally, my brain was in pain with all the maths required.  Nine of the blocks were the same size, the others were all over the show!

So I just sat on my loungeroom floor with a calculator, pen and paper, and worked out how big each row of sashing needed to be between every single block, in order to end  up with a balanced quilt top.  I'm incredibly proud of myself for making it work!

 

When it came time to quilt, I really had no idea where to begin.  I threw it open on Instagram for suggestions, and I believe it was Melanie Sim who mentioned cobblestones.......  When I sat down at my first ever Melbourne MQG day, I thought I'd give it a go.  If you ask the ladies I was sitting with how much I enjoyed the pebbling process, I think you would hear a few expletives.  I think in total, the pebbling over the entire quilt top took me about seven hours.  I tried really hard to make the majority of them largish, so as to cut down the time - but really, who was I kidding?!?!?  I am very glad I stuck with it though, because I love the texture and character it has given the quilt.  I used a gorgeous variegated Aurifil thread #4060 - which is creamy/mossy/grey tones.

 

The backing I actually picked up at the beginning of the year!  I was at a Spotlight sale and this Union Jack/British newspaper print was reduced to $3 a metre!  I bought a few metres and stashed it away for the quilt I knew I'd make.  I did THE BEST print joining on the seam - you can't even notice it's two pieces of fabric!

Now - let me just take you through each block, because they're all so special!

 

I knew I had rain drop fabric stashed away for good reason.... Kristy upsized her umbrella pattern for me!

 

Marieka made this super cute Bus!  I free motion quilted the LONDON on!

 

I pulled out my stash of these dots for the Beef Eater, and was able to use the same prints throughout the quilt.  I also use felt for faces in paper piecing - it adds a great texture!

 

Gina sent me my London Bobby!  Isn't he fabulous!?

Alyce's fabulous Big Ben block!  The fussy cutting of the Comma fabric is spot on.

 

I also added the teapot. Another Quiet Play pattern.  It's actually one of my favourites blocks in the quilt.

 

A very simple but great Underground sign.

 

And my London Cab.  I wish I had "London" on fabric to use for the bumper bar, but thought French would work!

 

Kristy made the Guard block, and her fabric choices just make it pop!

 

Jane made the telephone booth and embroidered all the details.  Love it!

 

And Lara's crown block is awesome!

 

When I was one block short, Kristy just "whipped" up this post box block for me - she's amazing!

So - there you have it!  I finished it all off with a lovely navy and white spot for the binding, which I think works beautifully.  I am reallllllly looking forward to handing this over to one of my best friends tonight, she's receiving this as it is being published!

The Stats:

Size:  61" x 44" - Lap Size

Fabrics:  A cast of millions!

Thread: Aurifil #4060 40wt

Batting: Wool/cotton blend - it's fabulous!

Recipient:  Karen - who just happened to live in London up until 18 months ago, when she returned to Melbourne!

I'm linking up - This was ready to post yesterday, but I didn't want the recipient to see!

Sew Cute Tuesday - Sneaking It In

A very late night sneaky post - direct from my IG feed.  Just a few little things I've managed to tick off my list the last five days.....

London Calling has another block.  I'm loving this Umbrella that Kristy so kindly upsized her pattern for me!

This month's Wombat Stew Queen - Marieka - gave us a link to a bunch of fabulous free paper piecing patterns to choose from for her.  I chose THIS one.  I love bright colours against dark grey.

Today's sewing was this fabulous little Zaaberry Messenger bag for my Tokyo BFF's son.  She sent me a few great Japanese cartoon prints - which my 11 year old daughter is in love with???!!  If you've never made one of these bags before, then you need to get to it....

Fabulous yes?  Oh, and did you know it's almost Tokyo-tober?  Just a little over three weeks until I go......

I'm linking up - You can too!

T.G.I.F.F. - Small Projects - Large Impact

It's 8.28pm on a Friday night.  I'm frozen to the bones after watching a great grand final of cricket for my son's under 12 team (which they unfortunately lost), in the very chilly weather.  The kids are all in bed, the husband is watching the footy and I'm going to punch this blog post out fast and furious in order to go and park myself in front of the television, to watch some undoubtedly shady episode of crap.

So here goes........  Three small (in size, not time) projects that have a relatively large impact!

First cab off the rank is this gorgeous paper pieced dresden, designed by Quilt Jane.  Jane put out a call for testers last week and I jumped at the chance!  I love me a dresden, and love me some paper piecing - perfect!  I second guessed my fabric selection for this block - choosing some of the Botanics prints - but I like how it turned out.  I was going to make it in to a cushion but just couldn't make a decision, so have left it to the side for now.  This fabulous pattern is now available HERE in Jane's little e-store.  It's a definite must have.

Next up is this awesome paper pieced stationery block.  Jane is the queen in our Wombat Stew paper piecing bee this month - and she wrangled Kristy in to whipping up this delightful block for us all to replicate in one colour scheme each.  I love how it has turned out and look forward to seeing all the various coloured blocks as they come together.  By the way - it IS meant to be a square block - I'm still yet to add the strip of white fabric to the right hand side!  Doh!

And last but certainly not least - today's project was this beautiful linen zippered pouch.  This is what happens when you realise you need a birthday present two days out from said birthday.  It is the first time I've ever worked with linen (it's actually a cotton/linen blend you can buy HERE if you're quick!) and I'm in love!  The lining is a divine yellow feather print from the Flora range.  I also pulled out the teal and yellow Sphere charms I left out of the Baby Blue quilt, and made a teeny little 4.5" star for one side......

And a row of 1" squares for the other.  It's also a first time covering the ends of a zipper.  This zip was the perfect colour to coordinate with the linen, but was a bit too small - so I literally winged it and whacked some of the teal on to the ends and sewed over it, then went on my usual pouch making way and hoped for the best.  Best happened!  I kept to very minimal quilting, with just a couple of echoed rows of stitching around both the star and the rows of squares.  I used Aurifil 50wt #2000 - the most gorgeous creamy gold colour, which co-ordinates beautifully with this fabric!  One of my gorgeous friends saw this on IG and SMS'd me to ask for a tutorial - so I shall try and get to that next week!

In the meantime - I have television to watch!  Ni-night!

I'm linking up - You can too!

New York Beauty

The Wombat Stew paper piecing bee is rolling on for 2014.  February is Gemma's turn as Queen, and after much thought, she threw us a curly challenge!  A slightly open ended one at that.  Gemma asked us all very kindly if we would make her a New York Beauty block............. 

 **crickets** 

After the initial shock, horror and gasp - we all agreed.  Then hit Pinterest!  I found a multitude of amazing blocks, in all shapes, colours and sizes.  Then stepped away cross-eyed and anxious.  I mean, they're a pretty full on block to tackle!  Anyway, I took a deep breath and decided to choose THIS ONE.  But knew it would look completely different!  Gemma gave us a colour palette to work with, so I drew from that and spent over an hour pulling fabrics, putting fabrics back, re-visiting fabrics and then walking away.  Another deep breath and I jumped in!

And a few days later, this is the result.....

Isn't she lovely?  Now, it's not perfect, but damn I came close!  I basically managed to match all of the seams except one quite obvious one!  And I'm too scared to unpick it!  So I shall leave it for Gemma to ponder :)

I chose the orange, purple, pink and reddish floral first, then threw the yellow in for POW factor.  I think it worked?  The turquoise Art Gallery print was added after some consultation with Gemma.  Blue wasn't in her colour palette, but when i think of Gemma, the first colour that comes to mind is turquoise! I think it works perfectly.  The next stressful decision was the centre circle.  I spent a considerable amount of time auditioning fabric, before once again handing the choice over to Gem!  I think her choice is spot on.

After working myself up over how difficult this block was going to be, I have to be honest and say that it really wasn't bad at all!  In fact, it's all rather straight forward paper piecing.  The curves had me worried, but turned out to be not so bad after all!  The tricky(ish) part is putting your four quadrants together.  Matching the seams is daunting, and I had to make sure to use quite a few pins, which for someone who doesn't usually pin - was quite amusing!  The lining up of the text wasn't really a fluke, I made sure when cutting the wedge shaped pieces out, that I cut them around in a circle.  The part I am most proud of, is the matching up of seams on the "sun rays" at each quarter!  They are perfect-o!

Soooo, where to now?  Well, I must say I am keen to get my New York Beauty on again!  In fact, I'd LOVE to have a bit of a sew along.  Make sure you check back here in the very near future, and I will have some more info to share!

Have you ever wanted to tackle a New York Beauty?  Want to join me?

I'm linking up - You can too!

Secret Santa Gift Revealed!

As you would now know, earlier this year I was invited to join a wonderful paper piecing bee - Wombat Stew.  For someone relatively new to paper piecing, it has been such a fun adventure, learning all sorts of new tricks!  But the best part about this bee has been the friendships I have gained.

A couple of months ago, the girls decided we should do a secret Santa swap.  I was so excited, I 'd never been a part of one, in handmade circles anyway, and so I started thinking and over thinking what I would make my partner.  I waited for my email telling me who my recipient would be, and was thrilled (and terrified) to find it was Gina from Party of Eight.  Gina is one super talented lady, and the pressure was on....

Thankfully, these crafty gals are also smart, and we set up a thread in our FB group to tell eachother our likes and dislikes, and what kinds of things we would love to receive.  Amongst other things, Gina mentioned she would like a tote bag, and in her favourite colours list was "a warm sunny yellow or mustard".  Bingo!

I knew I'd pinned a fabulous tote bag tutorial I'd always wanted to make, and I had THE MOST PERFECT yellow fabric on my shelf awaiting use.  And so this is what I made.....

The "For Pleats Sake" tote bag.  The fabric is a divine Japanese print by Kayo Horaguchi.  It's a little heavier than quilting cotton, so perfect for this project.  And the most perfect shade of yellow/mustard.

I auditioned quite a few fabrics for the lining, and even asked Chelsea which she preferred.  This Anna Maria Horner Field Study won.  And in my humble opinion is perfect!  I also used a pretty decorative zipper I'd had sitting in my drawer forever.  The zipper pocket is not in the original tutorial, but I will be doing my own tutorial on how I made this bag in the next day or so for you all!

I love the colours!

I couldn't just send a bag, so I collected a bunch of other lovely goodies to add.  There's a big pack of Tim Tam biscuits (cookies), which are the best Australian chocolate biscuits around!  Some strawberry fabrics (Gina has a thing for them), some Snugglepot & Cuddlepie fabric (a famous Australian story book) and a few sewing notions.

And this is how the bag looks worn.  Excuse the dodgy picture - I was in a rush to get this packed up and ready to post and asked the five year old to take the photo!

I pieced and top stitched the bag with Aurifil #2810 50wt.  The tutorial states to use a couple of different threads for attaching the handles, however, I couldn't find them in the store. And due to my rushing to get it sent, I just triple threaded my big needle and gave it a shot!  I'm hoping it will hold, and hoping Gina will forgive me if she has to re-sew the handles on!

The reason for my rushing?  Well, my darling mother in law was heading over to the USA for a long holiday and said she would take my parcel and post it over there for me.  The handles arrived from China the day before her departure, so I madly attached them, got to the post office for a postage box and then wrapped it all to go!  Cudos to Gina for her patience - this parcel arrived at her place weeks ago, and she must have sat it under her Christmas tree, as she only opened it on Christmas Day!

I thoroughly enjoyed making this bag!  And just like the cushions I never make myself, this bag makes me want to make myself one!  One day.....

As I said earlier in the post, I will be back in the next couple of days with my version of the tutorial for this bag.  There were a few things in the original I just couldn't work out or get to work, so I took lots of photos to show you how I made it work!

Christmas Day is done and dusted here in Australia, and we are now looking forward to the New Year......I have so many plans, so many projects......  How about you??

T.G.I.F.F. - Catching Up on Bee Blocks & Stuff!

I spent most of Wednesday catching up on my bee blocks!  I felt like I was starting to drown in them, so knocked them all out…..

Our Queen Bee for Wombat Stew last month was Lara.  She is going to have THE most gorgeous Houses quilt EVER!  Now, take away the fact that the door fabric is wrong way, ummmm, this block is perfect!  I will be sending some of the fabric for Lara to hopefully just appliqué on the top.  I only noticed at the end - DOH!

And the second little house.  I love fussy cutting in paper pieced blocks!

Then it was on to my QCA Bee blocks.  Alex is November's bee and she requested a Bento Box block in low volume fabrics.  First time making one of these blocks, and I really like it!

And Kathryn was October's queen, and asked for a Mondrian block - but with very little direction.  We basically made up the design and measurements ourselves, and were told to use whatever solid colours we had. Would you believe I do not really have that many solid colours in my stash??  I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out, and I shall look forward to the end quilt top with everyone's different colours thrown in!

I also whipped up a few playsuits.  The Strawberry one was an order - and I always think when cutting out one order, I might as well make a few - production line style!  The Butterflies & LRRH playsuits are for sale on my FB Page.

And last but not least, I got started on some Santa sacks for an upcoming school market night I'm having a stall at.  I don't do markets these days, so thought I'd get some functional and reasonably priced goodies together for sale.  Well, I did some 'market research' on my personal fb page, and next thing I know, I'd sold six of them!  So, another trip to Spotlight yesterday for more fabric to make the market sacks!

A very productive week!

I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. being hosted by Quokka Quilts (Go check out her awesome finish!!) - You can too!