A Quilt for Nana Joan

While I was on the phone to my Nana Joan a few months back, she mentioned that she had a Sunbonnet Sue template from a magazine that she had been holding onto for ages, but would likely never do anything with...... enter crafty scheming granddaughter and mother combo, who conspired to retrieve said pattern in order for me to make it. 

Well on its arrival here in Texas, I can only say I was a little disappointed with the quality of the pattern; it was less shabby-chic and more just plain shabby. Dont get me wrong, the picture of the finished quilt was cute, but I though we need something much more special for my Nana Joan..... 

So I sat down and started to sketch my own little Sue's. And I sketched and sketched, and then converted them to digital images and made outlines for all the little pieces, and over the course of the past couple of weeks, the quilt has come to life!

May I proudly present Nana Joan's Sunbonnet Sue quilt! 

 

Oh gosh this one was fun to make, and it's going to be tough to let go! I hope she loves it!

Here's all the little Sue's;

 Cupcake Sue

Basket Sue

Apple-Pickin' Sue

 

Rainy Day Sue

 

Flag Waving Sue

 

Dog Walking Sue

Gardening Sue

 

Flower Pickin' Sue

 

and Singing Sue!

And a few close-ups of all the stitchy goodness...

You gotta have rain on a quilt bound for England!

 

 Loopy quilting by a loopy quilter! Coincidence?

Cupcake anyone?

Whilst the quilt itself is off to reside in the UK, I loved making this so much that I decided to turn it into a pattern. You can find it here in my Etsy shop!

Happy Holidays!

A little christmas cheer for the sewing shed....

In my alternate universe, I sit around in my best frock with my hair done beautifully, making stuff like this all the time..... and everyone gets beautiful hand-made gifts, home-baked cookies and perfectly lettered cards.....

Then I open my eyes and realize that the decorations are still in their box, the cards aren't finished and I still have two hundred cookies to make. Crap.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bowled Over

A little while back I happened across a picture of a bowl made from cotton piping wrapped in fabric and thought it was just the neatest thing! I definately wanted a go.... So off to the lovely Walmart I went, and purchased all they had of medium piping. I raided my tub of fabric strips and got to it! This is what I ended up with...

I made two bowls, each using 6 yards of cording...

One is more of a flat, plate-like shape. The other is more bowl shaped.

They both look just lovely in my sewing room!

Sewing vacation

For the past couple of weeks we have been on a much needed staycation whilst my mom and dad have been here, on vacation from chilly England. And dont let the title fool you; there was no vacation from sewing as mother got off the plane with a LIST of things to be made.....

And to be honest, I'm sure glad she did! It meant we got to spend a couple of days pootling about in my shed together, doing girly sewing things, and hopefully she ended up with some useful items to boot! And she only nodded off once..... Although she says as there was no drool this definitely does NOT count as sleep. Something to do with jet-lag.....

Project #1 was a peacock cushion for her to give as a Christmas gift. This is what we came up with:

For the feathers we fussy-cut pieces from a large scale paisley print.

The pictures dont really do them justice as the camera couldn't seem to capture the colors very well.

Mom chose the fabrics, and I think she did an excellent job. He's one posh peacock!

Want to make your own? You can download a PDF template here. It includes the peacock and feather outline and a couple of layout suggestions, so have at it!

Project #2 was a tote bag.

It was a make-it-up-as-you-sew kind of affair, and it turned out pretty good. I want one now...

Mom chose some lovely home dec weight fabric for the outside and some cream quilting for the interior. We did a couple of things to make this bag a little bit fancy, the first of which was to add fusible stiffener to all the exterior pieces to give it the right 'feel' and make it look 'like a real one'. Secondly, we added a fancy interior pocket...

It was my first time doing this kind of pocket and I'm sure glad it all worked out. The other side just has some regular divider pockets and there is a small pocket on the front of the bag.

Projects #3 and #4 are without pictures and were a cushion for a childs rocking chair and a case for moms circular knitting needles, the latter of which you may see make an appearance on moms blog if you ask nicely.

All in all, a good sewing vacation!

Autumn Days

The weather here in south-east Texas has turned distinctly fall-like in the past few weeks, bringing some much needed relief from the blistering summer heat. With little humidity, the mornings are positively chilly, and its finally nice enough to spend some real time in my sewing shed. I have been wanting to do a nice little fall-inspired project to ease me back into some sewing, and figured one can never have too many cushion covers......

So to shake things up a little, I wanted to do some raw-edge applique and some embroidery, and after perusing the beautiful fall projects on Pinterest, sat down with my sketch-book and came up with this little gem...

I love the idea of incorporating movement into my cushion and what says Autumn better than a crisp breeze blowing the leaves off the trees?!

If you want to make your own 'Fall Breeze' cushion or wall quilt, you can find the template in PDF format here.

It is sized for an 18" square pillow and you will need to print it in a tiled fashion across 6 sheets and stick them together (For instructions on how to do this on Adobe Reader click here). You can also get the regular letter paper size here, for embroideries or other stitchy goodness!

The best way to make the leaves is to cut a little template out of cardboard to draw around, and if you squish them close together you can get them all on one 5" x 5" charm square! Make sure to choose fabric with a small print that has a variety of colors so your leaves all look different.

Happy Fall, y'all!

A Present with a Past

Every now and then, you receive a 'life gift'. You know; something that you might be given for a birthday, or Christmas, that you know will be treasured until the end of your days. I was fortunate enough to be given such a gift for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.

A few things of note about this gift:

• It came into existence in 1939

• It was made in Scotland

• It has traveled over 5000 miles to its current home

• It is the second oldest thing I own

• It weighs the same as an average 2 1/2 year old boy

  Curious?

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 Thanks Mom & Dad xxx

To Save or to Sell?

What do you do with the stuff you make?

I have been sewing for around 3 years now, and I have kept surprisingly few things that I've made. Mostly I give them away as gifts for birthdays, Christmas etc, or when I think something just belongs to someone I'll send it home with them. This way I'm not overrun with stuff and I know the item will be loved and appreciated. Plus, it eliminates the possibility of my nice handmade things being eaten by the dogs. Such was the fate of the very first quilt I made....

I did try to sell a couple of my quilts on Etsy, which didn't work. I majorly under priced them and felt insulted when they didn't sell! Looking back, I'm really glad they didn't sell. The money I would have made would most definitely have been spent by now, leaving me with no quilt and no money. Instead I still have my beautiful quilts, which I love and use every day.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of making money from sewing. But in reality it's just not enough to make nice things. I started sewing to distract myself when I gave up smoking, so to start making things because I think they will sell, rather than my own enjoyment, would be a step back for me. 

My one concession is that I like to make a record of the things I have made before I give them away. Occasionally I forget, or I'm rushing and therefore don't bother. In these cases I always regret not having paused to take a few snaps. But for the most part I remember, and I love to flick through the pictures every now and then to jog my memory...

Just in Case

A while ago, whilst rummaging in my local resale shop, I came across an upholstery sample book. I didn't really know what I would do with it, but the fabrics were lovely and it was $3.... I don't think I need more reasons?

The pieces of fabric are only around 6" x 12", so the perfect size to make pencil cases. These ones are made from the pieces of sample leather at the back of the book...

The embroidery thread is filling the holes left by the label that was originally sewn on there, and I had way too much fun matching thread colors to the zippers and lining for each case!

Everyone needs 5 pencil cases, right?

Truth be told, I dont have 5 pencil cases. These suckers are quick and easy to make and oh-so convenient to put stuff in...... so I have WAY MORE than 5!

A Bit of a Frill

Over the past month or so, both of my local Walmart stores have had huge deliveries of new fabrics and other items for the craft department (including a whole new embroidery section...with every color of DMC thread you can imagine for just 30c a skein!!!!).

I have had my eye on this fabric since first seeing it...

...with visions of long floaty summer skirts to wear over my favorite cowboy boots...

But at $13 a yard, these dreams are destined to remain just that; DREAMS! I did however decide to splurge on 1 precious yard to make some fancy boutique-style cushion covers for my 2 naked pillow forms that have been laying around since my trip to IKEA...... nearly a year ago. I know....I KNOW!

So I purchased a yard of the white frills and some heavy duty brown floral fabric for the backing (a bargain from the clearance section for just $2.50 a Yard!) and these two pretties whipped up in no time...

They remind me a little of something you might find in Anthologie or Urban Outfitters, but at a fraction of the price!  

Who the hell pays $90 for a cushion!