Monday 30 November 2015

Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 23 and 24: Charlotte and Coral

Week 11 and a couple of lovely and straightforward blocks in the  Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along.   Block 23 is Charlotte, (p. 182, letter 182) and from when I first saw this I thought the boat shapes in each half of the block would appeal to Jessie and sure enough, she chose this one to guest post: read all about it here!   Here's my version, the boat shape reminded me of paper boats made from newspaper so I used a Jane Austen text print and I love how it looks.



Fabric credits:
Riley Blake Ardently Austen- Text Black
Penny Rose Fabrics Hope Chest Blossom Yellow
Penny Rose Fabrics Hope Chest Blossom Teal

For block 24, Coral (p. 183, letter p. 138) I strayed from my usual construction methods to try out rotary cutting and piecing.  There are rotary cutting instructions for all the shapes in this block.  I did this partly because, when placed on point, this block is no longer symmetrical vertically and horizontally which means the foundation paper pattern pieces will give me a reverse or mirror image block because they haven't been reversed for the CD.  I also wanted to see how accurate I could be!


Fabric credits:
Riley Blake Fancy and Fabulous, Breath in coral
Windham, Heather Ross Tiger Lily Cat Grid in green

I'll show you what I mean about the symmetry.  Looking at the block square on, there is vertical symmetry, although not horizontal symmetry because of the little window shape.   If you want a square on block for your final quilt, foundation paper piecing block that will work fine.


Now the small block on point.  I've added a horizontal line to this one and you can see it is not symmetrical, it wouldn't be with a vertical line either!


If you do chose to foundation paper piece this block, you can use the rotary cutting instructions and just make your pieces bigger- ½" bigger is a good amount for me.   For rotary cutting, my top tips are:


Top piecing tips for this block:
  • Chain piece where you can
  • ensure scant ¼" seams throughout.  It doesn't hurt to test your seam allowances and see if they measure up.
  • Press seams to one side and nest them where you can
  • When joining the half-square triangles together,  dab little light fabric glue to hold them together rather than pins-  this keeps the bias edges undisturbed.  You can see the dabs in the picture.  Dragging the glue stick across the diagonal edge will distort the triangle.

The letter for this block has a timeless message to enjoy your children whilst they are still at home with you, something I am constantly reminded of with my daughter, currently in her last year at high school.

Remember you can:
  • Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
  • For individual blocks, you can use #charlotteblock and #coralblock on Instagram. are using these hash tags, #fw23charlotte,  #fw24coral, I'm using both hashtag systems.
  • You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
  • Watch and join in on Periscope.  I'll be talking about fabrics and piecing accuracy on periscope.tv/@verykb at 2.30pm GMT today.   There's a lovely regular crowd who join me each Monday so please feel welcome to add to it!  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  
Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Jo Avery from My Bear Paw and blocks 25 and 26- they are a bit tougher next week although not as bad as the next week!  Have a peep at your book and you'll see what I mean...   

sib blog

Saturday 28 November 2015

Knit one Purl One: Wool and the Gang Kits

Charlotte Hintzen of  By Hand London  recently got in touch as part of her new role at Wool and the Gang- she's leading a busy life working at two creative companies- and sent me a couple of the Wool and the Gang kits to try out.  I've chosen to blog about them as I liked what she sent and I thought they had great appeal to beginner knitters as well as established hat sock and jumper makers!


The first was Lil Foxy Roxy Scarf.


Here's what you get inside:


Very chunky wool, lovely quality and a  beautiful set of rosewood 15mm knitting needles.  There's also a card wallet with a needle  to weave your finished ends in and pin to adorn your finished scarf.  The whole think is beautifully packages and the thick paper parcel bag makes a handy project bag.


I was an experienced knitter.  It was one of my first ways of earning money, knitting mohair cardigans during my teenage years in the 1980s.  These days it can cause my RSI to flare up, especially on fine needles but I really miss it.  The Lil Roxy Scarf kit is just garter stitch so I thought I would make a tentative offering to my husband and teach him how to knit.  He said yes!


He's not a sewer or a knitter so this was a totally new creative experience.  However, the size of the needles and wool makes for a much easier way to teach a beginner and gives fast and forgiving results.   Before I even cast on, I showed him the Wool and the Gang videos so he could see the mechanics of the process. 


We started last Friday and last night we cast off the finished scarf.  He is genuinely thrilled with the results.  I'm just about to weave the ends in and he'll be wearing it today.   A hand knitted 100% wool chunky scarf which is as long as he is tall- he's 5'8".


I'm going to try the Bonnie Beret kit next- slow and steady and I think the thickness of the needles will help me too, meanwhile, scarf is now in action...  



sib blog

Thursday 26 November 2015

Dress Hanger Lavender Bag Tutorial: Black Friday Discount at Sew-Ichigo

Happy Thanksgiving to all USA readers.  I hope you are enjoying friends, family and food today!  I've just posted a new gift idea tutorial over at Sew-Ichigo to accompany our annual Black Friday sale offer starts today at Sew-Ichigo!   It's a hanging lavender bag  made using the dress from our Sew Very Christmas pattern set.  There's a free template  so you can add the hanger shape to the dress block.


There's a whopping 30% off all our patterns throughout our Payhip shop  ending Sunday night.


sib blog

Wednesday 25 November 2015

November at Plush Addict

Days away from Thanksgiving for all the USA folks and Black Friday offers have already started.  Plush Addict have a series of offers as well as lots of new arrivals so time for my monthly visit!
Lots of Jelly rolls have arrived including Kona roll-ups and this curated colour selection chosen by Rita Hodges of Red Pepper quilts.


Cat prints are always popular- they seem to sell so fast!  I like the simple style of this Baltic Cats print by Wee Gallery for Dear Stella.


It's also available in a dark pink cranberry colour.
Lots of animal prints have arrived- birds, penguins, polar bears, rabbits.  I like this Wilmington Jungle Jubilee flannel- this is the grey, also available in yellow.  A lovely print for pyjamas.



As you'd expect, there are lots of wintery/Christmas fabrics in stock right now.  I'm a sucker for graphic style house prints and this grey, monoprint fabric- Grey Winter Village by Studio E ticks all the right boxes for me. You can see other prints from the same range here.


Lecien have some similarly understated fabrics that whisper 'winter' rather than shout 'Christmas!'-Yuletime Ornaments in grey and also in red.


I must be craving calm colours today as my next choice is this beauty from  Kate Spain for Moda,  Murmuration in Sand


I couldn't resist this pug print from Cosmo.  I can see this making a great cushion with turquoise binding.


This Riley Blake fabric looks like it would be a great pairing with the pugs, Four Corners - Triangles in Teal


The rest of the Four Corners range looks good too- bold, graphic and bright.


In the Black Friday offers, the Gutermann Sew-All thread bundle is a great bargain.  Five spools of 1000m polyester thread, perfect for dressmaking and home decor sewing and there are lots of colour options.  I like to have big spools like these in white, black, natural/beige, navy and grey as they are my most used colours. 


For quilters, there's a great offer on Hobbs precut batting/wadding.  There's different kinds including premium cotton (craft size at only £4.62 and queen size at £22.68) and cotton blend in lots of sizes.  I have used Hobbs cotton blend a few times- its a good option for hand quilting as its quite light.  It needs stitching 4" apart.


You'll also find a multitude of fabrics with up to 80% off.  Offers finish Monday 30th November. Enjoy- there's lots to chose from!
sib blog

Monday 23 November 2015

Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 21 & 22: Carrie and Cat

Week 10  in the  Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along and here are blocks 21 and 22!  Block 21, Carrie (p.180, letter p.116) is a straightforward blocks with a lovely bow detail and Charise of Charise Creates is guest posting on this block, she's also been posting all her completed blocks so far on her Farmer's Wife Friday posts- check them out, they are very cute!  Here's my paper pieced Carrie block.


Fabric credits:
Blue dot floral- unknown
Kona Buttercup
Marcus Brother Fabrics, Aunt Grace Simpler Sampler, Flower Toss Pink



Block 22 is Cat (p. 181, letter p.141).  This block comes out in mirror image to the photograph if you paper piece the block using the pattern on the CD.  I contacted Laurie Aaron Hird about this a few weeks back and she is always quick to get in touch with the editorial team.  It is something they will comment on next time the book goes to print so piecers know what to expect.  It doesn't make a huge visual difference to the final block, but it can be a bit confusing if you piece whilst looking at the photograph!  I ended up constructing 'Cat' as a nine-patch block.  I foundation paper pieced the squares made up of triangles and cut my squares following the rotary cutting dimensions.   As usual, I precut all my pieces before foundation piecing the triangles making my triangles ¼"-½" bigger than the rotary cutting sizes.  Once all the squares were made, I sewed the squares into rows and joined the rows.  


This pic shows the back view of the squares ready to join together.  The joining seams don't jigsaw as nicely as Carrie.

Fabric credits:
Kona Persimmon
Lecien Yarn Dyed mini gingham in mint
Windham, Heather Ross Tiger Lily Butterflies in brown

Top tips for this block:
  • Use a water based glue stick- I use Sewline- to stick the first piece of each section
  • Chain piece the triangles
  • Rotary cut the squares
  • Join block together as a nine-patch
Remember you can:
  • Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
  • For individual blocks, you can use #carrieblock and #catblock on Instagram. are using these hash tags, #fw21carrie,  #fw22cat, I'm using both hashtag systems.
  • You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
  • Watch and join in on Periscope.  I'll be talking about chain piecing and seam nesting/pressing on periscope.tv/@verykb at 2.30pm GMT today.  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  
Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Jessie  from Sew and Quilt  and blocks 23 and 24.   

sib blog

Friday 20 November 2015

Book Review: Pipsqueaks by Sally Dixon

I've mentioned my love of tiny, miniature things before, back in the day when my daughter was into Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters in a big way.  Even now, we still stop by the local toy shop window and admire their display!  When I saw Pipsqueaks pop up in the Search Press new releases, I leapt at the chance to review it.  I hadn't heard of Sally Dixon before but I had a sneaky feeling I was going to love her book...


It's  book of miniature felt creatures and creations.  All are simple enough shapes but it is the details that makes them standout.  There's the usual detailed techniques section at the start of the book. Sally is an experienced writer across a range of genres and her instructions are easy to read and with an informal friendly tone.


Then it's just a question of choosing which tiny cute creature/food item to make?  Sally is Australian so there is a leaning towards Koala's and Platypuses alongside kittens, rabbits, dogs and picnic foods!



The patterns are included with each project and can be traced or scanned and printed off.  I scan mine and then print them onto freezer paper sheets- easier than drawing on felt!  I Like National NonWovens wool blend felt- as used in When Posie got Cozy's Maggie Rabbit and Pretty Little Fabrics stocks a good range of colours but you can use any sort of felt from wool to acrylic, it's down to personal preference.


Everything is tiny.  The finished size of the mother elephants is 1 ⅝" high!


The cakes take me back to the world of Sylvanian animal picnics.


And the tiny dogs tweak the heart strings. There are suggestions for dog hanging decorations and brooches.



It's a book packed full of simple patterns to be made in felt with the occasional fabric addition.  They will be a little fiddly to sew but all the shapes are straightforward and I get huge pleasure in the miniature magic of sewing tiny things.




Looking at Sally's original Razzle Dazzle Creations blog, she has shared a huge amount of her creative ideas from the last few years in this one book.  I also noticed she trained to be a cook and pastry chef which may explain the many tiny cakes in Pipsqueaks.   I found it a delight to look through and I will be making felt Christmas gifts from it this year. I'm at our local sewing meet up this weekend and I've packed a bag of felt and threads to stitch tiny elephants, rabbits and dogs!


I was lucky enough to be sent this book free for review purposes by Search Press.  I chose to review this title as it looked like it would appeal to me- and I as right!  Needless to say, all opinions are my own.   You can find Pipsqueaks here and at the usual book stockists online and locally.

sib blog

Monday 16 November 2015

Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 19 & 20: Carolina and Caroline

Week 9 in the  Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along   and with blocks 19 and 20 completed, we are just over a fifth of the way- or 20% if you prefer- of completing the 99 blocks.  Block 19, Carolina (p.178, letter p.74) is the trickiest yet and Jo Avery of My Bear Paw is back sharing her english paper piecing techniques on this block.  Read all about it here and do check the letter out for this block, it's an enjoyable read.  I paper pieced Carolina- there were 8 Y-seams in all and a seam picker came out once or twice. You can find Y-seam tutorials here and here


Fabric credits:


Block 20 is Caroline (p. 179, letter p.60).  This block comes out in mirror image to the photograph if you paper piece the block using the pattern on the CD.  I contacted Laurie Aaron Hird about this a few weeks back and she is always quick to get in touch with the editorial team.  It is something they will comment on the next  time the book  goes to print so piecers know what to expect.  It doesn't make a huge visual difference to the final block, but it can be a bit confusing if you piece looking at the photograph!  As usual, I precut all my pieces before foundation piecing each section and for this block I rotary cut larger than needed triangles throughout. 


Fabric credits:
Polka dot floral- Japanese fabric (by Kei?)
Kona Mango
Kona Violet

Rotary Cutting for Foundation Paper Piecing
A6, B5, C6, D5: cut (1) 5" squares, sub-cut each across both diagonals to make 4 quarter-square triangles 
A5, B6, C5, D6: as above in other colour
A1, A3, B1, B3, C1, C3, D1, D3: cut (4) 3" squares. Sub-cut each once diagonally to make 2 half square triangles from each square.
A2, B2, C2, D2: cut (2) 3" squares. Sub-cut each once diagonally to make 2 half square triangles from each square.
A4, B4, C4, D4: cut (2) 3" squares. Sub-cut each once diagonally to make 2 half square triangles from each square.

Top tips for this block.
  • Use a water based glue stick- I use Sewline- to stick the first piece of each section
  • Don't chain piece!  Work on each section until it is complete, then start the next section.
  • To make joining the sections together, I only sewed to the seam lines where all the points gather to make the pinwheels.  Then, when the A and B sections are joined together, I sew this in two halves rather than one seam.  I start at the point where the seams join and sew outwards and then repeat the other way- see the arrow on the left photo for the starting point.   This means you can swirl the seams which reduces bulk.  You can also see in the pictures how I remove some of the paper before sewing the joining seams and I draw on the seam allowance for extra accuracy
Remember you can:
  • Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
  • For individual blocks, you can use #carolinablock and #carolineblock on Instagram. are using these hash tags, #fw19carolina,  #fw20caroline, I'm using both hashtag systems.
  • You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
  • Watch and join in on Periscope.  I'll be talking about Y seams for Carolina and swirling seams for Caroline on periscope.tv/@verykb at 2.30pm GMT today.  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  
Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Charise and blocks 21 and 22.   

sib blog