Spring Fever

I made a quick little Easter make from a Sew-Ichigo pattern that was so easy and such a cute result, I thought I'd share:

Using the Spring Chick block from the Spring Fever pattern set, I made a quick sandwich of batting and backing fabric and some outline quilting on the machine.  I then trimmed the block to the original square, folded it in half lengthways and drew a half egg shape free hand.  I cut through the double folded layer to create the egg shape.  Then stitched ⅛" from the edge to secure the layers and finished with single bias binding, 1 ½" wide and included a loop.  The Spring Chick can be found in the Sew-Ichigo pattern set which includes lots of other birds as well as tall and short tulips and the same patterns are also available singularly.  

Find the patterns in the Sew-Ichigo Payhip and Craftsy and Etsy shops.  All the designs are foundation paper pieced.

Black Friday: Sew-Ichigo discount and more!

Here's a hotch-potch of Black Friday offers for those of you who like a bargain but safe from your armchair.  Some from sponsors, some from people I've worked with and some because it seems like a bargain!  Penny and I have marked all our Sew-Ichigo foundation paper patterns down by 40%, Thursday - Monday. Visit our Payhip, Etsy and Craftsy shops to get your discount on single patterns and pattern packs. 

• Etsy - reductions already applied, no code needed
• Payhip - use the code sew40 at checkout
• Craftsy - reductions already applied, no code needed

Kellie at Plush Addict has organised some mega Black Friday offers, they are also a sponsor so a Black Friday mention for them!

Mark at Girl Charlee sent me an email mentioning that they were offering loads of discounts so you may want to partake.

Anna from Eternal Maker (another sponsor) has been mentioning a Black Friday sale on Instagram,  I have no further details but I can't resist her treasure trove shop, keep a look out!

Fiona and Julie at The Sewing Directory have a handy list of Black Friday shops you might like to visit.

Creative Bug is doing a great offer, 3 months membership for $1 a month (£1 for UK).  I've joined Creative Bug before an I used it a lot for a few months and then cancelled it but you get to keep a class each month even if you leave.  They've recently added new dressmaking and alterations content so I thought I'd give it another go!

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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.

Spring Fever Pattern Set

Penny and I have a new pattern set available from today at Sew-Ichigo.  'Spring Fever'  features blooms and birds and the designs are available in one big set or as single patterns.

 When we design pattern sets for Sew-Ichigo, we like to offer a range of options- both in designs and complexity.  The easiest pattern in this set is TulipsX2.  There are two variations and the short tulip is a great beginner foundation piecing pattern.  Penny is making a gorgeous mini quilt using the tulips in combination with the hovering birds.  All the bird blocks are 6 inch square and the tulips are 4 x 6 inches so they work together easily.

We couldn't resist a little chick with Easter so close.  The 'Hello Chick' design was made very much with children in mind and would be perfect for a little drawstring bag or a fabric basket for Easter egg hunts.  It is sewn in three sections and is suitable for a beginner with a little foundation piecing experience. 

The 'Flighty' patterns are a pair of hovering bird blocks were inspired by origami designs.  I wanted to include birds from different countries and Penny has sent me many pictures of humming birds who visit a feeder at the back of her house.  They are a fascinating bird and seem rather exotic- no Hummingbirds in the UK!   Hummingbirds come in lots of vibrant colours so there is a lot of potential for combining prints and colours in this block.

I chose a chaffinch for this block because it is a common bird in the UK and hovers in flight.  These colours are for the male.  You could easily adapt this block for other birds and either leave out the areas shown in brown or use other colours. 

I love this swan, 'Dawlie', that Penny designed.  I live in Devon and a nearby town, Dawlish is famous for its black swans, hence the name!  

We have some more patterns coming very soon in an exciting collaboration.  More news soon!

Black Friday, here, there and everywhere!

Its Black Friday and bargains are coming thick and fast online so I am offering some here for 48 hours, starting with 500 Quilt Blocks, 20% discount on the hardbacks I have left- green with purple writing (far right on pic) £10 £8 + £2 postage (UK only).  

If you would like a copy please email me (link in side bar) and let me know the name for the bookplate and your paypal address and I will send you an invoice.  This offer is open for 48 hours!

Over at Sew-Ichigo, we are offering all our patterns at 20% off so if there is one you have been wanting to try, this is a good time and 'Sew Very Christmas' is perfect for gift bags, mug rugs and more:

Again, this offer is for 48 hours only and is in our shop with the code blackfriday , and in our Craftsy shop and Etsy: no codes needed on these, the prices are already changed.

And to finish, an ongoing offer, 20 % off everything at Saints and Pinners.  Here's a rainbow of fabrics to whet the appetite:

Red: Triflora Lipstick, Anna Maria Horner

Orange: Mind's Eye Toast, Anna Maria Horner

Yellow: Darla Gingham Yellow, Tanya Whelan

Green: Coreopsis Lime, Anna Maria Horner

Blue: Kaffe Fasset, Water dots

Indigo: Kaffe Fasset, Shot Cotton Smokey

Violet:  Framed Shadow, Anna Maria Horner

Enjoy your savings xxx

Get Your Geek On

Penny and I have a new pattern set on sale, 'Get Your Geek On'.  You can read all about it over at Sew-Ichigo and mindful of those of you who already have the 'Retro Sunnies' pattern from the most recent Fat Quarterly issue, the pattern set is on an offer price of $5 (around £3ish) this week only.

Sew-Ichigo Giveaway!

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter or you follow the Sew-Ichigo blog you will have seen out new pattern set, 'Parisienne Cafe' released yesterday!

Penny and I are both running giveaways to celebrate the launch so 3 people have a chance of winning a Cafe Parisienne set.  All you need to do is comment below, what would you like to see us design in the future and make sure there is an email address to contact you as the patterns are PDF.  You have until Friday and if you buy the pattern anyway we will reimburse you so you still get it for free! For an extra chance- visit Penny.

This giveaway is closed.

Tutorial up at Sew-Ichigo

I have just posted a quick and easy tutorial for a 'Noel Tree' mini quilt at Sew-Ichigo - just saying...

New Pattern Set: Back to School

It is new pattern tine at Sew-Ichigo, welcome to 'Back to School', a multi pattern set including a basic pencil block, a pencil wheel and a hi- lighter pen with two variations.

This pattern started with the hi lighters.  Penny designed them as a block for Elizabeth Hartman for her 'Traveling Quilts' Bee which is full of uber quilty brilliant people.

The hi lighters lead to pencils, I had done this block a while back for Ayumi in Ringo Pie

I never drew it up into a proper pattern and now felt like the time.  I tightened it up from my slovenly improv ways of winging it and turned it into a Dresden style wheel with an appliqué style centre.

It is foundation paper pieced, 12" finished size and made up of 10 single sections so the paper piecing is very straightforward- the only seams to join are when you join the wedges together.  I used Liberty Lifestyle Bloomsbury fabrics for the pencils and it shows how a little print can go a long way! 

For the more timid paper pieces who want a genuine beginner block, the solo pencil is perfect.  This has a single pattern piece and detailed instructions including what size of fabrics to rotary cut ready to piece and a cheats way to so pencil tips.    Penny and I put a lot of details into our patterns and share tips and construction details wherever possible.  The  pencil case pattern is available for free at A Spoonful of Sugar Designs  and I just pieced a single solo pencil block into the main fabric.  I will share more details on Sew-Ichigo in case anyone wanted to make one just the same.  The lace zip makes adding a zipper the easiest thing.  It is sewn on top of the finished seams which is such a simple way to add a zip and the metal zipper pull is perfect for a pencil case.  I bought mine at Eternal Maker  here.

Penny combined both of the easiest blocks- the solo pencil and the capped hi-liter pen and used the same pencil case pattern but jazzed it around moving the zipper placement.  You can use text or stamp your fabric for the pen centre or just leave it solid as a block.  There is an uncapped pen too with a chiseled tip like you can see in her travelling quilts block.  All these patterns are available  complete set in our Sew-Ichigo shop and our Craftsy store too!

Ruby Red Strawberries

I received a lovely bundle of Rubies from Oakshott fabrics (with a little help from Lynne). 

 They are shot cottons where the warp and the weft threads are two different colours and in the case of the Rubies, these have the same ruby red warp- you can see them on the left here:

and a range of colours in the weft, from yellow to blue- seen on the right.   Oakshott have a fabulous 

photo of this,  The colours seem more exaggerated here on the bolts but it gives you an idea!

The effect is a collection with depth that shimmers and put me in mind of ripening strawberries.

This is the first summer that I have persuaded Lula to eat strawberries.  It has taken twelve years for her to like them, but now she loves them and we have had a lot, although I don't think there can ever be enough.

You get the idea!  I made six, 6" blocks in all, enough make a curtain ( with a little sashing to space them out) for my skinny kitchen window.

The linen was from an old Habitat curtain picked up at the carboot sale, the white background is Kona snow.  I used various greens but the cute little smiling plates you can see in the strawberry below is a Michael Miller print, 'Any Cup Will Do' from Eternal Maker.  I also used the green brush print from Summersville, a little Suzuko text print, a Lecien dot, a timeless treasures road print and some vintage pin dots,

The strawberry is available as a pattern at Sew-Ichigo and at our Craftsy store and it is an easy one I promise!  If you have done a little paper piecing before you should have no problems with this Penny and I designed our two latest patterns with beginners in mind!  

I have plenty left of Ruby Reds left and whilst going through my fabric drawers I found the perfect match, ruby reds and Farmdale by Alexander Henry.  I plan a quick table runner with these- will report back and share how soon!  Thankyou to Michael and the other folks at Oakshotts, they really are silky beauties!

This little tea kettle went to Liberty

You already know that we all got a great preview and hands on experience of Liberty's new quilting range, Liberty Lifestyle and you may well have read about the desgin process behind its first collection, 'Bloomsbury Gardens' on Katy's blog.  The fabric has started to arrive in USA stores and I know Annie at Village Haberdashery is stocking some of the 55 variations- that's 5 colourways and 11 prints!  

Michelle, otherwise known as Liberty Lifestyle lady, asked me to make a Lifestyle teacup just like the Liberty Lawn version I made testing Laurraine's Quilted Teacup pattern.

I was more than happy to oblige.

I love the mix in this collection, it is not matchy matchy- some prints look like they will never work with each other but they do and with a kick!  I added a label for Laurraine- her cute and easy label tutorial is here.

The linen is the same as the previous cup, Robert Kaufman's Essex linen/cotton blend in 'Unbleached'.

These pics remind me of vintage tea china sold in pairs and trios in antique shops!

And as the teacup was going to live a new and glamourous life in Cafe Liberty, I thought a little tea cozy would be a suitable traveling companion.

I was drawn to this print, Copeland, for the main body of the tea kettle.  Bold, dramatic and with a hint of bygone age.

Next to the teacup, it looks just about the right size to fill the cup!

I used some Lecien Cosmo embroidery floss for steam and a little Liberty pun on the cozy reverse.  you can find Cosmo at Eternal maker

The selvedges gave me just enough text for the handle and knob.

A bit of vintage Liberty lawn for the lining and a little label using Laurraine's tutorial inside.

You can find the tea kettle pattern on individual sale here and as a set here.  The tea cozy tutorial is in my free patterns and tutorials here.