Generosity

There are times where I can't believe the friendship and generosity that comes from blogging and the online community.  I have been blogging for a while now and I am still humbled by the kindness of my sewing friends and words are hard to find.  Chase sent me a little post birthday goodness of feed sacks and chocolate and the cutest little drawings on the packaging.  If you haven't visited her blog go now for the prettiest photos and slice of her life. Thankyou Chase xxx

Anna made me a house block bursting with eye spy moments and fabric goodness for my Ringo Pie house block theme.   It arrived yesterday with the most beautiful assortment of scraps, lace and goodies. She really brought tears to my eyes with her little card.  Thankyou so much Anna xxx

I cannot express how much I value my sewing friendships, they really help some tricky moments in life in the way that nothing else can.  Sewing is my salve and my sewing friends are part of that.  

Further thankyous for the Liberty scrap challenge ideas, I have handed the baton to Amy (During Quiet Time) and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with.

And if I haven't stirred sufficient emotion, take a read of this.  It was a very special moment to be a part of through the wonder of Skype.  This is a special photo.  I know it is a blurry screenshot but Penny and Tara are smiling the biggest smiles and I am there at home in the bottom corner sharing it with them!

Saints and Pinners

I have a new sponsor, Jo from Saints and Pinners.  Her online fabric shop is practically on my doorstep so to have her as a sponsor is perfect!  I first ordered from Jo a few years back , the shop was new, Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks Voiles had just come out and Saints and Pinners was amongst the first to stock it in the UK.  Jo runs the shop with her mother-in-law, Fran, in between another day job, two young children and sewing projects.  The customer service is excellent and she runs regular flash sales and discounts- follow her on Twitter and Facebook to catch these first!  I have put together a little gallery of some stand out pics from her shop. 

Starting with fabric packs, this is my favourite and my best: 'Fancy',  a disarmingly simple combo of Flea Market Fancy and Klona cottons 

For those of you who are on the low volume kick, there is this subtle stack of Klona and Kaffe dots.

 You can also find charm selections cut and packaged by Jo to dip your toe into a fabric collection and save a few pennies. Anna Charms,  Field Study: 28 x 5" squares already and waiting...

Jo stocks some  hidden jems I have not seen elsewhere including this beautiful cotton bamboo blend.  Shirt weight and begging to live in my wardrobe, you will find this in the well stocked Organic section and there are other colours too.  I know what you are thinking, Organic so it is going to be at least £3.50/1/4m- you are so wrong, in fact I had to double check the price, £2.50!

And a little festive extra, in the Gifts section, Jo has just added these paper beauties by Nancy Nicholson.  Little City- flat packed buildings and trees

And retro inspired 60s Angels

 

Getting your Christmas shopping done whilst buying fabric, perfect!

Paris Markets Pillow

I have just finished my pillow talk pillow and it has been packaged and posted along with some goodies to its mystery recipient.

I have enjoyed the journey on this pillow although taking pics in gloomy light has been tough so I have had to employ electric light and a little photo editing so you can the prints and colours.

I like to challenge myself in swaps like this one which are of such a ridiculously high standard and the construction was all about the inset seam: 8 in each block, 4 blocks and then 4 around the centre square so 36 in total.  I found the block in this 163 Patchwork (details in the link).

The Yuwa Paris map print was the inspiration for this pillow.  I don't know the name of this block but it reminded me of pathways.  I imagined my swap partner, French newspaper in hand, wandering the streets of Paris, starting in a central square...

and walking through shops and markets picking up treasures along the way, a little kitchenalia here, 

a decorative item pour la maison...

a coffee pot...

and of course, les boutons!

I kept the quilting light and simple, and used the indispensable fusible fleece, Vilene H640 which is a must for pillow making, it gives softness and structure and can cope with zips and binding without being too bulky.  I get through a lot of this stuff, I cannot recommend it more highly!

Straight-line quilting, vibrant Liberty Bloomsbury prints and an inset zip for the back.

Vintage diagonal check for the binding, the look of bias without none of the tricky cutting.  My swap partner has been a pleasure to sew for, easy preferences and lots of creative ideas.   Bringing together all those fabric scraps, new and old, gifts and swaps and weaving a narrative together has to be my favourite creative process.  This pillow is 20 x 20" and is winging its way to a new home!

Liberty Home Mini Quilt

Nova and Jo have been hosting the Liberty Scrap Challenge all through 2012 showcasing beautiful projects and tutorials featuring Liberty lawn.  The master list is here, a great resource with the gift making season upon us.  October is my turn  and I just snook in on the last day of the month!

I wanted to do a  foundation paper pieced design as Liberty lawn is an amazing fabric to piece with.  It has strength, vibrancy, and print variety whilst being incredibly lightweight and reducing bulk on seams.  Any of you who have paper pieced with linen  and dealt with the humps and bumps it creates surely know what I mean!  I have kept the design simple, suitable for a first time paper piecer and you can foundation or freezer paper piece.  You can find beginner resources here and at Sew-Ichigo and there are a wealth of videos on Youtube.  Techniques can vary but the principles remain the same.  As all these pieces are square/rectangles it makes for an ideal project to learn basic paper piecing an conquer any fears.  If a mini is not your thing, the house block could be used to make multiple terrace rows or just singularly for a little zip pouch. 

 Liberty Home Mini Quilt

You will need:

Home pattern sheet: To print correct size, open link, look for print icon top left corner and check 'actual size' is ticked.

Liberty lawn scraps including pieces suitable for fussy cutting windows and doors, roofs, path

Linen/light neutral scraps for house walls

Liberty lawn blue print: 2 1/2" x 11 3/4" for sky

Liberty lawn print for border: 2 strips 2"x 9 1/2", and 2 strips 2" x 14 1/2"

Batting 14" x16'": a cotton rich poly blend makes hand quilting a lot easier e.g. Quilter's Blend

Backing fabric 1 Fat Quarter

Assorted thread for hand and machine quilting

Finished size 11 1/2"x 14"approx.

Use 1/4" seams throughout.

Foundation Piecing

1. Print pattern and cut out pattern sections A and B allowing 1/4'' around both pattern pieces for seam allowance.

2. From your Liberty Fabrics fussy cut 3 windows 2" x 2" and 1 door 2'' x 2 3/4''.  The finished windows will be 1" x 1" and the door 1'' x 1 3/4''.   I have allowed a generous seam allowance for pre-cutting the fabric which is often a good idea for paper piecing. 

3.  Foundation piece sections A and B, trim seams as you sew to 1/4''.   Press each seam as you sew,

4. Join section A to B.  Remove paper, press seam downwards.

5.  Repeat steps 1-4 to make 2 more houses.

Freezer paper piecing

1. Print pattern.  Lay waxy side of freezer paper on top and trace with fine permanent marlier, e.g. Pigma Micron 01.

2.  Cut  out section A and divide int o separate pieces.   Freezer paper will be ironed to the reverse side of fabrics.  You will need to add a 1/4'' around edge of freezer paper when your cut the fabric out.  

3.  Join pieces in numerical order.  Once section A is complete, repeat same process with section B.

4. Join a to B.  Remove paper which can be reused for further houses.   Press seam down. 

5. Repeat steps 1-4 to make 2 more houses.

Assembling Mini Quilt

1. Join houses together in a row of 3.  

2. To create a path/pavement: Randomly piece small Liberty scraps that are at least 2'' wide.  You can improvise here.  Trim to make a strip 1 1/2" x 11 3/4".  Stitch to the base of the houses.

3. Add a 2 1/2" x 11 3/4" blue Liberty strip for the sky.  Stitch to above roof of houses. 

4. For border, add 2 strips  2"x 9 1/2" to sides of mini quilt.  Add 2 strips 2" x 14 1/2"

5. Press and baste or baste spray to batting.  Hand quilting can be added at this point. 

6. Trim excess batting. Place on lining, right sides together, and use as template to cut lining.   Keep mini quilt and lining right sides together and stitch around edges using 1/4" seam and leaving a 4" opening to turn through. Turn through, press and slip stitch opening closed.  You can add stitch-in-the-ditch quilting to hold the layers together e.g between the houses.  Bury the thread ends.

Your mini 'Home' quilt is complete!

Giveaway in exchange for a tutorial!

If you have a Liberty Scrap Challenge idea, Jo has a bag of Liberty scraps all ready for you.  Leave a comment describing your idea at then end of this post and I will pick one next Wednesday and Jo will send you the scraps-  open internationally so don't hold back wherever you are in the world and 

worry you wont be expected to post a tutorial until next year!    You are of course welcome just to comment normally without an idea so I don't feel too lonely in this post!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Giveaway winner was Sara, congrats to her and Mama Said Sew FQs are on their way.

Thankyou to Jessie for the giveaway prize.

London Cultural Top Up

I had the quickest of trips to London at the beginning of the week, just over 36 hours, 4 exhibitions, and the company of my younger brother.  I was nervous about train travel, I am over the labyrinthitis but every now and again it creeps in, I don't know if it is actual or psychological but it has made me a little fearful especially when travelling.  I got there OK, with the help of David Sedaris . The weather was grey and damp and the photos are mainly from my phone but what we saw was dazzling.

We walked from Marble Arch into Hyde Park and along the Serpentine.  The parks in London are such a treat.  They are so vast and even with the traffic close by they are peaceful calm places packed with history.

It was foggy, in the distance is Hyde Park Barracks and to the right is the Diana Memorial Fountain. 

We headed for my favourite London attraction, The V and A.  I have been here many times now, usually for a specific exhibition or just to wonder and I can return back again and again.  There aren't many places inside where you can take pics, this photo is from the corridor to the ladies loos!

Are main focus was the new Hollywood Costume exhibition.  It did not disappoint.  It was truly one of the most involving and emtotional exhibitions that I have ever seen.  It is not just the iconic film costumes- and they are fantastic, it is the curation and presentation of the whole experience.  Five years in the preparation, it is a sight and sound extravaganza.   Usually I wander in and out at exhibitions, taking in a bit here, a bit there, reading some of the info, passing the duller sections.  This exhibition is different, it grabs you fromt he second you walk in and it feels like you are on a film set, there is darkness, light, stirring film music, prejections and the most amazing projections and animations.  You can read a great account here and see photos that give you some idea of the experience and a different account here with more pics.  Seeing the original Ruby Slippers at the end felt like a beautiful ending.  If you get a chance, go.  It is a ground breaking and magical exhibition. 

We also took a look at the Ballgowns exhibition but after the Hollywood Costumes they seemed a little pedestrian.  Then a hike over to Pimlico and Tate Britain.  The annual Turner Prize is currently on display.  there a 4 artists featured including 2 film installations.  The only work that really captivated us both was Elizabeth Price's The Woolworth's Choir of 1979, a haunting film with repetitive images and sound.  It grabs your attention and leaves you wondering what just happened.  Then on to the Pre Raphaelites:- ever popular and enjoying another surge of interest.  This was a busy exhibition and could have done with a little more space to fit all the viewers a little more comfortably.  I saw much of this in the 1990s when I was living in the North West but they are always worth repeat viewings.

Covent garden next and the Apple store- birthday present for my bro and a few pics of the busy shops and eateries.  The Moomin store was beyond cute.

 Back to Russell Square and Bloomsbury park fountain by night.

My cultural tank has been topped up.  

Liberty scrap Challenge tutorial coming up later this week x

And Jessie's giveaway is still running here for 2 Mama Said Sew FQs.

I am so Texty Mama Said Sew Giveaway

You may have heard about a new little online fabric store with a vintage retro twist...

Jessie, or Messy Jesse as you may know her,  has just opened Sew and Quilt and she has plans to stock it with a wonderful  dolly mixture selection of pretty prints with familiar fabrics like Liberty Bloomsbury pastels and Aneela's Cherry Christmas, plus  a touch of nostalgia with vintage bedlinen bundles and  Aunt Grace style 1930s repro prints.   Jessy has only just started getting stock in and she has given me a little preview info that  the new Pam Kitty Love Collection is coming very soon.  You can see these darling prints in use at Nanette's blog Frieda's Hive- a lovely place to visit  for a bit of vintage style and Nanette is a friend of Pam's so well placed to use her prints in the most perfect way possible.  One of my current favs in stock right now at Sew and Quilt  are a selection of Mama Said Sew prints, including these texty lovelies.  I can never have enough of text prints like these and the last Sweetwater text print like this in the Authentic collection,  became a hard to find must have for texty print lovers.

And look, here they are again, 2 fat Quarters all bundled up and ready to be won!

To be in with a chance of winning, and it is UK and Europe only I am afraid- sorry x 

Here is how it works...

For your first entry-leave a comment suggesting what you would you like Jessie to stock?  Think vintage retro fabric lines or even actual vintage as well as other modern fabric lines- what are you looking for that you can't find in the UK or Europe.

Additional entries are available by doing all or any of the following, leave a quick comment for each:

Follow Messy Jesse blog

'Like' Sew and Quilt's Facebook page

Follow @sewandquilt on Twitter

Follow verykerryberry blog

A total of 5 possible entries!  

Please make sure your email is available in your profile or your comment- I need to be able o pass your details on to Jessie- no email no win. You have till Wed 31st 6.00am GMT to enter.

I am looking forward to reading your recommendations!

Giveaway is now closed