Giveaway mania at Sew Mama Sew…

I’ve just finished trawling through all these wonderful blogs and giveaways and I feel I’ve just clawed my way out of an obsession…But I’ve seen some fantastic crafty works from all over the world and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So, even if I don’t win anything, it was well worth it. So thanks everyone!!!

Storing fabric…

I’ve just done some research into how other people store their fabric…mine tends to be the organised (or not so organised) chaos…which is only bearable because my stash is still fairly small…which in itself is actually unbearable! So I found this great little write-up for all us chaotic people out there…check it out and tell me what you think about his system. xx

http://www.sewdaily.com/blogs/stitchblog/archive/2011/04/21/how-do-you-store-your-fabric.aspx

Still giveaways going on!!!

Here are some more of the wonderful sites hosting giveaways at the moments…Sew Mama Sew’s big day…

http://www.themodernmarigold.com/
http://modernsewl.blogspot.com/
http://www.mooncalfmakes.co.uk/
http://mrsmoen.blogspot.com
http://myfabricobsession.blogspot.com
http://narniamum.blogspot.com/
http://patchworkdelights.blogspot.com
http://piecemealquilts.wordpress.com
http://www.sameliasmum.com/
http://sandandstarfish.com
http://sewhappygeek.co.uk
http://littlethingsbybeth.blogspot.com/
http://thesewingattic.blogspot.com/
http://www.stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/
http://stitchyoursoul.blogspot.com
http://sukie.mt-wudan.com
http://www.swimbikequilt.com
http://www.twomoreseconds.com/
http://www.unfamiliarceiling.com
http://wendymoondesigns.blogspot.com/

And there are still sooooo many more…you just have to head over and explore. x

Giveaway day!!!!

Have a look at all these great giveaways…..and check out the actual blogs, too – they are gems!

http://agirlinparadise.blogspot.com/
http://aprairiesunrise.blogspot.com/

Home Page

http://adelaidelemonade.typepad.com/

Always Expect Moore

http://www.andreacreates.blogspot.com/
http://bacontheneggs.blogspot.com/
http://www.bearpawandbearpaw.blogspot.com/
http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/
http://bluebirdsews.blogspot.com/
http://calamityjanescottage.blogspot.com/
http://craftymoira.blogspot.com
http://distantpickles.blogspot.com
http://www.earthgirlfabrics.com.au
http://edeenutcreates.blogspot.com/
http://www.fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://fifiandflorence.blogspot.com
http://www.flamingotoes.com
http://www.genxquilters.com/
http://girlforallseasons.wordpress.com
http://victoriamiller.typepad.com
http://www.greenbaglady.blogspot.com/
http://mary.emmens.co.uk
http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/
http://jkcreations1.blogspot.com/
http://jaceycraft.blogspot.com/
http://lrstitched.wordpress.com
http://lawsonandlotti.blogspot.com
http://melissaslilaclane.blogspot.com/
http://livingmysweetlife.blogspot.com
http://lotsofpinkhere.blogspot.com
http://michelemademe.blogspot.com/

A return from the Blogless world…

Hello Hello everyone…

I seem to have vanished for a while…rather a lot happening in my world at the moment. I left off just after my birthday with a promise of some fabric pics and what happened…? They never came – so here goes: The family came through in fine style – they all know where I leave my money. Look at all this fabric goodness!

Don’t you just LOVE the mushrooms (sorry they ended up upside down…)

These gorgeous brushed cottons are currently being transformed into a baby blanket…the purple one is the back.

I’m not quite sure what to make with these – yet – but I just can’t resist them. I have to keep taking them out and looking at them and stroking them a little…am I very weird? But don’t they just look like summer???

I have already cut into these…I’m making a new cushion for my lovely sister…birthday coming up soon and she LOVES coffee…I thought, I might be on to a winner here…

Oh and apart from just looking at all these wonderful additions to my growing stash, I have actually been quilting and here is one finished project…And as you had already seen some progress pics you might be interested in the after-quilting-pic. I handquilted diagonal lines and really like the effect (why I handquilt straight lines is anybodies guess…)

Would you know it was actually blowing a gale…I must have managed to press down at just the right time to create this amazingly still effect…

Have a good week everyone. x

yipee!!!

You all crossed your fingers very well! I have such fantastic good news: I’m on holiday (with lots of sunshine…), I have just had a wonderful birthday with lots of quilty presents…pics coming soon…and I have been offered a place to become a mental health nurse! I am soooooo excited. I really wanted the place but as only 20 were available, I didn’t really believe in it. There were so many other great applicants! So I am thrilled.

I hope you are all having a great time and are enjoying the sunshine where you are.
Carmen

Last weekend’s productivity…

As I mentioned a few days ago, I did a lot of sewing over the weekend and here is the result. I’m really pleased with it (although not with the picture) and will now just have to baste, quilt and bind it…JUST…

The idea for this quilt came from Barbara Chainey’s book. She teaches you a cutting plan with which you cut your fabrics before you plan your quilt (beyond simple colour matching). I really like it because it advocates being free and inventive and not to necessarily follow one of the designs in the book but just to go with the proposed cutting plan for the fat quaters and then arrange your cut pieces in any wild way you fancy. The fabrics I used are quite different from what I would normally choose and I don’t tend to use a lot of white, so it was a new experience all round. Please tell me what you think of it. Feedback is always welcome.

Also, I did mention that I had made some mug rugs and here is the promised picture. I took some inspiration from this mug rug on flickr made by mindboggld. I do like the scrappy look of that one but somehow mine ended up being a lot more regular… But hey room for improvement with the next lot (which I’m sure will be soon made although I have so much else to do). I like very small things, too, so I made one mug rug and a couple of smaller coaster like ones – basically a pot-and-2-cups set. And may I just say that that is one of my favourite cups, too – a little pressie from my lovely mother-in-law who knows how much I love Wuthering Heights…

Have a lovely avo everyone and keep your fingers firmly crossed for me tomorrow…I’ll let you know what it was for when it has all worked out and I’m happy…

A project waiting there…?

Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a lovely weekend…mine was great! So much sewing…too much maybe…my back is complaining a bit! Although that doesn’t really have anything to do with the sewing but the position I put myself in when I iron! No wonder I hate that part so much.
Anyway, I’ve just been trawling the web for some inspiration on strip quilts. I love them and have not tried on yet. I’ve always been afraid of making it all skewed and maybe ending up with something completely lopsided and horrible…and I just can’t bear to cut into my beloved fabrics then…but I saw some lovely tutorials which make me think, I might just give it a go soon. Check out this site for a ‘quilt as you go’ tutorial and definitely have a look at filminthefridge for the loveliest strip quilts ever!!! Those will make you want to start immediately, I promise!

Anyhow, let me know if you have thought of making strip quilts as well. Of course, if you’ve already made one and have posted a pic somewhere, send me a link and I will definitely check it out. Can’t wait to see some more lovely examples!

I can’t wait!

I am so excited! I have just found out that my husband has bought me a vintage Singer treadle sewing machine from 1922!!!! Complete and utter bliss! Could I ask for a better present or a better husband for that matter??? We are going to pick it up in a couple of weeks as the person selling it is not exactly around the corner and we can’t manage it earlier. I can’t wait. I’m already trying to decide what I will sew on it first.

Now tell me: Isn’t this lovely?! I am going to have sooooo much fun. My great-aunt used to have such a machine and the first sewing I did was on that one. What a brilliant thing to have and to use again. I absolutely LOVE IT! I’m hoping that machine quilting will be a little easier on this machine because you have so much more space under the arm. Has anyone got any experience in that respect? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Quilty day…

Only a half day of work today, so lots of quilting time…:) I worked on some mug rugs for friends, there is so much inspiration around I hardly knew where to start. I ended up trying some scrappy and some more regular designs. I’ll post some pictures soon. I also finally picked up one of my more long term projects which had been (I am slightly embarassed to say) gathering dust in a corner. I rediscovered it today and got quite a bit done. It’s a sample block based quilt and I now only have two more to finish before I can start putting them all together. I actually don’t really know why I got distracted from it because I really like the fabrics.

I’m going to frame the blocks all in white, so hopefully the finished quilt will be nice and bright.

I am also getting on well with my baby quilt in blue. I’m currently handquilting it with an overall hexagon pattern (which is proving very time consuming) which is why I decided to keep the quilt top very simple. I wanted to try my hand at a more structured pattern, rather than just my standard straight lines…

I must say, I do like this quilt – but then I am a huge fan of blue. I’ll post another pic when I finally finish it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. xx