This month I tried something new. I found a super soft cotton print and decided to make a scarf. And as it was very thin I thought I could as well try to make a rolled hem…
After some unpicking (and swearing…), I finally managed to make do.
I am not even sure that I handled the special foot correctly but the scarf was hemmed eventually. More photos when that thing is gifted (o:
Have YOU tried something new? Come, share!
Happy Sewing!
Christine
During the last weeks we made more improvements downstairs (in my sewing room).
I made a Design Wall out of one left-over woodden panel and some flannel. Yay!
Here you can see it covered with blocks from our “Sew-Euro-bee-an” online bee.
I still owe you a picture of my FMQ Setup. It is sooooooo much easier to quilt on a built-in sewing machine than on the small extension-table that I used before. Thank you again, Dad, for building this table!!!
Oh, and did I mention that my husband gave me a giant cutting mat for my cutting table as a birthday present? It is custom made so it covers the top completely.
The centimetre grid ends at 145 cm!!!
But the most important thing and the best decision ever-ever-ever is this addition:
We moved in an old table and two IKEA chairs and most of our boys’ creative stuff. This decision was made after they “accidentially” coloured our sofa with their felt-tip markers. I made room on the shelves for their crayons, felt-tip pens, pencils, stencils, stamps, small scissors, colouring books, blank and coloured sheets of paper, decorative-hole-punchers and of course for their perler beads.
Somehow my boys love perler beads. Our youngest (who BTW turns 4 next week) is so proud when he covered a “mould” entirely with beads. And above you can see our eldest (almost 6 yrs) who loves to invent new forms and shapes.
Together we regularly (almost daily!) spend an hour or two crafting downstairs. I really enjoy watching their progress and sharing my passion for crafts with them.
The downside is that the craft room is so much messier now (at least I can now pretend that it’s the boys who make it messy… ehem)…
When I our eldest turns 6 in October I plan to give him his first sewing book. I showed him how to hand sew a little felt bunny this easter and he was quite keen to try it again. With the long winter months ahead I thought it might be a good idea to revisit hand stitching. I thought I’d give him “Sewing School: 21 Sewing Projects Kids Will Love to Make”. Any objections or better ideas? I’d love to hear what you think about sewing books for kids.
Happy crafting everyone (o:
Christine
P.S. If you came over from Ellison Lane Quilts and her “Studio Spotlight”, here are two more photos of my sewing room to give you a better idea.
And you can find even more photos here…
Thanks for visiting!
Elisabeth asked for aqua, blue, turquoise and white blocks for her month (June) of Sew-Euro-bee-an. I made two summer-y applique blocks using fabrics from my stash.
I will not even try to conceal how much I love these flip-flops. I will surely remake this block (slightly bigger) and turn it into a bathmat.
As Elisabeth had asked for blocks in any sizes, I didn’t cut them back so she can fit them in whereever she might need them.
We’re off for a week at the sea with kids and our friends (and more kids) so you won’t see me around for the next days.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Christine
If you have been following my blog for the last few weeks, you know that I had a hard time at my real-life-job recently. Fate had struck my dear colleague with a nasty blow. He was absent several weeks and will have to undergo medical treatment for some weeks.
To cheer him and his family up, I made him a quilt. A Plus Quilt has been on my to-sew-list for quite some time now and I think this was the right occasion to make one. I associate many positive meanings to plusses – and that’s what it was all about: to send positive vibes and thoughts to my colleague and his wife.
Amazingly, I pulled all these grey, green, white and black fabrics from my stash (mostly comma and curious nature with some architexture and backyard baby mixed in). As I was in a hurry to get the quilt finished, I used rectangles and squares to speed up the piecing.
I meant to use one solid piece of fabric for the backing but discovered too late, that the intended piece was too small. I ended up piecing the backing and I am glad I did. IMHO I think it looks splendid.
Here’s to my new sewing machine! I managed to quilt straight lines without any problems. Thanks to the adjustable foot pressure of my new machine. I quilted two vertical lines and one horizontal line…
… and bound the quilt with my favourite COMMA. I attached it with my sewing machine, using my usual zigzag stitch.
I really love this rather manly quilt and am happy to report that my colleague wrote me a super-nice-thank-you-note stating that he loves the quilt and that his wife wants to learn how to sew now (o:
Thanks for visiting!
Christine
Classes
My first one was John’s Embroidery class. Here he is, showing the (rope?) stitch.
Here is a Penguin & Fish Monkey that I started in John’s Class and finished during the weekend.
Next up was Trudi with her Free Motion Quilting Classes
My FMQ Practice Piece:
Sunday Morning went by with Ruth’s Trapunto Class.
Here’s my slightly overstuffed heart:
Swaps
Here’s our Secret Sample Swap Group: (from left to right: Kathy, me, Sue, Mandy)
And this is our lot: buntings, mug rugs, embroidered placemats/centrepieces and fabric baskets.
The Scrappy Strip Swap:
Miscellaneous
Besides, there was the Quilt Market in the Main Hall…
And last but not least, a generous goodiebag:
with fabrics, thread and a variety of notions. Thanks you very much, dear sponsors!
Lots and lots of chatting, laughing and stitching…
… a quick visit to the V&A Museum with Liz, who was ill last year and whom I finally met in person this year. It is so much fun to get to know online pals after all that blog reading, emailing and commenting. Thanks for taking me to the V&A, Liz!!!
And then there was some sightseeing on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. Thank you very much, Carol, Lizzy, Sue and especially to you, Ann!
Thank you everyone (FQ Team, Teachers, Sponsors, Fellow Attendants, and BPH staff) for making this weekend memorable!
Christine
Good news. The nametag is done and ready to be send out tomorrow. I’ll post photos once it arrived at my partner.
And the samples are washed and dryed (I had to rinse out the marks that helped me keep the quilting even).
Here’s a detail of the Dogwood Quilting.
The fabrics are a pure linnen and my favourite fabric line ever: COMMA. In grey, black, white and green. I just hope my swap partners will like those baskets.
Tomorrow I’ll have a day off, the kids will stay at home (or go to the cinema) with my husband and I’ll head to our Modern Quilt Guild Sew-in. All day long. Yay!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Christine
Just a bit more than two weeks left before I fly to London for Fat Quarterly Community Retreat 2013. I take part in the nametag swap, the sample swap and the scrappy strip swap. I’m finally done with the samples. They are still wet from washing but I should be able to take photos tomorrow.
But first I have to finish the nametag that must be send before saturday…
Any more procrastinators out there?!
Christine
