Its a Spotty & Stripy sort of a day………..

Hi All,

I trust you are all well, enjoying the delights of life and are happily sewing.   Well it’s Friday and I have a finish………….

I made this envelope  cushion for my beautiful friend.  Can I tell you that it took me forever to cut into the fabric.   I was worried that I would mess up especially when it was for someone else and they supplied the fabric!!!   When its my own fabric I don’t mind so much.  I suppose if you don’t like it you can start again or buy more fabric.    Now that I have made the cushion I love it.  It is very  striking.   There is just something about black and white spots; it just makes colours dance.  The cushion is 20 inch square with an Duck/Down insert and the heavy cotton Black & White fabric was purchased from Ikea.

For the back, my friend chose a vintage green stripe also from Ikea.  I really like the fabric combination.  I sewed a quarter inch seam right sides together and then I sewed a half inch seam around the outside edge to give a’ frill like’ effect!  I hope she likes it….

Following are a few pics of my hand quilting to keep you up to date with my progress!

This little star is so soft and I hand quilted it with a Lilac perle 8 cotton.

A little bit of red perle cotton to blend with the scrappiness of this quilt.  If you are new to this site following is a pic of the quilt top………..

I am  enjoying hand quilting this vintage modern quilt with 1930s fabrics.  It is so much fun and changing the colours of  perle cotton for each star makes it more interesting.  That’s it for this week.

I am linking this post  up with  Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation,  for TGIFF at  Pippa’s Patch,   Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of A Fabric Addict and  Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday.

Check out Sarah’s giveaway of a beautiful free motion quilt book at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  You know what they say if your not in you can’t win.

If you are stopping by from the above links Welcome, feel free to stay a while and have a look around!

As always,  thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous weekend!

Sew Happy…………………………..Marie x

Improvisational Piecing……….

I thought I would share my latest book and a little piece of improvisational piecing given that I am seriously into using my scrap.  I bought this book recently…………………..

The author, of 15 Minutes of Play,  Victoria Findlay Wolfe visited Australia and ran a workshop for Material Obsession in Sydney.  Unfortunately I was unable to attend but I was certainly inspired to buy the book.  I have been very focused on my scrap pile which is growing rapidly and I  have been endeavoring to reduce it.  So with that in mind, I tried some improvisational piecing by collecting my scraps from projects and piecing them together in a  haphazard manner.   I produced this little gem …….

You guessed another hexagon!!  These scrappy pieces are the fabric left over from my Harlequin Star block which I posted about previously.  I really love these fabrics and I like the effect that it improvisational piecing gives!   I  will continue to try out some more.

Isn’t it lovely to find ways to incorporate  the  scraps of fabrics that you love into something more useable and fun.  Victoria also sets out challenges in the book to  further assist in improving technique and creativity.    She refers to improvisational piecing as” making fabric”.  Which technically it is.  Why let all those beautiful fabric scraps sit around instead of making fabric as you go.  This is why Victoria promotes 15 minutes of play because it is  a more manageable time allocation in our busy days and we are more likely to achieve it.  Victoria blogs at Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts  check it out to see lots of inspiration.

Would love to hear how you incorporate your scraps into projects.  Appreciate any comments you may have on SCRAPS!

I am linking this post up with Quilt Story’s Fabric Tuesday and Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.  If you are visiting from these links  Welcome!!

As always,  thank you for stopping by!   Wherever you are in this world  have a fabulous day!

Sew Happy……………….Marie x

Fussy Squares Finished ………………

Hi everyone……..I trust this blog post finds you well and enjoying life.  I have a finish…………twelve 41/2 inch paper pieced fussy squares………..

I previously posted a fussy square that turned out to be an optical illusion and I asked for your opinion.   Some saw a face, others a shirt and tie and others two little birds.  I sewed up a new square with a white background so you could see that it really is  two cute  little birds  kissing.  The fabric is a Sarah Fielke From Little Things.     Following is the original ……………….

When we choose fabric sometimes we just don’t know what we create…………………….

A  cute Little Red Riding Hood …………

A few little houses …….the heart of a home surrounded with love….

The 12 fussy squares  are ready for parcelling and posting off  across the oceans to the lovely Amanda at What the Bobbin, for distribution.  I hope the recipients like them as much as I have enjoyed making them.  I would like to say thank you to Amanda for hosting such a fun swap.  I will let you know when I receive my goodies, in the post.

I am linking this post  up with  Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation,  for TGIFF at Sewing by Moonlight,   Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of A Fabric Addict,  Paper Piecing Party at Quiet Play and  Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday.

If you are stopping by from the above links Welcome, feel free to stay a while and have a look around!

As always,  thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous weekend!

Sew Happy…………………………..Marie x

A little bit of this ….&….. A little bit of that….

Some days life is just a little bit of this and  a little bit of that……don’t you think?  That is exactly how my sewing is going at the moment.  Although I am glad to say  I have started hand piecing my Grandma’s Star quilt with perle 8 cotton and I am loving it big time…..

I started out using a white perle 8 cotton for the stars!  I thought if I added colour it would be too busy.  As you can see I  have changed my mind and decided to quilt using various  colours of perle cotton.  I have quilted in the ditch and  a quarter inch in the white backing fabric and hexagon centre.

I had to purchase  some more cotton which required a visit to Amitie, my local quilt shop.  There is so much perle cotton to choose from it is amazing.  I brought the quilt with me to check out the colours.  It is so lovely quilting this project as it is so cold in Melbourne and I  can snuggle under my work-in- progress!!

I also loved looking at  Amitie’s new range of Yuwa fabrics  that just arrived and I couldn’t resist  a few small pieces……

I am looking forward to incorporating these goodies into my future projects……………..

Well that concludes a little bit of this and that for today!   I am linking this post up with Quilt Story’s Fabric Tuesday and Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.  If you are visiting from these links welcome.  Feel free to stay  and look around.

As always, thank you for stopping by.    Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous day.

Sew Happy……………………Marie x

My Harlequin Stars…………..

Hi Everyone…………the weekend is approaching  and I am loving my completed  foundation pieced Harlequin Star!

My local quilting group Bayside Quilters Inc  organized a foundation piecing workshop sometime ago.   I love the accuracy of  foundation piecing and wanted to  add a new technique to my quilting skills.  The workshop was focused on a foundation pieced  pattern, Harlequin Stars, designed and written by the lovely Emma Jansen of  Ballarat Patchwork.   The pattern can be sewn with any paper piecing method, however, the workshop focused on a freezer paper technique with a difference.   Essentially,  the freezer paper is folded back at the seam lines  and the fabric is stitched close to the folded edge of the paper.  The benefits are that the freezer paper can be reused multiple times and there is no need to rip paper away from the stitching lines.  Weeks had passed by and my  foundation piecing focus waivered until it was resumed with the love of the Fussy Cut Square Swap that I posted recently.

Now the cutting board is out and more stars are on the way to make this beautiful pattern…………..

The quilt pattern has been photographed with permission of Emma Jansen. 

If you are interested in this pattern check out Emma’s shop here!  There is a 50% off sale on this pattern at the moment.  It is back to the cutting board for me !!   I will keep you up to date with my progress………….

I am linking this post  up with  Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation,  [Amy’s] Crafty Shenaningins for TGIFF,   Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of A Fabric Addict, Kirsty at Quiet Play and  Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday

As always,  thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous weekend!

Sew Happy…………………………..Marie x

Scrappy Orders…….

Hi everyone……….hope this post finds you well and sewing happily.  Decision ….decisions….

After completing my Stars in Your Eyes quilt using Sarah Fielke  From Little Things fabric I had a number of 60 degree triangles left over and thought I would make a baby quilt.  The question is should I make it scrappy mixing up the triangles , as above, or ordered  keeping the triangles the same colour?

Same colour order………..

At this stage I am leaning towards the scrappy version.  It just seems like more fun.  I could change my mind though. What do you think?  I would be grateful for your comments.

More additions to my paper pieced fussy squares which I am totally in love with  thanks to Amanda at What the Bobbin…….

A Cute little flower

A bright happy Tree.

I am linking this post up with Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday and Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday. Stop by and say Hi………

That’s all the news for this post.  As always, thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous day.

Sew Happy………….Marie x

It Friday ………..Cute Fussy Squares

I continue to develop my fussy square paper pieced blocks  for a swap hosted by the lovely Amanda at What the Bobbin!

I love this little car!!  I love it even more because it references Melbourne in the advertisment which will be a nice reminder that it came from Australia.

A cute reminder of Paris.  My daughter has her eye on this one!  I think I will be making more.

A little vintage print of an umbrella and flowers for a special person.

Sharing the love!

A cute little  Sarah Fielke print ………… with an optical illusion -what do you see ?

A face or two little Birds!!

I am linking this post  up with Kelly’s Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation,   Amanda at Bedtime Quilts for Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday,  Sarah Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of A Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday

As always, thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous weekend.

Sew Happy…………………………Marie x

Winding my way through the stitches & scraps………..

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and had lots of stitching time over the last few days!

One of my objectives for the 2013 Quilt A Long was to finish a Winding Ways quilt that I started a few years back. My daughter picked out the fabric a coral/red small check.  I have now hand pieced all the blocks together.  I just have to decide whether to add more blocks.   As a pattern, Winding Ways ,  presents  difficulties in  getting a nice finish at the centre with eight pieces meeting in the middle, even with hand piecing.    I have soldiered on….

I am now at the point of also choosing borders and seeing where this quilt with take me.  I have auditioned fabrics from my stash and I am planning to do the outer border in French print with some one inch borders to break up the circles.

I am also looking through my scrap bag, it has certainly grown since my quilting journey began.  I have been influenced by the lovely Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts to see what I  can make.

Amanda Jean is making 3 1/2″ mini nine patch squares and suggested that we join her in the quilt along.  This is my first attempt at working with tiny pieces to make this  mini nine patch. This is a fun way to use up those fabric scraps and Amanda Jean has provided a tutorial here if you want to get involved.

Also playing with scraps has led me to this little beauty …………

I  love hexagons and stars, as if you haven’t guessed.   This is another little block that has  caught my attention, a 6″ hexagon star made from scraps!  The owner at  a local quilt shop, The Quilters Patch, inspired me with her 6″ hexagon star quilt that she made and won best of show for hand piecing !!  It was amazing.

Well that is the update for now on my quilt top and using up my scraps.  I can leave you with one thought “ big jobs are completed one piece at a time”

Linking this post up with Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday! , Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

As always, thank you for stopping by!  Wherever you are in the world have a great day.

Sew Happy………….Marie x

A Fun filled Fresh Sewing Day ………….

August has arrived and I have been inspired by Lily’s Quilts Fresh Sewing Day .  I have reflected on my sewing activities for July in the pictures above.   On review, July has been a very productive month and I am feeling good about my sewing projects.  Sometimes we are too focused on the unfinished projects that we forget to look back and see what has been achieved.

The key highlight for me, in July, was meeting the wonderful Gwen Marston.  She is an absolutely amazing lady and so inspirational.  I walked away, from her workshop, with two key points one to follow the quilting traditions of the past and secondly  to follow my  intuitive creativity.

Gwen discussed a Martha Washington  quilt from her Liberated Medallion Quilts Book. ” Unfinished Pieced Bedcover 1790 – 1800”  and noted that the outer border  on point squares were a bit short.    A creative solution was introduced and a contrasting material was added to all four corners giving the quilt a contemporary look.  (Marston, 2012:10)   So what if  your borders are too short, there is always a creative solution.  So with that in mind, I am not so critical of my work, it doesn’t have to be perfect  and I am more focused on enjoying the process.  Sewing is fun right!

I am linking this post up with Lily’s Quilt Sew Fresh,  Quokkaquilts TGIFF and Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday. If you have stopped by from these links Welcome!  Feel free to stay and look around, time permitting.

As always, thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are in the world have a great day.

Sew Happy ……………………….Marie x