Aussie Christmas Swap: Rainbow Pillow

Finally, last minute Christmas sewing is over, fete sewing is over, work is over (for the year, let's not get too excited), school is over, so I have a spare few minutes to write a blog post.

I feel it is very appropriate to write this post this long weekend since it was a make for the Aussie Christmas Swap. 

My partner said they loved Tula, Alison Glass and EPP / hexagons. Well, I have a fair amount of both Tula and Alison in my stash but given the short timeframe for the swap plus all the associated Christmas / year end crazy there was no way I was going to have time for hand piecing. I went with a pattern that had a good geometric design still though and hoped that would meet the criteria for my partner. 

Pattern I drafted up in PowerPoint

First up I whipped up some foundation paper piecing templates in PowerPoint. I am a big believer in playing to your strengths and I am good at PowerPoint. Obviously not the quilters tool of choice but for something simple in a pinch I thought it was a good option. 

Then auditioning colour placement and piece, piece, piece. Once done I was a bit stumped with how to quilt it, so I sat on it (metaphorically, not literally) for a few days and is often the case, the solution came to me in bed. I used my growing collection of Aurifil to match the colours and quilt it up. 

In love with the quilting pattern

I couldn't decide which part I loved the most, so two quilting pictures!

I used some Alison Glass Ex Libris for the pillow back and bound it in bike path in black and called it finished. Truth be told I was sorry to send it off, but spirit of Christmas and all that. 

This is my December ALYoF finish. 

Stats

Quilt: Alison x Tula Rainbow (technically it's a pillow)

Pattern: inspired by a pillow made by Sami (@imasavonasac on Instagram)

Dimensions: 16" x 16"

Fabric: mainly Alison Glass Handcrafted (I & II) and assorted Tula Pink (Eden, Elizabeth, True Colors)

Binding: Alison Glass Bike Path in Black & White

Backing: Alison Glass Ex Libris in Bookplate warm
Quilting: Aurifil 50wt in assorted colours

Now. I know people say it is better to give than receive and I felt pretty good about my giving, but I totally hit the jackpot on the receiving end. My partner was Carmen (@wombatcupcaketree on Instagram) and it was like she read my mind. 

A truly thoughtful gift

The necklace was actually on my Christmas Wishlist for my family so I had to take that off. I feel so very fortunate to have received a gift that someone put so much thought into. Thank you Carmen!!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

** This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners Cindy Weaver & Mrs Quinn! Both have been contacted via email. Thanks again to everyone who entered and for all the book recommendations, I am sorted for Summer reading**

Hello!! This is my first Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day (at least as a giver - I have entered lots of times though!).

I am very excited to be able to participate. 

If you are popping over from the giveaway, then here is a bit about me: my name is Hayley and I have been sewing for a bit over two years. I started sewing when I was pregnant with daughter number two. I have two girls affectionately known as Ms Moo and Ms Bird - hence the blog name - and a very tolerant husband who puts up with my sewing addiction and bits of thread all over the house. My first sewing love is quilting, but I also love to make bags, purses, pillows and more recently have been making some clothes. I live in beautiful Sydney, Australia. I have a ridiculous number of WIPs but 2016 is going to be all about finishing (some of) them off! Have a sticky beak around and if you like what you see I'd love for you to pop back from time to time and see what I have going on. 

But now to the main event!! Today I have these two pencil cases to give away. Since there are two pencil cases, I'll pick two winners.

The prize!

What's on the inside

What do you have to do to win? Just leave me a comment telling me whether you would prefer to win the low volume or black one - the first one I pick will get their choice first. And if you want to leave me a book recommendation for my Summer holidays, that would be nice too. That's it - no other hoops to jump through.

I'll pick the winner Sunday 13th of December and I'll ship internationally. Now get back over to the giveaways and get entering!

(I try to reply to comments, but I am anticipating lots for the giveaway so please don't be upset if I don't reply to you. Let me just say good luck here!)

December ALYoF Goal: Aussie Christmas Swap Gift

For those of you that follow me on Instagram (I'm @peaches1003) you will have seen the gift that I have been overgramming am making for the Aussie Christmas Swap.

I was inspired by a similar pattern by Sami (@iamsavonsac). I have been drooling over it for ages and was so glad to have a reason to try it.

My partner says she likes Tula Pink and Alison Glass - I hope she means it!! 

The posting date is the 8th of Dec so I have to be done by then.. 

This is my December goal for ALYoF. 

Now I know my ABC’s

 I finally have a quilty finish to share with you! A big one (relatively) – I seem to have spent all year making (or at least finishing) minis, bags, pillows, etc, with no big finishes.

 

I don’t know what initially gave me the idea of making this. I had seen all the individual letters made during the original Spell it with Fabric blog hop last year, but for some reason  about six months ago I started whipping up the individual letters in between making other things. Each letter is very quick to make and doesn’t use too much fabric. As a plus, there are minimal HSTs (there may not be any actually) which makes me a happy quilter.

 

Anyway, I decided that this would be the perfect teacher gift for Moo’s Kindergarten teacher. How fitting to give an alphabet quilt to the person teaching my girl to read? I think in general teachers are underpaid and underappreciated and Kindergarten has to be a tough gig, right? I love my kids more than anything in the world and some days I need to go outside and take a deep breath – imagine doing that with 30+ that aren’t even your own....

 

I needed to add four blocks to square out the quilt and I decided to use these cute little books from Ayumi Mills’ Patchwork Please! I love the blocks, but they were a little smaller than I needed and the day I made them I reallystruggled to figure out how to size them up. I just could not get my brain around it. I did manage to get blocks the right size eventually, after much swearing, but they are not centred, which is not that noticeable when they are not sewn into the quilt, but it became very apparent once the top was all pieced together because now the quilt is not symmetrical. And that bugs me. A lot. (You should see the fun we have at our house when we hang pictures).

 

I backed the quilt in some of the famous Ikea Britten print (Tempe Ikea has loads of it people). I bought 6 metres of it. As a bonus, it was just wide enough that I didn’t have to piece the back. Yay! Gotta love avoiding a pieced back for a quick finish. 

 

I quilted it up stitching down the sashing and around the letters in white Aurifil. If I have one regret about this quilt, it is that I tried to stitch in the ditch around the letters. It just looks....not bad, but I know it could have been better. I should have unpicked it and started again after the first one, but for some insane reason I persevered and I don’t think it is my best work. I would have been better off echoing the letters. But never mind. I’ll know better next time. Not having quilted anything bigger than a baby quilt for a while, I found quilting this really hard. Turning the corners on the letters made some weird things happen if I wasn’t careful – something happened to the tension and the thread got caught in the machine and pulled at the bottom and broke. The quilting was also made much more difficult by the batting. I used Quilters Dream that I bought off Massdrop and I won’t be buying that again. It was so fluffy and my threads that need to be buried have huge fuzz balls attached.

 

I bound it with a rainbow jelly roll that I picked up ages ago, so now it is done!

 

That is a finish off my Q4 FAL goals and my November ALYoF finish (and I might add, a huge weight off my mind). 

 

(Ms Moo was my photographer - I think she did a great job)

So here are the stats: 

 

Quilt Name: Now I Know my ABCs

Size: 55.5” x 62.5”

Pattern: Spell it With Fabric from Moda

Fabric: Scrappy (nearly) all from my stash

Binding: Scrappy Rainbow Solids

Backing: Ikea Britten Fabric

Quilted: With white Aurifil by me

 

 

 

 

__

 

November Goal ALYoF

My goal for November is to finish my alphabet quilt that I am making using the pattern that was released as part of the Spell it With Fabric blog hop hosted by Moda last year.

 

This quilt is to be an end of year / Christmas gift for Miss Moo’s Kindergarten teacher, so time is running out and I have to get it done.

 

Good news: the top is pieced, I have batting and I bought six metres of Ikea’s Britten fabric so I am well and truly sorted for backing. I just need to baste it (ugh) and quilt / bind it. My plan is for pretty straight forward quilting – along the seam lines between each block and then echoing the letters to make them pop. That’s the plan at least.

 

Linking up to the November ALYoF goal setting party. Wish me luck!

WIP Wednesday: A Spotty Swoon

I kind of feel like a Swoon Quilt is a rite of passage for a quilter. The internet is certainly awash with them and I myself have a Pinterest board dedicated just to the Swoon.

 

I started mine a long time ago. This was going to be a quilt for my bed! I signed up for one of Camille Roskelley’s Craftsy classes and the pattern came with the class. Now, do you think I have done that class? Have I even finished my Swoon? Do I have a quilt for my own bed? No, no and no. I just looked back in Instagram and I posted my first block 63 weeks ago!!! And I am sure that I cut the fabric a long time before that, so this quilt has been hanging around in my garage sewing room for a long time. 

 

Since this was going to be for my bed, which is also my husband’s bed, I didn’t want it to be too girly. I bought myself a FQ bundle of Dear Stella’s mini confetti dots, armed myself with some yardage of Kona Silver and off I went. Chop, chop, chop. 

 

Now first of all, can I say that there is not a lot of wriggle room in the cutting instructions if you are cutting from FQs. Keep in mind that I started making this when I hadn’t been sewing for very long, so I was not the accurate cutting star I am now. Some of my FQs were also....let’s just say cut on a bit of an angle.  Whatever, I made do with what I and cut all my blocks where they languished for a while, unsewn, but neatly organised in sandwich bags (as an aside, I didn’t discover sandwich bags til I had kids and they are a life changer – get some if you haven’t already!).

 

When I finally came to make my first block I realised a few things: 1) they are huge; 2) you need to make a lot of HSTs – not my favourite; 3) the squares for the HSTs are sized so you “shouldn’t” have to trim them once you are done (note that this assumes you can sew in a straight line; 63 weeks ago I had not mastered that skills, some of my seams have a creative seam allowance); 4) each block takes a while to make, especially if you are not so good at sewing in straight lines. Hence why my quilt is still unfinished. 

 

To be fair, I didn’t watch the Craftsy class on the Swoon so I am sure that there are some great tips in there that would have accelerated my progress and made my sewing more accurate. I do use the tips that were in the first episode regularly, so this is not a reflection on the instruction but more my general impatience and my general attitude that with rough guidelines are enough and I can figure the rest out. Not necessarily the most efficient. Also, now that I am up to block number 7, I am MUCH faster and 63 weeks later I am a much better sewer. So much so that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I have two more blocks to make and then I need to quilt the beast. The idea of that sends a shiver down my spine. The biggest thing I have quilted on my machine is a king single (not sure what that translates to outside of Australia) so not that big. I am seriously contemplating QAYG for this, unless someone points out a good reason why this wouldn’t work.  

 

This is on my Q4 FAL list and realistically I don’t know if I will get it done for December but I will definitely push for that. I also need to add point number 5) to my list above. The blocks look fantastic and I know I am going to love this quilt when it is done and be super proud of having achieved my Swoon Quilters Badge^*

 

(* Not a real thing, but probably should be)

 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

Sewing for others

There is something so lovely about being able to make something for someone else. I guess that's why I still don't have a quilt of my own, right?

Still it is very satisfying to be able to do something I love for someone I love.

Last weekend I was invited to a kitchen tea for a friend and colleague. I had a gift but at the last minute I decided to whip up an apron to go with it. Since I was making it the night before I had to go with what I had on hand (most of my fabric is in FQ or smaller pieces), but I managed to dig out two prints that I think worked quite well. It only took an hour to whip up, so all in all very satisfying.

Ta da! Makes you just want to bake, doesn't it?

And the other side

The other thing I whipped up recently was a Curvy Clutch. My Mum's best friend's Mum is turning 90 and Mum asked if I could make one for her. This lady is so amazing. When I had my girls she knitted up a lovely little cardigan for them, so of course I said yes. (I would have said yes anyway even if she was a dragon because my Mum asked me and you do stuff when your Mum asks you).

I love, love, love this print! And I love the piping as well. Sigh. Tula is just so clever

I have made two of these before, but when I made them first time round I used Vilene 640 as the interfacing. Since I made them I have discovered that you can get Shapeflex at Spotlight and so this time I used that. Talk about a difference. When patterns have called for Shapeflex in the past, having never seen it I never really knew what I was comparing against. I found that it did give a lot more structure than the Vilene and was also a lot less bulky. That said, with the double layer of interfacing on the exterior, plus the double layer of the accent piece, plus piping there were some pretty chunky parts to sew through. Even though I switched to a 100/16 needle I still ended up breaking it. First it just bent and then jammed and I couldn't get the presser foot up (queue panic) and then it snapped. I pulled the whole of my machine apart looking for the tip of that bloody needle. I even cleaned it while I was at it. Only to find it jammed in the actual bag. Needle(ss) to say I was a bit nervous to finish it off. I found this useful little thing in my sewing machine accessories though and that helped the chunky parts through the machine.

Know your accessories! 

The clutch is a finish off my Q4 FAL list. A productive quarter so far! I plan on finishing the year on a high.

A Lizzy House / Tula Pink Patchwork Pillow

My dear little nephew turns six today.

In years gone by I have made his sisters birthday gifts, but this year it's his turn. My sister (his Mum) is a very clever crocheter and was making him a blanket for his bed, so I whipped him up this patchwork pillow.

A match made in heaven - two of my favourite designers

His new blanket is all blues, yellows and reds, so hopefully this will go nicely.

I'll be honest, I find little boys a bit of a mystery. I struggle with his gift every year more than any other. I mean, would a full of beans little boy think "woo hoo" to receive a quilt? With this pillow I started my fabric selection with the red dinosaurs. I mean, find me a six year old who doesn't like dinosaurs. And I know my nephew does. Then I just pulled fabrics that I knew would go with the decor in his room. The other challenge I faced is that a lot of my fabric I would say is a little on the girly side.

I bound it in the matching Constellations print from Natural history and backed it with some blue gingham that was in my stash.

For this pillow I did an envelope back. It was my first time because I didn't have a zipper the right size and even though I followed a tutorial I found online I had an issue with gaping in the back. I usually get a cushion insert that will make the pillow nice and plump. Even after cutting open the insert and removing some of the stuffing I still had a horrible gape. I ended up stitching it up by hand - having bound the pillow top, I didn't really want to undo it all to remake the back. It's a bit of a pain, because it means that if it needs to be washed it will need to be undone and sewn back up, but on the plus side I stitched it up with red embroidery floss and I think it looks really cute. Plus the red floss echoes the red I used for the quilting on the front.

Not the closure I envisioned, but it sure looks cute

His party is on the weekend so hopefully his gift is well received. This is a finish off my Q4 FAL list.

Q4 FAL Goal Setting

My disbelief as to where the year has gone continues. Here is my list for the last hurrah of 2015!

A Garment a Month list

1. Flatter Me Frock

2. Emery Dress

3. The Anywhere Skirt

Quilts

1. Swoon - I just want this done

2. My Spell it with Fabric quilt

Just the quilting to go

3. My Genny & Ruth Quilt

Other

1. A 241 tote. I'm going to use that lovely Alison Glass Art Theory fabric. 

2. A curvy clutch for my mum's bestie's mum's 90th

3. My Marmalade granny square pillow

4. My Birds and Bees economy block pillow

5. A pillow case for my own little wild thing (my nephew Max)

This is going to be a lovely big pillow

There's so much more I want to make - I am trying to keep Q4 realistic, but I think next year I am going to list out all of my UFOs and just get them done. 

Linking up for the Q4 FAL party. 

A Garment a Month: September - Sailor Top

My project this month was the Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts.

I was keen to try something that had sleeves (raglan, but still) and I had done a little bit of gathering with the Geranium top I made the month before, so I thought "Sure, I can handle that".


What I thought of the finished garment: Love it. It looks like I got it at a shop (but a really cool and individual shop ;) ). This is probably my favourite out of all of the garments I have made so far. It is really flattering and a good length for me - no riding up and exposing my belly as I am running around and hauling kids back and forth.

An aside, I finally got a new phone, so hopefully the quality of my photos should improve!

What I thought of the pattern: The pattern was easy to understand and clearly set out, yet I found the construction more complicated than I thought it would be. I found the neckline especially troublesome. I tried sewing it down by machine but I missed a lot of the edges (you sew it from the front) and it looked quite shite. So I went and unpicked it and sewed the inside down by hand. Worth it for the nice neat finish, but it meant that I couldn't wear it to work the day I wanted. Some of the seam finishing instructions are a little unclear too I thought - especially when attaching the sleeves. I misread the pattern where is said "finish seams"- I literally thought it meant finish sewing the seams. I had to go back at a later stage and do some tricky zig zagging of the edges. Also, zig zagging is not my favourite finish, give me a good french seam any day.


Other observations:

• Sewing with lawn is trickier than sewing with quilting weight cotton. I found it hard to get it to behave, but it was worth if for a lovely floaty top;
• Making the pattern markings with a frixion pen is a bad idea. What do they always say to do when you are sewing? Iron, iron, iron! (actually press, I know it's different). What happens to frixion pen when you do that? Poof! No more markings. No markings actually made doing the gathering and attaching the yoke quite tricky. 
• There must be an easier way to turn a hem up by an even amount. I currently mark it with a ruler to press along. Am I missing some really obvious trick? Help me people!
• Not related to the pattern - but relevant anyway, all this garment sewing is starting to pay off. I am finding it more straight forward to follow patterns and every time I approach a pattern or technique with some trepidation I find that it is nowhere as hard as I had imagined. 

Next Challenge: Mmm, I am still debating it. I am tossing up between the Flatter Me Frock, The Emery Dress and The Anywhere Skirt. The first two because I think that they will be a challenge and I love a frock (I am thinking in Loominous or some of this sweet jumbo gingham) and the skirt because I can't get Anna's version out of my head. Have a vote! 

This is a finish for both ALYoF and my Q3 FAL.

August Finish: Miss Polly had a Dolly

July marked the end of this round of the Aussie handmade birthday club.

I had a lot of fun participating in this swap over the last 12 months. I've met some great ladies, and have seen, made and received some beautiful gifts.

All in all I'd call it a big success! A huge thanks to Tara for organising it, I know that these things can be a logistical nightmare sometimes.

So here is my very last make that went to the lovely Gina:

Hello!

Over the course of the last year, I have made bags, minis, more bags....and when I reached August I just wanted to make something different. But what?? After a bit of stalking through Gina's Instagram feed, I saw that she was joining in a doll swap and thought aha! I could make a dolly.

She's got spirit - check the twinkle in her eye

I set about hacking a pattern I had bought some time ago to make a mermaid for my niece (pre-Instagram, it was that long ago!). I kept the head and then just drafted up a body and away I went. I didn't have the mental energy / skill to draft up a set of doll clothes, so I just made the body of the doll be her dress. I snazzed it up with a sweet little four leaf clover applique "brooch".

She also got a stylish scarf (because it is winter!) and some sweet red shoes.

She clicked her heels three times and the magic of Australia Post took her to her new home

To finish the package off, I used my favourite crafty gift wrapping - a fat quarter with a ribbon!

I'll miss my little dolly, I might have to make one for my own sewing room (but I'll have to hide it from the kids!)

This is also my finish for August's ALYoF.

A VERY late post for a garment a month: July - the Ella Top

First up I should say that this post has been written since the 31st of July. I have just been too busy to get onto a computer and post it (don't get me started on the challenges of blogging on a mobile device...)

There hasn't been too much sewing going on at Casa Moobird recently. First off, it has been school holidays and we all went over to Western Australia for a much needed break. If you haven't been I highly recommend it. We all came home tanned and with a twinkle in our eyes. Ms Moo also came home with pink hair.

Then various work commitments have kept us all busy. However, knowing that July was going to be a crazy month, I chose a pattern that I thought would be reasonably quick. It was and I just managed to squeak in for the month (even though I was a bit tardy blogging about it)! I taped the pattern together and cut it out one night whilst watching tv and pieced it in a few hours the next night. I do love a fast sew!

Ta da! The finished top. Still havent mastered the art of a decent selfie. There needs to be a "selfie for bloggers"tutorial!

I thought the Ella top by Liola Patterns was a great pattern. Like the Sutton Blouse I made last month, the Ella looks just as good on the inside as the outside. 

Just as pretty on the inside. The internal finishes give me a great deal of satisfaction

It also has a pretty nifty construction where you bind the neck / armholes before it is completely assembled. It certainly made attaching the binding easier. I find that when the binding is attached to a completed neckline it is much harder to attach and it is harder to avoid puckers. 

This version was truly a scrap buster. I used the left over backing from my Sea Star quilt with a scrap of chambray from my Alder skirt. 

I really love the look of the contrasting yoke and the definition that little piece of chambray gives. 

So quibbles... Based on my measurements I made an XL and the neck binding wasn't long enough based on the pattern piece. Since I was using leftover fabric I didn't have enough to make a longer piece to had to sew a bit on the end. Not major since the binding is in the inside, but a bit of a pain.  

Also the way the top is constructed does result in a few bulky seams. To be fair, the pattern recommends lightweight fabric and I used quilting cotton, but some of those seams were hard core. I broke two needles finishing it off! 

These minor issues aside, I'd make it again, but maybe in a voile or lawn to combat the chunky seam phenomenon. I am keen to try out different fabric combos - with the yoke and binding there are so many fun options for putting your own personal touch on it. 

This is a finish from my Q3 FAL List. 

ALYOF August goal setting

My goal for ALYOF this month is to finish off my AHBC gift for our July birthday girl. I know! I am late, late, late....so this should be a good achievable goal.

Not too much I can reveal here, since I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but let’s just say it is something that requires polyfill (that was my lunchtime getting my steps up activity as I had to run up to Lincraft to get it).

This has been a fun little make. As the last of the Birthday Club presents, I was a bit tired of the bag / mini / pillow / pouch routine and decided to go completely outside of that. No more hints though!

I am hoping to get a quick finish on this one since it is already late! I’ll sweeten the deal with some chocolate I think!

Linking up to the ALYOF August Goal Setting Party.

Q3 FAL goal setting

Ok, here we are for my Q3 (!!) FAL goals. Where has the year gone?

So this quarter I am dropping off any that are unlikely to get finished this quarter - there is just too much going on.

So here goes....

A Garment a Month list

1. Ella Top - I have some left over fabric from the back of my Sea Star quilt that I want to use

2. Fancy Sailor Top

3. Flatter Me Frock  (I am a bit scared of this one)

Quilts

1. Swoon - I just want this done

2. My Spell it with Fabric quilt

Other

1. July AHBC Gift - shhh! It's a secret

2. A curvy clutch for my mum's bestie's mum's 90th

There's so much more I want to make but I want to be able to have a realistic list of goals, not everything under the sun. 

Linking up for the Q3 FAL party. 

A Garment a Month: Sutton Blouse

This month for my (own personal) garment a month challenge I made a Sutton Blouse, pattern by True Bias. 

Taking a quick photo on the front door before any of the neighbours walk past and wonder what on earth I am doing

The Sutton Blouse is a V-neck top with kimono sleeves and a pleat in the back. I have a similar top that I bought ages ago that I have literally worn to death. The side seams have all torn and I was going to dismember it and try to draft up my own pattern for it when I saw the Sutton Blouse one day while browsing. 

I was a bit apprehensive about trying the pattern as it is graded as Intermediate (I would not classify myself as an intermediate level when it comes to sewing clothes) but Kelli has a sew along for the blouse on her blog, so I thought why not? 

The top has a cute pleat at the back, which makes it nice and roomy - great for running after kids (I wore mine ten pin bowling)

As all the other things that I have hesitated about when it comes to sewing, it actually wasn't that hard. The pattern is exceptionally well written. I found it very clear and easy to follow. My favourite thing about the pattern is how beautifully finished the inside of the garment is. No exposed seams anywhere, which is a bonus when you don't have an over locker. I love it when the inside of a garment looks just as nice as the outside. 

See how neat and tidy the inside looks? Apart from my slightly wonky stitching...shhh, we won't talk about that

I thought the method of attaching the bias trim around the neckline was super clever and I definitely got my best results ever attaching bias tape. It probably also helped that rather than using the pattern piece for the tape, I measured it and the cut it with a ruler and a rotary cutter. I don't know if it's because I am a lefty, but I am terrible at cutting with scissors! 

Check the finish on the neckline. I am so proud of how good it looks, I am tempted to wear it inside out (not really)

I have already worn this top and it is in the wash as I write. I will definitely make another one of these tops. Perhaps with a contrasting yoke. I count this one as a win. 

That's a finish off my Q2 FAL list and I am linking up with the Sew Mama Sew Community Super Sewing Match. The Round One Challenge is the Sutton Blouse, so it seemed kind of fortuitous.  

A finish: Sea Star Quilt

A few weeks ago I volunteered to make a test version of a new pattern from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs - the Sea Star quilt.

Cheryl's original version done up in solids in oceany shades of blue and green really resonated with me and I was keen to try something I hadn't done before (i.e., pattern testing). I have to say, it was a bit of a weight actually testing a pattern for someone else. I am a kind of get the gist and wing it kind of girl and I felt that it wouldn't do justice to the pattern to do that. And what if I stuffed it up? 

I decided to make a baby sized version for a friend of mine who was having a baby. I didn't know what she was having so had to go for something gender neutral. She and her family live near (and love) the beach and so I wanted a colour palette that gave a beachy kind of feel. The yellows represent the sun and sand and then the aquas and blues of the ocean on a sunny day. 

The finished quilt - I felt a bit odd photographing it in the park, but no one really paid any attention to me!

The pattern itself was really easy to follow. It does have a few HSTs - when I volunteered I thought that the quilt was made up of flying geese and rectangles with triangles seen on the corners, so that HSTs did induce a "what have I signed up for?" moment. 

 

HSTs not withstanding, the top came together quickly (I sewed it up in one day). Then how to quilt it? I originally decided to do concentric circles with origins in three separate spots so that they would overlap like ripples in water. I'll just mention now that I have never quilted circles before and once I'd started it seemed a tad ambitious. Some reverse sewing quickly followed and back to the drawing board it was. I eventually decided to go with organic ripples - I think it still very much gives the impression of water, just moving instead of still. It was very refreshing to let the quilting just go where it would (and fast and forgiving!). I think this style of quilting will be a permanent part of my repertoire. 

Close up of the quilting

I quilted it using Aurifil 50wt in four different colours: white, yellow, light aqua and a darker aqua.

I bound it in this neat Anna Maria Horner Loominous fabric (we won't talk about the yardage en route destined to be a dress for me - I have been crushing on this line so hard). 

Binding in Illumination Graph in Glow - check that metallic glint

I also discovered that I had a different sole for my walking foot that allowed for near perfect binding attachment! How have I not noticed you before little sole? You are my new bestie!

Hello in the ditch walking foot sole! 

I chose some Alison Glass for the backing (oh there's enough left over for a top - what a surprise??!). 

Alison Glass Sunprint in Grove and Ink for the backing

Quilt Stats 

Pattern: Sea Star by Meadow Mist Designs

Size: 45" x 45"

Fabric Top: Kona white and a variety of blue, aqua and yellow fabric from my stash

Binding: Anna Maria Loominous in Illuminated Graph in Glow

Backing: Alison Glass Sunprint Ink in Teal and Sunprint Grove in Yellow
Quilting: Organic wavy lines in Aurifil 50 wt (2024, 5006, 1135, 2835)

And this is a finish for my June ALYoF goal. 

June ALYoF goal: Sea Star quilt

A few weeks ago I was sat in the dark settling Ms Bird and simultaneously scrolling through my Bloglovin' feed when I saw that Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs had put out a call for pattern testers for her Sea Star Quilt.

The finished baby size quilt top - it's been a while since I made anything bigger than a mini (too many swaps!)

Although I have never pattern tested before I thought "I could do that!" and promptly volunteered to test the baby sized version of the quilt. This year is all about trying new things for me. The timing worked quite well, as one of my dear friends was also expecting. Did you see how I said was? Her bundle of joy has arrived and the testing deadline is looming. What better way to kick my butt into gear than linking up to ALYoF? (Note: I would have got it done anyway!)

A Garment a Month: May - Bianca Top

This month, my garment was the Bianca top by Made by Rae.

Ta Da! Lounge shot since I cannot for the life of me figure out how to take a decent selfie

I have to say that this is one of the best written patterns I have made. It is really nicely laid out and easy to follow. There are good explanations of the various steps, loads of tips and diagrams. I especially love the appendix that shows the different options for finishing seams. My top has lovely french seams and looks as pretty on the inside as it does on the outside.

The pattern has an option for either shirring or an elastic casing. Since the whole goal of this garment a month challenge is to actually try new things and grow my skills I decided to give shirring a go. I had the elastic thread from when I made my Staple dresses (when I chickened out and decided I would wear them with a belt). Life. Changed. (Not really, but it reinforced to me that the things that I think are too hard / scary to try probably aren't that bad). I am seriously contemplating retrospectively shirring those Staple dresses.

Shirring, oh how I love thee

This is another one off my Q2 FAL list. Next up, the Sutton Blouse!