New additions to my sewing room

These are just above my cutting table. I got the one on the left from TK Maxx in the summer so totally by chance and never to be repeated. I got the material on the right from USA when I was there in October. I did not think it would take this long to source a canvas staple gun and a strong man to get it up on the wall!

Saturday saw me attend the first Bee Blessed of 2014. It is a local charity quilting bee that I have joined to do something with the (limited) skill that I have been blessed with and also to be more sociable in my sewing endeavours. But if you look at the website photos and want to spot me, I am the one who is beavering away, looking very serious sewing and not being at all sociable! I didn't even know the picture had been taken.

Hopefully will have more quilty pictures to share soon but hope this has been enough to keep you hooked.

My first ever quilt retreat

This was held the last Saturday in November and was organised by the lovely Charlene.

 I didn't really know what to expect but it was a great day out. Charlene had arranged surprise treats all day long and so I can show you the goodies:

I got a gift just because it was my birthday in December - how good is that!?

The finished product and what we were all aiming for

And some of the work I did on the day - obviously still incomplete.

My table was kinda messy

We also got to try out the Accuquilt Go Cutter which was great as I've read about it online and really wanted to see how it worked in reality. I didn't realise you could even buy them in the UK. Charlene had all different dies available and I only wish I had brought more wonderweb.

Charlene's next day is all about scraps so I can't wait.

My busy December

My friend at work wanted a present for her godson and so I said I could do a ball for him. She then decided that it would need a bell inside.

So I made this cute ball and threw in a dummy chain too as I had ordered the clips to make some for my own nephew.

Obviously the ball is completely hand-sewn which is a nice change of pace usually but not when there are more presents to make. Especially when you get carried away..

Just look at those doll clothes - adorable. And so satisfying, you could start and finish within an hour and have like a whole dress done! Addictive. I just kept making more and more items. It was great as well to use up some scraps from real dress making or old clothes.

After some fitting issues (ahem see facebook for more on that) Tiny Tears finally got fitted out with a pair of jeans. Skinny just wasn't your style. To complete the look I made a little drawstring bag to store them all in.

Other last minute presents included the aforementioned dummy chains...

And finally a mini skirt for my sister in law...

Since she only came over for the holidays on the Friday this needed to be fitted and finished the weekend before Christmas. I am so proud I matched up that centre seam!

Some more sewing related goodies

Just wanted to show off my sewing related pressies from Christmas - and there are a lot of them! I think the family has got the memo - Amazon wish lists are great new invention.

It will take me quite some time to read through this lot, never mind actually quilting through them!

This is a really boring present but quite a practical one. There was no extension table made for my machine when I bought it but it has come out recently.

Sadly it was really expensive - let's be honest it is just a piece of white plastic. My machine is a bit funny that way in that it mostly has accessories that fit it and only it. Makes it a real pain to buy bobbins. It will be a real help though when doing some free motion quilting. Maybe I will even improve!

Tune in next time for things I made for others and meanwhile here is a bundle for a Christmas table runner that I didn't even get started but I may just do now and store for next year.

Blogger Quilt Festival

Almost a year in the making, but what better time to finish my sampler quilt than the week of Amy's great Blogger Quilt Festival . This time it feels like I really have something to show off!

This quilt is also special because it is the first one I get to keep!

I designed it to go in my living/dining room to match all the yellow and grey in there. But to make it a little more interesting, I decided to go with a sampler design. I thought this would be a good way to expand my knowledge base of quilting in a shortish timeframe.

I tried to go with the widest variety of types of block. So there is some paper piecing, hand stitching, applique, improv and of course standard piecing. I was fortunate and grateful to all the kind bloggers out there who generously post ideas, pictures and all important tutorials that I was able to use to pull together such a stunning variety of blocks. There are some old school blocks in there two like this 9 patch tutorial but with the simple colour scheme I think the overall look is modern.

Although I really enjoyed making this quilt, the time involved was way more than I had anticipated. Not just in sourcing all the different blocks but then working on each for the first time. But the thing I think held me back the most was the quilting. How was I going to pull all these different designs off?

I decided I didn't just want an overall design, so again much research was called on and finally I got this baby quilted! Once I had started doing the different designs to emphasise each block, I became more confident in the look I wanted to achieve. I reckoned as long as this was a sampler quilt, then I should sample as much different types of quilting designs as I could manage. 

There were some blocks where I was just totally winging it. Some I liked better than others. But overall I am proud that I gave each technique a go and I think I got the mix right between simple outline quilting and some heavier free motion quilting.

My first ever feather attempt

Trying out all the different stitches on my machine

For the nerds among you here are it's vital stats:
Block size: Aimed for 12" (probably trimmed a bit smaller, all due to my error!)
Overall Size: 56" x 72" (or as I like to say big enough to snuggle under in front of TV - and maybe even room for two!
Filling: Bamboo wadding

The back - almost as pretty as the front

Very Autumnal

The one with the "fleg"

I am so happy for my cousin's wife that she has achieved British citizenship by a test so vigorous that I am not sure all who reside here naturally would actually pass. Especially considering English is not her first language.

So as usual to celebrate any occasion, I made something!

This quilt is to celebrate her dual citizenship and to keep her Thai toes warm on Irish winter nights!

The pattern is adapted from Lily Quilts on Moda Bake Shop. The secret pillow pattern is one of the first that my mother-in-law learnt and I love the one she made for me.

I have to confess it wasn't all plain sailing with this one though. Because the two patterns were different sizes I had to wing it a bit but as usual got it wrong. The pillow was meant to be 18.5" which making a slightly smaller quilt I did not think I would need. So I made it 12" sq to fit in with the blue stripe on the back. You, of course will have spotted that there is no way a quilt will fold up into a 12" sq and you would be right!
So I had to add a few boarders and eventually ended up with something more like 14.5" sq.

Anyway the most important thing is that she loved her present which also doubled as a 30th birthday present.

Could IckleTomato please come to goods in...

The hot weather and time off at the weekend led us to the beach but it was a beach that just happened to be near a fabric shop. Now I wonder how that happened...
Anyway, these were the goodies I picked up in The Crafters Basket Sligo Ireland.

And just while we're on the subject of stashing, I thought I would share some recent gifts (from others and sometimes myself!)

Way back at Christmas, my family came up trumps with some great sewing related presents.

I know what you're thinking - what sewing stuff? This is all just boxes and books! But think of the storage possibilities...

These are all my little squares for my Tokyo Subway Map Quilt by Oh Fransson. The sign was from my sister who has the cheek to comment on my messy sewing room! The dresses book was from my mother- in-law and has some fabulous inspiration in it like this gorgeous Farah Fawcett style wrap dress.

And just recently my friend was in Scotland and totally surprised me by bringing back this beauty!

Of course your nearest and dearest could never buy all that you possibly need (or want) so that is when you just have to treat yourself - like all the time!

So here is the haul from Spain. As you can see not as much compared with other trips as devastatingly one of the local fabric shops in Malaga had closed. Grr recession. The bits and bobs are from what our family calls the Chinese shop up the town! It is a hyper bazaar that my sister discovered and it is full of everything you imagine comes to Europe from China. Anyway there is always much cheapness and good for stocking up on random items. Oh and you might noticed I've bought more storage!

I love the big chunky zips in the back there. Perfect for bags.
And finally...

Spotted these ribbon sets in TK Maxx here at home and couldn't resist. They are so great for tag blankets and wrapping up quilt gift sets.
So now I reckon I have all bases covered - just about!