joy: a finished quilt

I love making things for other people, but this one... this one's for me.



In case you'd like to make your own, here are the instructions I followed for the blocks: 5.5" Economy Block Tutorial. Time consuming, but a lovely way to make the most of your most beloved fabrics.

sunshine and clouds

Usually, I'm very controlled with my colour choices, allowing myself one or two main colours only, and a generous portion of grey and white. For this quilt, though, the request was for "randomly colourful" -- a delight to have free-reign over all of my fabrics, and yet a challenge to my controlled aesthetic. Several times, I sent off a preview of the layout, and my lovely friend responded, oh-so-kindly, with encouragement to randomise it further.

In the end, what I found it helpful to do was to create an image in my head -- a cool, cloudy day, with glimpses of the blue sky and rays of sunshine smiling through. And then, surprise! A hot air balloon appears on the horizon, and then two, and suddenly the sky is dotted with colour.

Backing this one with a giant piece of Lotta Jansdotter's new line, Glimma, felt very extravagant -- I loved the touch of grey binding with all that yellow. And, as a special little addition, I made an eye-spy sheet (or three -- one for each little boy) to accompany the quilt. With so many animals, vehicles and little people prints, there's a lot to be found!

A pleasure to work in so many colours, for a change!

Zip It

In honour of Tilly's being six weeks old yesterday, I thought it was about time to fire up the old Mean Green Sewing Machine and make a Russian doll cushion cover for the rocking chair in Tilly's room.

Now, when I say "make", what I really mean is sew together the front and back pieces that my lovely Mum had patchworked, and add a zip. Well, and work out how to add a zip... A nice easy project to get me going again, with very fast results! Only one of the three cushions got finished yesterday, but all in the space of time between Tilly eating and Tilly taking a nap. I felt a bit like I was on a game-show, doing a speed sewing challenge!

I just love how Tilly looks like the Russian doll, with her round face, wide eyes, and pursed lips!

It turns out, though, that Tilly might have to wait a while to have the cushion in her room... as soon as it was done, Justin claimed it, and took it off to the sofa for a nap!

You're Just My Cup of Tea

And the teapots are done...

I really enjoyed the freehand, raggedy-edge style of embroidery that gives the teapots definition, while letting the fabric have a bit of character. Thank you, thank you, Tine Wiggens, for the inspiration.

Of course, while stitching, it only felt right to have non-stop tea on the go. De-caf, yes, but it still somehow manages to keep me going. Perhaps the energy boost is in my head.

I pulled out my lovely "Rainbow of Stitches" book to find a manageable alphabet style for the lettering. Their art deco script --just using back-stitch, so easy!-- was perfect.

I searched for a long time to find a suitable quote. Originally, it was going to say "Tea Time", but I thought I'd get a bit bored of that after a week or so.

There was a lovely saying I found, "Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea," which almost won out, but that did seem like quite a lot of words to squeeze into a small space, so we ended up with the simple, romantic "You're just my cup of tea."

Or, as my dear husband likes to read it: "You're Justin my cup of tea!"

A quick iron, and Justin got them up and hanging on the wall just in time for our friends coming over last night. Team work!

And one of the loveliest things I'm finding about a project that uses so many different scraps of fabric is that it recalls all of the other things I've made. There's a bit of material from Justin's tiger quilt, a bit of Remington's shirt, a bit of Felicity's boots, plenty of Tilly's playmat, our placemats, a couple of our positive-thinking hearts, the family heart, and lots of well-loved clothing from both Justin and I. It's like a little display of memories in tea cup form!

Bench Cushion

It's been a lovely morning of sewing, with Blunty and Norah on the CD player, and banana smoothies for refreshment. I do spoil myself!

The bench that Justin built for our entryway last autumn finally has a cushion! This cushion serves two purposes: firstly, comfort; and secondly, covering up where the screws misbehaved and didn't quite go in right!

And, you won't believe this, but I found both these fabrics on Walmart's bargain fabric rack... both were $1.50 a yard! But unfortunately, because I didn't have any specific project in mind when I bought it, I only got half a yard of each! Luckily, it was enough... just!

And I'm planning to continue the relaxation on into this evening: a little scrapbooking, another Coco Chanel film (I just saw "Coco Before Chanel" and loved it!) and a nice cold glass of Cranberry-and-fizzy-water!

Tilly's Play Mat, and a Big Bottomed Beaver

Before I even had time to show you the fabric I had piled up for my next project, it was finished! I definitely think I've caught the quilting bug. This is a little play mat for the baby:

The pattern was from Lotta's Simple Sewing for Baby, again, and really was just as simple as promised! One of these days, I'll learn to cut in a straight line, but until then, I'm enjoying the 'handmadeness' of it all!

A little pocket in one of the corners, for an emergency cloth, or a Wupert Wabbit:

And, I couldn't resist dressing Fatty McBeaver up in one of my cute-cute-completely-cute cloth nappies and having her model. Hopefully Tilly's teeth will come in a bit straighter than poor Beaver's!

Oh, and when I showed it to Justin, he pointed to one of the squares of my favourite spotty batik fabric, and said "Oh no, the colour got all messed up in the wash!"

Um... I guess the batik look isn't for everyone!

Finished Quilt

I added the final touch: a little felt heart with Justin's initials on it. It gives the quilt a much needed touch of red, I think!

This is the patch in the center. Perfect for 2010, the year of the Tiger! I'd picked this fabric out as potential baby fabric a few months ago, but now we know she's a girl, the dark blue doesn't really appeal to me for baby things anymore. Luckily, it's Justin's favourite!

Here's the whole thing, laid out. Yes, it goes perfectly with our Ikea duvet cover!

And this is my favourite quilt, the Dog Park quilt that my Mum made for me last year. It inspired the choice of fleece for backing... so comfy, and nice and light-weight. Now, hopefully, I'll have it all to myself again!

Pin Cushion

My favourite thing to do recently is spend a long morning at Barnes and Nobles with a hot chocolate, browsing through all the wonderful crafty books and jotting down a few ideas.

Here's a little sketch I made on Monday for a funky pincushion I saw:

And here's what it became, after a little on-the-couch-sewing session last night:

So spotty! And yes, my pins are colour-coordinated right now, but I don't expect that to last for long! It really makes me want to sew something... (hint, hint, amazon: deliver my baby book!)

Off the Needles

Funky chunky fingerless mittens! Knit very simply as a long, straight rectangle, and then sewn up to make them round, leaving a hole for the thumb. These are so much fun to make, especially with stripes and bright colours!

(Monkey proves that he can pat his head and rub his tummy while wearing mittens that really don't fit him all that well!)

Off the Needles

My vertical stripy scarf is now off the needles... and onto the dog!

What a little fox.

She wouldn't go outside this morning because it was raining, so I might just have to make her a little raincoat and some rain boots as well!

It's just the perfect length for me, or for a fencepost.

And much softer than bark...

Can you tell that I like living somewhere where there's trees and grass and doggies and backyards? :)

Hassleless Tassels

I've finally put the tassels on that fisherman scarf I started a few weeks ago, and I'm really very happy with how it looks.

The mohair ends remind me of suede elbow pads on tweed suits...

It is long enough that Justin can actually wear it now, and hey, it looks pretty good on Bella, too! (Although she does like to chew on those tassels... I wonder if the fact that they're mohair attracts her!)

It really wasn't too hard, either. If I'd thought of adding the mohair ends before I knitted the main part of the scarf, it would have been easier, but for a mistake, it worked pretty well to simply go back to the start, pick up the cast-on stitches, and add the ending and tassels.

The only way you'd really know I did this is that the stocking stitch is running the other direction at one end... but I would bet you anything that Justin won't ever notice that!!

Oh, and a good guide to tassel-making, if you're not familiar with it, is here!

Off to the vet today for Bella's first physical, and then I'm going to finish a new design I've been working on: Sporty Betsy! I plan to sell tennis and golf themed Betsy cards at sports clubs and so on... so we'll see how that goes!