Babies Come First - WIP

My work on Hubby's Half Hexie (HHH) Quilt has been interrupted ... at his request.  One of Hubby's colleagues is due to have a baby boy at the end of this month and he would like to give them a special little quilt.  

This hobby of mine is starting to come in handy!  Do you think I should charge him double for a rush job? So, how much would that be then? ... Hmm ... double of nothing is ... nothing! Boy he drives a hard bargain :)

I started cutting and playing around with fabric last night ... liked the direction it was going in and just kept sewing!  

I managed to piece the whole quilt by bed time ... although I do have borders to add to bring up the size a bit.

I'm thinking of backing it with this funny moustache fabric ...

... and quilting it with a variegated thread in a similar way to this. 

Also, how about some rounded corners on those borders instead of 90 degrees? ... hmm ... yes,  I'd like to try that.

Binding will be a scrappy assortment of the leftover pieces from the sashing fabric.

Of course as this is a Work In Progress, all of the above could change!  But one must start with a plan, mustn't one?!

Serena xx

Linking up with Freshly Pieced

Work In Progress

Laying out a quilt with 510 pieces for a 6 foot man is no easy feat when your house is on the market for sale. 

510 half hexies cut

I can just picture the Home Open spiel "Welcome to this lovely modern home.  Here you'll find three bedrooms, two bathroom and a spare mattress tipped on it's side - the current owner is using it as a design wall"  - Hmmm snazzy!  LOL.

Obviously the aforementioned mattress is now no-where to be seen and my sewing space is now "dressed" properly as a lovely spare double bedroom ... so where oh where do I layout this bloody quilt?!

Answer ... on an old plastic outdoor tablecloth!  

My helpers and I

Yup!  Desperate times call for desperate measures ... or wonders of invention!

This daggy outdoor tablecloth is the most awesome of awesome.  Seriously, the Chinese are genius! Flip it over and it has a furry back on it, kind of like a flannel sheet (I'm guessing to stop it from slipping off the table).  Once I place my half hexies on that backing those babies are going nowhere!  

Made in China genius

When I'm finished or the kids are around with chocolate fingers, I simple roll up the table cloth and everything stays in place.  

I can pack it away with ease for those "show home days" and not worry if I've numbered every row or column correctly ... they. just. stay. in. place.  

When I unroll the tablecloth not one hexie is out of place.  Partly because the shiny side doesn't stick to the hexies and mostly because the furry side just grabs the cotton - sweet!

The next challenge?  Piecing all those pieces ...  

More on that next time, but let's just say this quilt and I are getting on famously!

Serena xx

Linking up with Freshly Pieced

Possum Magic - Round 4 - The Pretty One

Hello Possums!

If you've read my 'About Me' page you'll know that I'm not a 'pretty, pink loving, girlie" type of girl.  My daughters are teaching me to be better at it (for their sakes), but I'm more comfortable in black than any shade of pink.  You'll never find flowers on my clothing and if you do ... well ... I'd have to get you to sign something solid to lock that photo down!

Gosh these quilts are getting harder to photograph!

That's not to say that I don't appreciate pink and florals in all their glory - hello Liberty - but it's not always my first port of call.  Maybe one day that will change ...

If you follow me on IG (@sewgiving) you'll know that I had a serious case of 'wobbles' working on Alice's quilt.  It's so pretty (there's that word again) and the work that had been done on it so far by Wendy, Sharon and Jo was delicate and soft and oh so beautiful ... it did not need me clob-hopping (think bull in a China shop) all over it!

I had an idea (read: Liberty Butterflies) but it needed toning down and I needed a gentle hand to guide me.  Thank goodness fellow Possum Carla lives 10 mins drive away.  After a quick visit and a glass of sparkling ... water ... I had a clear plan.

Windy Stained Glass shot

I made my own paper pieced pattern, using Autocad, to create a 5.5" finished butterfly and alternated 5.5" finished squares of Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids in cool pastel shades.  I would use the warm colours for the bodies of the butterflies - sorted!  I got mine from Polka Dot Tea Fabrics. *No affiliation*

The lovely Liberty fabric was sent to me by Deborah all the way from Indonesia!   It's printed on Japanese Cotton and has the most beautiful feel to it.  I used all 3 colourways for the butterfly wings.

Thank you Deborah!

I think I've managed to keep the tone of Alice's quilt in tact!  It still feels soft and calm and I like the movement the butterflies create ... I hope Alice does too!

Next it's Carla's turn with this quilt ... will she ... or won't she ... add an appliquéd border?  Hmm that is the question!

Serena xx

Sunglasses Case ... and those linen maternity pants

I was a bit of a busy bee before Christmas so I only had a chance to make a few items as gifts.

One of them was this Sunglasses Case ...

The highlight fabric is from Art Gallery's Dreamin' Vintage range - hello pretty!

It was my first time installing a flexi frame closure (you know the ones Nanna used to have in her coin purse?) and I'm happy to report that it was easy to do!  I picked mine up from Spotlight, the brand was Bag Chick in the bag making section.

It works!

Here's the tutorial I followed, although I tweaked the size a bit to allow for sunglasses as they are usually larger than spectacles.

The fabric I used for the main body is linen from my old maternity pants ...

Offending Maternity Pants

... that's 3 projects completed from those pants so far!

Project #1 - Binding for Triangle Rainbow Quilt

Project #2 - Back of Tiny Flying Geese Pin Cushion

Hmm ...  I wonder how many more I can make? ... physical challenge!

Serena xx

Hooking up this week with Monday Makers,  Sew Cute Tuesday, TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday

Sunday Stash - The Payhip Version

Hello Stashers!

I have a few purchases to confess to and one really handy new gift!

So let's eat that frog and talk about the purchases first.

My favourite place to shop for fabric these days is Instagram.  Last week @cotton_factory_destash lured me in with these little beauties ...

How could one resist?! ... and with the Aussie dollar taking a nose dive I was happy to pay Aussie shipping rates.

Hasn't the old EU VAT bizzo caused a few sleepless nights for our pattern sellers?  I recently went to purchase a pattern from Kristy at Quiet Play and found only her Free Patterns available in her Craftsy shop ... thank goodness she has opened a Payhip shop!  

I bought these two patterns from her using the new shop ...

Just My Type - Lowercase Paper Pieced Letters

Just My Type - Uppercase Paper Pieced Letters

It was easy peasy and the patterns came through immediately - ahhh that's better.  I'll be making good use of these two.

Finally a little present from Hubby for Christmas.  Something that will make cutting all the bits for his quilt out a tad easier ...

 ... no underlying motivation for him buying me this present then?

New Rotating Cutting Mat!!

I'm. In. Love. with this rotating mat already ... even took it on holiday with us for the New Years Beach Break ... I didn't end up doing much cutting on holiday though ... you can blame the Veuve ... but if you follow me on IG (@sewgiving) you'll see that it did come in handy for the odd lazy game of Scrabble.

See you over at Molli's place for Sunday Stash.

Serena xx

2015 - Finish Along Q1

Right ... lets get this year started with some colour!

I'm setting only one goal this quarter ... sounds meager, I know, but with two houses up for sale, no sewing space to speak of and an immanent move to our "forever" home ... I may not even manage this ... one ... colourful ... quilt.

So what am I making?

A half hexie quilt in a rainbow of colours!

My hubby wants a quilt.  He wants all the colours and he wants it yesterday.  He's also 6 foot tall and wants it to cover his body from head to toe.  Pfft.

And so I've started by making myself a template and cut, cut, cutting!  

Master Michael will need 17 rows across by about 30 down = 510 pieces to cut (gulp).

The pile on the left is what I've cut ... and the pile on the right is ... Goliath.

Yer ... I should have asked for one of those cutting machines from Santa!

Wish me luck!

Serena xx

Linking up with all the other Finish Along peeps for Q1.