A Box Full of Liberty - Pay It Forward

Thank goodness ... I just heard that my 2nd Pay-It-Forward gift has arrived safe and sound ... phew!  It's always a relief when something you've handmade, especially for someone else, arrives just as it should ... praise the postal Gods!

I was making for a lovely lady called Dittany, I admire her handwork greatly.  She takes little snippets of Liberty and magically creates a pot of gold!  She's also quite the nimble knitter ... and I freaked out a little when Nanny London pulled her name out of the hat.  I don't put my sewing in her class, but I hoped that she would appreciate the gesture :)

So what did I make?

A Circle box mostly made from Liberty ... the exception is the large floral print on the top, which is a print from Anna Maria Horna's Mod Corsage range ..

Beautiful, isn't it?

There are many Liberty prints just as deserving to feature here ... but I just couldn't find one that was saying "use me!" "pick me! "I'll be fabulous!" ... so I chose a print close to my heart instead.  Dittany is a Liberty lover ... but I hope that this print speaks to her too ... and well it just plays so nicely with the Liberty friends I paired it with ...

So that was it, gift made ... but who is their right mind sends an empty box (even if they did make it themselves) to the other side of the world?  Not me ...

I decided to fill it with this ...

Mini Liberty bunting ... to decorate her sewing space ...

Gold sparkly bias tape for the win!

For some reason, every time I see this print all I can hear in my head is Olivia Newton-John singing "Let's get Physical ..."

All packed up and ready to go!

Now ... there's just the small issue of waiting for my 3rd and final Pay-It_Forward gift to arrive safely ... let the nail biting and prayers to the mail Gods continue!

Sx

The Circle Box pattern can be found here I made the large size in the pattern.
There is no pattern for the mini bunting ... I made it up as I went along

... and if you do go over and buy that Circle Box pattern for yourself ... make sure you get some Wonder clips (if you don't already own some) while you're there ... they come in pretty handy ...

Pay It Forward - Mini Quilt

In December of 2015 I was delighted to find the cutest mini quilt you ever did see in my letterbox.  It was my Pay It Forward gift from Deborah and I'm pleased to say that the mini quilt and I are currently living happily ever after together.

So now it's my turn to start Paying It Forward before the year runs out - eep!

I'm pleased to say that I have my first run on the board ... in the form of this mini ...

The person I made it for is a friend and fellow member of the Perth MQG.  We are both massive Anna Maria Horner fans and recently went on a trip together where we met the very lovely Jen Kingwell.  We both immediately bought her Halo Quilt pattern and templates and I've been scheming this mini quilt ever since!

I just needed some free time to tackle those curves!  Spare time found ... I got cracking with fabric choice ... well, it had to be AMH ... but which ones?

I couldn't decide ... so I used a bit of everything!

Then, how to quilt it?  Jen suggests hand quilting this pattern in her book ... so I went with that!  I mean ... who am I to argue?

I used a variegated 12wt Aurfil thread, colour #3817 for the hand quilting ... and hand quilted the rings in nice big chunky stitches.

I was pretty happy to line up the centre detail of the backing fabric with the centre ring on the front!

Then it was bound ...

Tagged ...

Wrapped ...

and finally gifted ...

I'm pleased to say that this mini is now happily living in it's new home ... until I sneak in one day and steal it back (shh).

Sx

Makers Tote and That Time In Sydney When ...

In May this year I was lucky enough to attend the Perth Modern Quilt Guild's Mother's Day sew-in.

We have lots of talented people in our Guild, including Bev who is a master at bag-making ... Bev kindly agreed to run a Maker's Tote workshop for those of us that are 3D sewing challenged (pick me, pick me!).

Bev got us off to a great start but it took me a few more home sewing sessions here, and there ... I also had to buy a few vowels making and attaching the binding ... But I got there just in the nick of time for a special trip to Sydney that I had planned.

 I used Anna-Maria Horner's Fibs and Fables for the outside in two different colour-ways.

A cotton weight denim for the gussets and binding.

Kraftex for all the pockets bound in selvage from the front panels

and a mix of Fibs & Fables and Loominous for the interior and pocket linings.

The handles I made myself using some left-over denim from the binding and Kraftex.

So far so good with those handles ... although I can see a stress tear trying to happen in the single thickness section of the Kraftex near where I have attached the handles to the bag ... so I may need to redesign these ... thinking cap on.

Overall, despite the swearing, I did enjoy making this bag.  The swearing was due to using Kraftex for the inside pockets.  They made the bag stiff and therefore it was difficult so squish the bag through my machine to sew on the gussets and binding.  Not the pattern's fault.  Just my fault for pushing the limits in material choices.  But I'm glad I did persevere with the Kraftex.  I love the look and the pockets are nice and sturdy.  They will soften over time, with use ... they'll get lots of use ... because this is my new favourite bag.

So many happy memories with this bag already ... Oh the places we will go and the people we will meet!

Makers Tote meet "Jen Kingwell" and "Tula Pink" - squee!!  My friend Denise and I had the absolute pleasure of meeting these two cool cats at the recent Sydney Craft and Quilt fair

If I look stunned ... it's because I am!

Bought my first piece of Tula Pink fabric at the show and guess who signed it??

and of course the party hasn't started unless you've had a selfie with Sparkle!

My bag and I had a wonderful time in Sydney ... including meeting a lot of the peeps I communicate almost daily with on Instagram.  It was surreal to meet them in real life at the IG meet up kindly organised by Kristy from Quietplay, Keera from Live Love Sew and Molli Sparkles ... my head is still in a spin!

With so much talent in our own backyard ... you'd think I'd be inspired right?  But actually I feel like a rabbit caught in head-lights ... stunned ... unable to move.

I think I'll just sit here for a while ... ponder all that I have seen and experienced and hopefully my brain will start functioning again!

Sx

Linking Up with Finish It Up Friday

Anna Maria Horner Mini Quilt Swap

It's me again ... with another mini ... that I wish I was keeping ... but I'm not.

This time it was for the Anna Maria Horner Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram.

I was't sure at first of the direction I wanted to take with this one.  I knew I was moving house and my sewing machine would be going into storage, so I needed something that I could mostly hand piece.

So I started here ...

Then it slowly grew ...

Even though my partner preferred muted tones, I thought it needed more colour so I did this ...

Then I added some spiral quilting using a 12wt, variegated rainbow Aurifil thread #3817.

This is my first time spiral quilting

This has to be my favourite Aurfil thread ... apart from the one I named.

Before I knew it I ended up with a 12-sided object, resembling a do-decagon!

It's 24 inches 'round' and I think it would make a beautiful table topper, if not a mini on the wall.

Good thing really, as my partner is a florist and I bet she has the perfect crystal vase and a bunch of deep red roses that would accompany this mini beautifully.

Here's a little something extra I added in the parcel ...

I used Aurifil #6728 (50wt) in the bobbin for the spiral quilting on the back of the mini

It's a charm square fabric tray ... you can find the tutorial here ... be warned, they're addictive :)

So the mini and extras are on their way to their new home and I'm impatiently patiently awaiting the arrival of my mini.  I wonder what it will look like?

Sx