96 To Go ...

Moi?

Farmers Wife Block #21 "Contrary Wife" ... Hand Pieced

A contrary wife?

Never!

96 more to go ... *sigh*

Serena x

Linking up with:
Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

FINISH ALONG -2014

I can procrastinate no longer!  Today is the day!  You too can finish those projects!

Here's my list ... wish me luck!

1.  Elephant Quilt - only two blocks made so far.  Pattern from Australian Homespun

2. Houndstooth Quilt:  Quite a few pieces of the puzzle done.  This one needs to be a double bed size.

3.  Pillowcases for this cause:  So far I've just sketched my ideas

Girl's pillowcase - 3D Pinwheel blocks down one side

Boy's pillowcase - Pirate softie inserted in a pocket on the front of the pillowcase

So that's it ... I've made a com .. commi ... erm ... commitmm ... ah you know, that "C" word.

Sx
Linking up with FAL 2014 at The Littlest Thistle

Pretty Please!

Dear Mr Fassett ... may I call you Kaffe?

Today is my birthday and I shall not divulge my age as it's not lady like and neither is begging, but here goes:

Just this morning my lovely husband gave me the opportunity to apply to attend your Shadow Pinwheel Workshop on the 27th February, here in Perth, Western Australia.  This would mean him taking a day off work and looking after our two small children - no small feat.

Upon calling eagerly to Handcrafters House to secure a place I was told that your workshop for 20 people was already full and that I would be the 16th person on the waiting list.

As my birthday is on the 16th and I'm the 16th on the waiting list I thought this may be a divine sign (yes you can laugh out loud now)  and perhaps you might kindly consider extending your stay in Perth for a 2nd workshop for all of us on the waiting list?

This is a big ask ... but I've been practising the correct pronunciation of your name (see here) and I would love to use it!

Yours Sincerely, 

Serena of Sewgiving
(number 16 on the Perth waiting list)

PS I clearly don't get out much, but this little note was worth a try, right?

Selfish Sewing

Some selfish sewing has been happening around these parts ..

 I've indulged myself and made a set of cloth napkins.

A silvery, soft and buttery shot cotton has been used as the main fabric whilst strips of bright "it's a Hoot" have been used to add a touch of playful colour. 

The finished napkins measure at 15" square.

They were as boring as bat do-dos to make ... but I'm pleased I made them. 

Photo bomb alert!

Sx

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

A Warm Hug

Every Monday night (during the school term) I go to a lovely sewing group held at my local quilt shop.  I really enjoy seeing the dear gaggle of ladies there and going there weekly helps me cope with Mondays!

One of our sewing group members is required to have some surgery at the end of this month.  It's not a nice one (are any operations?) but I'm guessing it's a necessary evil in this case.

I've done a bit of research on what helps with recovery of.said.surgery and it turns out that a small amount of heat applied to the incision wound will help ease the pain in the localised area ... two heat bags coming right up!

There are plenty of ways to skin this cat (eeeww!).  I chose the option of having the outside cover removable, much like an envelope close cushion, so that it can be washed.  Hygiene is important, especially when you're on the mend :)

So here's a quickie on how I did it:

I used some natural cotton calico (the clothes pattern drafting kind) for the inner bag and picked up two fat quarters from my local quilt shop.  The orange had no selvage on it, but the blue one did ..

I cut the following for 1 heat bag:

Calico
2 @ 12" x 6"

Orange
2 @ 6" x 4"

Blue
2 @ 8" x 6"
1 @ 6" x 4"

To avoid confusion: there are two calico pieces there (one under the other)

I started by sewing the two calico pieces together (I've used a 1/4" seam for all sewing except for top stitching), leaving about a 2-3" gap for the purpose of filling.  Clipped the corners and turned it right-side-out.

I then ironed it flat and top stitched all the way around (not the opening) to give the bag a bit more strength.

Time to fill!

I used about a pint of uncooked rice (some people use wheat)

and I found that a funnel made out of baking paper and a 'little helper' made the job of filling the bag a lot easier!

Thank you Miss 3 xx

So with the bag filled to just over half

It was time to sew the opening closed.  I went over the opening twice so make sure it was nice and strong.

Time for the pretty covers!

To make these I sewed:

One orange 6" x 4" piece to one blue 8" x 6" piece to make the front.

The other orange 6" x 4" to the blue 6" x 4" piece to make half of the envelope back

Two sets shown here

I ironed the seams flat so that they wouldn't feel bulky again the skin

I finished off the back pieces of the envelope back by folding the edge back 1/4" twice then top stitching.

Piece on right is the 6" x 8" piece used as the other half of the back envelope close

So now you have the front panel and two pieces for the back envelope close.  Lay the front panel right side up then lay the sewn orange and blue panel over it (right-side-down) ensuring your orange/blue seams line up.

I've misaligned the fabric top and bottom so you can see the fabric placement better

Then place the blue back panel (right-side-down) on top of the orange/blue back panel

Again, I've misaligned the fabric top and bottom so you can see the fabric placement better

Pin and sew all the way around (I added a tag to mine as I sewed around).  Turn right-side-out, push out your corners and the cover is done!

Fill with the calico bag

and we're done!

I truly hope that these little hugs serve their purpose and help make her post-op recovery just a little bit more comfortable.

Consider these babies Sew Given!

Linking up with

Sx

WIP - Quilts Interrupted

Let's face it, MiL's quilt took up a fair chunk of time last year ... when I found out that she was coming to stay for Christmas 2013, I dropped everything.  Now that we are in the new year - yarda, yarda, yarda - it's time to pick everything up again.

So where was I?

Well I have a Houndstooth quilt to complete piecing - probably a 1/4 of the way through ... time for Michael Jackson's infamous song to start jogging laps in my brain again - can't wait for that (note sarcasm).

"It doesn't matter if you're black or white ..."

Then I have a little one's elephant quilt to make with a touch of Tilda added to Madam it up.

There are some projects that I'm dying to get started.

The Sew Kitschy BOM at Quiet Play - the January block has already been released and I'm yet to buy fabric for it - oh the pain of shopping for fabric ... hand wistfully rests on one's forehead.

I have a pillowcase or two in mind for this cause:

Also my daughter is about to start "Big Girl's Kindy" - at the tender age of 4 she'll be trotting off to school (note to self to stock up on tissues).  The school has requested that each child brings a small pillow to use during "quiet time".  My daughter has requested a unicorn pillow.

"Just like this one Mum, but it MUST be pink AND purple" - coming right up kiddo!

I haven't joined any bees this year, but I have put my hand up for some testing so that should keep me busy along with my Farmer's Wife blocks of course.

I've hand pieced two more since my last post:

Block 65 "Peaceful Hours" .. "peaceful" my arse .. but it did take lots of "hours" so half the title is right.  Still, it's done and done it shall stay.

Block 65 "Painful Hours"

What a shocker - maybe this one will fall down into that dusty place between my sewing table and the wall, never to be found again

The next one was a much friendlier block to make:

Block 75 "Rosebud" - Squint your eyes to make the points in the middle meet :)

So that's two more for the progress chart:

Phew!  That lot should keep me busy for at least the first half of the year ... but I'm sure I'll manage to squeeze in some other projects too ... now who can I get to clean my house so I can fit in some more sewing?

Sx

Sunday Stash - Calorie (or Fabric-ie) Control

There's lots of talk around the blogger-sphere about fabric fasting. I can understand how you get to that stage of needing to fast. A little fat quarter here and fat eighth there, then the festive season comes and before you know it you're devouring whole fat quarter bundles in the sales.  As a result you've loaded on the yardage - yup it happens to the best of us.

Purchased "It's a Hoot" by 'M.M' for Moda - from local quilting shop Patchwork at Homespun

I'm not good at diets or fasting. I think it stems from my disposition of being told what to do - yes I'm half Dutch - the stubborn half.

Purchased from Spotlight - Shott cotton in silver grey.  Hard to capture how beautifully the light bounces off this shimmery fabric

I prefer a more balanced diet so that I can consume a little of everything and not have to worry about the inches.  A little bit of designer mixed with a little bit of Spotlight and just enough to do the job.

Luxury combined with Budget ... finally some grown-up cloth napkins for my home

Don't get me wrong ... I'm no prude ... because THIS.IS.HAPPENING

Birthday present to me!

But in my measured defence ... I did wait for the sales and it should arrive just in time for my birthday - SNAP!

Weigh in time at Sunday Stash ... go on, share your stash, we're all friends here :)

Sx