New Patterns!

I am delighted to announce that I have got 3 new pattens available in my Etsy shop:

My First Quilt:

This is a great starter quilt for someone who knows how to sew but hasn't attempted a quilt yet.  The pattern is designed around a Layer Cake (usually 42 pre cut 10" squares), which means you get to sew up the quilt top quickly.  The pattern has full colour pictures & will also take you through basting the quilt, simple quilting & making and attaching the binding.

Placemats & Coasters:

This pattern provides the measurements & instructions for making 6 placemats and matching coasters.  The pattern also includes a storage basket to keep your coasters in.  Again full colour pictures guide you through step by step, and the pattern gives you the design flexibility to choose from a range of quilting techniques and whether to bind or not bind your placemats.

8 in 1 Zippy Pouches:

If you've always wanted to have a go at a range of different zippy pouches, then this pattern is for you!  There are 8 types of pouches you can make, as shown above, from coin purses, to make up bags, pencil cases to project pouches.  The pattern covers a range of techniques such as how to create boxed corners, how to make covered zip ends, making a wristlet or hanging loop, which means you can customise the design of your pouch!  Once you have the hang of making zippered pouches, you'll never be stuck for gift ideas again!

I have lots more patterns in the pipeline, which I'm still working on!  I'll keep you posted!

Quilt for Beginners

Well I beavered away all day and got my Beginners Quilt finished last night.

Finished size approx. 58" x 68"

I used a colourful duvet cover for the back.

 

This simple design will provide my beginners with a safe introduction to quilt making, as well as having fun with colour placement.

I also managed to get the cushion made for Sarah's Sew Get Started Beginner series tutorials, and my fqs from The Fat Quarter Shop arrived so I got those cut up and I'm now ready to start piecing my nephew's quilt.

Interestingly, I ordered these fqs from USA on the same day I ordered bondaweb from the UK (Ebay).  I'm still waiting on the bondaweb!! 'Nuff said!

Btw, I'm writing up some class notes on how to spray baste a quilt & am happy to put this up on my blog as a tutorial if anyone is interested? 

Hope you are having a great half term week.

CUTS! CUTS! CUTS! (at least not the austerity ones!)

I feel like all I've been doing in my sewing room lately is cutting!

As part of the lovely Sarah's Stained QAL, there are 11 fqs to cut up into a miriad of ways, before we start to put blocks together.  

I've got 6 cut, 5 more to go!

This will be an 18th Birthday Quilt for my nephew!

I then started cutting up the fabric I got for my other nephew, who turns 18 in May.

These are mostly Surf Time by R.Kaufman with a little Swoon thrown in, kindly donated by another lovely Sarah.

I'm really liking how this is turning out, despite initial reservations about it being too floral!  I'm waiting on 2 more fqs to come from The Fat Quarter Shop, and then I can start piecing . 

I also cut up an entire Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 layer cake, pieced it and hastily fell out of love with it!  

I'm experimenting with a simple quilt construction for my beginners class in May and thought working from a pre-cut would be a great place to start.  But this particular collection definitely needs solid sashing to break it up!  Live and learn! 

So with no more money to waste spend on fabric, I started cutting 10" squares from the oodles of denim-esk fabric I have, with some of my charity shop finds and other stash fabrics.

Not the finished layout!

I'm liking this one much more, and can even see me finishing it off with some simple hand quilting in the solid squares.

And finally, I've cut out the pieces for my cushion tutorial which will be featured on Sarah's blog next month.

Phew!  What a lot of cutting!  (And what a lot of Sarah's!)

Just need to get sewing now!