Picnic Rug Progress

Last week I started working on turning blue & orange rectangles into a 'bricked' effect picnic rug.

Here's what I've done so far:

I've been in a bit of a dither over the quilting of this, 'cos I didn't feel the 'outline seam' quilting was enough, and the plain orange 'path' through the middle needed broken up a bit. 

A single line of quilting through the plain orange didn't satisfy either, and I'd done too much to then start free motioning all over it!  What to do?

After much deliberating, I used some of the fabric leftovers to make hexagons & laid them on the quilt in various ways to see what worked.

I'm liking it better now.  This pile of mess will be the binding:

Almost there!  Check back in a day or two to see the finished quilt!

Not so fishy!!

Lynne from Lily's Quilts very kindly posted a tute on a mug rug called Fishy Piecing.

I always love the look of curved piecing, but don't usually enjoy the process, but I thought I'd have a go anyway:

'This looks nothing like Lynne's' I hear you cry! And you're right!

When I got mine to the stage where the fishy shapes were pieced, I had an overwhelming urge to slice up my fish!  (must have been a bit peckish at the time!).

After slicing through the fish, I swapped the new strips around and pieced them back together with more white stips in between. 

 Some random quilting lines completed my 'not so fishy' mugrug!

I had a lot of fun making this.  Thanks Lynne for the tute.

Mug Rug Madness Week:

As this 10 day period of madness draws to a close, I thought I'd post one more mugrug:

You can see lots more mug rugs on flickr.

For someone special!

You may remember from previous posts that this has been Mug Rug Madness week!  Check out what the Flickr Group has been making this week.

I've been wanting to blog about a Mug Rug I made for a very special friend, but couldn't until I'd given it to her today (she's a follower of my blog!).

My friend Sarah of SewMe is having a love affair with the colour purple this year.  Check out her amazing cushions and quillow in vibrant purples & greens.

She has also recently taken a shine to paper/foundation piecing, so I thought her Mug Rug had to have these key elements: Purple (a must), green & foundation piecing.  So here's what I came up with:

The little house is significant because Sarah is a true homemaker and her house is full of warmth and love.  She has been a huge inspiration and encouragement to me. 

Enjoy my friend!

For the love of Doorstops!

I've got a wee 'thing' about doorstops at the moment. 

I think they're so cute when I see them in shops, especially the decorative ones in the shape of cutesy houses, or funky chickens!


Picture from Google images




Picture from Google images


I discovered Oh Fransson's doorstop tutorial 18 months ago and loved how it turned out (although not sticking to her generous 1/2" seams meant my squares weren't even - I learn the hard way!).  Be warned though, these babies take nearly 2kg of dried peas to fill them!

I will soon be teaching this wee gem in my class and thought I'd make another one, to refresh myself with the pattern, but also as a potential present for my friend's birthday.

As usual I recycled bits of denim, wool, small cotton scraps & even a zip (the closure is underneath). 

My plain centre square was crying out for a love heart button, but for some reason I find it difficult to source these in my local shops. 

So I thought I'd make my own out of fimo clay. 

Hmmm! Now which one shall I choose?

'Mum I need a present!'

This was the declaration from my eldest daughter when she got home from school on Friday. 

It's the birthday of one of her best friends on Monday.  Being car-less all weekend meant  no shops (hooray!) and instead, rustling up a handbag for the birthday girl (a 15 year old can never have too many bags!).

I recycled a child's dress for the centre panels, a summery yellow pillowcase for the lining, and leftover denim offcuts for the rest. 

Crisis averted! (til the next one!)

Sneak Peek at Summer!

I'm currently working on my Summer program of classes (can't say I'm feeling especially summery though looking out at the rain!) and thought you might like a sneak peak of one of the items we'll be making.

Beach huts remind me of where I used to live on the sunny South Coast of England, and I know that bunting is a particular favourite with some class members! 

I designed a foundation pieced pattern for my cute wee huts, which will be a new skill for some to learn. 

Given the unpredictability of our summers, we might well be needing a sunny, summer project to keep us going!