All You Need Is ......

...a 'Secret Squirrel' hat and mac!

Covert operations abound! Not allowed to tell yet what these will be!

But just thought I would produce some evidence that I have actually been sewing!

And my daughter has been busy too, producing adorable fimo charms & key rings for me to sell at my classes (just in time for the zippy pouches class).

Just look at this cutie-pie!

They are going down a treat in class, which has given my girl a real boost in confidence.

She has officially finished school now (eek!) and starts 5 weeks of GCSEs on Monday!  Seems like only yesterday when we were making pretend plates of food and funny monsters with the play-doh at the kitchen table!

Oh, and just before I go, one of my students has just started up her own blog (she's really been bitten bad by the quilting bug!).  I'd love it if you could pop over to Sew Fi and say hi to Fiona, and welcome her to blogland.

Sewing Bits & Bobs

My 2 weekly classes started back this week.  

There was lots of fun and laughter, as well as a little stress and nerves for those learning for the first time!  I love the wonderful buzz of creativity and fresh ideas and inspiration that everyone brings, and most of all the warm and friendly atmosphere that my ladies create, making new folks feel especially welcome.

I don't have as much time to sew over these few days, but yesterday I managed to make a birthday pressie for one of my friends.

After I overdosed on cosmetic purses pre Christmas, I now seem to be having a run on more creative pouches!

These are such fun to make, and are limited only by one's imagination.

Got the idea for this picture from here

Now if you were getting this little pouch for your birthday, what would you like to find inside it - a few fqs? some sewing supplies?  chocolate?

Hope you've had a great weekend so far!

Hello Joe!

My friend had a baby boy this week, and I found out yesterday he's to be called 'Joe'!

So this morning, I made a cushion for Joe:

Yes, more sketching applique - I think I'm addicted!

I hope Joe's mama likes it!

  

Hap-bee Thursday!

A Sketchy Welcome!

I've been working on my new programme of classes, starting in September, and thought I'd do a few posts about some of the projects I'm planning to teach.

I try to make/design things that I'd be happy to have in my own home.  Today I'll show you my Welcome Wallhanging!

I wanted a rustic yet modern banner for my hall, and so combined linen with New England colours, and applied an applique technique called 'Sketching'.

  

Sketching is a form of Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) and it is great fun because to achieve the desired look, you really want a few wiggly lines in there - perfect!!  Poppy Teffrey's book 'Free & Easy Stitch Style' was my inspiration.

I adapted a Microsoft Word Font to get the lettering just right, and have templates printed out for the class to use. The wire quilt hanger (16") was from The Cotton Patch, but I've also seen them on Ebay and other online suppliers.

In order to free motion quilt on your machine, you have to be able to either drop the feed dogs (the zagged edged feeders under the needle plate) or cover them over with a specially fitting cover.  Have a look at your instruction manual for how to do this on your machine, or take your machine to your local Sewing Machine suppliers & they will show you how.

You will also need a FMQ foot (or Darning foot) for this technique.

This is for a Janome, but most FMQ feet are similar in shape.

The finished size of the wallhanging is 8" x 20".  At the moment we are in the process of painting our hall/stairs/landing (in a 3 storey Victorian semi!!!).  I'm looking forward to getting the painting finished so I can hang up my 'Welcome'.

I have to let you into a secret!  This is the 2nd Welcome Banner I've had to make.  The first one ended up looking like this after the dog decided she wanted her own personal welcome.......

She has a fetish for buttons!  She ate all 5 of them!

She did me a favour really, because in making the 2nd one, I decided to iron in some vilene (which helps the banner hang better) and I shortened the hanging tabs.  Having said that, I'm not ready for her to become Quality Control on future designs!

I hope this 4 week project appeals to folks, who can easily adapt the colours and style to suit, use up some scraps, and also get a fun introduction to FMQ.

Free Motion Applique

I was at the library the other day and picked up this interesting looking book.

It's a beautifully presented book that totally lurred me into having a go at an embroidery technique called 'sketching'.

Sorry about the blurry pic!

This technique is everywhere in blogland at the moment, and I love the naive & imperfect look of it.

So today, with the torrential rain and thunder banging outiside, I thought I'd have a go.

In the book, the author uses an embroidery hoop.  I find mine tricky to use on the Pfaff, and actually not that freeing!

Practising with random squiggles & shapes!

So for me, a different approach was needed.  

I grabbed the first scraps that came to hand, and diverted from the book slightly by introducing some trusty bondaweb and ditching the hoop, and ended up with this!

Essentially, this is drawing and colouring in, only using your sewing machine as the pencil & felt tip pen.

The idea is not to have perfectly formed stitches or lines so that the 'sketchy' look is achieved.

From the back

As an experiment I'm quite pleased with it.  

While the bondaweb holds the fabric in place, I'm not so keen on the 'neatness' it offers, and would prefer a softer, more organic look, as in the book.  However I will practise more with different techniques until I'm happy with the look I'm after. 

I don't know yet how easily quilting could be incorporated, but I'll keep playing around with some ideas & see what happens.

Happy Thursday everyone!