Patchwork Bibs!

Have you had a wonderful weekend?

The weather here has been positively balmy!!  15 degrees today (that was the average temperature last July)!

Following on from my Easter Bibs tutorial last week, I thought I'd show you some patchwork versions!

These are great scrap buster projects, using 28 x 2.5" squares (perfect for leftover jellyroll & binding strips).

Made with quilt leftovers - 'Spring Walk' by Little Cube

I used the same template as before, and quilted the patchwork front and towelling together, before sealing the raw edges with bias binding.

Made with leftover Bonnie and Camille jelly roll strips

These days there is a lovely selection of pretty bias and trims to choose from. Here's a small selection I picked up locally.

And if you don't want to fuss with bias binding, quilt your patchwork front with a little wadding before following my original tutorial. 

These bibs took no time at all to make!  Wouldn't they make gorgeous baby-shower gifts?

Whatever the occasion, I hope you are enjoying my Easter tutorials series.  More to come this week!

Linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Scrappy Scissors Cozy!

My scrappy project for this month are scissor cozies!

The genius behind this clever pouch is my lovely friend Svetlana! She has a brilliant eye for shape, design, colour and style! And very generously shares lots of tutorials on her blog!

For this pouch, I dipped into my large 'sweetie jar' of leftover half square triangles and just randomly sewed a low volume triangle to a coloured print!

And this one got the EPP treatment, using up small red scraps with leftover Essex linen (black) pieces to create a diamond/harlequin piece.

I think these pouches would make great presents for those who love to sew.  You could even keep a rotary cutter or two in them!

I highly recommend this pattern from Svetlana - in fact all her patterns are clearly written and easy to follow!

Linking up with the Queens of Scraps, Nicky and Leanne!

Jude xo

On Another Note ....

It's Scraptastic Tuesday again!!  Doesn't the 2nd Tuesday of the month come around quickly!!

As usual, I've been creating more scraps than I've been using!!  Like the magic porridge pot, they just seem to grow when I'm not looking!!

I guess just using teeny weeny 1.5" squares isn't going to make much of a dent either (yes I keep even the smallest scraps)!

I love making portholes!  And I love making notebook covers too! Winning combo! 

And I made another notebook cover made from donated sample book scraps!

So that's my September Scraptastic Tuesday link up with Leanne and Nicky!

Jude xo

One Inch Wonders!

Today is Scraptastic Tuesday - a monthly linky party over at Nicky's and Leanne's for all 'scrap lovers'!

Not a month goes by when I don't use scraps in some form or other.

This month I've already shown you 2 boxy pouches made from scraps:



But I've also made this teeny dumpling pouch with 1" hexies ....

... and an Essex Linen hot water bottle cover with 1" postage stamp squares behind a porthole heart and a 1" postage stamp inset trim.

Hmmm, hot water bottle covers in August?  Well it is a British summer after all!

Jude xo

Hexie Framed Purses

Due to enforced resting, and not being able to do my usual 'up on my feet' hours, EPP was required to keep this natural 'fidget pants' from going nuts!

I wanted to thank 2 very special friends for their help to me in recent days and knew just what to make!

I like small EPP projects, and for 1" hexies, scraps are perfect.

One friend particularly likes Bonnie & Camille fabrics ....

....... and the other plum shades with grey (Irish linen).

These were the perfect little projects to test out my dodgy ankle on the sewing machine presser foot! Wee buns!!

I even managed a bit of driving today too!

Onwards and upwards!

Linking up to Nicky and Leanne's Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Small Pieces!

This week is Scraptastic Tuesday over at Nicky's and Leanne's! Check out the amazing things folks have been making with their scraps!

My scrappy efforts this month are 2 Quilt As You Go purses!

This one from a 5" sample swatch book of pastel linens:

And this one from my favourite blues and oranges:



So what have you been making with your scraps?

Jude xo

Scraps in the Frame!

This week I'll be teaching Framed Purses at my classes.  Here are some variations I have made as class samples:

The rear purse is made from a free sample of deco weight fabric and a scrap of tweed!!  The front purse is made from the leftover triangles cut off flying geese blocks!!  I keep triangle leftovers in a jar!!

Next up, I drafted a paper pieced 'geese' template, and made the pouch using teeny scraps for the geese and Essex Yarn Dyed Linen for the rest.

You will see that I varied the shape slightly of this pouch, extending the corners further.

And finally, an EPP 1" hexie pouch, again using tiny scraps.

The templates for all of these pouches are for a 2.5" x 6" metal glue-in frame.

I hope my ladies enjoy making these pouches this week!

Linking up with Nicky and Leanne's Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Been Stripping!

I've been doing a lot of stripping this week!!!

No, not that sort of stripping!!

This kind of stripping:

Armed with a bag of scrappy strips, some white fabric and a large square ruler and I'm one happy bunny!

These quick and easy strip blocks (11.5" unfinished) are so addictive.  I've already made 2 more since taking this photo, and not sure when I'll stop!  The strips just aren't running out!  Weehee!

There's nothing quite like Scrap Satisfaction!

Linking up with Nicky and Leanne's Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Spooling Around!

I was looking for some inspiration for a mini quilt to make for a friend's birthday!

Seeing that 'Spools' are still so IN at the moment (and loads of cute 'quilty spool' ideas on Pinterest) I thought I'd have a go at drafting my own pattern for paper piecing.

I've had a 7" wire hanger knocking around for a while, so I made sure this mini-mini quilt wouldn't be bigger than 10" square!

I had lots of fun going through my scraps for 1" wide pieces to make the spools, along with cute wee ends of ribbons and trim for the spool centres.

Some leftover Kona snow satisfied the background and strip ends of Essex linen from another project became the outer border.  I was even able to use a teeny piece of leftover ribbon trim for the hanging tabs!!

It's so satisfying having a justifiable reason for keeping all those scraps!!

Linking up with Nicky and Leanne's Scraptastic Tuesday!!

Jude xo

Scrappy Hexies!

Today is Scraptastic Tuesday!

This is a monthly linky party where we get to chat about our latest scrappy projects!

I love working with scraps, and I value them just as much as new fat quarters!

Here's the latest thing I made this week, using leftover bits from a  French General charm pack.

These hexies are 1" finished (I whizzed them through my sizzix) and are the perfect size for using up small scraps!

I also had some smaller pieces of Liberty leftover from another hexie project.  So I covered buttons with them, and am currently selling them in my sale this week.  They are going down a storm!

I hope you are enjoying using your scraps too!

Linking up with Nicky and Leanne.

Jude xo

The 'Key' to Great Scraps!

I love all scraps (I'm sure you know that by now!).

So in celebration of Scraptastic Tuesday, I am presenting my latest scrappy project:

Key fobs!

And even more key fobs!!

These are so easy to make, and use the smallest pieces of scraps and ribbons (8" x 1.5" & smaller)!

Most of these will go into my sister's shop, but I'm trying to resist the urge to give lots of them out to friends (& of course my daughters have their eyes on them for pressies for friends!).

My favourite key fob is the one with bees on it - a piece of ribbon given to me by a special friend!

So for those of you who feel guilty about keeping even the smallest scraps, this project will give you complete justification!!!

Linking up with the UK queen of scraps, Nicky, on Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Scraptastic Tuesday!

I'm a bit of a 'scraps' nut!  I keep even tiny pieces, which come in handy for sketch applique projects:

So when Nicky and Leanne kickstarted Scraptastic Tuesday (a monthly linky party) I thought 'that's right up my street!'

Now I could write a thousand blog posts on the scrappy projects I've been working on recently!! 

But I'll show you just a few samples instead (I can hear you sigh with relief from here!).

I had some tiny leftovers from a layer cake quilt, which I made into this QAYG zippy pouch.

And more tiny leftovers made the prettiest bunting on these linen pencil cases.

A sizzix cutting machine is great for turning odd sized scraps into useable shapes, which is how I made the circles on these (repurposed trousers) pouches.

And finally, our Bee Blessed block of the month is a tribute to all things scrappy!

So that's my (conservative!) link up to Scraptastic Tuesday!  

If scraps are your 'thing' too, then hop on over to Nicky's or Leanne's and check out the other inspiring projects!

Jude xo