The Round the World Blog Hop

First of all: phew, what a long blogging break this has been. That cold lingered quite a while, then I had a very unhappy Little Miss Bossy-Boots and a very important deadline. All this meant that the blog was seemingly forgotten. Well, behind the scenes I have been sewing, buying and begging for my celebratory giveaway. More on this in the next post.

First, though, I have been tagged by the lovely Paula, who blogs at Mud, Pies and Pins, for the Round the World Blog Hop. I’ve known Paula for more than 13 years and she’s a great friend. Her eldest and Little Miss Bossy-Boots were born exactly two months apart and get on like a house on fire. We have great playdates where the kids run around and get really dirty while we talk fabric and threads. Bliss!

Right, I believe I’m supposed to introduce myself and answer a few questions. Here goes:

1. What quilting/sewing thing am I working on?

My main project at the moment is a bit of secret sewing which I can’t show you yet. It’s and EPP project and very colourful but that’s all I can say so far. However, I always have a million and one projects on the go so here are a few other things I’m working on: My Spring Carnival quilt which sits in a bag next to the sofa. It’s been a work in progress for the last two years and I love it more than anything else I’ve made so far. Every now and then I sew a few pieces together but the fact that I haven’t got enough of the stripy fabric is holding me back.

Spring Carnival Progress

I’ve also cut out the pattern for the Joni top from TheLittleHouseMartin and made a muslin.  The fabric I’ve chosen needs to be washed and then I can make the perfect top to go under cardigans for autumn.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

That’s a question I’m not sure how to answer. My EPP mini quilts are, I suppose, what might set me apart to a certain degree. I really love to design them and am hoping that other people love to receive them.

Liberty Bloom

This one, Liberty Bloom, was made for a swap and now lives in Canada.

Mini

Four Paths was made for an Instagram giveaway and has also been sent all the way to Canada.

Jewel

Jewel went to a wonderfully courageous lady, Karie, in America.

Réalt Glas

This one is the one that started it all off. This was the first pattern I designed and you can see that the pieces didn’t actually fit together properly. I had to wrangle some of the pieces  into submission. This pattern, Athea, was drawn by hand and I had to re-draw the pieces a few times before they fit together perfectly. Click on the tutorial tab if you’d like to make your own Athea mini to find the free downloadable pattern.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I started this blog to show my family what I was working on while I lived in England and it became a real joy to write. My blogging isn’t regular, I have phases where I write less and others where I could write three blog posts in a day. I admire all the bloggers who blog every day but I realise that I can’t do it. As for the creating part of the question, designing and sewing makes me happy.

Butterfly

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

Sometimes an idea just pops into my head, other times I sit down with a pen and paper or my iPad and start doodling without a plan. Blog posts are written in the same way I would be writing a letter to a friend. I think that people who read my blog would like to know me as a person and I’m a scatty blonde with many ideas and no planning skills. I’m fairly sure that comes through in my posts.

EPP Star

I’ve enjoyed answering these questions and in true Elisabeth Style I have failed to ask any blogging friends if they would like to participate in the blog hop. I will, however, remedy that and tag two friends some time this week. Better late, than never, eh?! This should teach me not to schedule things like this log hop during the holidays.

 

 

FAL – 2nd Quarter

It’s that time again, the time to fess up and bring out all the WIP’s to link to Leanne of She Can Quilt‘s Finish-A-Long list. My list for the first quarter was filled with small things like a sewing kit and some cushions which I managed to finish and one quilt which I didn’t even get out of the drawer it’s been banished to. So, as you can imagine it’s going on this quarter’s list. Right, here’s my list for this quarter:

1. Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt.

Pink Log CabinsI’ve got four log cabins so far and will have to make at least another sixteen, I think. I’m not sure I have enough fabric so I might have to be a little creative and add some sashing to make the quilt big enough.

2. The Spring Carnival quilt. This is quite ambitious but I really want to bring it to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July.

Spring Carnival ProgressMy biggest problem here is that I’m fast running out of the stripy fabric I’m using for the ‘background’. I believe I have enough for two more columns, then I have to decide whether to keep it that size or choose a different fabric and add a frame around the stripes.

3. Master’s Bag

Master's Bag

I promised to make this bag last year (hangs her head in shame) and only started a very short while ago.  I know it won’t take too long to make, I just need some uninterrupted sewing time which isn’t easy with Little Miss Bossy-Boots on holiday.

4. The Spring Version and Blossom panels.

Réalt Glas, Spring and BossomI’m not sure what to make with those two. I was wondering if I should turn one of them into a small quilt for the couch by adding a few borders and maybe making a bag with the other. Or maybe another cushion? Watch this space as I’m not sure yet what to do.

5. In The Woods

In the Woods FinishedTote pocket or doll blanket? The jury’s still out.

I think I’m going to stop here as I’d really like to finish everything on the list and there’s more than enough on there to keep me busy. Also, I know myself well enough that I’m sure I will start many new projects.

 

 

 

 

Athea

Here we go! I’ve finally managed to scan in the templates for my EPP pattern which I have called ‘Athea’. Réalt Glas was made with the first set of templates. It was then I realised that I would have to re-work them as I literally had to shoe horn the grey pieces between the two green stars. This has made the inside star very pouffy. As this little mini was always supposed to live here with me, I didn’t really mind. However, when a few people asked me for the templates I realised that I would have to go back to the drawing board.

Réalt Glas Finished

Enter the Spring Version. I still had a little bit of an issue with a few of the pieces not wanting to slot in without a fight so I realised I would have to make another one. Enter a long ‘sigh’ at this point.

Réalt Glas and Spring

Voilà, Blossom! I really like how different the three versions are and I do hope that some people will use the Athea Templates. If you do, please show me your version as I’d love to show it off here as well.

Réalt Glas, Spring and Bossom

These templates were drawn by hand and are therefore not totally uniform. I do apologise for that and for the rather blurry picture of the pattern. Because I didn’t design the pattern with the intention of putting it on the blog I cut up the pattern sheet to make Réalt Glas. The only thing that remains is this blurry picture. You might think that I could have redrawn the pattern and you would be right but, to be honest, I’ve already spent so much time on this and have so many new ideas I want to explore. Furthermore, I’ve bought a wonderful app called TouchDraw for the iPad with the help of which I might even be able to give you templates that are accurate and all the same size. So think of Athea as a trial run.

Having said all this, if you do decide to have a go at ‘Athea’ and run into any kind of problems, please don’t hesitate to contact me (sharksdinner [at] sunrise [dot] ch) and I will be happy to help you as best I can.

EDIT

Here are the templates I drew on Touch Draw. Click on the link to download.

Athea