Martha Again

I’ve started to sew Martha the Giraffe and I’m really upset. Despite having coloured in the templates and knowing exactly how I wanted her to look I managed to use the wrong fabric for her mane. I really wanted Martha to have a purple mane but instead her mane is orange. What a dimwit.

Martha's Head

She still looks cute but I just feel really disappointed with myself. I’m going to continue as I don’t think I have the patience to unpick her ear and the mane. I’ve added a different orange print for her inside legs and am hoping that that will help me love her again.

Or I might just unpick…..

Martha the Giraffe

The lovely Juliet (of Tartankiwi fame) asked who would like to test some of her latest patterns and although I have way too much to do at the moment I said ‘yes’ to testing the giraffe. So far I’ve only pulled the fabric for it and am pleased to report that it all came from stash except for the blue and white polka dot which I’m going to use for the background. I simply haven’t got any big cuts of fabric as I usually go for fat quarters so that I can have a bit more variety in my stash. I think I will have to start buying yards or at least half yards in future.

Fabric pull for giraffe

Even though I haven’t started sewing yet I can already picture the giraffe in my mind and have decided to call her Martha. Where Martha is going to end up I have no idea (I’m sure Little Miss Bossy-Boots will try to stake a claim) but I’m sure she’ll look pretty wherever that is.

Surf and Turf meets The Birds and The Bees

When Jess from The Elven Garden asked for pattern testers for her new Roundabout pattern I couldn’t help myself and volunteered.

I’m on a (self-imposed) fabric buying ban but still get the Simply Solids stash club every month. When I saw all the pinks and oranges together I really wanted to make a quilt using just the two colours. However, when I started pulling fabrics for the Roundabout pattern I added some fresh blues to the mix. As a neutral I decided to use some Heather Ross fish which I got when Claudia from Machen und Tun München had her destash.

Roundabout Pattern by The Elven Garden

I loved the combination and soon started cutting. I checked the fabric requirements for all the colours but not for the neutral as I was convinced that I had enough of it. Well, long story short, I didn’t. After piecing two quarters I realised that I wouldn’t be able to cut enough for another two. I wasn’t going to unpick; unpicking foundation paper piecing is a nightmare and I didn’t want to waste my precious Heather Ross. So I hunted around in my stash for a neutral I would be able to use for the other two quarters and found some My Happy Garden by Cloud9 Fabrics that I used as backing for Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ flannel quilt.

Roundabout Pattern by The Elven Garden

The top was pieced with my beloved Aurifil thread (2000). I don’t really need to mention it anymore, do I? I don’t use any other thread since falling in love with it two years ago.

I have a few things I need to finish before I can actually think about quilting this. The plan is   to practice my fmq and hang it on my wall in the sewing room.

The pattern hasn’t been released yet but once Jess has finished all the editing you will be able to win a copy on her blog as well as all the tester’s blogs, including mine!

A Triceratops with Cellulite

When Juliet from a Tartankiwi asked for testers for some of her new foundation paper piecing patterns I jumped at the chance. I love the robin I did before Christmas even though he’s still not been turned into something useful. This time I got to try sewing a triceratops, one of my favourite dinosaurs.

Triceratops Head

Being a mostly female household (Charlie the cat doesn’t really count, does he?) I pulled out some fabric in pinks and oranges but changed my mind at the last minute and went for purple Liberty Tana lawn instead. Purple is Little Miss Bossy-Boots favourite colour at the moment and I thought it would be fun with a purple triceratops.

Half a Triceratops

This pattern contains a gazillion minute little pieces and the lawn fabric really helped with reducing the bulk. Once I’d finished the head I admit that I did breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t know about you but I stop breathing when I concentrate really hard. The detail is fabulous, though, and I was happy to continue with the legs, giving my triceratops red toe nails (don’t look too closely, though, as I managed to forget one).

Triceratops

Wondering about the cellulite? Wonder no more. I was a bit tired at the end and didn’t line up the bottom quite as well as I could have. As this one is for us I didn’t worry too much and left it the way it was. I’m sure she isn’t too bothered about her lumpy bottom.

Triceratops Cushion

I didn’t want this lovely dinosaur to end up as a WIP (especially as it is on my FAL list) and started quilting it straightaway. The bulk of all the seams in the head made it too difficult to quilt so I just did two clouds in the sky and a few plants in the grass. Quilting and piecing was, as always, done with Aurifil 50wt. A bit of dotty fabric and, hey presto, we have another cushion for the sofa.

This pattern hasn’t been released yet but I’ll let you now as soon as it’s in Juliet’s shop.

Edited to add: Get the pattern here.

Fly, Robin, Fly!

Yeah, my internet, phone and tv have finally been sorted and I’m hoping that this means I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis. Somehow, it’s not much fun to write blog posts without being able to publish them.

Juliet, who blogs at Tartan Kiwi, is a very talented pattern designer who concentrates on foundation paper pieced blocks. I haven’t seen one yet that hasn’t impressed me so, please, go and have a quick look at her Craftsy store. It’s alright, I’ll wait for you here.

Ok, what did you think? Isn’t she wonderful? Well, she was looking for pattern testers a while ago and I put my name forward. However, with the move to Switzerland being more time consuming and stressful than I had anticipated I haven’t really had the time to test any of those gorgeous patterns…until now, that is. Check out this little cutie:

Paper Pieced RobinThe pattern comes together really easily despite some teeny tiny pieces. In fact I had the most problems with those long thin pieces around the legs and for the twig. Slippery little so-and-sos.

Close up RobinIf you like to FPP (foundation paper piece) and you love Christmas this little Robin is almost a must. The block finishes at 10″ so I’m now going to go and have a little rummage through my Christmas fabric to add a couple of borders before I turn him into a cushion cover.

By the way, go check out Amy of Amy’sCrafty Shenanigans‘ version out as well. It’s in the bottom row of her October mosaic. I wish I had some of that snowflake fabric so that I could make another one.

I used some Kona solids, a couple of prints from Carolyn Friedlander’s line Architextures and a little bit of Denyse Schmidt for my Robin. The fabric I used for the eye was a small scrap I had lying around. Pieced, as always, with my beloved Aurifil 50 wt.

I love him and I will be sad when he flies away to his new home as I’ve decided he would be a perfect gift for…whoops, I almost told you there, didn’t I? I’ll tell you some other time, don’t want to spoil the surprise, do we now?

 

 

FLiRTS

A while ago I joined FLiRTS, a fun little swap on flickr. However, when the first round kicked off I couldn’t sign up as I had too much going on to properly concentrate on it. Round two came around and I signed up. I was so excited about it all and didn’t think life was going to be quite as busy as it got. So although I haven’t been able to comment on all the pictures as I normally do when I join a swap, I’ve been busy making a few things for my partner. I like this swap as you pick three things from a list of makes and your partner then choses one of these items to make for you.

My partner had some great things on her wish list and I decided to go for a mug rug. As I knew I wouldn’t have that much time to spend but wanted it to look good and be fun I went for foundation paper piecing two different blocks. First, the tea pot that I found in Fat Quarterly number 8. It was desigend by Kerry Green from verykerryberry and I’m sure that I will make it again. It was really fun to do and I love the colours I used.

Tea PotI hand quilted around the teapot and on the tablecloth with some Aurifil 28wt. Once I finished the piecing I thought ‘what if this girl prefers coffee?’. Around about then I won a giveaway on Kerry’s blog and the prize was the Parisienne Cafe pattern by Sew-Ichigo. So I made the coffee cups and put them on the back of the teapot mug rug.

Espresso

I also bought a blue and white mug to go with the mug rug, added some scraps and made a grocery bag (which was also on my partner’s list).

Grocery BagAll these things are now on the way to…. ha, ha, ha, it’s a secret swap so I won’t tell you until I know they’ve arrived.

Let me show you, however, what came for me all the way from the United States of America:

FLiRTS Goodies from DawnI couldn’t remember what three things I had put on my list but it seems Dawn (2mayboys on flickr) decided to make all of them! First up the greatest Kindle case ever. I love Denyse Schmidt fabrics and the colours are just so spot on. I really could not have wished for anything better. It even has a pocket on the inside for the charging cable. However, Dawn also made me the cutest coasters in my favourite colours and from some of my most favourite fabrics. To top it all off she made me a little pencil case and sent me a mini charm pack of Boho. Gosh, I really have been spoilt and I can tell you this little package has made my day, my week, my month. Thank you so much, Dawn!

 

 

 

Finish-A-Long: My Finishes

This Finish-A-Long, hosted by the lovely Leanne of She Can Quilt, has really helped me finish some WIPs that had been lying around for quite a while. My list contained five projects and I finished four; not bad going for me. Of course, the one project I didn’t finish was the biggest one, Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt. I’m going to put it on the list for the next quarter and make sure I start with it.

I was really happy to finish my Hexagon Heart which I started in April and was destined to raise funds for my local cancer treatment centre.

Hexie Heart Cushion

The second finish was my Double Circle of Flying Geese, or Skein of Geese as I called it which I started at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July. Once I got home I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to remember how to foundation paper piece so I put all the bits and pieces in a drawer. Once I got everything out and got started I realised that not only did I remember how to do it, I also thoroughly enjoyed the process. It’s now sitting on my sofa being used every day.

Double Circle of Flying Geese

Two of my finishes ended up in my sister’s house: the sewing kit I made for her and the ‘Spin Me Around’ cushion.

Kris's Things

I realise that I only finished a few small things but I’m so grateful to FAL because without it I probably only would have finished the sewing kit and started a lot more new projects.