hellooooooooo

hi everyone, long time, no post!  life has been crazy busy, sadly not much sewing but way too many hours at work and some house renovations haven't left me much time to be creative.

i did manage to take a short holiday and attend Grampians Textures, i was lucky enough to be able to do the 4 day bag making workshop with Nicole Mallalieu (the genius behind You Sew Girl).  i picked up some great tips and techniques for designing and making bags that look professional (handmade as opposed to homemade).  thanks to Nicole i think i have finally conquered my fear of zippers!

a couple of photos of the bag that i designed, drafted the pattern for then made (just a couple of little things to finish off and it will be ready to use)...

wishing everyone a slightly belated happy st. patricks day (and happy birthday to me!)

 

selvedge madness at the art gallery

my quilting group holds an exhibition every second year and we are very lucky that our local art gallery hosts the exhibition - we choose a theme, then make the quilts and drop them off at the art gallery.  the curator then decides which quilts will go in the exhibition, hangs them beautifully and does all the necessary signage.  this year the exhibition has gone for around a month, from mid December to mid January, and from all accounts it has been very popular

our theme was "from scraps to heirlooms", a nod to the origins of quilts.

i had my quilt in planning and was working on it in the 12 months leading up to the exhibition... but being the procrastinator that i am, i finished burying the last of the threads in my selvedge quilt the evening before i had to drop it off at our local art gallery!

i cant tell you how excited i am to have my quilt hanging in an art gallery! i took this photo on my phone...

the quilt is actually quite bright in person and there are a lot more selvedges on the back of it, but obviously i cant get a photo of the back until the exhibition is finished.  i will post more photos when it get my quilt back.

i plan on hanging it in my newly redecorated sewing room, and call me crazy but i think i am going to do a lot more selvedge projects to go in there... recovering my computer chair, recovering my sewing chair, a new ironing board cover and probably some curtains!

2012 new years eve mystery quilt

yippee its new years eve mystery quilt time again!!  i am doing one from Delaware quilts.

my fabric is chosen - a variety of pinks, the finished quilt will hopefully be used to raise funds for breast cancer research...

the strips are cut...

and i am ready to sew when the rest of the clues are posted!

quick strippie quilt

one of my last minute sewing projects this christmas was a quick strippie quilt (a free pattern from Mary quilts), i made it as a gift for a friend's daughter... i LOVE the fabrics and it is so quick to whip up a quilt using this pattern!  (edited to add - my friend and her daughter LOVE the quilt too!!)

my dad was kind enough to hold it while i snapped some photos (dont you love his socks!)...

FRONT

the back was pieced together using left-overs from making the front, and i added the pink at the top/bottom so that it would be big enough

BACK

and a close up that shows the gorgeous owl print (fabrics were from spotlight and must have been printed for them because the selvedges didn't have much info from the manufacturer)

i used 1m of each of the owl print, stripey fabric and blue floral fabric, then added approx 1/2m of the pink fabric.

i used hobbs heirloom fusible wadding (it only fuses temporarily so the finished quilt is nice and soft) to minimise pinning and save time (i still like to put a couple of pins along the edges) and then quilt using a variegated thread, my open-toe walking foot and a snake/curve stitch on each seamline

unfortunately my walking foot broke mid-way through the quilting process, but i am very lucky that my mum lives 5mins away from me and she had a walking foot that i could use to finish the quilt

see the 2 white brackets that hold the foot to the machine?  the top one snapped off (circled in red), the foot moved out of alignment, then broke the needle and caused the machine to shudder around and make all sorts of horrible noises.  thankfully, it doesn't seem to have caused any damage to the machine.

it's christmas day...

 

merry christmas everyone, i hope the festive season is full of cheer and the year ahead is a joyful one xxx

christmas tree skirt - tutorial - part 3 (let's get sewing!!)

photos of the tree skirt are here
christmas tree skirt - tutorial - part 1 can be found here
christmas tree skirt - tutorial - part 2 is here

woo hoo, it's time to start cutting!

you will need to cut 12 wedges of fabric for the top of the skirt and another 12 wedges from the back (i managed to get all 24 of my wedges cut from 6 fat quarters of fabric).

if you are cutting from fat 1/8ths, you should be able to fit 2 wedges on (see photo).  this method would also allow you to cut 4 wedges from a fat 1/4 of fabric (fold the fat 1/4 in half before cutting)

if you are cutting from a strip of non-directional fabric you will be able to cut your wedges as shown in the photo below, continue to alternate the direction of your wedges as you work your way across the strip of fabric

you may choose to trace around your template and them use scissors to cut the wedges out, or you may choose to do what i did and use your rotary cutter, ruler and the template.  i simply placed the template on the fabric, lined my ruler up with the straight edge and cut with my rotary cutter.  once i had cut both sides, i traced the curve and tip with my pencil then cut them out using scissors.

once all of your wedges have been cut, you will need to sew them into pairs using a 1/4" seam...

then into fours...

then sixes...

then sew ONE seam that will join the 2 halves of your tree skirt.  remember to leave the other seam open, this will allow you to put the skirt around your tree.  now repeat the process for the back of your tree skirt.

now we get to decorate the top of the tree skirt.  audition your trim options and decide which one you like best.  i have decided to use 2 trims and alternate them around the skirt (remember that you wont need trim on the open edges of the skirt)

if you want to make your own seam covering strips, you will need to cut eleven 3/4"  strips (on the straight grain) from the fabric that you heavily starched earlier.  then you will need to thread a strip into your 9mm bias tape maker (you may need to use a pin to help you), making sure that your fabric is the correct way up

 flip your bias maker over and use a fork pin to hold the beginning in place

use your iron to push the bias tape maker along until you reach the end of your strip (this means that your fingers will be well away from the hot iron and minimises your chances of getting a burnt finger!).  repeat for the other 10 strips

i used my karisma glue pen to hold the trim in place, but you may choose to thread baste your trim on.  DO NOT stitch it permanently in place yet, we will stitch it on after the top of the tree skirt is stitched to the back and turned the right way out - this will quilt the layers together and provide stability.

pin your ties/ribbons in place along the open edge of the tree skirt, also make sure that you have pinned the loose ends well away from the seam lines... you wouldn't want to accidentally stitch them in!

carefully pin the top of your tree skirt to the back and stitch around all of the edges using a 1/4" seam - remember to leave an opening so you can turn it in the right way.

turn your tree skirt in the right way, press it well and top-stitch around the edges.  now is the time to stitch the seam coverings in place - i used a zig-zag on my first tree skirt, but chose to use a straight stitch on this skirt.  at this point you may also decide to add some trim around the outside edge of your tree skirt

and you are all DONE... place your skirt under the tree, tie the ribbons and admire your work!

christmas tree skirt - tutorial - part 2 (fabrics etc)

photos of the tree skirt are here
christmas tree skirt - tutorial - part 1 can be found here

there are a few choices to be made today... fabric combinations and trims so it should be lots of fun!

we will be cutting 12 wedges of fabric for the top of the tree skirt and another 12 wedges for the back; this means that there are a lot of possible fabric combinations.  some options are...
- 1 fabric for the top (all 12 wedges would be cut from the same fabric)
- 2 fabrics for the top (6 wedges from each fabric) this is the option i chose for my first tree skirt
- 3 fabrics for the top (4 wedges from each fabric)
- 4 fabrics for the top (3 wedges from each fabric)
- 6 fabrics for the top (2 wedges from each fabric) i will use 6 fabrics this time
- 12 fabrics for the top (1 wedge from each fabric)

once you have decided how many fabrics you want to use on the top of your Christmas tree skirt, you can then make a similar decision for the back of your tree skirt - this is your chance to decide if you want your Christmas tree skirt to be reversible or if you would prefer a plain back (i have chosen a plain back).

i am going with a red/white theme this time - the black/green/red holly fabric may become seam covering strips or i may decide to use some ribbon or rick-rack (i will audition my options when i have pieced the top of the tree skirt together)

the yardage that you need of each fabric will depend on how many fabrics you are using.  as an example - i can cut 2 of my wedges from a fat 1/8th, and i can cut 8 wedges from a 16" width-of-fabric strip of non-directional fabric (from my 6 red/white fat quarters i have been able to cut enough wedges for the front and back of my tree skirt, a total of 24 wedges)

you can either decide what you are going to use to cover your seams now (or you can wait and audition your options once you have pieced the top of your tree skirt).  you have a lot of choices - rick-rack, bias tape, home-made straight-grain strips (using a bias tape maker), ribbon etc.  here are some of the choices that i will be auditioning later...

you will need enough to cover the 12 seam lines - in my case each seam line is 14 1/2" (including seam allowance) you may also like to use this trim around the outside of your tree skirt

if you would like to make your own seam covering strips, you will need to heavily starch your fabric in preparation.  i cut a square of fabric 14 1/2" x 20", so that i would have enough to make the seam covering strips and to trim around the outside of the skirt.  heavily spray your seam covering fabric on both sides with a good quality starch (i use the "crisp" brand) and allow the fabric to dry before pressing it well.

gather your sewing tools and tomorrow we can get cutting and sewing!

you will need...
your fabrics
your template
a cutting mat
ruler
rotary cutter
pencil (or something to mark your fabric with)
fabric scissors
trim, to cover your seams (optional) and the outside of the skirt (optional)
9mm bias tape maker (if you are making your own seam covering strips)
karisma glue pen (optional)
sewing machine, thread and a fresh needle
1m of a narrow ribbon (for the ties on your skirt)

part 3 of the tutorial is here