Sea Critter Quilt- Quilt Top Piecing Finished

Sea Critter Quilt

I have spent the day finishing the embroidered blocks and constructing the quilt top for my sea critter quilt. The borders were a challenge as the longest length of fabric I had was 45 inches. The fabrics came in a kit from a magazine company as part of a subscription deal so what I had was it. I took a couple of hours to think about the border but I am pleased with it. Each of the blocks are 10 1/2 inches before they were sewn together . The finished top is 53 inches square.

I will probably take most of the week to quilt it, finish it off and write the tutorial for it.

Sea Critter Quilt-work in progress



Sea Critter Quilt

 It has been a miserable overcast day here today so I have been working on my sea critter quilt. I am using the new designs from Hatched in Africa combining elements from both sets. I am also using the tube quilting technique  to construct the pieced blocks. I am still undecided as to whether to make the quilt 3x3 or 4x4. I am always trying to come up with new ideas for baby quilts that can be pieced fairly quickly. This quilt could be given to a boy or a girl and would not look out of place as a lap quilt or on a sofa in the summer.
I plan on writing up a tutorial to have as a download once the quilt is finished.

Scarlet Fever and Scarlet Camellia

Scarlet Camellia

Perfumed Daphne

Daffodils

My 26 year old daughter flew home to Tasmania from Canberra last Thursday and had her wisdom teeth out in hospital last Friday . She became unwell with what we thought was a bad cold on Monday but today she has been diagnosed with Scarlet Fever so she is not real well at all. She is covered in a dreadful angry rash and is certainly in the wars so to speak.

It always cheers me up when the beautiful spring flowers start to make their appearance well before spring arrives. My garden is a spring-early summer delight with many azaleas, camellias and flowering bulbs set to make their appearance over the next few months.

Cupcake Pincushion- Tutorial

Embroidered Cupcake Pincushion

I always like to challenge myself and create something with designs that digitizers graciously provide as freebies. I have made this cupcake pincushion doing just that, using these two free designs from Hatched  in Africa. The "icing" of the cupcake is the red flower design from My Shapes and Colours Book free set  whilst the dainty central design is from the  Dainty Floral Specials . I have provided a tutorial on how to enlarge the red flower base design using Embird software whilst keeping the integrity of the stitch density intact and at the same time merging the small floral design.
The tutorial and template for the cupcake can be found here.

Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair-stock up on bag handles

The Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair opens tomorrow. For those attending it is a great place to stock up your bag handles from  Posh Pendants, stand D30.They usually have them for $5 a pair.

I am also working on a cupcake pincushion combining two free designs from Hatched in Africa. Will have those instructions and template pattern ready for download in the next day or so.

Fold Up Shopping Bag-Pattern and tutorial

Folded Shopping Bag

Folded shopping bag with gusset folded in

Open Pocket

Deep gusset in the shopping bag

I have just finished the tutorial for my latest little shopping bag. I have had this piece of lovely black and white animal print for a while. When I found the lovely black cat design from Allsorts Paris Flair on special this week at Oregon Patchworks for $3 decided it was the perfect design to go on my bag pocket.
I split the paw prints off another of the designs in the set to go with the cats.

I have made the bag with a large folded gusset to carry all of those larger sized items.When folded it a great size to carry in your purse. The pocket is open at the top for popping small items into.

The tutorial comes with the pattern for the pocket. You can download it here

Royal Reflections Quilt and battling shingles

Royal Reflections Quilt

I did have plans to do another grocery bag for you today but do not feel real wonderful. I have been battling shingles for a week and my daughter had her wisdom teeth out in hospital yesterday so not real enthused to sew.  I have decided to post a photo of my Royal Reflections Quilt made about 5 years ago. It is a design by Kenny Kreations and is a huge quilt.The designs were digitized after Lyn Kenny saw the floor tiles in a church in Paris - Sainte Chapelle.The Gothic chapel was built by the French king, Louis IX in the 1240's.

I took a photo of my quilt by getting two girls to stand on a table holding it up and then it was a struggle.The quilt is constructed using a quilt as you go method. I originally had inserted a middle block upside down so it was not that difficult to pull it apart at that spot and redo it. It is larger than a king size quilt.

I am afraid that my quilts are far from being prize winning but I enjoy making them to keep the beds and the cupboard warm!

More costumes

50's inspired embroidered poodle skirts

A couple of people have requested that I post some photos of the costume 1950's inspired poodle skirts combinations I made to go the Elvis outfit.

Another reversible apron

Designs from Urban Threads

I have made another reversible apron, this time using the quirky designs from Urban Threads. The food themed  designs are on special this week for $1.29 so will not break the bank. I just love the Beat It design.

You may download the pattern and instructions by clicking on the words.

My 26 year old daughter is flying home to have her wisdom teeth out in hospital on Friday so there may not be much time for sewing over the next week or so as I will be looking after her.

New Reversible Apron -Pattern and Tutorial- link now working

Scallop Edge Reversible Apron 1

Scallop Edge Reversible Apron

Scallop Edge Reversible Apron 2

Scallop Edge Reversible Apron 2

You may download the pattern and instructions by clicking on the words.The link I posted yesterday was not working. I just redid this blog posting and lost the whole lot from my previous post.
Many of us have aprons for special occasions such as Christmas and never get to wear them for the rest of the year. You can use this design apron for a couple for holidays if you wish. The red theme would go with Christmas and also Valentine's Day.The length of apron is such that you could cut the middle section out of a special fat quarter you may have.
I have used Bunnycup designs for my aprons. The chartreuse green and white fabric inspired me to use the Fantasy Flowers Redwork set as the motifs are very similar. On the Christmas one I have used the Christmas Tree from the Christmas Jumbo Applique set.The other side of the apron uses another of the  Tweet Thing designs as well as one from the Swirly Doodads set.

If you have embroidery software, do not be afraid to combine elements from different sets as you can see what they will look like before stitching them out.

Once you get the hang of making this apron design it is very easy and you can design away to your heart's content. Embellishments such as specialty buttons ,ric rac etc would look fantastic on these aprons. Also once you have one side completed you can use that as a pattern to make the lining for the back from a single piece of fabric if you wish.

Elvis costume

Elvis costume

Today I thought I would share with you one of the many costumes I have made for school musical productions. This is a costume inspired by the many embroidered and decorated costumes that Elvis wore. This costume I made from satin and used the Jacobean Peacock design from Hatched in Africa to embroider the feathers etc. It involved quite a few hours of work as you can imagine. The costume now resides with the young man whom I made the costume for.

Over the weekend I am working on a few new pattern ideas to share with you, one of them being a reversible apron. I hope to have one pattern ready to post late Sunday or early next week.

Another Free Online Digital Quilt Magazine

Follow the links to sign up for another free Australian online quilt magazine. You can follow the link here to sign up for Online Quilt Magazine.

Also for those who machine embroider and remember  the train designs I used on my red/ white/ blue  quilt, you can purchase them at a 75% discount at Oregon Patchworks this week.

Free Digital Quilting Magazine (Down Under Quilts)

The latest issue of the Australian magazine, Down Under Quilts is available online.To view this free issue and sign up for a 6 month free subscription click on the magazine image below. Back issues can alo be accessed bu clicking on the "back issues" tabs to the left once the page comes up on your screen. You may also sign up to a couple of other magazines such as Creative Expressions by Jenny Haskins and Down Under Textiles by following this link

	Look inside >
Issue 148, 2011

First Heirloom Sampler Block

Block 1 of the Heirloom Sampler Quilt

I am in the process of writing the photographic instructions for the first heirloom sampler quilt block. I am trying to make these instructions as detailed as possible but I am sure to leave something out. If you would like to join the class, the instructions for joining are under the online classes link at the top of the page.

It has been very cold here today with winds blowing up from the Antarctic. It is also my husband's 55th Birthday and we had a lovely meal at my parent's house for lunch.

Blog Page Rearrangement and Lady Quilt

I have spent the day reorganising my blog so that tutorials, free patterns and online classes can be easily found using the links across the top of the page.

Fabric Printed Lady Quilt

I have also posted a picture of the quilt I made using the vintage lady images transferred to fabric with T shirt transfers and then embellished with machine embroidery and beads.

Fabric Printed Embroidered Pillow



Image transferred using T shirt transfers

 Thought I would share with you the first project I ever did combining image transfer and machine embroidery. The image is the same as the one I used for the coat hanger cover-closet safe tutorial a couple of posts ago. This image is a T shirt transfer that I ironed onto calico or quilter's muslin. I then embroidered around the design picking up the rose theme. The lace was added to cover the straight edges of the image. I also made a quilt using the same method and will post that a little later.
This time of year at school is frantic with report writing etc so may not be much extra time for any projects and tutorials.

My First Patchwork Pieced Machine Embroidered Quilt

Oriental Design Quilt

I am posting some pictures and details of the first machine embroidered -pieced patchwork quilt that I made about 6 years ago. The pattern was inspired from the Fly Away Home Mystery Quilt from Quiltbus. I enlarged the pieces to make a large lap quilt. I made the borders after the quilt was pieced to make sure that my cutting and stitching was accurate.The designs were from the Oriental Collection on Kenny Kreations website.

Mandala Quilt

Mandala Quilt

The Mandala quilt is one of my favourites. I completed it four and a half years ago.The colours are way out of left field for me in terms of what I normally drift towards. I picked the fabric up on the way home from putting my daughter on a plane to Canberra to start her first job after completing a computing degree at university. The quilt has machine embroidered circles with some redwork circles. I have also used piping to separate the centre blocks. I also favour embroidering on black fabric for some reason, I think it is because of the vibrant effect you get. The designs are from Kenny Kreations

Princess Diana Doll

About 20 years ago I started making porcelain dolls and dressing them and that is when my love heirloom sewing began. One of my prized possessions is this 36 inch high doll of Princess Diana I made in 1998 after she died. I was and still am fascinated by Princess Diana and must confess to shedding a tear when the boys left for William's wedding and she was not there to see them. Princess Diana would have turned 50 years old on July 1 2011.
I tried to make the silk dress as true to her wedding gown as I possibly could. The train is not to scale though as it would have been way too long for the doll.The size of the doll makes it hard to store but she has pride of place on a chest of drawers belonging to my great grandmother in my bedroom. Every so often I have to give her dress a bit of a spruce up and dust down.

Heirloom Garment Cover-Closet Safe Pattern and Instructions





Heirloom Garment Cover-Closet safe

I have done the pattern and the instructions for the garment cover-closet safe. The instructions are quite detailed and are about 10 pages in length if I remember correctly.The pattern and instructions can be found by clicking on the words. Please remember the pattern is only for wooden coat hangers similar to the ones in the photo above. If you have another coat hanger you will need to redraw the pattern. Please do not republish the pattern or instructions.

Heirloom Garment Cover-Closet Safe

Heirloom Garment Cover-Closet Safe

The heirloom garment cover is finished but I still need to write the instructions.I have used one of the grid designs from Kenny Kreations.I have removed the grid centre of the design when stitching it out. The design is padded from behind to give a 3D effect.

Padded Behind Printed Fabric

 I have used my printing on fabric treated with fabric softener technique  You can easily make this cover in patchwork or fashion fabric,add more lace, ribbon etc. You are limited only by your imagination. I have added a pocket to the front lining section, much like in a bag and you can store accessories etc in it or used it to keep valuables in.

Inside pocket

There are no exposed seams in this cover and you will be surprised how easy it is to sew together once all the decorative stitching and lace application is done. This is a good entry level to heirloom sewing project without having to spend a lot of money on supplies.

Check back tomorrow for the instructions.

Heirloom Garment Cover-Closet Safe



Heirloom Garment Cover- closet safe



Picture to be printed onto fabric

I am working on an heirloom inspired garment cover-closet safe similar to this one and will have the pattern and instructions posted on the blog over the weekend. It will have a vintage lady print on fabric inserted into a machine embroidered oval frame.It will be similar to this batiste one but I am using calico or quilter's muslin as I like the rustic effect of that and cluney lace. The picture I am using is the one above from Graphics By Pati
If you haven't already done so don't forget to go and pick up my latest apron tutorial and pattern from yesterday's post