Wednesday, May 27, 2015

New 'clubs' I've joined recently

If you have been reading along on my blog you will notice I'm getting right into this quilting caper. By no means an expert - pfftt - but having a load of fun. 

I couple of things I've recently signed up for that you might be interested in are the Aussie Aurifil Club and the Aussie Kona Club

MsMidge has been distributing Aurifil for a while but I love the idea of a curated collection each month by amazing bloggers around the traps. Kinda takes the guess work out for me. 

Photo used with permission
First up is Angie from GnomeAngel and oh boy she has picked some truly gorgeous colours. Look at those pretty pinks and purples (actually they are #4030 – Pomegranate #2510, #1100 – Red Plum, #2530 – Blossom Pink and #2510 – Light Lilac). 

I love that you have the choice of subscription to suit your needs - I did a trial with small spools at 40wt and I think that suits my needs right now. I would prefer to gather a collection of colours I can use on my projects. If I need to quilt something bigger (and mind you I haven't even attempted that yet!), I can always buy a large spool of one colour. But you get to choose what suits you best. 

Next up is the Aussie Kona Club. The first month of May was launched with an amazing collection chosen by Molli Sparkles - Poppy, Cyan, Wasabi, Titanium, and Dark Violet. I adore the cyan aqua blue. Wow!

The photo below is a sneak peek from Angie as she is the blogger selecting for June - with Regal, Berry, Morning Glory, Sangria and Honeysuckle. All matching her Aurifil choices. Isn't that awesome. 

MsMidge is coming up in July, followed by Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts in August.

Again, choose what suits you. For the moment I've gone with the fat quarter bundles but you can also order half metre and metre. And if you are interested ... might be worth ... having a little at Angie's blog ... ya know. 

Photo used with permission

You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy these two clubs. I can see them being used in loads of projects I do. 

Are you a subscriber of any others? 

Monday, May 11, 2015

Flying geese

I was very lucky to be asked by Ros (aka my idol - Sew Delicious - go check out her new look blog) to host the Quilt Block Boot Camp while she was on holidays. 

I selected something pretty basic for my first block -  Flying Geese by The Crafty Mummy. I personally had never done them, so I knew lots of our beginners wouldn't have and I thought the more advanced in the group could challenge themselves to be creative with their geese. 

This fabric is Happier by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake. Again another old one (I really am trying to shop my stash!). It is so bright and colourful and I can't wait to see it all quilted together. Ya know, when I work out how to do that step!

Friday, May 8, 2015

Quiet Play Flamingo Paper Piecing

For some insane reason I thought I would try my hand at paper piecing. 

Actually though, paper piecing is really fun. It's kinda a paint by numbers sewing. BUT I possibly choose the hardest pattern to start with. 

Kristy from Quiet Play is releasing a block each month that will in the end create an entire zoo animal quilt. Each block is only free that month - so sorry if you love my 'mingo' as you will need to pay a couple of dollars now for her. There are plenty of other introductory blocks to try (through her Craftsy shop), which is what I should have done. 




I want to try the pencils or books - perfect for teacher gifts or school aged presents and my son would go nuts for some of the Lego ones (too many to link so check out the store). 

Now I just need to make this one into a cushion for my daughters bed. Or maybe a mini hanging quilt (she already has a collection of cushions). She has a couple of 'mingo' things in her room. Really what little girl wouldn't love an animal that is actually pink!!



 Anyone else tried Paper Piecing - have some recommendations for me to try?

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Big Puffy Bow

I was sooooo excited to receive this wide 63mm grosgrain ribbon in my little stash from Sarah Lauren.




I’ve made a few of these bows from regular 22mm or 1 inch ribbon but now seeing the end result with this wider ribbon – it is well worth buying some! I think I need to make them with navy for my Miss 6 for school. Whenever I put regular ribbons in her hair they just come un-done so this would be a great alternative.


I haven't done a step by step tutorial for this one as perhaps it needs photos rather than a description. White isn't the best to take photos of but I can give it a go if you are interested?

I covered an alligator clip and attached it with 9mm red grosgrain ribbon. You could also tie a little knot and centre it on the front or even add a little bling. 




Supplies:

Now here is some I made for my daughters Frozen party for the gift bags. Obviously these are a wider finished size but you can see the narrow 1 inch (or 22mm) wide grosgrain doesn't work as well for this style. Still very pretty and loved by the little recipients but the wider ribbon is much puffier!!




Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Pinwheel block


Pinwheels

I'm slightly out of whack with my blogging about these blocks. To recap:

Week 1 and 2: Raspberry Kiss and Simple Heart

Week 3: Economy Block - and I'm so doing this one again! Possibly my favourite so far.

Week 4 I need to do still. Will be a present for my mother in law later in the year so perhaps why there is no urgency to do this one. 

Week 5: Pinwheel blocks - these ones today!!

Week 6: I need to do. Was a tricky one in the group so I'm a little worried!

Week 7: Cross stitch block I posted last week. 

So this week is the Pinwheel Block by Missouri Star Quilt Co. It was nice to have it mixed up a little with a video. Really helpful to watch it rather than read it.

You can see from the photos below that I haven't sewn them together yet. I'm not sure what I will do with them so wanted to leave them for the moment. 

The fabric is Riley Blake Sugar and Spice from The Quilted Fish from a few years ago. You should still be able to find it online. I have quite a bit of scraps of this so will probably use it a bit in these projects (featured in the Raspberry Kiss cushion I donated to my sons teacher) 


I've recently been ironing my seams flat rather than to the dark side. I can see with these blocks that I have ironed to the dark side (as that was the instructions I was following). I probably need to trim the ends a bit but I wonder if it would sit flatter in the centre if the seams were open. mmmmm I'll go ponder that ....

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...