{making me smile}

can you believe it is the first of march? this year really does seem to be flying by and that means i only have 6 weeks left of uni! I have to say while i really love winter, this one has seemed very long and i am looking forward to spring, it's already nice to see the daffodils and crocuses popping their heads out.

1. i am so enjoying making these little fabric stamps, rooting through my fabric stash to find cute wee pictures to fussy cut has been so much fun! it has also let me see my fabrics through new eyes and i have fallen in love with my stash all over again :) these are seriously addictive to make and i seem to have made a nice wee stack of them and they're still growing! i got the idea and there's a wee tutorial over at nanacompany's blog

(mr tumnus, ice queen, turkish delight and the beavers)

2. sunny days! when the sun comes out it just makes everyone more cheerful and happy! we haven't had many sunny days, but on monday it popped its head out and i went for a lovely walk. i walked down to c.s lewis square and wow it is amazing! it was brilliant seeing all the characters (mr. tumnus is my favourite) and the sculpture of aslan is stunning, it really is lovely to see and you should pop down if you're over that way!

3. my backing fabric arrived for my lost sock quilt, which i realise now i have never actually blogged about! i promise i will :) as soon as i saw those wee racoons by cotton and steel, i knew it would be the perfect backing! i am really drawn to navy and white at he minute and those racoons are just too cute :) it's a question i've been wondering - do you use 'fancy' fabric for backing your quilt? or do you use sheets/duvets etc? i am mostly a sheet kind of person, but this was just a little splurge :)

4. i have been home from uni for the week, i go back today! but i have loved being able to have long, relaxing baths using all the cute bubble bars and bath bombs from lush! this ladybug (ladybird?) was too adorable not to get and it creates the best bubbles haha

these are some of the things that have been making me smile :) what has been making you smile recently?

rachael x

{pretty little bibs}

noo i don't have any news to announce! haha it was james's nephews first birthday this week (aww!) and i wanted to make him a little something and babies can never have too many bibs, so i made some bibs!

I used the pretty little bib pattern by nanacompany, it was great and so easy to make! the hardest part was picking the fabrics, all my fabrics seem to be girly and flower-y which isn't really suitable haha    

i love peter rabbit (who doesn't?!) so this was an obvious choice and oh so cute! i got this fabric at the fabric guild (and may have stocked up quite a bit) i just kept it whole because i couldn't bear to cut up wee peter rabbit

for the other one i decided to go patchwork strips, i think the sloth print and the animal print are up there with my all time favourite fabrics! i love the baby bib pattern as it makes them reversible, how cool! i used velcro for the closings as i could not figure out how to add snaps, they're very confusing haha

so that's one birthday present down and 2 to go! there is just something so nice about making and giving a handmade present :)

rachael x 

linking up with sew fresh quilts

{harry potter cushion}

I haven't sewn in forever! i had completely lost my sew-jo but one day while scrolling through instagram this picture by @makershaven popped up and i was stopped in my tracks! i completely fell in love and was inspired to pull fabric right away! here is my fabric pull, as you can see it is very similar to the original *tehe* 

i absolutely love that owl fabric from nightfall by maureen cracknell. i decided to go with QAYG (quilt as you go) as i really enjoyed it last time i did it (here) and i still love the technique and the finished look! but my, it does use a lot of thread! 

you might be wondering why it is a harry potter pillow? well the fabrics are all 'magical' :) and the layout i did was light and dark, because of this quote by albus dumbledore "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light" this is one of my favourite quotes and always makes me feel happy, so now i have a pillow to remind myself of it :)

I used some of my favourite fabrics, like the animal print by art gallery fabrics and the last few pieces of my precious liberty fabric, it's always sad when a fabric runs out, but its better to be used than sitting on the shelf!

i finished it off with a simple envelope back and added a little tag of lace trim, just because :) it finished at about 18 inches. i absolutely loved this whole project, i didn't measure anything, just cut and sewed it together. it was brilliant just having a mindless project to focus on and i have definetly got my sew-jo back, i haven't stopped sewing since i've finished my pillow :)

i think i might also make another one, would anybody fancy a little tutorial to make your own harry potter inspired cushion? :)

rachael x

linking up with finish it up friday

{derby}

well i am back at uni and settling into somewhat of a routine, a few early mornings and a couple of late nights :) a few weeks ago my parents came over to visit me and see my house and where i go to school uni! it was so fun showing them around this wee city! although i think i tired them out with all the walking :)

we went exploring to the peak district (and i got the cutest little sign from flossy teacake, seriously her shop is soo cute!) the weather was on our side (by which i mean it didn't rain and it was slightly warm, good ol' british weather!) we had a great couple of days. one of our trips brought us to bakewell, a quaint little village, which you probably guessed, is known for bakewell tarts...

but i dont like bakewell tarts, so i had a yummy gingerbread man :) it was nice just having a dander around and watching the ducks while eating our scrummy buys from the bakery!

on their last day here we had a late breakfast and then we went on a mammoth walk to walk off our big breakfast :) around darley park. a really lovely park in derby and it was a perfect way to spend the last day, although we may all have been slightly knackered after our 'lovely' walk.

and i do still sew! my mum has been asking me since june for a tablerunner! so being the queen of last minute, i pulled some fabrics the day before they arrived :) i was going for a summer into autumn feel with my fabric pull, also i used a tea-towel as my main inspiration (my love for tea-towels is going to get it's own post!) i just wanted to keep the design simple, so i with stripes in varying widths, something quick but also pretty!

and here is the finished tablerunner :) it is double sided, and i just made it with no wadding in between, also i have to say i absolutely LOVE pom-pom trim and think i will be adding it to all my projects for the foreseeable future! my mum loved it, phew! :) and it looks lovely on the kitchen table, if i do say so myself :)

I have also been reading lots, i joined the local library and re-discovered my love for reading, this was my pile of books and i have since moved on to my next pile. i love it and would welcome any book suggestion :)

last year when i moved over to derby i made myself some pretty pillowcases for my bed, well it's become a bit of a tradition, so i had to do it this year too! i was dithering over fabric so much and then i just decided to go for it and use my liberty fabric! yes, i have liberty fabric pillowcases :)

they are soo soft, and soo nice to sleep on! it felt weird cutting into the fabrics, but also good at the same time. im glad i used them and that i'm not just staring at them and stroking them occasionally haha

well that was quite a long and rambly post, so well done if you made it to the end! i'll not have to leave it as long next time!

rachael x 

{festival of quilts}

has it really been a month since i was at the festival of quilts? a lot as happened since then and i am back in derby to start my third (and final) year of uni :) so yes the festival of quilts, WOW! was it amazing! so many beautiful quilts to gaze at and so much fabric to tempt you haha. it was my first time at the festival of quilts and it was way beyond my expectations! it is just so big and i have to admit i did get lost just a little bit :)

it was soo amazing to see all the quilts, to see them in real life rather than on my screen! the quilting on the quilts was breathtaking! there were soo many to see and im quite sure i didnt see all of them. i was also so in awe of the quilts i didnt take that many pictures (i only took like 80-90 pictures!) these were just some of my favourites! and looking at them all has made me really want to try hand quilting and hand piecing, to really take time over my quilts and enjoy all of the stitches. i think that the quilting world is all going a bit fast and i want to slow down in my work :) i think my absolute favourite quilt was the white and red one above! i'm already looking forward to going next year, and of course i did just a tad of fabric buying, well it would have been rude not to!

i think i was quite restrained, dont you? i love all the fabric i bought and some have already been cut into :) it's just really nice to be able to see fabric and not just always on your screen, looking at my purchases it is quite obvious i have a thing for animal fabrics! i treated myself to two special little bundles, one from worn and washed fabrics i have seen them before and this time i just had to treat myself! they are all reclaimed fabrics, from old shirts to bed sheets, they are soo soft, i think they're going to become a cushion! and my second treat was a little bundle of printed linen from cowslip workshop. they are soo cute and i have a thing for linen :)

my favourite fabric is the swans and it has a story! while i was waiting for my lift i was scrolling through instagram and saw that one of the exhibitors had it, the show was closing soon but i ran back in and got a half meter, best decision ever, it's been used in lots of my projects so far :)

have you been to the festival of quilts? if you haven't been you really have to go! :)

rachael x

linking up with sunday stash

{a house for my sewing machine}

i have spent today recovering from an AMAZING day at the festival of quilts yesterday! and today i am going to share my most recent finish, a house for my sewing machine :)

I have had my sewing machine for 3 or 4 years and i have never covered it or had a cover for it, i know! tut, tut! so when kerri's book lovely little patchwork arrived i was soo excited! and love all the projects in it, but one project jumped out at me immediately!

{ my sewing machine with no cover :( } 

it was the adorable sewing machine cover that looks like a house! like really how cute is that?! i set about choosing my fabrics and wanted a vintage-y feel to my house! the blue is from fleet and flourish and the brown (which i think looks like a thatched roof) is a 1930's repro fabric! 

my house cover is all flower-y just how i like it! if only it was a real house :) recently in my projects i have been mainly using collections, so i found it quite difficult to choose fabrics myself not from a collection. i am really happy with my fabric choices and feel more confident in me choosing my own palettes rather than using a whole collections (but i do really love using collections in my work!)

it is a really good and easy to follow pattern! and i had such fun making it. also i got to do some raw edge applique which i haven't done in ages! i really love my little sewing machine house, it is lined with a solid pink and i added some ribbon from my ribbon drawer, to tie it on the sides. 

the pattern suggests adding fussy cuts to all the windows, but i only added one, and adorable little sloth (if you didn't know i love sloths! i even have a sloth tattoo) i love my little sloth just chilling and hanging out in the house, watching over my sewing room :) 

i will be back soon to share lots of pictures from the festival of quilts and to show you all my purchases (there was quite a few *tehe*)

rachael x

linking up with thank goodness its finished friday

{forest floor} blog tour

hello! and welcome to my stop on the forest floor blog tour! i am a big fan of bonnie christines fabrics (you can see here and here) and it was an absolute delight to work with her forest floor fabrics, the designs are just as brilliant as ever!

in all my years of sewing i have never made a dresden plate before (i know!) so while drooling over and petting these fabrics i thought a dresden plate would be perfect and now i have a new mini quilt for my new bedroom :)

i just love that bunny! she will definetly be popping up in my other projects! the illustrations in this fabric line are soo sweet, it was hard choosing just four to play with :) i also think i will making a lot more dresden plates, it was super fun to make and it's great for fussy cutting the centres!  and me being me just had to add a little something more :) hence the doily! 

i absolutely adore these fabrics! and love the woodland-y feel that they have! i have some fabric left over that i am itching to make something else with :)

thank-you bonnie! for letting me play with some forest floor fabrics. make sure to have a look at all the amazing projects being made with this fabric here! and you should see the adorable quilt jayme made yesterday at finding sweetland and to stop by tomorrow to see what Maja Wlusek at Betyipiernaty has made :)

rachael x