flutterby mini quilt - winged blog tour

hello! and welcome to my stop on the winged blog tour by bonnie christine! i'm so happy to be taking part today and if you don't know bonnie you need to go and follow her at her blog going home to roost. 

today i'm going to show you what i made with this wonderful fabric. bonnie generously sent us 4 fat quarters (and wow! it was super hard choosing only four!) there are two colourways and i decided to mix them together to make a mini quilt featuring the butterflies (and the perfect purple)

{fluttering up the garden fence}

{this little one is my favourite}

i had so much fun with this project! when i saw the butterflies fabric i knew i just had to make them a feature! i used the garden fence block by hyacinth quilt designs and fussy-cut the butterflies for the centres. my idea was to have the butterflies fluttering around in the garden, so i cut out the rest of the butterflies and sketch-stitched them on top of my quilted top and ta-dah! a flutterby in the garden mini quilt!

be sure to follow along with the tour, all the makes are so lovely!

rachael x

: : a study in pretty

today is a lovely autumn day, you know the kind where it's sunny but also wonderfully cold, i love these types of days and it's the perfect kind of day to take some quilt pictures!

while i was taking my pictures i had a little dander around the garden, all the trees are bare and it's all quite brown, but there are some spots of colour left and i think they are a little bit magical, the colours of autumn are my favourite!

i have always wanted to be able to do 'pretty' in my quilts (like nanacompany and pretty by hand) but they never seem to turn out quite 'right' so this quilt is my *a study in pretty* (any sherlock fans out there? study in pink?)

i went to my fabric closet and started pulling lots of different prints in the low volume/pink/vintage-y category, i was going to choose white for my background triangles, but while i was searching through my fabric i came across a few yards of the stone-y coloured polka-dot by bonnie and camille and thought it went  better with the look than the white would have.

this quilt involved a lot of unpicking and i would say it's probably the hardest quilt i have made! and because i like to be different, i decided to add in a few patchwork hexagons (i seriously want to patchwork all the things at the minute) i think they might be my favourite part of the quilt! 

i used a cute little butterfly print (that totally looks like spools of thread) for the back. it's a print from flo's garden (i think) and it fell into the low volume/pink/vintage-y category, so it was the perfect match.

on nearly all of my quilts i do a stipple or swirly loops, this time i wanted to try something different and since i was completely out of my comfort zone anyway, i decided to go for a continuous figure of eight quilting. i used this tutorial by stitched in color which i highly recommend if you fancy trying it! there was a few blips but once you get into the rhythm of it it is really enjoyable.

i'm not sure i really achieved the 'pretty' look that i was going for, but i'm really happy that i went out of my comfort zone and tried something different (especially the patchwork hexagons *love*) all the triangles now has me wanting to make a triangle quilt!

rachael x

linking up with fabric tuesday

...oh and you can find the wonderful pattern here

a catch-up post

last week my camera went to camera heaven, it was a sad day! so i'm on the look-out for a new camera, i would love to hear any suggestions you have. there has been some sew-y, crochet-y stuff going on over here, so here is a little catch-up! 

when the weather gets cold(er) i always turn to crochet, this years project is the attic24 raindrop stitch cushion. i had originally planned to do all the colours together, but i think it looks better separated with the white. i have never finished any of the crochet projects i start, so *fingers crossed* i finish this one!

 my animal cushions got a little bit of a makeover! i got the idea that they just *had to* be made in patchwork, and i have to say i'm a little bit in love with them! don't they look perfect on my bed? oh and i love my cosy duvet cover at the minute. side note: i had to make my bed to take this picture!

i've got some secret sewing to-do! and i'm soo excited about it (also i feel like one of the 'cool' kids having secret sewing) 

this is my latest quilt finish 'a study in pretty' but i'm finding it reallly hard to take good pictures of my quilts, and because they aren't good i don't blog about them! any suggestions on how to take good quilt pictures are very welcome!!

this pile of fabric is destined to become curtains. they are something i said i would never make, but i've made one and it's just like making a quilt, only without the waddling.

so now you're all caught up! next up i might actually have a few finishes to show you!

rachael x

linking up with fabric tuesday

fabric + cake = bliss!

soo it's been a wee bit quiet here! i have lots to share with you, a finished quilt, a quilt top, a tablerunner and something a bit geeky! but first some fabric eye candy. 

i love this fabric collection (wildwood by elizabeth olwen) the colours are totally *me* at the moment, i did buy this fabric with a plan, i'm going to make the night sky quilt by thimbleblossoms i just need to add 16 more fat quarters and then it's cutting time!

jodi from pleasant home was having a sale in her etsy shop and as soon as i saw the orange and navy bundle i just had to have it! it's a mixture of denyse schmidt and juliana horner which you could only get in joann stores in the U.S. jodi doesn't normally ship to UK but very kindly made an exception for me!

i added the navy and orange bundle (above) to a few fabrics! i think there is nothing better than a big ol' pile of fabric all messy! ok i love neat, organised pictures of fabric, but messy always wins! this is my initial pull for my big autumn-y quilt (which i am super excited about) i may add and take away a few prints but i really like the mix i have here

and finally cake, not just any cake cinnamon roll cake *yum* after seeing lots of scrummy pictures over on IG i just had to make it! and the culprit that started all the cake baking susan over at canadian abroad  really after reading her post you'll be reaching for the flour and cinnamon!

rachael x

linking up with sunday stash at molli sparkles

tents + lunchbags

after a really terribly-bad week last week, i couldn't wait for cub camp, a whole weekend to run around and act like a kid again (i'm really a responsible leader, honest! haha) and this year i learnt to put up a tent, wow they're really complicated!

some of the highlights of my weekend at cub camp:

sunshine. campfires. the scary cat. lots of sweets. stars. a visit from the tooth fairy. the tyre swing. unbelievably LOUD snoring. s'mores. all nighters. the blinking red light. spongebob squarepants.

after a couple of nights no sleep and lots of sweets, i saw this log and couldn't stop giggling at it because it looks like a mole/badger/elephant, i thought it was the funniest thing i had ever seen! that is what lack of sleep does to you haha!

and of course camping means campfires, which means roasting marshmallows, and then of course you just have to make s'mores (two chocolate digestives and a big ooey-gooey marshmallow squished in the middle) it's seriously the best thing ever!

while i was away camping my mum was busy at the sewing machine. on saturday she went to judiths lunchbag class and made the green-y/yellow-y lunchbag isn't it lovely? then on sunday morning she woke up early and made the red one for me *yay* i think she has definetly been bitten by the sewing bug!

rachael x

eenie, meenie, mine-y, mini!!

this past weekend i was in one of those moods where i couldn't just work on one project and i flitted between about 4 different projects! one of the projects was the saltwater mini quilt! when camille released her new patterns on friday i knew i just had to make the saltwater mini quilt, and i actually focused enough to finish it, yay!

i completely dithered over which fabric to use, in the end i didn't worry about my fabric matching each other and just picked fabrics that i thought were 'pretty' and they all sort-of worked well together, happy coincidence! for the sashing there was only one choice, my favourite colour (at the minute anyway) brown!! i think it ties it all together and give its a vintage-y feel

a little bit of loopy quilting and some pretty pink binding and it was done yay!! i will definetly be making a few more minis, they're just too cute.

and here it is added to the picture wall in my sewing room, doesn't it look pretty? especially with my ashleigh bickerstaff woodland painting!

rachael x

linking up with fabric tuesday

designing surface patterns from scratch blog tour

hello! and welcome to my stop on the designing surface patterns from scratch blog tour! by bonnie christine at going home to roost. this is a course over at creative live and it is great if you are interested in surface design, you can purchase it here.

there is no other word to describe the course other than inspiring! i have been trying to learn and teach myself illustrator and from this course i have learnt so much. the course has sparked so many ideas and i have loved sketching them all. throughout the course bonnie talked about designing a collection and here is the inspiration and beginning of my collection.

the idea behind my collection is cosy/autumn i gathered a few of my favourite cosy items and made an inspiration board, i then wrote down a few words that tied in with my idea.

next i went out for a walk for some inspiration and colour ideas and took way too many pictures! 

after taking all my photos and gathering bits and pieces from my walk, it's time to get my sketchbook out, i did a few quick sketches of the autumn items that i could incorporate into my theme along with adding a few colours which i might like for my collection. i also made a very simple line print of a pinecone, just to look at the shape and lines

a few more sketches, this time showing the cosy side of my theme. i will scan some of these drawings into my computer and illustrate them in adobe illustrator.

from the bits and pieces i gathered from my walk i picked my favourite pieces and arranged them onto my board. one of the things i found really interesting in the course was how to make your own colour palettes. this is mine, i want to use all the colours of autumn and mix it with the cosy-ness of being at home.
i am still learning my way round illustrator and have only illustrated a few of my sketches, but i will be sure to show you my finished collection! you can see what everybody else is doing here

bonnie has very kindly offered a free month to the roost tribe so be sure to go over and check it out! 

rachael x

i built a house...

... ok so it's made out of fabric and I didn't build it I sewed it, but I used foundation paper piecing and houses have foundations (I learnt that from the builders) so i still sort of built a house!

i knew i wanted my cushion to have a storybook - pretty sort of feel. so a very late friday night fabric pull to take to class on saturday resulted in pinks and navy with a little bit of lace to really get the 'pretty' feel and ta-dah...

...the finished cushion! i'm super happy with how it turned out and my seam ripper didn't even have to make an appearance! i think i might have to try a few more paper piecing projects, now that i understand that it's  all sewn backwards!

recently my fabric tastes have changed quite a bit and i find it really hard to do 'pretty' in my projects, but i think i managed it in the cushion. i used fabrics that had been in my stash for ages, that i was too scared to use, i then realised that was just silly and that they should be used and not hidden away in a closet! i especially love the wildflower print i used in my window.

i continued on with my navy + pink colour scheme on the back, the pattern uses a zipper for the back, but as i'm still getting over my fear of zippers i just did a simple envelope back. i have to say i love the nature/bug fabric from ikea and to add a little bit of interest i added a strip of the map fabric that i used in the front of the house.

i decided to hand-quilt my little house, now i've only ever hand-quilted one other thing so my stitches are a little bit 'rustic' (read super wobbly and uneven) but sure that just adds to the handmade look!

to go along with my storybook feel i just had to add a little piece of storybook tape, i think it just adds that little something!
you can see the rest of the cushions made at judiths class here :)

rachael x

linking up with crazy mom quilts

dare i say it? ....10 little quilt-y secrets

so i seemed to have taken july off from blogging, i'll blame it on summer! i was going to do a catch-up type post of what's been going on, but then i realised i'm not that interesting and there hasn't been a lot going on, mostly having pj days or escaping the noisiness of the builders (we're getting a kitchen/extension thing) so instead of a catch-up i'm going to share some quilt-y secrets a-la molli sparkles and amy at 13 spools

1. i always quilt from the top left to the bottom right! i've never understood the whole quilt from the centre thing.

2. brown fabrics are the best!! they're not boring or icky! they are almost as good as aqua (almost!)

3. i have always used steam in my iron, without steam the fabric just doesn't lay flat.

4. i have never squared up a quilt, to be honest i don't even really know what it means! 

5. i never hand-sew down my binding i always do it by machine (i hand-sewed down binding on one quilt and never again!) 

6. i don't like (and am scared of) cats! (i know that's not quilting related but lots of people post pictures of cats on quilts, so it's kinda sort-of related)

7. i don't know if i like cotton + steel, or if i only like it cause everybody else does! (of course i have bought some, just to see haha)

8. i don't use scraps! i only keep them because it's the 'thing' to do! 

9. wonky? i just don't get it, i think it's more messy than 'modern'

10. i am a pinner! i pin and over pin everything!!

so what about you, do you have any quilt-y little secrets? :)

rachael x

sewvivor - the floral suitcase

eeek! well i've decided to enter the sew-vivor competition! it's the quilters edition so how could i not? sew-vivor is a sewing competition hosted by rach at family ever after where 16 sew-y people are chosen and then have 'tasks' to do until there is only 1 left standing, fun huh?

so this is my audition quilt! and guess what? it's my retro butterflies quilt or maybe it should be called 'an ode to bonnie and camille fabric' oh and get ready for lots of pictures!

ta-dah! for this quilt i decided to use 'all' of my bonnie and camille fabric stash, so there is bliss, ruby, vintage modern, marmalade, happy go lucky, scrumptious and april showers and i love it! it has all my favourites and lots of pink, i also love the scrappy look of it. oh and also one of the squares is flannel!

i made this quilt in one of judiths classes and i had never sewn curves before this quilt but with judiths excellent teaching and 96 curves later i now think i'm a pro (if only) i found sewing the curves hard at the start, but by the end they were almost (dare i say it) fun! and don't even get me started on the 3/8" seam allowance!

when i started making the quilt i didn't have a real plan, i couldn't decide between colour blocking or scrappy so in the end i did both! and i think it adds a little something different to the quilt. my favourite block is the navy, with the 'odd one out' aqua square!

for the quilting i decided to do something new to me, i did daisy-chain quilting (like loopy quilting only instead of loops i did little flowers) because butterflies like flowers! i started with aurifil yellow thread and changed halfway through to aqua thread just for fun!

i couldn't resist a pink backing, i used my favourite print from scrumptious! and a green binding with a bit of pink thrown in just because! the pattern had a scrappy border, but with the scrappy-ness of the main quilt i added a big border instead and i'm really happy with how it turned out!
i know i say it about all my quilts but this one really is my favourite!!

there are soo many great entries you should really go over and look at them all! and even if i don't get through i will be watching on the sidelines at all the amazing quilt-y-ness (yes that is a word :)

rachael x