the sunday night feeling

last week was one of those weeks, the type where you just want to switch your clock off and hide and that is exactly what i did. the whole week had the 'sunday night feeling' and was all just 'blah!' i took the week off school college, because to be honest i just couldn't face it! sooo i sewed, i couldn't settle on one thing so i just sewed 'ideas' and listened to this

i went through my scrap bag and just started pulling out random fabrics, cut them into 2.5inch squares, sewed them up to become mini patchwork, which then became...

sweet dreams sleeping teddy, i don't know if i love him but i think he looks cute all snuggled up in his little patchwork quilt! after making him i thought he needed a 'matching' cushion so introducing...

mr. teddy in blue and white striped pyjamas along with his teddy bear! can you tell that 'sleep' was on my mind? i think they are really cute as a pair and they are available in my etsy shop

after the cushions i wanted something a bit different, something that involved maths and really hard thinking, enter the fabric box

now i know there are lots and lots and lotttss of tutorials and patterns out there for fabric boxes but i wanted to come up with my own pattern/way of doing it, i will say it involved many prototypes and even more tears, but i am so so happy with the result and so happy that i did it by myself :)

also last week a lovely customer asked if i could make her some cushions and one of my quilts, i love cushions! so of course i couldn't say no, want to see?

it is absolutely delightful to work with voile, it is just soo soft, i finished the cushions of with some perle cotton hand quilting, i think we might need a pair for our house!

oh i also indulged in a little bit of fabric purchasing in the #greatukfabricdestash on instagram (boy! was that fun!) and i got a cotton blossom jelly roll by bonnie and camille, i am beyond excited!!

heres to a good week!

rachael x

finish-a-long quarter 1

sooo i'm sure you've all heard about the finish-a-long, well this year katy over at the littlest thistle is hosting it and i've never linked up before (and i'm just sneaking in at the last minute as today is the last day to linkup), so i thought i might as well give it a whirl...

number 1 on my list:

my low volume, pink quilt, i have had this half quilted f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! and i really want to get it finished, i just need to finish quilting and bind, not that hard, right?

number 2 on my list:

when i was tidying my 'sewing room' i found this panel i cut out ages ago, to make a cushion for my brother (he's 22) and now since he is moving to england it seems like a good excuse to actually finish it!

number 3 on my list:

i started this quilt just before christmas as i wanted some 'me' sewing time, it just needs pieced, basted, quilted and bound, simples :) i really want to get this one finished, cause i have a flannel backing waiting, perfect for all the cold weather...

hmm it's a very short list, but i thought i should ease myself in gently in the first round haha, so let's see if i can complete my 3 items before april. have you linked up??

rachael x

my sewing room

just after christmas i was sitting wondering what to do and then it came to me re-decorate the toy-room (the sewing room) good idea, huh?

so i started stripping the wallpaper (tee-hee) and moving all my fabric and sew-y stuff to get ready for painting - heads up! get ready for a picture heavy post, but sure everyone loves pictures!!

this is what i found when all the wallpaper came off, it's 24/2/1928 and it says "papered by jack morgan painter and decorator 'something i can't read' connswater belfast"

an in progress shot, this is how i rang in the new year, i really know how to party hard!! i love the aqua colour

here is the only before picture i have, the room went from being blue to a slightly different colour of blue, are you ready to see the transformation? i'll give you a guided tour around it.

this is the scene you first see when you walk into the room, yes you are greeted by a big roll of waddling, the perfect greeting.

next the ironing board (which desperately needs a new cover) and  my pretty picture wall, it'll be fun to iron now and be able to look at the pictures, which i'm sure i'll add to.

the little quilt-y corner, yes i finally sewed the binding on my little improv mini, this is also the think-y corner, see that roll of paper on the wall? thats's for all my great ideas (haha)

i got rid of the green sofa, i loved it but it was just an excuse for me to messily throw my wip's, unfolded fabric, basically everything, it became like the sofa of doom. a quick trip to ikea quickly fixed that and voila! little cubby holes and boxes to cleverly disguise all the messy fabric and wip's

now i have somewhere to display my baskets of wool, which i will use...someday

the fabric closet also got a little clear-out and tidy, now who knows if it will stay like this i'm guessing no, but i'm gonna try and keep it like this.

my most favourite-est shelf.

i knew that in my 'new' room that i wanted somewhere to be able to take pictures, so this is my picture wall for all my photos for etsy and the blog. that chair will eventually be covered to make it pretty and not like something from the olden day, you know, like the 70's

the swing table! this would be probably be the best part of the decorating, another trip to ikea and i now have a big table, i have to say it is quite a luxury, before my sewing machine sat on my cutting mat, so i had to lift it off to cut and then lift it back up to sew, i know such an inconvenience haha i also added some more cubby holes, em because i lot of crap stuff.

a close-up of my pictures, each month at the fine and dandy market i would treat myself to a picture from one of the many talented exhibitors! you should really go and see for yourselves.

the whole room, with an absolutely delightful view of not one, but two sheds! but that's a good thing because then no-one can come and look through the window at me dancing em i mean sewing... now the only thing is to go and sew in it! except i have no inclination to sew anything, go figure haha

i hope i haven't bored you too much with all my pictures, well done if you made it to the end, it was a reallllly long post :)

rachael x

pinch, punch emm second of the month

it' recap time! 2013 is over! and can i just say thank god it is! it was not a good year, but i think that's because it was an ODD number year! it was a mix of good and bad, quitting my job = bad, starting blogging and the floral suitcase = good and i just wanna say the blogg-y/quilt-y world is so wonderful :) so last year was swings and round-a-bouts.

recap time means collages! i can hear you all whooping! i know everybody says this but it really has been fun to look at my quilt-y makes from the past year, i sew-ed a lot more than i thought i had, like 11 quilts - that made me smile :)

2013 was the year i started craft fairs, boy was that fun! (that's not sarcasm, honest) as i've said before i really have learnt a lot, i'm thinking of doing a series of post for anybody thinking of doing a craft fair and want to know some more about it :)

... and i think we can all agree that it was the year of the cushion! (these aren't even all of them) cushions are a great way to get all the creative ideas bouncing around your head out in a quick, fun way and aren't as time consuming as a big quilt.

so it's a new year which means resolutions, here are a few of mine:

- blog my progress and finished quilt-y items more 

- to carry a sketchbook and doodle all my little ideas

- be more adventurous in my quilts and fabric choices

- take better photos

- learn to use photoshop and illustrator

i think that's enough to be getting on with this year, what are your resolutions? are you making any?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and here's hoping for a great EVEN number year!

rachael x