{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