Tutorials

This is just a little page where you can find the tutorials I've published on my blog

• Clamshells tutorial
• 16 Patch quilt block tutorial
• Setting 16 patch blocks on a point
• Pom pom scarf at the Village Haberdashery
• Nursery Versery cushions at the Village Haberdashery
• Dinosaur Mini Quilt
• Sandwich wraps tutorial

Enjoy
Fiona x

Easily distracted?

What's a girl supposed to do when she knows she should be studying, but just wants to sew?!

Make a patchwork pencil case of course! That'll definitely help me learn stuff!

Easily distracted? ;)

Fiona x

PS Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post. I will reply, but I'm supposed to be studying ;)

Orbiting

When Lindsey of LR Stitched announced she was running the Orbit QAL I fell in love with the pattern! I think it's the perfect pattern for showing off large scale prints and decided it was the perfect time to use my much loved Madrona Road fabric.

I pulled this bundle ages ago and planned to make an Autumnal quilt but suddenly it's almost spring and I wasn't feeling very autumnal any more ;)

I pulled out the browns and tried to make it a bit more fresh and this is what I can up with. The donkey Madrona Road print reminds me of an orchard so I tried to go for colours that made me think of apples.

I had a bit of a hard day yesterday and decided that chain piecing was the way forward. I got the quilt top finished off this morning and I'm completely in love! I really wish I'd made it bigger, but it was my last few scraps of a couple of those fabrics and I don't have enough to go bigger. Funnily the Madrona Road fabric is kind of lost and doesn't look as good as I thought it would, but that's okay.

It's a good size for snuggling at about 60" square, and is the perfect pattern for a quick feel-better quilt. I think from cutting to finished quilt top it took me 5 or 6 hours. It was a really good way to bring a little bit of comfort into a horrible day.

Now I'm planning how to quilt it :)

Have a good weekend!
Fiona x

So it seems I have a new obsession...

And that would be trying to free motion quilt! This fabric is Carnaby Street by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics and it's just gorgeous!

I'm on a roll and I'm really enjoying myself, but there are hungry children to feed and work to go to, so I'll have to leave it until tomorrow

Hope you're having a good Tuesday!
Fiona x

Some FMQ

I've been really wanting to try a bit more free motion quilting recently. I signed up for a couple of Angela Walters classes on Craftsy and I've been doodling designs to practice.

 Last week I was inspired by the lovely Laura to pull out the left overs from my Swoon Quilt and planned to make a couple of cushions, but after a bit of playing and a week look in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly I used Svetlana's beautiful pattern to make a baby quilt using the leftover HSTs I'd made as I stitched my Swoon. I added a couple of borders (more leftovers) and found a yard and a half of fabric (same line as most of my Swoon) that was the perfect fit for backing.

Last night I decided to just do it and try some different fmq. I'm pretty happy with how it looks and you can see it a bit batter on the back of the quilt.

Angela Walters is so reassuring in her classes and she makes it really clear that it doesn't matter if it's not perfect - and mine certainly isn't, but I think it's turned out okay, and it's given me lots of confidence to try out some more of the designs in her book.

The quilt is tumbling around in the dryer just now, so I'll maybe show how it looks after washing in my next post. I seem to have a bit of an obsession with orange binding at the moment!

Fiona x

I've been keeping a secret!

And now I get to share!

The lovely Jo is organising a quilt retreat in Edinburgh this summer!!!!!!!!

It's on Sunday 25th August and is a day-long extravaganza of quilty stitchy fun!

There are more details on Jo's blog or you can find out more and register your interest on the Stitch Gathering website.

I'm so very excited about it and am pretty much counting down the days! The beautiful city of Edinburgh is the perfect place for a retreat, and it's so easy to get to by plane, train or automobile.

So, can you make it? I really hope you can! :)

Have a great weekend!

Fiona x

Aaaaannd Relax.....

Phew! It's been a busy few weeks around here! I've been struggling to find a balance between my new course-work and general family life and work. There's been a lot of tail chasing but I have just submitted my first assignment and feel like I relax for a little while.

 In my last post I was trying to decide if I was strong enough to give away my precious scrappy blues quilt. Well it turns out that Sarah and Lynz were right and I am Gollum! I couldn't give it away!

My Sister in Law did have a baby boy, and I whipped up another quilt using some hoarded Stoey Boek by Birch and some other bits and bobs.

As it turns out, she loves it. Being organic, it's lovely and soft and apparently whales are really in fashion just now! - Who knew?!

Meanwhile the precious quilt is sitting folded up on my treadle sewing machine and I can stroke it every time I walk past :)

I've also been making Bee blocks, enjoying some new crafty books and online classes, and been playing with some very delicious Carnaby Street by Pat Bravo that got sent my way,  but I'll tell you about that another time.

For now I'm off to have a cuppa and give myself a pat on the back for getting my assignment submitted on time :)

Happy Wednesday!
Fiona x