An Autumn Afternoon Catchup!

We’re smack-bang in the middle of March today! (Heck!) And the weather this afternoon is reminding me of why I love the beautiful cool changes in between the seasons! Autumn is slowly beginning to creep into life and I love it! The slow breeze ruffling the ageing leaves of the trees in our garden, the sun setting earlier casting long shadows through the house and the promise of warm afternoon cuppas with a cheeky chocolate biscuit or Hot Cross Bun! (‘Tis the season, you know!)

And with thanks to this perfectly inspirational Autumnal afternoon, I felt it was the perfect time to write a much needed and long awaited blog post!

Oh, my poor little blog has been so neglected this year and it makes me feel so guilty everyday! The year is seriously moving so fast that I can’t scarce believe it that April is just around the corner! Even scarier, it’s Easter next week! It literally felt like yesterday that I was writing all about my Christmas Tree!

So with that, let’s catch up on what’s happening!

How are you?! Have you been making anything fun, new, challenging, inspirational?

Me, I’m good! I’ve been having so much fun learning and playing with some beautiful flowers in my Floristry course. We’ve moved on from making simple button-holes and tricky corsages to learning how to put together wired bouquets (the beginning of our wedding work!) to small posy boxes and baskets as well as big alter-type designs such as this one…

We’ve also begun to venture into circlet/halos (flower crowns) and cake decorations! How fun! But in saying that, there’s also lots of tricky elements to the art of floristry. Colour theory, design choices and placements, spacial awareness as well as all of the ins-and-outs to all of the techniques we’re learning to master…Hand-tied bouquets, wire-work, working with base-medium forms (ie floral foam) and just getting everything looking perfect, precise and professional! And then there’s all of the behind the scenes stuff such as retail education, flower care as well as learning all about how plants work and the science behind it all! It can be tough somedays. Totally exhausting. Stressful. Full-on. Tiring. But fun. Really, really fun. 🙂

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Let’s also catch up on what’s been happening on my YouTube channel! Although I’ve been slightly absent from my blog, I’ve been trying my darn-hardest to keep up with uploading a video every week – whether it be a tutorial or a chit-chat one such as a Monthly Favourites, a Haul or some other video request that I’ve received.

The first thing is a quick and sweet block tutorial I did around Valentine’s Day. It was just a really simple four-patch block tipped onto one of it’s corners, making it look like a lovely love heart!

MEASUREMENT & CUTTING INFO:
Cut –
x1: 3″ white square (Cotton Supreme Solid in Optical White)
x1: 3″ light pink square (Cotton Supreme Solid in Elephantastic Pink)
x1: 3″ medium pink square (Prima Cotton Homespun in Lipstick)
x1: 3″ red square (Cotton Supreme Solid in Chilli Pepper)
– x2: 4.5″ white square

A few weeks before I made the tutorial, I had been seeing this block everywhere in my Instagram feed and it totally inspired me to make it my own and then share the process of making it with you in tutorial form! I can not stress at just how simple, easy and quick the block is to make. The final size of the block (7&5/8″ square) is perfect to make into little mug or pot rugs or to piece into a darling mini quilt or even a lovely lap quilt! The choice is completely yours!

Another tutorial that I was able to recently make and upload was the Boxy Zipper Pouch! I had so many requests for a tutorial on this when I shared the one I made for my mum at Christmas that I knew I had to do it as soon as possible! Already, I’ve received lots of emails, instagrams and messages from you showing me your finished little pouches and they all look so great!!

Here’s the how to –

MEASUREMENTS & CUTTING:
From the batting and two matching or contrasting fabrics cut –
x1: 11″x14″ rectangles from each

You will also need –
x1: 10″ (25cm) matching or contrasting zipper

FINAL SIZE approx.
Length: 8″ (20.4cm)
Width: 4.5″ (11.5cm)
Depth: 3″ (7.6cm)

Don’t forget to share you finished pouches with me! You know I always love to see what you make! 🙂

And lastly, due to another request from you guys, I did a two part special showing you my Quilt Collection and then my Mini Quilt Collection!

I had lots of fun making each one, re-discovering some of my favourite quilts and renewing my love and passion for all things patchwork and quilting!

Oh, I love it so!!

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So that’s my little world to date! I really cannot describe just how lovely and much needed this little blog-post catchup has been! It’s always so nice to have the opportunity to sit and write all of the happenings that have been not only in my sewing room but also out of it as well!

It’s been such a peaceful and pleasant Autumn afternoon!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

xx