April 2016 – 3and3quarters

It’s a sunny Tuesday afternoon and I just simply felt like writing a blog post…

About nothing really… I have no clear objective of what I want to write or share with you.

Just procrastinate really.

Who knows what I write about in the next few paragraphs will actually be worth reading! 🙂

Hmm… So what can I write about…?

…….

Oh, I know! My new tutorial that came out over the weekend!

The X Plus Block!

Ooo, what a goodie of a block! Super simple. Quick. Brilliantly effective!

I had never made this block before doing this tutorial. I wish I had because it was so much easier to piece together than I though it would be. True that looks can be deceiving!

If you’re keen on making it, here’s how to it!

MEASUREMENT & CUTTING INFO:
From one main fabric cut,
x4: 4.5″ squares (mint)

From a background fabric cut,
x8: 2.5″ squares (white)

From a second main fabric cut,
x1: 2.5″x6.5″ rectangle (blue spot)
x2: 2.5″ squares (blue spot)

From a contrasting fabric cut,
x4: 2.5″ squares (mustard)

FINAL BLOCK SIZE: 10.5″ x10.5″ square

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Another thing.

I’m planning for the month of May to do the same type of thing I did in September last year where I wrote/published a blog post everyday.

I’m calling it: Everyday May!

Over the past few months it’s really been weighing on my mind how much I’ve neglected my blog this year! (I think I can literally count on two hands how many posts I’ve written this year! Eek!) I have so much respect and love for my little space here… It’s where I first found the guts to share my quilting (My life. My inner thoughts. My dreams. My passions.) and to venture out of my little bubble and connect with other like-minded people!

So I really want to try again and dedicate my time and efforts in May to making my blog a loved and cherished one again!

Now, a shout out to you guys: Is there anything you would like me to write about, share, teach – anything! – with you during May? Let me know your thoughts, requests and/or ideas in the comments section below and I’ll get brainstorming on how to incorporate them into my daily posts!

TBH, I am a little worried I might be taking on too much… What with my Floristry course (you’d be surprised at just how much paper work is involved in a practical/hands-on course! Gah!!), getting content made for my YouTube channel (I always love that challenge!!) and then living my usual quiet life in-between! Oh, why am I complaining…? Life is good at the moment and I’m so grateful for what I have no matter how busy or crazy or intense or stressful it all seems to be! 🙂

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Ooo, and another thing!

Here are a few things that I’ve been loving recently!

(Think of it as a mid-month favourites video but in writing!)

Music: The Japanese House

Oh lordy are these EPs beautiful to listen to! So relaxing. Down to earth. Calming alternative.

I was listening to these guys all throughout editing my recent Sewing Room Tour video as well as the tutorial above.

This one is my favourite to listen to – I always put it on play first! It’s called ‘Letter by the Water’.

Geek: Disney Tsum Tsums!

I can’t help but simply do one of those inner squeals when I see these little guys! They’re just too stinkin’ cute! (I’m such a sucker for these types of things!)

I bought a few of the mini plushies from Target (Australia doesn’t have a Disney Store! Boo!) and of course Buzz had to be the first one in my collection! Since then I’ve begun collecting the little lucky-dip keyring packs they sell (similar concept to the LEGO mini figurine packs) as well as become terribly addicted to this app! Oh dear!

TV: Bargain Hunt!

Now this show has been a staple in our house for a good few years now! I find it so entertaining and I absolutely love the charisma of the host, Tim Wonnacott! (Although I’ve read that he’s only recently left the show! Oh no!)

It’s on every night at 6.30pm and like the granny I am, I get comfy on the lounge with a quilt, a hot cup of tea and a keen eagerness to see some bargain hunting!

I also just love seeing all the beautiful shots of the English country side and dreaming of the day I get to experience it all my self! (If you didn’t know, I’m a true Anglophile at heart!)

Surely I’m not the only one who loves watching…??

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Gold star to you if you got this far in reading this post! I really wasn’t all that sure if what I was to write about was worth reading at all! 😀

But alas, I think I’ve procrastinated enough for the afternoon.

Thanks for your company!

Ever since mid-semester break begun early last week, a strange and very exciting urge (or craving) came over me to get my hands moving and get stuck into some hand-sewn applique!

It’s literally been an age since I last did any hand applique. I’ve done little bits here and there when sewing on quilt labels and such, but nothing really intense where the project is solely based on or designed around this technique.

So over the weekend, the hunt began to find the perfect pattern to stitch! My first port-of-call (as always) was my book shelf: always full of fab ideas and glorious inspiration! It never lets me down! And I somehow knew instinctively that I would find what I was looking for in this book – Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

From what I could remember, a lot the designs featured in this book involved applique pieces, perfect hand-quilting textures and brilliantly clashing fabrics to boot! So to my delight and happiness, after flicking through it once, my eye stopped on this cheery tulip pattern that perfectly summed up the exact thing I was looking to stitch up! (I was also hoping to find a pattern that was a flower or was centred around flowers as they seem to be very much my life right now!)

After a quick scan through the details for the applique block and what techniques needed to be used (this pattern can be created using either the hand-turned applique method or the raw edge method. I chose to do the later! Ooo, I always love a good button-hole/blanket stitch!!), I hurriedly picked out a few fabrics that I thought would go well, searched for some template plastic to trace the template pieces on to (a few pattern pieces needed to be reversed) and I rolled out my vliesofix (or heat-n-bond paper) and got stuck in!

Happily, it only took me one afternoon to get the first block completely finished! I had a whole weeks worth of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to watch, so I got comfy with a cup of tea and immersed myself into a world of sewing that I’ve missed so much over the past couple of months! (PS. These blocks are big ol’ boys – they measure about 18.5″ squared!)

I’m now currently onto the second block, exploring a different colour way and choosing another dominate floral fabric for the centre piece.

This one features one of my all-time favourite fabrics by Amy Butler – Gypsy Caravan in the print called Gypsy Mum! I think the colours are just so divine and I love the pop of those eggplant colour details throughout it!

At the moment, I’m not sure whether I’ll follow the pattern in the book or just make up each block as I go as a side project to all of my other side projects and then piece them into a quilt… Right now, I’m just looking at it as an adventure that will keep my hands busy while on break from my floristry course and that will continue to soothe my craving for some down-right good-ol’ sewing! (Plus, it’s just really nice to have a new project displayed up on design wall in my sewing room! For a while there it was looking quite bleak and unloved… But these gorgeous tulips are pepping it up nicely and giving the room a warm and welcoming glow again, making me one happy quilter!)

As always, I’ll keep you updated with the progress of this (yet another) quilt-in-progress on my social media pages (ie. Instagram). TBH, I’m really enjoying this one – it makes a great change from piecing a block together on the sewing machine to having to hand trace, cut, press and then hand-sew each piece down. It’s a process that I’ll always love doing!

Happy Sewing, Friends!!

Month: April 2016