Crafts – Page 9 – 3and3quarters

So Many Side Projects!

This is how my sewing list works…

I have a main project/quilt on the go at all times – currently it’s my Friendship Star Quilt, which is in a state of half-started quiltiness!

Then I have lots of other little side projects sprouting out from my sewing room, (usually lying on a coffee table or sitting mid-stitch on my desk), that I seem to begin to occupy/procrastinate my time with.

This post is dedicated to those side projects that are currently distracting me away from quilting this!

{Side Project #ONE}

Stop Motion Embroidery

When I get a chance to sit down in front of the telebox, I’m coolly stitching away at this number.

Every two minutes I take a photo of my progress, resulting in an effect that looks a little like this.

I’m so close to finishing this one! Hopefully I’ll be able to edit and upload it within the next few weeks!

{Side Project #TWO}

Mother’s Day Appliqué

This Sunday in Australia we’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day and because I’m as broke-as-two-bob-watch, I’m making this for my mum!

It’s a sweet little applique design I found in a quilting book in my library called 101 Full-Sized Blocks.

I thought this would be cheaper and a lot more personal than buying her real flowers – at least these ones won’t die in three days!

I’ll hand-stitch a satin/buttonhole stitch around all of the shapes, baste and bind it turning it into a mini wall quilt.

{Side Project #THREE}

Heart Block Video Tutorial

Another Quilty Tutorial is on its way to be uploaded onto my YouTube Channel.

You may’ve seen this cheeky little sketch in my Instagram feed a week or so ago…

I’ve always loved the pixelated looking heart block design…

So I’ve drawn up my own design and will be sharing the how-to process with you very soon!

{Side Project #FOUR}

Mini Spool Wall Quilts

I made up these blocks sometime late last year and have been wondering what to do with them ever since.

Happily, I was inspired by my Mother’s Day project and quickly whipped them up in one evening to the point of just stitching on the binding.

The over-all purpose of these making these little wall quilts is to sell them in my online madeit store,Love along with Side Project #FIVE…

{Side Project #FIVE}

Little Wallets

I made some more of these this week and still have another three waiting to be completed!

These five pretty little purses are waiting to be sent out to new homes…

If you live in Australia and are searching for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift, these could be what you’re looking for!

***

So there we have it. Five little side projects waiting their turn for my attention.

Well actually, some of them aren’t really that little…

If only there were more hours in the day…

Cheerio

Happy Sewing!

Inspiration & Where I Find It…

I’ve been asked this question quite a lot recently, so I thought I’d write a post listing all the wonderful places I find/get my inspiration from!

Let’s begin here…

{ #ONE – PINTEREST }

Over the last few years, it’s safe to say I’ve browsed on Pinterest at least [at least!!!] once a day.

Too much?

Boarder lining on crazy?

Yeh, sometimes I think so but without this wonderful [and addictive] online resource, there are a lot of projects that may not have come to fruition.

For example, I was inspired to make my ‘Happy Quilt’ by

a quilt I saw on Pinterest.

This quilt has gone on to become one of my ultimate favourites aaaand has just won me a coveted Sydney Royal Easter Show Ribbon!! Whoo!

If you’re the creative type and are not on Pinterest, may I take this opportunity to encourage you to create your own boards and get pinning!!

There are some crazy, helpful, outstanding, mesmerizing and uber-creative ideas on there that I’m sure will knock your socks off!

{ #TWO – YOUTUBE }

There are so many wonderful patchwork/quilting/sewing resources on YouTube that it can sometimes be a little overwhelming to know where to start.

So I’m just going to list the channels that I’m subscribed to and you can check them out in your own time.

Missouri Quilt Company

Fons & Porter (Quilty with Mary Fons)

[And of course, there’s my channel!!]

Amanda Rolfe

Do you know of any other good quilting related YouTube channels? Let me know in the comment section below – I would love to check them out!

{ #THREE – CRAFTSY }

Oh, where would we all be without Craftsy!?

I have learnt a great, great, GREAT deal from Craftsy: hexies, foundation paper piecing, general block construction, fabric cutting, ironing techniques – you name it, I’ve learnt it from Craftsy!

Another one of my most successful [and favouritist] quilts came from a Craftsy class and that is my ‘Jacob’s Ladder Quilt’.

For ages I was looking for the perfect project to use my beautiful DSQuilts fabrics with and along came the Jacob’s Ladder Block episode in the Magical Jelly Roll Quilts class.

And, whaalaah – what I produced was a beautiful, scrap-happy, two-tonal quilt that everyone seems to have fallen in love with!!

{ #FOUR – INSTAGRAM }

I’ve been on Instagram for a good few years now, but only recently have I used it as a form of inspiration.

Instagram has given me the access to follow the accounts of some of my most favouritist quilters, thus allowing me to see what they’re currently working on, where they’re getting their inspiration from as well as take a glimpse into the glamorous [and sometimes not so glamorous] side of a quilters life.

Instagrammers I follow... — Just some of the Instagrammers I follow…

It has also given me the chance to network with other quilters and creative minds from all over the world, sharing in each other’s current creative pursuits!

I’ve also found that Instagram, like Pinterest, is a great resource to see what is currently in ‘vogue’ within the quilting world – i.e. what fabric lines, shades, tones and prints are in, what forms of quilting others are using to finish their quilts, what shapes and designs of blocks are being made etc.

Plus, it’s a great little resource that’s nice and handy on my phone! SCORE!!

{ #FIVE – BLOGGERS }

I love reading other quilting blogs – it’s where people can be completely honest about their work.

Blogs give us the opportunity to share passionately about where we find our inspirations, what we hope and dream for in the future and how we somehow manage to find sprinklings of time to indulge in our love for patchwork and quilting. We use this platform to share our life-loves, our families, our struggles, and our successes, our obsessions and adventures!

Apart from my long list of wonderful WordPress blogs that are tiered up in my Reader, here are just a few other creative blogs that I love to ponder…

Stitchery Dickory Dock

Diary of a Quilter

Oh, Fransson!

Pink Chalk Studio

Tallgrass Prairie Studio

Tell me some of your favourite bloggers!!

{ #SIX – BOOKS }

This seems like a bit of a medieval notion doesn’t it!? Getting inspiration from books when we have a wealth of knowledge at a finger tips on the web!?

You may not know this, but I’m on of those ‘self-taught quilters’ who learnt the fundamental basic of patchwork and quilting from books!

My first patchwork/quilting book! — My first ever patchwork/quilting book!

If I was stuck on a particular element of quilt making, I would search and search for the answer in a book before I would ever think about consulting the Internet.

I’m proud of my little library of patchwork/quilting books. I admit, it is growing ever so slowly…some of those good quality quilting books can be a tad pricey!

Have you got any favourite patchwork/quilting books that you love? Please, do tell!!

So, my encyclopedia of inspiration has come to an end. Although, I will never rule out including more in the future!

Honestly, after all that writing, I simply find inspiration for my work from everything around me – nature, movement, colour, shapes, mood, space, texture, people, experience – the list is endless!

I find that the resources that I’ve listed in this post allow me to harness the ideas that are raging through my head into do-able realistic projects. Otherwise, they’d still be up there, Dub-Stepping and Flash Dancing away in my brain!

So, til next time –

Cheerio

Happy Sewing!!

‘Like Diamonds In The Sky’

I’ve been a busy little bunny these past few days.

And I can finally present to you a finished quilt top!

I like to the think of the star blocks as

‘Like Diamonds In The Sky’…

So pretty!

Admittedly, the whole thing needs a good press – especially around the edged sashing – but still, it looks good!

So it’s now onto the next stage!

Basting!!

I used to dread when it came to this part…

Lying all over the floor and busting my back sticking pins into a quilt. It’s wasn’t my cup-of-tea so to speak.

But to the rescue came Quilt Basting Spray!

And now, what was a whole day job has become a 15 minute job! (That is: basting and ironing times combined together!)

I plan to back the quilt with this floral print that I have literally a whole ton of and am desperate to use up as quickly as possible! And then bind it with the white/navy stripes.

I’m also trying something new with the thread I’ll be using to stitch my quilty lines.

I’m going to give this a go…

It’s a spool of Gutermann Sulky Machine Embroidery thread (100% Cotton) that has variegated shades of navy blue/turquoise/purple/maroon.

I’m hoping the shades will blend well with the fabrics that make up the quilt top.

Although the thread seems a little thick than usual, I have my fingers crossed that my machine can take it and feed it through evenly enough as we go along!

So for the rest of the week (and no doubt the weekend too!), I hope to be parked permanently in front of my sewing machine!

Cheerio

Happy Sewing!

5 Things I’m Loving Right Now!

#ONE

{Embroidery}

Over the weekend, I managed to squeeze in some time to start a new embroidery project.

I can’t remember the last time I had a needlepoint project on the go – I think it may’ve been sometime before Christmas…??

I was inspired to get back to the hoop when I re-watched a video I made last year called Stop-Motion Embroidery, where I took a photo of my work in-progress every two minutes.

It actually turned out to be a pretty rad little film – so now I’m motivated to do the same thing with this project.

This is currently where I’m up to…

I’ve limited the colour palette to just pinks and reds – an unlikely challenge if I may say so myself!

I have no idea how long this little side venture will take me to complete.

But know this: I’ll definitely be posting the final embroidery and video right here once it’s done!

#TWO

{My Easter Show Ribbon}

In Sydney Australia, during two weeks around Easter, there is a huge Agriculture, Food and Crafts show called the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

This is a huge affair in the Sydney (and neighbouring rural districts) social calendar and is a highly prestigious show that spans back over a hundred years or so.

(You may have seen a certain Royal Couple visit this in the last week or so…!)

So to join in on the festivities and atmosphere, I entered in a few of my favourite quilts and one of my embroideries.

To my surprise, one of my quilts received an elusive Easter Show Ribbon!

My darling ‘Happy Quilt’ won me a beautiful Highly Commended ribbon!

I was and still am totally stoked that one of my quilts is of Ribbon Winning quality!

Happy! Happy! Happy!

#THREE

{Nephews}

I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to be able to spend a lot of time with my four nephews each week as they only live (quite literally) down the street.

The oldest is six turning seven in May and the youngest is only a darling eight months old.

Each one of them possesses a one-of-a-kind cheeky and super-cute personality.

They also love being typical boys – playing LEGO and video games, watching Adventure Time (which this Auntie LOVES!!), eating tons of chocolate and generally getting into anything they can get their hands on!

The minute I came across this image on Pinterest…

5600ec5d75f3af4984b7f857dbd2e595 — Source | Pinterest

I immediately thought of those four little men!

(In a loving and precious kinda of way of course!)

#FOUR

{British Invasion Fabric Range by Riley Blake Designs}

If you’re new to reading my blog you may not know the love I have for all things British!

So when I heard that Riley Blake was bringing out a collection with all things typically Britishy, I flipped my lid!

I literally went into ‘fan-girl’ mode and swooned over all of the prints in the collection!

I’m really hoping I can get my hands on a Fat Quarter stack at the up and coming Sydney Craft and Quilt Show in July!!

I want it so bad!!

#FIVE

{Tea}

Sadly, here in Australia, we’ve waved goodbye to summer and are currently in the thick of a chilly start to autumn.

It seems like the weather has gone from hot to bitterly cold over night!

However, with the colder weather comes an outbreak of tea-sipping fever!

One of the best things I love to do in the whole wide world is to make a cup of tea, snuggle under a quilt, pop on a good DVD and gobble down some good quality chocolate!

Ahh, heaven!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been enjoying a good brew of English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Peppermint and Green (with lemon) teas.

***

And onto other things…

My goal for this week is to finish the quilt top of my Friendship Star Quilt (only four more blocks to go! Whoo!) and maybe even get some quilting done on my New Year Resolutions WIPs…

In an odd kinda way, I feel slightly guilty for not spending time on getting my WIPs done when I was keen-as-mustard to do so at the start of the year.

My time and efforts have been diverged onto other projects and ideas over the last few months that these WIPs are literally (and typically) sitting lonely in one corner of my sewing room.

So, the intention is there…

Hopefully it gets fulfilled!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

FOR SALE | Little Wallets

I’ve beaten my procrastination and have re-stocked a few new lovely little items in my madeit shop!

Huzzah!!

These little wallets have been on the go for the past month or so and have been ever-so-patient in getting finished.

I’ve listed them at $12 each with FREE postage!

Unfortunately, you can only purchase these if you live in Australia 😦

So go on, check them out – they’re the perfect size to fit in a little clutch bag when out for the evening or great to take with you if you’re popping down to the local shop or even when your on the way to pick the kidlets up from school!

If these babies go down a treat, I may be tempted to make more…lots more!

(Ok, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves!)

I hope you are all having a lovely Thursday – only two more sleeps until weekend crafting can commence!!

Whoo!!

Happy Sewing Friends!! xx

PS. If you missed the shop link at the start of the post, you can also get there by

1. Clicking the ‘Visit My Madeit Shop’ widget to the right

2. Scroll up to the top and click on SHOP – the link will also be there!

Mini Craft Haul!

I’ve been buying so many quilting gadgets and sewing accessories over the past month or so (who doesn’t, right?!), that I wanted to share a few of them with you in something that I call:

A Craft Haul!

Item #1

‘The Quilting Answer Book’ | Barbara Weiland Talbert

I discovered this little beauty of a book in one of my local bookshops and immediately knew it was coming home with me!

I had a good little flick through it to see what it was all about…

It begins with the basic questions and answers that all newbie quilters begin with regarding fabrics, batting, tools/accessories as well as cutting, piecing and pressing and how a quilt is assembled etc.

The book also delves into answering the deeper and more advanced techniques of quilting like applique, quilting techniques and skills, embellishments, calculating your own block designs and more!

The book has been set out into easy to find and read sections that have informative diagrams and images to follow along with.

[CLICK HERE] To see more information about this book!

Item #2

Fiskars Self-Healing Double-Sided Cutting Mat | 18x24inches

I had been saving like mad and keeping my patience hat on, waiting to get this.

My previous cutting mat was getting a bit ‘rough-around-the-edges’, both sides. Because I was really impressed by the quality and features of that Fiskars cutting mat, I was on the look out for a good sale price (these baby’s aren’t cheap!).

Eventually my patience was rewarded with a 40% off Fiskars Quilting Tools sale at Spotlight! Cha-Ching!

The thing that I especially love about the Fiskars Mats is that they have the 1/8^th”measurement lines as well as a dotted lines in between the solids so that accurate measuring and cutting is a breeze!

Item #3

Sew Easy Patchwork Ruler | 14×4.5inches

While I was ‘treating’ myself to a new cutting mat, I also purchased another quilting ruler.

I was looking for another one of those ‘basic’ types of rulers that can be used when measuring and cutting anything.

This particular ruler is slightly longer than the previous one I was using (tick!) and features the all-important imperial measurements (tick!).

Item #4

Clover Tracing Wheel | With Serrated Edges

When I do paper-piecing, I like to perforate the lines that I’ll be sewing over by guiding the paper through an unthreaded sewing machine. This perforation helps when tearing the paper off in the later stages of the block construction.

To avoid this time consuming step, I bought a serrated edge tracing wheel that will, hopefully, do the same kind of job as the sewing machine.

I’m yet to trial this method out so I can’t really say whether this will work with much success! I’ll keep you posted!

Item #5

Pink Thread Snips | With anti-slip grip handle

I like using these types of thread cutters. I find that they’re quicker to pick up and use and the point at the end of blade cuts closer to the surface.

These particular thread snips are unbranded and were on the cheap side, so how well they’ll work and how long they’ll last is anyone’s guess!

Item #6

‘PaintBox’ Collection by Cynthia Rowley | ‘Prism’, 50x112cm

Gosh I love this fabric! I’m sucker for anything with crisp geometric forms and bold intense colours.

As you may know, I’m using this print as the feature in my Friendship Star Quilt. Initially I only got about half-a-metre (50cm) from the meterage and realised it wouldn’t quite be enough for what I was doing (don’t you hate it when that happens!?). So I bought another 50cm for when I need it – and I will!

This print was part of a super-swish collection from Cynthia Rowley that I purchased from Spotlight. The other designs in the range are all insanely beautiful and fun…I wish I was a millionaire so I could buy them all!

Item #7

Black Acrylic Chalk Board Paint | Typo, 250ml

I’d been searching around for chalkboard paint for ages until I very randomly came across this sweet little tin in one of my favourite stationary stores.

I was happy with the price ($9.95) and the size, so I got it!

I haven’t used this product yet, so again, I’m not sure of the quality that lies within… However, I’m always on Pinterest, so I’m sure I’ll come across a brilliant craft idea to try it out on! I’ll share that too when the time comes!

I also filmed a video of me chatting about all of these products on my YouTube Channel!

All of these products, except the book and chalkboard paint, I purchased at Spotlight – usually when there was a catalogue sale or storewide sale.

I haven’t been paid or asked to review/chat/share these items. Everything written is my own opinion, experience and thought.

Moving on, I have new quilt block tutorial coming out later this week!!

Here’s a little glimpse…

Ooo, what could it be!?!?

Stay tuned for more!

Happy Sewing Friends!

PS. You can also find more of me, my work and patchworky dreams here –

TWITTER | https://twitter.com/3and3quarters

INSTAGRAM | http://instagram.com/3and3quarters

PINTEREST | http://www.pinterest.com/3and3quarters/boards/

TUMBLR | http://amandarolfe.tumblr.com

TUTORIAL | Four Patch Block

Good Morning!!

Here’s another little tutorial for all of you to peruse at…

Do you know of anyone who is just starting out in patchwork and would benefit from watching some quick information-filled video tutorials?

Well, by all means share this with them! I make these tutorials specifically with those people in mind!

See the playlist here to watch more of my quilty tutorials!

On to other things, it’s summing up to be a few busy days of sewing and quilting ahead as I’ve been invited to lead the sewing/patchwork/quilting demonstrations at my local Spotlight store on Saturday as part of their Sewing Fest/Craft Month celebrations!

I’ll be demonstrating basic techniques such as how to quilt and bind a quilt along with how to construct a few selected 9-Patch Blocks designs.

It should be a fun day and I’m really looking forward to it!

Look out for a post some time early next week to see what I got up to that day!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

I Don’t Just Make Quilts…

I’m also a happy ‘crafter’!

Out of the different crafty things I like to make, the most favourite thing I love to create is wooden jewellery!

There’s something about working with an ‘organic’ type of medium that solely captures me…

I love the simplicities of their texture and aesthetic, the complexities of their shape and size, their smell (is that a bit gross to admit??) as well as the sound that the wooden beads make when softly clashing together.

Now this type of crafting isn’t rocket science!

To make, I simply use millinery elastic (or hat elastic) and a whole bunch of wooden beads.

I then proceed to thread them on, tying a solid knot with the two ends once I’ve reached the desired length! (Think back to the days of when you would thread painted dry pasta onto string! Ahh, those were the days!!)

It’s a super simple method but one hundred percent effective!

The itch to make something new for myself came when I was innocently perusing the craft aisles in Spotlight and came across a huge bag of mixed wooden beads for $4! Bargain! And knowing I already had millinery elastic at home, I knew I was onto some cheap crafting fun when I got home!

So here’s what I’ve made! Just a few easy-to-wear bracelets and necklaces…

Happy Crafting Friends!! xx

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