My Golden Trail mini quilt is that next step closer to be completed.
All I need to do now is sew on the back: a hanging sleeve and label to be Show ready!
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
Category: Patchwork & Quilting
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Oh, something very exciting has happened!
I’ve just signed my blog up onto Bloglovin’!
Bloglovin‘ is an awesome website where you can keep track of all of your favourite blogs you love to follow in one handy little place!
I’m currently having lots of fun trawling through the DIY & CRAFTS category and finding some awesome new blogs to read!
So much inspiration to be found!!
If you would like to follow me on Bloglovin’, click right here!
Happy Bloglovin’ Friends! xx
TUTORIAL | Scrappy Log Cabin Block
I love making blocks with my scrap fabrics.
There’s something about mixing un-coordinated fabrics together to make a block look coordinated that strangely appeals to me.
(I hope that makes sense?)
I think it’s also the thrill of pairing fabrics you’ve used in separate projects and fusing them together into one little patchwork square – ahh, the memories!
(It’s the simple pleasures, right?!)
In my opinion, the Log Cabin block has to be one of the best stash-busting blocks you can make.
It’s quick, easy, super simple and can be so visually affective you swoon at the sight of it everyday!
So here I present to you a little video tutorial of how I make a very free and easy Scrappy Log Cabin Block!
If you’ve watched this and have any questions, post a comment here or on my YouTube channel and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.
Do you have any other blocks you would like me to demonstrate? Pop your suggestions in a comment and I’ll take them on board!
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
Excuse Me, My Quilt Nerd Is Showing!
I tell ya, there’s nothing like receiving Quilt Show entry forms in the mail to get you back into the swing of quilting again!
After a lull of about three weeks or so of near to no sewing or quilting, it was a wonderful feeling to get back on the machine.
I admit that over the past weeks, I’ve been giving more of my time to my YouTube channel than to my sewing machine. This is due to –
a) a lack of enthusiasm
b) the horrid Australian humidity that’s been hanging around
But once that burning desire to get stuck into some quilting rose up in me early this morning, I was truly back in my ‘happy place’!
So over the course of the day I got lickety-split into finishing my Sydney Quilt Show entry.
Before basting the mini-quilt up, I instagrammed a photo of the heart-racing intricacies that are on the back of the quilt-top.
So divine! So intense! So lovely!
I absolutely love the way that the shapes fit and conform next to each other as well as the differing lines and textures the seams create! But at the same time you can differentiate the shapes that form the block… (Excuse me, my Quilt-Nerd is showing!) It’s these little things that capture my heart and passion for patchwork (and quilting!).
After today, I believe I can honestly say that I am hands-down, cross-my-heart in love with making mini-quilts! They’re easy, fast, non-fussy and oh-so cute!
I tried to capture just how small this little mini is when I was quilting by comparing it with the size of my hand…
This quilt is itty-bitty and I love it!
I’ve decided that the quilt will be entered under the name Golden Trail – I think that works best.
It’s currently hanging up to my left ready for me to lovingly finish hand-stitching the binding and hanging sleeve!
Excitement is at its maximum tonight!!
Oh gosh.
I just love quilting!
Best hobby ever!
Oops! There’s my Quilt-Nerd showing again! 😀
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
Sewing Room Tour!
If you’re a regular reader of this darling little blog, you may have notice that I didn’t post up a weekly WIP update on Monday, as I have for the past month or so.
This is mainly because there is nothing to really update you with i.e.. nothing has changed since I last wrote about my WIPs. (My laziness/procrastinating ways are finally showing!)
However, this week I feel very proud to introduce to you a tour of my sewing room!
I love this space!
It’s where I feel the most comfortable.
Where I feel the safest.
The most inspired.
Freely creative.
And connected to the rest of the world.
In the video I show you where I sew/quilt (duh!) but also where I write, shoot, edit and publish my blogs and videos.
It may not be the best kind of sewing space as some others may have (look up ‘sewing studios’ on Pinterest and you’ll know what I’m talking about!) but I’m thankful for my mum giving up her little study space for me to have my very own little sewing space!
I also made a second video with some other extra bits I couldn’t quite fit into the first Sewing Room Tour video.
If you want to check that out, click right here!
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
TUTORIAL | Square-in-a-Square Block
I’ve had this video tutorial in the planning for a while – ever since I filmed my Fast Forward Quilting video last year in early September, where the Square-in-a-Square Block features.
The Square-in-a-Square Block, in my opinion, has to be one of the most easiest, quickest and adaptive blocks available for all levels and types of quilters.
It can be made into any size, using a range of differing centre-square and sashing measurements and can be made into a block as traditional or as modern/quirky as you wish it to be!
Give it a go and see what you think!
Way back in 2006, when I first became interested in making quilts, I used the Square-in-a-Square Block to make my very first quilt!
So essentially, this block was the very first block I had ever constructed!
If you’re a beginner I hope this little tutorial, in some small way, can help you in your own patchwork/quilting journey!
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
WIP Weekly Update | #4
Procrastination.
It gets the best of us most of the time.
As for me, it’s pretty much all of the time.
Drawing your attention to the comic above, I can define my past week of quilting procrastination as the following –
The Cleaner | Sewing room must be tidy before any quilting can get done!
The Listmaker | I must do this, this and this before I can sit and quilt so I don’t feel guilty.
The Sidetracker| See last week’s WIP Weekly Update post – something about a Quilt Show entry that needed to be started but isn’t due for another five months!!
The Internet Researcher | It’s vital I keep up to date with the latest trends and must-haves in the quilting world…right? (Plus, cat videos are always crucial to watch, no matter what type of procrastinating you’re doing!)
The Snacker | Who doesn’t love a good snack when you’re purposely avoiding doing something?
The Watcher | I randomly started watching season nine of ER this week… Boy that show is good!!
The Perpetuator | Come 9 o’clock, I’m ready for bed! I tell myself: ‘Tomorrow will be the day I get stuck into it…hmm, maybe… I do still have four more eps of ER to watch before I finish the season.’
It’s a strange and amazing thing at what I’ll let myself do and tell myself to do just to put off doing some quilting.
Please don’t misunderstand: It’s not that I don’t like quilting a quilt; heck I love it to bits!
It’s just the initial getting started – the motivation, the time, the mindset, the energy and the heat (quilting a quilt in the middle of an Australian Summer bites!).
So that’s my excuse this week for not doing any work on my WIPs.
I’ll always be the first to admit that I easily succumb to procrastination’s sticky fingers. It’s a deep, deep flaw that resides in this little quilter…
I promise to do better over this coming week!
Happy Sewing Friends!! xx
WIP Weekly Update | #3
Okay.
Confession time.
I haven’t done as much as I had hoped for this past week on the Rail Fence Quilt.
I did do a few more lines of quilting here and there over the days but not to the point where it’s worthy for a WIP photo opportunity…
In the moments after I finished writing the previous sentence, I had a quick squizz at my quilting efforts on the R.F Quilt and felt compassion. (Weirdo alert!!)
So here is an up-to-date ‘progress-report’ image…
Yeah….there’s not much difference from what it looked like last Monday.
I also must confess that I have been giving my time to another (new!) project.
I received an email Saturday morning from the NSW Quilting Guild containing information and forms for this year’s Sydney Quilt Show.
A more-than-mild wave of panic washed over me at that moment.
I hadn’t at all begun planning my entry for this show; the thought had always been at the back of mind but nothing else!
Although the Show isn’t until early June, it’s always nice to have things on-the-go from an early start!
Of the categories in the show, one or two stood out: Amateur Small or Wall Quilt (minimum size 40cmx40cm) as well as an Open category named Miniature (a quilt with a scaled down pattern with a perimeter of 200cm).
So early Saturday afternoon, I picked out a bunch of pretty and modern fabrics and raided my quilt book library for some block inspiration.
I had the thought of pairing two contrasting modern fabrics together and patch them together into a ‘traditional’ block formation.
In one of my favourite patchwork/quilting books, 130 Mini Quilt Blocks by Susan Briscoe, on page 46, I discovered an itty-bitty version of the Snail Trail Block that had a finished block size of 12.7cm or 5”! Perfect!
I have made this block before a few years back so I felt pretty comfortable tackling it.
I quickly drew up a sketch to make sure the colours would sit well together – and they did!
The next hour or so I cut out all of the tiney-tiny pieces and begun sewing mini squares and HST together.
Four blocks were completed by yesterday; they were quickly sashed together and the quilt top is now ready to be quilted!! Whhhaaattt?!?!
(You know, I’m really liking this Mini-Quilt making thing – it’s quick, easy and non-stressful!)
The size of the quilt top measures 46cmx46cm or 18”x18” and fits into both Show categories as previously mentioned. I’m just not sure which one I’ll choose yet.
I’m also torn on what I’ll name this sweet little mini; I have two in mind…
Golden Trail
— OR —
Yellow Brick Road
Which one would you choose??
So there we have it.
Perhaps next week I’ll have more progress on my R.F Quilt to show and not have to confess that I’ve been distracted (again!) by other things.
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
WIP Weekly Update | #2 & Rail Fence Block Tutorial
Jeez, a week sure can creep up on you in an instant!
I’m deeply baffled at how it can be the fourth-ish week of the New Year already! *WOW*
In the last seven days since we spoke, some quilting progress has been made to my Rail Fence Quilt…
Predictably, I’ve started quilting my usual straight-line formation. (It’s easy and I’m lazy!) I’ve opted for a pattern quite similar to the way I quilted my Jacob’s Ladder Quilt, but on this one the quilty lines are a lot closer creating more of an intense surface design and texture.
To go along with this R.F Quilt, I’ve filmed and uploaded a very simple and informative tutorial on how to make the Rail Fence Block. I tried to make it as down-to-earth and helpful as possible especially for all you beginner quilters out there.
Let me know what you think of the video – I’m 100% open to any positive constructive criticism. I would love to know what I could to do improve my teaching skills and/or production/filming/editing skills.
Do you have any suggestions for quilt blocks that you would love to see me demonstrate?
Comment below and I’ll definitely take your ideas onboard!
Well, it’s now time to go and enjoy this glorious summer afternoon with a lovely icy-cold beverage, finger-licking snacks and a heart-warming rom-com!
Happy Sewing Friends!! xx
3and3quarters 