Sewing – Page 2 – 3and3quarters

INTRODUCING: A Star Sampler Quilt Along!

I’m not sure why I’ve just titled this post as ‘Introducing’ as most of you already knew that this Quilt Along was happening! But I thought, if any newbies come by looking for something different this title just might catch their eye!

(If you are that newbie, welcome! I’m so glad you’ve popped by!)

But yes! Finally I can announce that my next Quilt Along series is ready to begin!! Yay!!!! We’re only just a few months behind schedule, but nonetheless we’re ready to go!

So let’s first go through a few of the important details about this Quilt Along…

+ After a world-wide vote on a past post, the majority of you wanted to do a 12 block Star Sampler Quilt. So that’s what we’re doing!

+ The fabric range that I’m using is called Print Shop by Alexia Marcelle Abegg for Cotton+Steel. I’ve based the design of the blocks/quilt using the black and white version of the range (as requested by all of you!), with sprinkles of the bright colour way that’s also a part of the range, along with a few staple favourites from the Cotton+Steel Basics range. (You can see the full range of the fabrics I’ve hand-picked further down in this post.)

+ Although I’m using yardage/meterage, most* of the blocks can be made using either charm packs, layer cakes and/or fat quarters (*just be aware that there are a few blocks that have 6″-6.5″ unit pieces). However, you will need extra fabric for the sashing and border pieces, for the backing and the binding. (A full list of measurements are listed further down in this post.)

+ For the batting, I’m using a beautiful 100% Cotton batting from a company called Bosal. I’ve never used this particular type batting before so I’m really interested to see how easy it is to work with. I’ll go into more detail about it when the time comes for basting and quilting!

+ All depending on my work schedule/roster, I’m hoping to have each block tutorial up on my YouTube channel as well as here on my blog every week… Okay, now that currently might be a bit of a stretch to promise when I don’t know what my working hours are each week! So just be aware that every now and again there may be more than a week between tutorials! At the moment I’m thinking my upload/release day will possibly be a Thursday as I don’t usually work that day. (Weekends are no good as I work most of them!) I hope that this works for you – at least then you’ll have the weekends to make each block as we go along!

+ Now, if you’re new to the way my block tutorials/Quilt Along series go, in each tutorial I let you know all of the measurements and cutting info as well as what fabrics I’m using for that block. Then I take you through step-by-step on how to piece that block together. And just like with my HST Quilt Along, a beautifully coloured information sheet for each block will be available for you to print off and follow along with at home! (These will be available to download from my blog.)

+ Interested in what Star blocks we’ll be making?? Well here they are in the order that we will be making them!

Block One: Eccentric Star / Block Two: Star X / Block Three: Kansas Star / Block Four: Janet’s Star / Block Five: Maple Star / Block Six: Amish Star / Block Seven: Indian Star / Block Eight: Crystal Star / Block Nine: Missouri Star / Block Ten: Martha Washington Star / Block Eleven: Star + Square / Block Twelve: Aunt Eliza’s Star

Each will finish at 12.5″ squared and range in different levels of difficulty. However, I believe what ever level of quilting you’re up to, you’ll definitely be able to make each and every one of these blocks listed!

+ Just like with my last Quilt Along, I’ve been so lucky to have it sponsored again by Australian wholesale supplier and fabric distributer, Dayview Textiles. If you’re in Australia and are keen on using the same fabrics as me, pop over to their website to find the nearest quilt store to you that they distribute fabrics to!

+ And now on to all of the fabric deets!! Like I previous mentioned, all of these fabrics have been handpicked from the range to individually suit each of the blocks I’ll be making for my quilt. So because of that you’ll notice that not all of the fabrics in the Print Shop range are here.

The black and white fabrics in the range I’m classing as my ‘main’ fabric. Each block features one of these key fabrics which has then been paired with either a coloured print from the range or with a C+S Basic print.

The fabrics are:

1. ‘Meadow’ in the colour Midnight

2. ‘This + That’ in the colour Linen

3. ‘This + That’ in the colour Black

4. ‘Bricka’ in the colour Black

5. ‘Grid’ in the colour Dark Charcoal (This one reminds me of little British flags! Do you see them too?)

6. ‘Point’ in the colour Charcoal

7. ‘Hello’ in the colour Grey (Those little animal heads are a-dor-a-ble!!)

These are the coloured prints from the Print Shop range I’ll be using… Along with the C+S Basics, these will add a delightful pop of colour next to the black and white prints!

1. ‘Meadow’ in the colour Citrus

2. ‘Starry’ in the colour Seashell

3. ‘Hello’ in the colour Seaglass

4. ‘Moons’ in the colour Grass

5. ‘Grid’ in the colour Peach

And lastly, these are the C+S Basics and other fabrics I’ll be using:

1. ‘XOXO: #2 Pencil’

2. ‘XOXO: Lightning’ (This one is insanely bright and fluro-like! It’s absolutely gorgeous!)

3. ‘XOXO: Thistle’

4. ‘Sprinkle: Peacock’

5. ‘Netorious: Black Cat’

6. ‘Sprinkle: Petal’

7. ‘Netorious: Cloud (Metallic)

8. ‘Dottie: Rosewater’ (This is the fabric I’m using for my binding.)

9. Cotton Supreme Solid in the colour Kerchief (This is my main background fabric that will used in my blocks, sashing and borders.)

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+ If you would like to use fabric yardage/meterage like me, here is a list of the measurements you’ll need… (Apologies for how I write out the yardage measurements – they’re very foreign to me!)

Of each print:

Meterage: half to three quarters of a metre (50cm-75cm) – these are the lengths I’ll be working with

Yardage: 0.60-0.85 of a yard (22″-31″)

(PS. You will have fabric left over – I just want to make sure you’ll have enough and won’t run out!)

Background & Backing fabrics:

Meterage: 3 metres for each

Yardage: 3.3 yards for each

Binding:

Meterage: three quarters of a metre (75cm)

Yardage: 0.85 of a yard (31″)

Batting: (estimate)

Meterage: 1.5 metres x 220cm+ width

Yardage: 1.7 yards x 2.4+ yard width (61″x87″)

I’ve planned for the finished quilt to roughly measure around 50″x65″ (127cmx165cm)

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Now I think that’s everything that is important to know right now… If you think there’s any important details I’ve missed or have any questions about this Quilt Along, please feel free to let me know in the comment section below!

Ooo! One very important thing I haven’t mentioned yet is when we’re starting! I’ve penciled in for Thursday the 22nd of September to have the first block tutorial in the series up on my channel and blog!

I can’t wait to get started and to see all of your beautiful Star Blocks come to life into a beautiful Sampler Quilt!

Happy Planning, Friends!

May 17th: Mini Thread Spool Block Tutorial!

Today I woke up and was inspired to make a block tutorial for my YouTube channel!

Whether it was actual inspiration or a form of ‘YouTuber Guilt’ as I haven’t uploaded in awhile, I don’t know! But I put my head down and bum up and got into creating! And I’m so happy I did! There’s nothing like a good sewing session to soothe away the stresses of life!

So because time is quite limited for me at the moment, I stuck to a relatively quick and simple block to both cut and piece together. So when in need of a block like this, I always turn to my fab 130 Mini Quilt Blocks book by Susan Briscoe! There I found the inspiration to make a Mini Thread Spool block.

I’ve had an idea for a possible quilt design centring around the Spool block. The one I have in mind isn’t quite as small as this one and is slightly different in design. But I wanted to give this one a go just to see where I could take the design in my head and how to make it into a reality! (Stayed tuned for that one!)

But how adorable is this mini block though!? I’m so delighted at the size of it – it’s super cute!! I’m so keen to make more and then piece them together into a really sweet mini quilt to hang in my sewing room (that’s if I can find anymore room on the walls!!). 😀

Here’s how to make one yourself…

MEASUREMENT & CUTTING INFO:

Cut –
x1: 3.5″ square from a stripe fabric
x2: 5.5″x1.5″ rectangles from a dark or contrasting fabric (spool ends)
x2: 3.5″x1.5″ rectangles from a background fabric
x4: 1.5″ squares from a background fabric

Follow the steps in the tutorial to learn how to piece this adorable block together!

FINISHED BLOCK SIZE: 5.5″x5.5″ squared

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As always, don’t forget to share with me your finished blocks! Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter are the best ways to do this!

Happy Sewing, Friends!!

May 16th: A Few More Useful Tools & Notions!

As I sing out loud along to John Mayer’s song, ‘No Such Thing‘ (*sings* I wanna run through the halls of my high school. I wanna scream at the top of my lungs!), here are a few more tools and notions that I find super useful when I’m sewing and quilting!

Let’s start by talking binding clips…

BindingClips&Thumble — Tin by Belle & Boo

When I’m binding my quilts, I use these little guys that look similar to the clips you use in your hair to hold it into place. I find that they’re so easy to snap open and close as I go along when I’m hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt. And although I haven’t had the opportunity to use them yet (Can you believe it’s almost half-way through the year and I still haven’t made a quilt yet! 2016 quilts are going to be a rare oddity I think!!), I was given a packed jar full of some craft clips from a friend that I think will be absolutely perfect to use for holding the binding into place. I’m so keen to use them! Must. Get. Quilting. Pronto!

The other little notion I love to use when I’m stitching on binding is that little yellow thumble. Called such as it sits on your thumb much like a thimble would on your finger and you use it to push your needle through thick layers of fabric. Many a times has this genius little tool saved my poor thumb from bloody stabs and week-long soreness!

These next few things I find really useful when I’m doing tricky cutting and squaring up block units.

The 4.5″ set square ruler is great for squaring up those pesky HSTs (as you would’ve seen numerous times in my YouTube tutorials), while the 18mm rotary blade is the perfect size for trimming as well as for cutting tight curved lines and corners. (Fab for cutting Drunkard Path unit pieces!) The Olfa Rotating Mat is super useful when you need to be really precise with how you cut your units and blocks. It pretty much just eliminates the step of having to turn the unit around to trim down the opposite side.

Applique! A wonderfully elaborate (at times!) and effective technique to add a little omph to any sewing project!

When I’making a project that involves applique (usually the raw-edge technique), I always turn to this stuff called HeatnBond Lite. Not only is it a great price (about $8 per metre from Spotlight), it’s so easy to use and never lets me down. Using the right application (warm-to-hot iron, no steam), it never peels away from the fabric once it’s been applied and can be easily sewn through either with the sewing machine or by hand. I use this all the time to fix my quilt labels into place before embroidering around the edge.

If you would like me to do a tutorial based around using this product, let me know and I’ll start planning something fun for us to make together!

And last but not least, never the underestimate the need of having a good solid hammer in your kit!

On many occasion has this hammer come in handy, especially when something just needs a good whack to get it into place. What I mean by this is when I’m making my Little Wallets and need to get the snap fastener securely into place! 😀 Super useful too when your hanging new art or a wallhanging on the wall!

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I hope this second post about other useful tools and notions has inspired or been helpful in some way!

It can be truly mind-boggling at just how many different things one can have in and around their sewing space that helps to make the process of making a quilt easier! I’m sure my little list of tools and notions barely scratches the surface!

Wishing you all a Happy Monday!

May 15th: My Top 7 Most Useful Tools & Notions

Hello!

I hope you’re all having a lovely Sunday!

So I had a great request from one of you guys a few days ago to share with you a few of the notions and tools that I find to be the most useful when I’m sewing and quilting. A few of them I have shared before, but if you’re new to these parts, I hope you find the following helpful!

First off are these two awesome little tools from Clover.

Both of these I find super useful when I’m paper-piecing. I use the Serrated Tracing Wheel to perforate the lines on the paper before sewing over them. Doing this also helps to tear the paper away from the seams and fabrics at the end. The other tool is called a Finger Presser and I use this to quickly press the seams open all throughout the construction of a paper-pieced block instead of using the iron. For me, it saves so much time on going back and forth to the ironing board and also saves my poor little fingers from getting burnt! Ouchies!

Next up is another Clover product called a Hera Marker.

As strange and weird as it looks, this little tool is so awesome and very useful to use for us quilters. Because I mainly incorporate straight lines all throughout my quilting, I use a Hera Marker and a long quilting ruler to mark out clear, even lines onto the quilt top that I then simply sew over, achieving a (almost) straight quilted line!

Since using this tool, I’ve seen a huge improvement in my quilting! Everything just looks so more consistent and pro-fesh, sky-rocketing my confidence by a mile!

The next two things I like to see as more everyday-type useful tools.

The Fiskars thread snips would have to be one of the best little scissors I’ve ever used! They cut through thread like butter and have a little tapered like point that elevates the blade away from the surface of the fabric but is still able to make the closest of cuts when trimming away thread! It really is like magic!

Ahh, the seam ripper. Where would we be without one! And just like all of the other Clover products, this one doesn’t disappoint! It’s light and easy to hold and rips through the toughest of mistakes like it’s no bodies business! It’s a fab little tool and I know I can rely on it to fix some of the worst mistakes I can ever dream of making!

This is my tape measure…

I have it sitting on my desk and I would say that I reach for it at least five times during one day! Whether that be for answering your questions, figuring out size scales for patterns and blocks as well as playing with it when I’m bored or procrastinating! My nephews also love playing with it too! 😀

I particularly find this one useful as it has centimetres on one side and inches on the other. Because I use both of these types of measurements in my quilting, it’s so helpful to turn to it and quickly figure out what 5″ is in centimetres! (It’s about 12.5cm if you’re curious!) 😀 The tape measure is also super long, measuring up to 120″ (300cm) which is helpful when figuring out how much batting and backing fabric one needs to finish a quilt!

And last of all is a tin of basting pins.

I don’t usually baste my quilts with pins but when I do I find these ones super helpful! This is because they have a slight bend to them almost acting like a hook as you pierce them through the three layers of the quilt. They close nice and quickly and also undo almost instantly as you’re quilting along on your machine. This particular set of pins I bought from Spotlight and are by a Australian haberdashery company called Birch.

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So there are just a few of my top tools and notions that first came to mind to share with you!

In tomorrows post I’ll go through a few more that didn’t quite make the top seven! 🙂

Do you have any top fave tools and notions that you find useful when your sewing and quilting? Let me know!

Happy Sewing, Friends!!

May 12th: My Sewing Room Playlist!

I don’t know about you but I find that when I’m in a sewing mood and groove, I gotta have some good music playing in the background! Whether it be soothe and sultry sounds of a bluesy jazz track or a raging hook from an alternative rock band! Whatever it is, music plays a huge roll in how I work. It inspires, it pumps me up, mellows me out, calms my nerves when something isn’t going right and just simply makes my happy space an even happier one!

So today, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite albums and artists that I love listening to when I’m sewing! To be be completely honest with you, my music mood changes daily! Hourly even! One minute I might be loving the futuristic tones of some fun electronic-pop then do a complete 180 and be craving some sweet ol’ crooning jazz!

The Current Faves!

James Bay/Chaos and the Calm: I’ve had this album for a couple of months now and have never really taken the time to listen and subsequently fall in love with it! It’s a really lovely, laid back type sound with a few catchy songs that get stuck in my head way too easily! Favourite songs include: Craving, Hold Back the River, Let it Go and Move Together.

The Japanese House/Clean EP: I shared this EP with you in a post from last month where I proceeded to tell you just how down-to-earth and insanely relaxing I find their sound! I heard them by chance on a radio station I listen to at home and in the car called Triple J and made sure to remember their name so that I could listen to more of their music! Favourite songs include: Letter by the Water and Pools to Bathe In.

The All-Time Faves!

Coldplay/A Rush of Blood to the Head: This is my favourite Coldplay album ever! My memories of it are popping the disc in into my DiscMan at night and listening to it as I fell asleep all the way back when I was in high school! It’s such a great album to chill out to and reminisce about all of the good times that high school brought! Favourite songs include: All of them! 😀

Crowded House/The Very Very Best of Crowded House: Crowded House are so awesomely quirky and fun that my spirits are lifted every time I press play on this album! They were the first band I ever saw in concert in 2007 and will always hold a special place in my heart because of it! Favourite songs include: Distant Sun, When You Come, Fingers of Love, Weather With You, Locked Out, Four Seasons in One Day and Recurring Dream.

John Mayer/Continuum: I’m a huge fan of John Mayer (just his music that is!). If you listen closely, the stuff he writes and makes is so insanely fabulous it makes me swoon every time! One of my all-time favourite songs is on this album… When Gravity comes on it just instantly relaxes me and reminds me all is well with the world. I’m not really too sure why this song has such an affect on me… I think it has to do with that bluesy guitar rift that opens the song that gets me every time! Favourite songs include: All of them! 😀

Passenger/All the Little Lights: Passenger is my ultimate singer/songwriter! The guy is just so incredibly passionate about what he does that it’s soul-wrenching! Watching him play live is a whole other experience too! Simply brilliant! This is just one of eight albums of his that I love listening to! Favourite songs include: Feather on the Clyde, All the Little Lights and Patient Love.

The Mainstream Faves!

Ed Sheeran/X: I love this album as well as his ‘+’ one. It’s one of those albums that you can have on in the background and easily sing-along to in most parts (except for when he does that fast singing/rap type thing!). Favourite songs include: Bloodstream, Tenerife Sea, Thinking Out Loud, Afire Love, Shirtsleeves and I See Fire.

Taylor Swift/1989: Gee this girl sure is taking over the world! And no wonder why, this album is so much fun! It’s great for one of those long sewing sessions you crave every time Monday morning rolls around! Favourite songs include: All of them! 😀

The Jazz Faves!

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong/Ella & Louis: Ooo, I love a good bit of jazz blasting in the sewing room! And this is the album I always go for! These two are my favourite jazz musicians both separately as well as when they come together! The reason why I love to listen to jazz (and not just because it sounds beautiful and makes my heart sing with happiness!) is because it always reminds me of my Dad who also loves listening to jazz. It’s a daddy/daughter connection that I cherish deeply! Favourite songs include: All of them!! 😀

John Coltrane/Coltrane for Lovers: This is another one of those newbie albums I’ve been listening to recently and that has instantly made it onto my (almost ultimate) favourites list! It’s bluesy, soulful, lazy and relaxing. It’s a Sunday afternoon kind of album, where the light is slowly dimming and you have a cup of tea next to your sewing machine and a whole load of chain-stitching to do! Ahh, heaven! Favourite songs include: There’s just one at the moment that really sticks out and that is My Little Brown Book.

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I do have a fair few other albums and artists I love to listen to when I’m sewing but these are just the ones I tend to go to the most! I also have some favourite playlist I like to press play on when I can’t make up my mind on what I want to listen to! I usually put these playlists on shuffle and hope for the best!

Now I know that not everyone likes to listen to music when they sew. Podcasts, TV shows and movies are all popular choices for quilters to have on as white noise when sewing. What do you like to listen to or watch when you’re sewing? Do you stick to the same type of music every time or do you like a nice quiet environment where you can concentrate and not be distracted?! I would love to know!

See you tomorrow!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

May 11th: Sewing Room Organisation & Storage Tips!

Now, I’m possibly not the best person to be chatting about sewing room organisation and storage! One glance into my currently messy sewing room and you’d get it! My organisation skills are chaotic, simplistically naive and (perhaps) a little non-existent! While my storage areas are overflowing, out of order and oddly colour-coded!

However, I think there are a few things here and there that I can share and inspire you with! And I’ve also been researching on how one or two other quilters have organised and stored things which I’ll share with you as well!

Firstly, let’s get into a few of the ways I organise and store things in my sewing room! I’m one of those people that like to re-use as much as possible and keep things quite simple. So I have lots of bits sticking out of glass jars and broken mugs (rotary blades, pencils, scissors, buttons and paint brushes!), items secured in pretty but battered tins, fabrics roughly folded and stuffed backed onto their shelves as well as a tonne of those handy plastic containers you can get at the $2 shop! 😀

Tins:

You may’ve caught me mentioning in my recent Sewing Room Tour video that I love to use tins to store and organise lots of stuff! From pins to threads to hexies to notions. Pretty decorative tins are everywhere and I love it! I’ve been lucky in the fact that my Dad is a keen collector of Arnott’s Biscuits tins as he worked for them for nearly 30 years! So very happily we have lots to spare so that I can store all of my sewing knick-knacks in them! I’ve also sourced a lot of my smaller tins online from little indie companies such as Belle & Boo, Emma Bridgewater and Lark.

Fat Quarter Drawer

A little while ago I purchased this hard-plastic type drawer from Spotlight made especially for storing fat quarters. It’s about 50cm (20″) long and can hold well up to 20-30 FQs. I’ve found it so handy to quickly place new FQs into it and then be able to pull the draw out and easily rummage through what’s in there.

Fabric

I’m quite boring when it comes to organising and storing my fabrics. I don’t really have any fancy folding or hanging system. I have a main bookshelf next to my sewing table that has all of my favourite or most used fabrics in a very relaxed colour-coded system: Whites, creams, yellows, browns and oranges on the top shelf, pinks and reds on the next two shelves, green and blue hues on the two after that and then right down the bottom I have my purples, greys and blacks. The majority of these fabrics are all half-metre (or half-yard) pieces or less. I tend to store all of my larger cuts of fabrics in the plastic containers I have under my sewing table. They’re quite easy to slide out and to have a quick little rummage through when I need to. These aren’t colour or range coordinated. Just folded up nicely and stacked one on top of the other.

Very conveniently, one of the crafty YouTubers I watch, Melanie Ham just recently uploaded this video showing how she organises her fabrics in her sewing room! I think if I had the time (and cupboard space!), this would be such a great idea to follow! I hope it inspires you just as much as it has me! 🙂

Another YouTube video I found that was all about sewing room organisation was this one by Stephanie De Pasquale Soebbing from Quilt Addicts Anonymous. I found that she had a fab idea for storing your ironing board, jelly rolls and pre-cuts as well as another neat and lovely way to store and organise fabrics.

Tools:

I tend to try and keep all of the tools I’ll need when cutting and sewing dotted around my cutting mat as this is like my central space in my sewing room. So here I have my rotary blades and quilting rulers close to hand along with my pins, thread snips, lead pencils, essential paper-piecing tools as well as threads and binding clips. These items are either stored in glass jars, pretty tins or placed in an easy to reach spot on my pink IKEA shelf.

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So as I sit here and look around at all of the different areas in my sewing room, there are still so many little things to do with the way I store and organise stuff that I could share with you… Like the way I’ve organised all of my craft stickers and die-cuts, to how and where I have my coat-hangers ready to hang a finished block or quilt, to the way I organise and store all of my patterns and paper-trail as well as the way I’ve organised my books based on how much I love them!

But unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to get into every nook and cranny that cleverly hides away a WIP or stray crafting notion! Today I just wanted to stick to the major areas that most people tend to struggle on finding a solution for… I hope I’ve helped in some little way!

Though in honesty, all of us quilters have our own unique way on how we like to organise our sewing spaces and store all of our wonderful fabrics and notions. I don’t think anyway is the wrong way. As long as whatever system you use works for you and the limits of your sewing room than that’s all that matters!

Have you got any fab ideas on how you organise or store things in your sewing room? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

May 10th: My Sewing Space Set Up

For a while now, I’ve been trying to come up with a way of showing you how I have my sewing space set up as well as how I move in and around it when I’m sewing. I’d considered doing a video about it on my YouTube channel but realised quickly that the software I use to edit my videos wasn’t quite good enough to get the vision I had in my head onto the screen!

So we’re going old-school and doing a blog post about it instead!

So this is a birds-eye view of my sewing room.

I set it out in a way where I would be able to work as efficiently and hassle free as possible.

When I’m cutting my fabrics I stand along the left side of the sewing table in front of where my quilting rulers hang from a hook. Close at hand on and around that pink IKEA shelf I have my rotary blades, pencils, thread snips and pins ready to go as I cut and piece blocks together.

Then I have my sewing machine set up as close to the window as possible so that I’m working in natural light. (FUN FACT: I do a lot of my sewing standing up! I find I work so much more efficiently and quicker when I do. I’m able to do this as the table is quite tall and is at the perfect height for me to easily sew while standing. The only time I sit and sew is when I’m quilting and sewing on the binding!) The ironing board permanently stands in the corner and in front of the window ready to press units and blocks as soon as they come out of the machine.

Along the back of the room, I have my design wall. It’s nothing fancy. Just odd pieces of white cotton batting simply pinned onto the wall using thumb tacks! It spans about 60″x65″ (1.5mx1.6m) along the wall and can easily accommodate most of the quilt top designs I make. I find having a design wall such a help! Sometimes you can get so engrossed in what you’re doing close up that you forget to step back and see what the bigger picture looks like. With a design wall, I can place all of my blocks up, step back and see what (if anything) needs to changed, swapped or binned!

Another big area in my room that I had to plan cleverly was the placement of my computer and desk. I wanted it to be in a position where it would be central to me when I’m sewing so that I can listen and change music, read and follow a tutorial or pattern, find inspiration easily as well as to document my sewing adventures and knowledge on my blog and on my YouTube channel.

In terms of storage, I have a few book shelves here and there where I lazily (yet strategically) stack my fabrics, craft accessories and books. I also have a few huge plastic containers of fabric meterage under my sewing table as well as tubs full of scraps, strips, leftover batting and lots of WIPs!

So that’s the basic layout of my room and I how I find it best to work within it. When I am working on a project, like anything, it does take me a while to get into a rhythm or flow with how I move about and get things done efficiently and safely! I usually do all of my cutting first (whether that be for just one block or a for good chunk of quilt I’ve got going on), then lay out all of the cut pieces in the order I need to sew them, I pin, piece and press and then pop it up onto my design wall. Then repeat until I flop! 😀

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Look out for tomorrow’s post where I’ll be delving deeper into a few ideas and ways you can organise your fabrics, notions and general everyday-ness in your own sewing room or space! Hopefully a few things might inspire you (and myself to be honest) to get your sewing space in tip-top organisational heaven!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

May 9th: Sewing Room Tour!

Hello and welcome to week two in my Everyday May series!

I thought for this week, I would dedicate it to writing more about my sewing room and addressing a few of the requests from you guys about organisation, how to set up or layout your work space as well as a few other fun things I think might be helpful!

So first off for today I wanted to share with you a simple tour of my sewing room.

A few of you might’ve already seen this, but I uploaded this video onto my YouTube channel a few weeks ago showing you some of my most favourite nooks and crannies and bits and bobs that make this room a happy and inspiring one for me and for my quilting!

To be honest, there really isn’t much more to add to what I say and show you in the above tour… In it, I just really wanted to try to capture the essence and those little things that matter the most. Such things include my ever-watchful Buzz who guards the room so diligently, some of my favourite pieces of stationary, the way I like to store my embroidery threads in colour order, the cherished photo of me with my parents along with the sewing machine that helps me bring my thoughts, designs, dreams and passion into something brilliantly tactile and real!

I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to have this space at all! (You can read a little about the back story here!) And never a day goes by where I don’t spend a good couple of hours in here! It’s like my safe haven, my hub, my happy place. 🙂

No matter where you plan, design, cut, sew and work I hope that you enjoy the space you occupy when creating! Tell me about it in the comments section – I would love to know!!

Happy Sewing, Friends!!

May 6th: Simple Cross Block Tutorial

As the weekend greets us on this fine Friday afternoon, I thought I’d share with you a lovely and simply modern block that you can easily whip up in under half an hour as you unwind from the working week!

I’m calling it the Simple Cross block. It’s basically just a modified version of the X Plus Block but without the ‘X’ bits in each corner. They’ve been replaced with four 4.5″ squares.

So here’s a guide on how to make to it!

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First, using two contrasting or matching fabrics, cut the following measurements from each one.

SCMeasurements — *Grey = background / Blue = main print

Next, pair up the two 2.5″ blue squares with two of the 2.5″ grey squares. (Image 1)

Flip and pin each pair together and then sew a 1/4″ seam down the side that’s pinned. (Image 2)

Then press the seam on each duo towards the darker side of fabric with a medium steamy iron. (Image 3)

Next, take the rectangle piece and the two left over 2.5″ grey squares and sew each one to either end. Press the seams outwards towards the darker side of fabric. (Images 4/5/6)

After that, take two of the 4.5″ grey squares and place one of the blue/grey duo rectangles in between them. (Image 7)

Flip and pin the duo to one of the sides of either square and then sew a 1/4″ seam along it. Press the seam outwards towards the 4.5″ corner square. (Images 8/9)

Then, sew the other 4.5″ grey square to the other side of the blue/grey duo. Make another row with the left over pieces, resulting in two identical rows. (Image 10)

Next, sandwich the row with the blue rectangle in between the top and bottom and rows. (Image 11)

Pin the centre row evenly to the top edge of the bottom one and then sew them together using a 1/4″ seam. Neatly press the seam inwards towards the centre row. (Images 12/13)

Lastly, pin the top row to the top edge of the centre row and sew them together. (Image 14)

Press the seam inwards again to finish the block.

The finished size of the block is: 10.5″x10.5″ (26.5cmx26.5cm).

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Share your finished blocks with me on Instagram or on my Facebook page!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

Inspiration: 500 Quilt Blocks by Lynne Goldsworthy & Kerry Green

May 4th: Sewing & Craft Books Haul!

The other day I naively walked into my local Spotlight and stumbled upon the biggest bargain in my life!

And that was a wonderful selection of beautifully published sewing and craft books by Stash Books on sale for $2.99 each! Each!! Oh. Em. Gee!

I just simply couldn’t believe it!

So like any sane quilter, I had a good rummage through the titles and piled up each one that took my fancy!

So let’s have a look at what I got…

PillowPopBook — *Pillow Pop*, compiled by Heather Bostic (2013)

So the title of the first one pretty much explains everything! It’s a gorgeous little book full of 25 quick and easy pillow patterns and ideas by some of the leading makers in the modern quilting movement. As I flick through it, my eye keeps catching on some super basic but very effective patterns and designs. Some of these include autumnal chevrons, fresh drunken path blocks, darling little Union Jacks (a must make!!) as well as rainbow flying geese and sunburst dresden plates! So if you’re crazy for making gorgeous pillows and cushions for the home, this book is a must for any quilter’s library!

ScandinavianStitchesBook — *Scandinavian Stitches*, by Kajsa Wikman (2010)

So with this book, I did what we all shouldn’t do and judged the book by it’s cover and said, YES! I mean, how adorable are some of the darling crafty things on this cover?!! Ohh! So homey and fun! Once I had a quick flick through it at home, I knew I had made a good choice! There are some super fun and aesthetically pleasing projects in this book ranging from patchwork pincushions featuring beautifully free-motioned embroidered words: Sew me! The lovely house and clothesline framed design is a pattern in the book along with the sweet little stuffed houses (or garden sheds!). If you have kids in your life, I think this is a great book to use as inspiration when the next birthday rolls around!

LibertyLoveBook — *Liberty Love*, by Alexia Marcelle Abegg (2013)

I absolutely love Liberty print fabrics!! They feature so many beautifully delicate floral patterns, colours, forms and proportions. I swoon every time I see them! When I get the chance to visit London, Liberty will be one of the first places I’ll go where I’ll make a beeline straight for the fabrics and haberdashery department! Ooo, I can’t wait!! Anyway, back to reality and this lovely book at hand! This one features a great handful of different type of sewing and quilting projects like a Classic Thread Spools Quilt, a modern Medallion Quilt, a fun little dog collar and fabric rosettes, a few easy to construct bags and totes as well as some dressmaking designs like a t-shirt and tunic dress. The photos and over-all layout of the book is just simply darling and sooo Liberty! It’s definitely my kind of sewing book!

SweetwatersSimpleHomeBook — *Sweetwater’s Simple Home*, by Lisa Burnett, Karla Eisenach & Susan Kendrick (2011)

Another title that pretty much sums up the theme of the book – lots of simple projects that can be made for the home! Patterns include a sweet but very modern frilly apron, pot holders, a few fun little quilts, office based projects such as journal covers and lamp shades and then a few things for the kids such big round floor cushions, a checkers board mat and a birthday board made from fabric! There are so many great ideas in here it’s so hard not to just list them all down!

UrbanScandinavianSewingBook — *Urban Scandinavian Sewing*, by Kirstyn Cogan (2015)

I have to be honest with you again… The only reason why I bought this book (a part from the fact I love the Scandinavian aesthetic!) was for that jolly little Santa softie sitting proudly and oh-so sweetly! What a little legend! But apart from him, there are some really great ideas in this one! Not only is it full of homey sewing projects but it has some delicious Scandinavian recipes, beverages and traditions! There are some fab things to make the kids like the Santa softie, a fabric fish mobile and lovely appliquéd strip quilt! Then there are some great makes for the kitchen as well as a few simple bags and totes. Four words to describe this book – Simple. Fresh. Modern. Humble.

ThePracticalGuidetoPatchworkBook — *The Practical Guide to Patchwork*, by Elizabeth Hartman (2010)

And last but not least, I was able to pick up another copy of one of my all-time favourite quilting books! I will always recommend this one as a great first quilting book to have in your stash. All of the designs are modern and fresh, easy to follow and photographed beautifully. Like all quilting books, right at the beginning there is a dedicated chapter to showing and explaining all of the basic (and more advanced) techniques, tools and materials you will need to know and have to begin patchwork and quilting. In this book, this info is explained in plain english, no fancy-pants words or misleading instructions. It’s straight to the point and super helpful! Some of the projects include blocks such as the square-in-a-square, four-patch and nine-patch as well as plenty of other modern and traditional block forms. Perfect!

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Whew! Book haul over!

Now I just have to find a place to put them all! 😀

What’s your favourite quilting/sewing/craft book? I would love to know!

Happy Reading, Friends!

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PS. Happy Star Wars Day!

Of each print:

Background & Backing fabrics:

Binding:

Batting: (estimate)

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