Colourful Grannies sewing machine cover

The granny square sewing machine cover which I started back in July is finally finished.

I have just quilted it in straight lines on the diagonal, then backed and bound it in dark grey, using some yellow measuring tape ribbon for the side ties.

I was going to make it double sided but I love these fabrics so much that I just wanted to always have them showing.

So my Singer is now happily sitting under in this sewing machine cover which was totally inspired by the lovely one Debbie made for her daughter. And as Debbie had also sent me these very cool Stitch in Color prints when we swapped fabrics recently, it was quite appropriate that I use them for this project:)


Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.
Kirsten.

Quilts for guys

I know that I am not alone in finding it difficult to find masculine quilt fabrics and patterns suitable for the men in our life. The only one I have done so far is a quilt I made for my dad last year for his 70th birthday using  Sweetwaters "Authentic", which was a perfect choice as the numbers were just right for his love of Sudoku:)

So now I am trying to gather ideas to make a decent sized "manly" quilt for each of my teenage sons.  I have a FQ set of Curious Nature here and I would like to make them something that will last them as they grow older.  

Photo from Crazy Old Ladies

I was fortunate enough to win a copy of Emily Herricks amazing "Geared for Guys"  book recently too - there are lots of wonderful ideas for "guy" quilts in the book. My favourite one in the book is the Urban Decay quilt by John at Quilt Dad which is featured on the cover, although the "Gamer" quilt is awesome too and would be perfect for my youngest son.

1. Curious Nature Crosses, Water and Woods, 2. City for my Sis, 3. Katy's Quilt, 4. Michaels Quilt Front, 5. gamer quilt, 6. Neptune Quilted, 7. green to blue quilt, 8. Banff Quilt Front, 9. plus quilt in corn, 10. Oliver's Zig Zag, 11. City Lights Quilt, 12. Plus-Quilt, 13. Mosaic14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

The mosaic above is from some of my flickr favourites -  I especially love the 2 Plus quilts in the middle that Carla made. I made a Plus quilt last year and I really love it so I am keen to make another one (or two). It is almost spring here now in Australia so I hope to have them ready for winter next year.......and maybe do one for my hubby for our 20th anniversary next year too.
Kirsten.

Swoon block #5

In between going to my sons soccer and football games this weekend, I managed to sew another Swoon block together, and even got the directional prints to match.

Now I have 5 out of 9 blocks done which is more than halfway.

Now that I am finally nearing the end, I am going to need to start thinking about the layout of the blocks soon too.



Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.
Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - swap quilt progress

After stalking checking out my secret partner's DUDQS mosiac, flickr faves and profile, I have finally made a start on her mini quilt, which isn't due to be sent off until October.

I have chosen a few colours that I am pretty sure she likes and am gong to try and make something that I haven't done before - I am a bit nervous about it all so will need to wait and see if it actually works out.

I just hope she likes the direction that I am going.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

DS Richmond fabrics

In preparation for the upcoming Denyse Schmidt Doll quilt swap (round 3), I bought the 12 new DS "Richmond" fabrics from Spotlight last week..

 As usual, we seem to have a few Aussie only prints - the salmony colour on the bottom print is really lovely, and the stripes would be perfect for binding. There is a photo of the ones available in the US here.

Some of these prints are on a black background so they are a bit more masculine in style and colour - they remind me a bit of the Greenfield Hill range.

Sign-ups for the swap have now closed so we should find out our secret partners for the DS doll quilt swap later this week - and also the theme of the swap this time around. Can't wait:)
Kirsten.

Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop - Fabric Lanyard

Hi and welcome if you are visiting from the Let's Get Acquainted Blop Hop! Today I have a tutorial for a handy fabric lanyard that could be used to hang a number of things - keys, id tags, and thread snips to name a few.

You will need: Basic sewing equipment - cutting mat. rotary cutter, acrylic quilters ruler, sewing machine, pins.
At least 4 x 42 inches of fabric - I am using some cute elephant fabrics similar to the Daiwabo ones, in a white on navy, and a red on white.

And some key ring hardware - such as a large lobster clasp key ring, a swivel or a snap hook, or a split key ring. I found the ones I have used in the bag making section at the craft store.

1. Start by squaring up the edge of your fabric by lining it up with the selvedge and repeatedly folding up the flat bottom edge to meet up with the selvedge until it is wide enough for you to be able to lay it on your cutting mat with one of the marked lines on your quilters ruler lined up with the lower straight edge of the fabric.

2. Cut a width of fabric (WOF) strip about 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Trim off the selvedges so that you end up with a strip about 3 x 42 " wide.

3. Fold the trip in half lengthways and iron flat.

4. Open the strip out again and fold one side so that the raw edge meets the crease in the centre, and press.

5. Repeat for the other side.

6. Fold over so that the raw edges are enclosed in the fold. 

7.Press and pin along the length of the fold. 

8. Lay the folded strip out flat and slide your key ring or clasp onto it, moving it a little way along.

 9. Open out the two ends of the folded strip and pin them right sides together without twisting the strip of fabric.

10. Pin and stitch the ends closed with a half inch seam - you should now have a joined loop/ circle of fabric.

11 . Press the seam open and fold raw edges back in. Press again and repin.

12. You should have a loop about 42 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.

13. Stitch along each side of the lanyard close to the edges, moving the clasp along the strip as you sew so that it isn't in the way.

14. Press again if needed, and your lanyard is ready to use!

15. I made another patchwork version by cutting some 2.5 inch pieces of fabric,

and joining them together with a half inch seam to make a strip approximately 2.5 x 40", then proceeding from step 3 above.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! These would make great gifts for teachers, party favours, stocking stuffers, and even for school fetes or stalls.
Kirsten.

Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Hi and welcome if you are visiting from the Let's Get Acquainted! Blog Hop organised by Beth from Plum and June. Today it is my turn to introduce myself - my name is Kirsten and live in the beautiful Northern Rivers regions of NSW, Australia, not far from Byron Bay. I have 3 teenage children who are at high school, and a grey tabby cat named Simba who can't keep himself out of trouble. I work part time as a Medical Scientist in a pathology laboratory which still leaves me a few days each week for sewing.

Here are my answers to a few questions from Beth so that you may find out a bit more about me.  

- How long have you been quilting -  about 3 years now.The first quilt I made was a "Stack and Slash" style quilt using some fabrics I bought from a craft fair, but I like making quilts in a more modern style now.

- Favorite quilting tip: I have really enjoyed participating in flickr swaps and quilt-alongs which are a great way to get to try out new techniques, so if you haven't been in any of them yet I can thoroughly recommend jumping in and joining one as they are a lot of fun.

- Favorite blogging tip: K.I.S.S - Keep It Short (and) Simple, and I also prefer to mainly blog about crafty matters, and only occasionally deviate from that.

- Favorite fabric: Echo by Lotta Jansdotter - I have just used it recently for a little project........

- Favorite craft book: Elizabeth Hartmann's "The Practical Guide To Patchwork". 

- Favorite book: "Outlander" (released as Cross Stitch in the UK) which is the first book in The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. 

- Favorite quilting tool: Walking foot  as I like to do straight line quilting.

- Favorite music to listen to while quilting: Glee soundtracks - I love the remakes of some old favourites.

- Favorite TV show while hand stitching: Revenge, or an Aussie show called Offspring.

- Binding - by hand or by machine? Usually by machine but I have recently done some by hand and I really enjoyed it so maybe I will do it this way from now on.

- If I'd only known - what you wish you knew about blogging before you started your blog: 
How lovely the online quilting/blogging community is. I have "met" so many nice and generous people from all over the world via blogs.
I have a tutorial to make a fabric lanyard which you can find over here, and please pop over and visit Stephanie who is also on the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop today.
Kirsten.

Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop - Tabbed Tea Towel tutorial

I have quite a few plain tea towels at home, and wanted to make them more pretty and practical by using patterned fabric to spruce them up a bit. You may have seen tea towels done this way before with a crocheted top, so that they be attached to kitchen cupboard handles.

Supplies:
One plain cotton tea towel (one tea towel will make 2 tabbed tea towels) - I have based this tutorial on a tea towel measuring 18x 28" before washing.
One button
Two small pieces of fabric - at least 8x8"
Template for patterned fabric top piece
Basic sewing equipment - rotary cutters, mat, fabric scissors, measuring tape, pins

1. Wash tea towels first (as they may shrink if made from 100% cotton) and iron. 

2. Fold tea towel in half lengthways (along the longer side - about 28") and cut in half. You should now have 2 pieces approximately 14x 18 "

3. Taking one of the two pieces that have just been cut, fold in the raw edge and press, then fold in again - press and pin.

4. Stitch this edge with matching thread to your tea towel.

5. Mark the centre of the shorter side (about 12" wide) with a pin.  

6. Then place a pin about 1/4 and 3/4 of the way along the top, so it is divided into about 4 even sections. My tea towel was a bit over 12" wide so I placed pins at 3,6 and 9 " .

7. Fold in from an outside pin to the middle pin creating a pleat, and pin in place.

8. Repeat for the other side - the width across the top of the tea towel should now be about 6". If you have a wider tea towel, you may need to adjust the width accordingly by making extra or wider pleats.

9. Sew along the top edge to hold the pleats in place. Remove pins and place the tea towel aside for now.



10.  Using the template, cut out the pattern for the patterned fabric piece, and pin to fabric. Cut out and repeat so that you have 2 identical pieces of fabric for the top.

11. Mark each piece about 1/2 and inch up from the bottom flat edge. Then with right sides together, pin together. Starting from the 2 marks 1/2 inch from the bottom edge (where blue pins are on my fabric), stitch together with a 1/4" seam. 

11. Turn up the bottom edge (about 1/2" wide) then pin and press. Repeat for other side.


12. Clip the curves and turn right side out. Push out the corners and press, keeping the bottom edges that were pressed in the last step folded up inside.


13. Mark where the button hole will be sewn - about  the middle of the tab part of the top piece. (Rather than doing a buttonhole and a button, you could also use a bit of velcro for the closure if you wished )

14. Sew the button hole and using thread snips, cut it open. 

15. Gathering the tea towel and the top fabric together, place the top piece over the top edge of the tea towel where the pleat is, so that it is encased in the patterned fabric. Pin together, checking that the tea towel is also encased on the other side.

16. Stitch along the edge of the patterned fabric - I used a walking foot for this as the tea towel was a bit bulky where the pleats were.


17. Fold the top piece down so that you can use the buttonhole to mark where the button will be sewn. 


18. Stitch a button on so you can hang your tabbed tea towel off a handle in your kitchen. You could also do this with hand towels in the bathroom so that they don't fall on the floor.


Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. 
Kirsten.