Chicopee Feathers pillow

When I was having a tidy up recently, I found a couple of stray feathers blocks left over from the AMH Chicopee Feathers quilt made by the AusModBee members a few years ago.

I also had this 35 x 53 cm pillow form lying around and the feathers were almost the right size to join together to make a longer breakfast style pillow.

To get the blocks to the right size, I just had to add a little of the light grey solid to each side before echo quilting around each of the feathers.

I even found some of the black ladder dot binding leftover from my Feathers quilt which was almost enough to go around the pillow - just needed to add in a bit of the citron yellow from the back of the Feathers quilt.

And the pillow is backed in some of the Britten Nummer fabric which I bought a few more metres of on a recent trip to Ikea.

Now I just have to wait until it cools down so I can use the quilt on our bed again along with the matching pillow.

 Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

This was on my FAL Q1 list for this year so linking up with the 2016 FAL team.

Kirsten.

Melba Magpie pillow & Happy Australia Day!

On this Australia Day, I have a very Aussie finish using "Melba" which is a new fabric range by Emma Jean Jansen with designs inspired by the trams and suburbs of Melbourne along with native Australian flowers and birds.

As soon as I saw the magpie fabric, I thought of my neighbours who are AFL fans and with their surname being Collingwood, they are of course Collingwood supporters!

The magpie is the team emblem for the Collingwood Football Club so I chose the Magpie and Melbourne suburbs fabric along with a few grey solids for the pillow.

Because I especially wanted to feature the magpie print, I made a smaller version of one of the "Melways" quilt blocks for the pillow.

The quilting is fairly simple - mainly a few straight lines echoing the main blocks and diagonally through the centre.

And bound it in a B&W stripe similar to the one in the jerseys the Collingwood AFL players wear. 

PS: I am Victorian by birth but am a Richmond "Tigers" supporter so I have gifted this pillow to my lovely neighbours as a thank you as they are always happy to look after my kitty Simba when we are away.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

This was on my FAL Q1 list for this year so linking up with the 2016 FAL team.
Kirsten.

Gypsy Wife QAL 2016

The Gypsy Wife quilt by Jen Kingwell has been on my "quilty wish list" for a while now, so when I saw the #gypsywifequiltalong2106 which is being co-hosted by Megan @Jaffa Quilts and Hydeeann , I thought I should join in. 

After seeing an absolutely beautiful version of this quilt made by Jenn @ Twin Fibers using a mix of Bonnie and Camille fabrics, I think I am also going to dig into my B&C stash for this quilt.

I have prints from Bliss to Hello Darling and am awaiting the new Vintage Picnic and Little Ruby which can be added in later on in the year. 

When looking through the Gypsy Wife pattern, I realised that I may need a few more dark (navy) and lighter/low volume prints so when I went up the coast to visit my daughter, stopped by Fifis Fabricology to choose some to add to the ones I already have. 

So this is my fabric pull at this stage - my collection of over 100 B&C fabrics:) Also, as I have an older copy of the GW pattern there is a correction page that can be found here.  

Kirsten.

First finish for 2016 - Carry-all Pincushion

I managed to finish off the Carry-all Pincushion from Anna's Handmade Style book today. 

This is such a great project and it really can hold quite a few of those "essential" sewing notions.

For the pincushion, I used fabrics by Carolyn Friedlander  - a combination of Architectures, Botanics and Doe.

I have my favourite tool - a Hera marker- slipped into the side pocket

This is the first of many projects I plan to make from this book - I love them all!!

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

This was on my FAL Q1 list for this year so linking up with the 2016 FAL team.

Kirsten.

Goals for Q1 FAL 2016

In 2016, for the first quarter FAL, I have quite a few projects that I would really like to get finished and also hoping to do some stash-busting along the way for #sewmystash2016....

1. AMH Painted Portrait dress: one thing I want to try this year is some garment sewing. I bought some pretty aqua floral rayon quite a while ago now to make this and I have already made a muslin to check sizing. I made up the sleeveless dress which will be lovely and cool to wear during summer.

2. And also a sleeveless blouse from the same pattern - I am using some Tula Pink Eden elephants for the front yoke and it is all cut out ready to sew!

3. Next up is a mini quilt for the Thimble Blossoms swap due by the end of January - I have the first block sewn together and just need to do the other 3 before quilting!.

4. A "Fancy Fox" quilt by Elizabeth Hartman, using a mix of orange fabrics from my stash.

5. Melba pillow  - I have made one of the Melways blocks to use for a pillow as a gift for our neighbours (The Collingwoods) as they are always happy to mind our cat Simba when we go away.

6. Another stash busting quilt is the "Pineapple quilt" using the pattern by Jackie Padesky - I have one block sewn already and this will be the perfect way to use up some of the stash of yellow fabrics I have. 

7. Skipping Stones quilt for my son - I have the blocks sewn together for the blue quilt but still need to get it quilted and bound...

8. And the green version of the Skipping Stones quilt for my other son needs to be finished too.

9. Fancy Friends MQS: the foxes are already made but I  need to practice making some of the other animals for this mini quilt.

10. Pixel Perfect Quilt using a mix of Tula pink fabrics - I already have some of the "A" blocks made and am loving them so far!

11. Another Jeliquilts Plus quilt this time using some Very Hungry Caterpillar fabrics - I have sewn the main pieces into the rows, but still need to join them together.

12. A Gatherer Cross body bag using the pattern by Anna @ Noodlehead designs - I am using some Koi canvas and so far have attached the piping to the pocket. 

13.  I received Annas lovely book "Handmade Style" for Christmas and I immediately started one of the smaller projects from the book - the Carry-all Pincushion but all I have done so far is the pocket preparation.

14. When I was cleaning up before Christmas, I came across a couple of stray feathers blocks from my Chicopee quilt a few years ago - they are too pretty not to use so I think I will make a matching pillow for the quilt.

15. A little project for Valentines day using a tutorial from here - I have made some of the hourglass blocks already.

16. Lillyella sewing machine mat - my daughter is is the process of moving to the Gold Coast  and whilst I will miss her terribly, it also means that her bedroom will become a spare/sewing room so I am planning on a few things to make it look like a nice craft area!

So there are all of my projects on my list for Q1 - 16 for 2016! Wish me luck!!

Linking up with the 2016 FAL which is being hosted by a great group of bloggers from all over the world this year!

Kirsten.

Q4 2015 Finish-A-Long report

Time again the final quarter check-in for this year! I manged to get most of the projects on my Q4 Finish-A-Long list done, but there are a few more which might be added to my next to-do list...

1. Sea glass ripple blanket : done!

2.Goody Goody sewing kit: done!

 3. Raggy Edge quilt:  done! 

4.  Scooped bag: done!

5. Pineapple runner: done!

6. Passport/Travel wallet :  done!

7. A bunch of Pretty Zippy's for gifts using the pattern by Peta @ She Quilts A lot - done!.

8. Tula Pink true colors swap: done!

9. Christmas Tree runner: using a pattern from LPQ magazine #14 - done! 

10. Hexie mini - tried my first EPP hexagons and quilted them in the style of Nicole @ Modern Handcraft  - done!

11.  Skipping stones quilt - I did manage to get the top done for the blue version of this quilt but it still needs to be quilted/bound so this is going back on my list for next year!

12. Koala quilt: done!

13. Hexie pillow: more EPP hexagons to make a pillow using a pattern from LPQ mag #14 this time using some fun gray and yellow fabrics - I have made the hexgons and hand stitched them together but haven't gotten any further...

 14. Noodlehead Super tote: done!

15. Tribal woodland "Plus" quilt : done!

So I am pretty happy with what I got done this quarter! Linking up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side.
Kirsten.