Happy Flower QAL Blocks 3 and 4

Week 2 of the Quilt-a-long, and so far so good!

 I've added some more polka dot backgrounds, and stuck with the Little Ruby prints by Bonnie and Camille for now....although I can't guarantee that this will always be the case :)

Most of all, I'm loving the simplicity of the blocks. They are very achievable and don't take a big chunk of time.... Saturday nights when there's not much on seem to be my perfect time to pull out the fabrics and at least choose what I'm going to use.

My lovely local quilt shop have ordered me in some of the elusive pink that I'm using for the borders, so I should be all set!  It's called Betty's Pink from the Bella Solids range...it matches beautifully with Little Ruby.

Are you joining in the QAL? Please leave me a comment so I can check out your blocks! If you're on instagram, my username is suzitee1 😀

TTFN

Susan xxx

Blessings

Cushions are my new favourite thing to make, it would seem :)

This one has been in production since way before Christmas, and was intended as a Christmas gift for a very special friend of mine (oops!) Luckily, she is the kind of friend who saw the humour in recieving a cushion top , half stitched and held together with safety pins on Christmas Eve.

The stitchery design is by Rosalie Dekker Designs, and is stitched with Cottage Garden Thread 1301 Rosalie, which quite possibly is my favourite of all CGTs.

                                      

The background was created by piecing lots of 2.5 inch squares in random order, backing that piece with some wadding, then quilting a smidge on either side of the joining seams. It's a simple technique but gives the cushion a gorgeous cuddly feel.

I used a dinner plate slightly bigger than the design to create a cardboard template. I then cut the stitchery roughly in a slightly bigger circle, gathered around the outside of the fabric and placed it over the template.  If you pull the bobbin threads firmly but carefully, your stitchery will form a neat circle over the cardboard.

I  iron the stitchery then remove the cardboard....this leaves you with a nice round circle, which you pin then stitch onto your prepared background. I always machine stitch :)

 Thankfully she loved it.

Perhaps I should start making Christmas gifts a little earlier this year?

TTFN

Susan xxx

A Foxy Tale

What to give a girl for her 16th birthday? That was my recent dilemma with my daughter fast approaching that milestone.

Last year, I made her a simple quilt for the end of her bed. On an expedition
to our local quilting shop, she had fallen in love with the soft florals, and mix 
of pinks and greens which is Tilda's Apple Bloom collection, so I bought the 
quilt kit and constructed the quilt over a weekend. She was totally surprised 
and loved it!

( Since I hadn't actually taken any photos of it, I thought I'd include some
here.)

The pattern is a simple log cabin design, and is available at

 www.tildasworld.com if you'd ever like to make one :) I had it quilted with 

an overall pattern of swirls 

and flowers...it's quite stunning, actually.

 Anyhoo...this year I really struggled with what to gift her. She loves anything handmade, and she also loves nothing more than to snuggle with a good
 book under her quilt, so I decided to create a reading nook in her bedroom.
The idea was to drape her quilt over the back of a really comfy chair next to
her window, cover it with cushions and also provide some extra light for those
 late night reading sessions.

 

 I set about making her a cushion using the quilt offcuts :) I've been making
lots of Dresdens lately, so this was an obvious choice for my cushion design.
 I was a bit stuck for what to use in the centre...I was leaning towards a stitchery or a monogram, but finally settled on a fox. She adores foxes, and
has several plush versions of them sitting around her room.

I resized one of the foxes from my Foxley Village quilt, blanket stitched it in
place using the vliseofix method, and chain stitched a double border with
co-ordinating colours.

She LOVED it (phew!)

While she was at school, I cleaned and rearranged her bedroom to
accomodate her new furniture.

That was last week, and I always know where to find her now :) snuggled
 in her chair doing her homework on her laptop, or reading quietly in her
reading nook.

(Is it wrong to admit that I am very jealous? I'm thinking a stitching corner
 in the master bedroom....but I'm not sure how keen my husband would be 
on that plan!)

TTFN

Susan xxx

Happy Flower Quilt-a-long

The Happy Flower Quilt-a-long had my name written all over it from the minute I saw the hashtag pop up on instagram 😄

 From the very first time I saw the amazing book by Atsuko Matsuyama several years ago I was in love with the pink quilt on the front cover...SO much pretty! However, the book was printed in Japanese and I really didn't think my quilting skills could extend to understanding instructions in another language!

The English version was printed in 2016, and I managed to get my hands on a copy earlier this year...yay! I wasn't actually planning on making anything until I saw that hashtag, and all of a sudden my head was swirling with ideas.

One (very late) night last weekend, my heart settled on my Bonnie and Camille fabric stash, in particular my Little Ruby fat quarter bundle. How perfect would all those tiny prints be?

The rest is history.

The polkadot backgrounds were a no-brainer...although I may have to stock up on a few more colours  over the course of the QAL ;)

Already, a happy little community has formed over on Facebook and Instagram, and I'm sure you would be welcomed with open arms if you choose to give in to the temptation.

I'm hoping to keep up with the group's goal of two blocks per week, but if not I'll be happy with however far I get. Just making pretty little 6 inch blocks is enough to give me joy :)
(speaking of 6 inch blocks, I must remember to show you my Splendid Sampler blocks....oh and my Farmers Wife blocks...and my Farm Girl Vintage blocks....there's a trend there!)

Have a happy day!
 TTFN

Susan xxx