Marti Mitchell Mini Quiltmania Link Up!
I'm excited to share with you all the details for entering the Marti Michell Mini Quiltmania competition organised by Gnome Angel and to tell you about all the fabulous prizes on offer! You have two weeks to
enter and create your own mini using one of these amazing mini quilt tutorials. There's
13 quilts to choose from with varying degrees of skill required for each. The thing they all
have in common is that they use Marti Michell Templates to make. The tutorials for all the mini quilts are ready and waiting, so you can just enjoy making!
Here's the complete list of all 13 quilts and where to find their tutorials:
- A Tree Quilt Mini Quilt by Rachel at Wooden Spoon Quilts: Click here for tutorial
- There's a Bear in There Mini Quilt by Cat at Cat + Vee: Click here for tutorial
- Rainbow Triangles by Tonya at The Crafty Mummy: Click here for tutorial
- Coral Mini Quilt by Kristy at Bonjour Quilts: Click here for tutorial
- Beach Boxes Mini Quilt by Peta at She Quilts A Lot: Click here for tutorial
- I Left My Heart in Colorado Mini Quilt by Lucy at Charm About You: Click here for tutorial
- Thanks a Bunch Mini Quilt by Angie at GnomeAngel: Click here for tutorial
- Bear Paw in the Bee Hive Mini Quilt by Marti at Marti Michell: Click here for tutorial
- Nebula Mini Quilt by Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts: Click here for tutorial
- Whirlwind Mini Quilt by Nat at Ouvrages de Nat: Click here for tutorial
- Fall Pumpkin Mini Quilt by Lisa at In The Boon Docks: Click here for tutorial
- Pineapple Slice Mini Quilt by Lisa at Sweet Little Pretties: Click here for tutorial
- Butterfly Mini Quilt by Raylee at Sunflower Quilting: Click here for tutorial
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
The lovely lady herself, Marti Michell, is sponsoring a fabulous prize for one lucky winner.
You can win a $50 gift voucher to spend online at the Marti Michell shop. This is such a
great prize for adding to your template collection and taking advantage of some of the great
template pattern books Marti has written. Go window shopping by clicking here.
Simply Soilds who
are simply awesome are offering one lucky reader a mystery FQ Bundle. If you haven't heard
of Simply Solids you need to remedy that quick smart. Here's a little history on Simply Solids
for you.
Established in 2010 Simply Solids has been providing the UK sewing and quilting community with designer cotton solids in a vast rainbow of colours! We remain as one of the UKs premier destinations for Robert Kaufman's Kona Cotton Solids and our rapidly expanding blenders division is allowing us to introduce many more designer fabrics to our mix. Here you will currently find manufacturers such as Michael Miller, Art Gallery Fabrics, Makower and Riley Blake to name but a few!
Still not convinced, check out their Fat Quarter Bundles section and start dreaming about
what's coming your way! Click here to drool.
Make Modern is an
Australian-based modern quilt magazine written by quilters, for quilters. Make Modern is
published digitally which means you can get your copy anywhere. One lucky entrant will win
a 6 month subscription to Make Modern. Want to see what you could be reading, click here to see the Make
Modern Pattern Gallery.
HOW DO YOU ENTER?
Enter by submitting your photo of your finished mini
quilt made via one of the 13 tutorials to the link up below. Alternatively you can submit
your photo to the specific album in the Farmer’s Wife
1930’s Sampler Quilt Facebook Group or you can post it on Instagram with the hashtag
#MartiMichellMiniQuiltmania and tag @gnomeangel and @MartiMichell in the photo. So
many ways to enter there should be no excuse for you not to be in the running!
Entries will be open from Wednesday 30 November 2016 @ 7:30am AEST (Sydney Time)
and close Wednesday 14 December 2016 @ Midnight AEST. (That's two weeks to make a
mini quilt, you can totally do it!)
Enter Here!
HOW DO I WIN?
We have a secret panel of judges that will choose their favourite entries which will go in the
running to win a prize. It’s open internationally and winners will be announced on Friday
16 December at 7:30am AEST. (Judges decision is final and discussion will not be entered
into.)
laughter and a winner
I just got off the phone to my husband. We had a really funny chat, it's one of those stories that if I tell you about it you won't find it funny at all - so I won't bother. What I will tell you is I couldn't stop laughing. A proper laughing fit. It felt so so good! I encourage you all to laugh today. Talk to your partner, a friend or watch something funny and have a really good laugh. Master of None on Netflix is hilarious, I'm currently watching it and would recommend it.
This little parcel is a full of secret sewing and is on it's way today, but sorry I can't share until next year! Admire the pretty washi tape though :)
In other cuteness, this little ball of joy is constantly cracking me up! She is so theatrical and loves singing all the songs she's learning at nursery. Adorable!
So on to the winner of the Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory giveaway...
69 Dude!!
Congratulations Jessica! I have sent you an email :)
I hope you're all having a great week and that you can find something to smile about today! xx
come sew with me
I am super excited to be teaching 'Sew a Stitchy Pie Needle Case' at Simply Solids in Huddersfield on Saturday 11th March. You will learn some embroidery stitches and create a cute needle case for organising all your sewing needles. It is perfect for hand or machine needles, allows them to be neatly labelled and stored securely.
I finished the class sample using Aurifil floss in a limited colour palette and a touch of metallic Aurifil Brillo thread. I am loving grey and yellow together at the moment but wanted to lift it slightly so added in the turquoise for another pop of colour.
I also discovered I could use my cute banner stamp as a frame for writing in the types of needles. I would like to get an alphabet stamp set so I can do the lettering too, these were written on with a permanent pen.
Simply Solids will provide all the materials for the class, as well as a copy of the Stitchy Pie pattern. I will give you tuition, all my tips for easy embroidery and how to achieve a neat finish on the case. They are a lot of fun to make and a really helpful part of your sewing kit! To book your place, click here!
linking up to finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts
Bobbie Lou's fabric factory ~ Giveaway! ⭐
**Giveaway now closed**
I am delighted to welcome Bobbie Lou's fabric factory as a new sponsor! Full of gorgeous and vibrant fabric, this modern online shop is the perfect place to discover fabulous prints. The owner Chelsea finds fun, bright fabrics for endless beautiful creations.
You will find lots of the popular fabric designers and quality manufacturers in the shop, like Art Gallery Fabrics, Cotton & Steel, Dear Stella, Cloud 9 and many more. Chelsea has amazing taste and all the products chosen for the shop are really beautiful! There are lovely dress making patterns and these incredible embroidery kits by Kiriki Press:
The site is easy to use, with excellent menus to help you pick out fabric by brand, designer or colour, as well as style - which is really usually if you want to search for a particular type of print. I would like everything in the Polka Dot section!
Bobbie Lou's fabric factory also sells fat quarters, which means you can get smaller cuts when you need them or buy more variety easily! It's nice to be able to get fat quarter cuts of any print.
I encourage you to go and take a look at all the ranges she stocks but here are just a few of my favourites...
This pretty moon print is so striking and I love floral designs:
There are lots of fun prints and fabric perfect for children's projects too. These are the cutest penguins and I can't resist a great text print:
clockwise from top left: Alphabet in Gray, Type by Julia Rothman; Silly Chilly Penguin in Red, Christmas Time by Alexander Henry House Designer; Lions and Tigers in Gold Organic, Happy Drawing by Ed Emberley and Mono Butterfly in Blush, Whisper by Victoria Johnson.
It is a great time to visit the shop because from tomorrow there is 20% off the entire shop, from 25th November - 28th November 2016. The sale will be both on the shop website as well as the Bobbie Lou Fabric Etsy shop. The code is: SweetPotato20
And even better the discount can also be used on sale items! Definitely check that out!
As if that weren't enough, Bobbie Lou's fabric factory are offering you the chance to win a $50 gift certificate to the shop!
*GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*
4. Spread the news - share this giveaway on facebook, instagram, blog, twitter, pinterest etc - then leave a comment letting me know how you shared (optional entry)
The giveaway is open internationally and ends 29th November 2016. A winner will chosen by random.org.
For the love of luck please please leave your email address in the comment - the last couple of times I picked winners that I could not contact so they missed out!!
Good luck :)
finishing binding
For those of you that like a neat finish on your binding, I made a little video to explain how I put the ends together. It's the quickest and simplest way I have found!
I have a tutorial for how to put binding on a quilt, which includes making mitred corners and hand sewing the binding down, click here to read how!
There is a lot of secret sewing going on here so I can't show you much at the moment but pop back here tomorrow for a fun giveaway :)
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Peek A Pouch 🎊
This week I finished a fun make, perfect for a quick gift or to hold small treasures! It would be handy for keeping a few make up bits in too because it's made of laminated fabric and vinyl.
The free pattern is Peek A Pouch by Laura Zuckerkuss, which she let me pattern test for her. Laura provides excellent step by step instructions and tips for working with these fabrics. The tutorial really makes it so easy!
I happened to have scraps of this gorgeous Loulouthi laminated fabric by Anna Maria Horner, that someone (so sorry I have forgotten who?!) sent me - possibly in a swap or giveaway. I literally had the perfect amount for this project, I had to be careful when cutting! I also didn't want to lose the lovely pink and yellow flowers completely because they are my favourite part of the print, so I put them on the back.
I also the found I had the perfect zip, which matches beautifully! I like these pull ring zips, I got mine from Simply Because Crafts on eBay in the UK or I know Sunny Day Supply stock them in the US.
The neon kraft confetti also makes me so happy!
You can see more of Laura's clever patterns on Craftsy! Thanks for letting me test Laura :)
I am full of cold at the moment and feeling a bit sorry for myself. Hopefully I can have a quiet weekend of hibernation and get some sewing done! Tonight I am finishing the quilting on my rose star quilt - I feel a little sad that it's nearly done because it's been such a long work in progress, at the same time I can't wait to take those basting stitches out and get it bound. I will be posting pics on instagram over the weekend, as well as hosting the Saturday Night Craft Along from 6pm, so make sure you come and follow me over there!
What are your weekend plans? Does anyone else feel like hibernating?!
linking up:
a little catch up...
I'm busy working on a million things as per usual and the little one is home poorly today. I haven't had much sleep but I am hoping to do a little stitching today while we both take it easy.
There is some secret sewing going on but until I can do a reveal here is what I'm currently working on. Another Stitchy Pie needle case, it's fun to do some embroidery again!
I am also getting section 4 of my green tea and sweet beans pieced together, I am machining the filler blocks and hand piecing the blocks together so it's slow sewing!
My rose star quilt is nearly finished, just a bit more hand quilting. I really would like to get it finished before Christmas.
My list of WIPs is really crazy so I need to crack on and sew.
This past weekend we had an early birthday party for my eldest daughter, my sister came up for a visit and it was lovely to see her growing bump! I even got to feel my niece kicking!
For now it's sofa time, snuggles and hot water with lemon and honey.
I hope you're all having a good week so far ♡
the urge to sew ~ Mrs Fay ~ Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Sew-Along
I'm back for my turn as a guest blogger for the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew-along with Fat Quarter Shop and Gnome Angel. Today's block is #68 Mrs Fay.
For this block I went back to hand piecing, I really enjoy it and it is quicker than English paper piecing. To see my hand piecing tutorial click here.
I did manage to goof part of this block while I was sewing it together but it was a simple fix and the block isn't hard if you are concentrating! I found it easiest to piece the four components, as in the assembly instructions, and then sew two pieces to opposite sides of the square:
Then I sewed the other two parts in, like piecing a jigsaw! I definitely prefer to do things like that by hand rather than machine. *please excuse the gloomy picture above, it was late at night and I wanted to keep sewing!
#68 Mrs Fay
The letter describes the wife's surroundings in Iowa, "Sheer beauty lying all around us if we but care to make it our own". I chose the orange and gold Carkai print for the "sun setting in a glory of rose and gold". The neutral Cotton and Steel print is to represent "the snow and sleet that change our common surroundings to fairyland".
It resonates with me to think that we can step outside of our worries and all the 'to dos', even if just for a brief moment, to appreciate that it is "glorious to be alive". Admiring the beauty of nature can indeed make us feel "calm and exhilarated", if we take time to notice it.
The letter describes the wife's surroundings in Iowa, "Sheer beauty lying all around us if we but care to make it our own". I chose the orange and gold Carkai print for the "sun setting in a glory of rose and gold". The neutral Cotton and Steel print is to represent "the snow and sleet that change our common surroundings to fairyland".
It resonates with me to think that we can step outside of our worries and all the 'to dos', even if just for a brief moment, to appreciate that it is "glorious to be alive". Admiring the beauty of nature can indeed make us feel "calm and exhilarated", if we take time to notice it.
Those corner points do meet, I just didn't press it very well and need to press those seams open rather than to the side I think!
I really enjoyed making this block and it looks beautiful whether you have it straight on or on point!
The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.
Ugly Sweater Block
I am thrilled to be part of the Ugly Sweater Block sewalong using the brilliant pattern by Kerry aka Kid Giddy. They are actually the opposite of ugly and there are lots of adorable versions over on instagram, check out #uglysweaterblock! Click here to get the pattern and you can join in the sew along for a chance to win prizes, the details are all on the Kid Giddy blog.
The paper pieced pattern is really quick to sew up, I spent longer thinking about which fabric to use! I just had to go with these adorable three penguins (for my three kiddos) and the fun stripe fabric was perfect for the collar and cuffs of the sweater. Both prints are from the Festive Friends collection by Dashwood Studio.
I used Architextures in white by Carolyn Friedlander for the background and I think it gives the perfect snowy winter texture.
There are so many fun possibilities with this sweater block and it doesn't have to be Christmassy at all but it's a really way to fussy cut those cute (or ugly!) Christmas prints!
collecting
This week I have had some beautiful packages of delicious fabric, along with some pink supplies.
I am making the Everything In Its Place Bag and really didn't want to use boring velcro to hold the pocket pages in place. A quick search on Ebay and I opted for this bright pink one. I also got some bright pink zips from Sew Hot, there are a lot of zips in this pattern so it made sense to pick my favourite colour!
Collette sent me a very pretty bundle of fabric that I won from her creativity series and also very kindly sent me a gorgeous panel that she hand printed from a lino cut she made. I am completely in love with it, it reminds me of those fortune telling fish. Collette is a really talented artist and I hope she does more fabric printing!
I also got a bundle of Handprinted Queen Bee panels in copper from Skinny Malinky Quilts. I have bought Lucy's fabric before, she creates beautiful panels from her drawings. There was a lot of gasping and swooning when my order arrived! I made a video, you can click here to see it, because my camera wasn't picking up the colours or metallics well. So I borrowed this picture from Lucy's shop for you to see how amazing it is...
Lastly this incredible fabric swap package from Tanya @yetanotherusername, she so kindly sent me loads of stunning Liberty prints and some beautiful peachy pinks that I can use in my Farmer's Wife blocks. Do you see the fish?! I seem to be collecting aquatic prints, which is probably because Joan loves them. She wants to open her own aquarium, with lots of Pufferfish.
Right I better go and sew some stuff. I am hoping to get lots of sewing time in this week because I have a lot to do! What are your plans this week?
hexie flower hoops
Blogging is such a wonderful way for me to keep track of my projects and a quick search tells me I made these hexie flowers in November 2013, back when Lois was a baby! It's amazing I didn't loose them between then and now really.
Initially I think I planned to make a few english paper pieced flowers, to use up every teeny tiny scrap of Liberty. I made three. Small isn't really my favourite thing.
They have been on some of my finish-a-long lists since then but only recently have I finally found something I wanted to make with them (I did think about a pincushion and possibly a cushion at one point).
I have already made a tiny embroidery hoop using one and now the other two have been appliqued and put into adorable little hoops too.
I bought the hoops from Sew Cross Handmade, these are 2" hoops but she stocks various sizes. The quality is fabulous, I highly recommend her shop!
The hoops come with wooden backs, which you can glue on to cover the back and also add a brooch pin if you chose to. I use wonderclips to hold the pieces together while the glue dries, it works a treat.
I can tick these off my Q4 FAL list now ✔
Wishing you all a great weekend! Remember to join me over on instagram on Saturday night for the craft along :)
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