In Progress...

I got this lovely package in the mail recently from The Village Haberdashery and thought I'd share. I plan to use them all in a quilt (below) with the floral pattern as the large square centers and then the aqua for the little square. I just had to throw in some Pearl Bracelets in there somehow and I really love this pool color. The little girls will be used as the backing.

It's been a long time since I've added any new fabrics to my stash but with the new baby coming, I've been looking for some color inspiration for the new nursery. We plan to convert our existing office/guest bedroom into the new nursery and the walls are currently painted a soft blue. I think the paint color is really soothing so I will definitely keep it as is. Honestly, with less than 3 months until the baby is due, who has time to paint a whole room?

Anyway, here's my inspiration for the quilt: I pinned this picture of a Disappearing 9 patch quilt to my pinterest because I really loved the color combination of aqua and red.

                                                                 Source: threadtales.files.wordpress.com via Elena on Pinterest

I have no idea if I can get this completed before the new baby arrives but if I can at least cut up some squares, then I'll be happy!

"True Love" Paper Piece

My guild's challenge this month was to create a paper pieced block of your choice. I decided to try my hand at paper piecing a few letters and I've have had my eye on this pattern for a while. So here is my paper pieced "True Love" mini-quilt...

I started with the "Aimez" fabric and then built the rest of the fabrics around it. I used it in the "O" and for the background and binding as well. All the fabrics were scraps from my stash and the solid grey is Moda medium grey.

I embroidered some running stitches around the letters and then straight line quilted the rest of it to frame the letter. I mentioned in a previous post that I had some problems with the wadding coming through the embroidery stitches. After pulling it out a few times, I ended up placing a piece of scrap fabric behind the wadding which seemed to do the trick. I then backed the quilt as usual.

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I used a free pattern by kelbysews and you can download it from her site or from Sew, Mama, Sew! Here's the original...

image via kelbysews

W.I.P. Wednesday

Here's me very first Work In Progress Wednesday post...

My new guild's August challenge is to create a paper pieced block of your choice. I decided to brush up on my paper piecing skills and try my hand at letters. Plus, I've had my eye on this pattern for a while.

Choosing Fabrics...

W.I.P.

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Oh, and here's my version of a Teddy Bear Hospital. Lots of toys in need of mending!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for today...

Sherbet Pips Quilt - Finished!

I have finally finished my Sherbet Pips quilt! Hooray! I got side tracked by lots of other projects so unfortunately, this quilt took me a few months to complete. One of those projects was a matching Sherbet Pips pillow.

However, it's my first finished quilt in a very long time (we're talking years) so it proved to be a good exercise in brushing up on all my skills. I'm super pleased with it and it's now lovingly referred to as Little Miss' "special blanket."

A few stats:

- Fabric: Sherbet Pips charm pack (center), kona medium grey (borders) and Sherbet Pips scarf stripe in pink (backing + binding).

- Pattern: Originally, I intended to use the Charm Squares Baby Quilt Pattern from Elizabeth Hartman but I miscalculated the amount of sashing fabric that I needed. So instead, I just sewed all the charm pack rows together (after following Elizabeth's piecing instructions) into one piece and then used the sashing fabric for a border.

- Borders: Although I typically hand finish my borders I wanted to try a machine sewing technique instead. It was a bit fiddly but found it to be much quicker to finish.

- Quilting: I machine quilted with simple straight lines approximately 1" apart.

July Projects in Review...

The summer holiday was in full swing this month so I was surprised at just how many projects I was able to complete.

1. Dog bandana (for a cousin's greyhound dog)

2. Clothkits doll (for the little one)

3. DIY map frame (engagement present)

4. Patchwork hedgehog pillow (for me!)

5. Sherbet Pips Quilt (Ok I nearly finished this, all it needs is binding)

6. Retro bunnies quilt (baby gift)

I went to my very first meeting of the London Modern Quilt Guild (where I met some really nice fellow quilters) along with Thomas Knauer at Ray Stitch in Islington.

Also, it was my birthday this month and DH's amazing Aunt gave me her vintage Bernina Record 830 as a present. Words cannot describe how grateful I am. I'll definitely post more about the machine very soon.

Finally, I'm linking up with Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet over at Lily's Quilts. The idea behind this is that you post a recap of the previous month's work and I'm linking up for the very first time. Enjoy your August!

Retro Bunny Baby Quilt

This week's project was a sweet little baby quilt/play mat for a good friend who is due any day now with her second little girl. She mentioned to me that she really liked handmade items so I thought I'd surprise her with a little play quilt made with some "retro" bunny fabric that I had in my stash.

Since time is precious these days, I decided on a simple stripe pattern for the quilt top and used the "backing + binding" method to finish off the binding. I usually like to bind my quilts with separate binding fabric but I wanted to give this method a try. With help from this tutorial by You had me at bon jour, I found the technique quite easy. In fact, I was able to baste, quilt and bind the quilt in one evening.

Instead of a gift bag, I found this gorgeous tote from my local Cath Kidson. I loved the colors and thought it would be more useful for hauling around baby stuff vs. a traditional gift bag.

Finally as a little reward for myself, I picked up the latest issue of "Ideal Home" magazine. I'm a sucker for nautical themed decorating and this issue is absolutely packed with all things coastal. A perfect summer read :)

Sewing in the rain...

It's been raining all week here in London. Rain means no trips to the park for the little one. It also means that "nap time" is indoors at home.

However, I did manage to take advantage of nap time this afternoon to get some quick sewing in...

Sneak peak of a baby quilt in progress...

While I pieced a few things together, I found that listening to the rain outside was really relaxing. I must try and do it more often. Not hard during British summer!