Wedding Confetti - A finished Quilt

My Little Sister Eden got married on the Weekend.

She had a beautiful beach wedding and reception at my parents house.

It was so nice to be able to have the wedding at home, although.....we have been soo busy the last few weeks organising and making sure we covered every detail. I'm excited to share parts of the wedding with you soon... Beautiful Photos, Table settings, Our Candy Buffet/Dessert Table, I made her a bling tulle garter (maybe throw in a tute?? I wish i had one before i made hers!)

And.... as well as all the usual wedding plans/organising, i was behind the scenes making her a surprise wedding gift.... a Quilt! ...Of course!

Being as though it was a "Lovey" Wedding Pressie... I wanted it to have a love heart in the centre with some sort of modern design around the outside.

I had remembered Kate's cute baby quilt "Scattered Showers" she had made a little while back. Kate even has the Pattern Available for you HERE. I thought it would look perfect having scattered pieces of fabric around the outside. I was hoping it would look like a flutter of petals or confetti dropped around the outside.

I had been hoarding this great Nano Iro bundle for a couple years now just waiting for the perfect project. The fabric is a double gauze cotton cloth. Its really soft and light but can be a bit delicate painful to work with.

I pieced the back.. and Quilted it by hand and machine...Starting with a smaller heart in the centre and followed the same heart shape out to the edges.

It was such a beautiful day....

Congrats on your Marriage Josh and Ede!! I am so so happy for you... I would be even happier if you weren't packing up and moving to Canada for a few years. But i guess, time will go quick, and whenever you feel homesick you can wrap up in your Quilt and know how much I love you....

and miss you....

xxx

Sewing Lessons Learned...

Is something wrong with this picture???

I was so excited that I had finished my very first topsy turvy Wee wonderfuls doll ... I ran to show my hubby... and his first response....

"She either needs a TRIM? or a WAX!!!!"

AHHHHHHHHHHH....... so true!!!!!!!!!!... Sometimes nearly always we try and add our own little flair to a project to later find out there was a reason the original doll was supposed to have buns in her hair!

After a little thought... i decided it was a MUST to attach her pigtails to her head for fear of someone thinking the unthinkable!

Lesson Learned: Sometimes you really SHOULD follow the pattern.

#2.... Why did i choose dark brown hair?? The pattern specifically called for a light coloured wool. But no... i wanted brown didn't I... Well what do you get??

Greys!! Wiry Grey Hairs on my sweet little doll.

Lesson Learned... Stick to lighter coloured wool when making hair for your dolly.

#3.. In the Wee Wonderful Book she says to stuff the body firm. So i really did stuff her firm. I'm actually surprised the seams haven't popped! But there is a difference between firm and rock hard.

Well, mine is rock hard and now that she is made... some of the stuffing imperfections have become a little obvious!... Poor darling. She has a bad case of the double chin...

Lesson Learned.. Stuff Firm but not too much and check the visible spots, like the face for imperfections before you have finished!

Good thing our children are so little and innocent. Indi never even noticed anything wrong with her dolly.

Lucky for me... She thinks shes just perfect...... PHEW!!

I was thinking too, if i was going to make another one of these dolls, I think I would make the doll the same girl. But, one side make her sleeping... and the other side make her awake?? The awake dolly can have play clothes and the sleeping dolly have PJ's?? .......maybe one day!

Its funny how we venture out and make something totally new every once in a while. Come to think of it... We really learn little sewing lessons with each project we make. My first quilt is full of em!! Mistakes that is and I'm still learning..... You would think after making this little sunshine I would stick to quilts...??
Nah.. I'm off to tackle an Amy Butler bag next. I have NEVER made a bag before... so wish me luck!!

I Love Fashionable Fabrics!!

I told you the other day that I am super keen to get started on making some boyish projects. I have been flicking through some of my fav books for ideas and have written a list....

 Have To Make Projects!!

A couple Baby Quilts (of course)

Some simple two sided blankets..Flannel and Cotton

Bibs and booties

A sleeping sack velcro pouch thing

An Amy Butler Cosmo Bag made out of Anna Maria Horner's Velveteen... bit excited!

Maybe some baby clothes,  toys,  bunting, change mat etc etc.

AND,

For all these New Projects... I needed to go Shopping.....

At...

Normally when I buy fabric, I buy a Co ordinating Fabric bundle that i just have to have and then I usually try to stock up on a few basics like Kona Solids, Dots, and Stripes. I rarely, in fact, i dont know if i have ever bought a yard or so of a cute print just because i liked it. So this was a fun shopping spree for me. A little out of my comfort zone. Hunting for a few cute prints that i could have as my feature fabric and then find fabric from my stash to compliment.

I fell in love with each of these...

 Left to Right

Boys will be Boys Toss on Red by David Walker

Zoology in Sea by Michael Miller Fabrics

Pooches and Pickups Small Trucks in Summer by Laurie Wisbrun

Boys will be Boys Toss by David Walker

 Half Moon Modern Chevron in Steel by Moda

Meet the Gang in Bird Lattice on red by Andover Fabrics

Outfoxed Tufts in Outwitted yellow by Lizzy House

Outfoxed Hedgehogs in Outwitted yellow by Lizzy House

If I was really organised I would of had a good look through my stash and tried to find feature fabrics that would match... but, where is the fun in that??? I just found what i liked and hoped for the best... and had some luck!!

These Lizzy House fabrics matched really well with some Konas I had... and... the Michael Miller Dumb Dot. I'm thinking of making this bundle into a Baby Chevron Quilt... Kinda Like my Quilt Class Quilt, only i dont think i'll seperate the colours with white this time....? 

 I really liked these little birds (Meet the Gang).. and the Metro Living Circles I have in Pewter and Grey work well I think.

 I'm not normally a zoo animal type person but i think for a baby... you cant go wrong with at least one fabric that has animals to point to.

 This one i think im going to use for the Baby Sleeping bag pouch thingy...

 Maybe these for a reversable wrap?

Oh, and i had to add in a Little Apples charm pack by Annela Hoey!!

So, thats my plan for now....

 But I'm good at changing my mind half way through and doing something totally different. So, we'll see!

AND.... If you come across any Great New Boy Fabric that you love??.... Let me know... Im still on the hunt!!
Bec xx

Eye Candy!!

A little while ago, I went to the Sydney Quilt and Craft market and I came across this.............. pile of loveliness!!!

Every now and then you find a shop that just speaks your name. And for me...this is it!!

Miss Rose Sister Violet.

I first discovered her store a few months back and have been in love ever since. Lucky for us she has a blog and an online shop coming soon!!! You can find her shop HERE and her Blog HERE.

I had of course been on the lookout for more Quilt fabric..

but i just couldn't resist the lace, and Diamond buttons...

the Velvet ribbons,

and trims..

Gorgeous pin cushions,

 the wall holding thingy, and flowers...

You may remember... i used some of this to make my laptop sleeve...??

and... i have recently made a Sewing machine cover that ill share with you soon...

Hope you have been busy sewing!! I have!! I have been working on one quilt...however, most of my time has been spent hemming my Sisters Wedding Dress....Yikes!! She gets married on the

 11th of February..

and we couldn't be more excited!

 It's going to be AMAZING!! And Of course you will have a front row seats via pictures!... I cant wait!! xx

FFA3 Finished Quilt

....I'm BACK!!!

The last few months i have had absolutely no desire to do anything....and sewing was definitely at the end of the list. I was a bit nervous that this feeling was the new me? When it came to sewing.. I would sit at the machine and wonder... What did i find so enjoyable about this?? Why do i like cutting up fabric and sewing it back together? Writing Patterns...Yuck!? But with a New Year here, my health is 80% back...(no spewing thankfully, just tired) i am sooo pleased to say that the horrible feeling is GONE.... and I'm ready to go.

New Projects??

Yep!! I have a massively long list. I have spent the last few days scouring the net trying to find out whats new? Can you believe i haven't even been interested in fabric? I had no idea what was getting released and what was coming soon... But thanks to my Fav Shops/Sponsors and their "new arrivals" and "coming soon" sections... I'm totally up to date. I've got my orders written and ready to go.

Before I share what my new projects are going to be... I had this little gem waiting to show you... My FFA3 Quilt for Baby Coco.

As you know,  Its no secret that i Love Heather Ross. I love her cute designs and her choice of colours.. they are instantly recognisable as hers. But i think my favourite thing about her fabric is the actual cloth that she prints on. Weird?? i know!! She doesn't print on the standard Quilting Cotton. Its always slightly different. It has a texture, a natural colour...not a bleached white. Sometimes its a cotton/canvas fabric. Sometimes like a linen. This range was listed as a quilting cotton but some of the fabrics were like a really light weight linen. They were just beautiful.

So this was a really fun, quick baby quilt to sew.

Even though i don't make many strip quilts, i really have a thing for them. I think they showcase the fabrics perfectly. They're modern. They're easy. They don't waste fabric. They comes together really fast. They're perfect for straight line quilting, i really should make more!

For this quilt I couldn't cut up the pictures so i decided to make a feature of them.. I wanted them to kinda look like kids building blocks stacked on top of each other.

For the backing fabric i used this Essex Linen/Cotton fabric

One thing I'm hoping to do this year is find some cute labels. I really want a satin type label that you cut up and fold over and i can sew it into the binding.. I just want it just to say 'Chasing Cottons' so if any of you out there know of a good label place... Please send me some details.. I'm left either not labelling.. or doing this..

So needless to say.. I'm back. I'm feeling great and I'm excited about the year ahead.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday with your families and

 Happy New Year!!

xx Love Bec xx