Birthday Quilt

In my previous post, I showed you the Kanzashi flower that I'd made for a quilt that I was making. Well, the quilt is complete, and was given to my mother. It is a lovely quilt and she loves it. I hope she gets lots of use from it. But I thought I'd show you all what it looks like.  ..... Picture overload alert!!

I appliquéd a little parasol onto the quilt, and added a butterfly onto it, with invisible thread. I also stitched the flower on, so that it would be secure. It's so warm and snuggly. I also added some black & gold buttons all over it, just to add a little black to the orange.

__________________________________________________

Two Tone Kanzashi Fabric Flower

When normal people get a 'How to ...' book, they generally tend to start in the beginning, with the beginner projects .... then progress to the intermediate, and then, in time, progress to the advanced projects. Yup. That's what normal people do. Those of you who know me, will know, I'm anything BUT normal.  I pick up the book, flick through the beginners pages, slow slightly at the intermediates, then look at the advanced and say 'Yup! I want that one.'

A week or so ago, I decided that I'd like a nice flower to go onto a quilt I'm making. Great. I searched Pintrest, and found loads of various tutorials. But they were fairly boring. So, I did my own thing. .... Of course. The tutorials called for a square of fabric. Now, never having made one of these in my life before, I set about making a half square triangle .... also a complete first for me .... and then proceeded to make the flower petals. Well, I can tell you, I was mildly surprised at how well it turned out. It's now been stitched to the quilt, and looks fabulous, if I say so myself. Pics of the quilt will be put on here soon - I'm only half way though the binding.

The quilt is a mixture of a printed fabric with oranges and yellows, and the plain orange in between. The black just helps to break the brightness up a little.

 I used a nice button for the centre, just to finish it off nicely.

More pics to follow soon. 

PS - By the way, the 'How to ...' book I refer to on this occasion is metaphorical. I didn't even bother with an actual book - the internet is all the books, and encyclopaedias one could ever wish for. :-D

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

I haz tools!!

URGH!! Finally, I have a new ruler and a rotary cutter (the mat is very old, but barely used). Trying to cut fabric with a scalpel and a square of cardboard (even if it IS sturdy) is anything BUT ideal. But that was what I was doing. But no more!! I now have a lovely luminous (almost!) yellow ruler and a rotary cutter that is very sharp. I know most others prefer a clear ruler, but I like being different. ;-) 

-------------------------------

The Process Pledge

I've taken a pledge, to show the process of my sewing. I'll do my best to take as many pics as I can, of work in progress. I know that I don't always do things the way professional quilters and sewers do, but I am largely self taught (from quite early on!), and I kindda do what works for me.

So! My next quilt will be photo progressed! ..... As soon as I've finished the one I'm currently doing.

-------------------------------

Denim Quilt

Hello. This is a new blog, where I can share a little about one of my hobbies. I may post loads in a one month, then nothing for ages after that. Either way, keep an eye out for new posts and pictures.

To kick the blog off, I've some pictures of a scrappy raggedy quilt I made a little while ago. All the denim squares are upcycled from old jeans, there's a few squares of stripy fabric, and there's loads of character added with the pockets, loops and labels. Some of the labels were taken from the jeans, others were stolen off of shirts my husband still wears. But they looked great, and I knew they'd be great on the quilt. It has a plain white backing. It is so snugly, I had to prise it away from the family to get pics - even the cat has tried to claim it as her own!

Prepare for a LOTTA pics.

The full quilt is a single bed size - huge for my first ever quilt!

I cut some of the blocks on the seams of the jeans for extra character, and added green buttons that said Levi Jeans. - Not that I ever owned a pair of Levis! 

Just one of the labels that I added.

I added 4 pockets - each are different, and face in different directions. Fun for the kids to put their hands in, or to hide secret notes. 

Hope you enjoyed the pics. I hope to put more pictures of my sewing hobby on here.

-------------------------------------------------