Patchwork n Play: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

You've Got Mail!

I had some wonderful mail yesterday!

My quilt for the DQS10 on Flick'r arrived!

And I was SO thrilled with what I received.......

This amazingly pretty quilt was made by Lee over at Freshly Pieced!

She did an incredible job of paper piecing using her own pattern, because she

couldn't find one to suit her purposes....

And she included a wonderful little ruler and two great pieces of fabric!

So generous!

What made it even more wonderful was that my second giveaway win of fabric

arrived too!

And my giveaway stash sent by Samelia's Mum matched perfectly the fabrics

sent by Lee..

I think they are going to come together beautifully into a new quilt.....

Perhaps I will use my new pinwheel ruler??

Or maybe one of the many other ideas on my 'to-do' list....

And just one last look at my beautiful new quilt.....

Do you get the idea that I love it!

Happy sewing

SUZ

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tuesday Treasure- Vintage Scissors

Are you a collector?

I am a rather casual collector of vintage embroidery scissors.....

This is my entire collection! LOL!

You have to start somewhere I suppose....

This pair are quite delicate...

I bought them in Paris last year!

This pair are only stainless steel contrary to what the impression given in the photo....

I bought these at a market in Victoria last year.....

Quite a bargain I thought, for $5.00!

And this little pair were a present for a birthday a few years ago.

I don't use them, it is just lovely to have a tangible connection to the past.

I do treasure them- head over to Melody's blog for more Tuesday Treasures!

(Now, I have noticed that I am up to 50 followers and this is my 100th post!

So stay tuned for......

A GIVEAWAY!

I just need to get a few things sorted.)

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Feathered Star!

Have you ever made a Feathered Star?

This was my first time... and probably my last.

It's not that I didn't enjoyed the process ...

I chose fabrics mainly from my stash.....

And used foundation piecing, which I do find satisfying....

And I like hand quilting...

But I didn't grow too attached to it...

Because it is for the Doll Quilt Swap 10 on Flick'r.

So it's off to it's new home this week.

I hope my partner likes it!

Maybe one day I will make another one.....

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Friday, March 25, 2011

Someone Pinch Me!!!

Let me set the scene....

I have been home from work for two hours now.....

It's the weekend here in Australia, so I decided to begin a new block I've wanted to make for ages

(More of that next time!)

The pattern is on my computer so I do a little sewing and a little blog surfing and emailing in between

Firstly I start reading blogs from my favourites list and find I have won a lovely stash of fabric....

Another one!!!

at Samelia's Mum

(I have only just got over winning on Red Pepper Quilts yesterday...odds of 1 in 500+!!!)

This time the odds were 1 in 200+!!!

So I send off my email as instructed and went back to sewing....

While waiting for the iron to warm went back to my email to find a new mail

labelled YOU WON!

Initially I thought it was just a reply to my first win....

NO!

I've won a copy of this lovely Bespoke magazine! over here!!!

I am still shaking my head!

Did all my stars align or WHAT!!!

Not sure what the odds are for winning 3 giveaways in 28 hours and the last two

within an hour of another!!!!

I just had to share this amazing news with my friends!!!!

Have a great weekend... I will!

SUZ

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Royal...Spiritual...Victorious!

I can hear you saying....."What is she talking about?!

I'm talking about the color purple!

I did a little research and it seems that purple is both a hot colour (because it is a mixture of red) and a cool colour (because it is also a mixture of blue!)

It is the colour of royalty.....

(Hollywood Royalty- Vale Liz)

And spirituality....

And some of my favourite flowers..... lavender, violets and orchids...

(Orchids in Singapore Botanical Gardens!)

and beautiful fabric!

This is the fabric I won on Red Pepper Quilts "7 Deadly Sins" Giveaway today!

There were nearly 600 entries!!!

Yummy Sarah Fielke "Little Things"......

Apparently violet is associated with PRIDE!

Love this quote from Red's blog.....

Pride is a personal commitment.

It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity - source unkown.

I can't wait for my fabric to arrive!

And I don't need an excuse to make another quilt!

Or to go shopping...

(Purchased @ G&J Fabrics)

So I bought this today to supplement my win!

I have not made many quilts in purple...

But this one proudly adorns the wall of one of my friends.

It was a Kaffe Fassett pattern

It has indeed been a great week.....

I hope yours has been good too!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My Tutorial Debut!

Here it is.....

My first tutorial.....

(A number of followers asked for a tutorial, I just hope you can understand what I have written and that I have included enough photos!)

This is a slightly different version of my Vintage Pink Scrappy Stars Mini Quilt

I have chosen not to use scraps for this mini and to also fussy cut some of the fabric.

I think you will agree it has a different feel to it!

Enjoy!

Scrappy Star Tutorial

Please read all instructions before beginning!

Instructions and yardages are given for a 19” ‘fussy cut’ Scrappy Star Quilt as pictured below:

3 fabrics used each requiring approx. 20cm each

CUTTING:

From Fabric 1 (Eiffel Tower in this example) cut:

4 X 5” squares (piece A)

8 X 5” x 2.5” rectangles (B)

4 X 2.5” squares (C)

From Fabric 2 (solid) cut:

12 X 5” x 2.5” rectangles (D)

12 X 2.5” squares (E)

From Fabric 3 (spot) cut:

9 X 2.5” squares (F)

72 X 1.5” squares (G)

· Before beginning to piece, rule a diagonal sewing line on each of the 72 – 1.5” squares, (as shown)

PIECING:

1. a. Take D piece and place G piece on one corner; sew along the diagonal

(as shown)

b. Repeat for all D pieces before adding to the opposite corner on the long side.

c. Trim each corner and press the G pieces open.

d. Repeat a. on the other side.

These become piece H

2. a. Take E and sew G piece on one corner as with previous rectangular pieces.

b. Trim and press open before adding 2^nd G piece.

c. Repeat for all E pieces

These become piece I

You now have the points of each star-

3. Assemble rows- There are 7 in total:

ROWS 1 & 7-

Piece C , I, B, I, B, I, C

(Make sure you have the star point squares facing the correct way)

ROWS 2, 4 & 6-

Piece I, F, H, F, H, F, I

ROWS 3 & 5-

Piece B, H, A, H, A, H, B

(If you have fussy cut your fabric and have used directional prints like I have, make sure they are all facing the correct way too)

4. Pressing seams correctly at this point will assist in getting them lined up neatly (butted up is the correct term, I believe).

Even numbered rows press first piece with seam allowance IN, etc across the row

On odd numbered rows press first piece with seam allowance OUT, etc across the row.

5. Join rows together to complete your quilt top!

And to honour my new quilt I have named this one

"Stars Over Paris"....

Should anyone out there

a) like a PDF of this, leave me a comment and I will email you a copy...

b) make a mini Scrappy Star Quilt from my tutorial, please share it!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday Treasure!

Melody hosts Tuesday Treasure's over here!

So today I'd thought I'd share this.....

I think this is where my love of owls was really consolidated.

This necklace was given to me by my dear husband after our first son was born

27 years ago!

I wear it nearly every day!

It has two wee little diamonds for eyes.

And here's a sneak peak of what's coming to a blog near you....