Teddy Bear sleeping bag

Recently I had fun whipping up a quilted sleeping bag for a teddy bear, inspired by a Flossie Teacakes pattern, although I didn't buy her pattern and made it from memory, so it actually looks quite different.  I made one using scraps left over from my Vintage Improv quilt, then of course I had to make another one because I have two children and they are still learning how to share.

I like the look of curved edges but didn't want to make bias binding because it just seems like such an inefficient use of fabric, so I used cross-grain binding and I'm happy with the finish (seeing as they are just play-things for my kids).  The binding on the back of the curve has a couple of little tucks in it, which you can see below - I machine stitched the binding and had to do the curves a couple of times, so the stitching is a bit messy, but my kids don't care!

Curved binding from front

Curved binding from back showing tuck in binding

Both of these are made almost entirely from scraps, including Frankenstein batting (I cut the Kate Spain binding from yardage, otherwise everything came from scrap bins) so these are projects 30 and 31 of Scraps 101.

Loving the improv low volume background on this one

In other news, I have recently succumbed to the charms of Instagram, you can find me here - I'd love for you to come and say hello!

Linking up to:

Finish It Up Friday

TGIFF
Anything Goes Monday

Wonky Pods - the lap quilt edition

Another quilt made using my newly released Wonky Pods pattern, this time I used a strip piecing technique to create random/crazy pieced blocks without borders, and substituted these for the wonky cut pattern blocks.  The quilt finishes up at about 56" x 57" so is a great lap/throw size.  It uses a mixture of prints from my stash - Botanics,  Mormor, Alison glass text prints ... and a few others.  I find when creating crazy pieced blocks it's good to have at least 10 fabrics - preferably more.

I FMQed it in an all-over meandering, I love the texture and how it crinkles after washing, this is definitely my current go-to quilting style.

It is backed with a vintage sheet.

If you're interested in making one of my patterns, they are all currently marked down 25% to celebrate the release of my Wonky Pods pattern and I Spy a Charm pattern.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 57" by 56"
Pattern:  "Wonky Pods" (available in my Craftsy store) 
Fabric: Various.   Background fabric is Kona Snow. 
Backing: Vintage sheet.

Binding: Fanfare (from Spotlight)

Pieced and quilted by: me

Linking up to:

TGIFF

Finish it up Friday

Vintage Improv - a lap quilt

 

All fabrics in this quilt are re-purposed vintage bed linen - either sheets or pillowcases I've found in op shops around the country.  I wanted to make a quilt similar to Candy Coated from Sunday Morning Quilts (the quilt on the cover), but while cutting out the first few strips I thought maybe I'd add a couple of random bits of interest in there - the flying geese, a star, and also make a feature of one of the prints.  The feature print didn't really have the effect I wanted, but the star and geese certainly did.  There are 11 different prints in total - 9 are used for the strips, 1 is used only for the geese and star, and 1 is used only on the back.

I'm really all about improv, I struggle to follow a pattern to the letter, and indeed I didn't really get past the photo or first couple of lines of the cutting instructions for Candy Coated before deciding to just make it up as I went along.  Quilting books and patterns are mostly just springboards for me, inspiration for creating something similar but different, or maybe not even similar but inspired by. 

I quilted it in an all-over meander, it's been a while since I did anything other than an all-over meander.  A few minutes into the quilting I decided it wasn't the best decision for this quilt at all, but carried on because I couldn't be bothered unpicking.  I'm used to meandering over vast amounts of negative space, and I found it difficult to actually see where I had quilted, and where I needed to go, because of all the busyness of the prints.

For the binding I used one of the sheets, a white with itty bitty flowers scattered over it, so it reads quite like a solid. 

This quilt is a gift, but won't be gifted for a couple of months, so it is going to lounge around my studio for a while, which I find immensely valuable because I get to look at it and think and ponder.

Quilt Stats - Vintage Improv
Finished Size: approx 50" by 57"
Fabric (including backing and binding): Vintage bed linen - 11 different sheets or pillowcases.

Pieced and quilted by: me

Favourite part: That it is a break from my usual style (there are NO solids in this!!) and was very cheap to make (everything from stash)

Have you ever made a quilt from vintage bed linen?  How did it turn out?

 Linking up to:

Fabric Tuesday
Sew Cute Tuesday
TGIFF
Frugal Friday
Finish It Up Friday
Needle and Thread Thursday

The Fairweather Dress (Think Ruffles Blog Hop!)

Hello and welcome to my stop on the Think Ruffles blog hop!

I must confess ruffles and I don't usually spend a lot of time together, in fact the only other thing I've ever put a ruffle on was Ruby's ruffle T-shirt a couple of years ago.  But all that changed a few days ago when I put a ruffle on something else:

This is the Fairweather Dress, which got its name from the fact that, dependent on the weather, we were thinking of going to a local fair on the morning I made it.  I didn't make it to the fair because I was too busy making this dress.

It is made from my favourite vintage sheet, I thought the scale of the lovely little roses was perfect for a dress for a small person.  The ruffle is made using a scrap from binding my sister's placemats, with a scrap piece of ribbon sewn on top, so I'm counting this as project 28 of Scraps 101.  For inspiration on other vintage sheet upcycling projects, check out my Upcycled Vintage Sheets Pinterest board.

As Ruby (for whom it was made) refuses to wear it, there are no action shots of her wearing it.  Thankfully Pepper-Mae did want to wear it (if only for a nanosecond before demanding it be taken off).   It'll fit Pepper-Mae perfectly next summer, although I may add straps to it.

Now that you've taken a peak at this little beauty, why not pop over and visit some of the other bloggers who are sharing their ruffles today?  You can view the whole Think Ruffles schedule on Amy's blog.

Seams To Be Sew  

Tea Time Creations 

Sew Peace to Peace  

mila+cuatro (That's me!)

All Thingz Sewn
More Stars in Comanche  

Stitchin' By The Lake

 

Also linking up to:

Frugal Friday

Needle n Thread Thursday

Sew Cute Tuesday

Anything Goes Monday

Made by You Monday

Fabric Tuesday

Old Sheet - New Placemat

There is still time to enter my DS Quilts fabric giveaway - so check it out if you haven't already.  These placemats inspired me to try some wavy line quilting.  I don't think I'll ever quilt in a straight line again.

Does this count as FMQ even though I used a walking foot???  This is my favourite old sheet from my ridiculously large vintage bed linen collection.  This week's favourite anyway.  The back is another sheet from the collection, which I think (sadly) is a polycotton.

I'm partway through making another one to match, complete with contrasting wavy line quilting - using general purpose thread, as I don't have any special quilting thread (yet). I used three colours on the top but the bobbin thread stayed white.  You can see little blips of coloured thread on the back so I'll be cautious about mixing colours in the future.

Linking up to:

Sew Cute Tuesday now hosted by Blossom Heart Quilts
Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story
Thursday Threads at 627Handworks
I Quilt at Pretty Bobbins
Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 

A quick-quilt WiP and other random tidbits

I got hold of a charm pack of Kate & Birdie Paper Co Winter's Lane, played around to make some smallish blocks and am now working on a layout - this will be a quick-quilt with lots of negative space, I'm all about things that come together quickly at the moment.

I'm paying particular attention to an accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance, and have come up with this easy, albeit crude seam guide:

After sewing each seam I then check it against my rotary cutter ruler, I've been pleased with the results.  My new machine will have a 1/4 inch foot, but until then I'll be 'sticking' with this.

I needed a grocery bag holder; I have a ridiculous amount of vintage sheets - I put the two together and made this, which looked lovely sitting next to this retro coffee pot I thrifted recently.

My sister wanted a headband, so I rummaged around in my stash and made these - the thinner, pink one looks great on Pepper-Mae.

Finally, yesterday afternoon my brother dropped off a surprise (to us all) gift for the girls - twin orphan lambs, only 3 days old.  Ruby wants to name her lamb Ruby.  I suggested that perhaps this could get a bit confusing, how would I know which Ruby to take to kindergarten?

 

Linking up to:

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Op Shop Show Off at Blackbird has Spoken 

Doll's cot quilt

Pepper-Mae recently had her first birthday so for her gift I made a quilt, pillow and sheets for a doll's cot I found secondhand about a year ago.  Being the elder sister Ruby is playing with it more than Pepper-Mae but at least it's being used.

I made the design up myself, which might sound impressive until you see it - it's very basic. This is my first finished quilt and it's made mostly from re-purposed vintage bed linen.

 

Linking up here:

Thank Goodness it's finished Friday at Blossom Heart Quilts