Tilda Mini-Quilt Runner Ta-Dah!!

I have been working hard with the Tilda Charm Pack I showed you in my last post.  Trying something new to me... a bit of patchwork quilting!

I didn't really take any pictures along the way, but I picked 15 of the 20 charms, and sewed them together in a 3 x 5 rectangle.  I then put wadding and a plain pink backing behind them, and quilted them together (on the machine) along the stitch lines between the squares.  Stitching in the ditch I believe it's called!  (Or attempting to, anyway - there were a few wobbles, but not too bad on the whole).

That was pretty scary doing the quilting part - worrying I was going to ruin it all!

Then I cut and joined a couple of strips of pale pink polka-dot material to make the binding (after much research on the internet, as I didn't have a clue what I was doing!)  It all seemed very tricky and I did a fair bit of searching for some kind of cheat's way - but in the end just went for what seemed to be the proper way of binding.

I machine sewed it to the front, then hand-sewed the back of the binding - here I am above, part way through the hand sewing.  (I did trim back the wadding before doing each side).

After all my reluctance over the binding, I actually really enjoyed it!  So satisfying, and not as tricky as I thought.  Here is a nice little corner above!

I even like the look of the back of the quilt - it looks all cosy and squishy...

The binding was hand-sewn at the back, and it was really nice and relaxing to do.  Looks pretty neat I think!

The finished item is a little matt/runner for my coffee table... ta-dah!!

I love it!  The only bit that annoys me is where I've kind of pulled it a bit while doing one of the vertical quilting lines, so a couple of the squares seem to be pulling towards the top.  It is irritating, but I'm hoping it's not too noticeable, and am trying to remind myself that this is my first attempt at quilting!

So, there you have it!!  This is my May Monthly Make, and also part of me making a Pretty Crafty Home!  (See side-bar for these).

Oh, and I've been given an award - more about that next time, as I really should be getting ready for work, not faffing about doing blog posts!!!)

What I've Been Up To...

Firstly, thanks for everyone who entered my giveaway, and hi to all new followers!  Thanks for all the lovely comments too.


Oh, and for those who are interested in the new job... sorry, I've been a bit quiet about it!  I'm halfway through my 6th week already - the time has really flown!  I miss my friends from my old job, but the people at the new place are friendly and the job is good, so I'm happy!  It already feels like I've been there for ages.  It's only a six month contract, but I would like it to carry on afterwards... we'll see... fingers crossed!


Onto craft!!  I've got many half finished things going on, but have had a sudden desire to do something with these...

(Sorry for the dingy lighting... I blame the weather!)

They are the contents of a Tilda Charm Pack!  I won them last year from The Krafty Cupcake, but they are one of those things that I'm too scared to use!  I really must get over this issue!  I take them out every now and then, arrange them into pretty arrangements, then put them away again!  I've got an idea of something I might use them for, so I can see and appreciate them properly... watch this space...


I am also trying to finish my African Flower cushion!!!  I really must finish it before starting a new project!  I've been crocheting half-flowers to square off the hexagons so I can make a 16 inch square suitable for a cushion...

I am slowly but surely getting closer to the finish, helped with some nagging persuasion from the Lumberjack!  He is very keen to see it finished - probably because he is fed up with coming round to my flat to encounter half-finished projects littering every surface!  (Also he does really like the colours and design!)


Hopefully I'll have something finished to show you before long!

And the Winner is.......!!

Well... the day is here!  Time to pick the winner of my giveaway!


I put the names into my PiP Studio bowl...

Here we see the hand of the Lumberjack as he picked a name...

And the winner is........


....ooohhh.....


.....who's it going to be....??!!.....

Congratulations Becky J!!  (Becky's blog is The Fluff Pot)  Becky was one of my first followers, so it was really nice to see her name on that bit of paper!  The poor woman has been reading my nonsense for over a year... the universe clearly decided she deserves some compensation!


I'm sorry for everyone else who entered and didn't get picked out of the bowl... I'll have to do another giveaway!!


Becky, please email me with your address, and I'll get this posted out to you!  :o)

Pretty Heart!

Remember you can enter my giveaway here!!


Back in June/July last year I made a hanging lavender heart as part of a giveaway I did then.  My Mum liked it, and I've been meaning to make her one ever since... finally I have!!  (Bad daughter for taking so long!)

Very similar to the original, so some of you will be experiencing deja vu!

I also was very lucky and won a giveaway last week from Laura of Bugs and Fishes.  I won this lovely book:

It is a really useful book, full of practical sewing tips and lessons.  The pages are really pretty too...

Lucky me!!  Thanks so much Laura!


Remember my giveaway is still running, if you want to enter!

Giveaway!!!

It's GIVEAWAY time!!!  I've been talking about it for a while... now finally it's here!  My giveaway!  It's for a number of reasons - I had my 1 year blogiversary in March, and I reached 100 followers too.  I also want to say thank you to all my followers who read my nonsense!  I really appreciate you all, and I love all the comments that I receive - thank you!

So what could you win?!

A metre of each of these three pretty ribbons...

In a little spring tin...

A handmade (by me!) owl lavender bag...

I'm not too happy about giving that away - I love it!

I'm very pleased with the design of my owl... it just seemed to work without too much tweaking!  (Although I guess there are only so many ways to draw an owl, so I doubt it's completely original!)


Some pretty fabric covered magnets (handmade by me!)...

And some chocolate of course...

Soooo.... how do you enter?!


You must first be a follower of my blog, and you can have a maximum of two entries:


1.  An entry for commenting on this post.
2.  An entry for blogging about my giveaway and/or putting my giveaway picture (below) in your sidebar, with a link to this post.  (Please comment to let me know you have done this).

The last day for entering will be 30th April 2012, and I will draw the winner on 1st May 2012!!

Good luck!!!!!!!

Old Stuff!

Well, I'll start with a bit of crochet I've picked up again, that I started quite some time ago!  I first posted about it 1st June last year!  It is my African Flower Runner...

I've completed a couple more flowers... but have changed the plan from a runner to a cushion.  Hopefully I'll be able to show you the completed item at some point!  It would be nice to get it finished at last!!


Also, I have been given some old crafty bits and bobs from the Lumberjack's Gran.  She can't use it anymore, so has very kindly passed it onto me.  There are...


...pinking shears:

I really needed these, as I have some very cheap rubbish plastic ones which I can't even get to cut through paper, let alone fabric!


...old buttons that she had accumulated over many years:

...in a lovely old tin:

...loads of them!!:

...some reels of cotton:

...two of them wooden:

I love that big wooden cotton reel!!


I will have to see what I can make with all these bits and bobs!  It was very kind of her to give them to me, and I think she was glad that they've gone to someone who will make use of them.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter to you all!


I only got round to getting the Easter Tree up this morning...

The feathers are from my friend Anna, who is Swedish.  They are a Swedish Easter tradition - nice and colourful!

I also finally did my Easter chocolate shopping - can't believe I've left it this late!!!

Oooh - yummy mini-eggs in my little jar!  (I've just thought that if I'd been organised enough, that could have made a nice Easter present for my mum and sister-in-law... damn!  Sorry Mum and Roon, if you're reading this!)


And look - a lovely present from the Lumberjack - a gorgeous jug with flowers!!  Lucky me!

Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!  Make sure you eat LOTS of chocolate!!

Crafty Cushion - April Make!

At the weekend, I finally cut into some fancy material that I bought a year ago!  I used some Riley Blake fabric, with some Michael Miller fabric to create a border:

I used this as the front of a cushion cover, and used the border fabric to make the back:

Complete with buttons and button holes!  (I wasn't sure I knew how to do button holes - but I managed it!)

I really love it!  I'm so pleased with how it turned out!

The next pictures aren't in natural light, so the colours don't look quite right, but I'll include them anyway...

(Oh, and I am still planning on doing a giveaway, but I need to think of what to make for it!  I've been a bit preoccupied with leaving my last job on Friday and starting my new job yesterday.  Well, and making my cushion!  But you're not having that!!  ;o)  Mean, I know!)

Colourful!

A post full of colour today...

The above picture is of the colours that I'm using to make my waterlily blanket, previously posted about here.  I've done a few more squares now, as you can see below!

My first plan was to do a flower every other square - but after doing one, I decided to cut back on the flowers, or I would probably have never finished the blanket!!  Therefore there will be a few plain squares between each flower square - for the sake of my sanity!  (They are not too bad, but some bits of the flower are a bit fiddly!)


More colourfulness comes in the form of a print from Caroline Rose.  Yes, I've treated myself AGAIN!!  (I find the 'treating myself as a reward for getting a new job' excuse is really not getting old!  Fabulous!)

I'm sure that most of you read the Attic 24 blog - and will have seen this post.  Well, after reading it I had to go and explore Caroline Rose's etsy shop - and I just couldn't resist this print:

(It's still in it's protective plastic - and I need to find a good frame for it, and a place for it to go!)


To be honest, it was a bit of a nightmare trying to pick which one to go for - I loved all of them!  The one that Lucy of Attic 24 commissioned was very close in the running, plus a few others!


Well, it's late - time for bed!!  Night night...

More Treats!

Thanks for all the positive comments and good wishes - they are really appreciated!  Just one more day of work now, then the new job on Monday - scary!!!


I had a lovely treat in the post today!  A surprise little envelope from my friend Anna, with a little good luck note for my new job, and this pretty crocheted heart to brighten up my new desk!!

It made my day!!  What a nice surprise!  Thanks Anna!


I have also treated myself to some new fabric...

The PiP Studio bowl just wasn't enough - I needed fabric too!!!  ;o)  (I'm getting carried away with rewarding myself now!!)


I actually have no plans for the fabric, I just wanted it!  I'm trying to think of something good to use it for.  Although, knowing me, I will just keep it... waiting forever for a mysterious project that is worthy!!  I'm a bit rubbish like that - I hate to use up my nice stuff, which is stupid I know!  What is the point of having it?!


Hopefully I will get over that madness, and be able to present something fabulous I've made at some point in the not too distant future!

Treat!

It was announced last June that our site was closing, and we were all being made redundant.  (Some of my long-standing followers might remember this!)  Nine months later, the end is here.  I've got five more days of work - my last day being on Friday.  Very sad to be saying goodbye to such lovely colleagues, after four years with the company.

But... I've managed to find a new job that starts the Monday afterwards.  Only a weekend break for me!  I was hoping for a little bit of time off to see friends/family who are at home with children, and to do lots of crafting too of course!  But I'm grateful I've managed to find a new job, and quite excited to get started actually!

On that note - I decided I deserve a little treat!  I thought I'd jump on the PiP Studio band wagon, and bought myself this beautiful little bowl!

So pretty!  I can't stop looking at it!

And here are some tulips from the Lumberjack - I love tulips, they are one of my favourite flowers...

(That was my attempt at an arty shot!!)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!