Cut away applique tutorial
I’ve made a video on how I do cut away applique working from the reverse of the fabric. I call it reverse applique in the video but I don’t really mean that 
It’s by no means a masterpiece of the silver screen and the video angle does get better as it goes on I promise. Hopefully it will be useful still and not too boring. If it gets boring, just imagine I’m Kirsten O’Brien, it frightens me how much I sound like her on recordings…
Handmade and Heritage
I thought I’d do a little blog post about Amiee from Handmade and Heritage today. I had posted about the goldfinch quilt I am making over on Crafteroo (which BTW is now trimmed and basted ready for quilting, thank you for asking!), and Amiee really wanted one, but could not forsee having the time to make one herself. I suggested we did a swap of sorts so I have now ordered a charm pack of the same fabric I used a layer cake of to make this so I can make a wall hanging for her in exchange for one of her amazing bird embroideries!
So without futher ado, I present said amazing bird embroideries. I’m getting a Jay one yeyyyy!
Sewing stuff- a bit of progress and a fabric giveaway
I couldn’t wait to show you this. I finished up the satin stitch around the edges and I finished the piecing at the top to finish the quilt top. I’m going to quilt each tumbler different to the one next to it (this might just mean two patterns, but we shall see), but for now I’m waiting for the backing fabric to come before I can baste it! In the meantime I can decide on the quilting, sew on a button eye and square up the edges.
Also if you also like doing this sort of this, Ali at Very Berry Handmade is hosting a big “Resolved to Sew” giveaway! To enter you have to share your sewing resolutions for 2012.
Mine are to sew more for me- the above goldfinch quilt is for me so I’m on my way already!
I also want to learn to sew clothes- and I am starting an 8 week course next Wednesday which also covers soft furnishings (I might get some curtains made for my new craft room- yey!) so I am on the way to doing that too!
Anyway if you want to enter, this is the post and there are LOTS of prizes up for grabs- I would like to win the £40 Fancy Moon voucher as they have all kinds of bright and wacky fabrics, just what I need since my fabric collection seems a bit tame! There are FQs and glorious fabric pieces up for grabs to add to your collection, the closing date is 26th January. Good luck!
Mega destash going on!
Shameless plug but I’m selling off a lot of stuff, as I’m moving into my new craft room! You will find my list over on this thread on Crafteroo if you wouldn’t mind taking a look? I’m updating before 11am each day so please keep checking back regularly, and all prices include UK postage! Everything must go! Here are some of the current highlights…
Marilyn stamp – £2.50
Sparkly black 30mm-ish buttons – £2.50
Faux jelly teddy mould for resin or clay – £4
To give you a heads up there will be lots of resin moulds added this week, maybe even tomorrow if I get the room a bit closer to being organised!
Sewing stuff
I made this cushion for my sister as a belated Christmas present. It was going to be 7 rows of felt petals but my sewing machine was struggling to get in over the layers and I was feeling lazy, so I stuck with 3 and a blob in the middle. It’s not the neatest thing ever but I was so fed up with it that it will do!
And this, well I’ve not told you about this yet. I’m making a tumbler quilt from layer cakes. I’ve only got 3 more rows to add to the top. It’s a bit boring and simple though, so I’ve decided to appliqué on a rather large Goldfinch. It’s not done yet, I need to satin stitch around the edges and add the feet and the beak detail before it’s done. I’m videoing this as a tutorial for the Craft Pimp blog and I will give you the link once it’s up!
I also managed to do a lot of cleaning and bake two lots of my brownies this weekend. The floor is down in my craft room too so I’m starting to move stuff in (anyone want to take two Billy bookcases with doors on off my hands?!), more pictures to come shortly…
One last thing. If you promote your business on Facebook, I wrote this article earlier in the week, it might be a useful read if you’re not au fait with all of the rules over there.
Another long term project
After being inspired by this on Pinterest, I decided it was time to pick up a crochet hook again.
I’m making 20 of these squares by sewing two Amy Butler charm squares back to back, blanket stitching and then crocheting around, so it won’t be massive. It should be do-able. I was going to use my sharp crochet hook and do away with the blanket stitch but it was struggling to go through 2 layers of quality cotton, so I left that for another time.
So far I’m on my third square. The first one worked brilliantly…
The last two I’ve had to reduce around because it’s been curling up and I can’t seem to get the stitch numbers right. I’m not even sure if this thing is actually going to be able to neatly match up with the other squares :S Oh well.
Husky Mushing
I just realised I promised you a post about when we went dog sledding last Wednesday and I hadn’t yet delivered!
We had about an hour and a half of riding between the two of us, which was 3 goes each… here are the six dogs:
From front to back… Nanook (not pictured- she’s a white one), Koda, Minx (my favourite), Willow, McKinley and Dashka.
Ready to go…
My first go- two dogs, with Dashka and McKinley just going in a straight line… (rubbish photo, but it was late afternoon in January!)
Koda decided she wanted to go search the ditch on my second ride (where I learned you shout WHORE to go left- yes seriously- and GEE to go right) and had a fight with alpha female Dashka as a result. We tried again but they tried to pull me into said ditch which resulted in a girly scream, but that made them stop very quickly! So I had to go back and start again, this time with Minx, Dashka and McKinley…
Here’s OH with his three dogs on his perfect second run- you can actually see Nanook in this picture, she was a hard worker (and just a puppy too)!
There doesn’t seem to be a picture with me and the final team (Nook, Willow and McKinley), but I beat OH’s time because he ended up with Koda and she acted up again wanting to cut corners and getting taffled up with the other dogs leads.
We then stayed overnight in a teepee. I say stayed overnight as there wasn’t any sleeping really- there were gale force winds and trees blowing over, etc. The poles moved in 2 inches all the way round which meant the canvas at the top was touching the chimney which is a slight fire risk. As far as I’m aware they had to rebuild it after we left. The toilet tent blew away and the door kept gusting open all night. Needless to say I had a good nap when I got home!
This was me, in a balaclava in the morning after the fiasco of the night before…
Finish-a-Long 2012
I have a couple of WIPs but one I have started recently which doesn’t count as a UFO (unfinished object). However, I started a footstool with Max and Whiskers fabric well over 6 months ago now, just after I made the sewing machine cover but before I finished my first baby quilt. And it’s still sat there- the stool base and a handful of pinwheel squares stacked on top!
So for this quarter, I am aiming to finish this and linking up to Rhonda’s Finish-a-long on Quilter in the Gap. By the end of March, I will have got my act together and finished this. And by then I may go back to my advent calendar and placemats I was supposed to make for Christmas and didn’t finish :S
Last minute 2011 makes
I’ve just made my first item for the Crafteroo Pinterest challenge, a day early but this will be my January make.
What we have to do is make something from all of the tutorials we pin over on Pinterest, as usually what happens is they then get forgotten about…. This was made with a tutorial from 2006 from u-handbag, very useful but I am shocking at corners!
I can also now show you the cushions I made, one for each Secret Santa I did this year. I’m going to make other designs, and they take about 6 hours each to make as they are all quilted as well as appliqued twice. They’re my own designs as well, drawing new ones is my favourite part!
Fat Quarter Shop Fun
There’s a big giveaway over on Quokka Quilts right now where you design your own fabric collection using those already available in the Fat Quarter Shop. It has been a lot of fun putting mine together- I love colour and Feedsack reproductions! I chose to loosely go with yellow and brown base colours, with a healthy splash of teal and a bit of red….
Also you may like to know that issue 2 of Crafteroo Magazine is out right now! To be perfectly honest I’m glad to see the back of this issue, it’s been a lot of hard work. I’m going to sit on my new slouchy sofa with beans on toast and watch Charlie Brooker’s Review of the Year because I deserve it
