It's so nice to give handmade prezzies at Christmas. There's something special about spending time picking out fabric and spending time making someone's gift.
Last year I found this great, old pattern for a kids art smock (more about that here). It is a quick and simple pattern (Simplicity (4286) for ages 3-8) so I decided to make all the children in our family and our friends one as Christmas presents. Needless to say, I spent most of late November and December busily cutting out and sewing these together.
I know handmade gifts, of all sorts, are often undervalued. Sometimes the recipient has no idea about the price of materials and the time it takes to make something. I don't mind though. I reckon it's probably these recipients that have had very few handmade gifts and as the giver, it's pretty cool to be able to spend the time and money to give them something I reckon is pretty special. Plus.....of course....It's super fun making things too!
I have a little boy who is nearly 2 1/2, and as his Mum, I hope to teach him many things that I think are important. Creating unique, handmade gifts for others will always be something I'll encourage. At the moment he'd rather run as fast as he can, climb as high as he can and play with his trains and water toys, rather than to make paintings, cook yummy food, grow vegetables or draw with his pencils. But, I do look forward to the years ahead and the fun things we will make together and seeing what he manages to come up with all on his own.
Here's to homemade, handmade and homegrown creations!
Jen
Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Lets Be Social #55
Back in November last year, i was stoked to win a $75 gift certificate for the Little Crafty Shop from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts. Waahoooo!!! New fabric?.....YES PLEASE!
I love reading Rita's blog (you can check it out here) and especially love seeing her new quilt creations. She has a real talent for selecting the most gorgeous colour and fabric combinations. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win the gift certificate Rita.
I'd never checked out the Little Crafty Shop before and i was delighted to be introduced. Lilian has done a great job with her website and has some awesome fabrics in store. Ooh, the dilemma, what to choose?? She stocks some of my favourites including Kaffe Fassett and the Lecien collections.
In the end, i opted for a bit of variety to fill some gaps in a quilt i'm planning to make this year like some Tula Pink Moon Shine in Static Dot, Dear Me and Doe Eyed.
I also picked fabric from the Lecien Floral Collection that i'm not sure what i'll make with just yet but i couldn't resist; Flower Sugar Spring.
And for beautiful organic cotton, low volumes i picked some Cloud9 Shape of Spring by Eloise Renouf: Petal Print in Twig and Sage.....almost good enough to eat!
A whopping thanks to Rita and especially Lilian for her generosity. Cheers girls, i am very thankful and will put these new fabrics to good use!
Linking up for Sunday Stash #107 with Molli Sparkles
My Mum Norma, recently made this beautiful cot quilt for our friends Emily and Owen who are expecting the birth of their first little one within the next couple of weeks.
Mum had this to say about the quilt;
'I found the pattern for this cot quilt in the Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine entitled Huggles by Val Laird, and I was inspired when I found the perfect backing material Australiana by Nutex 'Australia Wild', to separate my quilt into sky, bushland, water and grassland'.
'Being a scrappy patchworker I then had fun choosing colours and then animals that would go in each area'.
'I even looked up books and made tracings of my favourite birds and animals as I live in the Blue Mountains (about 100 kilometres west of Sydney) and feed or see many beautiful birds and animals each day'.
'As my hands aren't as young as they used to be, I had to be patient and took my time appliquéing around each one- they had such small feet and claws, but my own birds sat in the backyard so would pose for me at feeding times'.
'I ask God to bless Emily and Owen's little baby when he sleeps under the quilt as it keeps him snug and warm'.
Norma
Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mum Quilts for Finish it Up Friday.
As a gift for our wonderful friends Haydn and Kylie, I couldn't imagine not making something that celebrates Australia's beautiful native plants and their unique colours and Emma Jean Jansen's terra australis range of fabrics have provided the perfect inspiration.
They can be purchased from plenty of fabric stores around Australia and internationally (find your nearest stockist here).
Haydn and Kylie love the Australian bush and environment and have a small, round dining table, so I've made them a set of four square placemats that will fit the table nicely and add some fresh, terra australis (aka, great 'south land') colour.
The waratah fabric from this line was easily my favourite from the range and I think this placemat, with it's fussy cut waratah (telopea) is my favourite (seen in this photo taken on a lichen encrusted bench seat at the Australian National Botanic Gardens).
I used my walking foot to quilt the majority of this placemat with the exception of a small amount of free-motion on the waratah flower (even after some practice, i'm still a stickler for my walking foot...i just can't seem to get the tidy finish i like with free-motion!!!....humph....more practice needed).
The inspiration for the design came from the Mondrian block designed by Jamie Moilanen (p. 116 of Modern Blocks compiled by Susanne Woods).
I also made one of my favourite blocks, based on strings and used my walking foot to quilt 1/4 inch lines that follow the strings. Of course after making the string block, i had some triangles made up of strings to also use, so these were used for the next placemat (RHS of photo below) to top and bottom my next favourite fabric from the terra australis line, the spinning gum print.
Again, i used my walking foot to quilt straight, 1/4 lines across the placemat.
For the fourth placemat in the set (RHS of photo above), i used a drunkards path template to put together a block that i've laid out to include some circles and some randomness based on Angela Pingel's layout of her Last Call block (p.100 of Modern Blocks compiled by Susanne Woods). Joined spirals are my go-to quilting for circles at the moment, which i drew onto the top before quilting using a water erasable marker pen. It does take a little messing about to get the spirals to join neatly, but i really do like the end result.
So, Haydn and Kylie, i do hope you'll like, enjoy and get plenty of use out of these placemats. It's been such a joy making something just for you! Thank you for being such great, faithful friends!
Linking up with:
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday
- Gemma for I Quilt Thursday at Pretty Bobbins and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social
Waahooooo!
Marta and Orlando's Soul Blossoms quilt is complete. I'm really happy with it and i can't wait to give it to them.
I was inspired to make it after seeing a quilt made by Ann D. Hansen called 'x-tra ordinary' (p.28 of her book make it Modern Quilts (more about it here). I chose to use fabrics from Amy Butlers' Soul Blossoms range which are bright and cheery and i hope will bring a taste of spring to their bedroom no matter what season it is outside.
I can highly recommend the pattern, although i did find the corners of each block were quite difficult to match perfectly despite efforts to be accurate with my 1/4 inch seam and squaring up.
Gemma from Pretty Bobbins did a great job quilting it for me (thanks Gemma!). Because the quilt is so large and will be used as a bed quilt, we chose a lose edge to edge design of simple feathers in pale blue Aurifil thread. The Matilda's Own wadding, which is 100% wool, is lovely and soft with a great loft.....perfect for snuggling!
I pieced the back with what i had left from the Soul Blossoms fabrics together with some coordinating prints. I chose to bind the quilt with a green and yellow stripe which i reckon gives it an Aussie touch and looks pretty cute too.
We recently headed out west on an adventure in the van to the Young and Temora region, and visited our friend Rupert at the Allambie Cherry Orchard on the way. Allambie is in Wombat and at the end of September, the cherry trees were in full blossom, making it a spectacular place to take some photo's of Marta and Orlando's Soul Blossoms quilt. Our little Hurricane enjoyed helping me set up the quilt and running amongst the cherry trees. Thanks for letting us wander through the orchard Rupert, we can't wait to come back and sample some of those delicious cherries!
I'm really happy with this Soul Blossoms quilt and hope that Marta and Orlando will like it very much. Best wishes Marta and Orlando!
Soul Blossoms Quilt Specs:
Completed Size: 2.2m x 2.7m
Pattern: 'x-tra ordinary' by Ann D. Hansen
(p.28 of her book 'make it Modern Quilts')
Fabric: Amy Butlers Soul Blossom range (quilt top)
Quilting: Simple Feathers (e2e)
(by Gemma from Pretty Bobbins)
Linking up with:
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday
- Gemma for I Quilt Thursday at Pretty Bobbins and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social
Any toddler who is as messy as our 2yo Hurricane, is in need of an art smock. Back in my childhood, we simply used one of Dad's old long-sleeve shirts, with the sleeves rolled up. Nothing fancy, but worked a treat.
I don't know what school kids are doing these days, but i came along this great old Simplicity pattern (4286) which includes and art smock for ages 3-8.
It was super easy and quick to make and i reckon should keep the paint and whatever else the Hurricane gets his little hands into, off his good clothes! I made it using some mid-weight FolkModern by Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka (made in Japan) that i had left from another project (My Mum reckons he can lay on the bed with Harvey and totally blend in!). I used some bias binding that was a bit bigger than what the pattern suggested, but again, i had it in my kit and didn't want to make any new binding up before using this first. I reckon the thinner bias binding will look much better.
I like that it has two simple ties on the back and a pocket on the front. I'll be able to make new ones as he outgrows them. I can recommend this pattern.....it's great!
Linking up with:
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social
Back in 2009, i was fortunate to travel to the United States as part of a collaboration with researchers. I spent most of my time there in Seattle, Washington. I'd never travelled to the U.S. before, and i was overwhelmed with the kindness of people and the beauty of the state during summer. The highlight for me was visiting Mt Rainier National Park with my friends Roger and Barb. The mountain was like nothing i'd seen before and i just couldn't believe how big it was! The park with its spectacular wildflowers and alpine scenery was beautiful.
While visiting a quilt shop in Seattle, i came across a McKenna Ryan pattern from the Calling Me Home series called Going to the Sun. It reminded me of the flowering bear grass i'd seen at Mt Rainier and of the alpine scenery. I'd never made an art quilt using so much fusible web appliqué before and thought i'd give it a crack.
Upon returning home, i quickly got to making it, and while i was really happy with my fabric selection (i really liked the colours in the original, so tried to match them as much as i could), my enthusiasm waned over time. It felt very stiff and i wasn't sure where i would hang it once finished. Well, it sat in my cupboard while i completed my studies and worked on some other projects. To be honest, i wasn't sure i'd ever pull it out again, but i was recently looking through some photos from my travels to Washington and was reminded of the art quilt. So, i've been slowly working on it over the last month and it's finished.
It does remind me of my visit to Mt Rainier and Seattle. My favourite parts are the purple spotty binding, the maple leaf quilting in the border and the gold thread (Madeira) that i've used for the quilting in the sunset sky. I can highly recommend maple leaves like these for beginner free-motion quilters like me. I drew them onto the quilt with a home-made template before quilting, and i've found them really forgiving of my pretty messy free-motion work.
I'm still not sure where to hang it, but i do like it. I don't like the stiffness that comes with all the fusible web and i'm not sure i'll make anything using this technique again, but it has been fun trying something different.
Linking up with:
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday
- Gemma for I Quilt Thursday at Pretty Bobbins and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social
