walking in the air

it's monday! my favourite day of the week.

yesterday it was my brothers birthday and we all know what that means, yes! a handmade present, yay! do you remember this panel from ages ago?

i said i was going to make a cushion for him moving to england, well his birthday came first so i made it for his birthday. 

some straight line quilting, a little bit of appliqué, some binding and ta-dah! a cushion is made, i really like this map print from out to sea by sarah jane.

have you guessed his name yet? i am also happy to say that he loved it! and took a nap on it straight away, i would say that it was a success, yay! cause you just never know with handmade gifts.

now you've seen the cushion you might be wondering what age he is, any guesses? here's a clue

yes he turned 23! and every 23 year old needs a map cushion (he studied geography, so at least its relevant haha) with their name appliquéd onto it.

two birds, one stone i got to make a handmade birthday present and put a tick on my FAL quarter 1 list,  win, win!

rachael x

oh and before i forget there was also cake, a polka dot cake

just a quick photo i snapped before it was all eaten, it was yummy!!

pinch, punch emm second of the month

it' recap time! 2013 is over! and can i just say thank god it is! it was not a good year, but i think that's because it was an ODD number year! it was a mix of good and bad, quitting my job = bad, starting blogging and the floral suitcase = good and i just wanna say the blogg-y/quilt-y world is so wonderful :) so last year was swings and round-a-bouts.

recap time means collages! i can hear you all whooping! i know everybody says this but it really has been fun to look at my quilt-y makes from the past year, i sew-ed a lot more than i thought i had, like 11 quilts - that made me smile :)

2013 was the year i started craft fairs, boy was that fun! (that's not sarcasm, honest) as i've said before i really have learnt a lot, i'm thinking of doing a series of post for anybody thinking of doing a craft fair and want to know some more about it :)

... and i think we can all agree that it was the year of the cushion! (these aren't even all of them) cushions are a great way to get all the creative ideas bouncing around your head out in a quick, fun way and aren't as time consuming as a big quilt.

so it's a new year which means resolutions, here are a few of mine:

- blog my progress and finished quilt-y items more 

- to carry a sketchbook and doodle all my little ideas

- be more adventurous in my quilts and fabric choices

- take better photos

- learn to use photoshop and illustrator

i think that's enough to be getting on with this year, what are your resolutions? are you making any?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and here's hoping for a great EVEN number year!

rachael x

the day at the ducks...

what absolutely, positively glorious weather we are having! and while out enjoying the marvelous weather (i was sunbathing) i get ambushed by mr. frog that was obviously my cue to go and get some work done.

on saturday i just took the notion that i had to make a swoon block like right away! by sunday afternoon i had a cute little quilt.

i got to get my wooden ladder out for a wee photo shoot this afternoon :) it's the small things that make you happy :) i'm a little bit smitten with this quilt. i had tried making a swoon block once before, and well it was a disaster! but this time i used camilles craftsy class and all my points lined up, yay!

they really are massive blocks, finishing at 24 inches, i added two borders to make it the perfect quilt size. i also did my loopy quilting again, this may be my new favourite way to quilt.

i even did a pieced backing which i might start doing on all my quilts, because it's sooo pretty! well in my humble opinion haha.

i'm already planning on making a full sized swoon quilt when i'm not as busy now i just have to pick out the perfect fabric. i feel like a quilter now, for making a swoon block haha

and on a completely random note, this is what happens when you find a spider, you throw your basket of fabric out the front door while screaming loudly and hoping the spider hasn't somehow crawled onto you!

rachael x

linking up with lets get acquainted at plum and june

4 a.m bobsleigh

i find the writing part soo hard, i should just post pretty pictures instead of even writing stuff, buuttt i'm a talker sooo i'll continue rambling on :)

after taking 2 of judiths classes i just had to sign up for a 3rd cause they are just so super duper fun and i really think that everybody everywhere should go to judiths classes!! this time it was for a quilt, oohhh!!! the ferry floor quilt, double oohhh!! it's a layer cake quilt, which was good cause i have loads of layer cakes and never seem to use them. so after umming and ahhing for ages i decided to use my long hoarded sunkissed layer cake with aqua for the sashing bits.

purdy, ain't it?? i'm really pleased with how it turned out, it's so summery and pink :) and people i have discovered hand stitched binding!! why did no one tell me how fun it is?? i'm completely hooked and will probably never machine stitch it again.

i quilted it in swirly blue loops (using aurifil of course!! is there anything else??) i think quilting is the most fun part along with stitching the binding on. i like that the swirly-nee soften the sharp lines

as soon as my mum saw this quilt she announced it was hers, so it now resides on her bed. i'm really happy with is quilt and it was such a great class!

right have to go and get packed for my craft fair tomorrow :)

rachael x

cut. pin. sew. repeat.

i am a procrastinator or maybe i'm just easily distracted, because this week i have done anything but sew. For instance i know now that i have 118 pins, that i want to redecorate my 'sewing room' in the colours aqua and white with splashes of pink (i love pink) but who knows if i'll ever do it without being distracted, i also found fabric which i had no idea i had, which makes me think i buy to much fabric haha.
so today i sat down at my sewing machine and sewed and i didn't get distracted, yay!!

my second cushion from judiths class. on this one i used satin stitch to sew around the letters, its harder than it looks, i'll not show you a close up because my stitches are just a teeny bit crooked. again i had to do the 'sketchy' writing its just too much fun not to do it, but boy did it take me forever to come with what to write, its says cut, pin sew repeat. these cushions are slightly addicting i have another one just sitting to be sewn up. 

i have a thing for checks, i love me a good checked fabric and navy polka dots, match made in heaven. my mum took my last cushion, so this one will be for me it sits happily in my room. i have 4 quilt tops that are waiting patiently to be quilted, my plan this weekend is to get this one finished (unless i get distracted)

these are the colours i'm going to quilt it in, i think they're very eastery, good for easter weekend. can you tell i edited it in picmonkey? i could seriously spend hours playing around with all the different filters, so fun.

so are you easily distracted/ a procrastinator? 

rachael x

linking up with crazy mom quilts