More orders and a little extra

I have a lovely customer who regularly orders bunting for her freinds and family. I wanted to make something special for her so she knew how much I appreciate her coming back. I made the Amelia bunting in a special colour scheme of pinks and purples,

and then made these very cute little birdy lavender sachets to hang in her new wardrobes! They were such a delight to make and I spent ages photographing them in different positions around the house! (at that point I realised I need to get out more!!).

These were made from an existing pattern from the book last minute quilted gifts. I love the way they came out but I wanted them to have a bigger flatter tail, so I redesigned and made muslin examples (will post more pics soon, honest!!). As soon as I have time I'll make them 'proper' and let them fly into the shop (now I've written this I HAVE to do it!!).

Its been a while...

since I posted! There is a lot going on around here!! Fortunately its all good news! I've had a flurry or bunting orders, including my first Australian comission. The buyer was such a lovely person I pulled out all the stops. I included some of my fave liberty prints and the colour scheme she selected for her daughter's name was perfect. I was really pleased with it!

The buyer left some lovely feedback in the shop so it was worth all the effort. Making stuff to sell can be a real roller coaster. Somedays you feel great, somedays you are convinced your stuff is rubbish and why would anyone want to pay money for it. Making this and the appreciation from the seller makes it all worthwhile and keeps me sewing!

Manic

I'm in a mad panic to try and sort easter in a day. We travel to blighty tomorrow to spend easter with family and I am no way near ready, i still have eggs to buy, birthday presents to send and projects to plan to do while we're away. The reason for this mania I can't complain about though. I've had a flurry of bunting orders this week and I've been beavering away sewing for newborns and birthdays, and coming up with some new colour combinations. I've also been working on graphics for the shop to show custom listings and new photos. I especially love the way the detail for the gift bags came out!

This is a scheme I've put together for custom pink and purple bunting, reminds me of bubblegum!

And this little selection is being put together for a little girl called Florence, lush!

the wheels on the bus go round and round...

Little miss P's fave song at the moment. So I made her a bus to sing about!

Its raw edge applique, machine sewn with a darning foot & free motion. When you get up close and personal you can see I need to practice more!

In my head...

This has been in my head for so so so long! I can't take credit for the design myself, neither can I credit the person who originally designed it as I have no idea where I saw it. I just saved a pic and then recreated it and I think its the best thing I've made for little miss p's bedroom so far. I loved every bit of the process and it came together so so so quickly. I used the english paper piecing method which is so satisfying and easy. The pics aren't great we have been starved of good light in Paris but there were a couple of rays which broke thru the grey clouds so I quickly snapped a few pics just before I finished adding the trunk (notice the pins holding it together!!).

Because its a wall decoration I left the papers in and used good old cellotape to stop them falling out. This process gives it a great 'structure/stability' for putting on the wall. Even the edges were cellotaped so there are no stitch lines on the outside. I was really lazy with the trunk I just bondawebbed it on.

The biggest problem is where to put it, it looks great on every wall so I can't decide. Its currently moved to her door and has a bird next to it to keep it company! I can't wait to make more! I think I'll do 3 more to reflect each season, I could even make them into a quilt... the possibilities are endless!

supersize pincushion

I've been meaning to make this pincushion, desiged by Anna Maria Horner for absoluetly ages. With spring once again in the air and looking like it might be here to stay for more than a day (I started this post before the weather changed!!) I got out my scraps and decided to use ginger blossom fabrics to make it up.

I think I was putting if off as I was worried about sewing the curves as its made up of 8 segments. I have a love hate relationship with curves, I love them, love looking at them, love the shape they make, they are so aesthetically pleasing! But sewing them sometimes sends me doolally. In fact I'm actually stuck on a baby jane block cos I just can't get the curves right. Sorry I digress.

This pattern is so easy and produces a chunky pincushion. I really enjoyed sewing it, little miss P stuffed it with her tiny finger and I finished the base watching more of The Wire, what a perfect way to spend your day!

Doll quilt

This is the first quilt I ever made from start to finish without the aid/support/finishing skills of my mum. Its a doll quilt for the ikea dolls bed we bought for little miss P (this was before we reaslied she doesn't like/play with dolls. She's a 'sofite/cuddly toy.. preferably rabbit' kinda gal. It breaks my heart when she rejects the dolls I make for her. I had such dreams of spending hours dressing dolls and decorating dolls houses.....

This quilt was supposed to be added to an 'upgraded and reworked' version of the full bedding set which IKEA supplies, however, due to aforementioned blip in my vision of my little girls childhood, it never got finished. She never played with it. I always meant to finish it though, so, when I talked about it to a friend who then went on to actually do what I only talk about it inspired me to take action.

So, you'd think I'd make it easy on myself, oohhhnnnooooosireeeeeee. I decided to start with the little pillow which was a blue colour which showed through the fabric. So first I created a cream lining to mask the blue.

I then made an envelope pillow, but I wanted it to tie in with the quilt and I wanted to learn a new skill and creating piping is something I've always wanted to try. I used a tutorial from Portabellopixie


These are a couple of picks of the corners. I can't post a picture of the whole thing as some of went the sides were a bit wonky. I was pleased with my first attempt but need perfect the skill, its harder than it looks but the effect is great!