I believe this month will be all about pillows

It's funny whenever I join a new swap I get obsessed with whatever it is we are swapping and can't stop making more! It's what I love best about swaps they always inspire me.
Since I joined the Pillow Talk Swap I think you'll be seeing a lot of pillows from me over the next period of time. In fact I have a pillow tutorial in the making. I'll have it up on my blog hopefully in a few days.
Here's a little peek.

This one came out smaller than I anticipated {I have never been particularly good at maths!} so I am making another one taking photo's along the way for the tutorial. It will include cutting instructions to make this pillow in three different sizes {I'm just showing off, I finally managed to solve my math problem lol!}


Here's a pillow I did finish up this weekend.



It has a bit of a Christmas feel to it don't you think?! I have listed it in the shop.
 
How was your weekend, did you get a lot of sewing done?

x Leila

sewing for men

Is it just me or do you find it difficult as well to come up with fun things to sew for the men in your life? All things fabric and quilted seem much too soft and feminine to me.
Trying to come up with handmade gifts for men can result in some pretty 'interesting' projects. But I personally don't know any man with a great desire to own a quilted tool belt ;-)

Imagine my delight when my Mr. asked me to sew him something! He has just bought himself a new i-pad and in his quest to keep the toy in pristine condition asked me to sew him some sort of case to keep it in. I happily took on my mission to come up with the right shape and size and most of all find the perfect fabric for it.

When I came across this wonderful print by Alexander Henry, I knew that it was just perfect for the job.





It was a little fiddly to get the fabric alignment just right so none of the 'ladies' got decapitated! I am glad it all worked out in the end. The rest of this i-pad sleeve came together quite easily.
My Mr. says it rocks, I call that a mission accomplished!

What kind of things do you like to sew for your husbands, boyfriends, fathers and brothers? I'd love to know!

Leila x

How to Quilt Flowers - a video tutorial

Ok, so I feel like I should set a disclaimer first, I'm very nervous both when I made this video and now that I'm about to hit the publish button. I'm babbling and I'm uhm-ing a lot and I mispronounce words and have a weird accent and...well this is new and just making me nervous lol!
But I made this video to answer some of the questions I've had about how to hand quilt the flowers I'm quilting on my AMH quilt.
So here goes nothing...please don't laugh!







 Now how helpful was my 'burying the knot' mime?! ;-)
I forgot to mention that I peel the paper pattern away as I go, it helps me to see where I'm burying my knot as I change thread colours. I just keep pinning my pattern down to ensure it stays put.

Thank you for watching...I've always wanted to say that!

x Leila

Edit to add: I used Swedish tracing paper for quilting, we call that 'pattern paper' here.

Go Anywhere Bag

I was so excited when Anna asked me to test her new bag pattern a few weeks back!
She is such a talented pattern maker, I absolutely love the 241 tote so I had great expectations of her new pattern.

I was not disappointed!

The pattern is very clearly written and has photo's for each step along the way. I personally love a pattern with lots of pictures as I tend to not be the best pattern follower, and the pictures really help me stay on track.

The Go Anywhere Bag lives up to it's name as it holds so much you could go anywhere with this bag!
There are two large exterior pockets. The pleated front pocket is divided up in three pockets, a perfect place to put everything you need close at hand like your children's toys or baby bottles, shopping lists, sun glasses, camera or this time of year I like to carry a small umbrella.

The back pocket closes with a magnetic snap. It would be the perfect spot for a book, some magazines, a change of children's clothes, nappies or an extra sweater.
The Go Anywhere bag also has a slip pocket inside for your wallet, keys, phone and it even has a space to keep your pen.

There's a space and a pocket for pretty much anything you might need or want to carry with you. Which makes this bag super practical, despite it's size you can arrange it so that you always know where everything is!

I was a bit late posting pictures of my finished bag - sorry Anna!- I was waiting for my fabric to arrive. As soon as I spotted Hometown canvas I just knew this was the perfect fabric for this bag. What better than all these city names as a reminder that indeed you could Go Anywhere?!

The pattern is available on Anna's blog here.

x Leila

Fresh Sewing Day #5 (I think)

It's the first of a brand new month. And as usual Lynne is hosting another Fresh Sewing day as well as the second Small Blog Meet.
Let me show you what I have made this month, I've been pretty productive if I do say so myself!

Many of you asked for more information on how I'm handquilting my AMH quilt so I'll be working on a little tutorial/ 'how to' over the next few days to show you, hang on tight!
Now head on over to Lynne's to link up and meet fellow new bloggers, just follow the link here

x Leila