Sunday Sewing ~ sampler quilt

How is your weekend? We have had a glimpse of spring here - yay!
I spent a few happy hours on the sofa watching dvd's and hand stitching a few blocks for my sampler quilt to be.
I made two granny squares.

  I drew the block in Photoshop rather than follow the tutorial, because I wanted my blocks to finish at 6". I simply traced the squares and triangles on some freezer paper added seam allowances and hand stitched them together. 

There is no real reason for hand stitching them other than I felt like it!

My sampler of course needs a + & x block, I followed the same method as with the granny squares to make a 6" block. I find it easier to just make templates for these blocks than doing the maths.

And I made two cute little house blocks following Kerry's latest tutorial, machine pieced this time. After working through several blocks from Patchwork 318 those y seams do not scare me much anymore so I chose the version that included them. But Kerry has made templates for piecing the block without y seams and foundation paper piecing as well - she is kind like that!

They finish at only 4" isn't that sweet?! I am not sure if they will end up in the sampler because they are a different size but for now they are included. I can imagine a whole quilt of these would be fab! You can find the free pattern for this block on Kerry's blog here

So feeling that I had been rather productive I spread all my precious blocks out on the floor in happy anticipation of seeing the quilt grow.

The house blocks were made for me by Ayumi, Kerry and Charise in Patchwork 318 the bee.

  Well, the amount of blocks may not be that impressive but they sure are pretty together don't you think?

Did you sew anything good this weekend?

x Leila

Weekend Sewing

I have had a wonderful weekend in, sewing my little heart out!
A little while back I splurged on Wiksten's Tova pattern, not exactly what I am used to paying for a sewing pattern but I had seen so many wonderful tops and dresses made. I simply could not resist.
I made both the dress and the top version and I love them both!

For the dress I used a wonderfully soft cotton muslin, it is black so it will go with pretty much anything and I think I will get a lot of use out of this dress.

 

I also bought this lovely sheer cotton voile on our local market and decided this would be perfect for a soft floaty summer top. I changed the collar a bit to make it look less dressed up and more like a tunic. It was easy enough to do I cut one collar piece and just folded it under like you do for the sleeve cuffs. I am pretty happy with the results!

The only problem is I am all dressed up now and nowhere to go on a Monday afternoon ;)

What did you do this weekend?

x Leila

Patchwork 318 Bee

This is my last block for Patchwork 318 the bee. Charise asked us all to make a basket block and I could not help myself it had to be the sewing basket!

Kumiko Fujita's basket blocks are deceivingly tricky and  I spent more time with my seam ripper than anything else making this block. It did not help that close to completing I finally noticed my 1/4" seam foot has a pin missing -for who knows how long!- which explains a lot about my struggles with seam allowances lately.

I have really enjoyed being in this small bee, thank you ladies for inviting me!

Yesterday I took out the few Farmer's Wife quilt blocks I made and mixed them up with the bee blocks I received and I love it! So the plan is now to make a sampler quilt with bee blocks along with whatever patchwork block strikes my fancy.  I have been watching all the lovely granny square blocks take over Flickr, a few of those would be fun and perhaps a hexabetty or two!

It is going to be a long term project as I want to include blocks from Cocorico and Ringo Pie as well. I am thinking it will be a nice winter of 2012 project to find the perfect lay out for them, debate whether or not sashing is in order and make the quilt - what do you think?

Have a lovely weekend!

Leila x

Scrappy Leaf Key Fob Pattern

Today is a rather exciting day for me because I have completed my very first pattern -eek!
These scrappy leaf key fobs are so much fun to sew and you get to use up some of your scraps in the process. I don't know about you, but to me that is always a bonus! They are fun and easy to sew up and make great last minute gifts for friends and family!

The pattern includes templates for paper piecing, but there is also the option to string piece the patchwork leaf and improvise with the shape and size. There are plenty of possibilities to put your own spin on them!

I am very grateful for the help I got from my wonderful pattern testers Penny, Nova and Charise, I owe you one girls!

We are in different time zones, but if you head on over to their blogs a little later today I am sure they are happy to show you the pretty leaves they have been sewing up. There might be a little something in it for you too...just sayin' ;)

And of course you can buy a copy of the pattern in my shop here.


x Leila

Cocorico February ~ Pippi

It is Muriel's month in Cocorico and she chose Pippi as her theme. I got all excited about this because I adore Pippi! If you have not read the books or watched the films I can highly recommend them.
I had plenty of ideas for blocks but had to drop one after the other as they were all way over my head! I finally settled on a block that does not feature Pippi herself but one of her favourite foods....cake, preferably eaten for breakfast ;)
Pippi takes all her friends to the candy shop where they buy up a ton of sweets and goodies and have a very good time together. So that was my inspiration.

I drew up a rough sketch of where I wanted what to be, and then made paper piecing patterns for each individual section.  I am particularly pleased with how the bow on the chocolate box came out, I was not sure if I would be able to pull it off!
Do have a look at the flickr group Amy and Kerry both made amazing Pippi blocks this month!

x Leila

P.S please check back tomorrow for some exciting news....!