a very happy un-birthday to me! ~ give away time!~

I turned 33 yesterday, but I have not been feeling well lately. So I spent the day on the sofa with the curtains drawn, wrapped up in a quilt watching crappy telly and napping a lot. Do I know how to party hard or what? ;)
Today I am feeling a bit better, the fever is gone and I feel like eating again so I think it is time for some cake, presents and the give away I promised!

Up for grabs are four coordinating fat quarters handpicked by yours truly. From top to bottom they are Pinelope pincushions and scissors, a sketchy dot in red (by Holly Holderman? not sure), and two herringbone stripe prints in red and green from Sweetwater's Reunion.
I personally love it when I find a combination of greens and reds that doesn't remind me of Christmas in the slightest and I hope you will too :)
You will also receive a little house lavender bag I made with Kerry's tutorial and one scrappy leaf coaster.

To enter: leave me one comment on this post, I'd love to hear your birthday party stories the good the bad the ugly I want to know it all!
I will keep the comments open until midnight Sunday. Anyone, anywhere can enter just make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win.

Good luck!

x Leila

A finished quilt...it's been a while

I finished my Anna Maria Horner flower quilt!

The design is simple patchwork squares mixed with a few pieced patchwork squares all hand quilted using paper templates. I hardly ever make large quilts, I did once when I first started quilting but never again since ;) This one is big enough to cover my bed nicely I didn't measure it exactly but it is about 185cm by 215cm or 74" x 86"

I used Hobbs Tuscany silk batting and Little Folks voile for backing which makes this quilt so luxuriously soft and light weight despite it's size - I absolutely love it!!

I decided to commit to a bed full of lush AMH prints and made a few folksy flannel pillow cases as well. I am thoroughly enjoying these warm and rich colours in my bedroom and all the different soft textures to snuggle up under at night.  

The only problem with my bed being all cozy and warm like this is I never want to leave!

Thank you all for your votes I came in third in the Sew Mama Sew true love contest :) Please check back here Monday as it is my birthday and I plan on doing a little give away to celebrate.

 Have a lovely weekend,

x Leila

achoo!

I have been on the sofa buried under a mountain of tissues the last few days - yuck!
So I do not have anything of my own to share today, I can not bring myself to get up and take photo's. Instead I would like to show you three new patterns from three very talented blogging friends of mine.

First up is Amy - During Quiet Time latest paper piecing pattern. These text fabrics are perfect for the block and isn't that handle beautiful?!

Photo by Amy - During Quiet Time

Next up is Anna - Noodlehead, she made a beautiful envelope style clutch. The pattern has all sorts of options for a large or small clutch and different flap styles and pockets. So practical and stylish I love it!

Photo by Anna - Noodlehead

 Last but certainly not least is this amazing paper pieced pattern by Charise - Charise Creates. I remember seeing this block pop up in the Cocorico Bee group pool and my jaw just dropped! It is an absolute stunner don't you think?

Photo by Charise - Charise Creates

Simply click on the name links to buy your own copy of these patterns and on the photo's to leave these talented ladies lots of compliments :)

I will be back once the sneezing has stopped!

x Leila

May I have your votes please?

Oooh excitement my tutorial made it to the final 10 in the Sew Mama Sew true love contest!!

Vote for your favourite three projects here

x Leila
 

Fresh Sewing Day February

It is the first of the month and we all know what that means - it is fresh sewing day!
Here is what my February looked like:

•  redecorating the sewing room - you will most likely not see me do that again any time soon!
• lots of paper piecing - which I am bound to do more of this month ;)
• my first pattern - yay!
• dress making - something I really would like to get better at, I love my Tova!
• the beginning of a sampler quilt, a long term project.

This week I have been happily pottering about with my scrappy leaf pattern. First I sewed some small leaves with the intention of making a lovely necklace like Charise did. But I changed my mind and made these two reverse applique coasters instead.

I love how they turned out!

Next I enlarged the pattern by 150% to see what a larger leaf would look like. It measures about 7" tall which fits perfectly in my hand :)

So I added a layer of cotton batting and insulbright for it to be used as a potholder or hotpad but I also think this size makes a nice coaster or snackmat.

Now hop on over to Lynne's to see what everyone else has been up to!

x Leila