Hexie elephant baby quilt

Two firsts for me this week were quilting a whole quilt (albeit baby sized!) on my machine, and attempting wavy line quilting. I loved the speed of machine quilting, and quite like the wavy look, although I am not sure whether it brings out the hexies enough. But the baby who this is for has been born and I needed to get a move on!

I used an Ikea fabric for the back and made a simple label which I hand stitched on.

For the quilting I used Aurifil 50wt 2600, a light grey colour that works well as a neutral against the grey background.

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts. This is also my second finish for the Q1 2014 Finish-A-Long and my January finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

My first commission

Last week we had a friend come to stay and I took her to our local fabric market. This is one of my favourite places to go in our city, although it is very hit and miss what I can find there, and there is usually no 100% cotton. 

As I am on a fabric fast I didn't buy anything, but my friend spotted some fabric she loved and I offered to make some cushion covers for her. She didn't want anything fancy so they were a breeze to put together. 

I used this tutorial from Adrianne for installing the concealed zipper. This is the second time I have used this tutorial and it is so easy to follow and results in a lovely looking cushion back. 

This is my first Q1 finish for the 2014 Finish A Long and I am linking up with TGIFF.

Extra motivation!

I am a procrastinator. Last year I think I spent more time reading blogs and looking at fabric online than actually sewing.

So this year I have joined the Fabric Fast with Jess and Rebecca and am once again joining the Finish Along 2014 with Katy, in an attempt to help me use my sewing time more wisely.

On my list for this quarter are:

Four quilts. 

1. Elephant baby quilt - needs quilting and binding

2. Central Park quilt - needs quilting and binding. This will be for my niece. 

3. Children at Play quilt. This will be a birthday present for my second son. I am going to use the Stack and Whack Wonky Block quilt tutorial.

4. Transport baby quilt using mainly Birch fabrics and the Little Boxes Quilt (the tutorial is in the Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine).

5. My first commissioned project. Two cushions using this fabric chosen by my friend.

6. and 7. Two secret projects - a pouch and a miniquilt. The fabrics and patterns are chosen but I will only be able to show them once they have been received.

The quilts are going to be a big challenge for me despite being baby/lap size. I am definitely drawn to smaller projects! But I really want to make quilts for my family this year so this is a start. 


Linking up with

A Lovely Year of Finishes ... January

Last year I followed A Lovely Year of Finishes with the lovely Shanna and Melissa. It was a great incentive for me to finish some projects and I managed 9 finishes (admittedly only one of them was a quilt).  

So I have decided to follow along again this year but I am resolved not to get stressed if I don't finish my aims!

    So my aim for January is to finish this baby quilt   

I am currently in the process of hand sewing the hexies onto the background and then need to quilt it.



I haven't decided yet whether I will hand quilt in perle cotton or machine quilt (I can only straight line quilt at the moment on my machine). Or maybe a combination. Any suggestions will be gratefully received!   I am also linking this up with Hydeeann's "In Hand" EPP link party. A great place to see people's EPP progress and to share tips and advice on EPP.

Lovely Liberty

Late last year I responded to a blog post by Catherine for someone to pattern test her Komebukuro bag pattern. She very kindly sent me some Liberty fabric and I got to work.

The crazy patchwork was a lot of fun and something I hadn't tried before.

I always enjoy hand quilting in perle cotton ...



... and the finished bag came together really easily.

It was a great tutorial to follow - I highly recommend checking out Catherine's tutorial page - there are some really cute things to make, many involving lovely Liberty fabric!

The year that was ... 2013

 2013 was the year when I discovered my love for sewing and quilting. I found many friends through their blogs, joined in some quilt-a-longs and participated in a couple of swaps. I also won some lovely giveaways, and tried to send some gifts in return. 

 I learnt to paper piece, enjoyed some EPP, managed to quilt on my machine (albeit only straight lines at the moment!), put zippers into pouches and cushion covers and discovered that I love embroidery.

And I designed my own quilt block ... representing a big part of my life in Indonesia .. being stuck in traffic jams!

I am excited to start 2014 with my own little blog, to try to give back a little to the wonderful quilting community. Thanks for joining me.

Oh, and I am claiming my blog on bloglovin!

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