My first quilt is complete!

I mentioned way back in April that I had started a quilt, I'm pleased to say that I have now finished it! (Finally!) I actually started it at the beginning of the year so it has taken me quite a while to complete it but I think it has definitely been worth all of the hours behind the sewing machine. It was a design taken from a book by Elizabeth Hartman called Practical Guide To Patchwork. The quilt pattern is called Fenced In. I changed the quilt back completely as I wanted something reversible and I had plently of fabric leftover to do it. The finished size is 76 inches x 76 inches and I free motion quilted it myself on my little Janome. It wasn't easy as it is quite a bulky quilt but I managed to manipulate it enough to get it through. I attached the binding by hand to the back as I enjoy hand sewing. Here it is!

Making the quilt sandwich and pinning, I used almost 400 pins!

 Ready to go!

 My poor little Janome!

 The quilt back.

 The quilt top.

 And again!

I have learnt so much during this process and I cannot wait to start on my next quilt for my son's bed!

How hard could free motion quilting be?

Harder than you'd think!! I pieced together a table runner and decided it would be a good time to try my hand at some free motion quilting. I have mentioned earlier that I have a large quilt top that I want to eventually quilt myself so I have decided to do a few smaller projects first so that I know what I am doing when it comes to the real thing!

I bought a quilting table to fit my machine and an opened toe darning foot. All of this cost a small fortune so I was determined to give it a go. I am pretty happy with how my first attempt turned out. I only have a couple of crossovers in the meandering pattern and overall I think it turned out pretty well! I also hand sewed the binding to the back which was a lot easier than I was expecting. It was the first time I have ever hand sewed anything and it was quite relaxing!

I used a Moda charm pack designed by Kate Spain - Central Park.

A bean bag for a lil' cowboy!

Following on with the cowboy theme in my son's bedroom I decided to make him a beanbag. It came together quite well and was very simple to do. The only modification I made to the pattern was to install an invisible zipper instead of using a velcro closure. I also made a plain white beanbag to use as the liner so that I can remove the cover and wash it!

A long time between posts!

Wow! It has been three months since I last posted, how slack of me! I have completed a couple of small projects in that time and I am working on another couple as well (aren't we all!)

The project I just finished tonight is a cushion for my son. The cover is made from bright red cotton twill with a centred piece of my favourite little boys fabric which I have used in two of my other projects already. I can't get enough of this design despite the fact I have a whole heap of new children's fabric in my stash! I added a navy and white polka dot border to break it up a little and added in an invisible zip at the top to make it possible to remove the cushion insert for washing purposes and to hopefully deter little fingers from opening it. Here are some pics!

Secondly, I started a quilt! Actually I have completed the quilt top and I am halfway through constructing the quilt back. It is 76in x76in which is fairly big for my first quilt but I am happy with how it is coming together. I will post some progress pics soon.

Thirdly, In nervous anticipation of attempting the actual quilting for my quilt myself I decided to practice! I made my son a new placemat to use on the table. He is obsessed with cars/trucks/ buses and is absolutely thrilled with his new mat. I have used a cotton/wool batting to make the quilt sandwich and used a rectangle piece of fabric for the top and the backing. I used random lines for the actual quilting as my new quilting table hadn't arrived in time for me to try some free motion quilting. I bound it using a coordinating fabric and attached it using my sewing machine (Lazy I know!)

Appliqué!

Last night I got the urge to sew something for my little man. After a disaster trying to make a pair of overalls last week I was a bit skeptical about using the same pattern to make a pair of shorts for him. Anyway, it turns out that the shorts are really easy and I had them finished this morning and moved onto appliquéing the t-shirt tonight and surprisingly it took no time at all! This is my first attempt at appliqué and my second attempt (but first successful!) attempt at an actual garment!

Lamp shades and hot glue guns...

Today I decided to try out my new hot glue gun that I recently purchased. I have been eager to give it a whirl and as I sit here typing one handed I thought that maybe I should warn others of the dangers of the seemingly harmless gluing apparatus.

Firstly, one should never attempt to catch a falling blob of glue, as the name of the tool suggests the glue is in fact HOT!

And secondly, one should not glue the whole rim of a lampshade and then attempt to attach the fabric. Funnily enough once the glue cools slightly it sets... hard!!

Here are some before and after pics. The lamp is in my son's bedroom. Not too bad considering the second half of the lampshade was finished with one hand!

Everybody wants a hat!

My son needed a new hat so after researching a heap of patterns I settled on a lovely reversible bucket hat design from a seller on Etsy. The first one turned out really well so now everyone wants a hat! So far I have made 3, one for my son and one for each of my nephews. Here they are!