My fiancé and I bought our first house recently, and I've been having a great time trying to make it really feel like home. There's not much art stuff on the wall apart from some boring flower art, which neither of us liked very much. So I took the frame and made a mini ticker tape quilt (complete with batting) using scraps from recent projects. Now it's something I actually want to look at
I will definitely be making more of these, it was extremely enjoyable Sorry about the quality of the photo, it's super dark today!
I've been making a lot of quilts lately, but as I don't have very much space, I've been leaving a good few of them unfinished until I move house (and get my very own craft room, woo!) so please excuse the unfinished ones, I just wanted to show you
Half Moon Modern charm pack by Moda:
Irish chain quilt (one of the easiest quilts I've ever made!)
Chevron baby quilt (basically just using up scraps for this one)
String block quilt (paper pieced, so much ironing involved!)
My future mother in law loves the above string block quilt, so I decided to make her bag in the same style:
Spots & Stripes baby quilt (handquilted):
Hexagon quilt (made entirely from scraps, all completely sewn by hand, 667 hexagons!)
Sorry about the overload of photos, I didn't actually realise how many freakin' quilts I've made recently!
I'm moving to Portlaoise next month and once I get settled in, I'd like to meet other craftstery people around the area. I've never lived outside Dublin before and won't really know anyone, so I'll be kinda lonely at first. I think there's some knitting groups in Portlaoise, but haven't found any sewing/embroidery groups. (In fairness, there doesn't seem to be any sewing groups in Dublin either!) I might start a sewing/embroidery circle if others are interested!
So I've been seriously considering upgrading my machine, and soon I hope to have the space to properly quilt (potential new home!). I have a Singer Talent 3323 which is a beaut but as I hope to start a business selling quilts, I need a machine that'll be able to handle the volume of work I'll put into it. So I've been looking around and came across a few that seem like they'd do the job, like a Bernina 350 PE, or a Pfaff Grand Quilter but I know nothing of these brands. I'd appreciate if anyone could tell me a little about their machines, maybe with pros and cons. I'm thinking of spending about €1000-€1500 but don't let that put you off, I'd still love to hear about your machines!
For me, embroidery features would be nice, but not as essential as having a larger throat/harp and can handle bulky seams. An extension table would also be nice, but I reckon I'll get one of those nifty sewing tables in my new craft room.
I wasn't sure this belongs in the sewing board or here, so if someone could set me right, that'd be great!
My fiancé is currently very much in love with the quilty stuff that I make, and very often will stealthily acquire most of what I make. He's pretty sick and spends a lot of time lying down, so I suppose it's no real wonder why
I got "Doodlestitching" by Aimee Ray recently, which has lots of lovely embroidery designs. I chose the rocket ship because of our love of Futurama, we've have been known to sing this song at each other: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KosPy6KH3-o&feature=related (it's from "Bender's Game" in case anyone wants to know)
Front: Back:
I stuffed it with fabric scraps, as I've been trying desperately to reduce my mountain of scraps. (Which is not going well, as it has grown instead of shrunk!)
The first inner zipper pocket I've made that actually worked!
Artsy shot of the interior, showing an inner pocket, keyhook and zipper closure (ran out of normal zips, so I used an invisible one instead):
I'm really happy with how it turned out, although it still needs a strap as on Christmas eve, it caused my sewing machine to blow its fuse so it'll be a few days before I can truly finish it.
I've been dying to show this ever since I made it, but it was for a Video Game Swap so I had to wait until my partner received. She got it and it was a big hit with her family so now I can show you guys!
Ok, so it's basically Snakes & Ladders (or Chutes & Ladders to my North American Craftsters) but done in Mario style. Instead of going up ladders, you go up vines and instead of going down snakes (or chutes), you get eaten by the Chain Chomps. My partner has 5 kids and a husband so I made everyone a different coloured mushroom (the little pink one was for her first girl).
I might make another one, but honestly it took 3 weekends to do so that could take a while!
I think my creativity just died when I finished making this as I've been feeling pretty uninspired since. Long story
Anyways, the material is from a curtain that I bought in a charity shop and I edged it with a pretty turquoise ribbon. I don't have much of a story to this one, sorry for anyone who enjoys my rambling descriptions.
I don't normally wear skirts so who knows when I'll actually ever wear this, but if I ever get a photo of me wearing it, I'll stick it up here
I have worked hard on this quilt for a few months now, and I'm really, really, really glad it's finished. I was beginning to hate this thing. Having encountered many problems along the way, I've learnt a few lessons.
1. I should have waited to get batting/wadding from a craftatorium. The Queen was in Dublin at the time and I didn't want to deal with the madness in town so I used the stuffing from a duvet. That stuff gets everywhere.
2. I definitely should have bought more safety pins as I only had a few and these crazy long pins that kept on stabbing me, often in the same place more than once.
3. I do not have the space to be working on projects this big. At all. I do all of my sewing in my bedroom and even if the room is clean, there's no floor space.
4. This goes with no. 3: I don't have a proper sewing area! I'm so insanely jealous of people who have their own crafting room, you lucky craftsters!
Anyway, I've called this "The Cursing Quilt" due to an unbelievable amount of extremely creative swearing from me, particularly while quilting it. There's 70 pinwheels altogether,each pinwheel is a different fabric and it's backed with fleece. Not exactly a summer quilt but at least it's ready for the winter. I apologise in advance if this picture is not good, I'm working off my internet table at the moment.
I've always loved the Domo Kun meme and I would like an army of them for my plans. (World domination, in case you're wondering.) I'm doing well so far!
Here is a mini Domo Kun, made from felt and most certainly no larger than my hand:
For the next shot, I've put my phone in for comparison. I realised that without it, it's impossible to tell how bloody huge this thing is. (Mini Domo Kun is in there for a larf.)
I hope you like them! I had a lot of fun making them
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