.Handmade Christmas Gifts.

This year I only made a couple of Christmas presents for family members. In past years I have made many more, but the sewing machine hasn't been used much at all since moving house. I'm still getting my sewing area set up and with the kids on school holidays and the weather finally warming up I just haven't felt like doing much sewing. A sewing break is always nice though, after a month or so I'm really hanging out to get back into it and at the moment my list of things to sew is becoming rather long so hopefully this week I will pull out the fabric and start making a mess again!

So, the first handmade Christmas gift was for Carli. We do a family Christmas draw where adults gift for another adult and children gift for another child. It's really nice - especially the cousins choosing presents for each other. Jaron got Carli's name and she hinted that I could make her a quilt top! She doesn't like cutting or sewing on the machine, but does enjoy a bit of hand quilting on the couch so I put together this quilt top for her, taking inspiration from colours in her house. I forgot to measure it before it was posted, but the blocks were cut at 6 1/2" square so it must be around 66" (167cm) square. I love this modern colour palette, nice and vibrant and I'm a big fan of simple square quilts where the focus is on the fabric.

After I had finished making the top, I kept looking at this floral fabric by Lotta Jansdotter sitting in my cupboard and thinking how good it would look on the back of the quilt. It wasn't big enough though so I selected a few fabrics from the quilt top and pieced them together to make the back bigger. Now all Carli has to do is buy some wadding and baste the layers together and it will keep her busy for a little while!

The other handmade gift was not of the sewing variety. Lil had to get a gift for baby George and Sam said that she would like to get more wooden toys for the kids. At the beginning, I thought this project was going to be quick, but I found myself cleaning, sanding and painting these little suckers for 3 weeks! Lucky I started with lots of time up my sleeve! 

These wooden blocks started out in our toy collection. I had a man make them for us a few years back and lots of them I had covered in scrapbook paper and modpodge. My kids didn't play with them much as they were so I soaked them in water to get the paper off then gave them all a really good sand and clean up. Then the painting went on forever...but I love the black and white geometric effect and think they will have lots of fun making different shapes and designs with all of the painted sides.

My inspiration came from this account I follow on Instagram. Check her out, she makes lots of funky kids toys and books and other craft projects. Now that I know how long these blocks took to paint I know why she has a really long waiting list for new orders!!!

FABRIC USED FOR QUILT:
Diawabo, Tip Top Elephants in grey (Japanese fabric)
Lizzy House, Pearl Bracelets in dark blue
Cotton & Steel Basics, Cross in navy
Lotta Jansdotter, Echo, Rugged Lena in suede
Sarah Jane, Wee Wander, Nature Walk in grass
Lotta Jansdotter, Echo, Moira in deep indigo
Joel Dewberry, Modern Meadow, Herringbone in pond
Joel Dewberry, True Colours, Lodge Lattice in turquoise
Lotta Jansdotter, Echo, Small Spring Buds in grey
Art Gallery, Chromatics, Pointelle in navy
Michelle Engle Bencsko, Simpatico, Straws in minty
Riley Blake, Hipster, Mirrah Leaf in grey
Lotta Jansdotter, Glimma, Marby in jade

.325 Triangles Quilt.

I've had a 2 1/2 year break from quilt making. The last one I made was very special and there hasn't been a need for a new quilt until now. New house = new bedrooms = new quilts. Well, I guess I could go out and buy bedding, but that's not my style. Any excuse to get creative, right?!

Our house will be finished at the end of this week (eek!) then we have a marathon of cleaning the new house, moving, unpacking and cleaning the old house. We are really looking forward to it, but will be able to enjoy everything more when the work phase is over!

Oscar is especially looking forward to having a bedroom to himself. His two great loves are the solar system and the human body - we thought decorating a room solar system-style would be more tasteful than the human body!! Oscar has just turned 9 so I'm very mindful of keeping the room decorated to suit an older boy and didn't want to make him a quilt that screamed planets.  

Instead, we chose a selection of solid coloured fabric (I've listed them all at the end of this post) inspired by the solar system. I've been drawn to triangle quilts lately, this one on Instagram especially caught my eye and it was decided that the quilt would be made of lots and lots (325 to be exact!) of triangles. Sticking with a theme-neutral quilt also means that if he ever grows out of the solar system, we are not stuck with an out of place piece of bedding that a lot of work has gone into!

This quilt is definitley the biggest I have ever made. The finished measurements ended up being 91" (231cm) x 82" (208cm). I wanted the quilt to be big enough to sit on a queen-sized bed and tuck under completely on the bottom and two sides. I like the look of a tucked in quilt.

When I first started cutting and piecing triangles, I totally underestimated how many I would need to make the quilt big enough and ended up cutting and piecing more and more rows until it finally worked! At the moment Oscar only has a single bed, but when Harvey moves out of his cot we will do a bed shuffle and will buy a queen sized bed for Oscar. This quilt is made with forward planning in mind, but can sit folded in half on his bed now anyway!

To cut the triangles, I cut 7" wide strips of fabric, then cut those into equilateral triangles using the 60 degree cutting line on my cutting mat and ruler. It wasn't hard, but more time consuming than cutting squares or rectangles.

With all of the quilts I have ever sewn, I have only once had a try at machine quilting and that was using a quilt-as-you-go method. I was keen to give proper machine quilting a go though but wondered if it was worth trying for the first time on a quilt this big?! I bought myself some proper quilting gloves (they were my magic gloves and made a huge difference!) and used Matilda's Own brand 100% cotton batting and managed to pull it off!! I'm definitely not going to be winning any prizes at the fair for my efforts, but it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. There are a few wonky sections and uneven stitches, but I'm super happy for my first effort and am keen to perfect my technique now!

To make it easier, I stuck with straight lines and quilted 1/4" either side of every seam. I thought it was going to to take me weeks to get it finished, but it only took 5 or 6 hours! Hand quilting this would have taken me a few months so I was extremely happy with the quick finish it gave me.

For the back of the quilt, I bought some extra wide backing fabric to save myself the hassle of having to piece anything. When it arrived in the post though, the shop didn't send me as much as I had ordered so I made use of a few extra rows of triangles that I hadn't used in the front and added a happy strip down the middle. Although I didn't want to do any more piecing, I'm really glad that I did because it really gives the back some bright character.

I had just enough solid grey fabric left to use for the binding, and then it was done! Just in time for a new bedroom in a new house...and now I've got three more children waiting for their new bedroom quilts! I said I wanted to perfect my machine quilting, didn't I?!!

 

SUPPLIES:
Triangles...Kona cotton solid in the following colours:
Orange
Sage
Breakers
Celestial
Poppy red
Graphite
Oasis
Chartreuse
Corn
Grass green
Flame red
Navy
Peapod
Binding...Kona cotton solid in graphite
Backing...Carolyn Friedlander, Widescreen, Crosshatch in Pacific 

.Nani IRO Mothers Day blanket.

For Mother's Day I made my Mum a Lap Quilt from luscious Nani IRO double gauze fabrics.

This is the third lap quilt I've made from the Lap Duvet pattern on The Purl Bee and I don't think it will be my last.

The two that we have in the loungeroom are constantly in use for snuggling on the couch. And after 2 and 3 years of use they are softer and snugglier than ever. (See them here and here.)

I actually bought these fabrics from Miss Matatabi back in November last year to make Mum a quilt for Christmas, but decided to hold onto them for Mother's Day when the weather was colder and there would be more need to actually use it!

The quilt is really easy and fast to construct - this one took me 1 hour tops! Essentially, all it is is two pieces of fabric sewn together with a piece of wadding in between. Then when it is turned right-sides out, you "quilt" the layers together using bartacks on your sewing machine. So, so easy and achievable. Mum and I were wondering if the bartack quilting would work for a smaller sized regular quilt - anyone tried it before?

In order to get as much width to the quilt as possible, I left the writing on the selvedges showing. I like it like that, Nani IRO has cool selvedges! 
I love these fabrics, the floral one especially reminds me of Mum. The soft pink spot is actually metallic, a subtle interesting detail. Pretty sure the pink one is out of stock at Miss Matatabi now but keep checking because she is always getting new stuff in.

Happy Mothers Day, Mum! Might have to sit under this blanket when I come over next because I love it!

SUPPLIES:

Nani IRO Kokka Fuccra Rakuen in light blue

Nani IRO Kokka Pocho cream with metallic pink dots

.Finished Quilt.

Remember my latest loungeroom cushions?  I finished my matchy-matchy quilt over the weekend.

After the cutting and piecing was done, I hand-quilted the entire thing.  Long and slow.  Just the way I like it, something "busy" to do when I want to watch a bit of TV!

Mum helped me come up with a design for quilting, I divided the quilt into quarters then quilted big rectangles within rectangles in each of the quarters.  I used white perle 8 thread and love the chunky stitched look.

I couldn't picture anything other than plain white for the binding and am really happy with the sharp frame that it gives.

The quilt is a great size, measures 76" x 64"...not too big or too small, ready to keep us snuggly in Winter and good enough to use in cubby house building!  What more could we ask for?!

SUPPLIES:

Umbrella Prints, Floating Flowers

Umbrella Prints, Elephants

Umbrella Prints, Raindrops

Erin McMorris, Summersault, Pixiestick Posies in Turquoise

Erin McMorris, Summersault, Raindrops in Celery

Erin McMorris, Wildwood, Checked Floral in Green

Saffron Craig, Magical Lands, Magic Spots

Lizzy House, 1001 Peeps, Pearl Bracelet in Purple

Jennifer Moore, Monaluna, Hip to Be Square in Steel
Erin McMorris, Summersault, Pinwheels in Midnight
Kona Solids in White

.Lap Quilt - take 2.

Another Nani Iro double gauze lap quilt because we love the other one so much.

As is the usual story, I bought the fabrics (from Kelani) and they sat in the cupboard for many months until we had a cold and dreary Saturday which made me switch into "get ready for Winter snuggle mode."

A highly recommended, quick and easy weekend project (and you can use any fabric, but double gauze is extra luxurious).

SUPPLIES:
Nani IRO double gauze, Colourful Pocho, Multi on Seeded Natural
Nani IRO double gauze, Fuwari, Pink on Cream

.For the Kings.

When I picked up this big pile of tshirts from Lisa, I was a little nervous.  So worried that I would make a mistake and stuff it up.  These tshirts are extra special.  I couldn't just go out and buy some more if I did something wrong.  They belonged to her dear husband, Aaron, who passed away last month.

Along with feeling nervous, I was so happy that Lisa trusted me enough to cut them up and make something special for her.

So, off I went with a bag full of tshirts and I knew straight away what I was going to do with them.  You can probably tell from the shirts that Aaron had two big passions - sport and music.  All of the shirts had big prints of them so I kept the quilt really simple and cut out big squares from each one, making sure that I kept the focus on the tshirts and not on the design of the quilt.  

The tshirt blocks ended up being 16" square - finished quilt 80" square.  I used a lovely brown linen for the sashing.  Before sewing everything together, I ironed on a light-weight interfacing to the back of each square.  It made a massive difference in the way the knit fabric behaved and made it much easier to work with.  

Lisa had seen a few sneek pics of the quilt along the way and I wanted to do something a little extra to surprise her.  When I'd finished piecing the top, I showed Jaron and he made the comment that the tshirt squares looked like old record album covers (which seemed very fitting as Aaron had a big collection of old records!) it made me think about musicians and signatures and I thought it would be really cool if I could get a copy of Aaron's signature and embroider it onto the front of the quilt somewhere.  Detective Simone paid a visit to the office of the school where Aaron worked and got hold of a letter he had written and signed.  I enlarged it on the photocopier then drew it onto the quilt and embroidered it with chain stitch.  The whole time I was nervous that it was a "dodgy" signature but luckily Lisa recognised it as soon as she saw it - phew!!

 

Sarah Fraser from Patchwork Plus did an awesome job with the quilting.  We decided to go with a straight-line square design for the quilting as it complimented the squares in the quilt.  Sarah's work is impeccable and she got the whole thing finished in 2 days!!!  This is the first time I have ever had a quilt professionally quilted and was thrilled with the results.  If you're looking for a good professional quilter - get in contact with her!

I worked on binding the quilt and embroidering the signature last week and yesterday was able to give it to Lisa...

I don't know how she has been able to bear the last month of her life with her head held high and accepting all of the change that has taken place.  She truly is an amazing woman, and has taught me so much in this short space of time. 

 
When I picked up the tshirts from Lisa, we got each of her boys to choose their favourite shirt to be made into something special also.

Jalen choose to have his made into a cushion - I love how it turned out...perfect for an almost teenager:

Harrison and Kobe each wanted a blanket.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do this with just one tshirt and decided to buy some pre-made blankets and applique the tshirts to the front. 

I like the way that the original shape of the shirts has been retained so that hopefully they can more easily picture their Dad wearing them.

I know that nothing can "fix" the hurt that these guys are feeling now.  But I'm hoping that these keepsakes can help give them something to cuddle and snuggle under and remind them of all the special times they were blessed to spend with their husband and father.  

Love you guys so much and I know that Aaron and Noah will always be by your side, until you meet again. xxx