Work In Progress Wednesday: Summer project

A new project has begun! I have finished cutting up all my peices and can reveal I will be making a kaleidoscope quilt for my little boy.

Above are some of the fabrics I have finished cutting that I will be using.

Today is the last day of term so this will be my project to get on with slowly through the summer, as and when I can fit it in around the children.  What will you be trying to fit in around the children this summer?

Summer House Layer Cake Winner!

Congratulations Mary! Please can you email me your address details danaandlee(AT)hotmail(DOT)co(DOT)uk, so I can post your prize :-)

Show and tell Saturday: Christmas Stockings

So heres what I made with some of my Christmas fabric. Ive been dying to make these since I saw them on another blog at the start of the year.

These stockings are fully lined and were fun and easy to make, exept that I was a little miffed that the pattern I used didnt tell me how to line them, which is the reason I bought a pattern in the first place :-/, but after a bit of brian power I figured it out. I enjoyed machine peicing the hexigons, but I probably wouldnt make a quilt using that method as you need to be very precise.

I have finished hand quilting my sisters wedding quilt so I should be able to show you that once I receive my binding fabric, and I have also began cutting some new fabric for a boy quilt that I'm planning to make.

Theres still time to enter my GIVEAWAY so dont forget to sign up HERE before Tuesday.

100 Follower Giveaway!

In celebration of reaching 100 followers, I'v decided to host my very first giveaway.

I have one gorgeous Summer House layer cake by Lilly Ashbury, up for grabs.

There is a great mix of fabrics in this layer cake, a great addition to anyones summer stash.

To have a chance of winning simply:

1 - Be a follower and comment on this post telling me what you'd make if you won this giveaway.

2 - For a second chance to win, please add the button to you side bar/blog/link bank, whichever and come back telling me you did so and I will give you another entry (I will be checking!)


Thanks and good luck!

What a difference a day makes...

...to my stitches! I found this tutorial, switched my thimble to my middle finger, and suddenly my stitches improved.

The front:


The back:


I've had to zoom in as they were difficult to picture. O.k so they're still a bit on the small side compared to the front but they arnt wonky and Im not to embarrased to show them.

Thanks for all your advice, thanks also to everyone who has wished me well since my rotator cuff injury,it meant a lot to me. Its been two weeks and I am feeling loads better, I havnt recovered fully, but enough to handle my two young children and sew, so I'm happy :-)

yoo-hoo! (waves and jumps to get your attention) calling all hand quilters for much needed advice!

How do you get your hand quilting stiches to look good on the back?

This is the question thats playing on my mind right now. I have decided to try and give hand quilting a go as I love the look that pearle cotton can give.

The picture above is the front and Im much to embarrased to show a picture of the back, lets just say the words "wonky" and "uneven" spring to mind!

I am stitching just one stitch at a time but my stitches are uneven on the back, so do I rip them out and machine quilt instead? Or do I perservere and hope that the wonkiness on the back adds to the charm of the finished quilt, and hope it may not look so bad once its all quilted?...Any tips?

Bear in mind that this quilt is a wedding gift for my sister, so I want her to think I'v done a good job. The batting is loftier then usual as I want to give a plush look to this quilt so gathering a few stitches at a time isnt really achievable although the batting did say it was very good for hand quilting, so I think it may just be my inexperience, trouble is, how to I fix it?

I come across so many wonderful blogs, but rarely do I see discussions over stumbling blocks people might have, you all seem to know what your doing so I hope somone in the blogosphere can help shed some light on this subject.

Talking of trying out new things, I'm giving Y seams a go. Unhappy with my attempts at hand peicing, I've decided to try and machine peice some hexigons, This is my first attempt:



and the back...



I have no idea which way I'm supposed to iron the litte flaps created by these seams and I'm still trying to figure out how to close up that little gap you get without leaving a pucker, but I think I'm improving!

oh bums.

This is not good. I am unable to sew :-( I have injured my shoulder, I felt a twinge at the gym on Friday which slowly escalated into full blown pain and now total loss of movement. The hospital said I have injured my rotator cuff and my G.P says its tendonitis which could take weeks or months to get better. I need some strong pain killers, physio and possibly an MRI scan and if its torn, an operation!

I'm gutted! Today is the first week Jacob gos to preschool full time so I was looking forward to more house, sewing and blogging time, but instead I am left without a right arm and having to look at all the things that need doing without being able to do them as well as look after the kiddies.

bummer eh!