X-Factor Pillow Swap - Holiday Edition

I know there haven't been a lot of sewing posts lately, however, there has been a fair bit of secret sewing going on, which I am finally able to start posting about.  When Tiina  (Cottilello on Flickr) posted that the theme for the X Factor Pillow Swap - Round 12 was Holiday, my immediate thought was Christmas.

In New Zealand because we have a summer Christmas we don't usually decorate with holiday themed pillows and quilts, but I decided to participate anyway.  Nothing wrong with starting a new tradition in my home.

I kept thinking of a Christmas tree pillow, and one night while lying in bed, I had the brilliant idea of using a selection of green fabrics to make Sugar Loaf Blocks. While fossicking through my fabrics, I pulled out this bauble print from Ann Kelle's Jingle collection, which when fussy cut fitted perfectly in the centre of my blocks.

Carefully stitched in a simplistic tree shape with a star in the top block,  a wood grain trunk and various low volume backgrounds I had my pillow top.  Simple quilting and a bright cheery red Christmas print binding (again from the Jingle collection) completed my pillow.

This has now been sent off to it's new owner and I am waiting for my Christmas  pillow to turn up in the post - hopefully in time for Christmas this year.

Weekending - A Finish

The SWAK envelope quilt has been finished - finally it is quilted, bound - completed!!

Last year a group of about 20 sewers joined a swap on Flickr.  Using the pattern from the book Patchwork, Please,  each month we had to paper piece 1 or 2 envelopes for the people allocated to that specific month, in the theme they requested.  My theme was for bohemian inspired ,bright jewel toned envelopes with a fussy cut floral.  I certainly think all the participants in this group met my criteria. When I had received them all, I put them in a box and put it away, unsure as to what I wanted to do with them. This year I decided that I had to at least get a quilt top made from them.  I did that and have since gone even further and made a small quilt.  Measuring just 48" square, it is backed in a linen like upholstery fabric, which is very soft, and has the added benefit of being very wide, quilted in the shape of the envelope flap and bound in with a fabric from Tula Pink's Moonshine collection. I am especially pleased that I managed to keep the row of envelopes on the back, aligned with the corresponding row on the front.

This special quilt will be kept and used in my sewing room as a memento of the fabulous people I have met through the online quilting world.

Thanks to all the SWAK swap girls.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party Pillow

After watching on the sidelines for a couple of years, this year I plucked up the courage and joined the X Factor Pillow Swap group on Flickr.  This swap differs from others in that we are given a theme each round to sew to.  Previous themes have included Drunkards Path, hexagons and Low Volume. This rounds theme was Liberty Fabrics.  We are not allocated a partner, and are able to sew whatever style of pillow we want, as long as it fits the theme requirements.

Once we have finished we send a photo and details of our pillow to the group administrator, who then posts it on Flickr.  This way no one knows who has made what.  At the end of the round we all vote for our favourites, the person with the most votes for their pillow, gets to have their first choice and so on down the list of participants.

I decided to use all my Alice in Wonderland/Tea Party prints.  I had an idea of making a Mad Hatter's Tea Party themed pillow. Luckily I was able to find free tea cup and saucer paper pieced patterns here.  I sewed them all with a contrasting solid scrappy strip on the saucers and used Kona white as the background.  I wanted it to look like pretty china tea cups on a crisp a white table cloth.  Simple cross hatch quilting in the white fabric only completed the front.  The back is a plain natural coloured linen with a hidden zipper and binding is a simple floral from Dear Stella - Flirt collection.  Pillow size 20" square.

 This has now been sent off to it's recipient, and I can't wait to see what pillow I end up with. and what the next round will be.

A Private Swap

Way back in January I received an email from Claudia asking where I got the pattern for the  Liberty needle book I made myself last year.  Because it is a pattern of my own design, and no two are ever the same, I offered to make her one in a private swap.  After a little to and fro of emails to each other we agreed on a project for her to make me.

The needle book I made Claudia, consists of bright  Anna Maria Horner hexis quilted onto a natural linen,  This gave the cover rather a firm finish, but I am really pleased with how it has held its shape.  The inner is a cream solid, and the pockets are another bright Anna Maria Horner print,  She does a lot of different craft work, so asked if it was possible to put in more than one page of felt for the needles, so I put in two sheets of hand dyed wool felt.  Again my little zippy pocket on the right hand side for scissors and other things you don't want falling out.  Finished off with a matching covered button and ribbon loop.

In return, Claudia made me some beautiful crochet butterfly bunting to hang in my sewing room.  I requested rainbow, and they definitely fulfil that criteria.  Currently I am having fun deciding where to hang them.  There were also some loose ones that I want to attach to a twiggy branch like  she did here. Some vintage handkerchiefs and chocolate completed my beautiful package.

Thanks for a fun and colourful swap Claudia.

Weekending

Britomart Train Station

Robert Russel's Cradle Boat

Lighthouse Lamps

Model of the Ururoa

Art outside Shed 10

• Mother's Day flowers from Miss B
• From Mr J, breakfast in bed - pancakes with lemon and brown sugar
• Scenes from my day trip into the city with Mr J.  We caught the train in and spent the day at the Auckland Maritime Museum
• Happy mail - my beautiful pillow and extras I received in the Great Pillow Fight Swap from Leila and a lovely pouch from my flickr friend Pennie.

Hoping you all had a fabulous weekend too.

Wednesday WIP

With the cold wintery wet weather we have been having over the past couple of days, I could think of nothing better to do than tuck myself away from children watching movies inside, and head out to my sewing room.

I contemplated starting a new project, but truth be told I couldn't think of anything I really wanted to make, so I pulled out those SWAK swap envelopes that are on my finish-along list and started piecing them together.

It is quite amazing how each block differs, considering we were all using the same pattern,  All should be 7 " square blocks, some are marginally smaller,  Some are sewn together with tiny stitches (recommended for paper pieced objects) which makes ripping the paper off so easy, others are normal stitch length.  I do apologise to any of my fellow  SWAK block recipients, whose blocks I forgot to decrease the stitch size on.  Different types of paper have been used  as the foundation piece too, and this sometimes seems to effect how the block sits - firmer or with a wee bit of stretch, and some seem to have the fussy cut flap glued down before sewing.

Anyway, after a lot of deliberating about colour  and block placement, all 36 blocks have been sewn together, the foundation papers are slowly being ripped off, and I am well on my way to completing my first Q2 finish-along goal.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Scenes from my Week

From the kitchen

• I was lucky enough to be given a bag of large red onions, so braving the inevitable tears, I peeled and sliced, then caramelised some to freeze away for winter casseroles

From the garden

• my zinnias in bloom - luckily these are surviving the heat and dry, cos I don't water them at all

From the sewing Room

• My Fractal block is finished and a low volume border has been added,  quilting has been done and now it just needs to be turned into a pillow/cushion.

Wednesday WIP

So I signed up for my first  Flickr swap of 2015 - The Great Pillow Fight.  Where as the name suggests we make pillows/cushions - whatever you like to call them.

Anyhoo my partner has a liking for colour - lots of it in rainbow or jewel tones, nothing pastel or insipid here.  I pulled out a few fabrics (lots actually and spread them all over my cutting table until I was happy with my choices) and arranged them into a colour wheel, wondering what I would make her.  Inspiration struck in the form of the Fractal Quilt Block by Patty Sloniger.  I have been wanting to make this for a while and now have the perfect excuse.  I also remembered seeing the perfect fabric for the backing in Spotlight, so that came home with me too.

So far I have completed five wedges and am liking how this is coming together. Fingers crossed my partner will too.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.