McCall’s M6017

I’ve had both this pattern and two metres of Alexander Henry Willow Grove hanging around for quite some time waiting to be put together. I fell in love with the fabric the moment I saw it and didn’t want to waste the lovely design on too complicated a pattern.

Originally I had planned on making version D but then I realised that the fabric more or less gives a layered effect on it’s own so cutting it into horizontal panels would rather negate it’s prettiness. So I opted for the simplicity of version B.

It is a really simple pattern and was great fun to make. The only changes I made to the original was to top stitch the lower bodice close to the gathering, to make it look a bit more finished, and the addition of some green trim to the bottom hem.

Now all I have to do is convince my daughter to wear it. I’m counting on the high twirl factor of the skirt to sway her.

Hounds

A few weeks ago I was browsing through my daily quota of blogs and saw this post on Tree Fall about June Craft on Etsy. The craft lover in me was immediately attracted to the great designs but then the dachshund owner and fanatic took over when I saw the dachshund toy and the print.

Some time later I was day dreaming about how I’d like to decorate my daughter’s new bedroom and I remembered the print. The red and turquoise will be perfect for her room and of course the subject matter couldn’t be better. I also ordered a little dachshund toy to sew as well.

The parcel arrived very promptly and was very prettily packaged. There was also a little badge pinned on to the card however this was immediately commandeered by my daughter and I wasn’t able to add it to the photo.

If I was a conscientious crafter there would now be a photo of the finished toy, however I have to admit that it has been added to the ever-growing to do list. I do promise that the moment I’ve sewn it together and stuffed it I will add a photo!

Two

I’m impatiently waiting for my computer to download the latest edition of Fat Quarterly.

I bought the first issue and wasn’t disappointed. It was great and full of inspiration. I’m very interested in the theme for the this issue: scraps!

I wonder if there’ll be any hexagons in there?

Parcel

I had a very nice surprise waiting for me when I got home from work on Wednesday evening. It was a package from Etsy seller Stitchesngiggles4U which (I’m ashamed to admit) I had forgotten I’d ordered.   Inside were 13 fat quarters from Michael Miller’s Daisy Dance collection plus a Patty Young Playdate fabric panel to make 3 rag dolls.

The FQs are going to be used for my hexagon quilt (and no doubt other things) as this collection is EXACTLY the colour scheme that I’m planning for the quilt.  I saw the photo on Etsy and couldn’t believe how perfect the colours were.  In fact I have now decided that a combination of three or four will be used to make the curtains for my daughter’s new bedroom as well.  I am so pleased with this fabric!

I bought the Playdate panel as I thought I could make the ragdolls for my daughter (some time soon) and then we could have fun making them dresses.  Well that’s the idea anyway. 

Talking of fabric buying, almost all the charmpacks and FQs that I’ve bought to start off my fabric collection and get going on the hexagon quilt have come from Etsy sellers.  I’ve found them to be much more competitive than anyone else and really professional to deal with.  I love Etsy!

Marooned

Just to add to my complications, I’ve been without an internet connection at home since last week. The ADSL line went wrong for no reason and it has taken until now to fix it. So my usual slow posting pace has shrunk to nothing.  And I’d even carefully taken new photos, ready to add to Flickr just so that I could post about them.

However I have been hard at work with my hexagons – I’m now up to 665 which is probably about half way. I’m avoiding sewing them together until I have nearly all as I want the various patterns to be totally mixed up throughout the quilt and not pooled in one place. It’s going to be busy few months of sewing!

I’ve been looking at 2 inch hexagons on Flickr and I’m quite tempted to do something with these as well – obviously once I’ve finished the quilt! I really like the large size of the hexagon and the fact that the fabric patterns are shown off better. Perhaps I could make a few cushions?  Hmmm, too many ideas and not enough time to do them all………

525

A month into my charm quilt and I’ve arrived at 525 hexagons. I would have been a lot further ahead but, seeing as I’ve started this quilt without the back up of a large fabric stash, I’ve been buying charm packs and fat quarters as I go (and when I’ve got the spare cash!) from Etsy sellers (mainly) and then waiting for the Italian post to deliver them.

A couple of weeks ago I received a charm pack of Japanese Kokka fairy story fabric which I thought would add some cuteness to the quilt:

I particularly like this one of Cinderella and the Prince:

The Nicey Jane and Rainy Days & Mondays charm packs are perfect for my colour scheme and I’m very happy about how they look as hexagons:

I’ve now ordered some Michael Miller Daisy Dance (I like the idea of a bit of gingham in the quilt) and I’m mulling over some City Weekend or Urban Chicks Dream On. As there are still a lot more hexagons to be made I’m sure I’ll need to get both and more besides.

Supplies

As a sewing newcomer, and living rather far away from good quilting cotton fabric shops, I’m trying to build up my fabric supplies without forking out too much money all at once.

So far I’ve found that Ebay is great for fat quarters and Etsy is the best place for lengths of fabric and charm packs. 

A couple of months ago I bought four FQs from the same seller on Ebay in colours that could be used for my daughter’s charm quilt.  I don’t think I’ll be turning every little bit of each FQ into a hexagon but a good sized strip of each one will dilute the pink a little.  Then I can put the remainder away to be used when I try my hand at machine patchwork.

The fabrics in the photo are (in order from the top) two unknown FQs I picked up in Amsterdam recently, then Kaffe Fassett Pink Magenta, Amy Butler Love Bliss Bouquet Floral Teal, Amy Butler Love Water Bouquet Mint, Amy Butler Love Bali Gate Pink & Aqua.

Beginnings

I started reading sewing blogs about a year ago by chance.  I taught myself to crochet at the beginning of 2009 and soon joined Ravelry, which has been the source of a lot of inspiration and a great help in understanding what I’m actually doing and, more importantly, where I’m going wrong.  Then I came across one particular member  and saw that she had a blog where she regularly posted both crochet and sewing projects.  I’ve been back to visit her blog many, many times and I’ve found that the blogs that she lists on her site are also amazing places for inspiration.

One of these that I regularly read is Chalet Girl.  A few months ago she was having a giveaway to celebrate the third birthday of her blog and I commented on the post and was really pleased to learn that I’d been picked to receive a prize of a selection of fabric scraps.  As a total newcomer to the world of sewing, and living far away from fabric shops that stock quilting cottons etc, this couldn’t have been a better prize as it meant I could actually see and touch many of the fabrics that until then I’d only seen on the internet.  The little bundle of scraps arrived in amazingly quick time all the way from Australia and have been sitting waiting for the right kind of project.  

So obviously when I started to make hexagons for my daughter’s charm quilt I thought about these scraps and realised that many of them were large enough to be used.  I picked out all those in the right sort of colours and managed to make these 50 hexagons to be added to my stash of basted hexagons:

And what is more, there are still lots more scraps to be used in other projects! 

I’m really happy to be including these hexagons in my first quilt – to me they represent the warmth and friendliness of the online sewing community, something which inspired me to jump in and create a blog for myself.  So thank you so much Sheridan!

Toile de jouy

Following on from this post, it seems like I’m not the only one with toile di jouy on my mind.

I was browsing through Design Sponge a couple of months ago and came across this post all about toile di jouy fabric.  Even more inspiring was the next post and the photographs of Richard Saja’s embroideries.  When I saw these I knew I had to embellish some of the offcuts from the fabric I used for my daughter’s dress and turn them into a little double sided bag for her carry with her.

I found this great tutorial for a sweet bag, and then cut out the pattern and then embroidered parts of the design in front of the television after supper and even on an airplane flying to a trade fair.  It was such fun to do and was just like colouring in.  Very easy, relaxing embroidery.  And I shall certainly be doing some more (both embroidery  and other similar bags).  I’m thinking about making a cushion like this and perhaps putting a piece in an embroidery hoop for my daughter’s bedroom.

Hexagon mania

There has been a lot of talk about hexagons of late on many of the blogs I read and so I thought it might be fun to try.  I’m almost wishing I hadn’t!  What is it about basting hexagons that is so addictive?  I started basting on Sunday afternoon and within a very short time had a pile of 99 one inch hexagons, so now my mad idea of making a hand pieced charm quilt for my daughter doesn’t seem quite so absurd. 

I found a very handy pdf provided by Texas Freckles and spent free moments last week madly cutting up hexagons.  There are a lot of other great tutorials on other blogs but it was Melanie’s that inspired me to jump in and get started.  And in order to keep up the pace I’ve also decided to join the charm quilt piece-along.