Blogger's Quilt Festival

I'm excited to be part of Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival!  Twice a year Amy's Creative Side links up heaps and heaps of bloggers who nominate one quilt to go into the Festival.  To see some fabulous quilts and get really inspired, click on the link:

My quilt is one that I completed not long ago.  I made this quilt for my daughter Indy to take with her to University.  I made her one last year as well but she said she'd like a larger quilt.

She tells me this size is ideal for using to make a 'human kebab'.

I have another quilt which has this block design around the edge of it, I have tried to find out what the name of the design is but I haven't been able to.  I'm sure it must be a traditional block as it is simply another way of laying out half square triangles.  I've called it 'Scrappy Sparks'.

The colours Indy chose were orange, aqua, pink and purple.  I wasn't sure how they would work together, and I added a couple of warm browns to give the quilt more depth.  I also included some prints that I knew she would like, such as some bikes and some hedgehogs.  The border is a Denyse Schmidt print.

It's a simple design that shows off the colour and fabric prints really well.  I was surprised that the colours all look great together!  I am really pleased with it.  There is something so amazing when you hand over a quilt to someone.  Indy was so grateful, she says she loves it!

Fun and a new skill

These two purses are just so cute!   I also made these while on sewing retreat.  The first one was a project that was brought along for all of us to make by Denise.  She even ordered the gorgeous purse frames (from Etsy) and gave us a choice of beautiful Echo designed by Lotta Jansdotter fabrics which she'd precut out for us.
I'd never used purse frames before but I am definitely ordering some!  It was so quick and the finished item looks so smart.

I have a stash of half yards of Echo, not the complete collection but quite a pile.  I haven't cut into it at all yet, still searching for the 'right' pattern.  It's such beautiful fabric.  Very different to most fabric I've seen (and let's face it, I spend alot of time researching!).

This little zip up bag has pleats along the front, it is from my new book 'Bags A Modern Collection' which I wrote about in my last blog.  I think my combination of fabrics doesn't show it off very nicely, I love both of them but they are too busy together here.  Also my zip ends are not crisp, you would think after all this time of using zips I would get it right but I still have zip issues from time to time!

A quick photo of a heat bag that I made my Dad.  I love making heat bags, but as we have a mouse problem here in town it is wise to use up all the wheat that you buy as soon as can rather than have it sitting around.  So I made this using some cheap drill, lining it with flannelette to help keep it warmer for longer.  I  had to make it it a bit cute so added a 'wise old owl', from an Alexander Henry print that has lots of these sweet guys to choose from.

Catching Up!

This cute rail fence quilt top is another that I finished at Sewjourn.  It's not very big, the blocks I think are about 8 inches square so only a lap quilt.  The aquas, browns and creams are very cosy and since I took these photos I've quilted it and it is now ready to bind!  I love the uneven strips that make up the rails.  

I wondered about adding a border but I decided not to.

You can see the construction of the block better in this photo.  Some of these fabrics are the very last of old favourites, so it was nice to put them all into a quilt together.

I made a few more blocks for quilts at Sewjourn, however I haven't looked at them much since I've been back to work!  I did make some bags, these two are different shopping bag styles.

Another Jane Market Tote, without the panel on the front as I wanted to show off this great Heather Bailey fabric.  Sometimes it's difficult to make a feature of such large scale prints, but I think this works well.  The fabric is an old one, from her Pop Garden line.

The fabric for this bag is a Lissette drill that I got at Spotlight.  It's a fabulous weight for a bag, I lined it with plain cotton and it is a great bag for taking to the supermarket.  The pattern is from a great book I bought, again at Spotlight, called 'Bags the Modern Classics' by Sue Kim.  I've made a few of the bags in this book now and have found the patterns easy to understand and fun to make.  The link I've pasted goes to Amazon so if you click on it you can have a look at some of the pages of it.

Our Spotlight doesn't have many of the Lissette fabrics which is just as well for me as I'm sure I'd have to get more.  They are so fresh and fun, and colourful.   The book was a bargain too, as I had a 20% off coupon and it has so many great patterns.