A little something different - for me!

This week I got to do something a little different.  Along with one of my buddies in our sewing class, we made fabric covered boxes.  We used kits available at The Quilt Shop, it came with pre-cut sturdy card, box corners and precise instructions.  All we needed to add was our choice of fabric and some pva glue!

I've been dying to use this funky range of fabric for AGES but couldn't decide what to make with it.  Well, this was the perfect chance and I chose to use the umbrella design.  It has lots of colours in it and there are some beautiful co-ordinates in the range but I picked the red spots to co-ordinate with it........because it's a little more girlie!

 If you like getting crafty, this is a super project,  you get to mess around with glue and for a change it's a no-sew project!

And we got to bash around with a hammer............ great for working out the frustrations of the day! ;)

This box is about 13.5" square.  It's called a block box because it's useful for storing your 12.5" patchwork blocks flat. 

 

I know this box is going to get great use......... I have been putting in the blocks I'm currently working on, they're not 12.5" but it's the perfect spot to keep them until they're ready to be stitched together!

 

 

It was easy to make but it does take a little time - all in all, I would say about 3 hours but in that, as this was my first time making one, some of that time was spent checking and double checking that we were doing it correctly.

I think you end up with something a little funky for your efforts! 










 

Bowtie, Dickie Bows, neckties.......whatever ya call 'em!

These are definitely a few of my favourite things right now!

So recently I finally made my first dickie bow! 


You know how there are certain things you want to try but just never get round to it..... well, a friend posted on facebook looking for one.  Her super stylish son needed a red spotty one to finish off his outfit for a wedding. 

Now this lad is one seriously funky little boy and I hated to think of him heading out without his accessory of choice so I took the opportunity to finally try a bowtie and help him sort out his outfit!  It worked out grand........ a bit rough around the edges as "firsts" usually are but he fairly ROCKED it judging by the pictures I saw.


I got an opportunity to fine tune my method however as having seen Jacks one my twins decided they loved bowties all of a sudden!

They've always loved accessories - hats and shoes are big items in our house but now it was...
"I want a green bowtie"
"I want a red bowtie"

Since I have nothing to do all day, every day (tongue in cheek, I promise) I went for it and indulged them!  They were thrilled, especially when everyone told them how smart they looked in them.  In fact, a couple of grown men were a little jealous of the red car fabric and the green animal fabric.    There is definitely something fun about bow-ties, even though they are mostly seen with formal tuxes, they someone seem a little less formal than ties and allow your inner child to pop out!


As we had a weekend coming up where they got to dress-up nice and smart each day, it meant that I got a good bit of practice in but it was well worth it as they were nicely turned out and looked darn cute alongside their buddies in Dublin!  I'm not done yet though........ I picked up a few orders from other little boys while we were away so it's back to the sewing machine for me.  Next time the boys meet their friends, they'll have even more in common!



I've just realised that these two are like little Ant & Dec, they always seem to stand to the same side of each other!  I still don't know which is which though.......... Ant and/or Dec, I mean......... I know these two, obviously!

A Quilt for Baby Elsie

Another week, another project!

This past week or so I've been working on another gift quilt.  My husband has worked with the father of this gorgeous baby girl for years.  In fact, they were roomies before he moved to Galway to marry me so you could say they've been around the block together.  They each have a fair few stories about the other that neither wants repeated (again). 

In 2010, we travelled to France for his wedding to the lovely Vicky.  I was 8 weeks pregnant with my twin boys and although I had a wonderful time, my memories are mostly of being sick.... morning, noon and night..........and at least 3 times on the way to the airport!  (One big bonus, to add to the rest, about having twins, is that you get two babies for one pregnancy - whoop whoop, I don't have to do that again). 

Anyway, I've derailed.  The happy couple recently welcomed baby Elsie and we were all very happy to hear that she entered the world as a teeny tiny but healthy little girl!

I asked her auntie what colours mum and dad put on her to get an idea of what they liked.............and then ended up going completely the other direction.  The colours I chose, kind of evolved.  I had lots of the suggested colours in but as I fine-tuned my palette, they were being eliminated one by one!!!  Whoops! 


I kept the design basic because I didn't want Elsie to have grown up before she received it!  I think the hearts can be sweet for a baby, a little girl and even a teen and the background fabrics also, I tried to keep a little timeless.  I didn't want her to outgrow it in a few months if it was too babyish. 

Oooh and see that little white thing on the far right of the back of the quilt?  Those are my new quilt labels....... Elsie's quilt is the first one I got to put them on.  I'm happy to finally have my little labels on my quilts and will put them on any future projects but I'm not very excited about the label itself........it's very black and white, I think I need some colour and a more basic design as the sewing machine is slightly cut off once it's sewn into the binding.  Shame....but you learn as you go and I'm learning by the minute, like a newborn ;) 

And on that note, WELCOME to the world Baby Elsie!

3 Special Quilts for 3 Special Girls

A family that I've known my whole life recently lost someone very special.  Sonja was loved by so many, not least by her three beautiful daughters and her husband.  I'm not great with words, I never know what to say at times of such sadness......so I usually don't.  I am brilliant at saying very little and shying away from situations when I probably should say something thoughtful and profound.  Sonja's three girls, Kelsie, Alisha and Sofia are pretty amazing and I wanted to do something to let them know that I'm thinking of them.  I might not say the right things (probably the very opposite in fact) but my heart is with them during this terribly rough time. 

So, I had started the Economy Block Along a few months ago and realised that the fabric I had chosen to feature really reminded me of Alisha.  It has a couple of different Riley Blake fabrics that show a little girl picking apples, feeding the chickens, going camping and all sorts of other activities.  Alisha, in all the years I've known her, has been up to something interesting - whether it's fishing for mackerel with her aunty G, baking with her nana or crocheting but she's always seems to be doing something!  So I was about half way through this quilt when I realised that this was her quilt and it gave me more pleasure to finish it with her in mind!

 

I loved the colours in this one.  I got to use any and every type of fabric and overall eclectic effect is just fun!   I decided to hand quilt it so it took a while but it gives it a nice crinkly effect I think! 

                                              

I had a few extra blocks left over so I added them in to the backing and then I used offcuts from all the blocks to make a scrappy binding.  I think I love scrappy-effect quilts most of all, they're so girlie and fun!

 Next, I moved on to little Sofia's quilt.  I am an unashamed lover of paper-piecing so I found some patterns online that featured lots of different Fairy Tales and I thought they would be perfect.  Sofia is just 4 and a little fire-cracker - full of personality and has a lovely cheeky glint in her eye.  I thought she might find it fun to tell the stories in her quilt.

Each block features a different fairy story - The Ugly Duckling, Snow White, The Three Pigs, Puss In Boots and more........ the only one that didn't really stand out to me was the Three Pigs so I asked Sofias lovely Aunty Gina to make me some piggy buttons to help that block and now I love that block!!!  Gina has always been a whizz with Fimo, since forever (!), and she really helped me out with this despite the fact that she was heading to America and is still very much dealing with losing her lovely sister, Sonja, herself.  I really love that she had a little part in Sofias quilt - even though she didn't even know what the buttons were for!

                               

The last block in the quilt has a bookshelf full of books and I added some embroidered words to personalise it for Sofia.

Tada!  (Can you name each fairytale?)

And finally........... Kelsies Quilt. 
Kelsie is that bit older than her sisters and I didn't want to make anything too childish for her but I wanted it to be a bit of a memory quilt for her too.  I decided to make a family tree, a little reminder that she's surrounded by so many of her family when she's missing her mum.  

I didn't have a pattern or anything for this so just drew out the tree freehand appliquéd it and the leaves and then embroidered all the family names putting her own little family at the top centre and then all Sonja's family to the right - including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and the same for her dad Clives family to the left.  One little leaf is awaiting a name of the newest cousin, who is a little boy, due in October!

I asked for a little help regarding Kelsies colours and was told greens and pinks....... thankfully, her lovely granny and my lovely friend, Heather, said we got it right, phew!  I quite like the colours myself.  I had planned to machine quilt this one but in the end I decided to hand quilt and keep all three the same in that respect.

Finally, I wanted to put one patch on each quilt that was the same and to show that it was kind of in memory of their mum, Sonja.  The fabulous girls in WeSewCrazy Galway helped me out here.  I told them that I would like to put a patch on each quilt that would have the cancer awareness ribbon for the type of cancer that Sonja battled with and also a little something to do with Irish Dancing because every childhood party that I can recall,  Sonja was "the" Irish Dancer of our little community.  Every party I went to as a child, you could be sure that Sonja would have us clapping along.  And each of the girls learned too and eventually we were cheering them while they danced so I thought it would be nice to add that little momento!
 
Imagine how perfect it was when Fiona, from WeSewCrazy Galway (who happens to be a twin mum like me, so we had loads to gas bag about when I collected the patches) came back with a little image of an Irish Dancing girl with RED hair and a YELLOW Irish Dancing dress........ just like Sonja had years ago. 
The girls at WeSewCrazyGalway were sooooooo good and donated the patches for my quilt and I want them to know I really appreciated it so much! 

So I delivered the quilts last week.  It's been just over 3 months since the girls mum passed away and these quilts were meant as just a little reminder that they're surrounded by family and friends who love them very much.

xx Naomi

Sonja (Gardiner) Kubath with her big brother Alan, many years ago..... in that adorable yellow dress!

Whooooooosh.............. that's the sound of tumbleweed.....

My poor blog, I feel like I haven't visited it, much less posted in ages!  The problem, if you'd call it that, has been that I've been working on gifts and when you work on gifts, you can only post about them so much because you don't want the receiver to know they are for them before they get them! 

So, I just finished three different quilts this week.  Hooray!  I will hopefully get them wrapped and gifted in the next few days and then I can show them properly!

In the meantime, I finally got to make some bunting!  I was assured it was the "easiest thing in the world" (Roisin from The Quilt Shops favourite line) but I'm always afraid of cutting up fabric for something I've never made before!  So Roisin made me delve in one day in the shop.  She needed some bunting to advertise the letters that can be bought for personalised projects and I learned that yes, it is rather easy.  Now I'm addicted! 

So I stocked up on more bias binding. I love to make my own for quilts but at 80c per yard, this stuff is brilliant.  My favourite is the candy stripe red, you can't see it in the picture above but it looks fab with the navy flags!

Then, after making a set of wedding bunting in the shop, I wondered why I wasn't making any for my own house?  Then my 10 year old asked could he help me with anything and so I gave him the lovely job of picking out some nice solid colours, some funky robot fabric and I got making!  I got my letters cut, of course, at the Quilt Shop and my big boy picked the right letters for the flags and Wow, but my small boys are so happy with their new "flags". 

Check out little Levi's proud face........he loves his side because it has a green flag, his favourite colour.  I must thank my 10 yr old for reminding me to put green in his name!!

So that's me and my new favourite thing............bunting!  The husband wants me to make some now for outside before bbq season ends and who am I to complain when I get to put something pretty swinging from the trees without the men-folk (of which I'm surrounded here) giving out about the girliness?

Progress!

So I have been working.  Yes, I've been quiet in blog-land but that's when the most work is done!!!  Less time to pontificate, more time to sew, sew, sew..........and sew I did!

I went back to my favourite method of sewing for this quilt.... Foundation Paper Piecing.  Some say that ripping the paper out afterwards is almost therapeutic.......RUBBISH.  It's tedious and creates a large, stinking mess........but the actual process of paper piecing is just addictive.  If you haven't ventured yet, do!  And if you don't like it first time, leave it a few days/weeks and then try again....... so worth it!

Did I show you my little paper pieced blocks?  I know I posted them on instagram each time I finished one.........felt the need for a little insta-love!  Well, these are all part of a quilt I'm making for a special little girl.  She's the perfect age to identify with each fairy story and let her imagination go wild. 

 The Little Mermaid was my first block....... it's so dreamy, I love it!

This was followed pretty quickly by Jack & The Beanstalk, Cinderella (& her mop) and The Ugly Duckling.......

and then these characters joined them.........

Rapunzel & Thumbelina,

 Sleeping Beauty
 & Snow White

And finally, I got to put them all together.  I chose a deep red from the Stof Quilting Shadow range at The Quilt Shop, Tuam for the sashing.  I also got all my different blue skies/background fabrics there..... the selection is mega! 

And the almost finished product..........

I have to finish some embroidery detailing and I think it really needs another border in the red all around the outside and then I can quilt and bind!
What do you think?  Would love to get some feedback...










I have made great progress on another of my WIP's that I'll hopefully be able to share soon but I think I need to gift it first!

Time to focus and finish!

I realised a couple of weeks ago that I have 6 quilts currently on the go......... and still I'm browsing the net, making notes of things that inspire me and adding to my wish list of quilts to make.  I reckon by listing a few of them here, maybe it will spur me on to finish them...well, I'm hoping so anyway!





My To-Do List:
1.  Swoon Quilt from this time last year!!  It is basted and ready to be quilted but I need to decide whether to hand or machine quilt and in what style!

2.  Economy Block-Along (in conjunction with Red Pepper Quilts Quilt-along).  This one is done, quilted and now bound but just needs a special addition to the back before it can be gifted.

3.  I started a Storm-At-Sea quilt similar to this pattern and I totally <3 this quilt but got distracted far too early on so really need to get back to it!

4.  A little fairy-tale quilt for a very special little someone.  I have 7 of 9 blocks done.  It wouldn't take too much to get some progress done!

5.  A memory quilt.  This is what I'm currently working on and I'm making good head-way........just really have to keep the momentum up so I can share it! 

6. My postage stamp quilt.  This was coming on nicely until I got monumentally distracted so definitely time to refocus and get a move on!

Now, if someone could just give me a nice virtual kick, that would be just great!

International Postage Stamp

My Quilting Class were inspired recently by a gorgeous WIP Postage Stamp Quilt that is being made by Nora, an accomplished Tuam Quilter.  We were all taken by the concept of a large, simple design that promised hours of intrigue and interest.  It's not an easy task to start one of these quilts however, especially if you are a relatively new quilter like me.  You need a super stash of scraps and then some!  To put together a kingsize quilt, you have to accummulate almost 2000 x 2.5" squares - easy enough, just alot of cutting and trimming, right?  Wrong!!   The idea is that the quilt would have no repeats and that means you need 2000 DIFFERENT fabrics to get an authentic Postage Stamp Quilt!  Hmmm, slightly harder!

Operation Scrap-Stash-Building!

We started our collection in class, we each swapped 20 squares with about 14 people, that was a lovely start - 280 squares!  Then, I cut up squares from my own collection and that bumped me up to about 500.  That meant I had still only 25% of my intended collection!  I know many spend years stashing away these little squares to make the quilt when they have enough.........I suppose I could have done that, but I'm terribly impatient.  I may not finish everything I start straight away but I am GREAT at starting projects and I NEEDED to get this one off the ground. 

By chance, I came across a couple of groups on Facebook where I thought I might be able to swap some squares and suddenly the ball was rolling.  I received packages from Ireland, England, across Europe, America, Tahiti and Canada.  Some were swaps but many were donations towards my project.  You remember that excitement when you first started using the internet and you got an e-mail........ I was like that when the postman arrived!!!  Sifting through the scraps, cutting them down, counting them into bundles was a job in itself but an enjoyable one.  The range was something I would never have collected by myself - I had received a little taste of so many other quilters taste and I think it really adds to the flavour of my project.  If I was using only my own fabrics, I would have an overall pastel, pale pretty girlish colours I think......and while I obviously love those colours, it's wonderful to have such a selection in a quilt like this!

One of my favourite blocks........ I know my boys will love it when they find this hidden away on the quilt top!

I was really touched that this lovely quilters from around the world were willing to take their time to sort through their stashes, package them up and send them to me!  I've been able to return the favour a few times already in small ways - it's our very own sisterhood of the travelling scraps!  hee hee

So, this is the where I am currently.  I've been joining the squares in 4x4 blocks.  Then I laid them out to see how it's looking.  This pictures shows 54 blocks of 16..........that's approximately 800 squares so far....... about 40% of the total!  I haven't joined them together yet, I want to wait until all the blocks are made but I'm loving the look so far.  This will be a super large quilt, I'm impatient to move on with it..........

  Can't wait to show you my progress on this one!