Easy Binding and a Sandy Intruder

As I go through my sewing room boxes I am finding all sorts of things. 

Yesterday I had an orphan block from the second quilt I started. I decided I didn’t really like the fabric so it wasn’t worth finishing a big quilt. I put together some of the blocks and started making a smaller quilt. This block is a left over. I have backed it and bound it to put under my overlocker.

I used the simple method of joining the binding for the first time. It worked like a dream.

Here it is on You Tube.

I overlapped the binding tails and put a mark in the same place on each one on the raw edge instead of putting in a pin. I then cut off a short piece from the end and used it to measure and mark two points past the first marks instead of using a ruler. I cut off at the two new marks.

You still have to think as you put the ends right sides together and at right angles but it is so easy.

Another thing I tried today was a new thing at the corners. I stitched along to 1/4" from the corner then with needle down I turned the project so I stitched out to the corner and backstitched then pulled it out and did the corner as usual.

Angling out to the corner rather than stitching straight to the edge seems to make the corner mitre better. I usually struggle with the mitre but they all turned out great with no particular fiddling.

Most of my sewing is still doll clothes. I have the open neck blouse with the convertible collar almost ready to publish.

I have only had the Christmas tree up for a week and hope to put it away in the next day or two. I used every decoration that I had and I think it turned out really nice. Those are the last of my birthday flowers. They have lasted a really long time. My daughter had them delivered on my birthday. Such a lovely surprise. The other daughter had a parcel sent from T2 with my favourite things.

There was a little canister wrapped in the tissue paper.

If you have been looking at my blog you will know I have recently moved to the sea side. When we lived on country acreage I always kept a net with a long handle for toads and snakes. I brought it with me but I wasn't expecting crabs! I had to chase this little fellow outside. He is about 2" wide. Little, but he kept sticking his big claw up at me. I didn't use the net. An egg flip did the trick because he was near the door.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year for 2015.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,

Val

A Christmas Present

My mum collects anything to do with The Twelve Days of Christmas. The local quilt shop near mum's place had fat quarters of this cute fabric by Anni Downs
I decided to make a place mat and two coasters to give to mum for Christmas this year.

The fabric has the cutest pattern.

I FMQ'd 'Christmas 2014' and 'valspierssews' on the bottom corner. It is visible but not a feature. I still have to soak out the marker pen.

You can just see where I quilted with a pear and a partridge over the centre.

I put a corner label on so the edges are sewn into the binding. The angle is on the fold and I just stitched across it. The backing fabric is cute too. I wish I could afford several metres of this collection.

The coaster is a bit bigger than normal so a cup and a biscuit fit on.

I pieced it with two pieces back and front. I left the diagonal seam mostly open on the back so I could sew all the way around the outside then turn it through the gap. I quilted with a cross, catching the seam in the back.

My other sewing has been doll related. I am supposed to be making some vest samples for the next pattern but just couldn't help making a little tote bag. I hd the idea drawn up in my notebook and I had some new pink fabrics. The bag is about 5" square.
I also had some fun making a little bag decoration.

The back has a zipper pocket perfect for a little girl to use as a coin purse.

My latest doll clothes pattern publication is a dress. See the link in my right sidebar at the top.

I am quite pleased with my finishes this week.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Welcome to the North Pole - 2014

Ho! Ho! Ho!
A whole year since I first got this book. I have made a good start on my version of the quilt but just had to lay it aside while I tried to move house without stressing too much.

There have been lots of people keen to be part of the SAL for 2014 so here we are again. I invite anyone who still has some work to do from last year to stay with us and anyone who wants to pick up a UFO or start new is welcome to join in.

On the 4th Wednesday of each month you will need to do a blog post or upload a photo to flickr. Since linkies are just a fabulous way to share and archive project progress I will set up a linky to show off what you have done on my 4th Wednesday post.

When I first found this book I looked around quite a lot and eventually found one or two quilts that people had made several years ago. I was quite excited to see that number 11 link on the 1st page for a google search was a valspierssews post about this pattern. No wonder more people are finding the SAL. It is such a great pattern it deserves to be found.

This year since my quilt is in storage for 6 months (I only brought Go Wild with me to the rental house) I am going to make the little wall hanging and because it is only small I am going to practice my needle turn applique. The wall hanging is on the back cover. I have started to cut out some freezer paper shapes in readiness. I am off to Spotlight on Tuesday to get some night sky background fabric.

You can read more about the quilt and how much you will need to complete each month to finish it in a year on the original Intro post.

It seems the book is still available from Piece o' Cake for $16.95 USD plus postage. Scroll down the book list until you see it.
It is also still available from UK Book Depository $17.87 AUD with free shipping.

I have made a button with some of my blocks since I don't think I can rightfully use the book cover. You can grab the code and put it on your blog.

<a href="http://valspierssews.blogspot.com.au/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCQ9_uRohDYzl0yvURZGN__SI627JWUBzEPuxlVXQ6Dgic7uEJscJxJonMbyXv2KoVX6kItECvuUYVtRoulfN3jULjgkCG-_CmNSdtv0o-Ynnf7d7amLxdh5kMUksTE1n_wJOTXeRl2M/s150-no/wtnp+sal.jpg" height="150" width="150"/></a>

Happy Quilting and Crafting,

Val

Two more small finishes

I have been steadily working on my tea cosy for a couple of weeks and finished it off yesterday. I love the colours but I think it needs a band of colour then cream for the rest like an Old Country Roses plate. I think the next one will be dark pink, light pink and yellow with maybe a green lining and base border. I love this tweed knitting pattern.

After seeing Donna's star tutorial I just had to make one with the Japanese floral that I had. It sits nicely on the big lazy susan in the centre of our banquet table.

Not much to do right now. It is early. I have to put lemon icing on the quinoa and carrot cake and prepare the pumpkin ice cream mix. I have frozen up several bananas too, to make a nice icy dessert. The pumpkin ice cream is made with coconut milk. There have to be some dairy free options.
I think this Christmas theme is the 'Free From Christmas'. We have to have some dairy free, wheat and gluten free, mango free, peanut free, sugar free, meat free options :D

Comment options:
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Merry Christmas!
Val

Little Christmas Bits 22

Yes, I have made 22 little things for Christmas and I think that is about all I have in me. Time to take a break. I have really enjoyed the hunt for suitable projects and then the satisfaction of finishing them quickly.
Here is my last item. I so love the little cross stitch projects.

Here is my complete Christmas decorating for this year. I just couldn't bring myself to bring all the decorations in from the garage. The plan was to have moved house by now. It is really hard to sell though. Now the plan is to have moved by next Christmas. Always good to have a plan :)

Thank you to all those who commented and visited and shared my posts. I think I must have had a few people looking at my Pinterest and a few new followers there too. It is great to see who pinned my pins because then I get some new people to visit who I know must have some similar interests. It is definitely better than just doing a search for pins. So thank you to the Pinterest lookers.

I will try to stay away from the computer for a while after today. I may just make up a Christmas header with the projects I have done for Christmas.

Comment options:
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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 21

Still a day behind. I have just about run out of steam and was thinking it is time to sit back and relax. But then I saw this log cabin santa pattern. One log cabin square makes two santas.
I used a 2 1/2 inch square to start then used 1 inch strips for logs. It turns out quite large. About a 7 inch square finished.

You can find the picture tutorial here.

My Flickr photo

Check out my Pinterest boards if you have nothing to do today.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Christmas Little Bits 20

I can't believe I went a head with this one. Common sense kept telling me to stop and wait until I had suitable fabrics. I really wanted patterned background blocks but I don't have any plain looking patterns. It was either solid or busy. Maybe I could have used solid letters. Anyway, it is done now and the doll is not going to complain.

Mainly I am posting this doll quilt because of how well the wool backing worked. I had 5 yards of a loose weave pure wool from Pendleton Woollen Mills in Oregon that I bought for $20 a yard. It gives weight to the mini quilt without unusual bulk for its size. It folds up just like a life size quilt.

I do like this design with the letters on the blocks. I had to fit it onto 24 inches x 16 inches so I had to make them rectangular. The other blocks I have seen have been square.
I am thinking that 20 inches x 14 inches would be a good size for the next doll quilt.

Here are the rectangular letters as PDFs

CHR
IST
MA

and this is the layout.

Flickr Link

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 19

I was very pleased with the Christmas dress I made for my 18 inch doll so I looked up the scale used for accessories. The scale of the doll is 1:3 or 1 inch in doll size represents 3 inches in human size. Apparently the AGD type of doll is meant to be based on an average 10 year old human.

I got out my hobo bag pattern and and scaled it down so I could make a Christmas bag in doll size. It worked out really well. I even put in an inside pocket. Her pocket book is a needle book I had handy. The measurements made it easy to divide by three and draw up the new pattern. I made it exactly the same way as the big one in Little Christmas Bits 12.

If you like this small one why not download the pattern I drew up. You will probably need to at least read through the instructions that come with the large pattern. You can find them here at La Tee Da Kids.

You can comment on Flickr if you are not a google+ fan.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 18

I started this one as I sat on the train on my way to a delightful lunch with family at Room with Roses in Brisbane. It has a lovely atmosphere but is quite expensive ($27 per meal).
The little puddings are so cute and free from Cross Stitching.com.

This is a direct link to the little spice bag charts. There are lots of nice designs for free. I registered a while back. I don't get any newsletters from them. I may have unsubscribed. I can't believe they never would have sent me anything.

You may remember my tea cosy teapot design. I got the cross stitch from the same site.

If you don't like Google + you can leave a comment on the Flickr photo.
You can also hover over and pin the image.
Don't forget you can just +1 my post on Google + if you have already left me lots of comments this month.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 17

Got up really early this morning and made two more pillow slips then wondered what I could make. I had the urge to make something for my 18 inch doll so I rustled through the Christmas fabrics for a piece big enough to make this cute pinafore dress. I even used up some of my ribbons.
I used the overlocker on narrow 3 thread to finish the edges then folded the narrow hems along the surging line. Made it easy. Small seams I didn't overlock and I only overlocked the waistband seams after I sewed them.

My 18 inch doll is from Aldi.
The pattern for this dress (Molly's pretty party dress) and many more are free at Doll Dress Patterns. They are American Girl patterns and even come with some historical stories.

If you are sick of leaving comments (because I am posting every day until the 24th) why not pin me or +1 me

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 15

Worked on a tea cosy today. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I wanted the icing to be in felt and sit on top like a hat. I had to make the cherries match up when I put the two sides together and then I had to hand stitch the icing down because I couldn't get it far enough on the sleeve arm to reach. I also forgot to put the stars on before I put the pudding together so they had to be hand sewn too.
I am pleased with how it turned out. I used the cherries and star idea from an applique pudding block in a magazine.
The tea cosy is half the circumference around the spout and handle then add 2 inches. The height is the curved distance from the table to the centre of the lid then add 3 inches. A 1/4 inch seam is allowed and I bound the bottom.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas Bits 14

Had to catch up with a small and easy item. This little stocking was inspired by ornaments on my Pinterest board and is the same design as my ribbon stocking. I like the peekaboo style. I may have to make other things using this method. A tea cosy springs to mind but I already know what I want to do for my next tea cosy and probably tomorrow's item.

Happy Quilting and Crafting.
Val

Little Christmas bits 13

I saw the most beautiful ribbon angel by Karen at Sunburnt Quilts. It made me think that I should get out my Christmas ribbons and make something. A little stocking to hang on the tree.

I cut out a felt shape, gave it a squirt of spray baster then stuck on each piece of ribbon, trimming it just past the felt. I stitched along both sides of each ribbon then flipped it over and stitched around the edge of the felt shape. I trimmed the ribbons with my pinking shears.
I sewed a second stocking shape to the back leaving the top open and putting in a spoonful of plastic stuffing beads to give it a nice weight.
I then attached the the cuff over the front of the stocking shape to seal it up and catch the hanging ribbon in.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas bits 12

Yay! Caught up today. Trouble is tomorrow I won't have much sewing time. I will have to find something tiny and simple.
I will be going out a few times before Christmas so I thought a Christmas bag might be nice. I found a great hobo bag tutorial and pattern at La Te Da Kids. It is not a kids size bag.
I thought I could use up some more Christmas fabric scraps for the front. One patchwork side was enough so two big pieces for the back. I found I had to be careful that the fold went on the short side not the long handle side. I nearly cut it wrong.
Quick and easy sewing.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Little Christmas bits 10 and 11

No wonder I get behind in my posting. I got up at 6am and have just spent an hour looking and pinning in Pinterest. I only went there to get the link for the pouch pattern.

Two projects today for catchup. The one more tonight. Hopefully.

The felt snow globe turned out really nice. I just traced the photo from my Christmas Ideas Pinterest.  I can't provide patterns when I have just copied them from someone else but they are easy to trace. The original is from the flickr photostream of Priscila Cunha Arte & Mimos . She has some nice felt things in her photostream.

I have some plastic stuffing beads (thank you Fiona) and I just add a spoonful or two before closing the stitching for the backing. It makes the felt hang nicely.

This little pouch pattern was easy to follow. It was free from Stitchin' the Night Away  .

I used 8 ply for the pink one then found some silky bamboo yarn more like 4 ply for the gold one and a 3.50 hook.

I plan to hang them on the tree.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,

Val