Friday, December 28, 2012

Stash Stack Club & Sew Solids Crew Stash Club!

Today I got my first stack from Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, it's so pretty and is simply adorably packed! <3


I'm not sure which is which color but my favourite is the top one for sure! It is all beautiful colors but I have to admit I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't receive the ones listed on the blog for this month. According to the blog I was supposed to get Kona Hibiscus, Dk Violet, Amethyst, Cerise, Orchid & Lavender and instead I got Eggplant, Tulip, Lavender, Amethyst, Plum and Petunia. I also would have loved to know which is which color, maybe with some little sticker on each FQ or something? 

This months Stash Stack Club was brown and it's normally really not my color but these where really quite pretty, my favourite is the top one, Tiny Diamonds in Brown - Town and Country (Dear Stella).



These stash clubs are sooo much fun! =D

Other then that I've actually been stealing a little time to quilt which has been so much fun! I hope to have my Chameleon Quilt quilted and bound soon! =)

Friday, December 21, 2012

Pillows finished and preparing for Christmas

My pillows are finally finished! Remember, the Drunkards Path blocks I made for the March and April FMQ Challenge? They're the ones I've finally, nearly a  year later have completed =)


Close-up, I had so much fun quilting these!


Diana loves them, they're constantly all black with her hair... Maybe not the brightest choice of fabric in hindsight. ^^



The Free Motion Quilting Challenge I failed miserably through. This year has really kicked my behind work wise and I haven't had much time for my hobbies. Which is really sad as I don't feel as happy as I normally do when I don't have time to create, I have to try to take more me time next year. But I did learn a lot from it and I really hope SewCalGal will let the tutorials remain even next year so maybe I can complete the rest then.



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I had the girls over for some drinks and girl talk the other day and had a lot of fun making Christmas themed snacks without making them taste christmasy as I suspected we'll all prefer to look forward to eating Christmas stuff in the upcoming few days. It's a little Christmas tree! ^^ With the tree I served dip and some other really tasty snacks like the "Christmas Tree Ornaments" honey, goats cheese and pistachio truffles, they where yum! =)


I also had tons of fun Christmas decorating the apartment a few days ago, dressing our adorable little Christmas trees with Diana watching my every move carefully as those little lights are oh so pretty she think. Will try to show them all done later tonight when you can see how pretty they are with their lights.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Cutting corners isn't necessarily a bad thing

I was sewing up some pillows for the couch (that I started 6 or so months ago...) late last night and was cursing like crazy when the darn machine got stuck in a little seam as I was attaching the double fold binding. I cursed  quite loudly about the bloody thing needing service and continued sewing without thinking much more about it until I was done and stung myself on the reason for the machine getting stuck:


Very well sewn down was a green needle I apparently had forgotten to remove in my sleep deprived state ^^


My first mistake that night however later turned into awesome lesson was when I was cutting the binding, After cutting up my fat quarter I realized after cutting that I'd cut it to slim. Anyway, decided to wing it anyway and try to make it work (the way you  think seem like an excellent thing do at two at night, while you during the day just would have cut your losses and just cut up a new strips).

When I got to the corner I realized there was no way I'd be able to make it fold neatly over the corner with that little fabric, which is when I decided to try and cut off the corner to make it work. Which was such a brilliant idea if I may say so myself, thanks dear brain! Maybe this is something everyone already does so if I'm late to the party forgive me, but for me it was a pure "Eureka!" moment! I will now always cut of the corners of my quilts before folding over double fold binding, the corners where so easy to get neat!



Look how pretty they came! I mean, I can generally get a very decent result with a bit of hassle, but this was so easy peasy to get them that perfectly even! Front:


And back (and yes dear mum, you're seeing this right - I'm actually hand sewing this one, I'm feeling very grown up  ^^)


Will hopefully be done with the binding tomorrow so I can show you them completed, I'm not very fast with the hand sewing so even a little pillow is a big project for me in that area.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Stash Stack Club August & November

Like I told you my August Stash Stack got lost in the mail, I've had contact with the lovely people at Pink Castle Fabrics and this month we realized we had to consider it lost, so they immediately cut me a new stack and sent it! Pink Castle Fabrics customer service is simply great and I couldn't be happier, topping it with the super fast shipping and it's just an awesome store (and no, I'm not getting paid by them *lol*).

It arrived today and it's LOVELY! My favourite is the Pencil Check in Navy by Michael Miller Fabrics on the top tightly followed by the Metro Living Circles in Navy underneath, so cool!


And I got my November Stack to course, just didn't have time to blog about it until now. This month was all about orange, a color I have a very strange relationship with. I used to really, really dislike it until an apartment we rented a year or so back (you rent fully furnished here in Malta) had a bathroom all white tiles but with bright orange accessories in it like towels, carpets etc. And I was in love, that little room made me so happy whenever I'd walk into it! Now we have an orange bathroom again by my choosing and orange on the balcony so I think we have to conclude I'm a big orange fan now. =)

I was super excited to get my first Lizzy House Print, but my favourite this time around was the one at the bottom, Haystack in Tangerine - Madrona Road by Violet Craft.



Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cellphone Case For A Friend

One of my friends saw my cellphone case  the other day and really liked it, and asked where she could buy one. I thought she looked kind of disappointed when I said it was home made so it wasn't available to buy.  I of course secretly immediately decided to make one for her! Seeing how little time to sew I've had lately it was a perfect "sewing break to keep my sanity" project ^^


She's a really cool girl, so I didn't want to make her something too cute and girly like mine, so instead I opted for a modern feel but still with a few, cute details like the little buttons, the little loops detail and the swirly quilting. I really wish I had found some grey Velcro but none was to be found so I had to settle for white =)



I really hope she'll like it =)