Monday 23 July 2012

Slip sliding away....

July seems to have flitted past in the blink of an eye - wedding anniversary, birthday x 2, end of term all seem to have conspired to limit my time and inclination to sew and blog.

Apologies to anyone who has emailed me in the last few weeks - I really appreciate all your comments but I'm probably not going to get round to replying.  But hopefully things will be back on track from now on.

I have managed to do a bit of sewing - I made three cushion covers (for the wee chap's teacher and two teaching assistants).  I hope they liked them, hey have done such a fantastic job that I wanted to do something more than flowers or chocolates.

I had a Summersville charm pack that I got on sale so I was looking for designs that would use it up with minimal waste.

I had some wonderful suggestions but in the end here is what I went for:

It is a granny square with an extra ring of squares which I've been calling the Super Gran (yes I am a child of the 80s!) but is also known as a Great Granny (I had fun making this and seriously thought about joining in the quilt along).


This is a mini version of Made in Cherry which I spotted by The Girl Who Quilts.  It is probably my personal favourite.


The last one is a simpler design, partly as I ran out of ideas that would work with the available charms because I had decided to limit the number of colours in each cushion.  But it turned out well and I liked the colour combo.


I backed them with coordinating brushstroke prints.


And I was brave and went for zip closures - not 100% perfect but I'm glad I tried it as I really prefer the look to an envelope closure (probably as mine always seem to gape a bit).

In other news I have started my Brit Quilt Swap 3 mini quilt.  When I signed up I kind of thought it would be fun to try out a new block or a different colour combo but after seeing my partner's inspiration mosaic I almost immediately decided that I wanted to do something more pictorial with appliqué and embroidery - neither of which I have done much of.

But I did mini trials at both techniques and they turned out really well so I went for it.  The appliqué is done and embroidery motifs chosen - I'll get the embroidery done while I'm in Scotland later this week (inadvertent good timing!) 


Not my typical project but I'm loving it so much I might have to make one for myself!

Bye for now
Sarah

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Fresh Sewing Day July - a little late but never mind

Hello,

Lily's Quilts


June seems to have gone in the blink of an eye and I didn't do as much sewing as I wanted to but I did get some things accomplished

The top two are a baby quilt I made for some dear friends who had a little boy last month.  It was also featured on my stop on the Let's Get Aquainted Blog Hop here.

The middle two are the start of Summersville cushions that will be presents for my son's teacher & teaching assistants (there is another one in green & blue).

Then there is my 241 tote and a trial embroidery I did to see if I'd be happy with my skills before launching into my planned mini for the Brit Quilt Swap.  I'm pleased with how it turned out and think I might turn it into a pincushion (I reduced the original pattern - by Aimee Ray and available here).

So roll on July - I have plans to finish up some things before I start anything else, namely the second Siblings Together quilt, the cushions and my Mum's quilt (she came to stay this weekend and made a few comments in that direction!)

Let's hope I manage!