Pin Pillow finish

This is my contribution to the The Great Pumpkin Challenge and it's also my draw gift for those participants that have completed their 1800s Vintage Quilt over at SQT.

 

It was Lillie's birthday on Monday 27/9 and because of issues with the courier company :( she got the package on Tuesday instead.  I stitched up Danybrod's pattern Pins and Needles as a needlebook.  I changed the colours to pinks!

And a little pinwheel patchwork pincushion.

And a couple of LHN charts.

Now the scarry part of sewing those button holes, it always freaks me out. I've done some testing on scrap fabric just to be sure.

JJ Blouse - WIP

The collar is supposed to go right to the edge of the button placket.  I must have taken too much of a seam allowance that resulted to this. Oh well, this looks fine too!

Almost finished.  I need to top stitch the collar, add button holes and buttons. The arm hole needs to be serged and stitch the hem.  I like my hem hand stitched!  There are some flaws/inconsistencies in the stitching, my top stitching leaves a lot to be desired :( I need to put more effort to stitch neatly and accurately the next time. 

Now this is what I am most proud of, the sleeve cuffs.   Never would I have thought I could manage it.  It just takes some patience, understanding the instructions and much sweat!  See how I need to stitch more neatly?  Burda Style patterns are not the easiest to understand.But it was a free pattern so I can't complain :)

Sewing Dilemna

 I was working on a test fabric for my Danielle blouse.  I cut it all up, marked the darts etc.  When I started sewing the stitches were so wacky.  I rethread but the stitches were still skipping and nesting etc.  So I tried sewing on good cotton and what do you know?  NO problemo.  I didn't know there were such bad local cotton :(  After all that time and effort ... sigh ...

So I took out my other GOOD cotton and promptly realised that I did not have enough fabric to make the Danielle or JJ Blouse (Burda Style freebie).  Because it required 55" width instead of 45" width.  I could sew another Patricia tunic but I wanted to try something different.  You know to improve my sewing skills and my reading and understanding of patterns :) So I am now using my 1.5M cut of white linen with 60" width for the JJ Blouse.  The Danielle couldn't fit and the JJ blouse just barely and that's even after I removed all the cut out for the ruffles.  No ruffles for me!  First I reduced the length of the blouse by 1" then when I was pinning I found I got a little more fabric left and then I added the 1" again.  It's almost all cut, need to mark them and sew as much as I can tonight before I go to shop to serge tomorrow.

A new interest

Dolls!  Antique cloth dolls to be precise :)

 Look at all those Mother Teresa stamps! :)

This pattern called Lottie first appeared in an Australian magazine called Homespun.  After a lapse of a certain time period Gail Wilson is now selling them.

This is the Feedsack Doll, the kit is soooo comprehensive.  I need to read the instructions thoroughly.  I am excited and at the same time quite overwhelmed.  I'll take this slowly.  Can't rush the making of a doll! :)

I'm cutting out another blouse pattern on practice fabric.  This time is a free pattern by Burda Style.  It's called Danielle and it's supposed to be a dress but I am shortening it to a blouse.  The instructions are not as detailed as Carla's, I hope I'll manage.

Patricia Tunic - Completed

The only change I made was to shorten the neckline depth to 3".  The tunic has vents on the side which are not obvious in this picture.  I may try a 3/4 sleeve the next time if I have enough fabric.  Very happy with the results and can't wait to make another.  This design is similar to the Summer Blouse pattern by Heather Ross except Heather used darts and Carla Crim used princess seams for the front bodice.

Inspired by the success of the tunic I am eying a new sewing pattern Bowling Shirt.  This would be for the little boys around me (no their not my boys).  The Kai Shirt pattern (boy's shirt) by Heather leaves a lot to be desired.  Comparing the instructions by Carla and that from Heather's book Weekend Sewing, Carla's instructions by far are amazingly more detailed. Wish I discovered Carla's design earlier, could have saved me a lot of grief!  I really recommend patterns written by Carla.  Very beginner(which I am) friendly indeed.

I have also completed hand quilting this Nine-Patch Doll Quilt (freebie) by Kathleen Tracy. What's left is the binding.  Hand quilting with the Tuscany batting is really a pleasant experience.

Some garment sewing

I cut and sewed the garment called Patricia Tunic pattern by Sis Boom i.e. Jennifer Paganelli and Carla Crim yesterday. 

The instructions were crystal clear and the pattern very straight forward.  I did a short sleeve tunic with 2 meters of fabric that I bought locally.  I wanted to try out on regular fabric before advancing to pretty cottons :)

I used zig zag machine stitch instead of serging it because I was too in a hurry to get sewing.  Due to the way the instructions were done I had to serge the princess seams on the front bodice before hemming it and sewing the shoulders seam to the back bodice.  But I would definitely go to the shop and get it serged the next time.

The pattern did warn that it goes on the larger scale, so I cut an M size for my pattern.  Even then it's pretty big but it sure is comfy.  I preferred to hand stitch the hems, so that took a bit of time. Will take a pic of the completed blouse tomorrow.

Soot & Ashes - WIP

This came in the mail this afternoon.  Fabulous gifts from Jess. They'll go great with the doll quilts that I am making!  :) That variegated Gutermann looks delicious. Gotta give it a try.  Maybe some FMQ?

I am up to date with Cheri's 9 blocks.  Loving this QAL!  But the log cabin block was less of a royal pain with the finger presser.  It doesn't help my developing QB though  :(

Clay's Choice block of the Miniature Sampler SAL by Cheryl.  I am using the finger presser rather than the iron.  I find that the finger presser does not distort the seams as much and with miniatures there's not too much room for wiggling.  Besides it is always good to reduce one's carbon footprint!  Feeling righteous :)

Market bag is all sewn and tested :)  I sewed a large gusset of 6" for all those fruits, meat and groceries.

Doll Quilt Pattern Giveaway by Jeanneke

Jeanneke is having a giveaway of the 5 patterns she has designed.  They are all beautiful and quite challenging.

You can visit her post here and comment for a chance to win one of her patterns.

Deidre is my choice.

(Picture from Jeanneke's blog)

Miniature Sampler SAL - WIP

Here are my fabric that I intend to use for Block 1 Clay's Choice of Cheryl's MSSAL.  Also you can see on the background is my market bag in progress.

The Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010 is coming along nicely with it's backing fabric.

Soot & Ashes - WIP

These 5-1/2" blocks are such a joy to work with.  It's a QAL by Cheri.

4 blocks down and 4 more to go to get caught up with the QAL!  There's another miniature sampler SAL being organised by Cheryl. And I think I will jump into that wagon too :)

Onto some cross-stitching.  I have joined Becky's 'The Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010'.  I intend to stitch that pumpkin in the Prairie Schooler pattern and finish it as a pin pillow.  Also this pin pillow will be the prize for the winner of 1800's Vintage Quilt QAL draw that I am organizing at SQT.  Better get going!

This will be my sewing project tomorrow.  I need a new market tote bag.  Sorry that the fabric is crumpled, haven't ironed it after washing.  It's Malaysia Day holiday tomorrow, so ... more crafting :)

Amish Star Quilt - WIP

I got the Kona Solid Roll-up all cut.  I made a cutting mistake with one strip.  I think I'll have to replace it with another colour, we'll see how that goes when the blocks are all done.

Chain piecing is so fantastic ... speeding along the construction of each stage of the blocks.

These are my fabric choices for Soot & Ashes QAL.  I like the fact that Cheri is working with small blocks.  Here's Lori's blocks to date.

Holiday Weekend

I boiled this gingko nuts, barley and beancurd drink on Friday.  This is my favourite especially with quail eggs :)

1800's Vintage quilt is all completed.  I used high loft poly batting, so happened I had an orphan piece and used it up instead of cutting into a large piece of  low loft poly or cotton.  I wanted to try machine quilting the Baptist Fan but that failed miserably due to my non-existent skill and those many many seams!  So instead I tie quilted it with cotton broder thread.  Tie quilting was fast and easy too!  It's 20-3/4" square.

With my new 6" square ruler I am now cutting up scraps a little at a time.  These are 1-1/2" squares.  Instead of bottles like how Heather is keeping her cut scraps, I'm using plastic containers.  I think I will label them according to fabric genre.  Thank you Heather for the inspiration.

Now that I've got my crafting deadlines all met, I'm reverting back to the Amish Star quilt.  Another 3 added.  A total of 6 out of 42 completed.

Strippy Triangles Quilt Top - Completed

Love the result of this doll quilt.  Simple but very effective.  The size is 18-1/4" x 13-1/4".  It's destined for the hand quilting pile :)

Stacked coins baby quilt is all binded and all it needs now it's a good wash and it's in time for my friend's  baby.

The flannel backing with a strip of excess charms.

Faizon just posted about her birthday exchange from me on SNN.  I made a fabric basket from a tut by Pink Penguin.  The fabrics are from a Fig Tree & Co charm pack, Patisserie collection.

Strippy Triangles - WIP

Started cutting fabric for a new doll quilt 2 days ago.  Here are the strips and centre blocks for use with the Square in a Square ruler to make 60 HSTs.

It's been raining the whole of last evening so this is a shot with the room lights on.  All sewn into options and starting to cut them into HSTs.

Here they are this morning arranged and ready to be pieced.  Each triangle is 2 1/4" cut.  I'll get this pieced and assembled soon.  It's another design from Kathleen Tracy's book.

It's a long weekend starting tomorrow and after the morning chores I need to sit down and quilt this baby for the 1800's VQ QAL.  It'll be machine quilted and Baptist Fan is the plan.

Some hand quilting

I've been hand quilting this 9-patch Doll quilt pattern (freebie) by Kathleen Tracy.  Just simple lines using Pearl No.8.  I would like to try YLI thread one day.  Many hand quilters swear by it.  For the borders perhaps some fancier design as seen on the stencil.  I am using a new batting and I quite like it.  It's Tuscany (Hobbs) Heirloom cotton.  Also with the help of a leather thimble and a finger cot hand quilting is a much more pleasant experience.

As for the Broderine Perse quilt I cut a couple of motif on fusible web but somehow they don't jive with the background.  I don't have any large floral print fabrics so I've put it aside till the next round of shopping ;)