Woodpecker {Forest QAL}

I've decided to join the Forest QAL hosted by Julianna and Joanna as I adore their designs. There are twelve blocks in the QAL, all paper pieced and the sneak peeks are spectacular.

The first block is a woodpecker (cause of much sniggering in our house. Yes, we really are that mature.) My points are a little askew in places, but overall it came together really well. There are some incredibly tiny pieces in it, but the detail is just amazing. The fabric I used for the body is really fine cotton (almost like a lawn), so I don't have too much bulk where the seams meet. I've been working on this over the last few nights, and finally put it together tonight.

I'm looking forward to seeing the other blocks they design!

xx Jess

The Boxer

I've been in a bit of a blogging slump of late. I'm doing a heap of sewing, but I either can't blog about them yet or I've been slack at taking photos. So there'll probably be a lot of blog posts in the next week or so ;o)

Thanks for all the applique ideas last week - I ended up making something completely different for Nat (which I will blog about once she's received it :o) ) But I'm going to persist with the other project too when I get a chance!

This block is my Aurifil BOM March block. It's called The Boxer, and was designed by Jeni of In Color Order. I went a bit crazy fussy cutting for this one - Jeanean Morrison's prints are so great for fussy cutting! I'm not totally in love with it, but it looks good with the other blocks, so I don't think I'll remake it.

I have a heap of other stuff to show you too, so I'll be back very soon :o)

xx Jess

Welcome Fat Quarter Shop!

I'm super excited to welcome my newest sponsor on the blog, The Fat Quarter Shop! Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you have experience the awesomeness that is the Fat Quarter Shop already ;o)

Run by Kimberley and her team, the Fat Quarter Shop stocks a massive range of fabric, patterns, notions, quilt kits and more. They are responsible for a large chunk of my stash - the website is really easy to navigate, they ship incredibly quickly and their service is superb.

Fat Quarter Shop run a large number of Block of the Month (BOM) programs. One of my favorites (and one I'm very tempted to join) is the Toes in the Sand BOM, designed by Julie Hermann of Jaybird Quilts. I'm in a triangle loving phase right now :o)

The range of fabric they carry is astounding. Some of their new bundles include Grunge Basics by BasicGrey for Moda. These would make such great background fabrics!

Grunge Basics Fat Quarter Bundle

Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt. Droool.

Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt Fat Quarter Bundle

Avalon by Fig Tree for Moda:

Fat Quarter Shop also have loads of free quilt patterns available on their website. And there is a great sale section (one of the first places I look for backing fabrics). 

You can find links to all the Fat Quarter Shop's social media on my sponsors page. It is definitely worth checking out their blog, too - there are constantly amazing giveaways on offer.

Happy shopping!

xx Jess

Welcome Sew Fresh Fabrics!

I'm so excited to have Sew Fresh Fabrics come on board as a new sponsor!

Sew Fresh Fabrics, run by Peg, have been feeding my fabric addiction almost since I started sewing. They offer a fabulous range of modern designer fabrics, a huge selection of basics and an amazing organics section. One of my favorite things that Sew Fresh Fabrics offers are their collection-inspired Kona bundles - such an easy way to get a bundle of solids that coordinate with a particular collection.

Just arrived are such lovelies as Ruby Star Sparkle from the queen of retro Melody Miller.

Sew Retro, part of the Henley Studio Collection:

and The Sweetest Thing by Riley Blake:

Peg also has a huge selection of Architextures, Art Gallery Fabrics, and Honey Honey by Kate Spain. Honestly, that is just the tip of the iceberg - there is an amazing range of basics in stock, and a massive range of organic cottons. Not to mention the fabulous sale section! You should totally head over and check out the awesomeness :o)

You can find links to all Peg's social media and her blog on my Sponsors page.

Happy shopping ;o)

xx Jess

Avoiding the warp...

Back in January, I asked Nat if I could commission her to make one of these for me after seeing it on her blog:

Shamelessly stolen from Nat's blog

I wear my hair up all the time, so beanies and hats are kind of a pain - and here in Tassie it gets pretty cold in winter so I've been searching for a good beanie alternative. And Nat's vintage headband is just perfect! Anyway, Nat suggested a swap rather than a commission, so that's what we're doing. Except we said the end of February as the time frame, and being January at the time I thought 'oh, that's ages away!!'. And now it's the end of February, and I'm still mucking around with ideas. 

I'm making a cushion for her - and had a million vague ideas about what to make but nothing definite. So I decided to do some stalking for inspiration, and made the mistake of looking at Nat's pinterest boards, and got really scared. This girl has seriously awesome taste. Like really, really classy and gorgeous. 

So I chucked all my patchworky plans, and decided to make something that's been in my head for a long time (and just hope that she likes it!). I have had a piece of green woven woolen fabric (kind of like thin woolen blanket fabric) in my stash for a long time, and thought it would make some great cushions. I've tried really hard to get the colour of it right, but it just won't photograph well (um, may have something to do with the photographer, me thinks!!) It's a leafy sort of green - not as grey as the photo. And it just happens to look fabulous with some of my pink Liberty fabrics. So I made a handful of Liberty hexies to applique to the wool. 

This is how far I got last night, before I realised I need a better way to applique them on. I've EPP'd the hexies, and then used my machine's blanket stitch to applique them on. The first three went fine, but then the fourth has warped, so my plans of a lovely little flower are dust (the other two hexies won't fit now. Sigh.)  

So, I've started over and I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice for avoiding the warping? I don't really want to stick them down first, as I like the puffiness. I'm thinking a bit of starch might help them keep their shape (I really should have thought of that first I suppose). I would love you to throw some ideas at me :o)

xx Jess

Birds and Bees Quilt Top

After a few nights (and days) of feverish sewing, my Birds and Bees Colour Block quilt top is done! Getting the seams to match was less terrifying than I had expected - although there was a bit of easing involved and there are some pretty dodgy bits, but they kind of dissolve into the riot of colour :o).

It is giant - 96" x 85" (ish, I haven't actually measured, but that's what the pattern said ;o) ). And heavy - I'm getting more nervous about the quilting the more I think about it.

While trying to work out how to photograph this, I discovered we have a row of conveniently placed hooks above one of our outside doors. Jackpot!! So I managed to get a shot of the back as well :o)

So half-way there with one out of seven of my FAL list... we'll see how that goes from here ;o)
xx Jess

Some FAL action!!

Finally! I'm so excited to be working on my Colour Blocks quilt again (free pattern by Tula Pink). I started this quilt around Christmas time last year, and I've been working on it in dribs and drabs. It's the perfect quilt to do that with, since it's broken down into bite-sized sections. I've been cutting each colour as I go, so I'm not getting confused with where I'm at when I leave it for a few weeks at a time ;o) I only have a few more of the sections to piece, and then start putting the other side together as well. So. Excited.

This is the entire right hand side of the quilt - it measures 24" x about 96" (not the best photo sorry - I nearly killed myself climbing on our old rickety outdoor table taking this one.) I'm really excited about how this is coming together - I love how the different purples play together, and pick up some of the colours in the fabrics. It's not all purple by the way - there is another smaller purple section on the other side of the quilt, but the rest of it is mainly blues and neutrals, with a few pops of pink.

I must say I'm getting a wee bit nervous about the prospect of actually quilting it. And basting it. It's going to finish up at around 85" x 96" which is HUGE compared to anything I've done so far...

Hoping to get a bit more done over the weekend :o)

xx Jess