Le Challenge: Nature

Butterfly in Blue

Hello to anyone coming over from Le Challenge, Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day or Life Under Quilts! Here' my butterfly in Blue. Le Challenge's theme this month was Nature - a few spring time family walks and the release of this lovely EPP pattern by Mud Pies and Pins coincided nicely and my theme was chosen. I wanted a delicate floaty feeling, so used some a liberty lawn scrap pack, but ran out part way through. Not great planning, but it did mean had to have a proper think about how to bring in a different style of fabric. I decided to make more of a contrast between the two wings, as the front and back often look different in real life. I found this love volume print in my stash where I could align the prints along the wing. I got totally stuck on what background to use - in my mind I'd wanted a soft green print with lots of movement, as if it were flying in the spring grass, but nothing I had quite fitted the bill. Thanks to the comments from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway visitors I decided on the navy, and here's the finished article. (Giveaway closed 16 May, Thanks to Jules for the super helpful comment - check your inbox!)

Blue Butterfly

I did a bit of hand quilting to keep it all together.

A super helpful commenter also suggested embroidery to try and stop the butterfly's head disappearing into the background, so I gave it a go. I kept it fairly subtle with a pale blue thread (blanket stitch, if I recall school home ecc classes properly). I may need to learn to do a bit more -  it was a great 'sitting in the garden watching my wee one on her bike' kind of activity.

Hand Quilting and Embroidery Detail

The giveway's still open, but as soon as it's closed and the winner picked I can finish this up completely

Winner choice is

• Butterfly cushion, or
• Butterfly wall hanging, or
• 2 of the fat quarters below.

Blue and White

Blue Flowers

Ditzy Red Print

One's things for sure - I really enjoyed this little project and I will need to make more butterflies. I can picture a meadow full of small ones hanging in my kitchen

Butterfly Backgrounds

IT's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day and I've got no time to enter any giveaways so thought I might do one instead. (so please excuse awful last minute pics) Giveaway closed, 16 May - thanks to Jules for your very helpful comments and easy to find email address -check your inbox!

I'm mid-way through a cushion cover / wall hanging featuring a butterfly from a mudpies and pins pattern and am totally stuck with my background choices. 

Would you pop on over and find me on instagram at blair_girl2, then come back here and let me know which background fabric you like best and why?  The most helpful comment or the one I like most will get the choice of a a couple of the left over FQs or the finished cushion or wall hanging, whichever you'd prefer!

I'm hoping to link up to Le Challenge on the 15th May, so I need to get busy sewing!

Bright Idea

My son has a real fascination (bordering with obsession) with lights, and so when the topic of bright came up for Le Challenge I knew what the subject would have to be.

Bright Idea

So here it is, my first go at a lino cut since school and a bit of fabric paint. Can't say I love it, but the boy sure will. He insisted the wire and plug be added to the design and I'm sure he'll be wearing it all summer long. Now I just need to find an paper piecing pattern so I can make him one i like too!


Linking up to Le Challenge

Winter Geese

First Foundation Paper Piecing Flying Geese

Thanks to blogloving, I came across circles of flying geese for the first time, with a stunning rainbow cushion from Kelly at Jeliquilts and was inspired to have my first ever go at foundation paper piecing.

Here's my version



 
... and it turns out I love the foundation paper piecing. None of the accurate cutting needed for pretty much everything else, so the finish is far better than anything I could otherwise hope for.

For fabric I pulled out all the blues, teals and purples I could and aimed to have a gentle move from one tone to the next. I'm happy with all but the bottom right quadrant too - I threw the navy in there to try and move from purple to the light blue check but it doesn't really do it for me. One of those geese has a squirrel  with some lovely red lips which helped, but somehow they got chopped off. Whoops. Whatever colour was really needed wasn't something I owed!

Still, I really enjoyed it and I like the overall result.

As the cushion top is finished I thought I'd link up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts  and also the Paper Piecing Party at Quiet Play. How much would I love to be able to do what these talented quilters!

Sewing around the kids

We had no after school care for my eldest this week so I had a day off work to fill the gap. A day off work to sew, and extra time with my boy - all good fun.

I finished up a quilted alphabet I must have cut out a year ago. What happened to U and W, I have no idea!

Also got the quilt back for my nieces quilt done - Now I need to find a way to baste the monster. It's a bit bigger than available floor space. Do I just wait until the weather improves enough to do it on the drive?

Thanks to inspiration for EPP Hexi Stars from Nellies Niceties and baby wrap for Cluck Cluck Sew I also made my daughter this

I loved making the hexi stars, and will be doing them again sometime soon - definitely as part of a quilt block though


Also dug out my first go at a free motion quilted mug rug and I'll try and get the binding finished off tomorrow.

Not likely I'll be getting too much more done anytime soon. Chicken pox has struck :(

Quick EPP Cushions

I seem to be on a bit of a roll with cushions. a bit of EPP on the train with scraps, a night on the sewing machine and ta-da.... Cushions for a couple of kids.

For Leia and Luke - I was tempted to make Starwars gifts but resisted!

I love the little Vikings best of all, and am definitely converted to straight line quilting.

The heart backing is a cozy bit of flannel picked up a the £1 bucket at Asda, and the blue is a lovely heavier weight (drill?) cotton thats lovely to brush up  against. Can you tell I'm a cushion cuddler?

Now I just need to learn to add nice neat zips and make up proper inners for the cushions so they're a bit more durable. Who wants a cushion cover of they can't just bung it in the washing machine as needed?


Thanks to Antonia over at Melliapis for some cute scraps! Check out her page if you like baby carriers. She's made a couple of amazing ones lately!

Linking up to Splish Splash Stash, You've got to love linky parties. What else would get me to actually blog!

Whoops

So, all enthused by last month's topic over at Le Challenge of Rising Sun, I got all creative. A few bleary eyed mornings later (plus a bit of Pinterest) and I had a plan. Diagrams were drawn, paper was cut, fabric was picked and after a week of squeezing sewing into every spare minute, I finished.

...and there it was, an English Paper Pieced cushion with scraps I love, my first go at hand quilting and some lovely Alison Glass bike path from last years giveaway.

Just waiting for the linky party to come round....

... and waiting

...and waiting

And here we are, on the 17th, deadline missed. Whoops

I still like it though. It's sitting on my sofa now, looking lovely and persuading me to keep it for myself, cos no one's going to love it as much as I do.


In other news,

• Blue Hexis may be getting out of hand

(but I've run out of blue scraps - anyone need swaps?)

 

• The man around the house spilled spaghetti sauce on my quilt top the evening I finished it. 

... He lives           

• Crocheted bed socks for the boy are finished and nearly the same size (lets not count the number of stitches)

• A Modern Quilt Guild is starting up in Leeds - I may go.