Batting

I'll be buying the batting for my quilts this week. I'll have to do some research before I go to the craft shop as I have no idea what type I should get.

I had a look in the shop the other day and there were so many different types.... all with very different costs as well. I want to get a good type of batting as I want my quilts to last, but I can't afford the high end batting either.

I also need to cut and sew my backing to the right size and then I will be all ready to baste. I'm quite excited about basting as it means I will be able to quilt it after! I will probably do straight line quilting for the first quilt and then see if I'm up to something more adventurous for the second one.

My Quilt

I blogged earlier about wanting to be able to create a design for my first quilt that I make for myself. I thought I would share the fabric I am going to use.

Freebird charm squares and jelly rolls.

The backing and binding. The binding is (of course) flannel.

I still have no idea what my design will look like. Most likely I will end up following a pattern.

Mum's Quilt

Here is the second quilt front that I ever made! I can see that I have been able to make improvements in this one. You won't be able to see it in the photo but the corners of the squares meet up much better!

The pieced front is Fandango, the borders are both from a craft store.


The Front

 

A close up of the borders. At first I wasn't sure that the outer border would go with the quilt but I'm glad I chose it now because I love it

 The Backing and binding. Again the backing is flannel. I have some more flannel in my Fat Quarter Shop wishlist as I think it makes lovely, soft and scrummy quilt backings. What could be better on a cold day than being wrapped up in flannel?

This is for my mum, and she will be getting it at Christmas.

Ella's quilt

This is the first quilt front that I have ever finished! I'm quite proud of it.

It may just be a simple design but I spent a lot of time on it and learnt many things about quilting while making it..

The pieced front is from 'Bliss', the inner blue border is from a craft store and the outer border is Bliss again.

Here is an overview of most of the quilt. It's miserable outside so unfortunately this is the best that I could do photo wise :(

Here's a close up of the borders.

Here is the fabric for the back and the binding. The Back is 'Bliss' Flannel so will be lovely and soft to cuddle with.

It's for my little sister (she's 10) and she will be getting it at Christmas.

So what do you think?!?

More Photos..... My Fabric.

I thought I would share my current fabric stash. Last week I took advantage of the strong New Zealand dollar and have increased my stash a bit! Also, and this is a little embarrassing, I got my conversions mixed up and thought that a yard was a foot. As 3 feet are roughly a metre I ordered 3 yards for every metre of fabric that I wanted. And since a yard is not that much smaller than a metre I got much more fabric than I thought I was ordering! Oh well I'm sure I will put it to good use ;)

Here is a quilt kit that I ordered from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Various fat quarters that I have, they have come from a variety of stores.

Lots of quilt panels - mostly for baby quilts as I'm at that age when all my friends are announcing they are pregnant. I fell in love with the 'Children at Play' panel and got carried away and bought *cough* seven *cough of them!

I also got some 'Children at Play' fabric -it's gorgeous.

Some Freebird Jelly rolls and Charm Squares.

Some flannel and a binding to match.

Some 'Giddy' Charm Squares.

Currently on my fat quarter shop wishlist is lots of flannel for quilt backings. I also have email reminders set up for a LOT of their coming soon fabrics. At this rate I will need to get a second job to pay for my fabric addiction!

Knitting Madness

Here's a quick little post about my wool. You saw my overflowing wool basket in a previous post, here's a closer look.


First is my  Patons wool - Nice and soft.

Next is my favourite yarn -  Red Riding HoodYarns also available here. Hannah does the most amazing yarns. She dyes up yarn in themes, and has a stocking on facebook. She also does custom orders and yarn clubs. My photo's really don't do it justice - there are better pictures on her facebook page. She's from New Zealand, but I believe she also ships to Aussie.

Her stockings often sell out quickly  - sometimes in less than an hour so I am lucky to have built up a good stash.

Of all my Red Riding Hood Yarn my favourite colourways are shown below. (Again my photos don't do this beautiful yarn justice at all)

Here is the 'Little Miss Pink' colourway knitted up in a W.I.P

Another W.I.P. - the cream is Patons and the Pink is Red Riding Hood Yarns. It's part of the 'Candy Drop Petite Collection' which is a scrappy set. The skirt will use the whole scrappy set by the time it is finished.

The Start of Picture Overload!

Ok, the first photo post is about my SEWING SPACE :). It's a small space crammed into the corner of my small room. I will hopefully move flats later this year and will make sure to get a double room in my next flat. i so can't wait till I can buy or rent my own place and have more space than just a tiny room.

First up is the basket where I keep all  my patterns - for knitting, sewing and quilting. I also have my knitting needles in here and a couple of W.I.P cross-stitch kits.

Next up is my overflowing wool basket, also my knitting bag for my current projects. (More Detail on my wool in the next post). Behind the wool (under the table) is my sewing box and a bag of buttons.

Next is my fabric container, it was in a smaller container but I had to move it to a bigger one after I went a little crazy at The Fat quarter shop!

Next is my sewing desk, Mum got me the touch lamp for my birthday and it's great!

And last but not least - two very important accessories - pin cushion and quick unpicks!

So that's my sewing space!

Designing a quilt

I'm thinking that for my next quilt I want to design it. I have 3 charm packs and 2 jelly rolls that I want to use in my quilt. The quilt will be for me so if it looks terrible it won't matter!

When I say designing it I don't mean anything spectacular - just something I will like. I will probably make it and then see that someone has already done it before!

Giving it another try.

I really want to give this blogging thing another try. (Of course I have chosen a time when I need to be going out to do errands!)
I have finished the front of the two quilts I started this year. I took a long gap after I stopped blogging and have just recently picked the quilts back up again, hence why I have just done the front of two quilts in all this time! I'll put up some pictures tomorrow evening. (As well as all my fabric purchases that just arrived). Oh and I'll also put up pictures of my recent wool purchases too. It will definately be picture overload tomorrow.

I think to keep me blogging I will mainly blog about quilting but also blog about other things to - like knitting, general sewing and everday stuff.

I will be basting my quilts in a couple of weeks when I go visit my mum as she has lovely floors that I can baste on - currently I'm flatting in a tiny little place with not much room at all.