Bloc Loc Rulers

I finally gave in a few weeks ago and ordered some Bloc Loc rulers. I have seen them on blogs, but not in real life and have only heard good things about them, but could they be as great as everyone says they are?

They are easy to use and work perfectly if you press your seams to the side or if you press them open.

 I have so many ideas for patterns that use half square triangles, but have never loved making them.

 I think these rulers might change that. At the very least it will make it easier and give me perfect half rectangle triangles.

So yes, these are just as great as everyone says they are!

Hexagons, Diamonds, Triangles, and More

I am slowly working on my English Paper Piecing and really enjoying it. 

With the help of Hexagons, Diamonds, Triangles, and More I have even started thinking about future projects. This book is not about English Paper piecing (there is actually fantastic instructions for machine piecing and sewing y-seams) but there is great inspiration for paper piecing.

 There is a lot of information and ideas packed into this book as you can see from the contents page.

How you can break the shapes down into smaller shapes is clearly shown

There is instructions for a couple of little projects.

 And a great gallery full of inspiration.

 I think this is one of those books that I will turn to again and again for ideas.

Full Disclosure: I received a copy of the book from Martingale free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Tiger Dress

I have been trying to use fabric from my stash the last 6 months, but I could not resist this Cotton & Steel tiger fabric for Olive.

 I used the Madeline Dress pattern from Wink Designs. I love this collar.

 I used some buttons from the never ending bag of buttons I bought at Spotlight a few years ago.

This fabric and pattern is the purr-fect combination!



Summer Sewing

A little more summer sewing for the girls. It has been winter again for the last few days, but the weather forecast is promising some warmer weather for the school holidays. We are all crossing our fingers!

 From Ottobre 4/2011. I have used this pattern before and I love it. I never get tired of shirring.

I made some overalls using the same pattern. I bought this fabric from Birch in New York. It is lovely to touch.

 A Geranium dress for Eva. I'd shown her this pattern before and she showed no interest until I made one for Olive then she insisted I make one immediately. It's a perfect pattern for this fabric which is Dream On by Urban Chicks for Moda a few years ago.

Cathrineholm inspired Pot Holder

While cleaning up my cutting table yesterday I found the templates I'd printed for the Hello Cathrine! pot holder from Fat Quarterly Issue 8.



 This was a nice quick project which looks fantastic

 I used some of my treasured Micheal Miller 'Put A Lid On It' fabric for the backing.

Think I might need to make some more in the other Cathrineholm lotus colours.

Children's Summer Basics

A clean out of the girls' cupboards revealed they were lacking in basics. Shorts, shirts and pyjamas. Nothing fancy, just stuff to wear around on weekends. So I thought I would do a little round up of patterns I know that work every time and most of them I can whip up very quickly.

Oliver & S Puppet Show Shorts. I have used this pattern so many times, it has definitely paid for itself.

 Christine Pants from I Think Sew - these make great pyjama bottoms. I don't bother with the elastic around the legs as it just annoys the girls. These work well in woven and knit fabrics.

 Made Shorts. A really great basic pattern with tutorials on adding trim and pockets too.

 Simplicity 2689. A great pattern for light fabrics such as voile.

 Banyan Tee and Tee for Two Dress by Figgy. Probably my favourite knit top patterns for children.

Now some of the basic not so interesting sewing is done for them I can make a few more interesting things!

A Paper Pieced Garden Mini Quilt

One more block from A Paper Pieced Garden.

 And all four of them as a mini quilt. I'm just waiting for some quilting inspiration. I might even consider hand quilting it as it's so small.
I have really enjoyed making these. Paper Piecing does not come naturally to me. There is much unpicking and I seem to waste a lot of fabric, but you can make such great shapes and it is so much fun to finish each block and see what you have made.

Go To Quilting Ideas

I've had one of those slightly frustrating mornings. I thought I had a clear idea of the way I wanted to quilt a quilt, but this did not go to plan. My straight lines weren't straight. So I unpicked. I thought I would try some free motions quilting, but that did not look right. That was unpicked. So third time lucky with simple swirly loops. If I'm unsure about what to do with a quilt this is my go to way of quilting. It seems to look good on most quilts. 

It was the perfect way to quilt  my Butterflies book from Strip Savvy as it echoed how butterflies move. I was so excited this week to see Gail Pan's version of this quilt using her new fabric design.

 

 My other go to way of quilting is the slightly wonky straight line.
I used this a couple of times in my book. It was perfect for my Scrappy Crosses.

I also used it to quilt Reflections. I think this is the biggest quilt in my book and I quilt everything on my Bernina 440 which isn't huge, so straight lines is a good way to quilt as you can roll in the sides and do a line at a time.

 It was so nice outside taking photos this morning - there is sun in my favourite corner of the verandah and it feels and smells a little like Spring. I love this time of the year!

Geranium Dress



A Geranium Dress for Spring out of some Briar Rose by Heather Ross. Great pattern, the size 2 fits Olive perfectly, the only change was making it a little shorter.

 

 

The Dishy Bag

After seven weeks on crutches with a toddler in the house I am pretty skilled at dodging the duplo that is everywhere, but there have been a couple of incidents so when I saw this new pattern, The Dishy Bag, the other day I bought it immediately.

I used some Heather Bailey fabric for the inside that I found on special at Textile Traders recently (I love those 1.5m precuts they have for $7.50). I used some very heavy denim from the stash for the outside and edging. This denim is so super heavy that I've never found a good use for it. It is great for the outside, but I think I should have used something a lot lighter for the edging as it is really difficult to pull the rope through.

 I used grommets and rope I found at Bunnings.

 The instructions only give the measurements for a 70cm wide mat, but there are instructions for how to make them any width you want. I made mine 110cm wide - the width of the fabric I had.

 Olive seems pretty happy with it and immediately sat in the middle of it to play.

 You can see how the denim is really hard to pull into a bag shape, but it is doing the job here, we just pull it up as much as we can and drag it into the corner. I'll probably use quilting cotton for the edges when I make one for the lego.

Quilt Now Issue 2

Some excellent mail arrived yesterday - Quilt Now Issue 2. 



 And look what is inside! Something completely different for me. A quilt made entirely of solids. I used Moda Bella Solids (Platinum, Bright Turquoise, Kiwi, nautical Blue and White) which were a dream to sew with. There is also an insane amount of quilting on it, which is also something different for me. Each of the four colour sections is bubble quilted in a matching colour. It was nice to be out of my comfort zone and trying something new. I can see more quilts using solids in my future.

Katy has done an amazing job with Quilt Now, if you haven't seen a copy I highly recommend checking it out. It's a great mix of patterns, information and inspiration!

Blocks from A Paper Pieced Garden

I have been thinking about trying some blocks from A Paper Pieced Garden since I reviewed it last month.

So far I have made three. They were fun to make and it was so good to be back at the machine. I think I'll make at least one more and turn it into a mini quilt for my quilt wall.

Leaf

 Daisy

Toadstool