The Glam Clam Quilt

I've always wanted to make a clam shell quilt, but knew I would never finish one that involved small shapes and hand sewing, so when Latifah Saafir came out with her clever Clammy ruler I knew I needed it. I used the 8" sized ruler and her free Glam Clam pattern. 

I enjoyed every moment of making this quilt top. The ruler was very easy to use and the cutting did not take long.

The curves are quite gentle and not hard to sew.

I didn't rush the process and only managed a row most days.

I love it. I bought the 12" ruler as well and can't wait to experiment with some of the different shapes you can make with them.

SaveSave
SaveSave

Postage Plus Block

This block combines two of my favourite things - scrappy backgrounds and jelly rolls. It is the Postage Plus quilt from the April 2016 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. The pattern calls for squares half the size, but it is very easy to size up.

The squares are left over from my Fruit Tingles quilt - a Moda jelly roll of For You by Zen Chic.

My finished block size is 20" x 20", perfect for a mini quilt.

SaveSave

Fruit Tingles Quilt

Quilts from Precut Fabrics #5 is out and my Fruit Tingles Quilt is inside!

                               

SaveSave

Quilts for Sale

The quilts are taking over the house so I am listing a few in my Etsy shop.

Road Trip Case

The Noodlehead Road Trip case has been on my list to make for ages and I finally got around to it this week. I am thinking about starting a big English Paper Piecing project and I think this will be perfect to keep everything in and to cart around with me

I used some new Kokka fabric I bought at Quilt Market for the outside and various scraps for the inside. I loved everything about making this project, except the vinyl, it stuck and stretched out despite using using a teflon foot, but it is done now and I know this bag will get a lot of use.

Our little town is so lucky to have a shop full of wonderful hand made things. They have just moved down the road and the new shop is amazing. If you are near Bridgetown, you definitely need to stop and have a look!

Jalie 2679 #2 and #3

I finally got around to making jackets for Grace and Olive. They are made using Jalie 2679. All the details on the first one I made are here. Olive wanted hers to be exactly like her big sisters so I cut and sewed them at the same time. One more to go.

Clover Make Up Bag

I needed a little project this week which didn't require much thinking and Milly needed something to hold her hair elastics. Enter the Clover Make Up Bag by Michelle Patterns.
This is the perfect size little make up bag and the instructions are great. There are tips to deal with any tricky bits, the pieces all fit together and the pleats on the end give it a great shape. I didn't interface everything, just the outside pieces which will be fine for what it will be used for.
If you are looking for a little bag pattern I recommend this one.

Quilt Market 2

And a few more photos.
Lovely appliqué by Claire Turpin.

Love the new line Matilda by Emma Jean Jansen.

The Creative Abundance booth. So great to catch up with the lovely Jemima from Tied with a  Ribbon.

Jane and Frances and their beautiful line Manderley for Moda.

Beautiful patterns and colours as always by Amy Butler.

Love this quilt by Latifah Saafir (and her new fabric line).

The amazing Lepidoptera quilt by Elizabeth Hartman.

I could have watched Christa Watson quilt all day, I leant so much in 20 minutes. (Also really wanting that sewing machine now). Her new book The Ultimate Guide to machine Quilting written with Angela Walters is fantastic.

Cotton and Steel, I love that they print on lawn and rayon as well.

The best colours and fabrics by Alison Glass. I went back and stared at this booth a lot.

Jen Kingwell's new line is in lawn!! I'll need to make dresses for me and shirts for Chris!

So excited that Simply Stitched by Yumiko Higuchi is out in English.

The Kokka/Nani Iro booth.

Quilt Market 1

I'm Back from Quilt Market and I had the best time. I saw old friends, made new ones and marvelled at the clever and talented people out there. It was so overwhelming at times I forgot to take photos but  here are some I did take.
Something new coming from Amy Barickman from Indygo Junction - perfect for left over jelly roll scraps.

Melly's very cute softies.

So excited to see the work of Sue Daley up close! (I learnt to paper piece from her excellent online videos).

No words to describe the awesomeness of these two, Peta and Jodie.

Sandi the Craft Planner having a rest in Heather Jones' booth.

The wonderful Karen Johnson from Martingale.

In love with this quilt using Riley Blake confetti solids.

I've made two dresses in the past few weeks using Robert Kaufman chambray - I couldn't love it more.

Love these fish by No Hats in The House, I've already downloaded the pattern!

The amazingly clever and lovely Jen Kingwell.

This cow by Laura Heine.

Archer Button Up Shirt Dress

Cotton lawn is one of my favourite fabrics to sew with and this Cotton and Steel lawn was on its way to me as soon as I saw it. I think the print is called Macarame and I could not love it more. I knew it needed to be a shirt dress, but I was finding it hard to choose which one to use.

Last week I wore the Grainline Archer Shirt I made last year. It appears I never blogged it so here it is. I altered the sleeves and did an FBA last year so I knew all I would have to do was to add some length and maybe make it a little more A-line and I would have a shirt dress that would fit so that is what I did.

I think I added 8-9 inches to the length and it's perfect for winter with leggings and boots.

Paper Pieced Feathers

I lost my quilting major for a while, but I think it is back. I've set aside some time each morning the last few days for piecing.
This paper pieced feather is by the Sometimes Crafter.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I'm having fun making them.

An economy block using a scrap of the Cotton and Steel tiger fabric.

I don't think you can have too many tunic dresses at this time of the year, especially chambray ones. I modified the Stylearc Olivia dress so the back and front are one piece and I removed the waist elastic and made a tie instead. So quick to make and so comfortable to wear. I have already cut another out from some Cotton and Steel rayon.

Stylearc Maddison Top

I made most of the Stylearc Maddison top last week and after I tried it on it got thrown in the corner to be dealt with later. I made my normal Stylearc size, but it was huge and shapeless. I rescued it yesterday and took it in quite a bit on each side. I needed to do some unpicking and redo the dart as there wasn't much of it left after I took the sides in. I used some ponte from the clearance table at Spotlight. I am glad I had another look at it as I really love it now. It is comfortable and has some shape and I know that I will wear it a lot.

Fen Dress

I didn't take much notice of the Fen Pattern by Fancy Tiger Crafts when it cam out, I wasn't convinced that a dress with a gathered skirt could look any good without a zip, but I suddenly decided I had to try it last week and I was pleasantly surprised. I think it was the pockets that pushed me to try it, I do love pockets in a dress. I think I have made the perfect winter tunic to go with boots and a cardi.
I was in between sizes and decided to size down which I am glad I did, it is a perfect fit. I used cotton poplin from Spotlight (I can't go past fabric that looks like a quilt block). I think it would also be great in a lawn, gauze, linen or rayon.

The sleeves were a little too big for me so after I made it I chopped them off, the pencil line below shows how much I took off. The only other alteration was to cut off 3 1/2" from the hem to make it tunic length.

I am so glad I decided to try this pattern. I'm wearing it today and am going to search the stash for fabric for another one.