heart patchwork

the finished blanket

I find it hard to keep up with all the things that I want to make, the list is endlessly long.

Sometimes seeing something that inspires me takes me back to an idea I had and thought I’d forgotten about.

the finished cushion

Heart patchwork is one of those and since I am on a bit of a patchwork roll, I thought I’d give my idea an airing.  I also recently bought quilting rings that hold the quilt in a neat roll while you do your quilting stitches.

quilting rings

I cheat (well, I think it is cheating) and quilt with my normal sewing machine. I’ve never done swirls or shapes and stick to straight lines mostly and it seems to work.

I was only going to do a cushion but got carried away cutting out and decided to do a matching cot quilt.

embroidery silks ready for the hearts

It came together quite quickly and was a real pleasure but the hand applique is still the most pleasurable part of it for me, it is sooooooo relaxing. The rainbow colours of the embroidery silks are like sweeties and selecting the right one for the work is as much fun as the sewing

quilt without wadding, backing, applique or quilting

I used to sit at my sewing machine for hours making clothes, curtains which I still love but given the choice I prefer the hand work and I now find delight in every stitch of hand appliqué.

appliqued heart

The theme was cream and pink with more emphasis on the cream as I wanted it to be subtle (unlike the next one I will make I think!).

applique heart

Anyway, they are both finished now and ready to be gifted or go onto my internet shop. Someone is due to have a baby soon and if it is a girl, it will be the perfect gift.

pretty princess pinafores

pink starburst

My nephew’s little girl is one year old shortly and it has given me the perfect excuse to make these lovely, simple pinafore dresses.

blue floral

Like all little girls these days, Ella likes pink. Well, I think her parents like her dressed in pink actually. It’s not important who is the the one who actually likes it, she looks adorable in whatever she wears. She may, however, be a little young yet for such heady fashionista decisions as what the colour of her clothes should be.

cut out and ready to put together

coming together nicely

my trusty frister rossman cub 7

Anyway, I have made her two pinafore dresses; one pinafore to suit her / her parents preferences and another because I think the fabric is sweet.

pocket detail

My mum found the hot pink starburst fabric and I found the floral. They are both remnants. The lining fabrics are offcuts and the threads are from the incredible thrifty purchase I made at a car boot sale some weeks ago. The buttons are from my vast collection that are organised into colours and lined up in jars on the window sill waiting for my workroom to be done. Everything has come from remnant sales, car boot sales, my mum’s and my gran’s sewing boxes, charity shops or have been thrifty gifts and some of the buttons came with my recently purchased vintage sewing box.

label

The pinafores are completed now, packaged and ready to be posted. Her birthday isn’t for a few weeks yet but I hope to see some photos of her in it to update the post.

I have been meaning to make something like these for so long and have really enjoyed making them so I have made some other sizes for my FB shop!!

patchwork cushion

fabric squares in pink

I have been on a real crafting roll this week. I finished my girls cot blanket in record time, have cut out all the fabric for another patchwork blanket, and a matching cushion, I have made another 2 cushions and I am half way through some bunting that is a gift for a fellow crafter.

patchwork border in pink

One of the cushions that I made has been on my rapidly lengthening ‘to do’ list but I grabbed the opportunity and got on with it. I finished it over the weekend even though most of the time I was glued to the olympics.

floral and gingham

I’ve made bunting and other cushions with names on but like the simplicity and the timelessness of a patchwork trim to a name cushion.

patchwork corner

There are more boys than girls in my family and amongst my friends but I still seem to have more pink fabric than anything else. Some of it is quite gorgeous so a cushion for Lucy had to be pink and I happen to know her favourite colour is pink (of course!).

border squares and centre panel ready to join together

I probably would have finished it sooner than Sunday but I couldn’t decide how to finish it so t put the fine detail out to vote on Facebook and Twitter.

with

Initially, the general favourite and what got most votes was the ‘with’ image but eventually, the overwhelming favourite was ‘without’ so ‘without’ it is.

without

The Lucy cushion is simple and clean and I tend to agree with my friends, groups and tweeps. It doesn’t need the flowers adding.

the hand appliquéd letters

This cushion has a home to go to but I’ve made another waiting for a different little girl’s name and it will go in my shop on Facebook, wowthankyou, coriandr and folksy.

finished!!

Related articles

• Sew easy cushions (welovecards.wordpress.com)

patchwork blanket

quilted squares

quilted patches

quilted patches and edging

I have had a really lovely week making this week. It has been unusual for me to be able find the time and I have thoroughly enjoyed it,,

When I sat down on Monday afternoon to cut out some selected squares to make a patchwork baby or cot blanket I really didn’t expect that I would be able to finish it by Tuesday night.  But I did.

squares sewn together

I have a couple of hand sewn pentagonal patchwork quilts part made. One is in red & white and the other is mixed and they will become a large bed throw eventually but I have wanted to make some patchwork cushions and children’s blankets for ages and my chance came up during this quiet week.

all the squares sewn together ready

It has been very satisfying seeing it take shape so swiftly, I’m mostly used to having to grab an hour here or a moment there. Choosing the patterns and laying them out so that the squares all work together is a lovely therapeutic process and it is very easy to understand how addictive patchwork becomes.

quilted edging

Each piece of fabric has a story, which came to mind with each square that found a place on the blanket. It might have been repurposed from something else, it might have been an off cut, or a car boot find, it might have been a bargain that my mum got or a piece that I have bought just because I like it. Some of them even have a second story having also been made into something by tinyinc, be it a blanket, cushion, letters on an apron or bunting. I love finally finding uses for these fabrics but I also love my fabric stash.

the finished blanket

I will do other cot blankets in different colours but it seems that my stash is dominated by pink at the moment so I concentrated on those so it appears that it my be for a little girl.

nice cup or rosy lea

new striped tea cosy

new flower top detail

I haven’t posted any tea cosies on here for a while and I finally got around to sewing tags onto my fresh stash and taking some photos of them.

purple stripes

purple top flower detail

These are a result of an idea my mum had, she has developed the pattern and they are all her hard work.

They differ from the previous ones that had a pom pom or a tied top. These have a new looped flower top detail mostly and the pattern is different to most of the previous ones.

teal and turquoise

oranges and lemons

magenta & navy

jubilee teacosy

I love them and my mum is very pleased with the outcome as she should be!

They will be a welcome addition to my online selling as I haven’t listed anything on there for ages either. Most of my recent sales have resulted directly from my blog posts or as a result of commissions.

I will slowly list them on one of the internet (folksy, etsy, coriandr & wowthankyou).

the heart of the matter

 

hearts are a lovely shape to work with when sewing.

They are smooth and rounded and gorgeously symetrical and I love them as a theme for sewing and decor.

As a teenager with a major crush on a boy that lived close by, I spent hours mastering the art of drawing them freehand!  Who knew it would come in so handy!

 

We have hearts on a number of things at our house and I never get sick of them.  A lot of them are cushions, lavendar bags or pictures that I have made but they also appear in the form of dishes or on an applique quilted bedspread.

Our bedroom decor has references to blues in it so I think these will go on the bed or the bedroom chair.

 

 

retro breakfast

retro breakfast

I have had another great feedback photo from the delivery of the egg cosies this week.

That is a very cool retro breakfast. Thanks again Grace.

I also have another small batch of tea cosies that are going onto folksy this week ( http://www.folksy.com/shops/tinyinc )

Not much making at the moment as life seems busy but a handful of pressies are next and I must get a wriggle on……

 

 

They won’t knit themselves!!

 

Retro Egg Cup Cosies

Grace bought quite a few tea cosies from me over the months leading up to Christmas as gifts.

I’ve had a few lovely emails from Grace which I really appreciate as it is so nice to know how your efforts are received and in response to my thank you for feedback, Grace emailed:-

‘You’re welcome!

That was my mum’s– she loved it and so did my aunt who told me it has pride of place on her dresser!

Ps I often get stressed with my work and I’ve decided to take up knitting, I started learning yesterday!

I hope you had a good Christmas.

G’

Grace’s first purchase was early last year and she has also asked if it was possible to produce matching egg cosies were to match her original purchase.

Not an exact match as I no longer have the exact same colours left and neither I nor my Mum was unable to get them but none the less, here they are and they are very cute.

Too fiddly to do very often but I have posted them off and hope Grace likes her ‘thank you for being a great customer’ gift.

hearts for heart’s sake

 

heart cushion

There is a very gentle theme in our little country house and that is hearts.

It’s not overwhelming and is mostly restricted to bedrooms but there are hearts there to be seen if you look.

 

some of the buttons

When we bought this place to run away to at weekends, it was three years ago and whilst it has most things we need, we are still slowly adding bits here and there.

We got the keys in december 2007 and after a flurry of curtain making, picture hanging and chair painting, I started a project that I honestly didn’t think would only just be finishing now after just over 3 years but it is done!

I don’t even recall where I got the idea from but I decided that what the house ‘needed’, was 2 cushions covered in buttons that made the shape of a heart.  Without a clue as to what a substantial task this would end up becoming, I  took all the odds of white and mother of pearl buttons in my gran’s old sewing box; I scrounged and bought some and unpicked some from old work shirts of JC’s before setting about attaching them to the two cushion covers that I had made with the spare fabric from the living room curtains.

There is no pattern to the buttons excepting that there is one large one in the middle of each.  I wondered many times, as both hearts were slowly filled in, why I had chosen to do a pair and not just keep life simple with one!!

3 years on and approximately 1200 buttons later, they are finally in place and I am pleased that I persevered.

I won’t be doing it again, however!!!

Grace’s tea cosy present in use

 

 

large retro pom pom tea cosy

It is very unusual, but most welcome, to get direct feedback and a little back story on the things that I make and that go off to new homes around the country (or world as with Peter’s gift to his girlfriend).

Grace bought about 4 tea cosies leading up to christmas so imagine my delight when I got an email from her with a photo of the one that she gave her mum going straight into use on Christmas morning.

What is even more delightful is that Grace has decided to take up knitting herself to relieve stress so I am very pleased to welcome another budding crafter to the fold!!

Good luck and hope you enjoy it.

Thanks again for buying, Grace and I hope that your mum’s tea cosy is enjoyed for very many cups of tea to come!