Cushion number three.

I've shown two of my recent quartet of cushions. Today it's time for number three.
It was inspired by two images I found on flickr, this one and this one. 

Take a look at the fabulous green walls in the background of the two flickr images I've linked too. They set off the cushions much more effectively than my dining room carpet!
Bye for now, Maria x

Picking a Palette

Lynne at Lily's Quilts posed the question "Interested in a dead simple QAL?" Well, yes I thought actually I am. The idea is to make a simple, quick easy quilt where the interesting thing is the palette rather than the pattern which is a squares design. Lynne suggests that you pick a colour palette perhaps from a site such as design seeds, or you make your own palette, and then make the quilt using your chosen palette.
 I've never seen a site like design seeds before, I'd recommend a look, it's fabulous if you love colour.

I've gone about it slightly differently. I found that I didn't have the fabrics for whichever palette I picked on design seeds, and I'm trying to use fabrics I already have not buy new ones! Whilst rummaging through my fabrics I found a half metre of an Amy Butler fabric from the Love range which has a beautiful palette of colours. Why come up with my own palette when Amy's already done the work?!

Luckily I found fabrics in my stash which matched the palette and I'm really pleased with how they look. Left to my own devices I wouldn't have put this selection together.

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I've decided against the pink as although there is a small amount in the pattern I don't like it with the other fabrics.
I've been too impatient to wait for the tutorial on Lily's quilts so I've jumped the gun and started sewing my 5" inch squares together.

Bye for now, Maria.

String Quilt Cushion.

Today it's time for cushion number two. I love this one. Its from this great tutorial by Ashley at Film In The Fridge. Like the last one it's great for using up scraps.

String Quilt Cushion.

 

 

 

 

 

Cushion (or pillow) number one.

Pillow or cushion? I suppose it depends on which side of the Atlantic you live but to me it's a cushion. Anyway, we could do with a new dining table and chairs but as the table is used for homework, as an occasional sewing table etc and I would be paranoid about damaging a new one we gave our old set some TLC and I made some new seat cushions.
I fancied trying some new patchwork techniques and thought it would be fun to make each one different.
The first is the Mod Mosaic Pillow from a tutorial by Oh Fransson! This is a great, fun method for using scraps and I would recommend giving it a go.

Mod Mosaic Pillow, design by Oh, Fransson!

 It's hard to see the quilting properly but I quilted it in random free machined square and rectangle spirals.

Back soon with another of my new cushions.
Maria x

Still here.

It's been over a year since I wrote a post on my blog. I felt that I was taking too much of my time fiddling round trying to take great photos and deciding what to write etc. Well inspiration has struck and I've decided to have another go. It doesn't matter if my photos aren't perfect or what I write isn't perfect or witty. It's not a competition between blogs, just a bit of fun.
I've still been blog reading and apologise for not commenting either.

Well here goes............................
Many moons ago I showed the progress of a quilt I called my "Kaffe Fassett Quilt". It was inspired by a quilt from one of his wonderful books but I can't remember which book and it has long since been returned to the library.
Well after about three years it is finished apart from hand sewing the back of a small piece of binding and tying in some ends.

 

 A long time ago I also showed the progress of a storm at sea quilt. Well, that fella's now on the wall. Unfashionably it's made from batiks but I love it. I love how the blocks have a circular effect even though they are all straight lines. I quilted lots of circles which add to the effect.

It's not really wider at the top then the bottom!

 

 

Ok, that's it for now. Hopefully back soon with cushions!


Maria.

Thank You.

My Mum taught me that you should always say " thank you" for a gift. Well a few months ago I was very lucky to win (another) wonderful give-away and although I said thank you to the gift giver at the time I very naughtily haven't thanked her here yet.
So here goes............................ many, many, many thanks to the lovely Julia who runs the on-line fabric shop Gone to Earth for a very beautiful give-away prize. I won these fat quaters from the beautiful Nicey Jane range by Heather Bailey. I even got to choose which fabrics from the range I wanted.

 

I have a plan of what I want to make with the fabrics which involves another give-away gift I recently won. I'll leave it as a mystery for now and show you if it turns out ok.

We recently had a wonderful week long holiday staying in the lovely little town of Bakewell in the  Derbyshire Peak District. My husband took this early morning picture of the river Wye which runs through the town.

We visited Chatsworth House which was used in the 2005 big screen version of Jane Austen's book Pride and Prejudice as the setting for Pemberley, the fictional home of Mr Darcy. Many people believe that Chatsworth was Austen's influence for Pemberley. Austen's description does sound like this is likely, and even if it is incorrect it's fun to imagine that you are at Pemberley when visiting Chatsworth.

 "It was a large, handsome, stone building standing well on
rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in front,
a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but
without any artificial appearance." (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

 Here's a better view
of the river.

And finally, I hope this year my garden provides an abundent supply of cut flowers for the house, this may be a little optimistic but this little bouquet is a good start.

Bye for now, Maria.

In an English country garden.

I'm still here! I can't believe how long it is since I last posted. I seem to have fallen off the blogging and sewing wagon. My google reader sits at 466 posts to be read and my poor sewing machine must feel as though I've fallen out of love with it. There's been a bit of sewing going on, a few summer tops which have been waiting to be finished for a few weeks and this bag for my Mum which I'm pleased to say has had an outing with the the pink and green outfit which it was made to accompany. The photo of the bag is up there as couldn't get it down here where I want it to be.

I've been busy in the garden and am delighted with the little sitting area we started last year. I can't believe the change in just over a year.
It's gone from this:

To this:

 To this:

I'm looking forward to seeing how it will change again in the next few weeks as the lavenders burst into a haze of purple and the cosmos and zinnias which I've grown from seed hopefully flower.


Bye for now and if there's still anyone out there who reads this please say 'Hi'.
Maria x