Remember this?

Oh this little quilt was on the go for a long long time! It had been finished up as a quilt top for quite  a while.  Since February in fact.  But in March we started our next phase of building renovations and so any hopes of getting it finished kind of went out the window!  

But finally I got some time to get it finished! Here it is all pinned and ready to quilt.

Quilted and trimmed.

A few close up shots for good measure.

I love the yellow binding.

For the back I used soft flannel which made it so lovely and warm. Really wish I had ordered more of that fabric!

Linking up to Richard and Tanya's Quilts where they have a great giveaway on! Also linking up to Fabric Tuesday.

Commissioned by my Brother

Last year my brother asked me if I could sew his girlfriend a personalised stocking with a reindeer on. Of course I obliged.  

I was going to make it out of felt but then I remembered I had some fleece throws that I had bought from Ikea a while back in red and white.  I think they cost about £3 each and they are pretty big.  Each with a different fringe edging.  

Sorry for the rubbish photo! Not quite in focus lol!

As you can see I incorporated the fringe edging of the white one into the stocking.  Looks really cute.  I just modelled the shape of the stocking on one that I had at home already.

 

And here is the sweet natured Rudolph!

Think my brother must have bought quite a lot for the lucky Laura as he requested the stocking be quite large!!

And now for some cards!

It seems to have all been about fabric here lately, but I have been making the odd card during the blog drought too, so thought I would share them today.

Can't remember who I made this bright cheerful one for, but I totally love it for all that beautiful rainbow colour!  Got a feeling it was inspired/cased by another card on my pinterest cards board. [Yep found it! You can see the original here by Lucy Abrams.]

Now I do remember who I made this next card for! Ha it was for my motorbike enthusiast Dad! He has two old bikes that he has restored and tinkers with.  I saw this digi that was free at the time and it made me giggle thinking how that might be him when he eventually grows up!

I was sorely tempted to put my Dads name in the caption but resisted.  Didn't want to rub salt in the 'ageing' wound!

And this last card was for my sister's birthday, I think, quite a while ago to match the little birdie mini quilt I made her.  It uses all the same fabrics for the bunting.

Thanks for taking a look.

A Couple of Cute Cushions and a Publication!

Today I thought I'd share a couple of cushions with you.

Originally I made the Reindeer one to go to market with me before Christmas, but I am afraid I loved him too much and so he didn't make it to market!

I had originally bought the plain cushion cover whilst visiting my good friend Martine in the Netherlands. Put it away and forgot it was there!  Happened across it in November and decided to pop an appliqué on it.  

I had been seeing lots of reindeer cushions in the shops and really liking them, so thought I'd pop a reindeer on!

Originally it was just the reindeer (as in the above picture) with no star decorations but I just thought he needed an extra little something to jazz him up!

The second cushion I made as a gift for my sister-in-law for Christmas.  She was visiting with us before Christmas and was admiring the Heart Tree cushion I made last year.  So a seed was planted in my mind!

Don't get me wrong I love my heart tree cushion but I knew my sister-in-law had just redecorated and refurnished her living room all in greens and browns, so I thought it would be nicer to make one that would suit the room well.

So having grilled my parents-in-law on the colours and been directed to the sofa company's website I went armed with a picture of the sofa printed out from the website to my local fabric shop.  Quickly matched up some fabrics and came home to sew!

Talking of cushions...I was excited to be approached last year by the Australian Homespun magazine regarding my Rainbow Pillow.  They wanted to publish it in one of their upcoming magazines! I was super excited and readily agreed! In the end they published the Rainbow one and also the Heart Tree cushion too in the December 2013 edition.

Linking up to Sew Many Ways and Quilt Story linky parties:

So, What of the Blue Fabric?

Remember I said yesterday that I siphoned off the blue fabric, from the charm packs for the charmalade quilt, to be used on another project?  

Well I knew someone who would love that blue fabric and that someone had a birthday right before Christmas.  A little birdie had told me that she loved the little birdie (!) mini quilt I made my sister last year, so I decided to make her one. 

There was just enough of the dark blue fabric to make some binding.  The fussiest binding I have ever made! Lots of 5 inch strips!

I just cut the charm squares into four squares each and positioned them around the white block, keeping some for the back.

Then got to work on the picture. Cut some leaves, flags and two little birdies out of the scraps, adding in a few pink leaves from the binding from the Charmalade quilt to make it pop a bit from all that blue!

I just machine embroider roughly the tree, and again machine applique the pieces on, sometimes using a contrasting thread and sometimes using a matching one depending on the look I'm going for.

Then for the back I pieced a strip of squares to go across the middle sandwiched between some white pieces.  I quilted the front and back separately and then popped them together with the binding.  That way I could quilt all over the back without ruining the picture on the front.  I added a bit of thermal batting so it could be used as a pot holder if so desired.

As always I must direct you to the inspiration behind all the birdie minis I have made and that would be from Erin at Why Not Sew? Quilts.

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