'Little Joys' Table-Runner

Remember my previous post about the 'Little Joys' Quilt-along? Those following me on Instagram would have seen my progress over the last month.

To recap, I was one of the bloggers invited to join the Little Joys Quilt-along organised by the Fat Quarter Shop, to celebrate the arrival of Elea Lutz' new fabric line, Little Joys. Elea's second line is just as sweet as her first (Milk, Sugar & Flower). The festive blocks in this quilt-along were designed by Elea herself, and the patterns are available for free on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog until 14 August (after which time they will be available to purchase). Get them here.

The finished quilt is meant to be a wall hanging in a square 3 x 3 grid layout. I adapted the design and turned it into a table-runner for the table in our family room, which is where we set up our tree every year (it goes in that empty corner just behind the table. And, yes, I did contemplate setting up the tree just for the photo. I have been known to do stuff like that.)

 
 

I was really tempted to try my hand at free-motion quilting, but I was pressed for time and I am really under the pump with some impending deadlines this month, so straight-line quilting it was in the end. I had some festive red and white double-fold bias binding that was waiting for the right project, so it was a cheat binding job too, super-quick as it was machine stitching all the way around.

The cushions I made back at the beginning of May, when I was lucky enough to receive some advance yardage of this sweet line from Penny Rose fabrics. You can read more in this old blog post.

Hope you liked my table-runner and feel inspired to get started with your festive sewing with this sweet line! Have a lovely day!

Goody Goody Sew Along

Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique and Fat Quarter Shop have just kicked off a sew-along for a lovely portable binding kit, and I have been invited to join in on the fun!

The 'Goody Goody Kit' was designed by Vanessa, who has a very thorough tutorial on her blog. Every quilter needs a binding kit like this. It has compartments for binding clips, a sweet strawberry pocket for a small pair of scissors, a thread holder for your favorite spools of thread, and a wool felt rectangle for your needles. And last but not least, a spacious pocket for all other essential 'goodies' - in my case chocolate (of course) and some cotton floss, as I will be using this kit for my hand-quilting also.

The fabric I used for the exterior of the bag is a cheater patchwork print from the 30s Collection by Atsuko Matsuyama for Yuwa and comes in a few different colourways. Adorable!

Until now zippers have been right there at the top of my 'too-scared-to-try' list of sewing techniques. But Vanessa's tutorial promised me that this was a great project for zipper-virgins, so I decided to give it a go. And I am so glad I did! Pffft, it was so easy, nothing to it at all. Why on earth did I put if off for so long?!

You can read more about the sew along on Fat Quarter Shop's blog Jolly Jabber where there is a video tutorial also with tips and tricks. So go grab your favourite fabric and join in on the fun! If you are on Instagram you can tag your creations with #goodygoodysewalong so we can see what you are making!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I gave Alice her new Vintage Market quilt on Saturday and had the camera ready to capture her reaction. Oh how she loved it, hugging it and rolling around with it, her happy beaming face making my heart swell. She spent ages examining and caressing the fabric - as I predicted the back of the quilt is her favourite side!

Having caught her in a good mood I snapped some photos for our annual collage. She is getting so big!

Garden Lattice Quilt - Finished

Remember my garden lattice quilt top from a few weeks back, made with Tasha Noel's new line Vintage Market? I made the quilt top using advance yardage of Vintage Market from Riley Blake, but it got bigger than I had originally planned, so I ran out of fabric. I had to wait for the line to arrive at stores in Australia so I could add the pink strawberry border, backing, and binding.  I am keeping this quilt for Alice and I wanted it to be absolutely perfect for her. It's finally finished and I couldn't be happier with it.

Alice is at day-care whilst I write this - I can't wait to see her reaction when she comes home and finds the finished quilt on her bed. She watched intently whilst I made it - not everything I make catches her attention but this one certainly did. She would come and stand by me and say 'I am only looking mummy. I am not touching mummy's work. OK mummy?' (yes, I have her well trained that way). So I think she will be happy to finally be allowed to touch 'mummy's work', play on it, and sleep with it! Its for her 'big girl' bed which we are moving her into this coming weekend. As apparently she is now a 'big girl' - a fact of which she reminds me daily. My lovely Alice, aged two going on twelve.

I got the quilt long-armed locally - Elaine from Quilting in The Vines in McLaren Vale did a fantastic job, with a soft swirly pattern which is just perfect for this quilt.

The back of the quilt is as sweet as the front! Alice herself picked the print for the backing - so I have a feeling this may rather be her favourite side.

The Jellycat bunny (with Liberty Tana lawn feet and ears!) is Alice's favourite toy and bed companion. 'Bunny' (as it has been imaginatively named by Alice) has been loved to death and washed so many times that I am amazed it is still in one piece and looks almost as good as it did when it first arrived.

The quilt pattern is 'Garden Lattice' by Cindy Lammon from her book Simply Modern Christmas. I really like how well the pattern matches this fabric line, and shows off those sweet fussy cut centres. I hope you liked it too.

Ruffle Doll Quilt in 'Bloom & Bliss'

I've been playing with the loveliest fabric range this week - it's a new Riley Blake line called  'Bloom & Bliss' by Nadra Ridgeway from Ellis & Higgs. It's Nadra's first fabric line although you would never guess it looking at her beautiful designs. Such a sweet colour palette and lots of small ditsy prints, great for patchworking and English Paper Piecing. And those stripes are just perfect for bias binding.

This pretty pretty line is going to be in stores in August / September (depending on where in the world you are).

As soon as I saw this line I was hit by an urge to make something with ruffles. I was looking for a ruffled apron pattern when out of nowhere came the idea to make a doll quilt with ruffles instead. I am so pleased that it turned out just as I had pictured it.

Technically it's not so much a mini quilt but more a sleeping bag, as there is a sleeve in which you place the doll, so that it becomes a 'mattress cover and quilt all in one'. Which was a bit of a mouthful so I went with 'doll quilt' and hoped that everyone could see what I meant from the photos.

I machine quilted the patchwork centre in diagonals, and hand quilted around the perimeter in DMC cotton perle no 8. A sweet little patch in one corner completes the design.

I designed the quilt to fit Alice's doll bed, which is this popular one from IKEA. The adorable Waldorf Steiner doll is by Deb's Steiner Dolls - those curls just kill me!!

You can now purchase the pattern for this doll quilt in my shop at a special introductory price. If you make one please send me a photo or tag it on Instagram with #downgrapevinelane or #ruffledollquilt so I can see your finished projects!