WIP Wednesday (no.12)

Ok so trying to keep on top of everything at the moment, had a few finishes but not enough and as usual far too many things to do!

Lets start with the finishes:

Carolyns Wallhanging
Carolyn is a much loved member of the Crafty Campers (local craft group) and she has just turned 70, we wanted to give her something special so all of our members were given an 8 inch calico square to create something wonderful and I was given the task of putting it all together. I LOVED this project, it was sooo nice to see everyones handy work, and looking at this really brightened up the day, I didn't want to give it away!

Isn't it lovely, you can tell how much everyone thinks of Carolyn, they made her fun, bright blocks that really represent her and show how much we all think of her. That lovely dresden in the top corner is by fellow blogger VintageVicki Here are a few close ups of a couple of others that I love

 Family tree by Carolyns daughter, this became the central panel, isn't it super cute

 An embroidered circle of life by my very talented mother

 A gorgeous 3d block by my great friend Sarni, she is very new to sewing and not at all confident but I Love her work, she is so good with colour and loves everything vintage and kooky, she definiately has an individual style

My block, im so happy with the scrappy look and the colours

I also made Carolyn a cushion that is just from me, it's the same block that I made for the wall hanging, its a friendship star, I'm hoping that she will have a nice chair that she can throw this on and then sit and look at the wall hanging (you notice new details every time you look at it)

I have also finished and posted my cushion for the Brit Quilt Pillow Fight Swap, I made a little extra too, I little sewing kit, inspired by the one I received in the Pretty Little Pouch Swap

I also finished and posted my fat quarters for the Hand printed fabric swap

I need to work on my Bee blocks:
I've finally got all my fabrics for the Piece Bee With You November circle of geese blocks

I need to do my Sew Bee Joyful block too

And I need to decide on a block to do for the current round of the 3x6 bee

No progress on the following:

4x Christmas Stockings (must put this to the top of my list!!!)

Baby quilts and playmats (babies are growing up quickly so NEED to finish)

2X sisters wedding quilts

My living room curtains

My living room roman blinds

Birthday pressie for a crafty camper

Skill Builder Quilt

Farmers Wife

Swaps and Bees

I'm sure by now you may have realised that I have gone slightly mad on bees and swaps! Here are a few pics of my latest swap makes and parcels I've received (woohoo pressies, gotta love em)

Brit Quilt Pillow Fight - Cushion I've made for my still secret partner

I'm so happy with how this has turned out, I've made a little extra and added some bits and it's being popped in the post tomorrow so hopefully my partner will have it by the end of the week, hope she likes it

And I've finally received some wonderful goodies from the swaps that I've been taking part in.

Pretty Little Pouch Swap

 I got this amazing package from Leila, isn't it gorgeous, the embroidery is stunning and the extras she sent are amazing too, a cute sewing kit, some lovely yellow fabric and russian doll scraps and ready made binding, wow I LOVE it all, thanks so much Leila

Sewn Spaces Swap: Pincushions

 I asked for something fun and whimsical and look what I got, super cute toadstool from Ella, apparently it was the first time she has made a pincushion and pin toppers, I cant believe it as these are so brilliant! Aren't those toadstool pins the sweetest thing ever! and to top it off she sent me some cute toadstool fabric too. Such a fun package, i adore it.

Handprinted fabric swap

I loved this swap, it was so nice to do something different and create fabric instead of creating with fabric. This is the first fat quarter I received, its from Vanessa Jasper and some of it was printed with cotton reels, cool huh. Everyone that signed up gets a fat quarter from 4 different people, I have received another today but not taken photos yet so will save that one to show you soon.

So today I was supposed to be working on my bee blocks but haven't, I so need to get going on that, maybe tomorrow!

I wanna be a fabric designer!!!!

Ok so this is my secret ambition, my dream job is to be a fabric designer, up until now I have done nothing about it apart from fantasize about setting my own business up when I move to Australia. I did however recently enter a handprinted fabric swap and it has really inspired me to learn more, teach myself and hopefully really do it in the future.

So this week I taught myself how to screen print using photo emulsion, and I have to say, for a first attempt I'm pretty pleased with my results, what do you think?

I definitely have a lot to learn, but hey practice makes perfect (hopefully). So my mission now is to read more about printing, learn how to design on my computer, think about setting up a studio once we get to Australia and decide how I will need to kit it out (for sewing, designing and printing).

So now I can get some of these ideas out of my head or out of my sketchbooks and make them real!!!

WIP Wednesday (no.11)

Wow its WIP Wednesday and its been ages since I took part but I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things. I've written my list for Winter Stitching that Sarah at Fairy face designs is hosting and I thought that making sure I do WIP Wednesday will hopefully help to keep me on track.

Here goes:
Completed projects

Sarni's Quilt, not yet blogged about but for a friends birthday (will post about it soon)

Dolcies Dress, I made this months ago for my friend Sarni's daughter but never buttonholed it, well I finally did it this week so yay its finished, been handed over and it still fits!

 Pincushion, my little doggy design was already finished but its now been packaged up with a few more goodies and posted off

Pretty little pouch, also finished and posted

Pouch for a friends birthday, I'm going to cheat a little and use this one that I made earlier

Bee blocks, I only had to do one this month as its my month over at Sew Bee Joyful so just had to make my Piece Bee With You block, designed, made and posted this ballerina girl

WIP's:
My Naked Beds Improv quilt, finished except still have half of the binding left to hand sew onto the back

2 tiny playmats for friends new babies for tummy time, these both need quilting and then im going to attempt something interesting in the binding

A pram quilt that needs the stippling finished around the border and then binding, my baby has out grown the pram pretty much though so this might be put to one side for a not yet born baby

Block for a lovely ladies special birthday, this is about halfway there (sorry no pictures yet)

Handprinted fabric, I've made up a lino block but hopefully will get some ink down on fabric this arvo!

Not been worked on:
2X sisters wedding quilts
My living room curtains
My living room roman blinds
My Brit Quilt Pillow Fight Cushion (i'm thinking, i'm thinking! Will work on it this week)
1 Birthday pressie for a crafty camper, i've bought some bits and it will be quite an easy make but her birthday is not until the new year so no rush
Skill Builder Quilt - no progress made

Farmers Wife Quilt - no progress made

New Christmas stockings - need to buy some yardage of felt

Lots to do, so need to keep working away to get it done. Head over and check out the other great WIP's

Octobers Fresh Sewing Day

Hey im linking up with Lily's Quilts today to show you what I have been up to for the last month, also because im a small blog (less than 50 followers :-( ) im linking up to this also

So this month I have made the following:
Ballerina girl for Peace Bee With You

2x Pretty little pouches, 1 for this swap, 1 for a friends birthday

I used a linen for this pouch, and based the design on a lovely charm square I received in the UK Japanese Charm Swap that was hosted by Cindy. I did a little bunny embroidery with a fluffy tale as my partner likes embroidery.

This pouch also uses the Japanese bunny fabric as well as some that have been in my stash for years! I'm glad I chose a contrast zip for this one, I think it helps to lift it.

Pincushion for this swap

My improv quilt for me

It just needs me to finish hand sewing the binding and me and hubby will be snuggling under it on the sofa for the winter.
So head over to Lily's Quilts for some other lovely makes and help support the small blogs like mine that would love to grow a little!