To market, to market... Market Folk is finished!

As we enter another cold Canberra winter, I thought it was time to finally finish a quilt I started for Sofia some time ago. And now, I'm happy to report that my version of Market Folk by Cinderberry Stitches is finished!

My finished Market Folk quilt (design by Cinderberry Stitches)

I personalised the centre block

I didn't think it had been sitting in my unfinished pile for that long... until I started looking back through my blog posts to realise I've had it ready to be quilted since October 2016. Oops! Part of the issue was that I couldn't decide whether to machine or hand quilt it—and apparently it took me over 12 months to decide!

I ended up hand-quilting it, and once I got started (with a good movie on in the background) I was surprised how quickly it came along.

Being quite a little quilt, it didn't take long to then sew down the binding. In time I'd like to do a label for it, but for now it's headed straight for my baby girl's bed ready to keep her warm on these cold nights we've been having!

Sofia loves her new quilt!

Until next time x

Ready for quilting!

Last weekend, as per my last blog post, I headed to the fabric store and after much deliberation settled on a backing fabric for Sofia's quilt. Today I found some time to pin together the backing, wadding and quilt top... so this project is now ready for quilting.

My Market Folk quilt (designed by Cinderberry Stitches) ready for quilting

I've been pulling out my hand-stitching over the last couple of weeks too... even though my Mermaiden Tales block-of-the-month is way behind, it's been the first block of my Simply-Blessed quilt capturing my attention. And now, the stitching is done!

Block 1 of Simply Blessed (design by Rosalie Quinlan)

I love the detail in this pattern. The bees are so cute :)

I've prepared the next block of Mermaiden Tales, and Simply-Blessed... which one to pick up first though?! Hmmmm...

Until next time x

I need to go fabric shopping...

Al was working on his car this afternoon when I walked in and said just that. "I need to go fabric shopping next weekend," with a big smile on my face. He just laughed. Any excuse! But this time I have a pretty good one... I've finished the quilt-top of the quilt I started for Sofia a while ago and now I need backing fabric :)

I'm enjoying these long weekends... can we have them every week? With the housework done and the kids with their dad, my sewing machine was just calling out to be used. So happy to get this project to this point, and I'm really looking forward to quilting it and finishing it off.

So next weekend you'll find me at the fabric shop... my fat quarters in my stash just won't do ;) Today I even got time for some hand-stitching so hopefully something to share in that space soon too.

Until next time x

Crazy busy yet stitching

Since returning from my week in Tasmania it's been all go... We attended another wedding, this time here in Canberra, in which my partner was the MC; we've had two family birthdays including celebrating my baby boy turning 5 at the beginning of the week!

Amazingly, amongst all this I've actually been managing to get some stitching in, including time on my sewing machine. I've been doing some hand stitching when I can, plus getting hand-work ready to take along on an overseas trip we've booked in for April - but I'll share more about all that in another post! Instead of just getting excited with new projects I've been forcing myself to keep working on Sofia's quilt, "Market Folk" by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches.

It took me a better part of a day to get the fabric all cut and organised but that was enough to really get me inspired. I've pretty much just used fabrics from my existing stash, and have even managed to use a couple of left over pieces from Alex's "A Boy's Story" quilt!

It's been so much fun working with my machine again, and before I knew it I pretty much had a quilt top. Just the borders to go and then the actual quilting part begins.

Back to the same question I pondered with Alex's quilt: should I hand quilt of machine quilt this one? Hmmmm... Decisions, decisions. 

Until next time x 

Progress on the stitching front

Of late, I've been really enjoying pulling out my stitching once the kids are in bed. As such, Sofia's quilt (Market Folk, from Cinderberry Stitches' book "Cotton Floss") has been making some serious progress... to the point that I've now finished all the stitchery!

I first mentioned this project in February last year, but other than a few stitches here and there it didn't get a lot of attention while I was trying to motivate myself to finish Alex's quilt. But since I finished that project, I've had so much fun stitching these cute blocks.

I've got a few fabrics selected but may need to visit my local sewing store soon to pick out some more... any excuse hey?! Next step for this project is piecing, then quilting it, and finishing if off. Can it be done before February next year? Here's hoping ;)

Until next time x

A new project

With the warmer weather (and feeling tired after work) I've pretty much completely put aside the idea of doing any quilting... I think there was one cooler evening last week that Alex's quilt saw a couple of stitches but that's about it! Instead I thought I'd get started on a project for Sofia which will involve a fair bit of stitchery...

I've had Cinderberry Stitches' book Cotton Floss on my shelf for a few years now. It's got really cute designs, one of which I stitched for the daughter of a friend a couple of years ago. From the time I knew I was having a girl I had the idea of stitching the main quilt design...

Last weekend I managed to find some time to trace out the four main stitchery designs and iron on some fusable interfacing so that they're ready for needle and thread.

Today I managed to start the actual stitching when I finally got the chance of some downtime. Yes, I know - another new start but I promise Alex's quilt is still the priority! 

Until next time xx