Quilters Retreat weekend

Hi everyone,

Well this weekend was a great sewing weekend for me! My first quilters retreat with a girlfriends quilting club. It was pure delight going away & just sewing from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon!


Campsite - pic on my Saturday morning walk!


Plaque about campsite!

Friday consisted of doing our projects, then at night we did a small mystery project. This taught me how to do my first zip.

Then Saturday we did a big overnight quilted bag. I did my second zip and I used a walking foot for the first time.

I did have frustrations along the way! Joining the sides was very painful, due to the thickness of fabric. But I completed it and happy with my finished product!


My bag strips quilted.


My bag completed.

My own project I began last weekend! A quilt using Amy butlers 'Gypsy Caravan' fabric. I purchased this as a kit! I'm finally making a small quilt for me!


Pic of kit!

I had began this project the previous sunday at my monthly sunday stitching group. Spending 5 hours cutting blocks & strips.Then Friday afternoon at the retreat, I began sewing some strips together. See below some pics.





I also brought some pretty fabric today as they had a quilting shop come to the retreat on the last day! Don't know yet what this will be used for!

Easy quilt - made in a few hours!

Hi everyone,

Today I made a quilt pretty quickly for my husbands best friends baby.

Due to him being due any day now I didn't have a long time

I rushed down to spotlight purchased a ready made panel for 30- & just had to make the binding which only took me 2 hrs!

A easy way to have a quilt in a few hours.

Sunday Stitchers!

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend Kylie decided to call our regular sewing group 'Sunday Stitchers'.

Once a month we meet up on a sunday and sew crazily.

We are now a group of seven with a new addition joining today!

So it was decided that this month we would all do the same project! As we are all usually doing different things! A bag making day it became.

My first real bag, besides the little one i made for my daughter last month!

Was it hard? Yes.
If I didn't have my friends helping I would not have been able to make this. For a beginner sewer it would be difficult without help. For an experienced sewer easy.

We were a little puzzled this morning with what wadding/ fusing (hard iron on fabric) to use. The older ladies figured it out & onto the project we got & pretty much all completed within 6-7 hours.

It's called the Black Forest bag - pattern by Melanie Hurlston

Pic from pattern!



My fabric for bag, cut out & ready to sew!



My finished bag!



Here are some pics of the other girls bags! Gorgeous girls!

Here they are below half done!



Completed!





Now I did have some sewing issues today! My tension on my bobbin was playing up!

All fixed now after I got Home. I googled issues with tension & found a great blog to help me fix my machine! All I had to do was tighten a screw in my bobbin case!

See blog below.

http://rdrop.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/thread-tension-janome-problem.html?m=1

Mel

Elephant quilt completed

Hi everyone,

I finished my second quilt a few weeks ago!

Just been slack in posting the pics!

This was made for baby Henry who I still haven't met & given him his gift!

Here they are!

Elephant quilt

Hi everyone,

Finally finished appliquéing all the little elephants on my second baby quilt today!

Now onto backing & binding it!

See pics below:

Bags - first attempt!

Hi everyone,

Happy new year.

Hopefully during 2013 I will be posting lots of projects to inspire you to sew.

I have Bern busy with Xmas and a short trip away to beautiful merimbula (NSW).

While i was away I did visit a market to look for fabric. I purchased some beautiful Japanese fabric. See pic below!



I also brought a small painting for my sewing/ study rm by a local artist named Helen Pearsall. Titled 'silk surprise'. This is beautiful & very different!

Pic of painting below:



Today I visited Spotlight as I received a voucher from my lovely friends at work as a farewell gift. I stocked up on some supplies, purchased some cute fabric, lots of accessories & a book on bags!

Book purchased is by Sue Kim titled 'Bags - the modern classic'.



This book inspired me to make my first bag!
I thought I better start with something simple so I decided to make my 4 year old daughter a little bag.

I googled easy bags & found a website:
www.sewingsupport.com

It took me around 3 hours tonight to make from start to finish. See pics below!


Fabric


Finished product! Spot the mistake??? I put the owls upside down on the front! I could not be bothered to un pick it. Lazy I know. Hopefully she doesn't notice!


Back!


Velcro attached! This was difficult to sew on! Took me half an hour just to do that!


Close up of the finished product!

Mel :-)

Sunday Sewing, new books & quilt

Hi everyone,

Well the past few weeks I have been busy sewing beads & sequins for my daughters dance concert. No crafty fun Sundays for me!

Today I decided I would make some more needle cases for friends & family for xmas presents. I made 10! Didn't take me to long second time around! See pic below!



I also have 2 new books added to my sewing book collection.

'Make It' by Cath Kidston. This was given to me by a friend. Love the projects inside. Lots of different things to make!



I also purchased 'I love patchwork' by Rashida Coleman-Hale. After buying her other book (discussed in my previous post) I ordered it online! it's another zakka book, but using patchwork. I think I'm going to be doing lots of zakka as well as quilting in the future!



Looking forward to making some projects from these fun books in the new year!

I'm also currently making another baby quilt. Hoping to work on this next weekend! Watch this space! Here is a pic of my progress so far! It's only my second quilt I've ever made!