Quilts ! I love quilting ..My brick quilt top

A brick quilt top !

I just need to cut my bamboo batting and backing so I can quilt this one ..I will take a photo and post when its completed..For the template I actually measured a standard house brick ..I cut 105 full brick pieces and 14 half bricks..Jack keeps asking me when am I going to finish it ..As I've made 2 more other quilts since..I made a rag quilt last month, which I'll post soon when I get some better photos and one for Jack's bed in blue and white ..

Acrostic Cushions ! Birthday Gifts I Made !

This is an acrostic cushion I made for a birthday gift for a sweet 12 year old girl ...

It all started when I started sewing lots of fabric scraps together and I made some lovely zipper cases with them and gave them for gifts too...So after doing that I had another great idea ...I'll join some other pieces of fabrics together and make cushions, then I decided to make them even more personal and add their name and turn it into an acrostic cushion...So I joined the fabric strips together in a log cabin and in the middle I embroidered their name ...I quilted it onto a piece of cotton batting  then I lined it..so that was the front completed ...Then I made the backing from some more of one of the fabrics on the front to match...

 

Here is the completed front before joining it to the back..

The finished cushion measures 16 inch square or 40.5 cm square...

To make the backing I cut two pieces of fabric 16 inches by 13 &1/2 inches  or metric 40 cm x 34.5 cm. Then I hemmed both of the longest sides, the two pieces for the back overlap each other so the cushion fits snugly inside...

 

Its a good idea to pin backing in place before sewing. 

 This is how the back looks when its completed. 

I also made the cushion inserts as well, by sewing together some bamboo batting and filling with pillow filling.. I have also made another one with the name Genevieve for Samantha's younger sister for her birthday but its not until next year ..So I have it packed away until then...Here are both of the completed cushions I think they are really sweet, I was very happy with how they turned out ...

I'd love to hear what you all think..Aren't they sweet ..thinking they will look lovely on the girls beds or maybe on a chair in their rooms..

A great way to use up all those gorgeous fabric scraps which are way to precious to waste... 

Making Lavender Hearts ! They make lovely Valentine's gifts for all your girl friends.

 

Lavender Hearts I made one and sent to a friend wishing her a happy Valentine's Day !

I hope it brightens her day a little..

These are so easy to make and they can be made from any scraps of fabric left over from other projects I was thinking you could also use pretty old hankies ..I made a template of a heart from recycling a piece of plastic (photo below) not sure what I used as I made it some years back and I also made a paper one a bit smaller so that could be used to trace the stitching outline around the heart...I used a piece of pink ribbon so the heart can be hung up..And then I filled them with lavender from my garden...They make lovely gifts for any occasion...I'm going to make some more for Jack's schools Mother's Day stall...They can be hung on coat hangers to make your wardrobe smell nice, put in your lingerie draw..hang them on door knobs/ over bed heads to make your rooms smell nice and they look so pretty ..Just thinking you could make them in white lace for Brides to hang on coat hanger with their wedding dress...So many other ideas I'm sure...

I used floral for the front and pink with spots for the back..

I stitched them by hand using a thick cotton thread so the stitching becomes a feature but you could also stitch them on your machine, especially if making lots of them and short on time.. Just stitch the ribbon in place and leave a gap to fill with lavender then stitch the gap up and its completed..

These are two completed hearts with tags !

You can see one I stitched around the heart using chain stitch just to see which one I liked best, personally I prefer the plain straight stitching .. and it was a lot quicker to do too ..its a personal choice..

These two I made tags for saying "Happy Mother's Day" and "Happy Valentine's Day" but you could put "Happy Birthday " I also added the recipients name to make it a bit more special...

Here are the plastic and paper templates I made!

You can make the hearts any size you like but mine are made using fabric 5 &1/2 inch square. If using scraps of fabric then I position the plastic heart template to maximize wastage.Then I cut them out using pinking shears to give the hearts a crinkle edge ...makes them look prettier...Once you cut the large hearts out you pin them together and put the paper template in the middle and trace around the edge to use that for your sewing guide..then stitch away ...
Happy Valentine's Day Every one x !

Sweet Little Pink Girls Apron !

Yesterday I made this sweet little pink apron for a friends gran-daughter's 5th birthday I think it's really sweet. Having 3 sons I never really got a chance to make any pretty frilly girly stuff  which I just adore, anything pink with ruffles will usually have me oooing and arring . I'm going to make some more to sell. I also printed her name on the front, now what little girl wouldn't just love that. I might do a tutorial when I make the next one...

Shabby Chic Cushion Cover !

Shabby Chic Cushion Cover !
I made this cushion cover some time back , same technique as the raggy quilts people make. On each patch I put a heart cut from fabric with little roses and another layer behind and cut it all around the edges to look shabby. I think it looks rather sweet and very simple to make.

Shabby Chic Fabric Mirror !

Here is my shabby chic fabric mirror !
I have made quiet a few now, Most of my friends have one that I have made for them and given them as birthday presents  over the years!This one is on my bedroom wall and made from white cotton fabric and 100 % cotton lace. Some of the others I have made using cream calico fabric and 100 % cotton lace and a rose for decoration ! They are very easy to make !
I made another one so I could do a tutorial to show you all how to make one ! Lovely for any girl for her bedroom.

Step 1.
You will need a mirror the one I'm using is height 11 inches or 28 cm and width 7 & 3/4 inches or 19.5 cm . When I brought these mirrors they were wrapped in plastic wrap and on an oval piece of cardboard which I use in the next step .

Step 2 

Trace around the mirror with a pencil with a
border of just under 1&1/5 inches or 3cm.
Then cut it out.

 Step 3.

Measure around the mirror double it and cut a white strip of cotton fabric 2&3/4 inches 7.5cm then fold it in half and sew one side then turn out the right side I always use a chop stick to turn fabrics strips the right side. I know there is a gaget you can make to turn fabrics I will one day ! 

Step 4.

Thread the tube of white fabric that you have just made over the cut out oval and ruffle it up evenly around the ova.l 

Step 5. 

Then you will need to join the cut part with either a few stapples or sticky tape. Then pull the ends of fabric the join add a drop of glue it stitch it in place .

Step 6.
Now measure around the outer edge of ruffle and either sew or stitch lace on. I used lace that was already gathered. I stitched it to the inside edge .
 

Step 7.

This is the finished front with the lace either sewn or stitched

on .

Step 8.

Cut a piece of cardboard for the back of the mirror

the same size as the piece you began with about 3cm bigger all around then the mirror.

Step 9.

You will need to cut a piece of white fabric a bit bigger then the back piece of cardboard and also measure the centre and put two holes and thread through the piece of wire that you will need to hang the mirror up . I used a piece of white plastic coated wire that are used for twisted ties. and twist it a few times on the back to make it secure .

Step 10.

I used a glue gun but you could use any good glue

to cover the piece of cardboard with the white fabric.

                                                                                     Step 11.

This is the back to see the wire how it is placed you will also need to poke two holes in the fabric .

Step 12. 

Now cut another strip of white fabric, measure around the outside of backing cardboard and double it and cut that length by 3 &1/8 inches or 8cm wide. You will need to sew the ends together then fold right way with seam inside then gather around the edge so it will fit the cardboard back then glue onto the wrong side of the covered cardboard back .

Step 13.

This is how it will look from the back once it is glued into position .Next step is to glue the mirror in and glue the front cover on .

Step 14. 

After gluing the mirror in and the front on next is to

glue on the trimming braid to give it a nice finished edge. I have also made them using little strings of cream pearl beads in place of braid trim.

                            

Step15.                                                                Now you will need to stick your rose on the lower side like in photo . I used a white paper rose brought from a craft shop you could also use a dried rose which I have also used in the past. I hope you found my Shabby Chic Mirror tutorial easy to follow if you have any questions please feel free to post and ask me I will be happy to help in any way that I can .