Prairie Queen Quilt - Classic & Vintage Series

Ohh my poor wee blog, there are such big gaps here it's getting ridiculous!!

I have every intention of coming here and being more accountable for the process of making the quilts I do but Instagram is soooo quick and easy....and I'm lazy LOL

Anywhooo I'm here and I have a new quilt to show you...YAY!

Say Hi to the Prairie Queen Quilt from Fat Quarter Shop's Vintage and Classic Series

This is such a great quilt for beginners and more experienced quiltmakers alike, it's a simple block that relies on precise cutting and an exact 1/4" seam throughout for everything to nest and stay symmetrical...not at all difficult just be methodical :)

I chose to deviate from one particular line or designer and shopped my stash instead....it doesn't even look like I touched the mint and aqua blue piles so I clearly love them but need to use them in my quilts more than I do.

This OOP Aneela Hoey Posy print I have been hoarding forevahhhh, and I no longer need to hoard all the fabric and never use my favourites...so I forced myself to use it, and the gorgeous Moda Regent St Floral Lawns below......it was hard!!

I used a vintage 100% cotton sheet for the backing and this Riley Blake fabric for the binding....even though it only leaves me a tiny bit...it's ok it's ok...I keep reminding myself LOL

The small person struggled to hold it up for pics in the wind so I had to lay it down so you can hopefully see the gorgeous texture from the all over floral panto....sooo cute and I love being able to quilt my own quilts on my longarm. So much fun choosing a new pantograh and then holding my breath as it starts sewing and hoping I haven't made the wrong choice?!

 I will list this in my Etsy Shop as soon as I can get some decent pics with a taller quilt holder LOL

Talk soon Peeps, nice to see you XX

Ultimate Beginner Quilt - Supplies and Getting Ready

Hi Peeps!

It's the 1st of August and the means it's time to prep for the Ultimate Beginner Quilt!!

Kimberley from the Fat Quarter Shop will be hosting videos on their You Tube channel starting to day and she will teach you everything you need to know about making your first quilt from beginning to end....how awesome this would've been when I first started quilting!!

I won't blather on here as I'm sure everything will be covered in the tutorials, but as I sew along I will let you know little tips and tricks I've learnt that may be helpful and any notions I find helpful.

1. Rulers and Rotary Cutters are a must, I have far too many but they have a weird habit of disappearing under piles of fabric LOL but you really only need one of each to get started.

I still have my very first ruler that I bought years ago, made in NZ and warped when I left it too close to the heater... oops .. but 16 years later it works perfectly fine with a little help from these sandpaper sticky circle thingys that stop it slipping on the fabric.

I use 80/12 for piecing and change my machine needles regularly, if you have tension issues, change needle and clean the fluff from your machine...ask me how I know?! LOL

Try to buy the largest mat you can afford and/or have space for and throw out pins that bend or get burrs on them, they're cheap and the thinner the better...glass heads so you don't melt them with your iron....ask me how I know that also LOLOL

My fabric hasn't arrived yet...but this bundle sort of made itself on my table and looks pretty cute dontcha think?

My last piece of advice is to make friends with your machine and it's manual!! This is Lady Muck's screen ( Elna Innovate 720 ) and I had her for almost 2 years before I realised I could move the needle position left and right. 3.5 is factory setting for 1/4" but 4.5 is a scant 1/4".

Hard to photograph but stitching between 4 and 5 is factory setting and around 2 is a scant seam, just inside the 1/4' ruler line....makes a difference on tricky blocks.

These are great blocks to learn multiple skills on and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's different fabric choices. I'm also sewing along with some very clever quilters so if you know anyone who would love to learn our crazy habit feel free to share and visit the people below :)

Pat Sloan

 https://blog.patsloan.com  and https://www.instagram.com/quilterpatsloan/ 

Tracie

 http://www.ricefordstreams.com/    and https://www.instagram.com/joyfully_tracie/

Angie

 https://www.instagram.com/alittlepatchwork 

Mathew

 https://www.instagram.com/misterdomestic/

Karin

 https://bluepipdesigns.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-first-quilt.html and https://www.instagram.com/kpud/

Gina 

  https://www.thread-graffiti.com/blog  a

 https://www.instagram.com/gina_tell_threadgraffiti/

Carrie

 https://www.instagram.com/justcarrieintexas/

Linden

 www.instagram.com/vinelines

Priscilla

 https://priscillas2000.blogspot.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/priscillablain/ 

Talk soon Peeps xxx

My First Quilt - Well Actually My Second

Wowsers Peeps!!

 It has been a really, really long time since I've been in this little corner of the world wide web! How've you all been? I know I connect with a lot of you on my main gig which is my Insta page but I really do miss this bigger more wordy forum.

Those of you that do follow me there will know that I quite often pattern test for different designers, just for fun, and I occasionally participate in QAL's, mostly for The Fat Quarter Shop

They are doing an awesome Beginners Quilt QAL and the lovely Pat Sloan has offered to organise us all...we all know I need that!!

Pat has asked us all to show our first quilt??!!!

Disclaimer * this is my 2nd quilt, my first was so awful and wonky I gave it to a friend for a dog blanket :)

I was so proud of this quilt as I hand appliqued all the little boys and quilted it myself on my teeny tiny Bernette

Nothing dainty or tiny about that blanket stitch mwahahahaha

Still loose threads on the back from 2003??!!!

Something that I don't do anymore as I have my own custom labels, but I love that now I know this quilt is 16 years old?? and my middle baby boy drew that picture when he was 5.....yes it did make me all nostalgic and teary...don't you love the Debbie Mumm labels tho LOL

Ok now I've shown you where I started from you can get yourself on board to show a non quilting friend how awesome this crazy hobby of ours is and participate in The Ultimate Beginner Quilt QAL

This is being run by The Fat Quarter Shop and if you watch their You Tube channel on August 1st you'll see a tutorial for the first block.

Check the Fat Quarter Shop Blog and see all the fabric requirements and who is following along :)

It will be loads of fun!

Talk soon Peeps xx

Maple Leaf Block - Classic and Vintage Series

Hi Peeps!

Yes it's me again...third time in one week has got to be a record for the One Wee Bird blog posts...well at least for a really long time LOL

The Fat Quarter Shop has been reviving some of their older posts from their Classic and Vintage Series and this is one of them.

The Maple Leaf Quilt Block would you believe yet another quilt block I have never made? This is why I love it when they invite me to do these things because it's quite often something I've never tried before!

?

I googled the block and there are some gorgeous quilts out there, but mostly in the autumn colours and a few in scrappy rainbow...I wanted to do something lighter and more Spring - like?

As I can never make one of any block I'm trying out I made 4......then got stuck.....until I tried this layout, mmmm I like it....now I have an idea and I'm going to put pen to paper and see if I can come up with a quilt plan?

Watch this space....and if you have any ideas feel free to share them this way xx

Talk soon Peeps!

Monty the Monster - Finishing Stuff

Hi Peeps!

So as I mentioned last time, I have become the proud owner of a new to me Gamill Statler Longarm quilting machine named Monty. You can have a quick squiz at him here or just have a trawl through my Insta feed.

As a result I am getting a craaaazzzy amount of WIPS finished while I learn how to manipulate him and the quilting programme...it's awesome...and totally blowing my mind. But the one thing I didn't realise was how heavy the unfinished tops were laying on my shoulders??

Like this one...all the heart eyes here...I love it sooo much!

I accidentally made it while tidying up my sewing room......you know how it goes...found a cute pattern, saw a cute pile of fabric...stopped everything else to sew it up immediately like a woman possessed....siiighhh...life of a fabric hoarder/quilter LOL

And then I got Monty and he made this little quilts wishes come true and turned her into a beautiful swan.

I really want to keep it but I've made a pile of Quilts for a local charity that rehouses children into new families and the others like this one I am listing them in my Etsy shop....so I don't drown in quilts.

I've bound it with a coordinating Annabel Wrigley print from the front, the line is Daisy Chain if you're curious and backed it with a vintage pastel striped sheet...super cute and soft.

The sheet has a slight rust mark that I didn't notice despite pre washing but I'm confident it will fade over time. When using vintage sheets as backings I'm happy with the odd mark and/or stain ( as long as it's not blood ) for the sake of being able to recycle. The textile industry has a lot of responsibility on it's shoulders when it comes to polluting our planet.... I think :(

Talk soon Peeps xx

Trip Around The World - Last Family Baby

Hi Peeps!

Yes I'm still here and sewing and quilting up a storm LOL so I thought I'd better hop to it before the year is out and start updating you on what's been happening before it all gets too overwhelming.

As this title says, we're sadly up to the last family baby....boohoo...despite repeated gentle nudging and outright complaining on my behalf to the younger siblings LOL there will be no more little bubbas around until the grandkids start arriving.

As my eldest is just turning 25 and has no intention of procreating anytime soon he informs me I'm just going to have to be patient and grasp hold of any random baby that crosses my path......yes that sounds creepy but I love me a good baby sniff...am I right??

Anywhooooo onto this quilt.

This is a fabulous quick and satisfying make that will take you back to the most basic of patchwork, the humble square.

It was a free pattern from the Cotton and Steel website by Kimberly Kight, but it seems to no longer be there which will be due to the designers leaving and taking their intellectual property with them.

You could easily work this out yourself though with a piece of paper and some coloured pencils...go on be creative have a go.

If you follow me on Instagram you would've seen my gorgeous niece sitting on this very quilt...go on scoot over and have a peek, she is delicious!! So her mother is equally lovely and being Korean she has quite the cutesy taste when it comes to fabric etc. Knowing this I used this long hoarded Michael Miller butterfly print and chose the other colours based on this.

With a girly Tasha Noel print as the centre piece. Quick note if you do decide to draught your own pattern, it is made by four equal segments using strip piecing and then a centre strip piece both horizontally and vertically to jin all 4 quadrants together...google it they'll be tips and patterns.

The backing was an American Jane piece of alphabet fabric I've had forever and I surrounded it with a red pin dot.

Sandra from Wise Owl Quilting did an all over pantograph of a Ginko leaf which was just the perfect choice

Incidentally this was the last quilt that I've had sent out to be quilted as some of you know I've purchased my own Gammill Statler longarm machine. And I'll let you know how that's going shortly.

Talk soon Peeps xx

Simple Zipper Bag Blog Remix - It's been A While

Hi Peeps!

It has definitely been awhile, but I'm still here just been a bit absent in the blogosphere and hanging out over in IG Land.

But I'm here to show you something cute and quick that I made.......we all need to take a break from all the big things sometimes.

It's the Simple Zipper Bag!

Literally a really really simple zipper bag, but so so fun!

I decided to make the smaller of the two options using a Sweetwater Boat House mini charm pack (circa 2014 ! ) and some left over Daisy Chain scraps by Annabel Wrigley.

I made two small pouches while I watched the video after having prepared the pieced and quilted fronts in advance. I also used scrap batting instead of Soft and Stable and they worked out great.

I even got to use some of my teeny labels made specifically for little items like these, I clearly need more practice to get them even....sheesh

From One mini charm pack you'll be able to make both the large AND small zipper pouch, and I'm ready to go with the bigger one.

Fat Quarter Shop are remixing up some of their older blog tutorials and I'm so glad they did otherwise I never would have discovered this nifty tutorial.

 This would make a fabulous go to gift for teachers or to hold a smaller present with a handmade touch...I'm thinking of doing some Xmas ones with yummy treats inside :)

 Nice to see you again.

Talk soon Peeps xx