#flowersforeleni - get well wee girl

Thinking a lot about little Eleni. She had a difficult start in life and I really hope she gets well soon.

Thank you Jodi for organizing #flowersforeleni, so we can all show this wee girl how much she is loved...

Linking up today with crazymomquilts, TGIFF and let's bee social.
Laura

zany zebra

I told you about Zany before how she found herself an amazing space in the Aberdeen Art Gallery. She really enjoyed herself there BUT was desperate for a higher purpose...

She now, became a cushion for little Mrs K!

Confirming the stereotype, we had horrible weather today. Not sure how happy zebras are in Scotland?! Anyways. We needed to move outside for pictures as there was actually zero light inside.

So. For the reference. I used Lorna's amazing tutorial for Zany. After making her elephants, I am even more into zebras now... I used mainly Kona cottons but also some prints such as priory square, fern in pink and some pink mini dots. Furthermore I added some fun yellow zigzag I found in Glasgow the other day; a real bargain. And to make a bit special I handstitched a label (just learned that in Rachel Hauser's handstitched class).

I added some female attributes to Zany as she is clearly a lady. So she got some beautiful appliqued eyes and handstitched eyelashes.

I am still not too sure if I maybe should have undone the pinkish solid frame around Zany. Hmmm. I hope K doesn't mind. She will get Zany for Easter. So fingers crossed she will like her.

Linking up today with crazymomquilts. TGIFF, NTT and let's bee social.

Happy sewing to all of you.
Laura

Zany does the Aberdeen Art Gallery

First of all. I would like to say THANK YOU to you Lorna. Thanks so much for your dedication, love and passion for sewing. You are a true inspiration to me and so many quilty ladies out there. Please, know that...!

So. I made this lovely zebra called Zany today using Lornas tutorial. A few weeks ago I made a few elephants with another beautiful tutorial from Lorna, but I need to admit that the zebras totally won me over!!!

Lorna just published her tutorial a few days ago and I just couldn't resit making it straight away. Even though my WIP pile is huuuuge.

After finishing Zany up today I took her (obviously a girl, as she is so pink) to the Aberdeen Art Gallery. We had this amazing event on, Breaking the Rules. It included drawing on all walls, crafting, dancing, singing, free cake (hooray), face painting, kids crafting and so much more... So Zany got her own special place in the Art Gallery. Proud as a zebra.

I couldn't leave her though. So this is how her spot looks just now... Still need to decide how she will retire now. Maybe as a tote bag for K? Or a cushion? Maybe within a girly quilt? Hmmm. Decisions.

Doing my references today, I would like to let you know what fabrics I used for Zany. Her body is made of Kona pearl pink with Kona bubble gum stripes. Her feet are Kona coal, nose and ears are fern in pink. And for the background I used priory square by Katy Jones; I absolutely love that fabric line and I can't wait using this one again.

But here are a few more pictures of today.

All the walls looked like that. True art.

The pond was so much fun and the kids obviously loved it. Can you see the fun boats they made?

Even after we left, people still queued up to get in. Big THANK YOU to all staff in the Aberdeen Art Gallery, you been amazing!

Happy sewing everyone.
Laura

Linking up today with let's bee social, show and tell tuesday, sew cute tuesday and wip wednesday.

the bee hive - an awesome party this year

Yeahhh. Another party I joined this year is the Bee Hive organised by Alyce and Angie. I was lucky enough to get one of the last spaces in an international bee hive. Jackpot!

Our Queen Bee is the amazing Roslyn of sewdelicious. And our hive consists of mainly American, Canadian and Australian Bees. And me. Hooray! I am so, so excited about this. I even rejoined facebook for this again...

Every month one of the bees is Queen Bee of the month. She picks her favorite block and lets the others know what kind of fabrics she likes to be used. Every bee is sewing that block (hoping the Queen Bee will like it) and sends it then off to the Queen Bee.

Jennifer, this months Queen Bee, pick tic tac toe and decided for a low volume X and colouful, high saturated colours around the X.

So. For the first block (see first picture above) I picked Penelope, mini donut dot from LakeHouseDryGoods for the X, Anna Maria Horner, good folks, small gathering from free spirit (pink fabric) and Sophie by Chez Moi from Moda (blue fabric).

As my measurements were a bit all over the place, I needed to redo the block... Which didn't really matter too much as this was real good fun. So I made the block again, using the same fabrics except changing the Moda print for one of my favorite Amy Butler prints (Josephine's Bouquet, Westminster Fibers).

I got a bit carried away and sewn a mini of that block as well. I just really love that block. Actually I am already flirting with the idea of picking it myself as well when I become Queen Bee...

I really hope that Jennifer will like my blocks and I can't wait for the next Bee picking her design!

Linking up today with crazymomquilts, let's bee social, TGIFF and of course NTT.

Happy sewing everyone.
Laura

boxy pouch - another rather wonky finish

Tadaahhh. Another finish today. But I am afraid a rather wonky one... Lets start.

I've seen this tutorial quite a while ago but when I seen Amanda's version of the boxy pouch I really decided to give it a go now. So I gathered some favorite fabrics and made a strawberry boxy pouch for little K (it's her birthday really soon).

I picked Annie's Soft and Stable to give the pouch some shape. And it worked out nicely in the end. The pouch got a lovely feel about it even though it's not even filled (or ironed) yet...

But it was tough to work with. First I lined the outside fabric by quilting it with an easy straight stitch design. But my sewing machine gave up quickly. It started for the very first time to miss out stitches. That never happened before and was seriously terrified something was wrong with my machine. So - after some research - I gave it a really good clean and changed my needle. And luckily, she is back to old format again... So I assume, my needle just gave up after quilting through the soft and stable and became dull!

Adding the zipper was quite tough this time as well. Usually I don't have any issues with zippers but this time I struggled for a straight seam. So the pouch ended up with some fancy seams... I was facing another slight problem boxing out the corners of the lining. As the interfacing is so strong, I had issues to squeeze the big sandwich under the sewing machine.

Turning the pouch inside out though, I was surprised how nice it finally turned out after facing so many problems making it. It looks nice and neat and I bet it will give Ks pens a nice home... In fact, it's huge - so maybe it's time to also get some scissors and felt pens (I know, crazy thoughts).

I love how it finally turned out and I hope K will like it too.

Happy to link up today with crazymomquilts, let's bee social, TGIFF and NTT.

Keep on stitching.

Laura

elephant parade

Today I would like to share my latest project with you. The elephant parade.

I am taking part in this really fun party from Lorna at sewfreshquilts. You need to see what she is doing. Its just amazing.

These elephants were so much fun to sew. No issues at all. AND they all turned out amazingly precise. Still cant believe it. Thanks Lorna for that fantastic QAL!

Still need to sew some eyes. Haven't yet decided how to do it. No buttons for sure. Maybe applique. Maybe handstitched. Maybe... Not sure.

Looking forward for the other animals of the parade. Cant wait. Even though these elephants will go into little S first quilt...

Linking up today with crazymomquilts, let's bee social, TGIFF and NTT.
Happy sewing everyone.

Laura

Modern Medallion - WIP handstitched class

Yeah. Finally I finished the first part of my Modern Medallion.

I am really happy how it turned out. I love the colours. But it wasn't an easy journey...
Surprisingly the handstitching part of it went quite well. Of course, there was lots of redoing involved and it took ages, but I really, really enjoyed it. In fact, I was a bit sad when it was done...

I had issues attaching the freezer paper. It took me forever! And the ripping off, wasn't fun. I am afraid I sometimes pulled a bit too much and it ended up in untidy stitches.

Unfortunately I had problems with my starch. It left really nasty stains on my solid (Kona sage) behind. So I redone it in Kona aloe without any starch and it worked as well. BUT the corners are not as sharp as they are supposed to be. Basically my outer corners are round now... :)

Mitered corners are beautiful. In general. Not mine. They are all over the place. And the fabric turned out really wonky around it... Shame. That's why the last boarder was attached just squared up (if that's the right term?!).

Overall. I am really happy how this first part of the Modern Medallion turned out. I love the floss and all the colours. And all my little mistakes make it more personal, right?

Linking up today with crazymomquilts, let's bee social, NTT, TGIFF and TGIFF (twice today).

Happy sewing everyone.

Laura