this and that

I have been away in Yorkshire for the last few days visiting my family. We did a bit of this:

And a bit of that:

There was time for some sewing - I completed the binding on my painting with bleach quilt:



The I came home to a little packet from Kate at one flew over. There is a bit of a tale attatched to me recieving these pieces of lovliness. Months ago we arranged a swap via this group. My fabric arrived safe and sound from Australia, but my parcel to Kate never turned up. Kate was very patient but eventually we had to admit the worst - my parcel had vanished somewhere between the UK and Australia. Luckily I had enough of the fabric to send the swap again (by recorded delivery this time!) but Kate felt so bad for me that she sent this to make up for it! How lovely and how kind of her. Quilty bloggers are so wonderful. Even better is that I had just been reading over on Red Pepper Quilts about Aunty Cookie fabric and look what turned up from Kate - some Aunty Cookie of my very own!

rainbows

I am easily distracted. My plan to work on my new purple and grey quilt went out the window and instead I have been having lots of fun playing with colour. I am part of this Flickr group and have been inspired by some of the wonderful ways people have been experimenting with changing fabric. Last night I had an idea to paint bleach onto fabric, so this morning I did just that! I am really happy with the results but would go for a thinner brush next time. I only had a chunky one belonging to my son to experiment with.



All I did was make up a water and bleach mixture and then paint it onto plain coloured cotton. If it did not change the colour enough I went over it again with neat bleach and left to develop for a while. Everything was then popped in the washing machine. I will be turning the results into a wall hanging of some description.



I also finished off this rag quilt for a 5th birthday present. Tomorrow I will be back on track with my purple/grey quilt, unless late night inspiration strikes again!

new

New fabric:


More new fabric:



New WIP:


So many possibilities!

pushchair quilt done

I have finished the pushchair quilt for my son, and I am really pleased with how it has turned out. I used Japanese linen blend designs - they are lots of fun.



For the binding I used another cute Japanese design, this time in cotton.
The back is a brushed cotton sheet. I did not add a middle layer as I wanted it to be a lightweight quilt.



I quilted it using straight lines - it looks good but it really does show up any seams that are not quite straight! More practice is needed I think!

kawaii quilt

This is my new wip. It is a pushchair/car seat quilt for my baby boy made using Japanese linens. The fabrics are very cute! I was lucky enough to discover this UK based Etsy store run by Stacy. She sells fabric in fat sixes which means I get to buy more designs for my money. Stacy is very helpful and her fabrics are wonderful! Here are a few of my favourites:

Mary Poppin boo pigs:


Russian dolls:


Coffee making mini bears:


Green Forest:



Little Red Riding Hood:


Alice in Wonderland:



My plan is to complete this quilt for the weekend before starting a grey and purple improv style one.

Old Red Barn Quilt

My second Quiltalong is done, hosted by the Old Red Barn Co. I am really happy with how it has turned out. Most people were making really big quilts but as I joined in a bit late I decided to make a smaller one. It also meant that I could use fabric from my stash instead of spending more money.

I am now moving on to have a go at something totally different - a quilt made with Japanese linen. Watch this space!