Farm Girl Vintage Sew-Along: Pinwheels Block

It's a #farmgirlfriday again and this Friday it's my turn as guest blogger to make a block in the Farm Girl Vintage sew-along. Thank you for stopping by today!

This is the book we are sewing along to: Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet. It has detailed instructions on how to make 45 of the sweetest blocks in two different sizes (6" and 12"), and lots of project ideas with detailed instructions on how to combine these blocks into several different quilts (including the one on the cover), table runners, pot holders, and lots and lots more. It's packed with inspiration, and stunning photography.

This week we are sewing the Pinwheels Block. A classic block, and one of my personal favourites.

As is always the case when I sew with half square triangles, I couldn't stop at just one block. I made eight more, using fabrics from three of Lori's own fabric lines (Bake Sale, Vintage Happy, and her latest line, Modern Minis - all by Riley Blake Designs). Which turned into this...

.... which then turned into this. Can you guess what it is yet?

Ta-dah! I used the pinwheel blocks to make one of the patterns from Lori's second book, Quilty Fun (you can see it just peeking under Farm Girl Vintage in the second pic above). It's a sewing machine mat featuring some super-useful pockets adorned with spools. Just the thing I needed for my new big sewing machine, as my old mat was way too small for it. I adapted the sewing mat pattern to add one more spool to make it wide enough, and added a white border around my pinwheels also, to make everything fit together nicely.

Pinwheels in cheerful colours make me smile. Every time.

A big thank you to the Fat Quarter Shop and Lori for inviting me to join in on the fun! For more Farm Girl Vintage inspiration pop over to Lori's blog, and Fat Quarter Shop's Farm Girl Vintage sew-along page which has the full sew-along schedule. Enjoy!

'Little Joys' Table-Runner

Remember my previous post about the 'Little Joys' Quilt-along? Those following me on Instagram would have seen my progress over the last month.

To recap, I was one of the bloggers invited to join the Little Joys Quilt-along organised by the Fat Quarter Shop, to celebrate the arrival of Elea Lutz' new fabric line, Little Joys. Elea's second line is just as sweet as her first (Milk, Sugar & Flower). The festive blocks in this quilt-along were designed by Elea herself, and the patterns are available for free on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog until 14 August (after which time they will be available to purchase). Get them here.

The finished quilt is meant to be a wall hanging in a square 3 x 3 grid layout. I adapted the design and turned it into a table-runner for the table in our family room, which is where we set up our tree every year (it goes in that empty corner just behind the table. And, yes, I did contemplate setting up the tree just for the photo. I have been known to do stuff like that.)

 
 

I was really tempted to try my hand at free-motion quilting, but I was pressed for time and I am really under the pump with some impending deadlines this month, so straight-line quilting it was in the end. I had some festive red and white double-fold bias binding that was waiting for the right project, so it was a cheat binding job too, super-quick as it was machine stitching all the way around.

The cushions I made back at the beginning of May, when I was lucky enough to receive some advance yardage of this sweet line from Penny Rose fabrics. You can read more in this old blog post.

Hope you liked my table-runner and feel inspired to get started with your festive sewing with this sweet line! Have a lovely day!

Goody Goody Sew Along

Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique and Fat Quarter Shop have just kicked off a sew-along for a lovely portable binding kit, and I have been invited to join in on the fun!

The 'Goody Goody Kit' was designed by Vanessa, who has a very thorough tutorial on her blog. Every quilter needs a binding kit like this. It has compartments for binding clips, a sweet strawberry pocket for a small pair of scissors, a thread holder for your favorite spools of thread, and a wool felt rectangle for your needles. And last but not least, a spacious pocket for all other essential 'goodies' - in my case chocolate (of course) and some cotton floss, as I will be using this kit for my hand-quilting also.

The fabric I used for the exterior of the bag is a cheater patchwork print from the 30s Collection by Atsuko Matsuyama for Yuwa and comes in a few different colourways. Adorable!

Until now zippers have been right there at the top of my 'too-scared-to-try' list of sewing techniques. But Vanessa's tutorial promised me that this was a great project for zipper-virgins, so I decided to give it a go. And I am so glad I did! Pffft, it was so easy, nothing to it at all. Why on earth did I put if off for so long?!

You can read more about the sew along on Fat Quarter Shop's blog Jolly Jabber where there is a video tutorial also with tips and tricks. So go grab your favourite fabric and join in on the fun! If you are on Instagram you can tag your creations with #goodygoodysewalong so we can see what you are making!

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I gave Alice her new Vintage Market quilt on Saturday and had the camera ready to capture her reaction. Oh how she loved it, hugging it and rolling around with it, her happy beaming face making my heart swell. She spent ages examining and caressing the fabric - as I predicted the back of the quilt is her favourite side!

Having caught her in a good mood I snapped some photos for our annual collage. She is getting so big!

Garden Lattice Quilt - Finished

Remember my garden lattice quilt top from a few weeks back, made with Tasha Noel's new line Vintage Market? I made the quilt top using advance yardage of Vintage Market from Riley Blake, but it got bigger than I had originally planned, so I ran out of fabric. I had to wait for the line to arrive at stores in Australia so I could add the pink strawberry border, backing, and binding.  I am keeping this quilt for Alice and I wanted it to be absolutely perfect for her. It's finally finished and I couldn't be happier with it.

Alice is at day-care whilst I write this - I can't wait to see her reaction when she comes home and finds the finished quilt on her bed. She watched intently whilst I made it - not everything I make catches her attention but this one certainly did. She would come and stand by me and say 'I am only looking mummy. I am not touching mummy's work. OK mummy?' (yes, I have her well trained that way). So I think she will be happy to finally be allowed to touch 'mummy's work', play on it, and sleep with it! Its for her 'big girl' bed which we are moving her into this coming weekend. As apparently she is now a 'big girl' - a fact of which she reminds me daily. My lovely Alice, aged two going on twelve.

I got the quilt long-armed locally - Elaine from Quilting in The Vines in McLaren Vale did a fantastic job, with a soft swirly pattern which is just perfect for this quilt.

The back of the quilt is as sweet as the front! Alice herself picked the print for the backing - so I have a feeling this may rather be her favourite side.

The Jellycat bunny (with Liberty Tana lawn feet and ears!) is Alice's favourite toy and bed companion. 'Bunny' (as it has been imaginatively named by Alice) has been loved to death and washed so many times that I am amazed it is still in one piece and looks almost as good as it did when it first arrived.

The quilt pattern is 'Garden Lattice' by Cindy Lammon from her book Simply Modern Christmas. I really like how well the pattern matches this fabric line, and shows off those sweet fussy cut centres. I hope you liked it too.