Finally finished something!

Yay! I've finally finished something from my WIP pile! At the moment I have so many things that I want to sew and make and lots of new ideas spinning around my head that I thought I'd better finish off some things first!

So here it is - one finished Liberty Notebook cover started at the Sewing Directory London meet up :)

On a completely different note I am really pleased to be taking part in another, the fourth, year of Bee Europa. We are a group of European quilters that have been stitching strong and making some wonderful blocks and quilts, and sadly our original Bee Mama had to step down this year but I've been lucky enough to step in as Bee Mama! We have one empty space in our group! So if you've always wanted to join a Bee and fancy this one drop me an email!

Catching up

Spending far too much time on Instagram and loving this new app "A beautiful mess", not bad for 69p!

Even purchased some gorgeous screen printed fabric via Instagram from @leannefanny (also known as the little house martin on Etsy).

More fabric to add to my stash! Center City by Jay McCarroll purchased from the lovely Village Haberdashery. This has plans for a bag but not sure which one yet as I have so many patterns that I want to try out!

Some wonderful finds at my local Charity shop!!

A simple Tweet and I was lucky recipient of a goodie bag from Sarah Smith! I love her dishcloths and can't wait to try out some of the other extra goodies that were included!

This Monday was a Bank Holiday in the UK and we actually saw the sun! It has since disappeared and been replaced by the rain but never before had I noticed the quilty design on my sunglasses case! Probably as they don't come out too often!

Finally really excited that the Fat Quarterly Retreat class lists are out!! Can't believe that it is only about 8 weeks away and I have lots of plans on my to do list before the retreat:
1. Name tag to make for the name tag swap
2. Sample swap makes x3 - really hope my idea goes to plan!!
3. I will make a Sew Sweetness Aeroplane bag to haul my supplies etc to the Retreat plus bring back lots of new fabric and aurifil threads!!
4. Also have plans for a new everyday bag to take to the retreat. Loved my Amy Butler Cosmo bag from last year but feel I need a new one!!
5. Some other secret sewing plans for the retreat!

Think that's me caught up for now!!

The Sewing Directory Meet up!

Yep it's only taken me a week to sit down and finally write this post but hey things never change!
Last Saturday I spent a wonderful afternoon in the company of an amazing and talented bunch of ladies at The Sewing Directory London Meet up. Travelling down to London I was excited and nervous (I'm never great at mingling!) but when I was greeted by the lovely Fiona I knew I was in for a wonderful afternoon with friendly like minded crafty peeps!
We spent the afternoon chatting, sewing and drooling over the gorgeous Liberty fabrics that the lovely Sue from Sewbox had provided. Jenna from Sew Happy Geek gave us a quick tute on how to make the fab notebook covers that she had bought with her and off we went! We were provided with all we needed and I managed to do a bit of stitching amongst the chatting, cakes and tea!

It was a lovely surprise to receive great little goodie bags from Sue and then she offered us more Liberty fat quarters to take home at the end of the day! There was also a raffle and luckily enough everyone went home with a prize and I was lucky girl to win this gorgeous Geo Grand Fabric by Daisy Janie!

It was a great afternoon meeting new people and Instagram and Blogging peeps in person!
Thanks again to Fiona for a wonderful afternoon, Jenna for the tute and inspiration and Sue for the wonderful fabrics! Following photos borrowed from Fiona :)

This Saturday I didn't have so much fun getting the car MOT'ed!

Mini Spool quilt

So I finally finished my mini quilt! A while ago I had a desperate urge to quilt as you go and had just purchased the Spools quilt pattern from Thimble Blossoms by Camille Roskelley so I grabbed a few scraps and off I went.

Initially I had no idea what I was going to do with the one spool block, I was just having fun! I had thoughts of making it into a zippered pouch but then went in the complete opposite direction!

So one finished QAYG spools block, some pretty bias tape, my new clover wonder clips (I only purchased 10 but they pretty fab!) and a cute little mini quilt has arrived!!

I'm liking mini quilts as it allows me to practice my corners and hand stitching on the binding! I'm getting closer and closer to finally making a full sized quilt... or at least something slightly bigger that might cover my lap!!

 

 

Hexies with a twist!

At the end of last year I started a "mystery" project at my local Quilters Guild meeting. At first I was a bit unsure as to what it was going to be, my Quilters group is very traditional not what I would say is a Modern Quilt group so I had the usual questions - would I like it, is it going to be modern enough for me, would it be useful or just a waste of fabric! I'm not the best at a "mystery" project!
So it started with 2 fabrics and wadding and the cutting out of 45 different sized hexagons.

Once everything was all cut out it was time to make little hexie sandwiches which were very easy and I'm really glad I went with fusible wadding as it made the next stage much easier as there was not too much movement of the the top and bottom fabrics!

On with lots of turning, folding and slip stitching I had lots of completed hexies ready to be sewn together ~

and hey presto here is what the mystery project is ~

It was meant to be a bag with handles but I decided to go down the route of a fabric box/basket. I made the corners a bit wider at the base and added a few stitches at the top to give it a bit more shape and I can honestly say I am really happy with it!! It was a great hand sewing in front of the TV project after I'd got over my "oh my god it's a mystery project" and "I'm sure someone can tell me what it is going to be" worries. In fact it's great for storing fat quarters or your current knitting project!!

Follow me update!

Duh! I suppose it helps if I add my user name for different types of social media so some of you can at least find me! I'm still learning!

Bloglovin - I've claimed my blog (sounds very serious!) and found that there are a few Pink Stitches as well! I'm pink-stitches.blogspot.com

Twitter - @PinkStitches

Instagram - Pink_Stitches

Let me know if you are on any of these as well and I'll follow back!

Follow me!

Although it has been a bit quiet around the blog lately if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you'll know all the things I've been up to during the Easter break! Here's a quick catch up!

Recently purchased my first Craftsy class - Pre cut Piecing Made Simple with Camille Roskelley. It is excellent, I have learnt so much and it is great as I can re watch the lessons as many times as I need! This then led to a little IG quilt along with Pippaspatch!!
Summersville and Sketch all cut out and ready to go ~

 

Love chain piecing ~

 

Catching up on my Bee Europa Bee blocks ~

 

 

 Gorgeous blocks and great fabric ~

 

 

 IG sew along with Pippaspatch ~

 

 

Remember you can follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter or Instagram - hope to see you there!

Lampshade making!

Thanks for all the lovely comments about the felted bowl! I kind of need touch-a-vision added to this blog too as although it holds its shape really well the wool roving is so so soft.

So back to the weekend and after wandering around Olympia with a soggy felted bowl in my bag, spying far too many goodies to buy, seeing far too many other crafts that look exciting to do, having a bite to eat at the most expensive snack stand ever and meeting and chatting with new people it was time for another workshop! Yay!
The "Make your own Lampshade" workshop was being run in conjunction with Prima magazine and taught by Elizabeth Cake who was great. It was an intensive 1 hour workshop which flew by really quickly!
The basic tools ~

Lots of cutting and sticking ~

 A bit of rolling and more sticking ~

 And hey presto we have light, well kind of!