Sew Together Bag (the first)

I am super lucky to already have a Sew Together Bag, made for me by my friend Anne (featuring cats, of course).  Anne has made lots of these bags, and has become sort of a guru.  A couple of weeks ago, I watched her walk another friend, Wendy, through the process for making one, and realised that it didn't seem so hard after all (you can see Wendy's bag here).

I went to Craftsy to buy the pattern, and found that I had already bought it!  So I definitely had to try my hand at making one myself. When I went to buy zips, I found myself immediately drawn to the peach zips, and knew I had to use some of my peachy fabrics in this bag.

The good thing about the Sew Together Bag is that lots have been made already, so you can do a lot of google or instagram stalking to see which ones you like, and the different things that people have done that work for you.

I didn't use the maximum possible number of different fabrics for this bag, because I like the slightly more controlled look that fewer fabrics give. The interior fabrics are a mix of Lizzy House, Carolyn Friedlander, Heather Ross, Umbrella Prints and Sarah Watts prints, and the exterior is Carolyn Friedlander (binding and side panel) and Jay McCarroll (the main fabric).

I worked from both the pattern instructions (which are rather lacking in pictures), and the excellent Quilt Barn sew-along.  My tips for this pattern are to go slow, step by step, be prepared to change your thread colour lots (and have different colours in the top thread and the bobbin as required), and cut a second bag at the same time you cut your first (because it's that addictive).  It's definitely fiddly, but satisfyingly so!

Lizzy House lecture and trunk show

As part of Lizzy House's tour down under, I have organised a lecture and trunk show in Wellington so that Lizzy can share her story and work with a wider audience.

Lizzy will present the lecture and trunk show on Wednesday 14 October 2015, at Wellington SPCA's Newtown Centre, at 140 Alexandra Road, Newtown, Wellington.  Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. start.

The venue isn't huge, so tickets are strictly limited to 75 in total, and cost $10 per person.  If you would like to come to the lecture, you will need to buy a ticket in advance, and you can do this by emailing me at adriannereid @ gmail dot com and I will send you my account number so you can pay me $10.

Once I have received your payment, I will put your name on the list and send you a numbered ticket which you can print out at home and bring on the night.

I'm really excited for a wider audience to be able to come and meet Lizzy and hear her story - I hope you're excited too!

Lizzy House Meadow Quilt class - one place left

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST - THIS PLACE HAS NOW BEEN FILLED BUT I WILL TAKE NAMES FOR THE WAIT LIST.

Unfortunately, one of the participants in the Lizzy House Meadow quilt class I am organising has had to drop out.  It's a real shame, but it does mean that a place has opened up for one more person to join the class.  If you've been thinking about coming along, now is your chance.

The class is in Wellington on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 October 2014.  You can find all the detailed information about the class here.  If you would like to attend, please send an email to adriannereid at gmail dot com.  The place will be filled on a first come first served basis, so don't wait too long.

Make sure you check out all the Meadow Quilts appearing on instagram - there are so many beautiful examples!

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST - THIS PLACE HAS NOW BEEN FILLED BUT I WILL TAKE NAMES FOR THE WAIT LIST.

Registrations for Lizzy House's Meadow class in Wellington, New Zealand, now open!

THE CLASS IS NOW FULL BUT I WILL STILL TAKE NAMES FOR THE WAIT LIST.

I am super excited to announce that Lizzy House is coming to New Zealand (as part of a larger trip that takes place in Australia as well).  If you're not already familiar with Lizzy House, she is a fabric designer, print maker, pattern writer and creative soul.  You can check out some of her fabric collections for Andover here.

Bec (who blogs at Skyberries Handmade) and  I have been working with Lizzy to plan her trip to Australia and New Zealand in September and October 2015.

Lizzy and I have planned a two-day workshop where she will teach her beautiful Meadow quilt in Wellington on Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th of October 2015 (yes, two whole days of hanging out with Lizzy House and stitching your little heart out).  Lizzy has said she will never release a pattern for the Meadow quilt, so this is a rare opportunity to learn how to make one for yourself.

If you're keen to come along or even if you're just keen to share the news that Lizzy House is coming down under, feel free to share our blog button!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.onthewindyside.co.nz/" rel="nofollow" title="Lizzy House Meadow Down Under Tour"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVAP9-8JTF6uzmgp8XXCtcL6AU69Q_LPccoSTyrGoPEZBnKFfV0sddJM85VsI2o0ALUak-yatmpFxzXFc8nROqJVcSJy8IMBPxpK4Lp8BYoISMdqZA7hEk8EzBbUmYJFsiVaL_3S-_dsD/s1600/rsz_lizzypct2bhousepct2bdownunder.jpg" alt="Lizzy House Meadow Down Under Tour" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Spaces in the class are limited so I will be taking bookings for the Wellington class on a first come first served basis.

To reserve a space in the Brisbane, Sydney, Perth or Melbourne class, visit Bec at Skyberries Handmade.

To reserve your space in the class, you need to:

(1) email me at adriannereid @ gmail dot com with the subject line "Lizzy House class" confirming that you would like to attend the class.  I will then send you my bank account details so that you can...

(2) pay a non-refundable deposit of $70.

There are only 18 spaces in the class, so I'm sure it will fill up fast!  Once the class spaces have filled up I will create a wait-list.  People on the wait-list don't need to make any payment and I will contact them if anyone on the first list backs out.

You can email me now!  I'll update this post once the first list fills up, but you can still register for the wait-list after that.

Questions you might have:

Why do I need to pay a deposit?

There are three reasons for the deposit.  The first is so that only people who are really committed to coming to the class sign up.  The second is that Bec and I need to collect enough money from attendees to meet Lizzy's costs of travelling to Australia and New Zealand.  And the third is that to book a venue for the class, I will need to pay a deposit - and the deposits I collect from attendees will allow me to do this.

What happens if I have paid a deposit and I can no longer attend the class, or the class is cancelled?

If you cannot attend the class, or the class is cancelled, you will not get your deposit back.

Why isn't this class being organised through a shop?

I want to keep the class as affordable as possible.  Most shops organising a class would want to make a profit on the class - this totally makes sense since they are businesses.  I am not intending to make any profit on this class but simply cover the costs.

Is this class guaranteed to go ahead?

No.  This class could be cancelled for a variety of reasons (including if there is not enough interest in Australia to make the whole trip feasible).  However, we are pretty confident that there will be enough interest and once we have collected deposits, we will be able to book the essential components of flights and venues, which means that the class will very probably proceed (yay!).

How much will the class cost in total?

The class costs are made up of Lizzy's teaching fee, the venue costs, and Lizzy's travel and accommodation expenses.  My aim is to give attendees a final price as far as possible before the class takes place, but at this stage I'm not sure what the final costs will be.  However, I am hoping to keep the total cost to $350 per person or less but I cannot guarantee this.  The deposit you pay comes off this cost.

Where will the class be?

I have found a lovely venue in Wellington's CBD.  It has natural light, loads of space, and each participant will have their own table with plenty of space for a sewing machine and a cutting mat.  They are also happy for us to leave the space set up overnight so there's no need to pack down between the two days.  At this stage I have a pencil booking but will need to pay a deposit soon to confirm.  I looked at a variety of venues (including venues outside the CBD) and this one ticks all the boxes AND was at the cheaper end of the prices I was given.

Who should come to this class?

The Meadow quilt involves reasonably complex curved piecing.  Participants will have experience piecing quilts, and may have worked with curved piecing before.  You must have an open mind and be excited about learning something new!

You will need to bring your own sewing machine and other quilting equipment (cutting mat, rulers, rotary cutter, etc).

What does the class involve?

This class meets twice, for 6 hours each day (with a lunch break).  In this class you will choose your fabrics, learn about the Meadow and make around 6 to 8 blocks.

What about accommodation?

The cost of the class does not include accommodation.  There are loads of options for accommodation in Wellington.  Closer to the date of the class I will try to provide some more information on accommodation options, but participants will be responsible for arranging their own accommodation.

Can I leave a comment on this post to reserve a spot in the class?

No!  Please send me an email at adriannereid @ gmail dot com with the subject line "Lizzy House class".

Hopefully these cover off all the questions you might have.  If you want to ask anything else, feel free to leave me a comment.  I'm super excited about taking this forward and I can't wait to hear from interested participants!

THE CLASS IS NOW FULL BUT I WILL STILL TAKE NAMES FOR THE WAIT LIST.

Lizzy House is coming!

So, you might have heard a little rumour that Lizzy House is coming to teach her beautiful Meadow quilt in Australia and New Zealand.

You guys, it's totally true!  Bec (from Skyberries Handmade) is organising the Australian side of Lizzy's antipodean tour, and I am organising the New Zealand side.

This Friday, we are going to be opening registrations for the following classes:

Registrations at Skyberries Handmade
Brisbane - a one day class on Wednesday 23 September 2015
Sydney - a one day class on Saturday 26 September 2015
Melbourne - a one day class on Saturday 10 October 2015

Registrations at On the Windy Side
Wellington - a two day class on Thursday 15 October and Friday 16 October 2015

The blog posts setting out all the details will be up at 6:00 p.m. AEST / 8:00 p.m. NZST on Friday 10 July and you will be able to submit your registrations after then.  Please note though, spaces in the classes are limited and will be given on a first in first served basis, so make sure you get in quick!

If you want to spread the news, feel free to share our blog button:

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.onthewindyside.co.nz/" rel="nofollow" title="Lizzy House Meadow Down Under Tour"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVAP9-8JTF6uzmgp8XXCtcL6AU69Q_LPccoSTyrGoPEZBnKFfV0sddJM85VsI2o0ALUak-yatmpFxzXFc8nROqJVcSJy8IMBPxpK4Lp8BYoISMdqZA7hEk8EzBbUmYJFsiVaL_3S-_dsD/s1600/rsz_lizzypct2bhousepct2bdownunder.jpg" alt="Lizzy House Meadow Down Under Tour" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Eeek - we are so excited about this and really hope you are too!

Retro Giant Star Quilt

A few weeks ago I learned that a colleague and friend was facing some health challenges.  I've worked with him for several years and he's always looked out for me.  I think many quilters will understand that when there's nothing else you can really do, you make a quilt.  I went straight for my go to pattern for when I want a quick but beautiful quilt, which is the Giant Vintage Star Quilt Tutorial from In Color Order.

I wanted to make something masculine but cheerful, so I had a look through my stash and found the top print which has a fun retro kitchen vibe.  The colours in that fabric led me to the other fabrics and then Denyse Schmidt's Ladder Dot fabric provided the perfect serious base to let everything else shine.

 

You'll see that there were a couple of tweaks to get to the final quilt.  This was the result of a bit of experimentation and not settling for "good enough".

 

Sue Burnett quilted this on her long-arm for me, in record time. I dropped it off on a Saturday and she had it ready to be picked up by Wednesday.  I love the circle pattern - I think it works well with the slightly retro vibe of the quilt and it left the quilt super soft and squidgy.  The thread colour was a bit of a surprise - on the spool it is a slightly ugly brown/gold colour, but once sewn it transformed into shining loveliness that blended really well with all the fabrics (and it only shows up on the background like this when you get up close).

 

Of course, what would you put on the back of a comfort quilt other than minky?!  Has anyone else noticed that the blokes are particularly fond of minky?  Expect to see this orange chevron again - I have  a pretty big chunk left over from this quilt.

I machine stitched the binding on this quilt - it's not something I do often but I didn't have a heap of time.  I used my clover clips for this binding and they made a huge difference (I generally used the Red Pepper Quilts Machine Binding method, except with clips instead of pins).  I wanted to show the result - it's still nowhere near as neat as my hand stitched binding method.

I went to visit my friend this weekend and I think he was very pleased with his quilt.  He's on the mend and seemed to be feeling a lot better so I was very pleased too!

Quilt Stats
Pattern: Giant Vintage Star Quilt Tutorial from In Color Order
Finished Size: approx 62" square

Fabric: various

Backing: orange chevron minky from Spotlight

Binding: Dots and Stripes in Smudge from Up Up and Away

Pieced by: me
Quilted by: Sue Burnett

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

Planes, Bikes and Cars Quilt

A friend and colleague of mine is expecting his first child soon.  When asked if he and his wife had any requests for the baby's quilt, he told me, quite seriously, that he likes planes and his wife likes trains.  Um, right. Anyway, the plane idea stuck, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about it since the aeroplane themed quilt patterns I'd found weren't really doing it for me.  Then I dropped into a local quilt store to buy thread, and lo and behold they had just gotten the perfect aeroplane print Echino fabric in.  I picked up the car print at the same time and I already had the bike print (also Echino), so after that all I needed to do was add lots of different blues and greens from my stash.

I fussy cut the centres and then pieced each log cabin block with logs of slightly different widths, dispensing with the usual light/dark convention to get a really scrappy look.  These were really speedy to make up - I had all the blocks together in about half a day (and happily I have a lot of the strips I used to make the log cabins left over so I think I'll make some more soon).

 

The back is very simply strip pieced, mostly using fabrics from the quilt top.  I deliberately chose slightly softer colours to give the back a more peaceful vibe than the front.

 

I quilted this quilt in an all over square spiral pattern.  It looks kind of complicated to do but it really is not.  I used my mother's Bernina Aurora 440QE with the Bernina Stitch Regulator for the quilting. It was a bit strange since I am used to free motion quilting without a stitch regulator, but the back is much neater than I can usually get it and I don't have the little thread bobbles I tend to get when I stop.  I think it also helped me keep control of my quilting so it didn't get ridiculously dense.

The parents-to-be have a totally adorable (and very naughty) miniature dachshund.  I think this little fabric dachshund makes just the cutest quilt label ever! It was also much easier to write neatly on the upholstery weight fabric I used - it didn't move around under my pen as much as quilting cotton.

I'm so pleased with how this quilt has come out and I can't wait to give it to this little family.  I think the discovery that making quilt labels can be a lot of fun will encourage me to label more of my quilts (because I always think I should and then don't get around to it!). Do you label your quilts?

Quilt Stats

Pattern: Make it up as you go along scrappy log cabins

Finished Size: Approximately 36" by 42"

Fabric: Assorted designer quilting fabrics including Echino, Tula Pink, Kaffe Fassett, Lizzy House, Michael Miller and Carolyn Friedlander

Backing: Various

Binding: Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton (makes incredibly soft binding)

Pieced by: Me, on my domestic sewing machine
Quilted by: Me, on my mother's domestic sewing machine, using a stitch regulator.

Linking up with:

    

 

and with Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Mum Goes Modern

My Mum has been quilting for about 7 or 8 years, but in recent times has been doing more knitting than quilting.  However, in the last couple of weeks she has picked up her fabrics and revved up the sewing machine to make this quilt for my cousin's newborn daughter - Mum's great-niece, my first cousin once removed, and the first of the next generation in our family.  The quilt was started after the baby was born in the middle of December, and only took a week to make - Mum's fastest ever quilt.

Inspired by this quilt made by Ashley at Film in the Fridge, Mum collected a variety of blue, green, aqua and grey fabrics from a local quilt shop, online, from Spotlight, and I added a few from my stash as well.

Mum didn't find this quilt too difficult to make - the fiddliest part for her was cutting the 4 1/2 inch finished equilateral triangles.  There was a slight extra challenge added by Mum and Dad's dog Whiskey inventing a new game during the making of this quilt - grabbing triangles Mum had carefully laid out and running away with them to be chased around the house.  My youngest brother recently moved out, so maybe the dog wants more attention now that he is an "only child".

Whiskey looking entirely sweet and innocent at the beach

The back of the quilt features a couple of the prints from the front in larger chunks - specifically Butterfly Sky in Green from Lizzy House's Hello Pilgrim collection, and Chevrons in Minty from Michelle Engel Bencsko's Simpatico collection.  Simple straight-line quilting a quarter inch off each seam line makes a great pattern on the back of the quilt and leaves it nice and soft for baby.

I think that this quilt is a great fresh, modern, not-too-girly baby quilt, and will be much appreciated by my cousin, his fiancee and their baby.

Do you have any new arrivals in your family that you have been busy sewing for?  Or maybe you have a scallywag dog (or other pet) that likes to "help" with your quilting?