Non-quilty Guest Post

Hello everyone!

Adrianne has been super busy doing lawyer things this week/weekend/all the time so she asked if I wanted to sew something so that she had some content. I'm pretty sure she was joking but nevertheless here are some pictures of a top I adjusted in a fairly slap-dash manner.

If you buy clothing online like I do, you'll know that it can be a bit hit-and-miss in terms of how things fit and what they actually look like in your hands. This top is actually from a local chain (Glassons) but you got a discount for your first online order and since I was going to buy it anyway I figured I may as well get it for a bit less. It's a t-shirt in style but it's made of a non-stretch silky polyester. It has a cute print of little stars, crabs and sharks on it BUT it's quite long and made for a lady with rather different proportions to me. Thus, its fits weird: 

Bad.

So tight.

Why.

I've been wearing it tucked into stuff at the waist but I don't get that much use out of it because I can't just wear it with anything. I've been adjusting a few things lately and decided this probably wouldn't be too complicated of a project. 

It has a stepped hem with a little 3" split up the side which was handy as it meant that I could just move the start of the split up a little bit, trim a few inches of the bottom (lucky it was long to begin with) and the split would leave me hip room. 

I unpicked the sides a random amount, tried it on an then marked where the split would start. Having a sewing obsessed sister who has everything including the sewing machine you learnt to sew on made everything quite easy. I sliced the extra fabric off with her rotary cutter and it was so much easier than marking a line and snipping with scissors. The fold from the side seam meant I could just stitch these down to re-form the split and then I hemmed the bottom with your basic fold-twice-then-sew technique.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I'm definitely not an expert and I (mostly) know my limits. I never try to do anything with knits 'cause that stuff is tricky! Now that disclaimer is out there, the results:

The comfort.

The freedom. I did actually iron it...

I'll be back on Saturday with some cat pictures.

PS it's Adrianne's birthday - wish her a happy one!

Introducing Westwood Acres (and a giveaway!)

Today I'd like to welcome Westwood Acres as my newest sponsor.

Westwood Acres is run by husband and wife team Amanda (who blogs at A Crafty Fox) and Weston. They started out on Etsy but now have their very own sparkly new website.  Westwood Acres specialises in fabric bundles, combining a selection of designer bundles with well curated custom bundles.

One of my favourite things about Westwood Acres is how they do co-ordinating solid bundles which match beautifully with a designer collection, like this Pretty Potent co-ordinating solids bundle.

Amanda has also collated a series of low volume bundles which have been very popular.  The Inside Voices Low Volume Club is fully subscribed at the moment, but you can sign up for the wait list.  

Westwood Acres also runs a Liberty Tana Lawn Club.  I've been receiving bundles since the latest round started in June, and they're just delightful. 

Personally my favourite thing about Westwood Acres is the truly excellent customer service.  When I've been in touch about an order, the response has always been really prompt and helpful.

Westwood Acres is generously giving away a $45 gift certificate to be used on fabric of the winner's choice.  To enter, head over to Westwood Acres and then let me know what you'd use your voucher on if you won.  I think I'd be choosing between this First of Infinity text fabric bundle...

...this Cherie Fat Quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics...

... or maybe a couple of these scrummy Cotton and Steel co-ordinating solids bundles (the one on the left co-ordinates with August and Homebody, and the one on the right co-ordinates with Mustang and Hatbox).

   

If you follow my blog, you can get a second entry by leaving a second comment. This giveaway is open to everyone (including international participants), but if I can't contact you, you can't win. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address in the comment.

The giveaway will stay open until around 10am Monday 22 September 2014 (New Zealand Time), and I will use the random number generator at random.org to pick a winner then. Good luck everyone!

Other people's scaled star blocks (and an update to the tutorial)

It's been super exciting to see a few people using my Scaled Stars tutorial to make blocks.

Megan from Jaffa Quilts made these gorgeous 12" blocks using low volume backgrounds and super saturated fabrics for the stars.  She's used a lot of Anna Maria Horner fabrics, which of course, I love.   I'd find it hard to explain why, but these colours remind me of sour lollies - yum!

The lovely Julie from JulieLou made this 6" version, which is fussy cutting perfection.  I love how she kept the block really monochromatic as well.

Deb from Works in Progress shared some 6" blocks she'd made on instagram just this weekend - I love how she switched things up and used a solid for just the star points.  The scrummy Cotton and Steel fabrics she used don't hurt either.

To make life a bit easier for anyone using this tutorial, I decided to write up my own directions, with diagrams, and pop it all into a pdf version of the tutorial.  Click on the link to download it - it's still free, and I've added some extra block sizes (15" and 18" as well).

Hopefully next week I'll have some more scaled star blocks of my own to show you!

Caturday Wisdom #85

Travel where and when you can. Ivy

We had a bit of a tidy-up a couple of weeks ago and of course Ivy immediately took possession of this empty box sitting with the rubbish bags. I think she would really enjoy a trip to the dump with all the seagulls and enticing smells. This same weekend she chased a neighbours cat off the property which was hilarious and amazing. We had no idea she was capable/even territorial! What a funny creature.

WIP Wednesday

There's a classic scene from the first season of Mad Men, where Don Draper is pitching for the job of advertising Kodak's new slide projector (you can watch it here).  This quilt reminded me of that scene, because I think it invokes a sense of nostalgia, for something that never really existed.

 

This quilt has evolved quite a lot from when I last showed it to you (here).  The sashing and the border really change the look of it and have taken it from quite a crisp looking quilt to something a lot softer, and less orderly.

 

The sashing is a print I bought from the Fabric Store a while ago - it's not quilting cotton and feels similar to a poplin to me, although slightly softer (it is 100% cotton though).  It's hard to tell in these photos but the background is actually a very pale pink/peachy colour, which adds to the old fashioned vibe of this print.

 

The strawberry print I used for the border is again not quilting cotton, but another type of cotton fabric, from Spotlight.  It's quite soft and a really cute print.

I think this may be the most traditional looking quilt I've made so far.  I can't wait to quilt this one - I think it's going to need to be washed to properly look finished!

Have you stepped out of your comfort zone to make a quilt that's much more traditional (or modern) than your usual quilts?

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced: