Tuesday, August 30

Stacked Animals Quilt


Sorry for the terrible picture, it's so dark outside it almost feels like autumn has already arrived! I'm fairly happy with how this baby quilt I made for my friend's baby, turned out. I loved working with 'boy' fabrics which was new to me. There is some Laurie Wisbrun Urban Circus and Saffron Craig's Beetlebugs in this quilt and even some Ikea Hippo's from my stash; as well as some Denyse Schmidt Katie Jump Rope fabrics.  For the back I also used some Ikea kiddy fabrics from my stash.


I'm still not very good at quilting, but these narrow straight lines all around the border turned out quite good. I still have to do a little mending here and there; after it was washed and dried some of the fabric near the binding (on the top of the quilt) had come loose. No idea how that happened!



Saturday, August 27

Only Happy When it Rains


Remember the Walking the Globe Bear Pattern I made a little while ago? Well this is his furry companion 'Badger'. Badger carries around a dark cloud but luckily it produces Happy Rain. This pattern  is inspired by the illustrations of Edward Gorey (I wrote about him several times here on this blog and on Feeling Stitchy) and the song  'Only Happy When it Rains' by Garbage (you can watch the video here if you like). Actually I'm pretty sure 'Only Happy When it Rains' will be a perfect name for this pattern.  I'll try my best to finish it in the next two weeks or so. In the mean time I would love to hear your suggestions to give this Badger a name.

GO! Baby fabric cutter giveaway winner!

I had a great time reading about your favourite quilt patterns and blocks in the comments of the  GO! Baby giveaway. The Random Generator has spoken and chose 63 as the winning number, which is Roberta's comment. Roberta said: "Hi, I would love to receive a Go Baby, my favorite dies are: go hexagon-55011,go half square 4"-55031 and go tumbler 31/2"-55015. Thank you for the opportunity to win."  Congratulations Roberta! Please contact me soon at followthewhitebunny AT e-tropolis DOT nl  because I need more info from you! I hope you all have a great weekend, even if you didn't win!   
New draw on Monday 12th of September!   Charity is the new winner!

Thursday, August 25

Seriously...

I call this obstruction of a Scrap Vomit Block Sewing Session. Rolling around on a couple of blocks is still o.k. It could mean 'Hey! I really like that you are continuing work on this Scrap Vomit quilt for the first time in two months'....

 ..but seriously: who can sew properly with a cat on their lap?! I can't! And I've got a very wonky Scrap Vomit block to proof it. Tijger has been with us for two weeks now. Most of the time she is really sweet but she is still a bit scared and 'defends' herself sometimes by biting. And when she is in a crazy mood she attacks our feet. Mmmmm...

I have some really nice shelves since last weekend in my little sewing corner by the way. I call them 'inspiration shelves' but they are really dumping grounds for bits and bobs, postcards, quilt rulers, drawings, patterns and prints waiting to be framed etc. My husband also put some 'pods' on the wall for my scissors and pencils. Both shelves and pods are from Ikea.

The 'interesting' black blob on the photo is part of a project I am working on for the Fat Quarterly Design Challenge which I promised not to show yet. I will write a little bit more about the challenge next week! (edit: just to be clear, the blob isn't part of the project, what's behind it is part of the project..)

Bits and bobs..

O.k.... now if you haven't already: please leave a comment on my Giveaway post! You don't have to follow me, you don't even have to like me, simply leave a comment to enter!  (edit: sorry, giveaway has ended!)





Monday, August 22

GO! Baby Fabric Cutter Giveaway

Yesterday I wrote about my new tool the Go! Baby Fabric Cutter and today I'm giving one of these 'babies' away thanks to the nice and very generous folks over at Accuquilt!  The incredibly lucky winner also gets to pick 3 dies to go with their Go! Baby Fabric Cutter. Check out the dies here, there is a huge selection you can choose from.

If you would like a chance to win this wonderful little helper (and of course you want to!)  please leave a comment to this post and tell me what your favourite quilt pattern or block is. I'd love to discover new ones! This giveaway ends this Friday (August 26th) at 8 PM Amsterdam time.  (edit: sorry giveaway is closed!) Winner will be announced the day after.  Make sure to either check back in time or leave a 'trail' so I can contact you in case you win this fabulous prize. Good luck every one!

P.s. I you haven't already please check out the tutorial I posted yesterday for the wonderfully cute Tonka & the Stars pillow!






Sunday, August 21

A new tool / Tonka & the Stars a Free Tutorial




Surely you have seen the GO! Baby Fabric cutters make an appearance in the crafty blogosphere in a quite a few places recently.  I must admit that I got pretty curious about it too, so when the people over at Accuquilt contacted me about trying out their nifty machine I just couldn’t resist!  I’m a bit clumsy when it comes to neatly cutting stuff for quilts and/or patchwork projects so the idea of creating lots of neatly cut shapes almost effortlessly was tempting.  I was also slightly worried, what if I didn’t like it... or worse, what if I couldn’t figure out how to handle the GO! Baby Fabric cutter? I needn’t have worried: I have been happily cutting squares, circles and strips since it arrived! 

Go! Baby Fabric Cutter hiding in my fabric cabinet
When my Go! Baby Fabric Cutter was delivered I was surprised at how small it was (there is also a bigger ‘Studio’ version available) and surprisingly heavy for it’s size too! I guess it needs to be on the heavy side to keep things stable while you are using it. GO! dies come in all shapes and sizes. There is a wide choice of appliqué designs for example and many ‘classic’ quilt shapes like squares, triangles and tumblers. My first choice was the 2.5” strip cutter, primarily because I dislike cutting strips for binding ( I always make my strips for quilt bindings 2.5” wide).  So last week when I need to make a (scrappy) binding I cut my strips with the GO! Cutter and I produced my best binding ever in no time at all.  I thought it would also come in handy (with the Scrap Vomit Quilt in mind…) to make lots of 2.5” squares fairly quickly!

Go! Baby in action. Fabric is put on die, then put cutting mat on top and turn the handle!
The second die I chose was a ‘value pack’ with a 2.5” square, two (2.5” wide) triangles and a 4.5” square. Because there is some loss of fabric cutting squares I think this particularly die is great to use up scraps. The brilliant thing about the triangle is the added seam allowance which makes it super easy to make perfect half squares triangles etc.   

My third choice were the circle dies (2,3 and 5”) I  would have loved some other ‘difficult -to- cut-shape’ dies as well  like a tumbler or diamond but finally settled for the circles.  You can cut several layers of fabric at the same time (I used regular quilting cottons) apparently up to 6 layers but I found that about 3 layers for me was about right. 

Tonka and the Stars Pillow Tutorial

After playing around with the squares and circles (I kept ‘feeding’ my GO! Baby Fabric Cutter new scraps, it was kind of addictive) I came up with this design: Tonka & the Stars. It combines patchwork, appliqué and embroidery. It’s a quite simple and quick project and we all love instant gratification too sometimes, right? My pillow cover is 12.25 by  12.25" (an odd size I admit but it worked for the pillow insert I had on hand) but the design is easily adaptable to make larger pillow covers by adding inches or even strips of fabric around the original design.

You will need
  •  Scraps of blue fabric
  •  Scraps of yellow/orange fabric 
  •  a 12. 75 by  7 “ piece of linen (cotton/linen blend) in a natural/oatmeal colour for the front. And a 10 by 12.75” and  8 by 12.75” piece for the back
  • Print of the Tonka (hedgehog) pattern. You can download it here.
  • Water erasable pen and ruler
  • Embroidery Floss and needle
Cut 
I started with cutting 16 2.5 “ squares in different shades of blue and a yellow one as well.   For the top strip I cut a 2 by 12.75" piece of dark blue fabric. And for the back of the pillow I cut a 2.5 by 12.75“  strip of dark blue fabric.  From the linen cut 5 2.5" squares and a 12.75 by 7" piece as well. These will form part of the sky above your buildings. From the yellow/orange coloured scraps I cut three different sized circles (5”, 3” and 2” diameter) to make a ‘moon’.

How squares and circles are arranged
 

Sew

Unless stated differently I used a 1/4 an inch seam allowance.

Arrange the blue squares in stacks of various heights to resemble buildings (or rather a silhouette outline of buildings).‘Top’ the lower buildings up with the linen squares.(see picture) Sew squares together and sew rows together. Set aside.  

Arrange the three circles placing the smallest circle off center on the medium sized circle. (see picture) Pin and stitch with a small zig zag all around (more than once if you’d like) Place your medium size circle on the largest circle again placing it off center and stitch w zig zag. Take the  12.75  by 7 “ piece of linen and place the largest circle (with the other circles now sewed on) on the right hand side (see picture, allow ca 1.5" from the top) Again sew on using a zig zag stitch.


Embroider

Use your water erasable pen and ruler to draw two lines from the top of one of the buildings to the moon. Make sure that the bottom of the ladder is wider than the top.  I made the bottom of the ladder about 1" wide and the top about 0.4”  wide. Draw steps parallel to the ‘roof’ of your building and decrease the space between the steps slightly the closer you get to the moon. Stick your little Tonka the Hedgehog pattern on a window or put it on a lightbox and use the water erasable pen to transfer it your fabric near the top of the ladder you just drew. Or, alternatively, draw the hedgehog freehand. Read more about transferring embroidery patterns here.

For most of the embroidered bits I used all 6 strands of embroidery floss. I used a chunky looking stem stitch for the sides of the ladder in green (since there were green accents in the ‘moon’ and in the ‘buildings’) and a back stitch in a slightly darker shade of green for the steps. Tonka the hedgehog was outlined in a back stitch with in a medium brown shade. The black quills were embroidered in a quite random stitch, much like a seed stitch. Arms and legs were stitched in black using a back stitch. For the eyes and the tiny nose I used 2 strands of floss and a tiny satin stitch! Add some stars in yellow here and there by making a...Star Stitch!

Cut and Sew a bit more 

Are you still with me? Nearly done, we just have to put the parts together now. Trim the patchwork panel by cutting 0.8" off from the sides and bottom. Sew it to the linen 'moon' panel and press. I made a simple 'envelope' style back and used a folded strip on the outer back panel to coordinate with the front of the pillow.  Finish the other back panel by folding over the long (12.75") side first by a 1/4 of an inch and again by 1/2 inch and sew the hem.


To make the back lay the back panel (with the strip) onto the front panel (right sides together) and put the hemmed back panel on top of that. Pin all around and sew all panels together. Turn inside out and you are done!

Now I hope you have enjoyed the product review and the Tonka tutorial. Please let me know if something doesn't add up (which could easily be the case with my math skills) and if you decide to make your own Tonka the Hedgehog pillow please post a photo in the Follow the White Bunny Flickr group or on my Facebook Page

If you want to you can subscribe to the Accuquilt mailing list and get lots of free patterns, you can do so by simply clicking this button

Happy Stitchy everyone!

Edit: don't forget to have a peek at the post above, you can enter my giveaway to win a Go! Fabric Cutter all for your self! Yay!






Tuesday, August 16

Coming to you soon...

Here is a little sneak peek of a free sewing/embroidery tutorial you can expect later this week on my blog! Today was the first day of school after the summer holidays so I could really make some progress. At least so I thought...I actually did lots of unpicking and re-sewing but in the end the whole project looked 100% better so the extra time spent was totally worth it!

Friday, August 12

Tijger

Meet Tijger (Tiger)! Yesterday we took her home from the animal shelter where she had been for a month or so. I haven't been able to make a proper photo of her yet, she moves around a lot! She seems to love sitting in one of the window sills though or like here: on top of the couch near the window. Apparently the project I'm working on (tutorial on the blog soon!) already has the all important kitty approval. :)

Wednesday, August 10

What I didn't do while I was away

Mmmm... I'm afraid this photo shows most of the crafting I did while I was away. Not a lot is it? On the photo you see attempt number 1 and attempt number 3 at one of the lovely What Delilah Did cross stitch patterns I took with me. I really liked the idea of using black aida but it didn't look that great in combination with the white floss. After two tries (using more strands on the second try) I gave up on the black aida and moved on to a tiny scrap of cream aida I had in my craft bag. But I wasn't too happy with how that turned out either. My poor cross stitch skills and lack of experience (I only ever finished one cross stitch pattern) made me doubt everything about this project (let me emphasize that it's certainly NOT the lovely pattern that was to blame!). I was especially in doubt how many strands to use. So last week I asked peeps on Twitter and Facebook about how many threads I should use on 16 count aida and I also asked Sophie (who runs What Delilah Did) about it. Two threads seems to be the way to go but Sophie let me know she uses 4 strands to stitch her own patterns. I guess in the end it depends on the pattern you are stitching, your personal preference and the floss that you are using. Anyway Sophie wrote that she had just completed a 'how to' which covers all the basic info you need to know when you start cross stitching. Do check it our here, and don't forget to visit her store while you are there. :) 


The other craft related thing I did in Wales was visiting a real fabric store. Now that may not sound too exciting for most of you but over here there aren't too many fabric and/or quilting shops. Especially ones that sell modern fabrics So actually being able to touch and really see the fabrics before I buy was a novelty for me. The selection of fabrics was fairly limited (a lot of Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Kaffe Fassett and some Michael Miller fabrics) but I couldn't resist to buy something and I chose this lovely Paula Prass fabric, a pretty blue/green plain fabric and an Amy Butler 'Gum Drop Pillow' pattern. The staff were very friendly and besides fabrics they also carried a wide selection of trims, tassels, buttons and beads etc. So if you ever visit Hay-on-Wye you may want to stop by Bedecked, Castle Street 5.

p.s. tomorrow we are welcoming a new furry friend to our house (yay!) so I will probably be back on the blog tomorrow to share some pics!

Saturday, August 6

Out and About

Pre war Toy Drapery Store

Yesterday we returned from Wales where we had a wonderful time: fairly good weather, good food and we made lots of fun trips to castles, museums and other local attractions. The cottage we had rented was great as well. It was clean, well stocked and it had lots and lots of quilts!

On our visit to Bletchley Park (which is nowhere near Wales but we stopped by on our way to Wales) I saw this wonderfully cute 'Playtime Drapery Store' which I guess is from the 1930's. I also stumbled upon a Manbroiderer avant-la-lettre.

Not my bedroom

This is one of the bedrooms in the cottage we had rented. Every bedroom had matching bed quilts and quilted wall hangings! Later this week I will write a bit more about some crafty stuff I did (and mostly didn't) in the last couple of weeks but I had to sneak in this next 'me and my owl' photo in this post!

















We absolutely loved the Owl Centre in Kington (Herefordshire). They had so many different examples of British (and other) owls. There were lots of other animals too like goats and alpacas. The best thing (for me) was that you were allowed to say hello to a few of the most friendly owls in the centre! (or a 'nose to beak experience' as the centre calls it)