Sewing Room Shelves Wall Hanging

There's just enough time before Christmas is upon us to share this project I made for the current issue of Popular Patchwork magazine.

If you are anything like me you will want to start the New Year with a big clear out and an organisation of your sewing room. If you're not like me then why not just make this very tidy Sewing Room Shelves Wall Hanging instead!

It even made the cover (in the sidebar!)! That beautiful rainbow cover quilt is by my pal Mandy Munroe.

This was such a fun project to make!

I totally stole that genius 'glass jar' idea from my friend Dolores, who is so talented and always has the best ideas! Here's the post where I first saw it.

They're made using clear vinyl and much to my husband's disgust they are sewn closed! He just couldn't understand how I could trap in all those safety pins and buttons! But I think it was worth it as I love the look.

Then there is a rainbow row of spools!

And two stash piles of yummy fabric! I used some hand quilting to highlight details.

The tape measure binding was the perfect finishing touch I think.

And here's a last close-up of the button jar. Thank you so much for letting me 'borrow' your amazing idea Dee!

Gossip Girls

Issue 7 of Love Patchwork and Quilting is currently dropping through subscriber's letter boxes (though not yet on the news stand), so I think it is now safe to share my skittle dolls with you.
The photo above is from the magazine, I always love the way they style things. And they do look like they are having a really good gossip!

Do you remember the 3 dolls I made for the sample swap at last summer's Fat Quarterly Retreat? I called them Liberty Skittle Dolls as I made them from Liberty tana lawn and I blogged about them here.

 

Love Patchwork and Quilting asked me to make the dolls as a project for them. This time I used fabrics from Circa by Jennifer Paganelli, and I substituted the crochet flower corsage for a felt one.

Of course this means you can now all make your own skittle doll, you just need to get your hands on a copy of issue 7! Which also features this stunning quilt and equally gorgeous cushion both made by lovely Susan!

If you do manage to make your own gossip girl then please send me a photo or tag me on instagram, I'm @mybearpaw.

Winter Woodland Play Pillow for Fat Quarterly

Fat Quarterly issue 15 is out today and of course it's all about Christmas!

And, for the first time, I have contributed a project - my Winter Woodland Play Pillow.

I have made a few woodland themed mini quilts, some for swaps and some for commissions, and they have all featured trees with pockets. I thought a cushion version would make a nice festive project.

So we've got a wintery tree (a sort of holly/Christmas hybrid!) with some charming woodland animals hiding in and behind it.

Meet Oggle and Rufus. These two feature in a few of my woodland embroideries and it was fun to bring them to life as 3D characters. And yes I know the scales all wrong but we are talking about a 14 inch cushion here!

As in my original woodland (or fairytale) quilts I have embellished the tree top with felt leaves, embroidery and button berries.

I'm a big fan of Fat Quarterly, it is such good value for money as you really do get so many fabulous projects in each issue.
If you are a subscriber then I do hope you enjoy this project, and please let me know if you have a go at making this (unless it doesn't work out very well, in which case keep it to yourself. Only kidding!).
And if you are not a subscriber then head over to the website and sign up!

Nametags Workshop

It's getting very nearly time for our Stitch Gathering Retreat! And I know some of you still haven't made your nametags yet, so I thought I would do a post with nametag ideas that might be of help with last minute panics.

I've been making a few of these to show at my Bearpaw Craft Club (August's club was last week) as I hope that all my club regulars will make their own badge for our club nights.

So here's a nice easy one to start with - an EPP hexagon rosette with the name embroidered on a solid hexy in the middle.

I then took the papers out (after giving it a good press) and sewed the running stitch with some perle cotton 8's (not strictly quilting here as I did not have any wadding or backing). I then inserted a piece of card cut to the same shape under the seams and backed it with a piece of felt (see photo of backs below).

Jane Read is my sister, by the way, she is coming to help me with the Stitch Gathering but volunteered too late to join the nametag swap. I hope you like it Jane!

Here is a slightly more ambitious attempt. Using my Darlene Zimmerman (I just love her name and like to mention it at every opportunity) "EZ Dresden Ruler" at the 1 and a half inches high mark, I made this tiny dresden plate and appliqued it to some Essex natural linen.
I then embroidered my (secret) partner's name on to a separate piece of linen and appliqued this to the centre of the dresden.

I then made it into a little quilt with wadding and a row of quilting round the centre. Before I bound it with that bias binding made from a diagonally striped fabric, I stitched a small loop of strap (cut from a longer piece I had already made for the lanyard/key fob) to the backing, which then became sewn into the binding at the back.
This is my official nametag swap badge for the Stitch Gathering, hence the covered up name.



Here's another lanyard style badge, this time for my colleague Sarah for her to wear when she comes to help me at the Craft Club (have I told you about my craft clubs yet? They are going really well and you can find out what they are here).
It's just some scrap strips sewn around a piece of linen that I have embroidered Sarah's name on and added that little tree, which is an embroidered iron-on transfer.

Using the method above, but with no quilting and with a piece of card added for extra sturdyness, I finished this badge with a few coloured buttons (Sarah loves buttons!).

Lastly here is a really simple, quick one. That funny little oval below is a flexi hoop for tiny embroideries. It measures 2 x 3 inches so is perfect for a badge, or even a decorative brooch. The wood grain plastic is a bit naff so I covered it by wrapping pretty ribbon around it. I embroidered my name using a pale pink perle no. 8, then 'shadowed' it with 2 strands of black floss to give that fancy effect.
I then stuffed the inside with some scrap wadding and backed it with felt.
If you don't have one of these frames you could just use some heavy card in a similar shape and wrap ribbon around that to make your own frame.

Here are the backs of all 4. I still need to add brooch clips or safety pins to the back of the brooch badges.

I do hope you have found this useful, especially those Stitch Gathering Retreaters or Bearpaw Craft Club members who read my blog.
Happy nametag making!

Getting ready for Fat Quaterly Retreat!

I'm off to London a week on Thursday for the second Fat Quaterly Retreat and looking forward to it even more than the last one! I think this is because I am more relaxed this time and less nervous about meeting everyone and what to expect.

I am taking part in another Sample Swap, this is where everyone in a group of 4 makes 3 items all the same and then we swap them around at the retreat so you come back with 3 different items. Last year we did groups of 5 so we had to make 4 of something. 

I decided to make these Liberty Skittle Dolls. Yes they do look like matryoshka but I've decided to re-name them!

I had quite a few attempts to get the pattern right! I am always too impatient at the planning stage and usually just go for it and somehow get lucky. This time I had 4 attempts and got it right on my 5th. I did intend them to be a bit smaller than they turned out, but by the 5th attempt it was either stick with it or make something else entirely!

The inspiration for these ladies came from these amazingly gorgeous card that we sell in the shop, by an artist called Munieca. I just adore it and can never take my eyes off it when I see it.
I can see now, looking at the card and my dolls, that I have totally failed to recreate the shape, but I hope that some of the original spirit remains!

So here are my Liberty Skittle Dolls who I hope will be a comforting sewing companion to whoever receives them. Let's introduce them...

Florence looks the most coy and is sporting a summery outfit here. Each doll has 2 rows of ribbons, one row of buttons and a number of rows of hand quilting (with my usual perle 8's) around her middle.

Diana looks the calmest of the 3 and I like her dress the best. Each doll has a wee crocheted flower embellished with felt and buttons in her hair. It is the details and embellishments that I enjoy doing most in a project.

Mary looks a little uncertain but she has the prettiest Rusian Doll ribbon. All the dolls are made from my stash of precious Liberty Tana Lawn. I used Spray starch to stiffen the delicate fabric before cutting and sewing. Their little faces are made from Essex Linen in Natural and embroidered. For a fantastic range of Liberty Tana Lawn take a look at Very Berry Fabrics shop on Folksy.

I hope these little lovelies will find good homes to go to! And does anyone know who Florence, Diana and Mary actually were?

Meanwhile I received my beautiful name tag through the post from Miriam, Berlinquilter. Thank you Miriam! I love the fabrics she has used and the stamped writing.

 

The name tag badge that I made last week has reached it's recipient, so I can now reveal that it was for Amy, Crafty Shenanigans!

Shenanigans was a hell of a word to embroider in a small space!
So that's me all ready to go (apart from sorting out my supplies which I have been a little too relaxed about so far!).
I am so excited to get back amongst all the lovely quilty peeps, meeting old and new friends alike!

Hansel and Gretel Quilt

I've made another Fairytale Quilt.
You may remember the 2 Red Riding Hood quilts and a 3 Little Pig quilt that I made previously. Well this time it is Hansel and Gretel!
Christina, the lovely lady who commissioned the second Red Riding Hood quilt has also commissioned this one. The first one was for her daughter, Eden, and now she has had another little girl, Olive, and this one is for her.

Creating the gingerbread cottage was challenging but lots of fun. I used a mixture of colourful buttons and felt for the sweets.
I bought some Hansel and Gretel fabric from Spoonflower and used this for the witch and for Hansel and Gretel. Here she is making her way back to the cottage.

And here comes Gretel, she's been planning her escape and it's time to make a run for it. Quick Gretel! Get away now before the witch comes!

She's got away to the woods and now she is calling to Hansel. Hurry Hansel! You've still got time to escape before the witch gets there! (luckily for Hansel and Gretel the scary witch is firmly appliqued to the top).

 Here's the quilt with Hansel, Gretel and an owl inserted in their pockets.

I've made the trees in different shapes for this quilt, I wanted this one to sit well beside the first quilt but not be too similar. I used these lovely embroidered iron-on transfers of a fox, bird and owl which have been perfect for this project.
You can see the original Fairytale Quilt here and the next 2 here and here.
One of the trees still has a hidden door and look who is behind it...

...a Heather Ross gnome! I had some left over from the last Fairytale Quilt. All the other ones have had a ladybird behind the door so it was nice to have a change here.

Here is a close up of the 'owl tree'.
I bought enough Hansel and Gretel fabric to use for the back.

The binding is a Riley Blake 'sweetcakes' fabric with tiny white hearts on red. Here are the play figures that go with the quilt.

I really enjoy making these little wall hangings and sending them off in to the world. And I have even developed a workshop to teach the different techniques I use. I am still busy planning next term's classes but there will definitely be room for a Fairytale Quilt Workshop, so if anyone fancies making one of these themselves keep an eye out on our website or sign up for our newsletter here.