Flying Things

 

The Anne Morgan Challenge within the UK Quilters Guild Miniatures Group this year is 'Things that Fly'.

I'd already been thinking about making a moth (originally I'd hoped to enter an Insect challenge that was a European quilting challenge, but I wasn't able to work on it in time), so this challenge gave me the chance to resurrect the idea!

I wanted to make something that wasn't a clothes moth (bane of my life - munching carpets and fabrics, grrr!) - but thought that it would be entertaining to make it mostly from clothes.  Although I used a doily and some linen scraps too, most of the trims and wings were from dresses and lingerie - a variety of unused trims and scraps saved from clothes.

I gave my moth a background that was clearly outside in nature - scrappy greens and blues, with leaves and flowers in the quilting.




Oh, and I used a couple of pipe cleaners, covered in zig zag stitches for the antennae, and used cardboard to stiffen the body, whilst keeping the wings floppy.

And here is the completed piece.  Approx 12" square.

A fun piece, and certainly NOT a Clothes Moth!

Spring Wreath

I don't think that I showed you this when I made it?

I took an online course with Hobby Craft - great service where you are sent a box containing everything that you need to complete a project, and then join an online platform to take part in a cource - and this was what I made.

I'm pleased with it!
 

I can still make quilt tops!

 An antidote to the small projects I've been making recently!  This uses large pieces and finishes at 65" square - a fun way of using some of the fabrics that I don't have loads of, but were too big for adding to my scrap drawers.

Of course, I haven't yet got around to completing it - something that will happen in a different week - but at least it's on it's way!

More bags

 

Perfect vintage fabric that was gifted to me, used to make two perfect sized bags for a pair of special presents - isn't it nice when things work out so well?!

Little Quilts!

I have been working hard to sort out all the crafty materials in my loft - I have accrued far too much over the years, and some can definitely be moved on to someone who is going to use them!

Whilst I was sorting through various boxes, I came across this 'set' of mini quilts.  

Two experiments - one with woven fabric strips that I then stitched or embellished, and one with neutral fabrics (one woven, one 'whole cloth') where I'd been using up thread ends from other projects.

They were slightly too big to be card toppers, which is, I think, why they had been left to one side after construction.

So, rather than letting them stay in a box, I found appropriate bindings for them (from my scrap bag of binding, obviously!), and sewed them on.

It was the work of only half an evening to hand stitch the binding to the back and complete them.

I also sewed a drinks can 'tab' on the back of each of them to provide a hanging loop, and now they have joined my ever growing wall of mini quilts.

Isn't it satisfying when you complete projects? However small they are!
 

Nesting Boxes

Following a fun workshop / demo from The Quilters Guild online retreat earlier this year, I wanted to try and make mini boxes.

I tried two methods.

This was the way recommended by the tutor, using bag stiffener - a bit firmer than regular felt, but still pretty easy to stitch through - and an outer and a lining fabric.

You make neat little parcels, sewing the raw edges down around each of the six panels....

...... then lay them out in your chosen arrangement and whip stitch them together.

My alternate construction was to layer a piece of fabric and a piece of felt together and satin stitch the edges and joins together.  It gave a slightly rougher edge, and although the felt I was using was fine for a one inch box, for this one, the two inch box, it was slightly floppy.  Really nice to play with some embroidery stitches through it though, and very fast to construct!

Whichever method you use, the boxes are finished by whip stitching them into shape, adding an embroidered 'loop' and sewing on a button so that it closes nicely.

My set of nesting boxes were made at 1", 1.5" and 2" square.

I'm very happy that they nest easily, and think that the 1.5" box, handmade all the way, gives the nicest finish.
 

Scrap Cards

 When I cut up my fabric scraps into my 'scrap system' (just a set of standard sizes that I cut and use) I often cut out 1.5" squares, and then use them to make little 9-patch blocks (which I then go on and use in different scrappy quilts).

It's easy to use them when I have four or five or a same or similar fabric, making little 'kits' to sew as a leaders and enders projec, but sometimes I end up with a bunch of random squares that hang around.  Sometimes they hang around long enough to attract friends - more of the same or similar fabrics - but not always!

I saw cards similar to these on Instagram (sorry, I can't remember who posted them - if you recognise the original maker please let me know so that I can acknowledge them) and decided it would be the perfect quick project for me.  Now I have several greetings cards that can be customised for birthdays or any other occasion.  Perfect!

Pretty Bags

Slightly difficult to pick out against the cluttered background, but I made these three pretty little gift bags from scraps on my table.

Bonus! As well as wrapping gifts for my friend, it also helped with the tidying that I needed to to (you know, when your study / sewing room is also your spare room, so surfaces have to be actually cleared for a while!).

I love the look of a tumble of pretty bags like this!
 

Mini Paper Pieced Mat

 

This is the back of this little project - I had hoped that the quilting (around the star shape) would show up a little, but it's barely showing!

I did think that I might not quilt it, but once I'd finished the edges, turned them under, and stitching 'facing' style to the backing, with a layer of batting in it, I really felt that it needed the dimension that quilting would give it.  

I didn't do much, just around the star in the ditch.

This was how the star came together.

Using more jelly roll scraps

And this is how it started - using my original project pouch that Benta had given me the kit and the expertise for!

To Whit to Woo!

In February the Miniatures Group of the Quilters Guild ran a short workshop on making these fun paper pieced owls.  Many thanks to Sue Battley for the pattern and for running the workshop!

These are the two that I made, using my pink scraps as I like that better than the suggested browns!

It didn't take long to make it into a mini quilt - another one for the study wall!

 And here is the quilting shown from the reverse (before I stitched down the hanging sleeve).  I did my best to make an even spiral shape, but it's quite tricky on a small scale!

I centred it around the child - the daughter - as my world revolves around my lovely girls, and I thought that this would be a nice way to try and represent that.

Super Fast Mini Project Pouch

 Before Christmas, the ever lovely Benta brought a wonderful idea (and a kit!) to demonstrate how to make a mini project pouch.

Very simple, and quite addictive!

I ended up buying my own gadget to set these little plastic poppers - it came free with lots of different colours, which is fab!

So I made this one out of one of DD2's favourite fabrics, in a matter of minutes, just to have a play!

I may have made a few others too, but forgotten to photograph them!

I'm Back!

 

It's been a while!  I slipped over and bumped my head in the New Year (ironically on my way to see The Nutcracker!) and it left me feeling not quite the thing.

But recently I've managed some small sewing projects, so it's time to start sharing them with you.

This is a little project - a mini quilt made just for fun, with some scraps of a jelly roll.

Approximately 6.5" square

And this is what I did with the final square that I had made.  The square backed with felt as a card topper.

This was the mini quilt in its raw state, when I was checking that I was happy with the lay out.

Made from the trimmed up squares.

I always love how just a few scraps and a few squares of paper can be transformed with the help of a few stitches!

Happy New Year - and another Slouchy Pouch!

 

At the end of November I took a Kawandi workshop with Kerry from Thatssewkerry .

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but found that the hand quilting made my hand and wrist a little sore, so decided to switch and to complete it on my sewing machine.

Clearly I wasn't going to get the same lovely texture as quilting it by hand (you can really see the difference - the first four rows or so around the outside are hand quilted and you can see the lovely texture in this photo), but I could still have some fun with it!

I finished applying the fabric patches using a straight stitch on the machine, then went back and filled in with a serpentine decorative stitch, and, just occasionally, a zig zag stitch.

I was really pleased with how it looked.

After letting it sit for a few days, I decided that I didn't really have a use for this exact size (about 20" square), but that I could turn it into a slouchy pouch that would be perfect for a knitting friend.

I folded it in half (right sides together), stitched 2/3 of the way down from the open end, then squashed the final 1/3 open to make a 'T' shape and 

stitched across the top of the T on each side.

Then I turned it right side out, added two buttons and button holes, and it was done!

Another Christmas present was ticked off the list!

Off to plan a New Year project now!

Wishing you all the best for 2026!

Happy Christmas!

 Wishing you all the best wishes for the festive season!

And using my latest Christmas quilt to help me do it!

Isn't it fab?  I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but now is the time for it to be lit up and revealed.  It's the first one I've ever made with fairy lights on!

Here it is without the lights being on.  It's a cute pattern isn't it? Mine was made from a kit, so I didn't even have to rummage through my scrap drawers looking for scraps that would play together.  It made it really fast to make!

Can you see that I tried to bring in different quilting textures for the tree, compared to the tub and the background?

And different again for the linear design on the star.

I forgot to take a photo after I'd added the 20 button holes for the lights (thank goodness for a semi automatic button holer - it made the process very easy).

If you want a kit, I'd really recommend it.  It even included the lights, and came packed in a clear project or pencil case.  It's from Little Patch Pockets and they sell three different colour ways - it's called 'Spruced Up'.  Worth looking at their other patterns, kits, and bits and bobs too.

Hope that you are going to have a lovely Christmas too!

Slouchy Pouch

My Miniatures Group - part of the UK Quilters Guild - enjoyed a workshop led by Karen, on a way of using the twin needle on our sewing machines and then cutting away one layer of fabric to reveal another to complete it.

It was really good fun!

This was my finished mini quilt.

However, When I thought about it, I thought that it would be just the right size to make a zip up slouchy pouch.

So I reached behind me into the zips box, pulled out something the right length and colour (having a stash of things is such a privilege, isn't it?), and quickly sewed it into place.

Perfect for what I needed!  I'm really pleased with it!
 

Small Stuff

It feels as though these should be part of my Christmas crafting - stars are a perennial favourite, aren't they? But actually they are destined to be part of a starry group quilt.

I deliberately made them so that the points won't be chopped off if the blocks need to be trimmed (as everyone knows, not all 6" blocks finish at 6", despite everyone's best intentions and use of rulers!).

Neat enough that I've not embarrassed myself with them!

My next small things were made in a workshop with Louisa Goult of SewMotion.  She led the Miniatures Group in a fun day of sewing, starting with straight edge English Paper Piecing (EPP) before moving on to curved edge EPP.  These decorations are quite small (the smallest just over 2" across) and were a lot of fun to make!  

Nice and Christmassy, I'd recommend buying some papers from her to make things super easy to make!
 

Picking up where I left off....

 Slightly awkward to try and get a flat shot of this sampler quilt, which is 60" square, so I'm sharing this one of it on the bed in DD2's room, where I think that it will stay!

I'm really pleased with how it finished.  And I really love how my colour palette has stayed the same since I was making the 'round robin' with my quilting group back in 2015 - it hangs on the wall behind the bed, and you can see how well they go together.

Blue and white is always such a fresh looking colour scheme, isn't it?

Nice to have this project wrapped up - it felt like quite a long one, in the end, for no good reason!

Hello! I'm Back!

 

Hello!  I'm back from gallivanting and catching up with myself, with a splendid project to show you that isn't even made by me!

It's this brilliant?

My crafting (and crafty!) friends conspired to make me this wonderful friendship quilt to celebrate a recent birthday (as well as giving me some very generous presents)!.

I am thrilled beyond measure, that my group of 'gal pals' - mostly school gate friends from when my girls were little - worked together to produce such an accomplished quilt.

Thank you, all concerned.  You've made an old girl very happy!

Out of time!

 I had hoped to have this quilt finished and ready to show to you by now - but time was against me!

Family tech issues with phones mean that I haven't even got the interim photos to share with you at the moment - never mind!

And, I have to confess, that I've made a bit of a hash of the quilt backing, which is why this quilt is now only partly quilted!

Quite how I have managed to add insert strips in both directions, only to find that neither direction had allowed me quite enough room for the quilt top that I had made, baffles me.  And why I persisted in thinking that it would all be right once I'd actually basted it, I really don't understand.

I shall blame it on being a bit tired.  Sometimes life outside of quilting gets in the way of leaving time or energy for sewing!

It's going to do that for the next couple of weeks too, so don't expect to hear from me (nothing sinister - only a lovely holiday that I'm looking forward to, and then some time to catch up with myself after that!). 

Still, at least I'll have a work in progress to come back to and delight in working towards a finish on!