Another day at the markets

I like to attend our local Babies and Kids market. It is only on every 3 months and it gives me a chance to talk to my customers and get a feel for what they like and what they think of my products. It also gives them a chance to check out my items in the flesh - to touch and feel the quality and to tell you the truth it's a bit of an ego boost too when complete strangers come over to tell you how amazing they think your products are.

So to everyone that I saw, thank you and for those of you who have ordered something thank you again. I am passionate about sewing and quilting and you allow me to fuel that passion and for that I am truly grateful.

In preparation for the market I whipped up a quick cot quilt using the Oh Fransson Charm Squares Baby Quilt Tutorial which you can find here. I used a charm pack from Oink-a-Doodle-Moo by Jenn Ski for Moda Fabrics which is so bright and colourful and finished it off with straight line quilting. This is available for sale in my Madeit store here.

I also couldn't resist some beautiful fabric with these cute little foxes with a blue gingham background. I teamed it up with some red and white spots for beautiful playmat that would suit either a boy or girl. This is also available in my Madeit store here.

Till next time - happy sewing ...

Hawthorn Hawks Quilt

 

When I was approached by a mad AFL Hawthorn fan I just couldn't say no to the thought of creating a footy based quilt. As Aussie's we love our sport and what a better way to reflect this than having our team colours on a quilt.

This quilt was made for a young boy for his double bed but he also wanted to take it to the games on a cold night so I backed this one with flannel for extra warmth.

Fabric was from an actual double bed doona cover which (like a true quilter) I cut up and pieced back together.

It is a very simple block design with sashing backed with yellow flannel.  I included the large logo on one of the blocks too. This was appliqued with a tight zig zag stitch.

I also made two quilted pillows to match utilising the logo from the fabric.

"Giggles" Double Bed Quilt

With 3 boys of my own it's not too often I get to work on something a bit more girly so when I do I like to go all out !!

This was a commissioned quilt for a young girl who loves bright colours, pinks (of course) and flowers. I decided on the "Giggles" range by Me & My Sisters Designs for Moda which satisfied all three requests.

I didn't use a pattern for this quilt rather it is made using the disappearing nine patch block with white sashing added. I then used a simple coin border.

I'm so pleased with the end result nice and bright and colourful - the way a little girls quilt should be.

 

I even had some left over fabric so was able to put together two quilted pillows to match.

A Busy time

It's been very busy at Jack's Room at the moment with orders flooding in over the month of January. My appliqued pillow range is proving very popular and is a fun quick way for me to use up my existing children's fabric stash.

I'm also continuing to work on my black and white double bed custom made quilt and am putting together a barbie princess single bed quilt for a little girl using this beautiful fabric panel.

Last but not least more playmats are on order and I just love this super cute pirates playmat that I just recently completed.

 

 

Appliqued cushions

It's been really busy at Jack's Room for the past few weeks with lots of custom orders coming in. With 2 kids at home it's been so difficult to find the time to shop for fabric and sew and not to mention blog !!

This week I have been making appliqued name cushions and having so much fun. They are a generous size at 46cm square (or 18"). I used heat and bond to iron on the letters then machine appliqued them using a straight stitch. I finally backed them with super soft minky with an envelope finish. They turned out better than I expected.

I'm just putting together two in some super cool surfer fabric for two older boys. I love that pillows like this really have no age limit.

I've also just finished putting together two playmats one a custom order (stars and stripes) and the other just because I loved the fabrics - particularly chevron. It seems my customers love chevron too as I have just ordered some grey and pink chevron and dots to make up a patchwork playmat in the coming weeks.

With all those orders I've still managed to sew another two rows on my black and white quilt too. I always have lots of projects going at one time it is often a mad house but I love to be busy.

How many projects are you working on at once??

"A Fairy Tale" Quilt

So a while ago I bought a quilt kit which included these gorgeous fabrics from Cinderberry Stitiches and a pattern for a traditional style quilt with white sashing. I have finally got around to putting it together and I really love the way it turned out. The pattern is now available for a free download here.

First stop (even with kits) is to cut out all fabric ready for piecing. Squares were cut at 6.5" which showed off the fabric beautifully and I was also able to fussy cut some of the squares to frame the cute little fairies.

And here is the finished quilt top. It is made to fit a single bed and is currently available for sale in my store on Madeit.



This fabric has the cutest detail with fairies, toadstools and mushrooms. I could envisage this in a beautiful girls room full of fairies and magic.

Till next time - happy sewing ...

Sunday Stash #1

So like every quilter I collect fabric. I wouldn't say it's hording just waiting to be turned into a special quilt for the right person. As you have probably noticed most of my quilts are for babies and children so I tend to look for bright, colourful fabrics with cute prints.

So to showcase what I currently have in my stash I've decided to join Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash weekly linky party (thanks Molli!).

Not only do I have a chance to reveal my stash weekly but I also get to marvel and all the other beautiful fabric of my fellow quilters. Also as I plan to do more quilting then fabric shopping this year (yeah right !!) I'm not sure I'll have updates every week but we'll see how I go.

First up is some fabric I've had around for a while called "Puppy Park" by Bella Blvd for Riley Blake Designs. This is one of Bella's most popular collections and came in both cotton and flannels. Just look at those cute little puppies...

I bought two of the 10" stackers which have 21 10x10" Precut Squares in each pack. I couldn't resist this when I saw it given I'm a mummy of 2 beautiful boxers. I can definitely see this on a little boys bed in the future in all it's glory.

 

Don't forget to join me next week for some more fabric fun !

UFO's - not the flying ones!

"I've been put on this earth to sew and finish a certain number of things. 

I am so far behind right now…I will never die!"

~author unknown

Ok so before I started quilting I thought UFO's where those things that fly in the sky. In the quilting world UFO's are "unfinished objects" those quilts we start to make but never seem to finish.

Unfortunately I have a very short attention span so if a quilt top takes me too long to put together or doesn't quite look how I had planned it ends up in a box or basket. And please don't get me started about quilts needing binding... If it's a customer order it gets done as a matter of priority but if it's a project for me (in most cases) it will never see the light of day.

So today I am sharing my UFO's which comprise mostly of blocks that are ready to be sewn together to make a beautiful quilt that I just haven't got around to yet. You know when that thing called life gets in the way.

Here they are (in no particular order):

This one just waiting for binding

This one has now been quilted and too is waiting for binding

My first Chevron quilt still in pieces..lots of them arghh
 

Another one still in pieces just couldn't quite get it to work



Yep this one is in pieces too



and finally this one....

Wow after looking through these pictures I didn't realised I had so many unfinished quilts. To make matters worse I have two more that I just don't have pictures of in various boxes..... Given it's a new year tomorrow perhaps I could at least promise to finish one of them - maybe..

So tell me - do you have a room full of UFO's like me - and I don't mean the flying ones !!

Simple Jelly Roll Quilts

Well by now you know about my pre cut obsession (yes I admit it!) so when I was asked to make a cot quilt for a baby shower gift for a little girl at short notice what better way than to make a simple jelly roll quilt - so I made two !!

The first one went off to her new home and was made with Sweetcakes by Doodlebug Designs for Riley Blake Designs. As I have 3 boys I absolutely love making anything girly and this one was just so pretty I didn't want to part with it.

The next jelly roll quilt was made with Little Red Riding Hood by Tasha Noel for Riley Blake Designs. I'm thinking that I'm a little obsessed with Riley Blake fabric at the moment don't you ??

This one is available for sale on my Facebook page here.

Markets and more quilts

I have been toying with the idea of attending a few markets to lift the profile of my business a little but having a young baby and not a lot of time to spare I didn't want to be out all day. So I ended up attending a local babies and kids market which only goes for half a day so was perfect for me. I must say I had a blast especially meeting other stallholders and I loved people coming up to me complementing me on my quilts.

As most quilters know quilting is a passion and not really a basis for making a living by so my business fuels my passion for quilts (there are only so many friends and family you can make quilts for) and my other products support my quilt making obsession. I only wish I had more hours in the day to quilt !!

Here is me at the local markets - proud as punch showing off all my goodies.


What else have I been up to making more quilts of course!! I whipped up these 2 over the weekend just because I could. These are both available on my Facebook page here.

The quilting on this one is simply just straight lines approximately 10cm apart. I did however try something different by machine sewing the binding on with a decorative stitch. I must say I like to hand bind my quilts but for the cot sized ones machined binding just adds that extra durability especially with the more frequent washing. Here is a close up of the binding.

This next quilt was made with Sasparilla by October Afternoon for Riley Blake designs and was just made from one Rolie Polie of 22 x 2.5" strips. The pattern I used was called "Jelly Roll Jam" which is a free pattern from the Fat Quarter shop and also has a You Tube video you can watch too.

You can get two quilts from a jelly roll of 42 strips or one quilt like mine from a Rolie Polie. Finished size of the quilt is 36.5" x 36.5" and went together so fast so is a great pattern to use when in a hurry.

The Big Churn Dash

So for the last two years my sister has been asking (well begging) me to make her a quilt for her bed. Problem is she has a king size bed and my largest quilts thus far have been double bed sized. But as it was her 40th birthday this year I really wanted to do something special for her.

The brief was a king size quilt, simple block design (so it would go together quickly) and purple fabric (her favourite colour).

I designed her quilt using simple churn dash blocks with 1.5" white sashing in between blocks and 2.5" white borders.

 

I decided given the size I would cut out all my pieces first then put each block together. A total of 42 blocks would make up the quilt 6 across and 7 down.

 

 

Usually I never square up my blocks (takes to long) but after much advice from my fellow quilters I decided to go through the process and I'm so glad I did. The extra time it took was well worth it in the end.

 

So with front and back completed my baby was off to the quilters (no I don't have a longarm but like most I wish I had - and secretly hope one day I will !!)

 

 

Next it was binding time (yep my least favourite part). I don't really know why I put off binding my quilts because once I get started I quite enjoy it !! I found this gorgeous purple textured plaid in the Sweet Things range by Holly Holderman For Lakehouse Dry Goods, that tied in with the rest of my purples perfectly.

 

For me, I sew my binding on the front and hand stitch to the back. I wish I could machine it all but unfortunately my attempts so far have been futile and I must admit I do like the hand stitched finish.

 

 

and here she is in all her glory and I'm as proud as punch !!

 

Quilt Front

 



Reverse side of quilt

 

I quilt because I love it, it's my passion, my joy and I put my whole heart and sole in every piece I make. I send them to their new owner with love and hope they enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed making them.

 

But I have to ask - does anyone else have trouble giving away the quilts they make whether they are to friend or family or even commissioned pieces - I certainly do !!