Bear Paw baby quilt

Another Bear Paw, I really enjoy making this block so much!  This baby quilt was for a Uni friend who had a baby girl during the summer.  I had lots of this gorgeous elephant fabric which I used to make curtains for my son's nursery previously and I thought my friend would really like it.  It's an organic cotton, I think Birch fabrics, I got from M is for Make way back in 2013/2014.  I think I've had the orange Atelier Brunette, also bought from M is for Make, almost as long.  When I put them together I thought it would work but I had a moment of doubt while making it.  Thankfully it worked out well and they match perfectly I say!

 My son makes a perfect quilt model helper doesn't he?! After making the Bear Paw cushion I knew I wanted this baby quilt to be one giant bear paw block.  I had a wee look online and found the brilliant Scrappy Bear Paw baby quilt tutorial from Jeni Baker of In Color Order.  I already followed Jeni on instagram and admired her quilt patterns but hadn't seen this tutorial before.  The instructions include cutting measurements for a version from scraps or from yardage. I only just had enough of the orange but luckily had enough of the elephants that I could back it with that too.

The quilting is just a simple grid quilt pattern which I think looks really good with this block.  The batting is the Quilter's Dream orient quilt batting, bought from Cotton Patch.  The quilting is done with Aurifil 50wt thread.  I was in such a rush to get on with this quilt that I completely forgot to square off the half square triangles! So if you look closely you can see the points aren't all the same, I also somehow managed to attach some of them the wrong way round.  In spite of that I still love how this turned out and the recipient seemed really happy with it too!

Improv Quilt

This quilt was started way back in 2017 when I made my 'Little Critters' quilt. It's funny as I'd say pink and yellow are my favourite colours yet I seem to make a lot of quilts out of blue and yellow! The block in my Little Critters quilt was called the 'Odds and Ends' quilt from Quilting Happiness' by Christina Lane & Diane Gilleland.  Making this block left me with lots of little odds and ends, and when I put them together with the scraps from the quilt I thought they would make a good quilt back.  I put the scraps together in some different shapes and as it started to grow I realised I'd like to make it into a quilt top so used something else to back the quilt and decided to keep working on this top. It started off quite small then I put it aside for two years as I couldn't decide what to do with it.  Earlier this year I found the folder with all the scraps in it so I bought some more of the white & black triangles and just started improvising again. It was so much fun just to let this develop naturally.

Some of it was left over shapes from the other quilt - the lines of black and white fabric so I used them as the were. With the other scraps I made some half square triangles for some shapes.  The most fun bit though was just picking up small scraps, stitching them together without too much thought then making these new pieces into different shapes and patterns. I loved this process and think I'll do some more improv quilts in 2020.

I used a polyester eco batting made from recylced plastic bottles from Cotton Patch as I planned for this quilt to be a picnic blanket and thought that would be quite hardwearing. However it's currently residing on our couch as a winter blanket!

The quilting pattern is from 'Walk: master machine quilting with your walking foot' by Jacqui Gering.  I bought myself a Hera marker so I could try some of the patterns in this book with a bit more ease and it's definitely my favourite new sewing tool!

You can see some of the different stages of this quilt in the photos below. It's nice to have another quilt in our house and I plan to make more for myself and our home next year!

the 'odds and ends' block where the scraps that started this quilt came from

Bear Paw cushion

The Bear Paw quilt block is definitely one of my favourite blocks. I love the name, the striking design, and how easy it is to put together.  I know there are still so many blocks I've never made but I think it would be hard to displace the Bear Paw from my favourites.

A Bear Paw quilt block cushion

This was a birthday present for my brother.  I wanted to make him something using some of the fabric I have that belonged to our mum.  I would like to make him a quilt too but the birthday present was late enough as it is so a quilted cushion it was.  The dark blue fabric is a beautiful cashmere, made in Scotland. I can't remember where it is from but do remember my mum telling me a story of visiting the factory and coming away with this fabric. I've made myself a skirt from it and had some scraps left over. I always thought it would be nice if I could use it for something for my brother.  I decided to use the bear paw as I wanted quite a bold and simple design.   The pale blue wool is a scrap of Harris tweed which my mother-in-law brought back from Harris (she brought me a bag of scraps and I'm sure they will all be used in quilts over time!) I didn't think it would look right with a plain white fabric and wanted something with a bit of texture to complement the wools so I found this Robert Kaufman remnant I picked up in Ray Stitch a while ago though I can't remember what the exact name of it is.

Bear Paw quilt block cushion

The tutorial for the Bear Paw block is one I've used before and it's such a good tutorial. It gives you different sets of measurements for different sized blocks, the instructions are really clear and it gives you midpoint measurements which ensures you get accurate and consistent blocks.  It is also a no-waste method which I like because, well it's no waste but it also makes it very quick!

I used the 14" size block and then found a tutorial online to turn this into a cushion.  I know I should have stretched myself and gone for a zip at the back but I just stuck to the envelope opening.  The instructions in this tutorial provided too thick an envelope though so I had to reduce the size of both back pieces.

In-progress photo of basting all the quilt layers.

The colours are much more muted than I would normally go for but I really love the way it's turned out.  It feels really good to have shared this fabric with my brother by making it into something which can be used every day. I've just finished a Bear Paw baby quilt and feel I'm on a bit of a role with this block as I have another baby quilt planned and some more cushions!

Gift bags

I love making little gifts such as pencil cases and bags but don't always remember to record them here. I thought I'd share these ones as the tutorial I used is so good I thought it was worth sharing again. The elephant drawstring bag was made with some scraps of this organic cotton from M is for Make. I bought this fabric years ago to make curtains for my son's nursery.  They didn't fit in our new home so I washed the fabric and unpicked it all.  It was used to make this quilt and bedding for a dolls bed but I still have plenty left.

This was a present for the son of one of my best friend's so it's nice to use special fabrics for special people!  I chose this book as it was one of Harris's favourites when he was 3/4 years old - we now read the Jolly Rodgers chapter books but he still likes the picture books too of course.

So lets get to the tutorial! It is called the Kids Washbag Tutorial from Handmade Jane.  Obviously it is meant for waterproof fabrics but the tutorial works just as well to make bags for all other purposes.  The one I made for my son is used to transport Lego, cars and other toys when we go on holiday.  The elephant one was used as a book bag but with the intention it would work as a toy bag too.  I've made some before and will definitely make them again!  I made my son's one to match his pencil case but now he's asked if he can have another pencil case so that he can have one in his school bag and one at home so maybe I'll make another drawstring bag to match a new pencil case. This time he's requested superhero fabric so I'll need to do some shopping for this one!

As an aside, I'm not sure how many people still read blogs. I mean I know I do but I definitely don't comment nearly as much as I used to, mainly because the Bloglovin app was so terrible on my phone and I never really got round to looking into a replacement.  I hope people still read this but when I was thinking about whether or not to post I realised I post here as much, if not more, for me than for anyone else. having this reminder of everything I've made together like this is very good for me. Whenever I feel anxious or stressed about what I am doing, or not doing, one way I can cheer myself up is to look at my blog and remind myself of all the things I've created. So that's me up to date with finished makes, now it's time to get on with some of those unfinished ones - cushions, quilts, EPP project etc etc!

Modern fans quilt

You'd think I hadn't been sewing given that my last post here was in June! I haven't finished many projects but I have been sewing over the summer, quite a lot of EPP work on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt as well as a drawstring bag for toys for our holiday. The last big project I finished was this gorgeous quilt made using Suzy Quilts Modern Fans quilt pattern.

I bought this pattern for the sew-along which Suzy Quilts hosted but then of course didn't get round to it at the time. Plus I couldn't really have posted about this on Instagram during the sew-along as I was sewing it as a surprise for a friend's new baby!

The starting point for this was the Moda Yucatan fabric with the cactus. I bought it from M is for Make last summer and had been saving it.  When I saw this pattern I thought it would be perfect.  The gorgeous limey yellow colour is Cirrus solids in Sprout, also from M is for Make. I've had the green and pink fabrics for ages and they worked well with it.  The blue is a Cotton and Steel fabric but I can't remember which one.  The backing fabric is from the Wonderland range of fabrics by Rifle Paper Co. and is the most beautiful quality fabric with so many lovely details in the illustrations.

I was a bit apprehensive about all the curves but Suzy's tutorial is so good I needn't have worried.  I also found using my walking foot helped, both to keep everything together and also because I don't have a 1/4" foot so the walking foot is the only 1/4" measure I have. It definitely meant this piecing was more accurate so I'm using my walking foot for piecing all the time now.  I enjoyed the piecing on this one as it was a bit more involved than the last few quilts I've made.

I did my usual binding method, machine sewing to the front then hand sewing it to the back.  The quilt pattern is just a simple grid and I'm really pleased with how it looks with the curves. I really love the colours in this and think I'll need to buy some more of the Cirrus solids in Sprout, in fact the quality of the Cloud 9 Cirrus solids is lovely and looks a bit linen-like.

My next plan for this quilt pattern is to make a cushion for our house and I'm sure I'll use it to make a quilt again in the future.  Right now though I'm starting to think about Christmas sewing, anyone else?!

Starry Skies quilt

I think this quilt was my first sewalong quilt #starryskiessewalong, I didn't finish by the deadline but having the sewalong was really lovely, seeing everyone's progress and chatting to people.  The quilt pattern is the Starry Skies Quilt by Then Came June patterns.  I finished making the quilt top in May 2018 and finally got it quilted in May 2019!

Starry Skies quilt, pattern by Then Came June

I really should keep a note of which fabrics I buy specifically for projects as it would be interesting to see. In this case I really can't remember. I think I may have bought the Cotton and Steel crosses yellow and mint for this project but I think most of the others were ones I already had. The peach, deep pink and white are the only second-hand fabrics in this quilt, the peach was a large piece of fabric I got in a charity shop in Wales years ago and it's been used in lots of things. The white is a 100% cotton sheet I got in a local charity shop. The pink was given to me by a friend whose grandmother had passed on lots of fabric to her. The small diamonds are from a pink Betty Jackson fabric I bought in Cloth House years ago and made a tank top with, it wasn't very well made so it came apart and has been re-used for quilting projects.  I love these two centre fabrics, I think the terracotta is April Rhodes for Art Gallery Fabrics and the horses is a Leah Duncan print.

I found this instructions for this so clear and easy to follow and I love how the stars aren't in straight lines.  It is obvious in these two close-ups that my stars are far from perfect, they don't line up properly at all. However I don't really care as I love the colours I used and this quilt makes me happy.  I think I'm getting more precise now and have found using my walking foot helps with this as it has a proper 1/4" seam allowance, previously I'd just been using my standard foot and assumed the edge was 1/4" but it's slightly bigger. Also I am slightly more careful with cutting out now than I was a year ago. But really, I'm not that into being precise and perfect anyway, I'd rather have it finished and loved!

Quilt backing, photographed in a garden.

For the quilt back I found a single IKEA sheet in my local charity shop.  I didn't buy it the first time I saw it, kept thinking about it and went back the next week to find it was still there.  The terracotta colour matches the April Rhodes fabric on the front really well and I added in some other pieces as it wasn't quite big enough.  The binding is made from all the little scraps, not cut on the bias this time as there wasn't enough fabric.  This is the second quilt I've made for our own home and by the end of this year I'd like to have another 2 finished for us.  Seeing this quilt, and the one I made for my son's bed, every day brings me joy!

Gift sewing - free pattern

I feel like this post should have a warning - contains many photos of pencil cases!

I had a wee spate of making book bags for gifts in 2017, then again in 2018, though for some reason the second lot never made it to the blog.  Now it seems I've moved my attention to sewing pencil cases.  The main reason for this is the pattern is just so good!  The pattern is the free Canvas Pencil Pouch tutorial from Noodlehead Patterns.  I found the instructions so clear and easy to follow and the result is a really neat professional looking pencil case.  This is a free pattern, thanks Anna! It only has 3 pattern pieces and is perfect for using up scraps.  All you need to add is one 10" zip and some interfacing.

The first one I made was for my son for Christmas and it's already all covered in pen on the inside but I don't mind.  When I create things I want them to be things that are used every day and I love seeing him bringing this out on the table to do his drawing or practice his letters.  The yellow stripes are scraps from my Stripes & Herringbone quilt and the sweet panda/polar bear fabric was a fat quarter from Sew Scrumptious.  I picked up a bunch of lovely metal zips in a charity shop a while ago and this is one of the 10" ones I had, it's perfect for small hands as it has a built in zip pull. 

Photos of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

Then I decided that the older brother of the recipient of my recent Monochrome quilt really needed a pencil case in matching fabric so I made this one up. For this one I interfaced both the outer and lining fabrics to make it a bit sturdier.

Photos of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

This one was for a friend's daughter's 7th birthday.  I love this horse fabric which I also used in a recent quilt top (which still needs quilting). I thought it went really well with this scrap of Kona pink from my Sleep Tight quilt panel. The lining is a lovely wavy stripe fabric I bought years ago in Liberty from their quilting cotton section and I love how nice and bright this pencil case turned out.  I'm sure there will be more to come!

Photo of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

Photo of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

And finally I made this one very last minute for a birthday gift on Saturday, 2 hours before the party. It's nice to know I have a reliable pattern I can whip up quickly now. I bought this fat quarter of flamingo fabrics ages ago with no real purpose, I just really liked it.  It was perfect for this little girl and I've since heard that she really likes it which is great!



Photo of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

Photo of pencil case sewn using Noodlehead free canvas pouch tutorial

Sew u Home Stretch basic crew neck tee

It seems when I need to get over a break in garment sewing that jersey fabric is the way to go, and the Sew U home stretch book provided the pattern again.  I have been needing some new t-shirts for a while as last summer I sent quite a few misshapen ones to fabric recycling and never replaced them. There are quite a few t-shirt patterns I would like to try out but as I had the Sew U Home Stretch book already I thought I would give the basic crew neck pattern a go first. I am so glad I did as I now have 2 new t-shirts which I know will get worn so much.

Today is the first day of Me Made May, if you don't know what that is then check out Zoe's post here for more information.  I haven't decided on a pledge yet that works for me but I've started the month off wearing my new blue/white stripey t-shirt!

I've just amalgamated my two Pattern Review reviews together below. These two items are the first part of my mini-wardrobe for the Pattern Review contest I mentioned in my previous post  Even if I don't get the rest of the wardrobe done in time for the contest I am very happy to have two new t-shirts to wear!


Pattern Description: Basic crew neck t-shirt

Pattern Sizing: XS - Large. I sewed up the size small and my measurements are b34, w29, h 41.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes. However if I’d used the recommended seam allowance on the sleeve hems I think the sleeves would have turned out much shorter than in the drawing.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. The book gives different construction methods graded easy to hard.  I did shoulder seams>attached the neckband by marking 4 equal points on neckband piece & on neckline then stretching it to fit as I sewed>attached the sleeves>twin needle to hem them> sewed one side seam>hemmed the bottom with a twin needle>sewed other side seam. A very quick sew! I did consider using some kind of tape in the shoulder seams but I didn’t have any to hand & realised that I’m still wearing a T-shirt I made 4-5 years ago without stabilising the shoulders & it's holding up fine.  I also didn't overlock the seams on either of these t-shirts, except on the neck band of the blue and white striped one.  The jersey won't fray and no-one else sees the inside except me so I didn't see much point.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really wanted a crew neck pattern like an old favourite T-shirt I have. Not too fitted, a bit boxy and this fitted the bill perfectly.

Fabric Used: Version 1. A very stable cotton jersey from a local fabric shop. The inspiration for this T-shirt was actually an old photo of my mum looking very cool in the 70s in a pair of wide legged navy trousers and a pink or purple and navy striped T-shirt. I wish I could find that old photo! This jersey was so nice to sew with. I just made a dress with a viscose jersey and I cannot get the hem to sit nicely, I've tried hem tape, zig zag, twin needle, wooly nylon in the bobbin case! So it was lovely to sew with a fabric that just behaved itself!
Version 2. A lovely cotton jersey (95% cotton 5% elastane - Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified).  This fabric did curl a bit at the edges but not enough that it made it more difficult to sew with.  I found the stretch twin needle, with wooly nylon in the bobbin case, and a slightly looser tension worked well with this and prevented any tunnelling.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:I shortened it by 2.5” and only used a 1/4” hem on the bottom and sleeves instead of the recommended 3/4”. I'm assuming the hem allowances are bigger because it's given for a cover stitch machine.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes I will definitely sew this again, probably not for a wee while though as I have another few T-shirt patterns is like to try out too.

Conclusion: A perfect everyday T-shirt pattern that I feel has already become a TNT pattern for me!

Pattern Review contest plans

This year I'm determined I'm going to get back into garment sewing and have more of a balance of quilts and clothes. not least because I could really use some new clothes! One of my favourite summer skirts has shrunk and has some stains that won't come out so I think it's going to become part of my next quilt (the non-stained parts of course!).  My two favourite summer dresses are, respectively, 15 years old and vintage (c1980s), so I would really love a new summer dress for this year. I'm also short on t-shirts and a summer jacket.  I am trying really hard not to buy anything new, unless I know who made it and that they were paid and treated fairly for doing so. This means that, along with scouring the charity shops, I hope to make some new clothes for this summer.

When I saw the Mini-Wardrobe contest on Pattern Review I thought it was the perfect starting point!  We're off to Amsterdam for a 4 day break at the end of May so the timing of this contest is perfect - hopefully I can have a nice wee capsule wardrobe ready to take with me.

The contest runs from April 15 - May 15 and the rule is to make a mini-wardrobe that will coordinate and work together, It has to be 5 garments, 3 tops and 2 bottoms and all tops must be able to be worn with each bottom.

These are my plans, all with fabric I already own. From top to bottom these are:
1. Peach/coral fabric from a charity shop. I'm not really sure what it is, maybe viscose, rayon. It's nice and soft and drapes well. This is going to be a Jily top by Ready To Sew but this time without the tie as I already have a pink one with a tie.
2. Turquoise jersey (Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified) from Ray Stitch.  I've just finished this up, it's the Crew neck tee from the Sew U Home Stretch book. I'll post a review soon.
3. Blue/pink striped cotton jersey from Saeeds in Walthamstow. This is also finished already, another Crew neck tee from the same book as above.
4. Rust coloured silk/linen blend from a market stall in Walthamstow. This is going to be the Freemantle trousers. The pattern is printed off and taped together and I hope to make a start on these this weekend.
5. Blue chambray cotton from the Village Haberdashery.  This is going to be another Megan Nielsen Brumby as I love this pattern. My purple version has shrunk and has stains (the skirt I mention at the beginning of this post) so I could do with another in rotation as I tend to wear my Brumby's most days in the summer!  However I am now wondering if I have enough of it to make this longer summer skirt, the Justine skirt from Ready to Sew

I have already sewn the two t-shirts and hopefully I can get started on the trousers this weekend. However we've had a fair bit of lovely weather recently which is throwing a bit of a spanner in the works as I'm so enjoying getting out in the garden and pottering around! This particular patch of wildflowers below is making me extremely happy!  The previous owners of our house really looked after the garden and it's lovely but it's all a bit neat and ordered for me so I'm hoping to make it a bit wilder with more colour and variety over the next few years!

patch of wildflowers in a garden

Monochrome quilt

Isn't it funny how sometimes the things that seem the simplest take the longest to actually do! This quilt was one such project.  I had it in my head that I wanted to make a black and white quilt for some friend's new baby boy.  I knew they would like a monochrome quilt and I knew the new baby's older brother loves pandas so that was my starting criteria.

When I saw this Sevenberry Panda & bear fabric from Sew Scrumptious I knew this was my starting point. I paired it with some circle time fabric from M is for Make.  I already had some of this but of course had to buy more to make this quilt! The black is a Moda cotton and I think the yellow is a Kona cotton, curry probably.  The backing, which I didn't get a photo of, is a lovely soft organic brushed cotton flannel from Ray Stitch.

I really enjoyed making my last half square triangle quilt so I decided to make another.  These are 9" half square triangles (for my previous quilt I used the tutorial from Suzy Quilts as a reminder on making HST). I did think this would be a relatively quick quilt to make but it just took me so long to work out the pattern placement.   Even then after I'd made all the half square triangles I laid it all out and decided there was too much black so had to unpick a few half square triangles and piece together some of the white circle time fabric in order to have enough.  In the end though I am really happy with how this turned out, I think the balance between the dark and light coloured fabrics works well and the yellow binding gives it a nice touch of colour - I don't think I could do a quilt completely in black and white!

The good thing about making smaller quilts is having a little helper to hold them while I take photos. He seems to quite enjoy it too!

I was quite conscious that for this quilt I bought a lot of new fabric, in fact since I started quilting I've bought a lot of new fabric.  I do try and use sheets or duvet covers from the charity shop for quilt backings whenever I can but I am now also going to try and stick to using the fabrics I have and only buying from charity shops for new fabric as much as possible. I've been tidying up my fabric and can't quite believe how much I have accumulated - both for quilting and garment sewing - so it's time to use what I have. 

Next up I have my Starry Skies quilt top basted, pinned and ready to quilt and I'm also hoping to get back to an improvised piecing quilt I've been working on for ages.  What projects have you been working on?