pillow no. 1

This week I finished the first of the new cushion covers for our sofa. I really wanted to try out the Recycled Cords Pillow pattern from Modern Log Cabin Quilting, so I added some more fabrics into the mix and this is the result. I really had fun trying out different fabric combinations and placements and the piecing couldn't have been more straightforward.



The design is so simple yet so effective and now I really want to make more log cabin style blocks in the future! As you can see, I used a linen-cotton blend instead of corduroy, which looks really good as well, I think.



I quilted in the ditch around each row and then did some shadow quilting which is getting more dense in the outer border of the cushion. It's so lovely how quilting adds an additional layer of interest.



This is my favourite corner of the cover. Such nice fabrics and clever patterns. I already started the next cover and am going to annoy you with a little sneak peek:



Let's see how it will turn out! I'm really big on starting new projects instead of finishing old ones right now, so I also cut some fabric to make the A Step Down mini quilt from Quilting From Little Things.



I find myself buying (how does it happen?! ;-)) all this cutesy fabric and thought this would be a nice way to showcase the whimsical prints in my stash. Also, the minis in the book are a cool way to try out new sewing techniques. I'm really looking forward to try this step down piecing method!

Our place looks really nice right now. After my big spring clean, J. got the fever as well and while I was at work this weekend, he changed the soil of all our potted plants and put them in bigger containers. He even got these pretty pebble things to put on top of the soil! Is he a catch, or what?! :-)



I've got two days off and I think I'll spend them mostly sewing and re-watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Sherlock. Sounds like a good plan to me!

a little sewing, a lot of fabric gazing

This little block is all I achieved sewing-wise the past week. It's the March Block of the Month from Jeni's quilt-along. With one of my sewing machines being repaired and me having lots of heated fights with the other, there was not much I could do ... All should be well now, though. My trusty machine is back and I think I finally worked out how to get along with the diva of sewing machines. Let's hope so!



As I couldn't sew as much as I would have liked, I made lots of little piles for potential future projects. For instance, I'd like to make some new cushion covers for our sofa and I think this is the final pile. As you know, I love vibrant colours, but in our living room I prefer more neutral and relaxing tones. I'm thinking of making some traditional patchwork blocks for the cushion fronts. I still have to decide ...



In other fabric news, I was lucky enough to win this cute fabric bundle at the fabricworm blog. It arrived on the exact same day I heard that a friend of mine is expecting a little boy. Fabric destiny?! I see a baby boy quilt in that pile's future!

So, that's it from me for this week. I wish all of you females a great International Women's Day! I think I just might celebrate it with ordering some fabric I've been dreaming about! (Any excuse, right?)

six more weeks of winter

Here I am, back on the internet! Last week blogging didn't really "happen", mainly because I got my yearly spring-clean-frenzy. Do you get that inexplicable urge to purge (;-)) around this time of the year, too? Very odd, but now it looks really nice around here! :-) I wasn't too busy cleaning to break my sewing machine, though ... I don't really know what happened, I was machine-quilting with my walking-foot and suddenly my machine went on strike ... I'm now waiting for the diagnosis from the mechanic. Fortunately, I have another machine, but it only does straight stitch and there's no option for quilting on that one, so I'll have to put some projects on hold. On the other hand, I can go on with my sew-along blocks, so I guess all is not lost!



J. and I had a rare long weekend together and we had the opportunity to go to his family's mökki (summer cottage/cabin) for a couple of days. We had a really lovely time, just relaxing, reading, drawing (me), chopping wood (he), ... We didn't watch TV or go online at all, even though we could have. It was really nice to take some time off and just enjoy living for the moment and doing small daily activities slowly and consciously.





It's still all winter wonderland around here. The landscape is really pretty, all wrapped up in snow. Spring is slowly finding its way to Finland, we've had some really nice sunny days, but I think the snow is still going to last for a while.



I wish you all some time to live for the moment this weekend!

P.S.: I think it's time to watch Groundhog Day again!

couldn't resist the Sparkle

What is it about me and quilt-alongs this year?! I just couldn't resist starting this little Mini version of the Sparkle quilt-along. It just screamed to be made up with some of the Loulouthi prints I have. (Psst ... there's a giveaway going on over there.) I really had fun making this little top, the pattern really is perfect for showcasing pretty fabric. I had to use the seam ripper on the first block, though, because I thought I could get away with not squaring up the HST squares. Of course, I couldn't.



Just look at those little strips and you know that I was kidding myself, big time. Sometimes trying to cut corners just won't help, quite a paradox in this case ... Squaring up is really not my favourite thing to do, but one block at a time it wasn't so bad.



I finished the top today, it really was a fun little project and now I'm looking forward to putting the sandwich together and quilt it. This quilt size is perfect for me to practise my machine quilting!



Probably I'll bind it with the bold Clippings print seen in the bottom left corner. And probably it will become a wall hanging. Do you have good tips for hanging quilts?

One more thing: I can't resist to show you the Valentine's Card J. gave me:



Isn't it cute? :-) It's by one of my favourite Finnish artists, Virpi Pekkala. There's not much info about her on the net, but there's a little facebook fan group where you can see more of her work. Her drawings are always so pretty and full of humour and little details. This one is called "Yhdessä on hyvä olla", meaning "It feels good to be together". Did you see the dog and cat under the quilt top?! I think I'll frame this one and hang it next to my sewing machine.

I wish you all a great weekend! :-)

this and that

So, this last week I've been up to all kinds of stuff ... Over the weekend, we visited Stockholm with J.'s family. We went by ferry and had an afternoon to visit the city. I had grand plans of taking lots of pictures, but my camera didn't quite co-operate. It was so cold, it shut down all the time, so I only have this tiny mosaic to show you:



The weather was beautifully sunny and Stockholm really is a beautiful city. It was so cold, though, that we didn't spend much time exploring it. Especially since I had a cold already. We went inside one department store, because I wanted to see what's new in Swedish tableware and fabric design. There really are some pretty things. I especially loved this fabric, but didn't buy any, because I couldn't really think of what to do with it. But I think I'll definitely use the colour palette as inspiration in the future.

I also did some sewing, I finished my second Swoon block:



Again, I couldn't manage entirely without my seam ripper, but it was smoother sailing than with the last one. I really like the colours of this one. I'm a bit nervous about how it will all come together, though. I tried to group the fabrics in pairs that kind of clash and I like that idea, I just hope it will all look nice in the finished quilt!

I also made the February HST Block:



I really like this flying geese pattern! I'm again already looking forward to the next block! I will try to use some different fabric for that one. For this one I wanted fabrics that would blend well to make very homogenous flying geese blocks, but I've got some other prints I'd like to include in these sampler blocks.

I got this print in the mail:



It was a birthday present from J. and it's the Paris Map Print from Famille Summerbelle. I really love it and the colour is perfect. Now I just have to find a nice frame for it!

Today, I've got a day off and plan to spend some quality time with some good tea and a couple of magazines.



There's Mollie Makes issue 10 and February's Elle Interiör to pore over. There are so many inspiring things and colour palettes in both of them. Perfect for a post-flu lazy day in!



As is stitching away at my Daisychain ABC's! I'm at R now and as I make progress with this sampler my embroidery skills develop. I actually like making french knots now! Those little daisies are so pretty, I can't believe I stitched them!

I hope you'll have time to do some small things that bring you joy this week, too!

my first Swoon block

It's finished! My first Swoon block!



The fabric had been cut for some time already, but I finally got around to sewing it! I finished the block all in one sitting, because I was so curious to see how it would turn out, that I just couldn't stop before. It's not perfect, but I still think it's really pretty. The making of the block was much easier than I thought, although that doesn't mean I didn't use the seam ripper ... My impatience resulted in pieces being sewn on the wrong way or to the wrong seam ... However, in the end it all came together.



I think the size of this block is a great motivator. It made me keep on sewing for longer as I usually would have on a workday. I'm really looking forward to how all the blocks will look together. I was thinking about my choice of making a solid Swoon and I am still happy with it, although it definitely is a great pattern to showcase prints.



I also like the colours of this block. They are a bit out of my comfort zone, but they have this really nice almost vintage vibe to them, I think. They go really well with the January page of the Camilla Engman calendar I got myself for Christmas.



Such a pretty pattern! J. likes it as well and even asked me if we could keep this one for ourselves for a change. Yes, we can! :-)

Tangerine Pearl Quilt

The baby quilt I was working on is finished! I really like how it came out and I decided to call it Tangerine Pearl, because a) Kirsty made me aware of the fact that tangerine is Pantone's colour of the year and b) the little girl I made it for is called Helmi, which means ... you guessed it ... pearl. And the shades of gray have something of the sheen of a pearl to them, so it somehow all works out ...



The binding in a darker colour really gives a nice frame and finishing touch to this quilt, I think. I have to say that there were times when I shied away from orangey fabric, but in combination with the grays and purple it really is very pretty. There will definitely be more citrus fruit colour in my sewing in the future!



The flannel backing is so, so soft and pretty in itself. It really is perfect for a baby quilt, especially for a baby born in winter.



So snuggly! :-) I decided to enter the quilt in the Tangerine Tango Challenge over at flickr. There are so many great entries in that group! Tangerine really packs a punch! :-)

As an end note, I'm a bit sad to see that picnik is closing. I've really enjoyed playing with their great and fun features lately, as you might have noticed. Now I'm thinking about what to do when I feel like adding something extra to my photographs in the future. I have Photoshop Elements and want to learn more about using it. Do you have any good tips about books on Photoshop Elements or do you know anything about Google+ which apparently offers similar features to picnik? Your thoughts and advice would be really welcome! :-)

Have a great day!