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!

procrastination

So, why is it that one is suddenly terribly productive when in fact one should be doing something entirely different? (No, don't answer that ...) Anyway, I've been busy procrastinating and finished my first HST Block of the Month. And what I found out is:



Yes, they are! I really had fun making this block using a technique new to me. I think the star pattern is really pretty and I'm really looking forward to whichever block Jeni will be presenting to us next month! Below you can see a close-up of the fabrics I used:



The safety pins are Monaluna Sew Happy and the flowers Just Dandy by Josephine Kimberling. I don't have the selvedge of the aqua fabric anymore. I bought it a long time ago on sale here in Helsinki.

But this is not all. The baby quilt I am working on is now ready for having the binding sewn on by hand:



I used a print from MoMo Just Wing It! for the binding and I think the purple really brings everything together nicely and provides a nice frame for the patchwork.

Also, I've cut the fabrics for my first Swoon block!



It was really a close call! If you ever want to make this quilt and are using FQs, know that there's no wiggle room! But with sweat on my forehead and bated breath I managed to cut everything! Let's see how it'll come together! I chose to make an all solids Swoon, because I thought it might be more timeless. The coloured fabrics I use are all from a Moda Bella Solid FQ bundle (correction: it was an Amy Butler Quilting Solids bundle!!! Sorry!!!) I bought from Pink Chalk Fabrics last year. The white is Kona Snow.



I think it'll be quite pretty. :-)

I'll leave you with a little mosaic of some lovely notions a good friend of mine sent me for my birthday:



Aren't they cute? I already used the pins, they're the perfect size for pinning binding to quilts. :-)

Maybe procrastination has its merits, after all ...

alchemy

Hello, I'm back and it's 2012! :-) I hope you all had a good start into the new year! I was quite busy in the past few weeks, but Monday I was finally able to squeeze in some sewing!



A friend of mine had a little girl in December and I'm making a little quilt for her. Above you can see part of the top. I used this flannel fabric as a backing and pulled fabrics to match from my stash. I decided on a simple square patchwork design. The squares are 10 cm plus seam allowance and the top is 9 times 8 squares. I'm hand-quilting it with light pink embroidery floss. I think it's going to be pretty. While I was cutting and sewing, I was thinking how cutting up fabric and sewing it back together really is a strange thing. Somehow crazy, even. However, the shuffling and re-connecting of the fabrics has some kind of magic to it, or at least it must be something like alchemy. Mixed up together the fabrics are even more beautiful than all on their own. What do you think?


Like everyone else, I was looking back on the past year and decided to make a mosaic of everything I finished last year.



This is what I found from my flickr account. Is this really all? Mmmmh ... Of course, there are some unfinished projects lurking around here, as well. Somehow, though, I thought I had sewn more. I'm really happy about all the things I made and about the creative outlet sewing provides me, but one thing is sure, I bought more fabric last year than I used up ...! I really hope I'll manage to sew more this year!

As for other crafty plans, I would like to take part in two sew-alongs. Firstly, the swoon-along and secondly the HST Block of the Month sew-along over at In Color Order. I bought the Swoon pattern last year and I've also got my fabrics picked out already, so this sew-along is coming at a perfect time for me! Also, I love sampler quilts and I think the slow pace of making one block per month is really appealing, so I decided to take part in the HST sew-along, too.
So, big goals, but most importantly I want to keep on having fun sewing and writing about it here! Do you have any crafting goals or projects that you are really excited to start?