Sneak peeks and unfinished projects

This past week, I felt a bit stuck when it came to sewing and thinking about new projects to make, but now I'm beginning to get rolling again. Above, you can see a little quilt I'm working on. I made the top with some Curio charm squares and some grunge yardage, the sashing is Kona Snow. Now the backing fabric has finally arrived, and I can start thinking about the quilting. I decided to get a print from Basic Grey's new line, Hello Luscious, since the colours go really well with the Curio line. I love how much this looks like spring.



The design of the quilt top is really simple, so I thought I'd try to add some interest by means of quilting. I really feel like doing some hand quilting, so I got some pretty variegated embroidery floss to go with the quilt colours.



I'm still not quite sure what kind of pattern to quilt it in, but I'd like to try to integrate some florals. Let's see.



While I was stuck when it came to crafts, I did some mindless knitting. This is cotton yarn and it's going to become a humble dishcloth, loosely based on the instructions in this book. It's been some time since I last knitted anything and now I want to knit more again. It can be so relaxing!

Another relaxing activity is watching movies. I really love the cinema and finally went to see The Artist this week. I really loved it and want to watch it again, soon! Such a beautiful film! Try to catch it on the big screen, if you still have a chance!

Have a great weekend!

pillow no. 2

The second pillow is finished! It is slightly bigger than the last one and I used the traditional block Night and Noon (instructions from this book - I have a German edition from 1998). I framed it with the dark brown cotton-linen blend in a log cabin style.



For the centre of the pillow I chose the building plan print for the large square. I love that little couple there taking a walk!



Again, I tried to highlight the pattern with quilting and quilted the corners in a stripey pattern becoming denser and then more sparse again. For the centre I chose a simple grid, since I thought it would go well with the technical nature of the print. I think it came out really nice! I don't love this one as much as the first one, but it's really pretty, nonetheless!



For the next one, I'm planning to make a version of this pillow, since I really liked the block design and the quilting. There also might be a bonus pillow in the works. I finished the A Step Down mini quilt top and J. said I should make a pillow cover instead of a mini quilt. He said it would get more use and appreciation that way and I think the man is right.



This is really making me smile! :-) I think I'll quilt it by hand in the same manner the mini was quilted in the book. Now I just have to think about the border (should I make a bound pillow or one with a border?) and the backing fabric. Also, I'm thinking about some Easter sewing. I got the March issue of Elle Interiör and among other things there's this really great palette inside. I just had to make a little stack of fabrics!



I'm thinking Easter tablecloth or maybe some patchwork baskets? Or some drawstring bags using some of the great ribbon I ordered from Pink Chalk fabrics?



Ah, the possibilities! :-) I hope I'll be able to show you something next week!

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!