Futile Attempts

Ok, here is the problem. I am still trying to get used to my sewing machine. Man, they are complicated. And all the ironing I have to do now, never had to when sewing by hand. But I am getting there.

Tried making a purse yesterday and failed. Tried again today and it looks much better.

Here is the failed attempt (I'll show you the semi-successful one another day)


















Now a few questions for you experienced sewists.

- Do I have to backstitch all the time? Or how do I make sure the seam doesn't come apart? I want to try some strip piecing and am worried the seams won't hold when I cut the blocks.

- Am thinking of getting a walking foot. Can I use it for piecing and normal sewing too or do I have to change feet all the time?

Will have more questions when they occur to me. Any advice is welcome.

Love, Nadine

Progress

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What's next?

I haven't really done much sewing lately, and it feels very strange. I have been playing with my new sewing machine and have reorganised the studio.

Now it's time to get some sewing done. I want to try a small baby quilt completely sewn on the machine to see how much faster it is. The fabrics I have chosen are some pinks and blues on one side and zodiac fabric with oranges, beiges and browns on the other. Let's see how it goes.

Love, Nadine








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Last Finished Project

Hurrah. This is my last finished project of 2010 I started it in December and worked on it over Christmas and finished binding it on New Years Eve.

It's another Quilt-as-you-go-Quilt using Amy Butler on one side and Far Far Away on the other (I can honestly not decide which one is the quilt top).

And this might also be my last completely handmade project as I am now the proud owner of a brand spanking new sewing machine. Yay.

Hope you like this one.

Love, Nadine

close up:




The back (?):




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Monkey's Christmas Present

Finally, I can show you what I made for the Monkey. I wanted to make a quilt using fabrics with pin-ups on them but as I couldn't find any I liked I had to design my own and had them printed on spoonflower.com.

I used images of Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and more and had swatches printed to use as centre pieces in the quilt blocks. I also used fabrics that show doodles I did by hand and then played with on spoonflower. This is the result with a black white and red colourstory which has a certain significance to us.

The back is made in a similar design but using Kaffe Fassett fabrics in jewel colours instead.

(Very sorry for the bad quality pictures, I took them on the iPhone and they didn't turn out very well. The colours on the back are more purple, turquoise and black rather than red as in the photos. My digital camera isn't much better than the iPhone actually, especially in bad lighting conditions. Shame you can't see what we see.)


I hope you like it.

Love. Nadine

What I'm working on

I have been really slow lately and haven't been able to do much quilting. But now my flight home have been cancelled and I am staying in England with Monkey's family over the holidays I might as well do something productive.

This is another reversible quilt-as-you-go project with Amy Butler on one side and Far Far Away 1 on the other. I am experimenting a bit again anc will try to see if I can do it without having to use sashing. Let's see if it works.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and a relaxing holiday, oh and not to forget: may you have lots of beautiful fabric in your stockings :)

Merry Christmas!

Love, Nadine


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Leonie's Pencil Roll

Hurrah. Another Christmas pressie finished. This one if for Monkey's niece Leonie and I think she will really love it. She paints and draws all the time and to my shame I have to admit she's shown me off a few times. Her artwork is very creative and a lot less confined compared to mine. Maybe I am showing my age there.

I saw a similar pencil case on Oh Fransson! and thought I should try it. It is very straight forward and one doesn't need a pattern for it. I am very happy with the result and think it turned out quite nicely for a first try.

I am thinking of making more of these and maybe selling them in my etsy shop once I have one. I could also personalize them if customers wish it. Hopefully in the new year, well, that's the plan anyway.

I hope you like it.

Love, Nadine