Author: whirlywhimsies

A Whimsical Ruched Patchwork Pumpkin Pincushion: Mission Accomplished!

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My lovely (well, I think so!) ruched patchwork pincushion is now finished. I changed the angle so that I could see more ruched surfaces at any one time and added some more pumpkin leaves. I also changed the pale twill tendril for a darker felt one. I felt it was more dramatic and a nicer contrast to the oranges of the pumpkin body. I kept the stalk pale – again for contrast and because, well, sometimes I’m just a little contrary and it’s the way I wanted it to be.

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Then,  just as I said to my daughter Wendee, “I think I’ll put a button here to break up these leaves at the back, what do you think?” She said “Yeah, that’s okay, but a snail would be better!” So of course from there it snowballed to Ladybirds as well, because this is Whirly Whimsies after all so there has to be some whimsy about it – perfect! Just goes to show you that 2 heads are sometimes better than 1.

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This side-on view shows the change in angle. I added leaves underneath too. I wanted it to look nice from all angles, and there were one or two ugly (and tenacious) bits of hot glue to hide, so the leaves did the trick.

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Now it’s going straight on to my newly tidied sewing table……..

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Ruched Pumpkin Pincushion – my new “Work In Progress”…..

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I just started this just after noon today and I love the way it’s turning out. It comes from a tutorial from Polka Dot Pineapple for her Ruched Patchwork Pumpkins. I tweaked it a little as I wanted a more “pumpkiny” shape. A Huon Pine candle holder forms the base. I picked it up at an Op Shop (thrift store) for a dollar or so and then used 9 mm dowel for the post.

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The pumpkin I made is about 13 cm in diametre and 9 cm high – perfect size for lots of pins and needles! I added a twill ribbon stem (with pipe cleaner inside,) a tendril (also twill ribbon with pipe cleaner inserted) and a pumpkin leaf using a pumpkin leaf template  that I got from an internet site a little while ago.

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Yes, I know it’s very orange, but you can never have too much orange in your life, I always say!

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Works in Progress…..

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This should really read "works in progress" as there are several.
Number 1: when finished will be the decorations on a fancy-shmancy spool holder for my sewing room wall.

100_8538  100_8543 Here are some pictures of some of the decorations for it. More will follow with a cameo of Hubby after using his drop saw to put the holes in for the dowel pegs….

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Number 2: This swag used to be dark green and maroon and very sad looking.  I bought it from one of the local op shops (thrift stores.)In keeping with the colours of my sewing room curtains, I tweaked it and made it new again. The centres of the spools I used fabric and glued it to the shank. Dark brown and light brown alternated. Then I tied strips of fabric in Moda Bella Solids: Parchment and Christmas Red, purple and  a light orangey brown colour. This still has to be hung up in its proper place and I may or may not add a small hand pieced emellishment to each heart…

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Number 3: Here’s a zippered pouch I made for piecing on the go as well as my first attempt at a pieced heart  (this is the WIP, the others are all finished YAY!). The coaster is reverse appliqued (also a first attempt!) and is basically just there to show I’ve not been totally idle!

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And…… back to Number 1: Here’s the spool holder in production. There will be a quilted flower pot underneath where the masking tape is with the dresden plate pictured above on it for a decoration. There will also be stems, leaves and hopefully tendrils if I can make them happen, so watch this space! It’s getting to that exciting stage where seemingly random bits of stuff all meld together into something quite extraordinary! Can’t wait to see it on the wall and finished!

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Number 4: Accessory to the zippered pouch, and my last work in progress is a needle book of my own design. It has a pocket on the front and back inside covers and little decorations on the pages. I have finished the outside, but still need to finish off the inside. I have had to use it in the mean time. It will have to wait a little to be fully finished, as I have a few little sewing jobs to do besides my WIPs. Seems I’d better get a wriggle on and crank up the ol’ sewing machine…….. More later……

Handy Tutes I’ve discovered along the way…..

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One day I came across some handy Quilting tutorials that I’d like to share.
First cab off the rank – Quilting Accuracy 101 and 102.

http://quiltingaccuracy101.blogspot.ca/

http://quiltingaccuracy102.blogspot.com.au/

“Perfect Every Time” quilt binding: *TUTORIAL* Perfect Every Time Quilt Binding | Vanilla Joy
http://www.vanillajoy.com/tutorial-perfect-every-time-quilt-binding.html

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cluckclucksew.com%2F2013%2F01%2Fmachine-binding-tutorial.html&h=OAQHFnMH8

Ten Time-saving Quilting tips for Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-timesaving-quilting-tips.html

 

 

Handy cheat sheets from Brightlinen.blogspot.com

whirlywhimsies2 Comments

Have you ever wanted a quick way to work out how many of a certain size square you can get from each fat quarter or layer cake fabric piece? Well, I came across this blog via a post in my facebook newsfeed. They can be printed up so that you can refer to them whenever you want to work out how much fabric you need to get for your next quilt……….and let’s face it – there is always another quilt.

http://brightlinen.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/cuts-from-fat-quarter.html

http://brightlinen.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/square-cuts-from-layer-cake-square.html

The Inbox Jaunt

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The Inbox Jaunt | Quilts. Photography. Family.
http://www.theinboxjaunt.com

This is a fantastic blog by Lori Kennedy for anyone who quilts, whether a rank beginner like myself, or a seasoned quilter. Full of fantastic ideas, weekly free motion quilting tutorials, tips and other fantastic stuff. Be sure to check it out. You will not be disappointed.

The genesis of my quilting obession!

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100_8260  100_8291 100_8302  100_8303The genesis of my quilting obession!

This was made for my middle daughter for her birthday. I designed and pieced it then took the plunge and quilted it myself – my first ever quilt! Brave of me, wasn’t it?

Then, because I was instantly hooked, I had to make two mug rugs to go along with it. I had some scraps of the borders left over and it was as if they were just crying out “Make me into something! Make me into something!”

I got a bit adventurous (again) and tried some different quilting on one – stipple stitch between puffy tentacles leading into the middle… I will try that effect again as I absolutely loved it!

I used Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% wool batting on this quilt. It made the puffy bits stand out nicely, which is the effect I wanted. So far I have  used:

  • Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% wool batting
  • 100% cotton batting
  • 60% cotton/40% bamboo batting

but the Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% wool batting is my preferred batting so far. It is smooth, feels lovely, gives your quilt a nice drape, has  very little shrinkage and quilts like a dream. There was no bearding on this batting, but there was with the cotton/bamboo blend.

Feeding my habit….

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Since my number 2 quilt, I have been doing some little projects (involving quilting of course!) A friend of ours had a baby, so I had to quilt something for the little one… this came in the form of a change mat, burp cloth and a rag quilted bib. I found some fantastic dinosaur fabric which was just right for the bibs and burp cloth for a little boy. The bib pattern is my own, so Henry, I’m afraid you are my guinea pig for this particular project….

I also made some (okay, a lot, and have orders for more!) microwave bowl potholders which I call Bowl Buddies. They are from a pattern I purchased from handmadebits4u.etsy.com created by Rita Wetzel. These are fantastic little potholders, and have saved me burning my lap and fingers many times.

After a few I got more creative and decided that the emerald green on for hubby would look great with stipple stitch on the outside (not sure if you can see it from the pictures) and I did straight lines on the inside and my daughters bright spotty one I made red on one side and purple on the other (she couldn’t make up her mind which she liked better and neither could I so I did both!)

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