Two Owls

 

In January, I posted pictures of wonky stars with golden fish in the centre. As my favourite projects are zipper bags, I used the two blocks to make two zipper bags. Since the golden fish by Tula Pink make such great centres of the stars, I looked through other fabrics of hers for new „star candidates“. My eye fell on barn owls in a great pink-violet colour combination. They are such beauties in themselves! I think the stars turned out very nice.

I quilted on my Babylock Sashiko:

On the backside, I used fabric selvages from Grunge fabrics, they are just amazing!

I´m pretty sure, those are not the last stars I have sewn:) 

Happy sewing!

Michaela 

 

Golden Fish

I bought some Tula Pink fabrics a few weeks ago. Tula Pink fabric is something, that you admire and play with first, then you add it to your stash and admire it again and again, and only when you really must, you cut into it at last. And so it was with those fabrics too.  I was thinking about a special gift for my great English teacher and looked through my fabric treasures to find something exceptional. Holding Tula Pink fabric with golden fish in my hand I realized, that I had found the right one. A golden fish that can fulfill three wishes!

The fish was a great motif for the centre of the star block I learned at the end of the year, and there were exactly the right shades of Grunge fabrics in my stash, so I was able to start sewing immediately.

The way I sew the star blocks produces two blocks in one go, which I like very much.

For Věrka, I chose the brighter one:  

On the back, I used the selvages of Grunge fabrics, I love them!

I finally decided to try a new way to make a zipper pouch. It turned out very nice. 

I had to cut off a piece of the bright back panel at a certain moment. The piece was so beautiful and cheerfully colorful that I didn't have the heart to just throw it away. After some thinking, I made a tag using an inscription from the selvage of a Cori Dantini fabric. 

 

The other panel was changed into a cute zipper pouch in a classical way. 

Woow, a nice first project of the New Year, isn’t it?

Happy sewing

Michaela 

Pockets everywhere you look

 

Looking back to the past two months, I was actually a busy bee. I started (and finished) an EPP rainbow project (more in my next blog), I started two Halloween bags and I made a number of zipper pockets. Let´s start with the overview of the pockets!

Pink is actually not my favorite color. Nevertheless, when I saw the pink, winged piglets, I couldn’t resist buying them. And what other colour to decorate them with if not pink?

In the meantime, I fell in love with fabrics by Heather Ross. I couldn’t wait for her new fabrics with those cute bunnies to arrive! It was the clear first choice when sewing a pouch for my daughter´s birthday (she chose the blue one).

 

I finally found time to play with the beautiful fabrics from the series Here Kitty Kitty by Cori Dantini. What a great joy! I love the motifs and the fine colors very much. I enjoyed the embellishing and embroidering immensely. 

I was a busy bee, wasn´t I?

Happy stitching

Michaela 

Starting Fussy Cutting

In the last few weeks, I´m totally fascinated by fussy cutting. I must admit, I´m strongly influenced by the book Fussy Cutters Club by Angie Wilson.

 

There is not much new patchwork know-how in it (I mean sewing on itself), but it´s a great source of inspiration for everybody who likes small or more significant prints and pictures, be it animals, flowers, or objects. Yes, I definitely am such a person!

Since the book arrived, I´ve been obsessively in search of lovely small prints. I have grand plans of course, but I started with simple squares. I enjoy the process of cutting out the pictures. In the meantime, I set up my boxes for different-sized squares and am adding busily more and more to them. I love the fabrics by Heather Ross, Cori Dantini, and Tula Pink! They are like being designed for fussy cutting!
I love the smallest squares the most, so it is no wonder that I started using them first.
Here the 1,5 x 1,5-inch squares

 

I´m working on 2x2-inch squares:

Other shapes will follow, I´m going to try EPP hexagons and other templates too.  

Happy stitching!

Michaela

Two Zippered Bags for two Sisters in Law

I´m planning a short trip to the Netherlands to visit my good friends. Due the pandemic we didn´t see each other for a very long time and I´m really looking forward to it.  I have still to wait a few weeks, so what could be better than to pass the time by sewing gifts?
Going through my stash I found a small bundle of scraps, all from the fabric collection "Wordsmith" by Janet Clare for Moda Fabrics. I knew immediately, I found the right material to make two small pockets for two sisters in law: similar, from the same family, but still very different, like my two friends.
I worked in my favourite technique – sew as you go. After sewing all four panels I still found them unfinished. Linen lace and the embroidery with linen thread were definitely the right finish.

Voila, here they are!

 

Happy stitching!

Michaela