My first quilt - making big squares from little squares!

Making this quilt is turning out to be quite addictive...
Once I cut out the 96 'little' squares I couldn't help but make them straight into 'big' squares!

First I lay them out onto the table to pick which groups of 4 would go together - I really wanted to make sure that no two same squares would be the same:



And then I sewed them together :) It was actually REALLY quick to do!
First I pinned the squares together in pairs and sewed all of the pairs in one MASSIVE continuous strip. I then ironed out the seams and pinned each of the pairs with another pair, then sewed THEM in one continuous strip!
After some major ironing I lay all of my squares out on the floor - I'm really pleased with how they have turned out:



(I'll make sure to take a few more 'work in progress' photos when I sew the big squares together! My explanation might make more sense that way :P)

My first quilt - in progress!

For the past few days I've been busy cutting out squares for my very first quilt!

I'm making a 'scrap quilt' - basically trying to use up all of my random small pieces of fabric (of which I have a LOT) and trying to not think too much about a colour scheme or pattern or anything...

Thanks to my Mum I have a VERY useful rotary cutter, cutting mat a quilting ruler thing (one of my very lovely christmas presents...) which is definitely time-saving! and so far I have 157 'big' squares and 96 'little' squares:



I've cut out 96 'little' squares to make up 24 'big' squares and to use up more of my really little pieces of fabric:



I still have some more cutting to do and I have to make my 'little' squares into 'big' sqaures but I'm getting there slowly!

I shall keep you updated on my progress :)

St David's Day Daffodils!

I know it's still 9 days until St David's day but I got this idea in my head and just couldn't get it out! I simply had to make these badges:



e-mail me if you want one!!
(newton.rose.mail@gmail.com)

Folksy!

The time has finally arrived!
I have JUST opened my shop at folksy (an online craft selling community)!

I'm not selling all of my products online since a lot of what I make is very personalised and therefore better dealt with in person but I have a couple of things up at the moment and hope to post more things for sale soon!

Click on the link below (the folsky button thing) to get to my shop; make sure you check out some of the great things for sale by others too!

Turning baby clothes into...

Just before Christmas a very nice lady had an awesome idea; she asked me if I could make her some of my 'products' for her daughter Eliza but out of Eliza's old baby clothes!

So after Christmas I took 8 'baby clothes items' and got busy sewing and I made her a whole goodie bag full of things!




I had talked with Eliza's mum about most of the things I made in advance but when I reached the end of my list I still had LOADS of fabric left over! It occured to me that up until now I had been making baby clothes into things that didn't resemble baby clothes AT ALL so I decided maybe it was time to try to keep the idea of the baby clothes rather than hide them away. I cut out all the pockets, buttons, labels, fringing and special little details and patchworked together a cushion cover :) It turned out REALLY well and I was SO happy with the result!



Although I did also really like the back of the 'mini pillow' I made with one of the patches on Eliza's t-shirts:


SO, for Eliza (and her mum) I made:
a name drop
a mini pillow
2 lavender hearts
a bird
a brooch
and a memory cushion cover

All items are priced individually so I can make as many or as few items as required!

New Top!

I got the idea for this top while I was in London in September and actually MADE it before Christmas but I didn't get around to photographing it until now!

I knew I wanted to sew a quote or a saying onto a jumper but finding a good thing to write was a challenge, luckily I was reading the book 'A Week in December' by Sebastian Faulks, near the end of the book one of the characters quotes a French poet saying "Il n'y a qu'une vie, c'est donc qu'elle est parfaite" which means 'There is only one life, it is therefore perfect'
And I thought it was a perfect thing to write on a jumper :)

Then I picked out a long cowl neck jumper dress and started sewing...

Here are some pictures:

Name Drop Orders!

I said I'd post pictures of name drops once they were all delivered so here they are :)
This isn't all of them but its a good selection I think!

Thank you to eveyone who ordered one from me, I hope that everyone you gave them to loved them!

Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a really lovely christmas and got lots of nice gifts!

I had a busy time finishing name drop orders before christmas but I DID have just about enough time to make most of my gifts this year, I love giving home made presents and I was really pleased with how they turned out :)
I was also really happy with how my wrapping turned out... I'm always a fan of a bit of brown paper and string but home-made magazine bows finished them off nicely - I got the instructions from here: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-gift-bow-from-magazine-page.html





I made an awesome 'peanut the wee elephant' for my cousin once removed, I got the pattern from the book 'last minute patchwork and quilted gifts' which I totally love:
http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/2007/09/last-minute-pat.html

I added a little bee to its ear :)


I got some awesome gifts too, lots of which were directed towards my love of crafty things :) I hope to be making loads of awesome things soon, just as soon as I get around to it...
I'll keep you posted :)

Made by Hand and new 'mini pillows'!

Today me and my Mum went to the fabulous 'Made by Hand' show!

http://www.madebyhand-wales.co.uk/

It's been on for the last three days in Tredegar House in Newport, which is awesome since its only half an hour from my house!

It was SO nice to see all the amazing things that people make but it was even better to see some faces from the Origin show; Michelle, Helen, Becky and Hanne it was lovely to see you :)

I've also been busy making LOTS of christmas presents lately, unfortunately I can't yet post pictures of them on here (I'll just have to wait until January to post those...) but there is ONE thing that I can post pictures of:

My 'mini pillows', they are about 19 by 32cm and can be personalised with any name/word:

Trip down memory lane!

This week I had two successful stalls;

Monday I had a trip back to my old pre-school! Apart from the room looking MUCH smaller than I remember, everything was awesome, everyone was SO welcoming and I had a fabulous night :) I even won an amazing raffle prize!!

Here is me and my stall:


Yesterday I went back to my old primary school! It was a bit sad to see that the school has changed beyond recognition (well, one half of it has anyway) but it was still a good afternoon and it was nice to see some faces from the past!

So a BIG thank you to Vicky and Susan for all their help and organisation :)

NOW, I just have to complete all my orders before Christmas!
I better get sewing....