Love Squared

Today it is B and I's wedding anniversary. We were married 5 years ago today and have been together for 11 years. This year has been a huge year for us, what with moving across the country and losing our support systems. But it has been great for our relationship and I wanted to make him some that simply said I love you.

And I think this does.

It's my first time piecing something this small. All the squares are 2.5 inches and man did I learn a lot from this little wall hanging. It is far from perfect, but the fact that I learnt so much from this little piece is worth it completely. I plan on making this in a larger size too. Still with 2.5 inch squares though, so it may take a while!

And after brief thoughts of simply hanging it with thumbtacks in the wall I got a case of the guilts and added pockets in the back before I bound it.

It will end up mounted about our bed and don't tell B but I plan to make a whole heap of wall hangings to cover that wall completely.

And I didn't just get him this for our anniversary. He got a bottle of liqueur that he is now obsessed with thanks to our neighbour (Thanks Andrew!)

And he surprised me with this gorgeous necklace and a box of Lindt Truffles!

Totally unexpected too! It seems that man is getting better at keeping secrets and hiding gifts. 

{Tutorial} Super Easy Place Mats- Part 1

This tutorial is very photo heavy so I am breaking it up into two parts. Today we will be making the top of the place mat, the 'quilt sandwich'  and quilting it. Tomorrow I will walk you through how I made the scrappy binding and the binding of the place mat.

Please note I made a rookie mistake with these place mats. I have no idea why I did it the binding the way I did! But I stitched it down on the back first instead of the front... as I said ROOKIE mistake! I'll explain it all better in the next part of this tutorial.

What you need:

18- 5 inch x 5 inch squares in print fabric (I used Good Fortune Charm Squares)
18- 5 inch x 5 inch squares in plain (I used a linen fabric)
Fabric for backing- I used some quilters calico

How to:

Choose your fabrics and arrange how you would like them to be sewn.

Then sew right side together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance starting on the top row, moving left to right.

Press seams either open or to the side, which ever your prefer.

Pin the two completed rows matching up the seams and then sew the rows together.

Press seam.

And now you have the top of your place mat finished in super speedy time. 

Do the same with the remaining squares. Below are my 6 tops waiting to be basted and quilted.

When making smaller projects that require batting I try to use up my batting scraps. I showed how I join them the other day over at And Sew We Craft.

Cut your backing to size and layer it right side down. Place batting on top then place the quilt top (the place mat) right side up.

Now because the place mat is only small you won't necessarily need to baste it. I did for the first one but then didn't bother for the remaining five.

Quilt which ever way you like. I free motion quilting mine because it is pretty fast and I was on a limited time frame. 

Then all you have to do is square up you quilt sandwich by trimming up the edges.

Then repeat with the other 5.

Meet me back here in the morning and I'll show you how I made the scrappy binding and how I finished them. 

Part 2 can be found here!

Working through my to do list

I have been meaning to make a plastic bag holder for a long long time and just recently I seen one when I was reading In Color Order and thought to myself again I really must make one soon.

Then low and behold a few days later Jeni blogged a tutorial.  So yesterday I went to the bottom of one of my fabric piles and pulled out some fabric that I bought a long long time ago that I thought would be perfect for my kitchen.

The tutorial is really simple and straight forward and if I didn't have to keep starting and stopping I think it could have been done in under and hour, even with the quilting.

I decided to try something new for the quilting since it was only small, but realised that I really shouldn't be FMQ when the kids are around.

 

 

I tried to do daisies, but they just looked silly!

Not to worry, under my sink no longer looks like this!

 

All those plastic bags are now stored neatly in this inside my pantry. 

And on a side note, I have to apologise for all the iPhone photo's lately. I broke the lens on my camera a little while ago and am waiting until we go to Perth to replace it. That trip is only a few weeks away, Yay!


I'm linking up here:
Made With Love

Finished

You are probably sick of this quilt by now, but I just had to share. It is finally finished!

It only took about 8 months, but when I started it I had no clear vision of what I wanted to so with the fabrics.

But I am happy with the results!

the back

It is now taking pride of place on our lounge as we long for cooler weather (it is supposed to hit 40 degrees Celsius again today!)

Are you longing for cooler weather or are you just coming out of winter and longing for long summer days?

I am linking up here:
TGIFF!
Sundae Scoop
That DIY Party
Creative Bloggers Party 
Under the Table and Dreaming
Think Pink Sunday
I Made It Monday
Just Something I Whipped Up

Dream On...

Guess what!? It seems I may have kicked procrastination out the door (touch wood). I have had a quilt almost ready for binding for months and I finally finished it last night.

I feel so silly that it took me this long to actually finish it though. It is only a lap quilt so it really doesn't make sense as to why I haven't done it sooner.

Do you do that with small tasks? Put them off and then when you finally do it you wonder why it took you so long?

Seriously this quilt took just over an hour to bind on the machine (including making the binding first)

It is now draped across a chair in our main living area bringing a fresh breath of spring into our wintery weather.

The quilting is so far from perfect it just isn't funny, but it was the first time I ever tried free motion quilting AND I had no idea what I was doing. But I played around on this quilt enough to know what I am doing next time and how to control everything because for parts I this I felt I had no control at all.

So I will put this down to a learning experience and move onto the next quilt, but at least next time I will actually know what I am doing! 

I am linking up with Ninth Street Notions for I Made It! Monday , Sew Chatty for the Made With Love linky, Skip to My Lou for Made by you Monday, Thirty Handmade Days for Pity Party 
And Sew We Craft for And Sew We Craft Together Linky Party , My Creative Space 
and Grits and Giggles- I Made This