Sending a Little Bit of Happiness

I've got a very good friend, Nadia, who told me about her friend who's soon to be heading to Africa to work on a project building a hospital.  When she was telling me about the project, it sounded so exciting, and I knew that even though I couldn't be there (this time!) I wanted to do something to make a small difference.  

So I had an idea to make some simple, but multicoloured bunting, that can be hung in the hospital and hopefully bring a small bit of comfort to those who stay there.  

Time's tight at the moment, so I knew that if I wanted this to happen, I'd have to draft in reinforcements.  In this case, it was in the form of Nadia, who has never even as much as sewn on a button, let alone made bunting.  So she was on triangle drawing duty, and I was on pinking shears duty.  

 

We decided that we wanted to make as much bunting as possible in the 2 short mornings that we had, and after thinking we could make 9 metres, we decided to push ourselves and go for a full on 12 metres...that's 48 flags.  We were certainly feeling determined!

Here's Nadia with all 48 ready to be sewn.

That's when she handed over the reins to me; I jumped on my Bernina and sewed like mad, in between trying to keep my 2 year old happy.  I think that was the most challenging bit about this whole project!

Sadly time got the better of us, and on day 2 school pick up came around faster than you can say '3 o'clock.' Luckily I managed to finish the last bit of sewing in the afternoon, and take some photos while the sun was shining.

Don't all those colours look so pretty against the blue skies?  It all looks so calm and peaceful in my garden.  But I just have to share the reality of this photo shoot...

In the absence of Nadia, I had to draft in assistance from the under 5's!!

I can't wait for it to arrive at the hospital in Africa.  I hope to get more specific details about the project soon and share them with you.  The fab thing is Nadia's friend doesn't even know we've made the bunting yet, I hope she can squeeze it into her suitcase!

Thank you for stopping by,

Sarah x

Linking up with:

A Colourful Life

A few months ago I became the happy owner of one of these...

And this week I purchased one of these...

My quilting life is pretty much complete!

Now I feel really professional, 'consulting' my colour cards before making fabric/thread choices.  Oh it's the little things isn't it, and something only my fellow quilters would understand!

Sarah x

Wee Wander Quilted Cushion

It's a very rare that I get time to sit and do some sewing for 'me', but I am so in love with the Wee Wander Collection by Sarah Jane, that I wanted to use it to make something for myself to keep.  A cushion seemed perfect.  

I made yet more Economy blocks using this tutorial and I think I've said before, I'm completely addicted to them.  I just love how they showcase your very favourite fabrics, and I love the on point square within a square.  They are super fun to make, and by over-sizing the pieces and then trimming back, it's possible to get near perfect blocks every time.

I'm really happy with the back of the cushion too, as I just love all the characters; that tree is beautiful and the deer adorable. 

  

 Who wouldn't want to sit and play with the animals in fields full of blossom!  

I opted for an envelope back so that I could include some of my hand made fabric buttons.  

And I quilted the front with 1" vertical straight lines, using my favourite Aurifil 50 weight thread, number 2425.  It's such a gorgeous candy pink colour and so much more enjoyable to sew with than my usual grey!  Hopefully the quilting gives it just enough texture without taking away from the characters.   

This cushion indulges all my favourite things.  It's pink, it's quilted, it's vintage, it's whimsical.  And best of all, just this once, it's all mine :-)

Sarah x

Fresh Sewing Day

March was a fab month for me.  I had so many wonderful experiences, learnt so many new things and had a few makes too, sometimes it's easy to forget just how much you've achieved in 4 weeks. So for the first time in ages, I'm linking up with Fresh Sewing Day to remind myself how busy I've been!

First was the last day of teaching my Beginners Quilting Class.   Here they are hard at work :-)

Shortly after that I attended a 2 day FMQ and Trapunto workshop with the wonderfully talented and inspirational Philippa Naylor.  If you want to see quilts of the highest order, check out her website.  You won't be disappointed.  

Less than a week later it was the Jersey Textile Showcase, and I went to workshops with textile artist Ineke Berlyn, and local textile artist Christine Witham. I made a lovely Lutrador tulip collage with Ineke, and a sunflower with Christine.  It was so much fun turning my hand to new skills, which definitely had a floral theme going on!

I also made 5 Super Hero capes for my daughter's class, which you can read about here.

See my girl in green! 

There's a couple of other makes that I can't share with you yet, but I did have lots of fun making some Amy Butler Economy Blocks...

I've made good progress on my son's Robot Medallion Quilt...

And I've been putting my Wee Wander fabrics by Sarah Jane to good use too...progress update coming soon!

So if I'm feeling exhausted after March, I guess it's no wonder.  Will April be a quieter month?  I wouldn't have thought so!! 

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Sarah x

Linking up with:

Lily's Quilts