Running on tables?

Well I'm back!

With a post for you to see my lovely design :D

Now, this piece of work gave me a bit of a headache when I  started. I wanted to make a table runner, but didn't have enough fabric to make the back, so decided to make a cushion cover. I started, with a design that I had used before in THIS POST, but it all went wrong and the centre column ended up a lot smaller than the outer two. So i had to abandon it and just use two. So i put the two together, and made a table runner! Like I wanted at the start... How silly.

So this is what I ended up with:

Although this is a much more detailed table runner, they're so easy to make and could provide cool pieces to sell if I have a craft stall! Lets see what happens...

I'm becoming a bird!

Hello my lovely followers. I know, I did abandon you for a while there didn't I?! I'm sorry, but i'm back with some funky news.

I have now got Twitter so that I can share the love of patchwork to as many people as I can! So if any of you would like to hear about my updates from twitter, find me at @LouisePatchwork

I should be doing a lot more sewing in the next few weeks or so so hold on tight and you'll get a lovely treat.

In the meantime, check out my Etsy page again, i've recently put up some bits and bobs. Hopefully more will be put up soon!!

Till then...

Someone's been lucky!

Wow, I haven't been around for a while have I?

Sorry about that, but I do bring apology gifts - TWO in fact!

Firstly, I have made two new cushion covers. 

They aren't for me, in fact they are for my boyfriends lovely parents who asked me to make them some. They chose the fabric, all I had to do was make them with a zip closure. My god did that prove to be difficult. Since I don't have a zipper foot for my machine, I was having to maneuver  the zip puller bit around to make sure I could actually sew it to the fabric properly. Lets just say that the second cushion went slightly smoother than the first. All in all, they're very cute!

Secondly, here's the second owl that I said I would make! He's been slightly simplified - there are no side panels: the front is just sewn to the back.

This does make him look slightly less fat and more elongated though, which im not sure if I like or not. Either way, this was another present for the man's parents! They had seen mine, commented on how cute he was and so I made them their own. You will notice that the wings, once again, slightly went a little bit wrong. In my defence, this time I did actually cut the fabric out correctly - it was just two sided fabric so I couldn't tell which side I had to put face down!!! OOOPPPSSS.

But I think it gives me a bit of a trademark when it comes to owls. Maybe I need to venture out into other animals now... I wonder what I can find in my book!

My Mumbles Expedition!

Today I went to Mumbles. A cute little town/village/something on the Gower peninsula, about a 10 minute drive from Swansea but an hour and a half walk!

The weather was gorgeous though so off we went. Now, last time I had been to Mumbles, I was denied the opportunity to visit the quilting shop that exists there. This time, I wasn't going to let that happen!
Red House Quilting was such a cute little store - not too big but not too small. They had some gorgeous fabric, and once I have some money to spend, I am definitely going back there. I recommend it to anyone who is heading down to South Wales, especially in this area!

I'm expanding into eBay!

Yep - As the title says, I am expanding into eBay.

I currently have 2 pieces that I have put up for auction, I'm hopefully putting a couple more up tonight. I don't know how well this will work but since the pieces aren't being used at all it can't hurt to try!
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/patchworkbimbim

This is my page - go check it out and pass it on to any one else who you know is looking for some new cushion covers! If they don't like the ones that are up online, please put them in contact with me and I can make them custom made!

Isn't this exciting!?

Owls are in this season...

As my lovely title says, owls are in this season. Everywhere you go you find owl cards, owl pajamas and, most importantly, owl cushions!!

Yes, those that know me know that I of course looked at these cushions and went... HEH! I can do that!
So off I set, with a plan to make an owl cushion. Soon after, my mum provided me with a pattern for an owl - however the plan changed here - I was now making an owl door stop. I decided the pattern wasn't big enough to make an owl cushion at this point!

Fabric was chosen, pattern pieces cut out (slightly wrong if you have a look at the wings, but hey, hes my wonky owl)! Sewing it together, well, this posed problems. First off, I was instructed to use 5mm seams. If I do this again, which I intend to with a few changes here and there, I would increase the size of the pattern pieces to allow for 1cm seams. It would make life a LOT easier.

I then stuck the eyes on once the main body was finished. Again, I would change this next time - I would sew the eyes on earlier in the process. (Admittedly, the instructions suggested this, but I ignored it as I didn't have any decorative ribbon or edging like they used).
So really, that's my fault but, adding to this, I would also sew the beak on at this point. I decided to go for a flat beak as the 5mm seams (as mentioned above) caused me many many problems when trying a 3D beak.

Other than that, the rice went well, although I need a little bit more in there, he's not quite full yet and i've already sewn him up. Oooppsss. But I can easily open him up to put more in!

So, what do you think? Cute huh!? Keep checking for the next trial owl. Hopefully he'll be a bit easier to make! :O

Rainbows only last for so long!

Well here it is: The finished throw. For the past couple of days while i've been finishing it I kept thinking 

'I don't want to give it away!'

But, I made it for my friend, and so she shall have it!
I added the border and the white back, sewed it all up and made the transfer! I did want to put either batting or wadding inside, however, I couldn't find a cheap enough filling, and as it was only going to be used as a throw, I decided it didn't need it.

It also looks really pretty when you hold it up against a window and look from the back - kinda stained glass don't you think?

The front is done

3/5 of the way through

A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Here are the three other posts I have written about this project!

Either way, I now no longer have a project :(

Anyone want to help me here??