WiP - Ooh la la

I'm keeping up with my list - 10 things this summer. I finished Diamond Tread quilt. For more pics check out my previous post.

#1 Diamond Tread - DONE

I totally changed my mind on the #3 - crib size quilt for my girl. I wanted to use the already made circles and make bubble quilt as planned year ago but it's not happening. I'll make some cushions instead. I decided to challenge myself a bit with the quilt. It's nothing difficult just my personal challenge which means do something you wouldn't usually do. In my case it means random placement and squares. Mostly I'm not really keen on the classic square look especially if it's scrappy and random. I couldn't do scrappy vomit that would be way too much so I picked the rest of Ooh la la charm pack and added some dotty fabrics from my stash. There is one more challenge in the quilting plan but I'm not gonna tell you. Just in case it won't work out, lol. Straight lines quilting is my back up plan. So we'll see. The crucial part is usually the basting and I already passed that one. Yippee.

Linking up with

Diamond Tread - Aeroplanes

Today I washed the quilt and it's officially finished. It didn't crinkle too much but just right. I love the simple design that's why I bought it, right. If you not familiar, it's called Diamond Tread by Lee - Freshly Pieced. There is a meaning behind those aeroplanes. It's for little boy. Yeah. In his family they like aeroplanes. There are some aeroplanes models involved and also the real thing. No kidding.

Being not too experienced quilter has few advantages. The main thing is there is so much to try. I love to try new things when it comes to sewing or creating. It's first time I used HSTs. First time I cut myself with rotary blade, lol. It healed well so I can make jokes and laugh about it now. First time I actually quilted on my table as I managed to clean it up and I can go on and on.

I'm not sure where I spotted the Quilting Gallery blog and theirs Show & Tell but I'm linking up this week. Quilts for the Little Ones is the theme of this week. The voting will take place on Friday.

TGIFF - quilting part

You would expect I sew up a storm as I received my machine from service check but nope. I'm taking it easy. I played around with Le Challenge project on Monday which pay off since I won it! Yay!
I slowly quilted the Diamond Tread and I'm happy to claim this quilted. It's not exactly as the original. This is only like half of the quilting that's on the original but sure enough for me. I used masking tape to mark the lines.

Since I'm not very experienced quilter all my quilts are learning lesson to me. These are my first HSTs and there is particular place in the block that created a bulk. I don't know if I iron that in wrong direction or what the problem is. When quilting around it few stitches got long. Not sure what to call that in English. I tried to fix it by going slow. I changed the needle for the strongest but I gave up. It's there and we'll see what's going to happen once I wash it.

It's also my first use of cotton batting as it's supposed to be summer quilt. I read once to wash it first and add the binding afterwards. Have you ever tried that? Should I finish the binding prior the washing? All advices either on the bulk part or binding part are welcomed.

My matchy heart sings to see how well the back side goes with the front, lol.
Linking up with TGIFF over @ Molli Sparkles

Update: I finished the binding prior the wash. It looks lovely. I'll share some more during this week.  Linking up to Let's get Acquainted!

Le Challenge - Toffee

My plans for Le Challenge #4 with the theme Toffee were totally different. The trouble maker is my old sewing machine. Well it's not that old but compared to my Brother which is on the way from service is rather odd. Please meet Sister, ehmm I mean Singer. I got it in the supermarket. It has just a few stitches and sounds like tractor. I haven't used it since Brother joined our family. Oh boy, I had trouble to wind the bobbin. I had trouble to use the spools I'm usually using and I got stuck with the fact I don't have zipper foot for this one. I tried but it was horrible looking. Have in the world I could work with it! I'm wondering if there is a point for me to keep this one.

Well back to the challenge. That was a bit detour. I went through my beads and picked up those that fit the theme Toffee. Don't you think those tiger eye crystal chips look just right? So yeah. That's my project for the Le Challenge.

At least I took a picture with the pouch to be and the new necklace I made. They match pretty well.

Do you think the Le Challenge button just fits the theme as well? Or is it just me :-)

UPDATE: Brother came home earlier than expected. He sneaked in during nap time, begging me to give him test ride. So I did. I rather finished the pouch right away otherwise it would become UFO. The front is little wonky so let’s call it true sign of negligent style. 

Matching zipper pull is must.

Sewing corner

Inspired by Where I Sew Month 2013 @ Pink Chalk Studio blog I'm sharing my sewing corner. Welcome! My machine is on its way from the service so I had some time to do a little clean up. Worth to take a picture right.

My sewing corner is in the smallest room in our house. I managed to move around from one side to the other three times. Geez! I didn't want the direct sun light to get on my machine so this last move might be finally the right one. I'm settling in slowly but constantly. I share this room with Mr.XY. He has his desk with computer on the other side of the room. I don't have a proper light there so if I'm sewing later in the evening I do that on the kitchen table. Sure I plan to get one. There are two high bookshelves and tall drawer. I use some space for my stash and other crafty things. No picture of that since it requires bigger clean up. Ooops.

Unused part (side) of crib ended up on the left side. Many things fit in there. Mostly stuff I created or I'm working on. Do not worry about the rest of this crib. We made kids desk out of it based on this awesome idea.

Those polyester rolls were in my way all the time. I use this material to make my own little flower but I only use tiny bits so I was so happy to finally find some space for those. You can see some displayed gifts I received from my friends. Mostly sewing buddies. There are some more on the other side too. Some greetings cards and little things I like to keep.

If you follow my blog you could already see my vinyl pouches. I would like to make the whole color spectrum. It would be so neat to look at plus there is the practical side as well.

I'm yet to hang the board on the wall. I'm still unsure where I want it. I also don't know where to put those big spools I'm currently using and there are always some piles of projects on my table. I would like to clean my drawer so I can keep those in there instead. I wouldn't mind to have clean table like this all the time.

Check out the other fabulous sewing spaces as well.

*Update: you can find tutorial for the vinyl pouches on my tutorial page - click.