quilting blog – My Making Life

A Special Dolls Quilt

Jan 12, 2019Jan 12, 2019 missleela83

Last year a lovely friend commissioned me to make a dolls quilt for her little girl for Christmas. She had been inspired by my large scrappy hexagon quilt and was after a scaled down version. Naturally, I was happy to do this.

My friend had made a patchwork quilt for her daughter and so I asked if she had any fabric left over from that quilt and I would incorporate the prints into the dolls quilt as well. Knowing my friend was a lover of Liberty fabric, I also included some special floral prints as well as some other fabrics from my stash. I also pulled some fabric from the stash of scraps my friend had given me from her children’s clothing business Ecolier Kids.

I decide to use ¾” hexagons. This is a nice versatile size, the perfect scale for a quilt to go on a dolls bed, which measured 41 x 26cm. After I had pieced the hexagons to a size that would allow the quilt to hang slightly over the sides of the bed, it was time to quilt.

I chose simple quilting in straight lines vertically down the quilt that dissected the hexagons in half. I chose fabric from my stash for the backing in a lovely soft pastel brocade floral design.

For the binding, I also raided my stash to find a plain soft creamy yellow that went nicely with the backing fabric and didn’t overpower the quilt front.

Of course, I decided that you couldn’t have a dolls quilt without a pillow as well, so I made a ¾” hexagon flower using lovely liberty fabrics and appliqued it to a square of the same binding fabric. I made a two piece overhanging slip back from the quilt backing fabric. I then made a stuffed pillow that was sewn up all four sides to slip into the pillowcase.

My friend loved the finished quilt and the extra pillow. More importantly, her daughter loved it and has been busy putting her dolls to bed with their new quilt and pillow.

It is such a wonderful thing to create something so special and to know that it will be treasured for many years to come. I think it is a very true statement when someone explains that an item was stitched with love. I like to add that something was stitched with joy as well. Sewing gives me great pleasure and enjoyment, but the act of sewing something for someone else and seeing the joy on their face when they receive, well that’s one of life’s most beautiful and simple and pleasures of all.

Happy Stitching Friends!

Miss Leela x

making

The Sunday Scrap-along 2018

Aug 26, 2018Jan 12, 2019 missleela83

Hello lovely makers!

I totally forgot to write about my first Make-Along that I’m running on Instagram and Ravelry! How remiss of me. I did mention it on my last podcast, and of course if you follow me on Instagram you will have heard all about it (incidentally I am most active on Instagram so that is the best place to stay up to date with Miss Leela happenings).

I have been wanting to start a make-along for a while and I thought a scrappy project make-along would be perfect since I love scrappy makes.

So join me in my first ever make-along…The Sunday Scrap-Along!

Here are the details and guidelines:

The make-along will run from Sunday the 5th of August to Sunday the 30th December – a nice long make-along.
Join in every **Sunday** and work on a scrap project.
Your scrap project can be of any craft discipline, so it can be sewing, patchwork, embroidery, knitting, crochet, weaving, felting, spinning, paper craft etc.
At least 70% of your project must be made using scraps, so scrap fabric, scrap yarn, basically the left over bits & pieces and remnants from other projects.
Use the hashtag #sundayscrapalong2018
Join in on Ravelry and over on Instagram – feel free to tag me in your posts @missleela_handmade.
There will be two threads on Ravelry to participate in – a Chatter thread and a Finished objects thread.
I will be drawing random prize winners from both Instagram & the two Ravelry threads throughout the make-along.
WIP’S can be included
Lastly have fun and get your scrap on!

I do hope you’ll join me. I intend to make a lot of progress on my scrappy 1” hexagon quilt. It still is a way to go to fit my queen bed!

Happy Stitching!

Miss Leela x

Podcast Show Notes

Podcast Episode 8 – Shownotes

Aug 17, 2018Aug 17, 2018 missleela83

Hello! Here are the show notes for Podcast Episode 8!

You can view the podcast here. Thanks for watching.

Finished Makes

Tilly’s Baby Doll Blanket – not pattern, treble stitches in rows, simple shell scallop edge. Yarn Rico Baby So Soft Print dk, Farbe 002 / Partie 770

Tilly’s Headwarmer – Braelyn Headwarmer by Velvet Acorn

Yarn – Shiver, Moda Vera, colour 38. White wool yarn, green yarn from stash – buttons from Dailylike

Wrist Warmers – Soul Soothing Mitts by Sandra of Cherry Heart. Made for the Cherry Heart Makealong. Yarn by The Australian Wool Store, 100% Superwash Merino, colour Strawberry Malt.

Liberty Mosaic Mini Quilt 1 – see an in-depth blog post here.

Liberty Mosaic Quilt 2 – ¾” Octogons and squares – see an in-depth blog post here.

Liberty fabric from Westwood Acres ( @westwood_acres by @a.crafty.fox ) Liberty Fat 16^th Monthly Subscription. Pattern design by me. I plan on writing up this pattern & also doing paper piece kits in the near future.

Mini pin pennant & pincushion – Using Liberty scraps for the @ava_and_neve #libertyscrapchallenge. Hexies are 3/8”.

Makes in Progress

Learning to knit

Pincushions

Fabric gift tags

Flossie Teacakes Guide to English Paper Piecing by Florence Knapp

See my book review here. Find Florence’s Blog here.

Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair – Goodies!

Yarnish

Mary Maxim Prism, Colour 2013 Seascape, 100% acrylic
Scheepjes Whirl, Watermelon Hell Raiser, 60% cotton 40% acrlic

Material Obsession – Travel Threads, Heart by Wendy Williams

Hatched and Patched

Nature’s Pace Ipad Cases
Ceramic Dish
Wool fabric cuts

The Strawberry Theif

Liberty solid fabrics
Cotton bundle
Liberty fat 16ths

The Bay Window

CGT Threads Perle – Apricot Ice 1101, Apple Strudel 2305, 2202 Tutu, Mabel 1306
Valdani Pearl Cotton – 12 & 8

The Crewel Gobelin

Rustic Wool Moire, colour 443

Can Do Books

The Home Sewer’s Guide to Practical Stitches, by Nicole Vasbinder
Knit It, by Melissa Leapman

Other Goodies!

Project Bag from Quiltkween @quiltkween

Stitch Markers from Mark my Stitches

Willow Basket Bag from The Ivory Fawn @theivroyfawn.co

Happy Making!

Miss Leela x

making

Liberty Mosaic Miniature Quilt Two

Aug 10, 2018Aug 10, 2018 missleela83

Hello!

I do hope you have been well. It has been a little while since my last post, but I’m here today to share with you my finished Liberty Mosaic Miniature Quilt Two.

I am really happy with how this quilt has come together. I started with the June Liberty Subscription club bundle I received from Westwood Acres.

From the eleven patterns I was sent I think I only omitted three of them. I paired them up with some solid Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics.

I decided to try a new shape, the Octagon and paired it with squares to create a mosaic pattern. The size I used are ¾”. I printed out a pattern colour sheet and assigned each fabric print a colour pencil, I then coloured in my pattern with which fabric I wanted where. I find using colouring sheets like this very helpful.

Because these shapes were a bit larger than what I usually sew with, I was able to glue baste the fabrics to the papers using my trusty Sewline Glue Pen. Basting is so much quicker when using this method.

I really enjoyed piecing the octagons and squares together. The pieced front grew quite quickly and it was nice seeing the fabric prints and colours start to play with each other.

To square of the quilt I used triangles, again all hand sewn. I then created large paper strips to connect the border in the pale pink solid.

I decided to quilt this one on the machine. I used a very thin cotton batting rather than the iron on pellon I used in my previous mini quilt. I did a lot of quilting lines and I think this paired with the thin batting has created a really nice flat miniature quilt. The first Liberty Mosaic quilt I did looks a little puffy in areas which I think is from using the pellon and hand quilting it. I decided to go out of my comfort zone and did the quilting in a teal blue thread that matches the teal blue binding.

I dived in to my stash and found the blue and white patterned fabric for the back. I think the design of the backing quilt goes really well with the pieced front. I added a sleave for a hanging rod, as well as two ribbon loops. You can put a hanging rod through the sleave or loops, or you can hang it using the loops and hooks on the wall.

Here are some shots of the finished Mini Quilt.

Quilt Stats:

Design and preparing shapes – 5hrs

Piecing (by hand) – 19.5hrs

Hand piece borders – 4hrs

Machine quilting – 2hrs

Binding and finishing – 2.5hrs

Total of 28hrs

I really enjoyed working on this miniature quilt. I think it’s my favourite one to date. It reminds me of the Greek Islands for some reason, so as I sit and look at it hanging on my studio wall I am reminded of summertime, of azure blue seas, and warm breezes….and Gelato!

Happy Stitching,

Miss Leela x

making

Liberty Mosaic Mini Quilt One

Jul 6, 2018 missleela83

About a month ago I was delightfully surprised to be selected as a Westwood Acres brand rep for their Liberty Subscription Monthly Club. In return for some glorious Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics I was asked to, alongside some other very talented reps, use the fabrics to make some items and share on my Instagram feed.

Naturally I decided that I was going to make three hand pieced Miniature Quilts using English Paper Piecing. In my quilts I wanted to highlight the flexibility of quilt design that you can achieve from hand piecing, and of course the scale of the design and quilt was to be significantly reduced.

So, for my first design I chose a traditional star quilt block that consists of squares and triangles. I picked out my favourite five Liberty prints from the bundle of eleven I received and paired them with some cotton spot and plain fabrics that complemented the colour tones in the Liberty fabrics.

I used the program Electric Quilt 7 to design the layout and nominate what fabrics would form the blocks. Once my design was done I could move on to the fun part. I cut out and basted all the shapes using my trusty Sewline Glue Pen. If you’re new to EPP this is one of my must have tools!

For the piecing I started by piecing each individual block, then pieced all the blocks together. I made some border block papers and hand stitched them on last. Then it was time to quilt, by hand, and lastly sew on the binding. I’m not going to give too much away with the construction as I’m planning on writing this quilt up as pattern and kit!

I’m very pleased with the finished quilt and it looks lovely hanging on my studio wall. It will be a great addition to my sample Mini Quilts to showcase my range of EPP papers.

Here are the stats:

Quilt Size: 14.75” x 14.75”

Centre Pieced Size: 12” x 12”

Pieced Star Block Size: 4” x 4”

Time to design & prep shapes: 5.5hrs

Time to Piece: 23.5hrs

Time to quilt & bind: 20hrs

Total Hours: 49hrs

Happy Stitching,

Miss Leela x