Tea Cosies

I've been making tea cosies. They are such fun to make, and really do keep your tea warm. Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE tea.

So here are some cosies that I've finished, I made the patterns myself.

Fabric fridge magnets

I have been looking for ways to perk up my neutral coloured kitchen. Sometime ago I decided to do that with accents in orange. I've picked up a few bits and pieces over time, but there are still a few gaps.

My latest decision was to make fabric covered fridge magnets, to put a splash of colour onto the fridge. They are super easy to make. Here's what I did:

• take self covered buttons - I used Birch self cover buttons 17mm
• remove the backs - I did this with pliers
• cover the buttons per instructions supplied in your pack
• glue the magnet to the back - the magnet must be smaller than the button, you can also purchase these from the haberdashery section of your craft store - the glue I used was UHU glue
  

The end result...



Instructions are freely available on the web. I used these instructions from "All Things Lovely". You could also check this site out too "How about orange..."

Cushions

Almost 2 years ago I bought a whole pile of cushions on sale. They weren’t the prettiest (okay they were downright ugly), but it was cheaper to buy these cushions than purchase the inserts. I had good intentions to recover them, but you know the story; busy life, and competing projects.

Anyway, a friend has held me accountable and encouraged me to finish at least one by the end of September. So here is the start of my first cushion cover.



Yes the colours are bright. I watched a few of Ann Maurice’s “House Doctor” programs a few years ago, and was inspired on how she worked a colour theme through-out the house. My starting colour was green.

These 4 colours are the accents in the lounge. I’m using these colours in various combinations in other rooms of the house. For example; the bathroom has accents in turquoise, the bedroom has accents in purple, the kitchen has accents in orange, the dining room has accents in orange and green… etc. The back of the “3-in-1 Color Tool” by Joen Wolfrom explains colour theory – which for me is very helpful.

Birthday present

It's not my birthday yet (will be on Friday).

Anyway today in the mail I received a wonderful gift. It's a beautiful Thimblelady thimble. I tried a friends one, and was surprised at how easy to use it was, and how small I could get my stitches. Can't wait to use my own one "for real".

Photos to follow...

Psycho Puppy - Finished

With great excitement I finished the quilt on Sunday, 16 August 2009.

On the preceeding Saturday I went to a quilt show, and noticed how all their quilting lines did not show on their completed quilt. This is a problem I've had in the past, where I have been unable to remove all the quilting lines. I was very fortunate that they shared their tips with me. Particularly how to get stubborn marks. I was concerned that I might not be able to get my markings out (eek!).

So on Sunday night I soaked the quilt in cold water to remove the "temporary" quilting lines. Those quilting lines hadn't disappeared for over 2 years! Most disappointingly (but possibly not surprising) they did not come out. So on Monday I soaked the quilt in warm water and Napisan, for about 8 hours. Thankfully all the chalk was removed. Phew. As I used warm water, I knew that there would be some shrinkage of the quilt. Now the quilt has that crinkly antique look - which I LOVE.

Rather than bombard you with images, here is one that shows the front and the back. If you are interested you can see more photos on Webshots.



Currently arranging delivery with the new owner.

Some quick notes about the "design" elements.

• the recipient loves dogs, and has a celtic heritage - so this is what lead the theme
• the centre of the quilt was the original size, but the recipient wanted a larger quilt - the store no longer had the same fabrics, so my step-daughter selected the border fabrics
• black triangles were added to the border, to try and connected the outside with the centre
• black binding was selected to "tie" it all together
  
• hand quilting design was created by myself and is predominantly celtic knots, 2 corners contain intertwined celtic dogs - all designs follow the "celtic rules" of overs and unders
  
• the label on the back is the silhouette of my eldest dog
• the name of this quilt is also a nick name for my eldest dog, it also reflects the loud colours on the quilt front
• quilt started around January 2007 in Titirangi, Waitakere, NZ and completed in Hawkes Bay, NZ

Oh, and if I didn't mention it already - this quilt was hand quilted.

Psycho Puppy

I've been flitting between 2 quilting projects recently. The first being the double wedding ring quilt (see previous post), and the second being a project I started around January 2007.

The second project is a modified nine patch. Here is a photo taken of the quilt back in April 2009.



My goal is to have this quilt completed in September 2009. All that I have left to do is the binding, and a clean :) I am so pleased that all the hand quilting is complete. That was a LOT of work.

The quilt has been named "Psycho Puppy". When we received my first puppy (he was 10 months old), he use to run around like a lunatic. So when he'd have these "moments" we would call him Psycho Puppy. So this quilt honors him, and his old owner who loved him. The label on the back of the quilt is a silhouette of this dogs head. It looks quite sweet.

My little "Psycho Puppy" is now 5 years old, and is like a wise old man. The poor boy has been slowed down by arthritis, but he still has that special twinkle in his eyes.

Double wedding ring quilt (DWR)

... and so it begins.

I have drooled over this pattern for so long. Recently the local craft store had a sale on quilting fabrics, so I thought I would see if I could pull together the fabrics required for a DWR. Having been inspired by reproduction fabric versions, I went for a similar theme.

There is something special to me about this quilt. It evokes very fond memories of my grandmother, and spending time with her. It's like a kiss from the 50's (not that I was around then). Accessories in my bedroom are similar to the purple color at the arc intersection points. So that whole thing co-ordinates nicely.

In the meantime, here's a sneak preview. The finished version will be 7 circles across and down.