Bonnie and Bright

Happy Easter!

Just a short post to wish you all a Happy Easter.

I was able to attend the Aberdeen Passion yesterday with several friends from church and it was such a great afternoon. I have spent some time over the past few months helping with the costumes and it was certainly very different to quilting. I had to spend some time aging and fraying the sewing I had completed which was quite a challenge for this quilter!

Spring has definitely sprung here and we have had some lovely weather recently. The tree outside my kitchen window has started to blossom so I opened the window and took a few pics so you could enjoy the view too...

Happy Easter!

Sara x

 

I can do that!

I adore my local John Lewis department store. It is a ten minute walk away and it is very tempting. So much so that people have asked me if I buy everything there. Now I can honestly say the answer is no!

We have recently had some pretty wild winds and storms and I decided to buy a draught excluder for my front door. I did what I always do and went for a wander round John Lewis to see what they had in stock.

I came across this beautiful bright one and "needed" it right away. However, when I picked it up to glance at the price I very quickly put it back down again and thought, "I can do that!"

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(image from JohnLewis.com)

I decided against the white fabric they had chosen. Not very smart for something that sits on the floor at your front door! I had some lovely linen that would contrast well with colours.

 

I then decided to use my scrap bag of solids to make the letters which I adapted from one of Nancy Halvorsen's Christmas books.

Fortunately I had plenty of threads that matched too!

I managed to add a touch of red with the pom-poms. Believe it or not they were wrapped around a Christmas present. It was nice to be able to recycle them!

Hope you are having a great week!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara x

Shhhhhhhh!

Have you ever been asked to make a block for a secret quilt?

I have - 3 times! The first two blocks I made were for ladies who were moving on from the quilt groups that I attend. Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe and so people often come and go with work. I am always sad to see them go but delighted when I see their faces as we hand over a "leaving quilt".

The first block I made was for someone who loved houses. We all made a different house block and the finished quilt was gorgeous. Every single house was so different!

The second block was for a friend who was leaving Aberdeen as her husband was being relocated in the oil business. I used a Thimbleberries pattern to make this heart.

As for the third one....

Sorry - It's still a secret!

I promise to share it when I can!:)

Have a great weekend.

Sara x

I ♥ Sweetwater!

I can't remember how I came to find Sweetwater but I do remember instantly falling in live with all that they do!

They design beautiful fabric and patterns but also have a gorgeous Sweetwater Etsy Shop and I can't recommend it highly enough.

My first purchase was some beautiful cards to decorate my new sewing room with.

They came wrapped in a beautiful ribbon and I am so tempted to frame them. They are sooooo cute!

And now a confession.....

I don't put quilt labels on my quilts. Not good, I know. I have just never got into the habit. I sometimes feel it's a little bit like showing off. Which sounds silly now that I've typed it!  :0)

I was recently browsing the beautiful Sweetwater Blog and came across their label making service and I couldn't help myself! They are so beautiful and have lots of choices to help you make your own individual label.

I contacted them with my choices and they were so helpful in helping me decide my final colours. I am sure you will agree, they are gorgeous labels!!!

 

I now have a label to add to the baby quilts people ask me to make and I couldn't be happier! I am seriously thinking about joining their Label Crew.

Everything arrived so quickly from the US and I was so pleased that they gave me the ok to blog about their beautiful products too!

Head over there to check them out!

Have a great weekend

Sara x

Nearly There!

You may remember I recently blogged about planning a quilt on a train journey, then showed you the fabric I intended to use...

Well I can finally say I am nearly there!

The quilt was a surprise Christmas present for my step-mother. Unfortunately the surprise changed slightly due to an uncooperative long arm quilting machine!

She was so understanding when I emailed pictures of her "surprise quilt" and told her it would arrive before the end of January once the machine was fixed!

Last week the Gammill had recovered and I was able to get the quilting done.

It is only a single throw size quilt so it didn't take long. I am so pleased with the finished result. I meandered over the centre of the quilt and around all the poppies so that they would puff up a little. I changed the border by adding loops into the meander.

My dad had suggested poppy fabric and I was able to source this Michael Miller fabric from Fabric.com which has great choice and discounts. I have to say these are colours I would never normally choose to work with but I have fallen in love with them. Now that I am getting closer to handing the quilt over I am going to miss it! :)

I think it's safe to say the backing fabric speaks for itself! I took the quilt along to a class for show and tell and it got lots of oohs and aahs which totally made my day.

Now I just have to get cracking on the binding....

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great week!

 

Sara x

New Year - New Project!

In the tradition if trying new things in the New Year I have just completed something I have never attempted before.

I came across a great tutorial on the blog Don't Call Me Betsy (mini-bookshelf-quilt-tutorial). I've never done an online tutorial before but I fell in love with this project so thought I'd give it a go!

It's a great way to use up scraps and I managed to finish it in a few evenings after work. it was great fun to go through my stash and decide what to use. I definitely think I would make another one - possibly longer?!

I found the instructions easy to follow and really enjoyed quilting it on my machine. My quilting is a bit wonky in a couple of places, but hey, that's a great excuse to make another one!!!

If you haven't had a look at this fantastic blog it's full of inspiration and I'd highly recommend it.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a wonderful 2012!

Sara x

Christmas is Coming!

The quilting has taken a back seat and the decorating has begun!

The cake....

The tree.....

The decorations...

The cards have arrived ....

 

And Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Nancy Halvorsen!

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you have a lovely time!

Sara x

We have a winner!

What a wonderful week I have had reading all your comments on the Blog hop Party post! It has been so lovely to hear where you are all from and your connections to Scotland.

There were many times I wished I could give fabric to everyone! Ah well, perhaps I could be persuaded to do another giveaway sometime soon! ;0)

So here we go. The Random Number Generator has selected a number and congratulations  go to:

Marsha said...

Love the Eric Carle fabric -- wish it had been around when the grandson was small! I'm from the USA with a Scottish heritage. Love the tartans. My son would be thrilled with ANYTHING made from Scottish tartans.

 

I am so pleased to announce that Marsha has won and I will now get in touch to arrange postage of the prize to her in the USA!

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to leave comments and even begin to follow my blog. You made my day!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that Santa brings you lots of quilty gifts!

 

Sara x

Blog Hop Party!

Hi there and welcome to the Blog Hop Party post that celebrates the 4th birthday of The Quilting Gallery.

I am delighted to be able to take part in this party and to host a giveaway for you all!

Those of you who have visited before will know I have had a run on baby quilts recently! To celebrate this, I have decided that I should give away one of the new Very Hungry Caterpillar panels from Makower. I will also add in a fat quarter of the co-ordinating fabric too!

 

Also included in this giveaway is some lovely woven tartan. I know it is very difficult and expensive to get outside Scotland and I really felt I should add something Scottish to this party!!

The fabric comes in various sizes as it is off cuts from the loom. Great for making Christmas decorations, small purses, pin cushions - the list is endless! This gorgeous fabric comes from the Lochcarron Weavers in the far north of Scotland. I recently visited their weaving mill and shop hidden down a single track road in the highlands of Scotland. An amazing place to buy fabric!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me which country you are from! You have one week to enter and I will select the winner by random. I am also happy to ship internationally.

Good luck and thank you so much for stopping by!

Sara x

p.s. Click on the link for loads more giveaways on the blog party! :)

http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/

 

This giveaway is now closed and the winner announced. Thank you so much for taking part. :)

Exciting Times!

It has been very exciting over the past couple of weeks as I have been asked to make some more Hungry Caterpillar wall hangings/quilts as gifts. It is the first time I have ever sold something and I was really unsure about how much to charge.

After great debate at my quilting group and also some research on other people's blogs, I finally settled on a price. The customer buying the quilt insisted that it was not enough and added a few pounds onto the price herself! I think I was just a little too scared to ask for anything more! 

I have never taken such care over the binding of a quilt before!

I made a little care instructions label for the quilt and wrapped it in tissue to hand over.

 

The customer was delighted and so were the parents of the new baby when they received the gift. Since then I have had a couple of enquiries about making more - it's funny how quickly word can spread isn't it?!

To celebrate this exciting new venture and also the 4th birthday of the quilting gallery, I will be taking part in their Blog Hop Party starting this Saturday! I will be hosting a giveaway that is Hungry Caterpillar related!

Feel free to head on over to the site using the link and find out more. 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

 Sara x