FROM LONDON WITH LOVE | my first make of 2020

The arrival of the new year also means the arrival of the new Liberty Spring / Summer 2020 collection - From London with Love.

I was very lucky to have an early look at the entire range courtesy of Robyn at The Strawberry Thief.

There are well over 100 prints in this collection ranging from cute prints great for a little fussy cutting to the traditional pretty florals and a few geometric prints. Something for everyone.  I have added a 1" hex of each print to my long term hexie project and just had to smile when this perfect fussy cut was found. I am also thankful for my Scan n Cut as I was able to cut all those EPP papers on demand!

When it came to picking favourites I just could not go past these prints and forming my own little Liberty rainbow. You really can't go wrong with a little rainbow, especially one made with Liberty.

After cutting some more hexagons from these prints I started to make this cute sewing roll.

Complete with spots fro my Aurifil thread, needles, glue pens and my cure Mini Blossom blooms.

I haven't written a pattern for this one as I was just making for myself but for those who were asking it is on my to do list. I just need to deconstruct this one first!

Expect to see these prints pop up in other creations as my love for, and addiction to Liberty fabrics continues.

If you would like to check out the entire range please visit The Strawberry Thief HERE.

Also, if you are on Instagram I can be found @lilabellelane 

I tend to post a lot more there than here but I am working on changing that ;)

Happy Sewing,

Sharon x

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

Fruit Cake Quilt - Cake Mix Monday

Welcome to Week 11 of the Cake Mix Quilt Along with the Fat Quarter Shop.

I was so excited when the Fat Quarter Shop asked me to come and play long with their Cake Mix Quilt Along and this week I am as equally excited to share with you the quilt I made.  

Allow me to introduce the ...

'Fruit Cake Quilt'

"The Cake Mix Quilt Book: Volume One by It’s Sew Emma features 

16 gorgeous quilts using 8 Cake Mixes! Use recipe cards, layer cakes, 

and the Cake Mix patterns featured in the book to build gorgeous, dessert inspired quilts!"

I have used the "Designer Essentials - Spectrum" in brights from FreeSpirit Fabrics for my quilt with a variety of low volume fabric from my stash.

This was my first time using the "Cake Mix Recipe cards" and I really enjoyed the process. The simplest  way to describe the Recipe Cards is 'Triangle paper'. You team them with 10" squares for the perfect HST.  I have another pack of Recipe cards here so I can make another, different Quilt when the desire strikes.

A quick little video for further explanation can be seen HERE via YouTube.

I chose the low volume prints as I knew that this quilt would be perfect for lazy days at the park and they would help hide any little marks.

The finishes size of my quit is 70" Square.

I am so pleased with how my 2nd quilt finish for the year turned out and what is not to love about a good rainbow quilt.

This quilt has Lily's approval :)

Here is the list of who else is sewing along.

• Monday, November 13 – Ginger Bread Quilt by Melissa of Happy Quilting Melissa
• Monday, November 20 – Sherbert Quilt by Melanie of A Bit of Scrap Stuff
• Monday, November 27 – Fondant Quilt by Sinta of Pink Pincushion
• Monday, December 4 – Taffy Quilt by Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts
• Monday, December 11 – Crème Brulee Quilt by Sherri of A Quilting Life
• Monday, December 18 – Sundae Quilt by Anorina of Samelia’s Mum
• Monday, January 8 – Marzipan Quilt by Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl
• Monday, January 15 – Parfait Quilt by Charise of Charise Creates
• Monday, January 22 – Banana Split Quilt by Connie of Freemotion by the River 
• Monday, January 29 – Ganache Quilt by Amy of Diary of a Quilter
• Monday, February 5 – Fruitcake Quilt by Sharon of Lilabelle Lane
• Monday, February 12 – Meringue Quilt by Erin of Why Not Sew?
• Monday, February 19 – Buttercream Quilt by Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts
• Monday, February 26 – Tiramisu Quilt by Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts
• Monday, March 5 – Cheesecake Quilt by Anorina of Samelia’s Mum
• Monday, March 12 – Petit Four Quilt by Seema of Hooks, Needles and Brushes

Be sure to go visit the above and see the great quilts that have been made.

Thank you for stopping by happy Sewing,

Sharon xx

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

Quilting food for thought and a finished Quilt

Quilting Food for thought.

On December 27th I posted this to my Instagram feed.

"I am not into making New Year Resolutions as l feel it can set you up for failure or disappointment so l like to think more about goal setting or habit changing. So in 2018 l will start as many new projects as my heart desires and refuse to feel guilty about it! If l fall out of love with a project l will not stress, l will just find it a new home. I will dig out my pile of quilt tops and attempt to finish some of them myself #lneedalongarm 😉 l will use more of my stash ... hence this pic so l can hopefully watch it shrink ☺ and when l buy new fabric that l love l will use it, not stash it ...... all whilst Creating what l love 💖"

Then on the 8th January I'd had enough.. I was feeling overwhelmed by he amount of "stuff" that I had. The main cupboard that I was storing various craft supplies in was overflowing and I could never find anything that I was sure I had. It was missing in the abyss!  

I had a deep clean out. It took a few days and yes it did get worse before it got better but I kept with it. I donated so much "stuff" and half finished projects to the local thrift shops. It felt great. When I had finished I had an almost empty cupboard but I now have a somewhat healthy collection of Zips - I had unearthed 65 in total!!  I then moved into the office where I was storing all my quilts from my Patterns and projects from my book.  My office was cluttered.  I can now say that things from the office are all nicely folded and stored in the cupboard and my office is back to a more functional space where I can work with a clear head.  I am one of those people, where if my environment is cluttered then that is how my head feels. If my environment is tidy, sorted and clean then my mind is also.  It's my OCD.

I have 12 maybe 13 quilt tops that need something done with them so this year I have also decided that I am going to make a better attempt at finishing them myself.  I started with this quilt.  It was 'finished' sometime in the last 2ish years with the absolute bare minimum of quilting and then shoved in the back of the cupboard.

I am so pleased that it can now, for real, be called FINISHED!

"I Spy Polaroid Quilt"

I am going to donate this quilt.

To a child that needs their world brightened for what ever reason.

I do not know who the new owner will be yet but it is here waiting for them when they need it.

"In 2018 l will start as many new projects as my heart desires 

and refuse to feel guilty about it!"

So there is also a guilt free new start.

This year I am going to slowly stitch a quilt, just for me.  

I am making myself a "Trip around the World Quilt" and I will be English Paper Piecing mine. 

I am also going to try and use fabrics from my stash until I need bigger pieces then go shopping :)

This is where I am currently at and I am finding it very therapeutic slowly stitching and adding one row at a time.

How is your start to 2018 going?

Do you make any goals or resolutions for yourself?

Until next time, 

Happy Stitching, Sharon x

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

In the Studio

With the school holidays starting later this week I have taken the opportunity today to give the studio space a bit of a clean up so it seemed also like the perfect opportunity to "document it". And yes my OCD (or CDO) is showing here :)

  

 My little Liberty Stash is also growing with my monthly Society bundle from Ava and Neve.

Last week I also added to my "Tower of Bonnie and Camille" with a 'The Good Life' JR.

That little collection has long outgrown the cake plate!

I like to keep my fabric wrapped around comic boards.  They are a thinner and often cheaper alternative to some the brands that are marketed as boards to wrap your fabrics around.  My last lot I picked up from Ebay. They were 2nd's and advertised as being of irregular sizes.  We are talking all of mm's different to each other so of no real concern and they came in at 5c each!

The white baskets down the bottom are from Kmart and they house my random colour sorted scraps. 

The shelving its that I am using are from Fantastic Furniture here in Australia.

I love storing my fabrics like this as it means I can see exactly what I have and I can shop at home first.  The wall of colour is also inspiring and having it to look upon whilst at my sewing machine just makes my heart sing. If I had a little bigger space I would have another shelving unit as my AMH is tucked away safe in a cupboard with a few more gems.

 The top row of fabrics are all of my Bonnie and Camille. Some days I get a little sad because it has shrunk but then that means I have been sewing with it and that is better than sitting on a shelf right? To the far right there are 6 baskets. That is where I keep my Bonnie and Camille scraps, sorted by colour and easy to go rummaging through :)

Above centre, I have a slow growing collection of Kona Solids thanks to my monthly "Kona Cotton Collectors Club" at "The Next Stitch".  Here I have them will my "Karen Lewis Textiles Rainbow". I hope that one day they will become a rainbow creation.  

This is my new baby. A Brother VQ3000.

We are still getting to know each other and I am very impressed by her capabilities and her huge throat space.  When we have had a little more time to play I might just write up a review for her.

    

I recently moved my cutting table out of the office and back into the sewing hub and I am hoping that I will be able to add a bigger cutting table to this space in the future...stay tuned :)

As you can see my cutting table isn't that big or is it that I just have a few projects on it that I am slowly working on all at the same time?

Truth be known, the real reason for my clean up today was to find those Liberty squares (above the scissors). I knew I had cut them ready to turn into the next instalment of my Diamonds in a Square Quilt but just had no idea where they were.

My OCD is happy now. Now I just need to get into the office and finish sorting it out. It has become the dumping ground and work space for many an EPP project whilst on a Netflix binge!

Better go, time to go and mess it all up again :)

Happy stitching,

Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here