Are you ready for a catch up?

In recent weeks I have been busy sewing behind the scenes for a couple of swaps and not getting much done on many of my own projects to blog their slow progress.  Well apart from my "Glacier Star" as the last class is today and I had a self imposed deadline to have it done before today's class.  I am fairly certain that I will not be the only person with a completed quilt top for today's class :)  

So today's post is a bit of a catch up.  Are you ready?

In no specific order ......

Best Friends Forever BOM

I finished Embroidered Hexie no 10 last night.

Hex on the Beach

Rows 4 - 8 are now waiting to be attached to the first 4 rows.

Shop Sample

 (Finished last night to drop off this afternoon)

This one has been sewn for my LQS as a shop sample. It is called "Stitching Makes my Heart Happy" by Gail Pan.  It opens up and stores 24 Cottage Garden Threads.  I am also in the process of making one for me :)

12" Mini Winter Swap

This one went out a few weeks ago.

I hope my recipient liked it.

Tail Feathers

Block 4 has made a reappearance :)

but I cant handle the mess so I started cleaning my space yesterday.

One side of the room now looks all pretty like this

but I am not showing you the other side!   It is still a WIP (hmm..... I seem to have a lot of them at the moment).  Oh and talking about WIP's. These are currently working their way through my machine.

HST for my Vintage Spools Quilt.

As for the swaps I've been working on.  One is a one on one swap with an Instagram friend Roz and the other is the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Swap.  Both ready to go in the mail next week so hopefully I can share them with you soon.

Now, what project to take with me today?

Enjoy your weekend, hugs

Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

A Friday Finish

Hexagon Quilt

I have to admit that I have neglected the laundry to get this one over the finish line but I am glade that I did as I am so pleased with how it has turned out and take two worked like a charm :o)

It is made from the "Sunkissed" Range by Moda then framed on white and then a border also from the Sunkissed Range and matching binding.  I personally love how the white frames the hexagons.

Backed with a soft pink spotted fabric that blends nicely with the Sunkissed pink and adds (I think) a more girly/feminine feel to the quilt.  First time around I was using a solid Grey.

All the hexagons have been hand pieced.

I have quilted "in the ditch" around all the flowers and then hand quilted the centres of the flowers.

I love photos of quilts rolled up.

Finished Size - 56" Square

With this finish there will be another beginning ............ With the help of my "Go Baby" I am going to make another!  This time a little smaller. The hexagons will only be 1" cut so about 3/4" finished.  I haven't started yet but I have ordered the hexagon papers :o)

I am off now to catch up in the Laundry so I can then go and get another project across this finish line.

Enjoy your creativity, what ever it may be.

Sharon.

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

Aiming towards some finishes

Lily's Picnic Quilt, Xmas Table Topper (matched my newly completed place mats), a Xmas swap project, my stitched Xmas Wreath and of course my Hexagon Quilt.

All basted and ready for some attention.

Some may remember that I have tried to quilt the hexagon one once before and it ended in a huge mess with me pulling it all apart so this time is "take two".  The plan is to machine quilt around the flowers and hand quilt the centres and when all that is done I will assess the situation and decide f I want the straight lines like Leanne has done on hers in Vignette.  Fingers crossed that it's "second time lucky" for this quilt top.

Summer warning for all.

I love living here in Australia but I HATE these ......

Can you see it? (Sorry I am looking away so that's a NO for me!)

Hubby was out doing the whipper snipping whilst my youngest son was mowing the lawn and he (my son) saw this not so little fella.  Eww .........

And on a brighter note, do you remember Ruby?

She is off on her long journey home to her new "Mum" today, all the way to France.

I love it when my babies head off overseas as it's like a little bit of me gets to travel the world.

Enjoy your day and happy stitching,

Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

Do you ever doubt your abilities?

Ohh Help Me!!!!!  What a week of ups and downs in my creative space.

Earlier in the week I had my Hexagon quilt all "sandwiched" together ready to go for some hand quilting.  I was so pleased that I was within reach for a finish .... not just a top Finnish but a complete finish and what made even more exciting was that I had promised myself that I could have a real play with my new toy, my Go Baby if I got a real finish.

Well my hexagon quilt went from this

then to having 8 hexagons hand quilted (sorry didn't get a pic of this bit) which involved working on it every spare minute I had, then things started to fall apart....literally.

I had used a basting spray and then pinned the quilt and to my disgust the basting spray wasn't sticking so I tried to do some border quilting to help hold the fabric.  I thought this was working until yesterday morning when I sat and assessed the situation.   Lets let some photos show you what happened next ..........

I thought I could just unpick some bits to fix and go from there.........

Nope ...... In my utter disgust at the state of my quilt, I unpicked it ALL and am going to have to start again.

It is now hanging on the side of my storage unit waiting my attention :(

One positive thing for my poor quilt top is that I have decided to Bind it in the same fabric as the border!

I kept telling myself  "If you can't quilt a quilt why bother making them?"

I needed a boost to try to stop doubting myself so what was I to do .....

Grab out my Go Baby of course!  I know I don't have a finish but I needed to do something,

something smaller to practice on maybe?

I know...I chose Apple Core, probably not the smartest decision when one wants to boost their confidence!

Not all was lost though :o)

The fabric was cut in record speed (that's a positive)  They were sewing together perfectly ( double bonus for me as I was also sewing curves)  I was beginning to feel better about myself and my abilities (although somewhat limited!!!! lol )   I am feeling so much better now.  It's now is a little bigger, has a border, I have machine quilted it (not going down the hand quilting again just yet) and I am going to go sew on the binding when Miss L is down for her afternoon nap and post a pic later :o)

Look what Postie has delivered today ........

To lift my spirits a little more, look what my postie has delivered ........

"Christmas Treasures Wreath" and "Stitching Fairies" both by Rosalie Quinlan

 Where the Wind Blows complete Range F/Q Bundle

(These are on sale for only $26 so I've added a link ....check them out)

I also got my last block for my Scandinavian Christmas.

These have been flowing in fast as I've been getting one per

fortnight instead of monthly so now I need to finish it off as I

still have block 4 and now 5 to do :o)

Happy stitching,

Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

My Creative Space ...... Part 2

Three posts in one day....sorry about that but if I don't do this now whilst I have a quiet moment it may not get done :( 

O.K. you have seen my temporary design wall so now back to that cabinet and trying to get some storage space into this Creative Space.  I love the Cabinet (In it's former life was a T.V. Unit!) it matches in with the rest of the house, which I have decided to keep with, especially being this creative space is all open and exposed to the rest of the house. 

If I had a room all to myself, with a door that closes it off, it would be white, light and aerie, lots of bright containers, buttons, threads, ribbons and fabrics on show .....

 a little opposite to what I am currently working with :o)

 You can see that I have moved the table back against the wall (on the left side of this photo).  I must add that this table is super great to cut at now that the legs have been raised, so much easier on my back.  My computer and desk are in the back left corner with some fabric art above.  I have moved the cabinet on the opposite (front right had side of the picture) wall near the door. 

This simple maneuver of  furniture has made a huge difference. The space feels more open and functional, not cramped and as dark as it was.

Now how to make the cabinet work for me .........

Empty ......

Next step was to start putting stuff in to see how
the space was going to work.

Hint .... leave for a week or more to get a real feel and
play with the layout.   Space down the bottom is intended
 for fabric scarps, all sorted into colors.

Over a few days and the addition of my new GO! Baby last week for my birthday I had it looking like this ...

Top half ...... the fabric is driving me crazy!!!
I want to start building a Fabric Stash and this will not help me :(

Off to the Internet it was and with the purchase of this  ......

and the tutorial I found over here at That Girl .. That Quilt  it now looks like this

WOW.... WHAT A DIFFERENCE

I can now see what I have and "Shop at Home first"

This also helps me see where I need to start to build a working stash

The unit looks like this now ... with the addition of a few containers and some sorting of fabric scraps ....

My creative Space will constantly be a W.I.P. especially as I keep my eyes open for cute containers etc to make it MINE  :o)

I hope that these posts might provide some inspiration for someone like me, starting out, on a budget or has a space that is open within the house or just trawling the Internet for ideas.  I have found that I like to look around and see how other people have their creative spaces set up and here is my take on my space.

My Hexagon Quilt is looking like this and the kids need the table for breakfast in 12 hours so I have a little work to get done  before then.

Huge thank you for stopping by .... 

Happy stitching, Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here

Vignette Inspired Hexagon Quilt ~ Sunkissed

Here is my Hexagon Quilt inspired by Vignette.

I have never made anything like this and was not sure I could stick with the hand piecing so I went for a larger Hexagon :o) 

I still have to finish off some of the white Hexies with embroidery.

I have squared off the quilt, great throw size.

At this stage I think that I am adding a white border and possibly embroidering flowers all

the way around.  Well that is the plan at this moment in time.

I fell in love with the sunkissed range as soon as I saw it so knew it would be just perfect for this project.

I will try to get back and show you the progress on my Gollie Quilt

Happy stitching,

Sharon

You can also follow Lilabelle Lane Creations here