http://www.happyhourprojects.com/2012/08/the-quilt-block-challenge-its-voting.html

OMG I made the final ...... please feel free to browse and vote for your fav. Mine is the morse code block but vote for which YOU feel is the most innovative block .

 

ZIPPY TUTORIAL and stuff

OK so some people on the various FB pages etc  have been asking how I make my zippy bags.

I do not profess to be the worlds best but this pattern works for me .

When I follow patterns I seem to get "movement" and pieces shift and quite honestly it looks a bit naff so I elected for a one piece QAYG so that the zip fitting etc is done after the quilting is done.

TODAY I am using a Sweetwater fabric  from their Lucy's crabshack

http://www.fatquartershop.com/Lucys-Crab-Shack-Sweetwater-Moda-Fabrics.asp

Now I can't use the FQshop but I hear from my US team that they are really good . and I personally know that the Sweetwater ladies are fantastic as they make my labels

http://www.sweetwaterstreet.com/custom_labels.html

so my thanks to the ladies of Sweetwater for yet again making anotehr great range of fabric and I hope they don;t mind me using their fabric to show you what I am doing.

Please please if you use my links please acknowledge . A lot of hassle has been gonig on re fabric designers and "makers" and copyright and acknowledgement  of use of product  and it;s an area I don;t want to cloud todys issue with however I will say

If you are a designer and you SELL your design to a manufacturer who them sells yr design to a little old sewer like me and ~I make something nice out of it and write about it on my blog

please remember this : I paid for it . It;s mine .

Product placement is a dirty dirty habit that grew from the film industry .

OK so less controversy and more sewing ...

So I have quilted this sympatetically ( I followed the lines of kite tails )

but feel free to quilt yrs as you like

And I like a zip slightly set down one face as you know .....

so I decide where I want my zip to be and ten pin and tack ( well sometimes I tack ) 

Here is the zip fitted ... so you end up with a sort of TUBE of fabric .



THere you go ... a tube of quilted zippy goodness.

Now I finally decide where to seat the zip and pin then sew down the sides and trim as you are going to make french seams ( internal enclosed seams )~

Trim well and tight as these can be quite large. 

THen you turn it inside out and get Charlie the chopstick and poke those corners right out .. YUP Charlie Chopstick is a valuble member of the team  GO ON ... poke thiose corners out . THere is a fair amount of fabric so it will need a bit of poking.  GO ON stop being a wimp and poke them out .



Right then you sew up along the sides making sure you have

enclosed your external edges. Give yourself some room here .



Right ... now the bit I can never describe ...

Take the sides of the bag and pull them at 90 degrees ..







See like this!!!!  Thats it . Pull them 

Decide how wide a base you want and you measure down from the triangle.

DO NOT TRIM   these will provide the support for your bag base.

Turn the bag right way and trim yr threads .

Fill it with what you like ... 

Now I attmepted to be a good girl today and so I tidied my stash .

I can see some gaps ohhhhh but I now must wait till November to do a big fabric shop. 

 I also put everything away properly  so it is quite tidy FOR NOW

but lord only knows for how long. 



I am also working on my table runner for my swappee !! I think she will like it ...  I have laso competed a baby floor mat , worked on the sweet 16 quilt , made the zippy and just generally fiddled .

Anyway I needo t go and make it messy again

HAPPY SEWING
Love Raven xx

Hello I am Rachel and I am a sewing addcit .

Well the last couple of days have merely confirmed that I am a sewing addict

Lying sweltering in bed last nigth the thought crossed my mind that I might be better off sewing  than lying strugglnig to sleep .

I bought a new FULL PRICE book ( unheard of !) about Cathedral window and promptly went to my room and sat and worked it out and am now delighted to say .. I have slayed the fear of CW . Now I jsut need to work on technique.

I know I am an addict because :

I would rather buy needles than clothes/books/home decor/

I would rather buy thread than clothes/books/home decor

I just can't resist a fabric sale sign .

I miss whole sections of films and tv progreammes reading patterns or cutting fabric

my carpets and floors look like Josephs coat of many colours before they are cleaned

most of my clothes have that "extra thread" design element

I rarely venture downstairs until I have set up the machine for the day or I desperately need a cup of tea

quilting books are referred to as "quilt porn" by DH

My garage has a whole stack of great fabric in it as well as my room and it is NEVER EVER Enough 

I lusted after the new BErnina 780 and considered selling my daughter in order to buy it .

I try to stear conversations around to quilting and watch peoples eyes glaze over

I love finding weird little haberdashery wholesalers in far away places and spend hours browsing . ( and spending)

I hate fitting zips but in order to make stuff have realised that I must fight my fear of the zip in order to do a better job .

I use my iron more for quilting than for clothes and have recently invested in a small iron and mini board for my room rather than having to get the big set out and then feel guilty and do the rest of the ironing

I try to see if a weekend away I can realistically take my machine with me

sad sad sad .

Anyway for my latest trick I am making a graphic/geometric print folded project and have so far made 11 of the 18 units it needs . I am hoping to have this completed today but things never really go to plan .

I have to make by Christmas :v

21 Xmas stockings

1 elephant themed cushion

1 sweet 16 in purple quilt

this does not include my swaps and BOM  for STASH BEE HIVE 3   

*sigh*   well off we go .

Please if you do NOTHING else today fellow sewers ...... clean yr machine and change the needle !!!!

I LOVE PEZZIE PRINT

My love of the pezzie print  is the topic of today's posting .

ENJOY !

But first after seeing this great tutorial on SEW MAMA SEW to make a shabbat cover for my friend.

The paper piecing tuturial was simple and clear to follow ( even though I HATE  paper piecing )

This danced up under my machine and will go to it's new home as soon as it is washed and pressed.

 I used the same quilting as the tutorial and I think it is pretty funky .

Now I have a dread of zips but I saw the pattern for this mid zip pouch and thought Hang on by jiminy I can make that... I think maybe mor of my problem is accuracy of placing .

So anyway this is a zip fitted into ONE piece of fabric .

So fast so easy and made within minutes. I then made another in PP

SO here we are the lovely lovely pezzie print .

Made into 12 inch blocks in the same design but a couple of the blocks rotated

make quite a nice variation in the pattern.

This quilt is going to be a keeper . 

 It makes my heart sing .... which may sound odd but it;s jsut so nice .

Anyway out of the scraps I had I made this zippity do dah . and I lvoe it and it now livesi my HUGE handbag holding all my small junk.

Now as a result of my love of pezzy print I convinced some of my partners in crime in So Swapit on facebook to do a PP challenge blok  and I send them 5 charm squares of a selected colour from the pack . They then must make within 1 month a block 12 in sq  to be sent back and made into a Quilt of Valour .

This way we have 12 individual takes on either trad or modern blocks going into a gift for a serviceman injured in conflict .

 Here they are waiting to go to their new creative homes.

Now as part of So Swapit we have a regular make and swap ....

THis is the hint of the table runner I am making . Yes I am evil and yes i am cruel . THis I hope will look fantastic and completely different take on the autumn/halloween theme.

hahahaha yes much fun .

Sadly a lot of my planned work has bene curtailed due to te sudden and sad loss of a family friend.
I will hope to be fully operational very soon.

Love and peace ... RAVEN xxxxxx

Ah my lovelies.... another weekend scoots past and after the emoitional roller coaster of the olympics  it was somewhat anmazing I got anything done and didn't skewer a finger !

So this piece of handquilting was finsished and has gone finally as a cushion cover

The giant toadstool. Gone to germany for my friend GC. Toadstool mad that woman is

Horrrayyy finished and gone !

Now this has become my nemesis! Animal alphabet ! all free motion applique but some of the animals have 17pieces!!!!!!!! OMG !!!!!   This has nearly reduced me to tears . It has a trapunto element which means either stuffing or removing some padding tpo add extra texture . It is the very devil and the followingp ics will show you the slow progress. I have now put this away for 1 month as it has annoyed me so much .

Shark attack !

Octopus!

Now I fell in love with pezzy print from Moda when ~I saw them and han kered after them and they were really hardo t get hold of. Finally I found a layer cake at ap rice I was willing to pay

It arrived and I had a moment of rebellion with that Animal alphabet and so now we have ......

fanfare please . 

SPOTTY ZEBRAS ! 

I don;t know about you but I need a quick project after a long one to give me some sense of accomplishment. YOu just need a "fast fix"  something cute sweet, fun to make and only takes a couple of hours . A quilt can take weeks or even months so you need jsut a small snackette of quilting or sewing ot keep youkeen and so given that I won;t get the animal alphabet done in time for the baby I made this. 8 charm squares  cut into quarters and sewn together and quilted to make.........

 Baby's first XMas stocking

Super cute

As you may know I am a keen member of the Sew what and Sew Swapit and there is usually soemthing suitably silly or hilarious going on . SO ....there we were messing around on facebook and chatting awayand a few things have come to light re language differences . It so resulted in the plendge of sewing alliegence  which is captured here . They are a fairly ligth hearted group and there is a certain amount of leg pulling and taking the mick but it;s all in good fun and not nasty . 

I now have ot deal with my stash bee block which suprizes me as I am normally really keen but this month I have lost my mojo a little. The fabric is now cut and jsut sitting waiting I jsut need to get my backside up into my studio and geto n with it . I am away to a wedding this week so no sewing with my machine. However I am taking my handsewing with me so if there are a few quiet moments whilst we are at the hotel then i can pick it up and keep my hands busy .

So i shall wish you adieu for this week , happy sewing  

GIVEAWAY WINNERS !! PLEASE PLEASE send your addresses to my email   ninkynonk@evilgoat.org  so I can send you your gifts/prizes.

If I don;t hear by Friday the 17th I  will re draw the names/numbers .
Thanks

Raven

We have some winners!!!

Well I hope you;ve enjoyed reading about my quilts and family ramblings.

But as promised as close to the end of July as possible. My random number generator ( husband) wads told PICK A NUMBER ! and that came in at ..................... HEATHER!!!!!

Heather wins a cushion cover( pillow) some nice eighths in either orange or blue tones.
Some thread ( LOOOOOOOVELY thread)  and some fancy tags that I am currently remaking.

BUT ALSO  as a bonus for other members and to keep it interesting I have 4 other bods who won a little suprise ... It might be some charm squares or a bag of good sized end pieces from my stash or thread or some fancypins or even a Xmas stocking . You won;t know till you get it !

So Bobby Z
Heartseast 54
T Herin
Maria Kevit

all of you need ot send yr addies to the email ..... you know the wierd one   ninkynonk@evilgoat.org  .


I will be doing another giveaway later in the year so keep reading, keep in touch and enjoy your sewing .

I have a pretty .........hectic week at work hence the low blogging quotient.

Love
RAVen xxx