Sew & Tell - Sew last minute!

I almost didn't make it - again! But I spent the morning handstitching the borders on these and here they are, my new summer placemats. They are part of a little series I've decided to make, which already included winter and spring. The pattern is from Pink Penguin, although I changed it a little by reducing the size and using patterned fabric for the center piece. I was looking for a way to make a patchwork while still giving a big spot to my fruity fabrics, and I think this works nice, although it might look a little too busy for some people, but I think that summer is the right time to go a little overboard with patterns and colours.

I have used really small flowers for the backing, some cute FQs I scored for 1$ a piece on Etsy.

P.S.: My machine quilting abilities have yet to be developped, so please don't look too closely at the supposedly parallel lines! For much better quilting techniques and great projects, head on over to Amy's blog.

Enjoy your weekend! Some great weather coming my way, looking forward to some outdoors handstitching.

Sew and Tell - I made it!

This is the pair of spring themed placemats that I made for my boyfriend and me. They don't match, I know, and it is on purpose. Actually, I selected a bunch of fabrics that I thought could express some spring elements. I showed them to my boyfriend and he chose what he liked best (green flowers and elves). Mine was a no brainer, I knew I had to have lovebirds and those gorgeous Nicey Jane flowers.

I have to admit that I had doubts that I would finish them in time to use before spring turned to summer, though, even if there are still a few months ahead. My challenge resided in hand quilting, which I had never done before. The least I can say is that I am not a natural, and some of my stitches on the reverse look pretty bad. But it was a first experience, and I am glad only that I made it through. I really like the more handmade look of my own stitches.

For the border on my placemat, I used some pink fabric that I don't particularly like, but I think it makes good bias tape. On my boyfriend's, I used some orange bias tape that I had around, and it matches the orange thread that I used in the quilting.

This is only my second time around playing Sew and Tell, but it really gave me a motivation to finish those placemats on Wednesday (my day off from work), so I could join in the fun today! There are lots of other great projects to see on Amy's blog, and some happy news to share. Make sure you go visit!

Is it too late or way too early for Christmas stuff?

Honestly, I think it doesn't really matter as long as I enjoy what I am doing.

I realised, a few weeks before Christmas, that it would be nice to have some placemats for the season. Problem was, I did not have any holiday fabric and anyway I was much too busy with getting everything else ready for Christmas. Still, I ordered some fabric and received it during the holidays, but it is only now that I have time to sit down and sew what I had in mind.



My boyfriend wanted something very traditional as far as colors go, so he chose solid green and red fabrics to go along with the penguin pattern.



I, on the other hand, have a thing for the Be Merry fabrics, so I opted for brighter colors. I still need to quilt and add the bias, but I already am pretty satisfied with how it turned out, knowing that I did not use any pattern.

I am hoping to have time to finish them during the weekend, but today on my day off from work, I will definitely go play outside as the sun is finally back for a visit with some warm temperatures.