UFO... finished*

I ordered the material (Funky feathered friends by angelaanderson) for this top from Spoonflower in November last year.  When it arrived I made an Oliver + S hopscotch top and cut out the Oliver + S sailboat top in a size 4.  I had every intention of sewing it up....

Eight months later I found this plastic bag

And about four hours after I unpacked the bag I had this!

I used some pearl snaps from the Snap Source instead of buttons and I overlapped the shoulder flaps the correct way this time.

Another finished object


(*I was going to call this "UFO to FO" but then had second thoughts....  One of my professors at university was strongly opposed to abbreviations that were not universally accepted or might have two or more meanings.  Prof barked loudly at anyone who wrote, for instance, that the child had a "TOF" - was that Tetralogy of Fallot or Tracheoesophageal Fistula?   So, remembering his sensible words I rewrote the title of this post and hope now there is no misunderstanding.)

A little green bolero

This is the Heidi and Finn Ruffle bolero 




I used a cotton velveteen remnant for the main fabric (from Global Fabrics in Christchurch before the  shop disappeared as a result of the 2011 earthquakes) and a sateen gingham for the lining.





I thought I would use a gathering foot I purchased for my Bernina machine specifically to gather the metres of ruffle on this top and save myself time, but having parted with my $$ I discovered the special foot only works for single fabric layers!  Grrrr....

Instead of an elastic button loop I made a small fabric loop out of the velveteen

>
 

and used a covered button on the opposite side.


The sleeves were nicely finished with the lining enclosed by the sleeve hem





Overall, a very quick project (even by my standards!) and a great way to use up some left-overs


 

Starry eyed

I made my first quilt in 2003.  I didn't think quilting was ever going to be my 'thing' until I found Jan Mullen's Slender Starz quilt pattern.  This wasn't a traditional quilt pattern, there weren't any rules that had to be followed, and I loved the bright colours.

I still have that first quilt.  It isn't perfect - the quilting is boring, the binding is too fat, the navy thread I used to piece the stars shows through on the lighter fabrics - but I am attached to it in much the same way as a child clutches their favourite toy with the missing eye,  the stuffing showing through, and food scraps embedded in the fur.

I've always wanted to make another quilt using this pattern and when one of the woman at work delivered a very premature baby I had found the perfect reason to get sewing.

There are 35 stars and a free form lattice border

Because of the way the stars are created, each is unique

And I tried to use a different colour in each of the strips in the lattice border.  Hooray for the stash!

And I quilted it in a random spiky star-like pattern in a variegated King Tut thread (Superior threads).

I was really pleased with how this quilt turned out and also how quick this was to create. I managed to quilt the top in just one day although I think I took just about as long to hand-sew the binding!

And it made my day today to hear that the recipient was putting the quilt to good use now that her baby is home.