A little progress

I'm working on two projects at once at the moment, which is quite unusual for me! I'm normally a one project gal. But here's what's going on at the moment :)

Christmas Quilt

I made my first block! It's so pretty. Completely in love with the fabrics.

Mushroom Houses

While my hubby and mother in law were tiling our bathroom (thanks guys!), I did a lot of cutting:

And I've since been sewing the pieces into rows:

I also took the slightly-too-girly houses fabric:

And carefully pieced it to create a nice clean line :) I was really pleased with how this worked out.

Hope you're all well :)

Mushroom Houses!!

Hi everyone :) I've recently started work on a new baby quilt. Little Miss Cooper's mum has asked me to make a quilt for a friend of hers who is having a baby. We went fabric shopping together to come up with some ideas and we were browsing around without reaching any conclusions until she turned around and said "Mushroom houses!!" So, Lecien's Woodland it was!

This is going to be another gender neutral quilt. A little awkward as a lot of this range is based on fairies and flowers, but with some clever selection and some planned fussy-cutting (we'll be losing the flowery garland on the white fabric) I reckon it should be achievable.

Here's my plan for the quilt:

Does anyone else plan their quilts in Paint? Anyway, I'm looking forward to working on this one. The rows of houses between the rows were my friend's idea - I think they're going to look really cute! I'll be intruiged to see how close the real quilt looks to this picture in the end.

See you soon :)

Decisions, decisions

One of the best things about our new flat is that it's across the road from our friends Dave and Raych. When we first moved in it felt a bit like being back in halls at university - being able to pop by and see people so easily, instead of having to make plans like boring grown-ups! Alongside their many other wonderful qualities, Dave and Raych are great because they have a shower. We, on the other hand, currently have a building site/bathroom with no shower and a lot of mess. So they have very kindly been letting us pop by to use theirs.

I had been wondering whether I could make them something as a thank you, and then they mentioned to my hubby that whenever they have loads of things to think/decide/pray about, they put them all in a hat, draw out one and discuss that one. Perfect! I had been waiting for an excuse to try out Jeni's drawtsring bag tutorial, and this was it.

First up, cutting.

The fake patchwork fabric was a birthday present from my good friends Matt and Kirsten.

It's perfect for Raych, and I'm sure Dave will be OK with it!

Next was the exciting bit - getting to use my new embroidery hoop! It was a Christmas present from my in-laws, and I loved using it. I felt a bit like I was in Pride and Prejudice :)

Then I sewed the pieces together...

... and, ta da! One lovely little bag.

Jeni's tutorial was great. Very clear and simple to follow. I'd definitely recommend you give it a go! I gave the bag to Dave and Raych a little while ago while on one of my many pop-round-for-a-shower trips, and Raych described it as the prettiest bag she'd ever seen. So I think it's fair to say it was well received!

Gotta love the button fabric

I'll be linking up to Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF (hosted by Kit) and checking out what everyone else has made too :)