New Fabric & Farmers Wife Friday

I was soo happy on Wednesday to receive my wonderful fabric swap I arranged with lovely Steffi of steffiscandyquilts, she was having a fabric giveaway a little while ago with some cute 1930s repro fabrics - unfortunately I didn't win the giveaway but I asked her if she would be interested in a little swap and she was :) they were definately worth the wait! I just love them all, and Steffi kindly included some extra pieces! yippee! Don't they look such a sweet bunch, all sitting neatly!

I also had some time to whip up a couple more farmers wife blocks, these were much simpler than my first two! Although, for this one #9 Box it was a little tricky because I had to match up the straight design of the red fabric so all my triangle peices were facing the right direction... it took me a few attempts ha!

I'm not so keen on this one now? #10 Bowtie maybe it will grow on me... it was nice and simple to put together though :) Have a great weekend guys! Jessie, xo

Organised Embroidery

My cross-stitch project has been lying around our living room for quite some time now, I like to pick it up when I have time so putting it 'away' never seems to happen. So, I decided to make something pretty to hold all my supplies in :) what do you think?

I was inspired by this one, after some online searching, and thought to myself hey, I could make one of those! (in much nicer fabrics!) So after some deliberation of what fabrics to use I decided upon an old Cath K print I've been hanging on to for a while - added a bit of pink binding and giant ric rac and hey presto! organised supplies in no time! I think it would be useful for all sorts of crafty activities that I do while watching the t.v :) Hope you're all having an enjoyable week :) see you tomorrow! Jessie, xo

Pink Castle Fabric Contest

Hello! I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend :) I'm linking up to Katy at 'Imagingermonkey' today, she has teamed up with PinkCastleFabrics to host a fun competition involving blogger bundles from their online shop! Here is my bundle I have created - and very much drooling over now! I'm trying hard not to to hit checkout on my etsy account!

I just love these colours together, I'm really drawn to brown at the moment - I haven't got any in my stash so I think it's time I invested... invested? Yes fabric is always an investment, along with shoes and handbags of course ;) 

From top left: 1. Alexander Henry Fabric Heath Brown Chocolate, 2. Swoon in Red Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, 3. Maritza Dot in Aqua Queen Street by Jennifer Paganelli Free Spirit, 4. Rivera in Blue - Maya for Anthology Fabrics by Leah Duncan, 5. Timeless Treasures Sketch Crosshatch in Yellow, 6. Sundae Stripe in Ruby Red by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, 7. Dotted Leaf in Red - Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt, 8. Mono Pez in Gray Pezzy Prints by American Jane for Moda, 9. 1/2 Yard Garden Daisies in Blue Punctuation by American Jane, 10. Mono Pez in Indigo Pezzy Prints by American Jane for Moda, 11. Punctuation Ditto Daisies in Red Punctuation by American Jane, 12. Farm Fresh by October Afternoon for Riley Blake Designs

I think these would be perfect for my farmers wife quilt blocks, ooh yes! I hope you like my picks! speak soon, Jessie xo.

1st Farmers Wife

One of the main reasons I started learning to quilt this year, was because of the farmers wife quilt along. I was so inspired by all the amazing blocks I was seeing on the blogosphere - I thought I had to have some of that myself! 

I loved the idea of doing a sampler quilt, it really appealed to me to have such a mix of blocks and colours in one quilt :) I'm planning on completing two blocks a week as the quilt-a-long suggests - here's hoping!

So these are my first two blocks! #34 Flock was my vert first to complete. I thought this would be a nice simple one to ease myself in. I then got wayyy to ahead of myself and had a go at #27 Darting Birds, which as you can see, was a little out of my depth!! haha I am a beginner though :) I used my very, very precious PamkittyMorning fabrics from my lovely blog friend Melissa, which I had been saving for a special project and I think this fits the bill ;) Are you all joining in the farmers wife fun? Jessie, xo

WIP: Granny Square Blocks

I've worked on quite a few more granny square blocks since my last post about these. I was dying to cut into my new fabrics, so I wasted no time in sewing them up. Look at my stack now! :) wooh it will be my first lap-sized quilt, so excited!!

I think this pink and red one is my favourite so far, I just looooove these fabrics together. So 16 down, 4 more to go! ;) how are your granny sqaures coming along? Jessie, xo

Craft Room Idea: Wall Storage

Hello friends! I had an idea recently to utilise some of the wall space above my desk, so this is what I came up with! I used to keep my tools and pens in a couple of pots on the desk but I've found recently I'm needing more and more space for cutting so this seemed like a logical idea for me. 

I used acrylic bathroom containers from Muji, you can find them here, adhesive velcro and 'No More Nails' or any strong glue. To make: cut two strips of velcro per container. Next, lay the opposite sides of the velcro to stick to the container and add a couple dots of strong glue, fix in position on your wall and your done! See, I told you it was simple :) I plan to share more crafty storage tips with you soon, so be sure to check back. Hope you all had a fun weekend. Jessie, xo

Happy Mail Days

If you follow me on Instagram (@messyjesse1) you will know that I've had some happy mail recently...

... all the way from Japan! I just love receiving little packages in the post, and the happiest ones seem to come from Japan. I spyed those gorgeous square dot fabrics over in lovely Ayumi's shop recently, and after a few email exchanges we thought we would arrange a fun little fabric swap :) she's just the sweetest, just look at those yummy goodies she sent me! So if you haven't been to her shop before - check it out, it's amazing! Thank you so much Ayumi, I hope yours arrives safely to you soon :D The other delightful goodies came from the etsy shop BonsaiBlossom, they were having a 50% off opening sale, so I found myself making a snappy impulse purchase! :O I got a couple half yard cuts of some lecien and kokka prints, and some really pretty trim that I couldn't pass up. It came wrapped in the cutest gift bag I have ever seen!! I need to get some immediately :)

I found these little gems on Ebay of all places, a nice seller was auctioning off some of her 30's reproduction fabric. I'm slowly building up a nice collection now :) and I'm actually waiting on another fabric swap from another bloggy friend of mine over in Germany, she's got some 30's repro's for me too, I just can't get enough of them! ;) What have you been buying/swapping lately? Not that I need any more temptations! Jessie, xo

Simple Envelope Cushion Cover Tutorial

I love making cushion covers (or pillow cases) whichever you may call them? They are such a fun and inexpensive way to add some colour to our homes. I sewed up a couple of sweet pillows to match our curtains recently, and took a few photos of the process to share a very simple tutorial with you all. So let's dive right in!

1. Cut: one 18.5" x 18.5" piece (the front panel), and two piece's 18.5" x 14" (the side panels) of your chosen fabric.

2. Fold a 1" edge over on the two smaller pieces of fabric, press.

3. Fold this edge over again by 1", to enclose the raw edges and press.

5. Then sew very close to the edge of this seam, removing pins as you go.

6. Next, sew along the other edge very close to the edge. Repeat this step for the other side panel.

7. Lay your front panel right side up, next lay both side panels on top so they are overlap. Pin in place.

8. Sew all the way around your pillow, with a 1/4" seam allowance. I like to do quite a few reverse stitches where the side panels overlap (so when you yank the insert in and out it stays nice and strong!) Trim the corners to reduce bulk. I also like to finish off mine with a neat, zig zag stitch along the raw edge to neaten it up a bit :) Flip inside out and voila, you're done!

I hope you enjoyed this! Any questions feel free to ask me :) Hope you all had a fun weekend! Jessie, xo

Paper Peiced Hexagons

Another big trend I've been noticing on the crafty blogosphere lately is hexagon paper piecing, naturally I had to give it go myself and find out what the fuss was all about. So I bought a bunch of 3" paper hexagons - because I'm too lazy to cut them myself! (I got mine on eBay) and started cutting into some pretty yellow and pink fabrics from my stash. I'm scheming something fun for these little shapes, but you'll have to wait until I've finished to see what they will end up as ;)

I can see why it's such a popular activity, not only can you do it anywhere, (you don't have to be chained to the sewing machine, in other words!) it's super easy, and gives you amazing results for not much work? it's also incredibly addictive! Right, I'm off to do some more, just looking at these pictures has got me itching to pick up my needle and thread again :) 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I've got a tutorial to share with you next week, and a fun organisation idea for your sewing room! be sure to check back :D Jessie, xo