Scrappy Trips Quilt Finish!

Yipeee! I've finished my scrappy trip around the world quilt! I'm so super proud of this and love how it's turned out :) I don't think I would have made this is it wasn't part of a quilt-a-long because it's so scrappy and random! It was quite a step out of my comfort zone :) so I thank the quilting community for all joining in the adventure which helped motivate me to complete it! 

It's the biggest quilt I've made so far! and my first one to have pride of place in our bedroom. We have an all white bedroom, so it brings a much needed rainbow of colour :) When I was piecing the quilt top with such multicolored fabrics I knew exactly what backing I would choose to compliment it ...

... Pam Kitty Love's multicolour dots of course! It's so busy on the front I didn't want to overwhelm it with something crazy on the back, so I think it's kinda' perfect :) I also used a coordinating Pam Kitty floral print for the binding too, again something subtle. 

It's quilted in a simple fashion, straight stitched along every other row - someday I will get more adventurous with my quilting and learn some new techniques. It's actually on my to do list this year! How are your scrappy trips quilts going? Did you join in? If not I would highly recommend it! Jessie, xo

Latest Vintage Finds

One of the things I enjoy most about the summer is car-boot season! I love venturing through the aisles of cars, peeking through boxes and eyeing up the candy on offer, most of the time it's not great stuff but I can usually always count on bringing one sweet thing home to treasure :) ... Unfortunately it's not summer here at the moment, so I have to look forward to that in the coming months and raid the local charity shops instead, which is exactly what I did last week! In my favourite local one I scored these little beauties. 

Some amazing retro curtains with a cute kitchen print! (I loove anything kitchen design related!) I think they definitely date back to the 50s, but are in really good condition and have a great texture to them. I also got another great purple vintage sheet and matching pillowcases to add to the vintage fabric shop section. And not forgetting these pretty sewing patterns; vintage nightwear to channel my inner Doris Day and stuffed toys, just because ;)

Have you found any gems recently? p.s I've finished my Scrappy Trips quilt!! I'll be photographing it tomorrow so look out for a post very soon ;) Jessie, xo

Pam Kitty, Love!

I'm so happy that I'm stocking the wonderful new Pam Kitty Love collection by the super talented Pam Kitty Morning! It's a delightful line full of whimsical prints in a pretty colour palette of reds, pinks, yellows, grey, green and blue! 

I managed to cut into it just before Christmas to create these sweet little drawstring bags for some Christmas gifts - of course, using Jeni B's tutorial. I just love that scalloped stripe, I know it will be perfect for future quilt bindings ;) It's also made lots of appearances in my scrappy trips quilt :) and I'm sure will be the base of many sewing projects to come! 

Have a great weekend everyone! It's sooooo cold here so I'm planning to have a fun weekend of staying indoors in the warm and sewing all weekend! yayy! What about you? Jessie, xo

Scappy Trip Along Quilt!

Hi friends! I've been busy working away on my scrappy trips quilt along since the beginning of the month. I wanted to jump into this project as I thought it would be a great way to start the year with a fun quilty project :) hopefully it will be the start of a productive year to come! I have lots of plans for the year, and one of my personal goals is to find some more time for quilt making and actual sewing! We all know it can be hard to squeeze in the time and motivation after a long day's work but I'm trying to be more organised with myself this year; less Pinterest, more doing perhaps ;)

p.s. this is my house!!

I'm completely in love with this quilt and I'm really pleased I jumped on the bandwagon to join in the fun. I would never have had the motivation to complete all 36 blocks if it wasn't in a quilt-a-long with hundreds of other quilters across the world! The Instagram buzz it created has been amazing! and I've spent far too long nosing round the #scrappytripalong photo's...

I cut into loads of my stash, and used up lots of scraps too! It's a real mix of lots of my favourite prints, no real plan of design layout - except I had to use a white print in each block, as I like my quilts with white!! :)

I hope you're all having an enjoyable start to the week! Jessie, xo
p.s. Don't forget I'm in the middle of having my BIG new year sale at Sew and Quilt, with fabric's up to 40% off until 31st Jan , a perfect excuse to stock up on scrappy trips fabric!! :)

Craft Books and New Fabric!

There's nothing I enjoy better than sitting down with a nice cup of tea and paging through some eye candy in the form of sewing and craft books. It's one of my favourite things to do, after actual sewing of course ;)

This Christmas I was the very lucky receiver of this amazing stack of crafty delights! Little did I know when I was adding them to my amazon basket throughout the year they would be appearing under the tree :) thanks Robin!

                       

I also got these amazingly cute!! lecien prints, just look at those deers! and the oh so sweet stamps! eek I can't wait to cut into them :) perhaps a project from the Happy Quilt book by Atsuko Matsuyama!? This book is seriously amazing. My mum bought me the other japanese book when they were in Hong Kong for Christmas! It's full of fun patchwork ideas. 

And sometimes you just need a picture book, and what better than a picture book full of vintage fabrics and feedsacks! Vintage Fabric From The States is exactly that, it's perfect. 

You can find all the links to these books on my new amazon widget on the left sidebar. I have added all the books I've shared on the blog over the years, and I personally own each one so it comes highly recommended. If you decide to go ahead and purchase any of these I would really appreciate it if you could click through the link as it would really help me out! :) Did you receive some nice crafty presents? Please share, I'd love to hear! and exchange book recommendations ... Jessie, xo

Happy New Year SALE!

Hi friends, just a quick stop by to let you all know that I'm having a big new year fabric sale over at Sew and Quilt! Quilting fabrics reduced up to 40% OFF!

What better way to spend your Sunday afternoon, shopping for fabric! Jessie, xo

Messy Jesse in 2012

Hi friends! A very happy new year to you all! I wanted to welcome you all back with a look through my 2012 year, didn't it fly by! Firstly, and most importantly I made my very first quilt this year :) even though I've been sewing for years, and making smaller patchwork projects - I was never quite able to take the leap into making a 'real quilt', but I'm so glad I did!! Although I didn't make as many as I'd hoped I really enjoyed the process for each and every one, learning as I go...

2012 seemed to be a year of the tutorial from me, I made a simple envelope cushion cover tutorial, a chevron pillow and some Christmassy projects in the form of a patchwork tree decoration featured over on the Liberty craft blog, a napkin/cutlery holder on quilt story and a reindeer embroidery pattern for sale in my etsy shop :)

I also discovered that I love making pillows! Here are a few of my favourites :) I plan on lots more pillow making fun in 2013 ;)

I joined the farmers wife quilt-a-long! Although I have slacked off towards the end of this year, I'm planning to catch up soon enough - they're so fun to make! I also started english paper piecing, more finishes for 2013 ;)

My biggest accomplishment was opening my online quilting fabric shop Sew and Quilt! eek! It still scares me that I'm doing it! It's been a lot of work but so worth it, and I'm enjoying the adventure :) I recently got accepted to join a scheme to help university graduates like myself, start their own businesses, which starts this month! I even had to pitch the business idea to a panel of judges, aghh so scary! 

I also set up the Sew and Quilt facebook page ;)

We also did lots of work to our new home, including re-decorating the dining room, entrance hall, and a complete renovation of our bathroom very recently. Phew! it was a busy year - oh and we got ENGAGED!! Wow, it really was a busy, and expensive year!! How was your 2012? Did you achieve everything you set out to? Goals/resolutions for 2013?

Jessie, xo