Finally getting through some scraps!

After the house move I had to reorganise my fabric and with that came the dreaded scrap management system! after unpacking Madams room I was kindly left with a toy net from Ikea *Kaching!* An Ikea toy net, it turns out is perfect for scraps...Have a look and see :)

Click on the photo for a chance of reading the teeny tiny text that I swear was bigger when I added it! 

Behind the big old net o' scraps you can see the shelving with the rest of the scrap sitting scowling at me waiting to be used.
The "Rule of thumb" is anything smaller than a FQ goes in the net, which is right next to my cutting table (so no excuse not to use it) and larger than a FQ but less than a 1/4 yard is stacked on the shelves....I'll let you know how long I keep it up for lol

With this scrap management in mind (and the small issue of loosing the fabric I had planned to use for my month in the house move) I'm sending out my scraps to my sewn together bee mates for my month with the hopes that when they come back to me they'll be quilt blocks rather than a storage pain :D
The blocks I'm asking for are from Elizabeth Hartman's blog Oh Fransson which if you haven't checked out yet you really should as it's choc-a-block full of inspiration. While I was putting off doing the house work  researching I came across these mod mosaic blocks and knew straight away these would kill the scrap bin :) Here's the Link for the downloadable pattern  and here's a pic of the test blocks I ran up

 I'm leaving them wonky until I get all the blocks back and fingers crossed this should, given the amount of scraps I have, end up big  enough for my king size bed once I'm done :D

And lastly here is a sneak peek teaser of the fabrics I'm working with on a new quilt

Yummy yummy voiles! 

Spoonflower rock and a "I need sewing help" post

A small amount of back story is needed here....

A good few month ago Heather Ross had a studio sale, which I totally forgot to blog about and will at some point remember to do so I can share the goodies with you! So yes as I was saying Heather Ross + Sale basically means I'll be there...and I was with bells and whistles on :) ordered my bits and sat back happily in the knowledge that pretty fabric would be coming through my post box. Then I got an email saying sorry but everything was taking a little longer than anticipated but to make it up to people Ms Ross was reissuing some prints on Spoonflower...Hmmm yummy! So thankful for the opportunity to get some OOP fabric and a gift for him in doors all in one go I headed over to Spoonflower and ordered a couple of FQ's (and if you believe that you'll believe anything!) The timing was not good. Spoonflower were running an offer so shipping was lagging but I ordered regardless (Well wouldn't you?) and I waited some more. On the 23rd of December my Heather Ross package arrived (and yes I was over the moon!) and time went on. By January I thought I had better check on the Spoonflower order, yeah I'm rather chilled about delivery times, so I emailed and a lovely response came though in under 24 hours...small reality check for me here - They are on the other side of the planet and as much as I would love to shop with them all the time I can't or I'd be swiftly single! So these guys basically owe me not a lot. However they went beyond great and really made me smile, they ran a reprint for me and shipped it signed for. I got it, taking time zones into account, in 5 days and it was perfect. I don't know many companies that will do that and as you guys know I like to shout about good customer service so this is me shouting a big *Thank You* To Spoonflower and incase your wondering this is the Heather Ross print I ordered :)

Next up is the me needing help part of the post, Hollie if you're reading this look away now! 

People I can't sew Yseams for toffee! I have googled and YouTubed and this is what keeps happening -

Can anyone tell me what the heck I'm doing wrong?!? I leave the seam open 1/4" from the end, it's the part when I'm turning the fabric with the needle down and foot up that it goes all problem child on me. Any thoughts, advice or even commiseration's will cheer me up right now as I'm at the point of doing damage with a seam ripper! 

Hope your sewing is going better than mine :)

D-Day plus 1 :)

Hi everyone!
I had intended to post yesterday but time ran away with me so today will have to do :)
The Japanese x and + block swap is off to a flying start with some ladies ready to post out already! This is my progress so far

I'm having a blast making these and they are finally eating up my scraps! 

If your interested in joining in but haven't signed up yet you still have time, you can sign up right until the last day for postage (18th fab) just here

In other news I've been embroidering like a mad thing. I've made 2 wall hangings -  one is child friendly, the other...not so much! If your adverse to swear words best skip over the next pics!  

and a close up of the birds

I decided I am going to use the embroidery books and patterns I have around the place rather than just looking at them keeping my fingers crossed that they'll embroider them selves!

Also on the to do list this week has been Hollies Lone star block for our Sewn Together Bee

Progress so far - 

plus some Christmas socks 

I'm having a lot of fun with this, so expect a lone star quilt making its way onto these pages sometime this year!

Hope your all recovering well from the holiday season and fitting in some time to sew!