Hummingbird Pillow

The hummingbirds have been visiting me while I'm out in the garden. They are quite curious little fellows, hovering just above the spray of water. They enjoy the blooming sage bush and jasmine vines.

They reminded me of this pillow I made for my Mom a couple Christmases ago. She adores hummingbirds.

I started with a paper-pieced block that I designed especially for this pillow. Then I added applique stems cut from bias strips so they would curve easily, borders, and finally some 3D Fuschia flowers and leaves.

It was difficult to make the stems thin so I added the rest of the vines using repetitive free-motion quilting or "thread painting". Feathers were added to the hummingbird wings during quilting, and details were added to the flowers using hand embroidery and beads.

I used the same design for the back as in my Crane Star Pillow pattern. My Mom loves her hummingbird pillow, and I was happy to see it on her couch last week when I visited.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Christmas Star Pillow

This was a quick pillow I made at Christmas for my brother's fiancee. A simple wonky star but with holly freemotion-quilted into the white.

I used the same striped back and tie design as in my Crane Star Pillow pattern. I outlined the star and ties with a red embroidered running stitch, and finished it off with scrappy binding.

I loved how it turned out and it was difficult to give it away! She loved it and I think my brother loved it even more :o)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Pattern Shop News!

The Book Pillow & Pincushion pattern is now available in my SHOP.
This one's for all those book lovers out there...

Now you can add plush book pillows to your favourite reading spot! You can choose from 2 sizes of pillows with options to sew the book closed or include a secret message inside the book that you can open and read. Basic instructions on how to piece the front page and ideas for creating your book labels are given.

The small pincushion-sized book has space for pins, needles inside the cover and a small spool of thread in the spine. To weight it down, you can add sand, rice or pincushion filling of your choice along with polyester filling. There is also a place for a plastic insert on the bottom to prevent pins from poking through which makes it great for travel. It's so cute, it would even make a great gift for someone who doesn't sew!

This is an 8-page digital PDF pattern containing 2 pages that make up the cover, 4 pages of instructions, 1 template page, and 1 page on how to properly print and assemble your very own pattern booklet. All PatchworkPottery digital pattern booklets include metric conversion chart, stitches & terms section, illustrated step-by-step instructions, and full size templates.

For sizes and more information, please visit any of my shops. In addition to my MAIN SHOP, you can also find me on Etsy.

COMING SOON: Quilted Teapot and Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Pattern Shop News!

The Teapot Pillow pattern is now available in my SHOP. It is a 12-page PDF containing 2 pages that make up the cover, 4 pages of instructions, 5 template pages, and 1 page on how to properly print and assemble your very own pattern booklet.

All PatchworkPottery digital pattern booklets include metric conversion chart, stitches & terms section, illustrated step-by-step instructions, and full size templates.

Add a warm cozy spot of tea to your favourite armchair with this elegant teapot pillow. Choose floral fabrics for that English look, blue & white toile for fine china, or even try a modern print for a totally different look... I think I'll try some vintage and text fabrics next!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Lonely Crane

I found this little crane lying in the corner on the floor of my craftroom looking all lonely. It was my prototype and the first crane I paper-pieced using my CraneStar pattern.

I decided to turn it into a little quilt to showcase that first crane. Right now I'm not certain if I will just bind it and leave it as a mini quilt or quilt some back panels and turn it into a pillow like the original CraneStar pattern. If I sew another single crane block, I would position the crane a bit lower. I will eventually add this mini quilt as a free pattern extra on my blog so that those who have the pattern will have another fun option :o)

I designed the free-motion quilting pattern in the blue border to mimic the flowers in the fabric I used for the crane. I love how it turned out (even more-so on the back) and would like to do it again on a solid border! The red thread on cream is nice.

Mr. Scruffy is critically eyeing the lonely crane quilt but I think he likes it because he ended up falling asleep on it!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Crane Star Pillow

Inspiration struck this week and I finally finished my Crane Star pillow. It's been so long that I think the panel faded slightly from sitting in the sun through the summer. Note to self... don't leave half finished projects on the floor!

From paper to fabric...

Front & back...

I wanted to try some "not-quite-straight" quilting that I saw at the last Vancouver modern Quilt Guild meeting for the back panels. I like it and it was super fun and fast. My Japanese husband said that the pillow looks very Japanese so I think that's a good sign!

I ran out of the pink fabric that I used for the crane on the front so I had to substitute it with a linen that was a close colour match. I pieced the binding with all six fabrics and added rainbow sashiko on the linen ties to echo the front of the pillow...

Stay tuned for the Crane Star paper-piecing & pillow cover pattern coming soon to my shop!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Scandinavian Stitches & Giveaway

Recently, I was given the chance to review Scandinavian Stitches by Finnish designer Kajsa Wikman. I met Kajsa four years ago through Flickr when her whimsical appliqués caught my eye and have been following her blog Syko ever since. I am surrounded by her handmade goodness every day. She has been a huge inspiration to me so I was very excited to talk about her first book!

I was pleasantly surprised to find more than just projects inside Kajsa's book. There are sections about inspiration, organization, choosing fabrics, designing your own appliqués, embellishing, appliqué techniques, and free-motion quilting. My favourite section in the book was "I just don't get it!" which lists problems and solutions to ease our frustration when things go awry! Thank you for reminding us that we're not the only ones who have quilting disasters! I was thrilled to find that the book reflects Kajsa's design style and her creations to the "tea"!!

The simple & playful projects encourage creative freedom making it easy for the quilter to add their own flair. Each pattern is easy to follow and accompanied by clear diagrams paired with full-size templates! I was so excited that I immediately whipped up a few of Kajsa's projects that I have been eyeing on flickr and her blog for years!

The first project that I absolutely had to make was the Syko Teapot pillow of course!!! The colours I used reminded me of the taste of Earl Grey tea so I decided to add some free-motion writing at the top. It looks great on my wicker chair in the tea room! I think the result is a very happy blend of Kajsa and Laurraine!

I have also had my eye on the Tomte Stuffies since last Christmas! A tomte is described in the book as "the Scandinavian relative of Santa’s little helper". My tomte is made using non-traditional Autumn colours! I added a flower to her hat and she happily helps me in my craftroom (an army of these little helpers could come in handy all year round)!

Kajsa's description of Autumn in Finland is also my experience of Autumn here in British Columbia. This quilt will remind me each day that my friend is not so far away! I had a few extra leaves so I added them under the tree. My smaller version of the Ruska quilt now decorates my kitchen table :o)

Here are a few things I asked Kajsa...

What is the proper pronunciation of your first name (for all of us foreigners)?
For all of you English-speakers - if you say Kysa I think you will get it right! (I can hear everyone saying AHA! now) It is a long "i" sound as in KITE!

What was the first thing you ever designed?
I was 15 and it was a sweater. I asked my mum to knit me something and she told me to do it myself! So I learned how to knit! It was very wide and colourful, a one of a kind piece for sure, a pity I didn't save it! I do have pictures of my fist appliqué designs, I did my first appliqué on clothes for my daughter, some 7 years ago now, luckily I now have a digital camera!

Do you belong to any quilting or craft groups?
No quilting groups, but I would love it, I might start my own when the kids are a little older! I do belong to a local craft organization. We are having a show this December.

When did you realize that you wanted to make a business out of your crafts?
I think the seed was planted when I participated in my first Christmas market, but it was Etsy that made me think about my options seriously. Etsy gave me an affordable sales channel for my first creations. All the positive feedback I got on the pictures I posted on flickr was very valuable and also helped me with the decision.

Have you taken any craft business courses and were they helpful?
I took a course for starting businesses when I was starting up and I wouldn't have managed without the things I learned about taxes, book-keeping etc. Right now, I am participating in a project for craft businesses. We meet about once a month to learn about things like pricing and product display. I spoke about social media (blogging) and Etsy for my fellow students last month! It felt great to be able to share my experience and it made me realize how much I have learned along the way!

Have you ever thought about hiring someone to help you sew? (I know I have!)
YES! And it will probably happen soon, I need someone to help me with the sewing. I can't keep up with the demand anymore and with so many different projects the time dedicated to sewing is shrinking all the time!

GIVEAWAY TIME! (now closed)
Stash Books is giving away one copy of Scandinavian Stitches per blog and Kajsa is giving away one set of Syko Design cards per blog. Simply leave a comment on my blog for your chance to win! Giveaway closes on Saturday, November 27 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time.

Thank you for choosing me to be part of your amazing online book tour! The blog tour will end off tomorrow at Allsorts. Please see the previous post for the complete list of participating blogs.

If you don't win or can't wait to purchase some of Kajsa's work, please visit the Syko Shop.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)