Tree Fall

Yellow Girl

 

Bella has always been a pink girl. Until recently when she came home from school and informed us that she wasn't " a pink girl anymore, I'm a yellow girl now".

Which meant that this year when it came to decorating for her birthday, instead of the usual red and pink banner and red and pink pom poms, I went with all yellows.

 

Although I love yellow, when I was buying the tissue paper for the pom poms I was a little unsure how it would look in the kitchen, but once they were hanging, and I'd made the bunting and covered the table in a yellow and white table cloth I loved it all. The kitchen looks so bright and spring like at the moment that although Bella's birthday is over, I'm sticking with it.

Until it's Lily's birthday in a couple of weeks of course. Because she's still a pink girl!

The Fat Quarterly

 

The latest issue of the Fat Quarterly is out now and for the last few weeks I've been wanting to find the time to sit down and write a post about how much I love this quilting eZine.

The brain child of Katy, Brioni, Tacha, John and Nova, The Fat Quartely is an eZine that is published 4 times a year (hence the clever name).  Written by modern sewists for modern sewists, each issue features a mix of patterns and articles that focus on a clean, fresh, vibrant use of fabrics. The sewing projects range from quilts to cushions, but are all linked by the use of modern colourways.

 

 

Issue 4 focuses on working with solids and includes more than 15 projects and a number of articles that explore the exciting ways that solids can be used in quilting.

I'm particularly interested in this, because my love of sewing began when I discovered quilting and in particular the quilts of Gees Bend and the Amish. I was particularly drawn to both of their uses of block colours and the resulting simple yet stunning quilts.

 

 

These days I tend to lean towards heavily patterned fabrics, but when I see beautiful designs like this sewing machine cover, I realise just how much I miss working with solid colours. And just how much I want to give it a go again.

That's not to say that prints aren't also used in some of the patterns. This quilt pattern shows just how successfully prints and solids can be combined.

 

 

The Fat Quarterly is exactly what I've always looked for in a quilting magazine, but have sadly rarely found. It manages to take traditional techniques and give them a fresh new twist and has consistently good features and patterns throughout, without falling in to the trap of filling the pages with the boring colourways and styles that so many people still associate with quilting.

This eZine manages to be both a good read and great inspiration from beginning to end. And if you have any interest in pathwork at all, in all it's forms, then the chances are you will love The Fat Quarterly as much as I do.

The Fat Quarterly can be bought and downloaded from here, where you can also flick through a preview.

I'm really pleased to say though that I'm able to offer a free copy to three readers. All you have to do is leave a comment and on Tuesday 15th the Random Number Generator will pick 3 names, who will all receive a download of issue 4.

The Pattern

 

After appearing on Kirsties Homemade Home, I was asked if I could produce a pattern for a beanbag. So after months of working on it, here is the first (of hopefully many) Treefall Design pattern.

 

 

The pattern itself is for a larger beanbag that is easily big enough for a child or an adult, and it includes full instructions and a full size template.

 

 

Both Bella and Lily love beanbags, but I can't stand the fact that so many of them are made out of horribly boring fabrics, so I really enjoyed making ours out of this Cath Kidston fabric. Which means that instead of being relagated to the girl's bedroom, it actually gets to be used in the living room. And it also means that I get a little laugh every time I see Jim using it to play X Box!

 

 

 

Next up I'm hoping to produce a couple of baby clothes patterns but in the meantime the bean bag pattern is available here and here.

 

6 Years ago...

 

And 6 years later....

 

 

6 years of dancing and singing and laughing and jumping and playing and hugging and kissing and tickling and chasing and drawing and holding and loving and loving and loving and loving.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl.

I'm sorry that you don't always have it easy and that you've seen too many tears.

We all love you and we're lucky to have you in our lives.

But I'm especially lucky, because I never expected to be the mother of such a wonderful, caring, clever, funny girl.

It's your birthday and yet I have been given the best gift ever.

x

 

Strollers and Bibs

 

As well as the new stuff, I've been putting together a few stroller quilt/bib sets in reds and blues.

 

These quilts are a bit bigger than my normal stroller ones but because they're a little more basic in design (no embroidery etc) I'm able to team them with a bib and offer them as a set.

 

 

The quilts are patchworked with all my favourite prints and an appliqued animal and have a 100% wool batting, so they're both warm and lightweight.

And as always, the matching bibs have velcro fastenings and super soft chenille backing.

 

They're perfect for everyday use because they can just be thrown in the wash and tumble drier along with the bibs and they just get softer and softer.

I've made these more basic ones because it means that I'm able to make them more cost effective and therefore more affordable.

 

 

I don't usually design based on cost (because unfortunately it would mean I couldn't afford to design anything) but I want to design some lines that are both relatively quick and easy as well as cheaper to make so that I can reflect that in the prices.

I also think that sometimes it's just a good thing to go back to basics, instead of always trying to think of something that could be the next best thing.

 

 

I've aimed to make these quilt sets both useful and pretty. As with my bibs, I want them to be easy to use, easy to look after, but still pretty enough to want to use them every day.

The sets are available in the shop now.