Strawberry Fields

It is not often that I think of making a whole quilt of paper pieced blocks, it takes a lot of dedication.  That didn't put Penny off, using the Sew-Ichigo Strawberry block along with a little help from nineteen other quilters...

Read all about it here...

Curtains and Kitchens

Penny and I always like to make a project with our Sew-Ichgio blocks to give you a little creative kick start that you can either do yourself or use as a springboard for your own ideas.  With my latest pattern, Strawberry-Ichigo, I made a curtain for a skinny window in my kitchen.  The I chose six shades from the Oakshott Ruby Reds range  to show different stages of ripening.  

I kept the block to the standard 6" finished size and added sashing (3 1/2" x 6 1/2") between the blocks before adding a strip below and the main block of linen above.  From then on, I  made it as a standard curtain.  I am no expert, in fact I loathe making large curtains,  so I pull it together in a fairly random way.  It is a small curtain so I can get away with some slip shod ways!  If you want to do a more professional job there is a great list of tutorials here.

I tread a fine line in my little house between covering every surface in patchwork/quilty items and restraint, so I thought you might like a quick tour around the craftiness in my kitchen- who doesn't like a poke around other people's houses?   My blind was a standard roller to which I added a little Alexander Henry fabric trim.  It was harder to do than I imagined , that long seam n fabric that cant be squished or folded meant I had to sit the sewing machine in the middle of a room to make it work.

My Teapot Fancy cosy gets used twice a day when I make a proper loose leaf pot.  I like a strong Earl Grey, especially first thing in the morning- although a little delicate green jasmine tea is in the vintage cup and saucer below.  I love my turquoise work top!

 Here is a morning brew in a giant mug and sitting on top of a runner made from a little bee group where we made blocks from Kumiko Fujita's 318 Patchwork book.   The little boxes next to the mug store the many phone/ipad chargers!

 I have more goodies from friends.  Under the tongs and whisk you can see a beautiful potholder made by Megan when we did a little swap last year- perfect colours and foodie fabrics.

And hiding on a vintage cup rack- an oven hand mit from Penny which sees regular usage- love that peep of binding. 

Hope you enjoyed your tour!  We are just working on a little back to school set, ready very soon- sneak peek of Penny's design here!

Would you like strawberries with your coffee?

Penny and I have sneaked out a couple of new patterns, both aimed at paper piecers with little or no experience.  Penny was inspired by the simplicity of take- out coffee cup shapes so we present, 'Latte to go'.

This is a great beginner pattern, there are no seams that need to match up exactly and the pattern sections are straightforward.  She has made a cute mug rug with an ingenious gift card holder using a scaled down version of her pattern.  A tutorial will come soon giving guidelines on how to make these. 

And I was inspired by a beautiful stack of ruby shot cottons sent to me by the kind folks at Oakshott Fabrics.  The variying reds screamed 'Strawberry' at me so we present, 'Strawberry Ichigo'.

This is aimed at a beginner with a little paper piecing experience.  Only one seam needs precise matching so there is room to learn on this pattern.  Using solid colours and shot cottons makes paper piecing easier as you don't need to worry about which side of the fabric you are working on, both sides are the same!   I made a kitchen curtain for narrow window with six Strawberry Ichigo blocks, each in a different Oakshott ruby red.   I'll post a few details on that too.

So, if you have been a little nervous about trying paper piecing, these patterns are for you.  They both make 6 inch finished  blocks and are easy to enlarge as all the pattern pieces come on one page.  With have included some extra instructions about which seams to press open and the order of piecing.  You can find both patterns in our shop and at our Craftsy store.