Making Luna Lapin - Blog Hop

It was a huge honour when Nadine from SewAndSo invited me to join in on the "Making Luna Lapin Blog Hop".   Making Luna Lapin is a lovely book by the wonderful Sarah Peel. (Scroll down below to see a sneak peek of the book).  The book contains 20 different garments and accessories to make for Luna as well as the pattern to make Luna herself.  

I must admit, I wasn't sure how I would go with some of the patterns as I am "JUST a Quilter".  I have had some experience making toys but absolutely no experience making clothes (except for a pair of adult pyjama pants which my mother helped me with).  I am so grateful that we had a few months lead time for this project as I tackled it in stages.  In full disclosure, this ended up being a joint project between me & my mother Barbara - I'll explain as we go along...

How to Sew a Rabbit:

There are 5-pages of very detailed instructions in this chapter together with corresponding "how to" diagrams. Author - Sarah Peel uses Liberty of London fabrics for the ears and the pads of the feet - I opted to use Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics instead.  The print I have used was "Millefiore Pink" from the Kaffe Fassett Collective Spring 2016.  I felt that this fabric added a lovely pastel pop against my bunny's soft grey fur.  I also gave my bunny blue eyes.

Did I have any issues?  Not really.  The instructions are pretty straight forward, any oopsie moments were purely my own brain farts and were easily rectified.  I had a slight issue lining up the ears once I had finished sewing the head together but it was easily rectified by stitching a little flower on bunny's forehead between the ears.  I wasn't sure which seams were to be machine stitched on the inside or hand stitched on the outside so 95% of my bunny was machine stitched on the inside and turned through.  In hindsite I have a feeling that this was not the author's intention. If you would like to see a photo of Luna's body, there is a nude rabbit photo on page 19 of the book, my rabbit was too shy to pose nude. 

Polka Dot Dress:

I decided to make Luna's "perfect for every occasion" polka dot dress.  Instead of using polka dot fabric I used "Paisley Jungle" by Kaffe Fassett for Rowan Fabrics - GP60 in grey.  

To be honest I found this pattern very confusing. I did not like the look of the pockets and could not manage to attach the collar.  I telephoned my mum (a retired dressmaker & now a miracle worker) and arranged a date to bring bunny & dress over to her place.  We attempted to unpick and resew "my" dress, but in the end I cut out the pattern a second time and delegated the making of the dress to mum.  

Mum made a few minor alterations to the pattern, they are:

• Omitted the pockets.
• Added ricrac braid to embellish the front of the dress and the cuffs.
• Used bias binding at the neckline instead of the collar.  
• Used a box pleat on the front of the dress instead of a tuck pleat.
• Omitted the bias binding from the hemline and just turned up the hem and machine stitched it.

The French Knickers:

As my mum has an impressive stash of lace, she volunteered to make the French Knickers. I left the pattern with her and she said these were dead easy to make. We didn't add any embellishments to the knickers.

Wool Coat:

Once my brain cells had time to recover I decided to tackle the wool coat.  I used a lovely soft lilac coloured acrylic felt for the coat.  

There are 7-pages of detailed instructions and "how to" diagrams showing you step by step how to make the coat.  I managed to whip it together rather quickly on my sewing machine without any brain farts UNTIL I was almost at the end of the pattern and noticed that the collar & hem both needed bias binding and the coat's front required 6 buttonholes to be sewn on.  Erm HELLO, "JUST a Quilter" here!  I have never stitched a button hole in my life and I was not about to destroy this coat in the process of trying.  So I picked up the telephone, "Hi mum, can I come and see you tomorrow?  Also do you have any lilac ricrac?"  

Mum the miracle worker to the rescue.  She took one look at the collar and said that we didn't need the bias binding, instead she hand stitched the inner collar down with matching thread (Aurifil of course).  As the coat was made of felt she said we didn't need bias binding on the hem (felt doesn't frey).  Instead I machine sewed two rows of fine stitches around the hem for effect. Inside the inner flap of the coat I added two press studs, and on the outer flap I attached three buttons for looks. This was a much simpler way to finish off the coat without tackling the "dreaded button holes of doom". Queue scary music!

The Shoes:

Bunny needed shoes to wear with her coat and I decided to use a darker shade of purple acrylic felt.  I raided mum's buckle supply but she did not have any buckles that were small enough, so instead I used two plastic purple gemstone buttons to add a little bling. After all, what bunny doesn't like a bit of bling! The shoes were dead easy to make and I hand stitched them whilst watching TV one night. 

Although I followed the pattern to the T, these shoes are a tiny bit too big for my bunny.  I think this is because I machine stitched the legs & feet & turned them in instead of hand stitching the outer edges (see my comments above under "How to Sew a Rabbit"). 

The Scarf:

It is almost summer in Australia but as this bunny is about to head off to a cooler climate overseas, I decided to make her a scarf.  

I rummaged through my Kaffe Fassett fabrics and pulled out a selection of scraps. Instead of using the provided template, I cut 3.25" squares from my scraps and cut them in half to create the 64 required triangles.  The directions supplied were very straight forward and I found myself in my happy place as I stitched away on my Elna. Once the scarf was finished I added an edge stitch about 1/8" in from the edges.  

I love the scarf!  It looks fab, however I don't think it really needs to be that wide.  I tend to fold it in half when I tie it around Luna's neck, but she looks so adorable wearing it! 

My Completed Bunny:

All dressed up and waiting until the day she boards the plane and flies off to Bakersfield, California!  What's that?  Did my dear friend Darla just fall off her chair?  Yes sweetheart, this little bunny is all yours and she can't wait to meet you!!

Whilst at my Mum's house, Luna helped herself to Granddad's bar and sat reading stories to the other bunnies.  Hey Darla, there are wineries not far from where you live aren't there?

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Buy the Book:

Click on the picture below to take a peek inside the book:

You can purchase your own copy of the eBook from SewAndSo

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Making Luna Lapin Blog Hop Schedule:

There are some talented sew bloggers from across the globe who are taking part in this exciting blog hop. They will be reviewing Making Luna Lapin, making Luna or her brother and making clothes to dress them both. Here is a list of the fabulous bloggers who are participating:

Ø  Monday 31st October – SewAndSo

Ø  Tuesday 1st November – Meet Sarah Peel

Ø  Wednesday 2nd November – Sew of Course

Ø  Thursday 3rd November – Melanie Sews and Other Stuff

Ø  Friday 4th November – Poppy in Stitches

Ø  Monday 7th November – Carina Crafts

Ø  Tuesday 8th November – BendigoLioness

Ø  Wednesday 9th November – Bit of Tea and Honey

Ø  Thursday 10th  November – Thimbeleanna

I hope you enjoyed reading my review of "Making Luna Lapin" by Sarah Peel.  

You can get involved by making your own clothes for Luna or making Luna herself by purchasing the book. 

Don’t forget to share your makes on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram using the hashtags:  #MakingLunaLapin & #SewandSo

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt - September

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for September 2016:

06 September - Block 3 - Alice

13 September - Block 17 - Bride

20 September - Block 19 - Carolina

27 September - Block 87 - Prudence
Prudence did not play nicely, I'm not sure if I will attempt to remake this block or ditch it entirely.  Not my best work.

There are still 25 blocks to go - at one block per week - that's 25 more weeks.... Hmmmmmm, I am undecided whether I will continue with the pace of this sew along or just whip up the rest of the blocks and finish this quilt off.  Each time I debate this I think of all the other flimsies that I have waiting to be turned into quilts and say to myself - "just keep going for now"... we'll just wait & see.  

After pinning all of my blocks to an old blue bed sheet, I have decided to use a solid white to sash all of my blocks. You may have noticed over the last few months I have started to use the more bolder shades of blues & teals in my blocks.  I have used up all of my original lighter blues/teals shades & after selecting the colour of my sashing I have decided not to add any more of the lighter shades to the blocks - they would look too washed out.  I have enough of the lighter coloured blocks to scatter throughout the quilt top. 

Craftsy 2016 Summer BOM

Back in July I stumbled across a new Block of the Month (BOM) that Carl Hentsch is hosting on Craftsy.  The pattern was modern and bold and featured bright solids on a black background. 

Over the next 6-months, Carl will release part of the quilt pattern and there is also a free online class teaching you how to make that month's blocks and demonstrating the techniques used for that month.  

Here are the first 3-months:

July 

During July we made the centre medallion which was all Foundation Paper Pieced.

August

August was all about sewing curves.  There were 2 different curved blocks to make, and we had to make 4 of each.  The rainbow blocks were also foundation paper pieced.  It was rather tricky getting all the seams to match up perfectly.

September

September was all about triangles and squares.  The trickiest part was making the flying geese units which made up part of the 4 corner blocks.

I'm now at the halfway point of the project - only 3-months left to go and the quilt top will be finished. I'm absolutely loving how it's looking so far!!

www.craftsy.com

Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt - August

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for August 2006:

02 August - Block 18 - Carol

09 August - Block 93 - Starlight

16 August - Block 54 - Magnolia

23 August - Block 73 - Mrs. Taft

30 August - Block 89 - Ruby

52 Quilters: Week 27: Fiona Forsyth - Introduction

Hello friends, I am afraid I went a bit MIA in July.  I had big plans for the month and lots of articles typed up ready to share with you but I never got the chance to post any of them.  The last few weeks I have been battling with a spinal injury & two dislocated shoulders (don't ask), and I am only just starting to catch up despite still being in tremendous pain.  

At the beginning of July I guest hosted 52 Quilters for a week (4-10 July 2016). Many of you saw my posts on their Instagram account but I know many had issues reading the blog posts that I wrote due to the colour settings on their blog. Over the next few weeks I am going to re publish some of these articles for you (they will be clearly identifiable as 52 Quilters posts), as well as some other posts that I have ready to publish.

Fiona Forsyth
@BendigoLioness

Miss Amity

Hi there, my name is Fiona and I will be your 52 Quilters host this week.  Many know me as @BendigoLioness or as Miss Amity’s “Hooman”.  I live in Bendigo – the “Golden Heart of Victoria” (Australia) with my purr-child Amity.  

In my former life I worked for over 20-years in the Australian Travel Industry. I owned & managed my own Travel Agency until I was forced to medically retire in 2010 following my diagnosis with ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and later Fibromyalgia.  It took me 3-years to find my niche after “retiring” from the work force.  I experimented with many different hobbies until I started quilting in June/July 2013 after my mother gave me a vintage Elna Supermatic. I took to it like a fish to water. I have since upgraded to a modern Elna and a Janome.

I guess you could say that I am self taught. When I got my first sewing machine, I googled information on sewing and quilting and enrolled in a free online Craftsy class and slowly plodded, bungled and muddled my way through as I learnt to sew. In the early days I joined a number of quilting bees via “Quilt Club Australia” on Facebook which helped me connect with some other quilters and to gain more experience.   Over time I started to meet various quilters on Instagram and have been totally embraced within the Instagram community.  There is a massive sense of community especially on Instagram within the quilting community.  Whatever hour of the day or night there is ALWAYS someone online SOMEWHERE around the world so even if at 3am in the morning you feel like a chat or need advice on a sewing matter SOMEONE is out there.

Last year I also participated in a number of Quilt Swaps via Instagram which was a great way to experiment with different colour schemes and to work out of my comfort zone. This has also helped me to learn many new techniques and my skills have developed and improved.  

I'm looking forward to sharing my week with you and showing you some of my work.  I am usually quite active on Instagram and I am hoping to share quite a few short blog articles with you.

During the week I will discuss how my health affects me, and how quilting provides the therapy that I need to cope with living with Chronic Illness.  I will introduce you to some of the wonderful local Australian designers who inspire me.  I'm looking forward to showing you Bendigo and telling you about my visit to this year’s “Craft Alive” Expo; as well as showing you some of my favourite quilty hang-outs.  

And of course we can spend some time together sewing!

The Circle Game Quilt - in the wild in Echuca

During March last year I attended a class in Ballarat with Jen Kingwell learning various techniques required to make her quilt pattern "The Circle Game".  I finally finished the quilt earlier this year and took it with me on my recent visit to Echuca.  Here are the photos taken on Wednesday 13 April.

Once Australia’s largest inland port during the late 1800’s, the Port of Echuca is an Authentic working river port. Located just over 2.5 hours north of Melbourne, Port of Echuca is located on the banks of the Murray River, in the historic Port Precinct of Echuca.

Barge "Alison" Monument

The PS Emmylou is a Murray River paddle steamer. It is driven by a restored 1906 steam engine.  The PS Emmylou starred as the fictional paddle steamer PS Providence in the Australian television mini-series "All the Rivers Run", made in Echuca in 1982-1983.

Hexie Down Under

Hexies hexies everywhere.  English Paper Piecing (EPP) is very popular at the moment and almost everyone appears to be doing it.  Are you a hexie fan? Would you like to create your own hexie masterpiece but are limited by what's in your fabric stash?  Swapping with other hexie fans is a great way to mix up the fabrics in your hexie collection, so Isabella Golightly and I have decided to set up an affordable swap just within Australia.  One that is EASY to do and INEXPENSIVE to be a part of.

• Can you accurately thread or glue baste a 1" hexie?  
• Can you neatly stitch these hexies into a hexie flower?  
• Do you live in Australia?  

If you answered yes to each of these questions then you are eligible to join #HexieDownUnder  This swap will be for both thread basters and glue basters.  You can specify your preference and depending upon numbers we will attempt to keep these two methods in separate groups.  If you can do & don't mind either method that is even better. 

REQUIREMENTS:

• This swap is open to Australians with an Australian postal address only. Sorry, no international members.
• You MUST have a public Instagram account.
• Members are required to create and mail at least two (2) hexie flowers to each person on their list before 30 September 2015.  
• All members should be able to accurately thread or glue baste 1" hexies and to sew them neatly together into a hexie flower.
• Members are to use a good quality quilting cotton. Please do not use any other type/s of fabrics 
• All centres should be white (unless requested otherwise) and you are required to write your name, your Instagram account name, and where you are from on the centre hexie with a permanent fabric marker.  
• Please leave the papers/cardboard in so that the recipient can join them together easily. 
• Post a photograph of your finished hexie flowers on Instagram tagging the recipient together with the hashtag #HexieDownUnder prior to mailing them off.

YOU ARE ***NOT*** REQUIRED TO SEND ANY OTHER EXTRAS!!! 

Yes you read that correctly, you are not required to send anything other than the two (2) hexie flowers per person to the members on your list.  If you use a C5 sized envelope (162 x 229 mm) it will only cost $1.40 to post within Australia.

Once the sign up data has been collated, you will be emailed a spreadsheet containing the details of the people in your group.  You can work through this list at your own pace and mail them off as you go, however, we do request that you complete your list before 30 September 2015 - that gives you approximately 3-months to complete your list. 

We are aiming for up to 25 members per list to keep the number per group manageable.   If you complete your list early you can request to be added to another group.  Sign ups will remain open until we have reached 100 members. Depending upon popularity, we aim to have round two of #HexieDownUnder commence in October for a December finish.

Please click on the hexie-flower to access the sign up form:

Click here

Please direct any inquiries to Isabella at isabellagolightly@gmail.com

My Schnitzel & Boo "Parcel of Awesomeness" has arrived!

 

Last week I posted about the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap and showed you the parcel of awesomeness that I sent to my swap buddy - Fiona Tchan.  Today it gives me great pleasure sharing with you the amazing parcel of awesomeness that I recently received from the super wonderful Filomena Parbery @so_filomena from New South Wales.

 

Firstly these are the inspiration mosaics that I posted for this swap featuring a mixture of different techniques with a preference for lime green & teal:

 

 

 

I knew from the moment that the parcel delivery guy handed me the parcel that something special had arrived - just look at how the parcel was addressed!

 

But before I show you what was IN the parcel, these are the teasers that she had posted on Instagram.  I had seen most of these posts and I must admit, I did wonder if those gorgeous hedgehogs were headed to Bendigo... (Instagram photos reproduced with Filomena's permission)

 

 

 

 

 So, back to the parcel... this was written on the envelope:



I was getting good vibes about this parcel!

 

I'm not going to share what was written inside the card but it brought tears to my eyes!  Such beautiful words!!!

 

And here is the beautiful Hazel the Hedgehog quilt that Filomena made.  I love the pinky red nose on the top one!!  The quilting on this is just extraordinary!

 


I was thoroughly spoilt!  My favourites - Cadbury Peppermint chocolate & Nutella.  Also some peppermint tea and coffee.

 


One of my favourite Australian fabric & stitcherie designers is Rosalie Quinlan, and Filomena generously included 3 fat quarters of Rosalie's fabrics together with some buttons and two skeins of Cosmo Pearl 5

 


These are absolutely adorable.  Filomena has crochetted these coasters herself and they will go beautifully in my kitchen.



A packet of green Ruffle Elastic

 


This is absolutely gorgeous - it is a Tea Bag Holder with a tea bag design foundation paper pieced on the front.  The fabrics are just gorgeous, especially the red text used on the inside.

 


The tea bag holder opened up and showing the contents - herbal tea bags & coffee bags.

 


A close up of the inside.  I love this red fabric! 

 

This really brought a tear to my eye - not only did Filomena spoil me rotten, but she also thought of my little purr baby Gemma and included a treat for her as well!

 


Gemma says thank you Filomena for the Love Hearts! xoxo

 

I really am just totally overwhelmed by the awesomeness in this parcel!  Obviously Filomena has had a lot of fun stalking me and researching my preferences. 

 

One of the hashtags for this swap was #makeaquiltmakeafriend and that is so true.  Through this swap I have got to know two new quilty friends - Fiona and Filomena.  I have also enjoyed watching Fiona create some wonderfulness for her swap partner; and watching Filomena's swap buddy make the gorgeous mini that she sent to Filomena.  Feel the quilty love!  There are so many talented quilters out there!  To view more wonderful creations look up #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap on Instagram.