Patchwork Duvet Cover Set - Finally Finished...

I started making this quilt cover and pillow case set for my eldest daughter for her new room and bed (she was moving out of the little bedroom to make way for her baby sibling).

The original idea for this set was to use up the scraps of fabric that I had collected (over bought!) while making bits for the nursery. I had made the appliquéd ABC chart for my daughters first Christmas, but had only used up some of the tiny scraps making the bird peg rail and there was still plenty left over.

The white backing fabric was a single flat sheet from my local supermarket – it was the cheapest option especially during their sales.

The character is cut out of Mitsy Mouse Lilac fabric (Prestigious Textiles Safari Park Collection).

 

The large patches were machine stitched and sewn together using a French seam (to strengthen each seam). The appliqué was held in place using iron fusing before being stitched with a small tight zig zag. To close the duvet cover, I used the popper tape you can buy from haberdashery shops.

The quilt was finished, but the pillow case just got left on the to do pile...

So after a couple of years the pillow case was finally completed and now the whole set is now in use.

 

Thanks for looking today... stompy x

First Time Rag Quilt

 

One thing I have a lot of is scrappy bits of fabric, dating back many years (think there is some Laura Ashley fabric from 1975) and finding things to do with these scraps is always a challenge. I then stumbled across Rag Quilts on Pinterest.

As my littlest one will be moving in to a proper size bed soon, we need new bedding for her and thought that I would have a go at rag quilting.

I had quite a bit of pink and green scraps (to match her bedroom) – but did end up having to buy a few lengths of new fabric. (Sadly our town has recently lost our haberdashery/fabric store and the store that is “out of town” is stocked with Ends of Roll, so the choice isn't great). My best buy however was the backing fabric, which was a Double fitted sheet from our Sainsbury's supermarket during a 25% off sale. Note – not their basic range, that's way to thin.

So then started the quilting...

The quilt is 13x8 squares.

The squares with seam allowance were approx 18cmx18cm (7”x7”)

The wadding squares were approx 15cmx15cm (6”x6”)

 

Using a rotary cutter (absolutely essential) I cut about 60 pink patterned, 60 green patterned squares, 110 wadding squares, and accidentally well over 200 backing squares (using both the Sainsburys sheet and an old ripped sheet from the cupboard).

I sandwiched the squares (backing – wadding – patterned) pinning in two opposite corners.

Once the squares were pinned I started sewing the crosses. To make it quicker (and not to waste cotton) I sewed straight onto the next square so would end up with a “bunting like” length of half sewn squares. They were then snipped apart and then sewn in the other direction to finish the crosses.

The squares were then trimmed to size, this made lining up the seams so much easier.

Once I had decided on a pattern – the squares were sewn together (wrong sides facing).

I was surprised how little time this took – I was expecting a mammoth task. When I was making this I went down with a very nasty cold and throat infection so wasn't working at my usual capacity, but the sewing together only took me an evening to do.

The seams were then snipped whilst laying in bed (not the best idea as you get a lot of shedding of fibres at this stage – doh!).

My little one loves the end result – so does my other one – so it looks like I will be trying this technique of quilting again.....

Thank you for stopping by and looking - regards Stompy

Octonauts Birthday Cake

 

 

We had promised our daughter she was allowed one big birthday party. Emily's friend Lennon has his birthday only 2 days later we decided to do a large joint party. We got in some great entertainment for the children (all 40 of them) AB Entertainments, Lennon's mum did all the food catering and I made the cake.

A huge 12x12 lemon madeira cake with a cake GUP-A and sugarcraft Kwazii, Captain Barnacles and Pesco.

The GUP-A and the characters were quite fidderly. The "water bubbles" hid mistakes and held pieces in place. The decoration of the lower cake was pretty easy - just lots of flattened icing sausages for the weed and round icing balls for the pebbles and "corals". The end of a paint brush added the holes and details of the corals.

The children - especially the birthday girl and boy - loved the cake. The mum's and dad's were surprised that I had no issues chopping it up.... but the cake was quite yummy too!

 

For the madeira cake I used the recipe from Lindy's Cakes but scaled up using the Pink Whisk calculations.



Some Kits now available on Ebay

Update January 2013 - these kits were only available before Christmas - please watch this space for further sale listings.

 

Having made a lot of stock, I have a few bits and pieces available after my two stalls. So please pop over to ebay and take a look...

Sorry it is UK shoppers only.

Items on offer

Colour Me Notelets

Canvas Collage Kits

Fun with Felt - Christmas Ornaments

and Simple Sewing Kits - Rainbow Heart

Christmas Tree

 Thank you for looking
Stompy x

Another Fun with Felt Kit

Today cold wintery weather has come to Newbury - but looking up a the beautiful blue sky I started thinking of springtime.... and of course crafty kits. So here is the latest edition to my Fun with Felt range - 2 sweet little ladybird brooches - all cut out and ready to sew.
I will take a stock of these to the Christmas Fayre at St Nic's School next friday to see how well they fly (sorry!) from the stall.

They are not just brooches for clothes - they look cute on bags and other accessories too!

Please Note - This kit is not a toy and is not suitable for young children - recommended age 8+ (with adult supervision).

Thanks for looking - Stompy x

Finally...pictures of Stompy's Boredom Buster

At last I have had time to set up and photograph the Stompy's Boredom Buster.

Packed with activities -  but small enough to fit in a handbag, the Boredom Buster is designed to keep minds and hands occupied when out and about.



Each little Boredom Buster contains

Fabric Case

6 colouring pencils

Propelling pencil with rubber

Glue stick

Doodles Booklet

Plain Booklet

Sticker dots

1 pack of Colour Me Mini Characters

1 pack of Stompy's Simple Shapes Singles

 

+ Bonus Christmas Doodles Booklet

 



First Sale....

Thank you to all that visited me at the "Friends of St John the Evangelist School" Christmas Shopping Event. A truely memorable night, howling winds, driving rain and the power cut that happened 10 minutes after the event opened, and lasted for over an hour. So thanks to the headmistress who came round with torches for us. It was lovely to get such positive comments about the products and my stand - but best of all was the sales.
I did make lots of stock, so I will be at the Christmas sale at St Nic's Junior School, Newbury on Friday 7th December at 4:30 to 6:30.



Items on sale were
Boredom Busters
Canvas Collage Kits - 5 designs Gigi Cat, Petal Fairies, Rupert T-Rex, Robot I and Snowman
Colour Me Christmas Gift Tags (pks of 6)
Colour Me Large Characters  - Dinosaurs, Petal Fairies, and Robots (5pk)
Colour Me Mini Characters - Christmas, Dinosaurs, Owls, Petal Fairies and Robots (5pk)
Colour Me Notelet Set with crayon packs - Christmas, Owl and Robots (6 pk with envelopes)
Fun with Felt kits - Penguin, Robins, Snowmen and Multipack
Plaster Magnets - ready to paint
Salt Dough Ornaments - ready to paint
Simple Sewing Kits - Binca Tree and  Rainbow Heart
Simple Shapes Kit - Animals, Birds, Bugs, and Christmas
Simple Shapes Singles - all simple shape designs

(I will add photos of all the items available very soon)

Thanks for looking

Stompy x