Mini Butterfly Pillow Cushion

Working through my UFO/WIPs for January and it seemed like time to finish this project I started back in December 2012!  Way back then I pattern tested an FPP butterfly 6" block for Juliet @The Tartankiwi and said I'd make it into a cushion to sell alongside a matching baby quilt in my soon-to-be Etsy shop.  The quilt was already made but the cushion and the Etsy shop have never materialised, until now!!!

Let's Start At The Very Beginning - 5 Things To Share With You

I've lots of news which I figure I can break down into 5 main areas so where to start? Why at the very beginning of course!

1. I'm A Giveaway Winner

If you're following me on facebook you'll already know that last week Kati @from the blue chair emailed me to say that I was a winner in her giveaway - 10 Pure Elements fat quarters on the way to me courtesy of Julie @The Intrepid Thread - how happy was I and all I did was tell her that my current fave fabric is Robert Kaufman Essex Linen!!!   Well the fat quarters have arrived and they're really pretty gorgeous aren't they?

Thank you Kati and Julie :) 

Oh and if you want to catch up with me via facebook just click here and hit 'like' to get updates sent to your facebook wall :)

2. NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild

 Last Saturday I went over to my NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting and there were lots of great quilts in our 'Show & Tell' if you want to take a look.  We were all given Guild pin badges, which I proudly wore all day - well I actually forgot all about it, wore it to my Film Club meetup and then when I met Flicky for dinner she immediately told me to remove it as we took our seats in the restaurant!

I have a bit of Guild news too - Victoria @VictoriaFindlayWolfeQuilts and Encyclopedia @CocktailsandThread are stepping down as our President and Secretary but we have chosen two fabulous replacements - Lisa @TheRedHeadedMermaid as President and David (I don't think David blogs but I do know he reads my blog so hopefully he'll correct me if I'm wrong!!!) will be our next Secretary.  

So a sad 'bye' to V & E and a big 'hi' to L & D :)

3. Mum's Birthday Apron

Have to tell you all that Mum's Birthday Apron was the biggest success ever.  She's loves it so much and wore it all day but it had to be practically prised off her later in the day when my Aunt and Uncle became concerned that she might even wear it out that evening to go dancing with friends! ;)

Just to clarify that's my daughter, Flicky modelling the apron, not my Mum!!!

4. Etsy Shop

I really need to get to grips with starting my Esty Shop, so many people keep asking me when it's going to be ready and the answer is that I keep getting involved with doing/making other things and not making time to get my business started.  My great friend Wendy has offered to give me a weekly kick up the backside which is just what I need to focus and motivate me.  I've promised her that from this week I'm not going to work on anything else until I've got my internet shop up and running.

So I've started out by sewing my new labels into the pile of quilts I've already made to sell and I've made another baby/lap quilt to add to the pile.  This one's fmq'd with a floral design and I've handtied the centre of each flower.  Here's a sneak peek:

5. Hoboken Walk
Two weeks ago it was snowing and freezing here but this week it's quite a different story with the temperature today up to 29C/84.2F.  I was out and about early this morning taking a walk and thought I'd share some photos with you of where I live on the Hudson River at the Hoboken/Jersey City border.  I've shown you photos of the Jersey City waterfront before and today it's Hoboken's turn.

Pier A Park, Hoboken - the trees were planted as a memorial to 9/11 victims

1907 Hoboken Terminal

View down to 1 WTC

Erie, Lackwanna Ferry Terminal and view down to Jersey City

View over to the bottom of the High Line, the Meatpacking District and the Empire State Building

Inside the Railroad Terminal Building (still under renovation after Hurricane Sandy)

The fabulous Railroad Terminal Building Tiffany Ceiling

Laying the controversial gas pipeline over to Manhattan

Newport to Hoboken Waterfront Walkway

Newport Green Park & Beach, built last year next door to my apartment building

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with all my news and taking a look at my part of the world

 ChrissieD :)

Whatever Happened To My Double Irish Chain?

This week I've got stuck in with some old and new projects and been really quite productive:

1: Double Irish Chain Quilt - you're forgiven if you've forgotten that I ever started making this one!

Fully sandwiched and basted using Quilters Dream Cotton Request in white rather than natural to keep the crispness of the white fabric - do you have any idea how sore my knees are now?!

The diagonals are marked out ready for quilting using a Clover Hera marker

A section of free motion quilting - might take a while, I've done 5/18 sections and my shoulders are killing!!!

and 2: A Baby/Lap Quilt - part of the collection I'm putting together ready for opening my Etsy Store so no photos just yet.

On Friday Flicky and I had an unsuccessful trip to the Social Security office in Jersey City.  It's not how either of us wanted to spend a Friday afternoon but our Green Cards arrived the week before Christmas and now we need to apply for our Social Security Numbers so that, if we want to, we can work and maybe set up an Etsy store!!!  When we got to the SS office, as instructed by my husband, we discovered they moved last March and it was too late in the day for us to get over to the new location on the other side of Jersey City.  Well what are two girls supposed to do when they're all dressed up and nowhere to go?  What's that? Are you feeling it too?  Can anyone else smell fabric???

What a perfect opportunity to visit the Marimekko store on 5th and 23rd Street, Manhattan - I was excited to check out the gorgeous fabrics, there're some great designs and colours there.  I didn't stay excited for long, though - the patterns are really large, they'd look great for whole cloth quilts but I'd suggest nothing smaller than a twin, if you started cutting and piecing the fabric I think the fab design would be lost and you'd very probably have pieces that were one solid colour.  Still I thought maybe I'd like to use some of these cottons so I asked a sales assistant what price they are - now are you sitting down or at least holding on to something? ... she tells me in a voice that says "if you have to ask you can't afford it"

$53/yard.

Yeah you really read that right but just to be sure that you don't think I've done a typo

$53/yard.

Now this fabric is cute but it's just 100% cotton - no special finish, no handsewn embellishment.

So guess what Flicky and I did?
We left and I'm thinking we won't be back again in a hurry (but don't hold me to that cos it was really cute ;) ).

Guess what we did next?

We headed to our Manhattan LQS and here's a look at what we bought for a far more reasonable $9.88/yard with my NYC Metro Mod Guild discount.

'captain redbeard by De Leon Design Group for The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection
'Launch' by Lesley Grainger Design for Robert Kaufman
'Googlies' by Michele D'Amore for Benartex

'Ric Rac Rabbits' by Marisa and Creative Thursday for Andover Fabrics Inc
'The Red Thread' by Marisa and Creative Thursday for Andover Fabrics Inc

I'll use these fabrics to add to my 'Etsy Store' collection, just need to get my Kona Solid colour chart out, pick some gorgeous colours to go with them and order it online.  I think I'll save that job for tomorrow.  Oh, and I guess at some stage I'm going to have to head over to that relocated Social Security office! :)

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my side bar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:
Double Irish Chain Quilt - Strips All Sliced
Another Busy Week
Will Blogging Help Me Sleep?
Two Quilts and Making Progress
Project Update And Shout Out for The Agitprop Quilter
It's Here - It's Available !!!

A Baby Sized Paper Pieced Butterfly

Remember the 12" paper pieced butterfly that I pattern tested for Juliet at The Tartankiwi?
Well, she asked me to test a baby sized 5" version for her, it's a simplified version using a solid panel for each part of the wing sections.

Completed 5" Paper Pieced Butterfly Block

Juliet has made the block up using a fab print for the butterfly itself but, again, I've gone with solids to give it a completely different look.

A preview of Juliet's 5" block pattern which will be available soon on her blog

 As some of you know I've been making lots of quilts that I haven't actually shared with you on my blog - I'm getting them ready to sell online in my 'Etsy' store which I'm in the process of setting up - one of my quilts is a Butterfly design baby/lap quilt and I thought it would be good to test the pattern using coordinating colours.  

Left: Baby Quilt fabrics
Right: Paper Pieced Butterfly fabrics

Left: Paper Pieced Fabric Sections
Right: Paper Side of Paper Pieced Sections - I colour the sections to make it easier to use the right colours for each area

I think I'm going to incorporate the block into a small cushion using the spotty fabric as a panelled surround, the butterfly fabric for the cushion backing and add blue piping.  I'll let you know when the set is available for sale!

Here's the finished block with the Butterfly Baby Quilt

Juliet's patterns are available now via her Etsy store and also her Payhip store.  

If you don't already have one, I highly recommend you invest in an Add A Quarter ruler by CM Designs - it's the best tool out there for all your FPP work (affiliate link).

Disclaimer: I do not receive payment from Juliet @TheTartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive a commission on any patterns sold via her Etsy store or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

Here's a look back at the patterns I've previously tested for Juliet.

Click any of the images below to go through to my post about testing that particular pattern:

  
 

Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)

Disclosure: 

This post contains Amazon and Craftsy affiliate links for which I am paid compensation on click-through purchases (at no additional cost to you). Otherwise, the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.

Copyright: 

Uncredited reproduction of all content, text and images on this site is prohibited. All content, text and images must be credited to Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD and include a link back to this site.

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