Panadiere... Could catch on!

This is a Panadiere. Of sorts! I had seen something like this ages ago on the internet when looking for crafts to make for Christmas, or hostess gifts, or whatever. But could I find it yesterday when I was finally inspired to make something out of the IKEA stash of "As Is" fabrics I bought last year??! So I googled, didn't find any instructions detailing how to make what I wanted to make, but I did find pictures of some that I liked a lot - so I have designed my own (not difficult really, is it?!). I have quilted too close together as a result of positioning the quilting arm on my machine too close and not realising how many rows I would have to sew on the fabric so I will quilt the next ones much further apart!

I made the binding and the fabric ties from offcuts from the Le Moyne Star quilt, they were thin lengths cut from the fabric after I had basted it with pins on the floor. I don't throw ANYTHING away. :)

Anyway. Apparently they are french bread baskets, or Panadiere.  I have a few more to make now! This one is a gift for a family birthday this week. :)

Christmas Craft...

This Christmas (despite having messed around till late November not finishing Little H#1's quilt) I have made a lot of fabric bits and bobs (would still have liked to do more but there you go!).

Cafe Apron present gift for a 2 year old!

Fabric gift tags (can later be used as tree decorations) with names embroidered on them - a spur of the moment last minute creation for everyone in the family here in Adelaide!

A Christmas Table Runner! Each of our mums received one, this is Matthew's Mum's runner in use on the Christmas Coffee Table!

I made each of the children a Christmas pillowcase. The idea is that they have their presents in it on Christmas day, and then sleep with it on their beds for the rest of the 12 days of Christmas! They love them and they are all on their beds so I can't take another photo yet!

Unfinished business...

Here's the Le Moyne Star Quilt that I have made but not quite finished yet. I have had a bit of a problem with the quilting - am just not used to quilting something so big. It is single bed sized. It is for Little H#1. The quilt is a kit I bought from Fons and Porter - the name of it escapes me!

It's going to be fantastic when it's finished though. The star fabrics actually glow in the dark as they are printed in a special ink. I held my breath when I washed the fabrics before I started... but they still work so hopefully they will still be in some sort of glowing order when Little H#1 is FINALLY presented with the finished product x months after his birthday!

Memorial Quilt

Here's the quilt that has inspired the name of this blog, the style and reason for some of my sewing, and making it was an act of worship, grief and healing. That's all I will say about its raison d'être.

The quilt is designed (all by myself, first design and it worked!) to represent Noah's ark. The design of the blocks is Le Moyne Star. So the coloured blocks (apart from the middle one) are designed to represent all colours of sky, including pinks and purples, grey and white. The middle block is the one that represents the rainbow - God's promise - and the points of the star are in order of the colours of the rainbow with a bit of artistic licence - required, because I made the blocks entirely out of recycled shirts. The white in the rainbow block also represents the dove. Dove of peace, and God's messenger.

Most of the shirts used are mine, Matthew's, or other family members but I did have to buy a couple from a charity shop in order to complete the rainbow block. The buttons dotted around the quilt at the end represent stars. The buttons were of course harvested from the shirts!!

Works for me anyway! :)

I made a very special label from the back - borrowed Little Miss H's birthday double rainbow to print on a dedication label on the special ink jet printer fabric you can buy (not cheap but a perfect finishing touch to a special quilt).

Technically speaking - the blocks were difficult - I have started my quilting career breaking rules before I have properly learned them (Life's too short) so the shirts were not all 100% cotton. The Marks and Spencer oxford weave shirts were an absolute dream to sew with. The more 'vintage' inclusions were a nightmare: flimsy and frayed easily. I will learn from this and when I am over it I will use fusible web next time to strengthen thinner fabrics before I cut them  - will have to do this on the next memorial quilt I have waiting for my next big project.

I have since made a Le Moyne Star quilt and (tho its not completed yet, still have to finish the actual quilting!) it was much quicker and easier for the experience of having practised the blocks with much harder materials first time around!

This project was very special to me though because it was designed, pieced, and quilted in prayer. An interesting experience and one I believe God has tangibly worked through in my life, though I pray He has done more than just that - not that  I need to know about it - I have let this one go.

Quillows past...!

I have made a collage of quillows (and bags from the offcuts!) I made previously - some for a friend - her choice of fabrics (!) and the tractors one (and hot air balloons) were my choice - tractors for my nephew, hot air balloons for Little H#3. Originally the quillows for our family came from Grandma (Matthew's Mum!) but she kindly let me in on the pattern and I have made a few (understatement) since then for friends and family.

So now I have a collage to show for the pictures (which till now have been jumbled up in various files on the computer!) and I can keep a record of sewing from the olden days (B.J. - Before Janome!).

Have to write separately about my sewing machine but it was a gift 2 years ago (joint birthday and Christmas!) from my parents and oh boy what a difference it has made! For a start, now I can actually sew something in the time it used to take me to battle with thread and tension on the other machine. No exaggeration. Secondly, I can do so much more on the new machine and I know a bad workman blames his tools but in this case, a decent machine is allowing me to REALLY improve my skills. At last. Still can't dressmake in a month of Sundays tho. Maybe that doesn't matter.

Dolls...

I had this thing about not giving Little Miss H an ordinary doll for her birthday. :) So I decided at first I'd make a rag doll - but then was introduced on another forum to the idea of Waldorf Dolls. Just looking at google and the number of sites selling them, instructing how to make them... confirmed to me this was definitely the doll she needed. I had help making my first one - a friend came to spend time and make the doll with me (I'd told her about the dolls and she already makes loads of stuff, including being far better at dolls and other types of sewing!). It was great sewing with someone else, lots of tips and scope for me to decide how I'd do my next one.

The only thing I have bought in order to make these dolls, is the poly stuffing for the body, and the fancy wool for the hair of the second doll. The heads are rolled up pieces of wool wadding, the body of each doll is made from a different baby sleep suit that Little Miss H has grown out of (and they were second hand in the first place!), and an old white Tesco tshirt (I mean OLD - prob about 20 years!) was dyed in tea to make the flesh-ish colour for the face. We made the most of it for homeschool so I had some helpers with the tea dipping process!

So I did make my next one for a cousin's baby's first birthday - they were born 5 weeks apart so its a nice special friendship for the babies! For this one I traced around another fabric doll I got in a shed load of second hand toys from the lady I buy all Little Miss H's clothes from. I wanted the doll purely for the shape to draw around, so I took the opportunity when I saw it and actually the body shape of the second doll I made, I was much happier with, and I used far more wadding (just experience and preference these sorts of things I am sure!). So I coveted the second doll a bit but still managed to give her to her rightful owner as a gift!!

I do intend to make some more actually, but there's a queue of other projects in the pipeline at the moment...

Below: Both dolls together. Bottom picture is the second doll.

Midnight Mystery Quilt!

I am sure I could add the word "Midnight" before many of my creations, as could many crafters! So the idea of going to a class at my local quilting shop entitled "Midnight Mystery Quilt" seemed as good as anything else! No babysitting issues, I'd most likely be sewing that time of night at home anyway, but the added bonus of making my first patchwork quilt top with a group of other far more experienced quilters (like, they'd done at least one before!) and pizza and hot chocolate on top (not on top of the quilt) = my dream Friday night!!!

So... it was from a jelly roll (Anna Lisa cut and rolled the fabrics for us in advance) and we had to choose "Country" or "Florals" in advance of the night - the rest was the Mystery! I hovered over the choice but thankfully had read at least one quilting magazine prior to enrolling, and decided Country was it for me. Wise choice (from my point of view).

I did the class about 6 weeks before Little Miss H was born. So it was inevitable I suppose that the quilt would be nearly another year before I finished it. Mostly what stopped me was lack of any help in assembling and quilting (had to look at internet sites to calculate backing, and wadding, and work out vaguely how to baste and quilt). Then a new-old friend (who conveniently identified herself as a quilting geek...) kindly came over and helped me tape the quilt to the floor in my living room, layer and baste it, and then I quilted simply on the diagonal. Just in time for her birthday - I think I had a few weeks to spare.

I had a bit of extra time left over so I made a Waldorf inspired doll from leftover wadding, a baby sleep suit she'd worn, and an old tshirt of mine (face, hands and feet) that the boys and I dyed in tea.

Voilla! Happy girl on her birthday quilt with her doll. Not much else a fourth baby needs for their first birthday really, is there????!

New Year, New Blog...!

I have taken so long setting up this blog that the address isn't quite what I wanted it to be, but hey I don't think it matters (still have a relevant email address set up from last year when I had this idea about getting more serious about sewing!).

First I will have lots of photos to upload of what's been keeping me busy for the past little while as I explore and experiment with patchwork, quilting, and little bits and bobs of ideas for leftovers!

Anyway, I can post my pics, share ideas and keep a record of what's going on here!

Why Sew La Vie? Because my first few pieces have been about Life. My first quilt (picture to follow!) ended up being a wonderful celebratory present for Little Miss H's first birthday (and she is a good girl and one of her earliest words has been to say "Wow!!!!!!!!!!!" whenever she sees my sewing. She'll go far...).

Second quilt - not such a fantastic set of circumstances but my statement about Life all the same. A Life cut short so more of a memorial - but a memorial and a prayer project for me. Spiritual defiance mixed with a journey of grief culminating in a very special quilt I have given away and I have prayed God will continue to use it. My time with the quilt came to an end and I passed it to its intended recipient full of hope for the future. I like the idea of sewing inspired by Life. So that is what I have decided to call my sewing hobby. I am having some labels made for what I make - but again, that's been in the pipeline for a while and I haven't got around to it yet!

The next major project is another memorial quilt. Commissioned by a friend (she's paying the international postage!!!) as a gift for a friend of hers in memory of her mum. I am in possession of garments she used to wear, as well as a bridesmaid's dress, and will eventually receive some buttons... I am discovering buttons can be nice on quilts so because the lady had a button collection, it will be a perfect addition at the end. So I have to get busy designing and making that one but for now I am enjoying messing around with post Christmas craft, finishing a quilt for one of my children, and getting ready - I hope - for another homeschool term beginning at the end of January. So I am enjoying the holiday spirit!