Anna Maria Horner
Showing posts with label Anna Maria Horner. Show all posts
Wee Billow Bag
I have long been a fan of Sweet Cinnamon Roses and her pattern the Wee Billow Bag is utterly fabulous! It was the most fun choosing fabrics and making something for myself with all the brown and florals and leopard - all beautiful Anna Maria Horner prints. Recently I have been USING my favourite fabrics and it's really lovely to be able to see them all around me rather than stored away in a cupboard or basket. Especially for every day items like this bag, it's happy inducing. Mine is a pouch version but you can see Laura's bag here and other stunning versions by different makers here.
Usually I just start cutting and sewing but this required a little more planning to keep track of which fabrics I wanted where. The Project planner inserts from 8lotus are a great way to make notes, record dates, list progress and to-dos. They've really helped me focus on getting things finished.
Lola pouch ~ swap
Honestly swaps make me a bit nervous, what if the recipient judges my sewing or worse doesn't like what I've made for them. There have been occasions where I haven't taken part in swaps because of time constraints but then I feel left out. Knowing I could focus on one small make, I jumped in to join the pouch swap for the Purple Stitches Sewcial Retreat which was this past weekend.
Despite the worries, it's actually made easy when you join a swap as very often you are asked what you like / dislike and you are given those responses for your partner. It is lovely to swap handmade and I like to create something for a specific person - partly because I enjoy the challenge of picking out fabrics, sort of like a stylist!
As an aside, helping people chose fabrics was one of my favourite parts about working in a quilt shop. It's interesting not choosing what you might pick but what you think that person would like. When making this pouch it was a bit of both, in a swap it is nice for the make to have a little bit of your style in it too.
can't deny favourites
There hasn't been a whole lot of stashing going on but when I see my favourite designers and prints there isn't much self control to be had!
Here's a little fabric splurge and I've also discovered what is currently my favourite notion and have to share the joy...
Who doesn't occasionally (or often!) have to reach for a seam ripper? I've tried a few and I do like the Prym large seam ripper, the fact that it's bigger and ergonomic really does make a difference for long seams. It's sharp too, which is a must. I like having two though and despite trying other ones I still hadn't found the perfect one to put in my travel kit - just to be clear that's usually the kit I use a lot because it's also the one I keep beside me when I'm hand sewing on the sofa (as well as taking with me when I travel).
After browsing around I came across this seam ripper by Pam Damour, lovely and delicate made of beautiful brass. It's very pretty, there is something so dainty about it and it certainly feels dainty when you're holding it but it rips perfectly. I'm going to put it through it paces over time and report back but the seams I've ripped thus far have gone smoothly, it's really sharp and I do like the smaller size of this one. As a plus the lid also fits onto the end, making it easier to hold and you won't lose it. And can you see the loop on the end? You can put it on a chain (totally Mad Men!) or ribbon, which is a nice touch.
I wasn't specifically looking to buy fabric but Sew Hot had these beauties and I couldn't resist.
It was a delight to see Sun Print 2019, I had the text print from the 2014 collection and Alison Glass creates such great colourways, I knew I needed more. I snapped up the Path print in Love (white) and Sweet (pink). Text is a stash staple and these have such positive words!
For no other reason than I absolutely LOVE her whole style and again I've had a previous incarnation of the leopard print fabric, I got these Anna Maria Horner prints to add to my collection.
from left to right: Spotted in the Crowd in Prince, Tambourine; Keys in Toffee, Passionflower; Gyspy Heart in Waking, Tambourine; Lace in Marmalade, Passionflower and Spotted in the Crown in King, Tamourine - all by Anna Maria Horner.
If you can't tell I haven't really been keeping up with fabric releases recently, I feel like I missed a chunk of time or maybe sometimes it's so long between seeing prints on social media and when they actually get released that I've forgotten them or even worse can feel like I'm over them because they were everywhere!?! I've probably ranted about this before but I do feel like it takes so long between seeing sneak peeks and fabrics actually hitting shops.
Anyway I was happy to discover Looking Forward by Jen Kingwell because I hadn't seen a lot of it. With no specific plan or actual need, I bought a charm pack. That way I get a little of each print and can have a play about. True to my style I will probably break this pack up and use little bits in different projects, though then again you never know, I might surprise you and use it all in one place!
My Wonderwall
It should come as no surprise that I get very excited about fabric. I've been sharing what I buy, stitch and make here for over seven years. The colours, prints, the way it handles, the endless combinations... fabric brings me joy.
The opportunity to get to chose and work with fabric is truly something special. I SQUEALED a lot when these beauties I picked arrived from Freespirit. Vibrant, rich, bright, happy colours of Designer Essentials Solids:
top row: Cosmo, Melon, Pomegranate, Gold, Tropical
bottom row: Serpent, Clearwater, Julep, Citrine
what's new
Every month I get the awesome subscription box Signs of the Sewdiac, it's a fabulous creative lifestyle box themed with Samantha Claridge's designs. This month is The Seam Ripper, the panel above is a kit to make a zip pouch and there's a patch, pin, holographic pencils, greeting card, print and a seam ripper! All gorgeous and I adore the design. I need to find a good place for the patch.
I have notebooks a plenty, I fill them with writing, ideas and sketches. I've saved all the ones that are full and I have a collection of blank ones waiting to be used. Many of them are different sizes but recently I bought some Field Notes memo notebooks, small enough to carry around and fill with whatever is in my head. It also means I can keep these specific notebooks for my creative ideas and they'll be easy to store once they are filled. Due to the fact that I am a lover of stationery and a 'planner addict', I know about the bullet journaling trend and have seen people use some beautiful covers to hold their journals. I knew this would be a great way to protect my notebooks and keep them together. The Foxy Fix is a simple leather cover with elastic strap, that can hold plenty of Field Notes notebooks. I got a small one but it can easily fit three notebooks in (probably more!).
This is the Boss Babe Single Couture in Moonlit with powder pink stitching and elastic. Of course I got embossing in rose gold too. It's so well made and one of those things that will get better with age as it softens and gets character from being thrown in my bag!
There's been lovely squishy parcels too, more new fabric arrivals. This is the stunning underwater and tropical collection Sirena by Jessica Swift for Art Gallery Fabrics
The leaf prints are so pretty in lovely bright colours, the focal mermaid print is so whimsical and the whales and octopi are SO cute!
Can we talk about these moons?!! Those adorable faces! Stargazer by AGF Studio is utterly adorable, with furry space friends and constellation / planet themed prints. AGF Studio are nailing it in my opinion, not only do they create excellent feature prints but they are amazing at designing really useful blender, neutral prints too. So even if you don't go for the childlike space prints, the Stardust, Lunar Stamps and Interrupted Signal prints are perfect stash builders and would look gorgeous mixed with other modern fabrics.
Both collections are available soon, visit Hantex to find UK stockists for fabrics in the ranges.
Finally I am working on a secret project with these incredible prints from the new Anna Maria's Conservatory by Anna Maria Horner, Monika Forsberg, and Bookhou. They are utterly stunning. I've already started cutting and I'm so excited to share this with you when I can!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and get to enjoy some sewing time!
four-patch flip quilt
I got to work with a glorious fat quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner's Sweet Dreams collection to make this quilt. And I'm not afraid to say I'm smitten with it! The blue colourway of the prints were paired with Spot On in Teal by Makower, which lets the prints sing and coordinates nicely. Spots are such a happy print, so cheery and pretty. They seem to have a retro vibe but play so well with modern prints too, anyone else think that?
Vintage Home BOM
Last year Jo Avery of myBearpaw invited me to join in with her Vintage Home BOM Quilt Along. Each month in Today's Quilter a new block is released and features items from around the home, with a bit of a vintage or retro twist. I chose May's block, with the theme of light and decided to make the candlestick block. This one spoke to me as my name, Lucy, comes from Latin origin and means "light" - I even have it tattooed on my wrist!
The blocks are machine sewn, a few have a small amount of foundation paper piecing but this one is made with regular machine piecing and a little bit of hand appliqué. I decided to challenge myself a bit by mixing different weights of fabric in the block. The background is the beautiful woven Illuminated Graph in Rust, Loominous by Anna Maria Horner and the candlestick holder is a Japanese geometric lines linen. This print is one of my favourites, I see it often because I used it for the basket that holds my everyday make up!
I like how these fabrics play together, both have a different vibe and yet the lines create a relationship. The orange toned rust colour of the background gives that warm glow you get from a candle too. For the flame itself I cut into my precious Liberty, the Farhad print is perfect and I thought the black grid on it looked good as a representation of the wick.
The hand appliqué was quick to do, just the flame and the circular candlestick holder. I didn't clip the outer part of the circle, as it's linen I didn't want it to fray too much and it was large enough that I didn't need to. I did clip the inner circle though and it behaved relatively well!
Clearly I love candles! This block was a joy to sew and it was nice to have some hand sewn elements included. Jo's patterns are so easy to follow and the other blocks in the BOM are all so sweet, the theme is charming! You can find the candlestick, along with a lampshade block in issue 36 of Today's Quilter.
sparkle bee 🌠 wonky star quilt
I got to play with some Tula Pink All Stars fabric this week and I adore the bee print! Wonky stars are a fun quick sew and it's nice to mix up the points, using different prints and solids. I made the bees the star of the show by fussy cutting them for the centre of the wonky star blocks.
in and out #sncaswap
Every Saturday I join Meg and Rachel in hosting the Saturday Night Craft Along on Instagram. It's an amazing community of makers, encouraging each other and crafting the night away! This year we decided to have the first (in what we hope will be at least annual) swap. With three time zones joining in each week, it was quite the task to organise but we mixed it up and became swap mamas for other continents so we could join in the fun!
My swap partner was Jen aka Mum In The Madhouse, who I met this year at the Simply Solids retreat! So I already knew she loved Anna Maria Horner and I wanted to make her something to help her unwind and relax. She works really hard, her blog is full of amazing inspiration, ideas for family activities and so many brilliant posts! After seeing an instagram story she posted about having trouble sleeping I knew exactly what to make and gift her.
Fussy Cutters Club ~ We Are All Connected mini quilt
Angie Wilson AKA Gnome Angel is such a joy, her blog and social media are filled with gorgeous projects and the most wonderful fussy cuts! I was super excited when I found out she was writing a book and leapt at the chance to be part of the blog tour - or bribed her - either way I was thrilled to discover this book was even better than I thought it would be (and I had high expectations).
Fussy Cutters Club isn't a dry 'blah blah blah' book, this is like a clever friend explaining fussy cutting to you. With all those really helpful practical tips that you know they actually use. There aren't hard and fast rules, Angie is real and honest in her approach. It makes total sense.
"You need time to think and consider fabrics. Sometimes a project will come together quickly, and you'll know the moment you get the right fabric. Other times you'll need time to think, and that's not a bad thing".
The projects in the book are also all brilliant, with a good range of smaller makes and quilts.
I opted to make the 'We Are All Connected' mini quilt, knowing right away those Echinacea's would be the central hexies and then doing a big stash dive to come up with the right colours and prints for the 'rings'.
rainbow pincushion
Finally a lazy day; with the kids back at school I spent time with my husband (we skived and went to the cinema!) and then I finished off this rainbow pincushion this afternoon.
The rainbow is part of my Whatever the Weather hand pieced mini quilt pattern, which I will be teaching at Stitch Gathering at myBearpaw in October.
I have added borders and just finished some appliqué on them so I will be quilting the mini soon - I have a plan and a rough sketch of how I want to quilt it!
The pattern is a great stash buster and it was fun picking out fabric for the rainbow. I used Wonderfil Eleganza #8 perle thread for the hand quilting, it has a lovely sheen to it and was beautiful to work with.
I sewed some pom-pom trim to the short edges. I did this recently when I made my Liberty scraps pincushion and it adds a pretty flair. It also looks like little clouds framing the rainbow!
The pincushion back is the gorgeous Social Climber print by Anna Maria Horner, which really makes it double sided!
I enjoyed making 'just because' and I can totally see how pincushions are an addictive make!
Greek Cross Quilt ✚ Anna Maria Horner
What an exciting time I'm having! Today I got to meet Anna Maria Horner who made a special guest appearance on Sewing Quarter. She was genuinely so lovely, it was a thrill to meet her and see her beautiful quilts up close because I have long been a fan of her designs and work.
Of course I was there demonstrating projects I have made using her latest collection Floral Retrospective.
This quilt is made up of 12 traditional Greek Cross quilt blocks and you can click here to get the block instructions.
I fussy cut the larger flower prints for the centres, framed beautifully by the Overachiever print. The background fabric is Linea in Lichen by Makower, which compliments the greens so well.
Keeping with the colour scheme I used a lovely soft green #2840 Aurifil 40 wt thread to quilt around the diamonds. It would be a great quilt pattern to do some free motion quilting or hand quilting because of those nice spaces and the geometric shapes.
The quilt is 36" x 48".
Next I made a cushion cover (shown here unstuffed!) with butterfly blocks and I really like the folksy vibe this has:
I hand stitched the antennae and did some hand quilting around the wings using perle 8 thread. I actually did the quilting sitting in a games shop while my son was learning to play Dungeons and Dragons. I asked about sewing in public on instagram and generally people always seem to have good reactions, which is brilliant. Leave a comment below if you sew/craft in public and tell me what your experiences have been like, all good?
And I only just clocked that John matched his shirt to the cushion, butterflies everywhere!
If you would like to watch Anna Maria Horner talk about her career, design process and take a look at some drawings that are part of her next fabric collection then click play below!
Tomorrow I am heading to Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham (mostly to finally meet fabulous Clare - Selfsewn, another quilting heroine of mine) and also to look at all the gorgeous quilts on display. You can follow along on my instagram as I will be adding pictures/videos to my story while I'm there and I will do a blog post soon too of course!
I hope you're all having a nice start to the weekend, happy sewing!
fabric bookmark tutorial
The theme over at Le Challenge this month is 'reading'. I decided to make a bookmark and I wanted something that would feel sturdy but still look cute! Here's how I made my laminated fabric bookmark...
Supplies:
505 Craft Adhesive
(2) 2" x 7" pieces of fabric
1.75" x 6.5" piece of Aida or thin cardboard
small fabric scraps
Sewline glue pen
paper to cover your work surface
a laminating machine and laminating pouch (optional)
If you would like to create a frayed edge, use a woven fabric and gently pull the threads from the bottom. Repeat on the other piece of fabric and put them together to make sure you have the same amount of fraying.
Spray one side of Aida lightly with the adhesive and stick to the wrong side of one of the pieces of fabric. Spray again and place the other fabric piece on top, right side facing up.
Now for the fun bit, decorate your bookmark using fabric scraps!
Originally I tried to use up some teeny bits of Liberty and make a confetti pattern but it just didn't work as I envisioned.
I opted instead to fussy cut some Liberty print flowers and create a collage...
Which was much prettier! I used embroidery scissors, layered the flowers and stuck them down with the glue pen.
At this point you could quilt over your design, just a few straight stitches will hold it in place, then top stitch around the edges (and above the fraying). You could also zig zag the edges.
Another simple way to finish, that will give structure and make your bookmark more hard wearing is to laminate it. I do like a glossy finish!
Since putting one small bookmark through the laminator felt wasteful I also made myself a little inspiration card to keep in my planner. I used a Project Life card, some washi and stickers.
A little tip - if you are laminating and want rounded corners, use nail clippers to take the points off the corners!
Check out the other finishes at Le Challenge and link up your 'reading' projects for a chance to win great prizes :)
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