Spoonflower

I've talked about Spoonflower in the past when I had a photo printed onto quilters cotton to incorporate into a quilt. At the moment with the Australian Dollar being so high compared to the US$ it is very tempting to jump in and buy a whole heap of beautiful custom printed fabric.

I've been receiving the newsletters from Spoonflower for a number of months now and they often have design competitions allowing the general public to vote for their favourites. There have been so many beautiful designs lately that I've decided to start sharing my favourites from each competition. You might like to sign up to their newsletter and do the same!

I voted for 9 fabrics this time for the theme "Woodland Creatures". I've linked my top 6 above in no particular order.

Quilting Scraps

Scrap Box

I've been saving up all my scraps from recent projects as I recently bought a copy of the book Serendipity Quilts by Susan Carlson however I can't try out one of the amazing projects until I collect a pile of scraps to choose from.

Previously I would only save the scraps I deemed "worthwhile", but now I'm saving all my scraps no matter how tiny. It feels good to think I might one day have a use for all of them. Do you save your scraps?

Chicken Purse

Chicken Purse

This weekend I've been thinking a lot about chickens as one of our girls has a broken wing. So its not surprising that a chicken appeared in my sewing this weekend.

This little purse has been made into a pattern and is now in my brand new shop! Head over to Happy Bobbin to check it out. I ended up making two little chicken purses as I was testing the pattern. If you'd like one they're both for sale too. I also have a blog specifically for my shop here which will be updated as I add new patterns.

If you were to purchase a quilting or quilt related pattern for anything in the world what would you want?

My style is quite ecclectic and unique. I'm currently working on turning all my steampunk blocks into patterns and have a few more ideas in my sketchbook too.

If you also like stitching why not check out another free resource I'm working on. Free Sampler Patterns is hosting a great little range of cross stitch designs perfect for small motifs or making your own custom sampler.

Sewline Mechanical Pencil

Sewline pencil comparisson

The Sewline mechanical pencil is something that Leah Day from Free Motion Quilting uses and recommends and right before purchasing one from her online store I spotted them in a local shop near my workplace and grabbed one as the price was comparable.

The first thing I did is try it out on some black cotton fabric alongside my usual dress-makers pencil. As you can see from the photo (click to enlarge) the top seven lines from the Sewline pencil are sharper and darker than the dress-makers pencil which I am always sharpening. The eraser on top of the Sewline pencil is good for erasing those lines, but I have not had much need of it. The lines also erase in water. I've had some lines rub off while handling and thankfully this isn't a problem with the Sewline. The lines become a little lighter with excessive handling while hand sewing, but still hold on very well.

For AU$16.95 the Sewline mechanical pencil is not the cheapest accessory I've bought, but I don't know how I've lived without it. I usually use a lot of darker colours so the white is perfect for me, however it also comes in green and pink with refills available for all colours. I've also seen yellow and black/grey online, but not in local stores.

If you're in South Australia I've now discovered two stores who stock the Sewline range of pencils, and fabric glue. In Adelaide, the Button Bar in Adelaide Arcade, or just to the South, Tricia's Discount Fabric near Castle Plaza. If you're in America you should try Leah Day who stocks all 5 colours for US$12.95.

Looking for quilting inspiration? I'm posting some beautiful and inspiring quilts three times a week on Quiltopia. Come have a look! :-)