craft is still a big part of my life. i am going to continue to design new patterns, and sew for my friends, my family, and myself, but from now, i’m going to blog about it at the crowned finch. it’s just so much easier to have all the blogging going on in the one place.

i hope you’ll join me over there!

essie xox

she has been such a wonderful, supportive, and good humoured friend to us, particularly since arty was born, and the best way i know to show love and gratitude is through sewing.

we’re catching up with her today, and i can hardly wait to give it to her!

this quilt is the twin of one i made for sajee ages ago, and that’s kind of appropriate because those two are kind of twinnish themselves - not just good friends, but baking buddies, and synchronised swimming teammates!

that’s all for now, but i’ll be back with a new cross stitch pattern very soon - i promise! xxx

spring is on the way…

xxx

the block i made this month was called ‘broken dishes’. it was a really simple block to make, and while there were some good tutorials online, i had a different (and in my opinion, easier) way up my sleeve. i thought i’d write it up and share it, because this is a great block to be able to do. it’d be a really good choice for a first quilt.
to get started, you need:
a fabric pen
a rotary cutter and mat
a quilting ruler
a sewing machine

so, here goes!

first, choose two complimentary fabrics

cut two 5″ square blocks from each of your two fabrics

take one square of each fabric, and lay them on top of each other, right sides together, on your mat.
lining your ruler up with opposite ponts of the top square, draw a line with your fabric pen that bisects the square diagonally.

using your quilting ruler and pen, mark a line 1/4″ from either side of the one you drew in the previous step.

make sure your two pieces of fabric are directly on top of each other, then pin them in place.
using your sewing machine, sew along each of the outer lines that you just drew.

using your quilting ruler and rotary cutter, cut along the original diagonal line you drew.

the two pieces you now have will open out into squares comprised of two contrasting triangles. press them open and trim the little bits of seam that stick out from either side of the square.

repeat this whole process so that you have four squares. lay them out on your mat so that they make the broken dishes pattern.

sew the top left square to the bottom left square to make a rectangle. repeat this with the top right and bottom right squares.

finally, sew the left rectangle to the right rectangle, and you have your completed 8″ block.

i can make a couple of these blocks while the baby has a nap - that’s how quick they are!
hope you’ll find this useful,
essie xoxox

my sewing room, which has been in a state of chaos for months, is slowly getting pulled together, and as i tidy and organise, i am also rationalising! i am refining my crafty colour palette, and getting rid of what doesn’t fit with my evolving personal style.

that means that i am having a huge de-stash sale! in my etsy shop, you will find fabrics from designers like rosalie quinlan, sandi henderson, and heather bailey. you’ll see rare prints from popular ranges like flea market fancy, and flower sugar. there might even be a sneaky bit of liberty of london!
they’re all at super-cheap prices because i am keen to get them cleared out!

i’ve been putting listings up for the last couple of days and they’ve already started to sell, so if you want to
get your hands on the best of the bunch, get in there quick! here’s the link again: *fabric fabric fabric*!

essie xxx

arthur atticus was born at 9:20am on friday the 20th of january, 2012.
he is utterly perfect in every way, and we are delighted with him.

click on the image to be taken to the treasury and see individual items.

’scuse me. i’m off for a nap…

essie xoxox

they had a beautiful wedding last year, and i wanted to make them something to commemorate the event.

i actually designed this one myself, and my favourite thing about it is the colours. it reminds me of delftware, which is the look i was going for.

i may release it as a pattern in the shop, though i haven’t decided yet… we’ll see!

essie xoxox

click on the image to be taken to the treasury and see individual items.

can you blame me for being a wee bit excited?

essie xoxox

p.s. if you’re interested in reading about the pregnancy, the baby, and other family-related musings, i blog that stuff here.

the pattern is called “family record samplers”, and it’s by ellen chester of “with my needle“.

the pattern contains three variations of the design, so it can be adjusted for different numbers of children (up to about seven). being a meddler and never quite satisfied, i rearranged things and did my own version, modifying the motifs of the original pattern.

overall i enjoyed stitching this, but the pattern was a little confusing to follow. the number of variations available meant that there were lots of pages that were easily muddled up (especially for someone as scatterbrained as me!).
the pattern is also designed to be stitched on belfast linen, with some stitches over two linen threads, and others over one. the blank areas of the pattern, where you could write in your own family details, were all two-thread sized, and much of the lettering was one-thread sized, so it was quite tricky to plan out.
this is definitely a pattern for more confident and experienced embroiderers!

i chose to stitch this one on antique-look linen, and i really like the way it turned out. it looks tea-stained and old, which i think really suits the design.

most importantly, it was very well received by the very dear and loving people i made it for.

essie xoxox