Pinspiration Sunday

Hello again!  Yes, I know - I've slacked off on Pinspiration Sunday the last two weeks.  Sorry about that - just busy, tired and up to other stuff.  But I'm back on track today so I'm going to dive in so as not to distract myself.  Go grab your cup of hot beverage and enjoy the photo love.

Currently:

* listening - radio
* reading - going to start Attachments soon for holiday reading
* making - layer cake sampler quilt-along (just finished block #14)
* eating - dried fruit & nuts mix
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans & new sequins anchor t-shirt *giddy*
* weather - cloudy, 10C
* feeling - hungry
* wanting - to play Sims
* needing - to make a tonne of cards
* planning - Easter trip to Ireland
* thinking - what to snack on next...
* loving - quiet Sunday 'hermit'ing
* enjoying - discovered I'm getting more tax money back than expected *whoot!*

On to the pins!

Pixelated Heart Quilt Tutorial

So gorgeous!  I love everything about this modern style quilt - the design, the colours, the shape - yup, it's all there.  And the tutorial is free.

Chopsticks Quilt Pattern

Hmm, more triangles - are you sensing a theme?  Clearly I need to get them out of my system and this could help.  I could see this in really pretty melon yellows and oranges with grapefruit pinks.

Insulated Lunch Tote

Super cute tote bag.  I bet if you swapped out the insulation for a thin batting and increased the size a wee bit, it would also make a super cute gym bag, too.

Leaf Oven Grips / Trivets

A little something for the kitchen - leaf-shaped trivets or oven grips.  You could even have a whole slew of them in different autumnal colours, too.

Subway Art Page

I love subway graffiti print papers but their bold design can make them tricky to work with.  That being said, I think Tanya did a fab job of using this as her background paper.  The bold colours in the embellishments really help to lift them off the text.  Awesome.

Clustered Frames

I'm a bit of a sucker for clustered frames - so many little possibilities for photos, titles, journaling and embellishment.

Paint Chip Card

I know I'm not the only person who has a strange fascination for paint chips.  I love how this simplistic design is lifted by the bold, dynamic rainbow colours used here with a few button accents for extra fun and texture.

Hopscotch Card

Okay, now this is just crazy cute and creative!  I love all of the coloured twine and the little button for the stone.  Great birthday card for a child.

Paper Ball Decorations

Fancy a little 3D paper play?  These paper balls are perfect and make awesome decorations for any celebration or party.

Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

And speaking of celebrations and parties, perhaps you want to do something a bit different with your Easter eggs this year.  Well, this site will give you plenty of inspiration.

Yummy

And here's a truly yummy colour palette to tempt you with - those dark fuscia tones are lush!

Pinspiration Sunday

Post #100!

Wow, I nearly missed noticing it but this is officially the 100th post!  Furthermore, I've ticked over 9000 page views since this little blog started last summer.  Not too shabby, if I dare say so myself.  And of course, a big thank you to all of you who pop by to read, comment and share in my hobbies and snippets of life.  Now, go grab your hot beverage of choice and we'll get the day officially started with some photo love.

Currently:

* listening - radio
* reading - catching myself up on quilting & papercrafting magazines
* making - layer cake sampler quilt-along
* eating - nothing yet; brunch soon
* drinking - water
* wearing - PJs & cardie
* weather - rainy, 8C
* feeling - hungry
* wanting - to sew, sew, sew!
* needing - to book tickets to Ireland & hostel
* planning - belated Shrove Tuesday (AKA Pancake Day) supper with friends
* thinking - what to do today...
* loving - new fabrics
* enjoying -  lazy Sunday morning in bed

And now on to the pins:

Ombre Chevron Quilt

It's chevron, it's turquoise and it's ombre - swoon!  No actual pattern (just HST, after all) but great inspiration and some tips for best effect.

Paper Pieced Pompoms

Remember that circle of flying geese pattern I mentioned for my Persian Pickle Project?  Well, take the same paper piecing pattern and make pompoms!

Free Motion Quilting Starter Tips

Here's another handy guide for starting free motion quilting, focusing on steps to prepare your machine for the project.

Rolled Accessory Tote

I've been meaning to make a small one of these for ages to put cutlery into when going to quilt guild.  Don't limit yourself just to cutlery, though - you could use these for many different items and adjust the pocket sizes as needed.

Pie Chart Journaling by Jill Sprout

I always love Jill's work and these artsy pie charts are such fun!  A nice way to break out of the traditional scrapbooking format and have some fun with scraps, too.

Peek-a-Boo Windows by Sandy Ang

Here's another interesting idea for those of you who want more inspiration for using photo enlargements.  Sandy has cut large slits into her background paper and adhered the photo to the back so that sections peek through to the front - neat visual interest.  I also really like the black doodle lines around each window.

Celebrate Colour

Okay, let me preface this by saying that green is my least favourite colour.  However, this colour palette is just gorgeous!  The mix of limes, turquoise and an unexpected lavender is very refreshing and spring-like.  Love it.

'Soft Kitty' for Quilters

And finally, I stumbled over this adorable quilter's rendition of the 'Soft Kitty' song from Big Band Theory (total fangirl).  Yup, just awesome.

Pinspiration Sunday

Sunday evening again already so I guess it's time for a little Pinspiration.  Go grab your hot beverage of choice and we'll dive in while supper warms up.

Currently:

* watching - Manhunt
* reading - just finished Still Alice (very good - I recommend it)
* making - felted flower and baby quilt
* eating - pizza
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans & a striped long-sleeve shirt
* weather - foggy and wet, 4C
* feeling - tired
* wanting - a second day to sleep in
* needing - to type up a long documentation
* planning - multi-tasking several sewing projects
* thinking - mulling over Still Alice
* loving - having used my sewing corner at last!
* enjoying - a day in bed with Oskar

And now on to the pins...

Victory Garden

When you have a surname like England, you tend to have a real soft-spot for Union Jacks and anything English.  I love the soft colours used in this version.

Leftovers Quilt

This is such a great idea - use up all of those leftover and tester blocks to make a big sampler-like quilt.  Such a fun idea!

How to Sew Zippers Tutorials

I always find zippers tricky, no matter how many times I put them in.  This site has several tutorials at all stages of the zipper-sewing process and for various needs.  A handy reference.

Sock Owls

Move over, sock monkeys - it's time for sock owls!  Super cute and easy to make; I could see these being really fun autumn or Hallowe'en decorations around the house.

Washi Tape Card

I really liked the colour palette of these different washi tapes in the background design and the little mix of embellishments is really cute, too.

Geometric Stamped Card

Here's fun geometric card that uses heat embossed stamping on a chalkboard background - really eye-catching and lovely.

Paper Flower Wreath

With spring feeling just around the corner, perhaps it's time to start decorating.  This could be a good project to use up those scraps.

Colour Palette

One of my favourite spring flowers is when the magnificent magnolia trees blossom.  I'm really digging these fresh, spring greens; that Pantone radiant orchid pink and the hints of grey blue and deep brown.

Okay, folks - it's a short week this time around; that's all for today!

Pinspiration Sunday

Well, here we are back at Sunday.  I can't believe I've successfully blogged for nine consecutive days!  It's amazing what you can get done when work doesn't get the in the way.  Sadly, that will all change with returning to work tomorrow...  But let's not dwell on that just yet.  Go grab your hot beverage of choice and we'll enjoy some photo love.

Currently:

* watching - nothing good on the telly
* reading - Still Alice
* making - nothing today (break!)
* eating - stir fry & noodles
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans & long-sleeve top
* weather - clear, 4C
* feeling - accomplished
* wanting - to start a quilt-along
* needing - to go to bed early
* planning - a little self improvement
* thinking - just 8 more weeks to Easter break...
* loving - my re-arranged living room (more on Wednesday)
* enjoying - Canada's Olympic gold hockey medal WHOOT!

And now on to the pins!

When Bali Met Sochi

Want to continue getting your Olympic fix even though the Games have officially closed?  Try this beautiful batiks quilt inspired by the 2014 Winter Games artwork.

Layer Cake Quilt-Along

I just found this great sampler quilt-along by Material Girl.  All of the blocks use HST and are very quick and easy to put together.  The plan is to make two blocks each over ten weeks and late-comers are welcome.

Cat Lady Embroidery

Are you a (crazy) cat lady or one in the making?  Then you might like these cute Internet-inspired free embroidery patterns.

Handbag Inserts Pattern

If you love having different handbags but hate the transferring of your stuff from one to another, here's the solution - handmade, of course!

Mission Concepcion

I'm totally in love with triangles!  I love this yummy orange and turquoise triangle border paper and the popped-up effect used to add dimension.  So cool!

Our Little Snug Bug

Remember I said I love triangles?  I really like the visual triangle and little bits and bobs clustered on these floating triangles.

Interesting Bits by Julie Kirk

Julie Kirk sells these fun little ephemera packs on her Etsy shop.  If you like ephemera, these could be a great option - paper, embellishments, bits and bobs, etc. and all co-ordinated to work together.

Shaped Word Clips

Lawn Fawn has some fun new shaped word clips in super pretty colours.  There are a nice variety so go check them out.

Holiday Glimmer Palette

This is such a pretty champagne-like colour palette.

Pinspiration Sunday

Welcome back to another (hopefully) cosy Sunday filled with eye candy and inspiration!  I'm presently tucked up on the sofa watching some Winter Olympics and feeling extremely tired, having scrapbooked in my brain most of the night when I should have been sleeping.  Is it just me who does this or anyone else fall victim to inspiration in the middle of the night that disrupts your sleep?  Needless to say, it will be an early night.  Anyway, enough of my ramblings - go grab your hot beverage of choice and join me on the sofa...

Currently:

* watching - Winter Olympics (ski jump)
* reading - The Persian Pickle Club (downloaded; honestly starting this soon!)
* making - finished a UFO LO and two cards today - whew!
* eating - Swedish pankakor (pancakes) with strawberry jam - YUM!
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans, knit shirt & cardie (plus blankie)
* weather - clear, 5C
* feeling - tired but accomplished
* wanting - to go back to bed
* needing - to just get through one more week of work
* planning - my Persian Pickle project
* thinking - of possible new blog names (have any suggestions?)
* loving - having spent the day being crafty
* enjoying - having spent all day yesterday in bed  **bliss**

And now on to the pins...

All Framed Up

How gorgeous is this quilt?  All of those perfect little squares remind me of little postage stamps, all neatly organised.  Fab colours, too.  Want.  Seriously.

Orange Peel

I so love orange peel quilts!  I'm totally lusting over this one with its combination of rainbow peels and hap-hazard newsprint background fabric (I'm a sucker for text prints in fabric or paper).  The instructions on this blog entry are very detailed with a lot of photo references.  This one is going on my to-make list once I've done a bit more hand applique.

How to Hand Applique by Nancy Ellen

One of my skills I want to learn (or perhaps in this case, improve upon) is my hand applique.  This is a good beginner level video that covers the basics of tools, getting started and the basic stitch and turning.  Additional videos cover curves, points, etc.

Owl Handbag

We can't have a Pinspiration Sunday without some sort of owl cuteness so here's an adorable handbag.  Link to the pattern ($5.00 USD) on the webpage.

Family Tree LO

A couple of weeks ago I shared an awesome family tree quilt so it seemed fitting to do likewise with a scrapbooking LO.  Clearly this particular page isn't my style (although it might be yours) but there is so much inspiration one can draw from it.  Pretty spiffy.

Stacked Hearts Card

Here's a simple but pretty and nicely balanced Valentine's Day card that doesn't really require you have a Valentine's-themed pack of supplies or even the traditional red/pink/white colour palette.

Snowman Card

This will probably be the last of wintery cards we can reasonably share at this point in the season but I couldn't resist this adorable nested circle snowman.  I love the unexpected perspective and it's so simple, you could easily assembly-line these.

Plastic Classics by Jane Perkins

OMG, these recreations of classic paintings and photographs will blow your mind.  Artist Jane Perkins uses found objects such as buttons, beads, plastic toys, etc. to reproduce classics and they are AMAZING!  Girl with the Pearl Earring and the National Geographic Girl are my favourites.

My Month In Numbers - Jan. 2014

I may be a month off with this one but if you're looking for some inspiration of a different flavour, you may wish to try Julie Kirk's My Month in Numbers.

Nature Hues

We've had some lovely spring-like weather here in Malmö today so it seems fitting to have a little spring time colour palette.  There's also a little touch of pink in there if you're working on some Valentine's projects currently.

Kiva

And finally, because I'm completely obsessed (in a good way, of course) and whole heartily believe in the vision of this organisation, I'd like to once again mention Kiva.  Kiva is an organisation that helps people, many of whom live in developing, war-torn or natural disaster-prone countries to finance loans that improve their lives.  They do this by providing people like you and I to fund micro loans.  It's an amazing organisation - please take a few moments to read up on them and consider lending a hand.

Pinspiration Sunday

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I hope you've all had a great week and a good start to the new month (still can't quite believe it's already February...)  I have a fresh collection of pins to share with you today so go grab your hot beverage of choice and we'll dive right in.

Currently:

* listening - radio
* reading - The Persian Pickle Club (haven't quite started yet)
* making - Nice People Nice Things embroidery
* eating - toast & peanut butter
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans, shirt & cardie
* weather - overcast, 3C
* feeling - philanthropic
* wanting - another weekend day (always)
* needing - in the larger scheme of things, nothing
* planning - Persian Pickle project
* thinking - about future possibilities
* loving - quiet time in bed with Oskar
* enjoying - a warm day with a bit of sunshine

And now on to the pins...

On the Bookshelf: Making Miniature Quilts

You see that adorable log cabin mini photo there?  That's my stock photograph!  This mini quilt was made by my mum, Diane England, and some years ago now I photographed a number of her quilts for stock photography purchases (which I sold via my iStockphoto account).  I stumbled over its use last week quite randomly but how cool is that?  And incidentally, if you like the idea of converting full-sized quilt patterns into minis, check out the article.

 

Puddle Jumping Mini Quilt Pattern

Last week I shared with you a new quilter blog I've been enjoying.  This week Camille posted a number of cute mini quilt patterns (at a very reasonable cost).  I love this puddle jumping one.  She also has a cute umbrella one, too.

Ironing Board Caddy

A handy little organiser for your ironing board to keep your tools sorted while you work.  Love the cute little pin cushion, too.

 

Boo Family Shield

I really liked this take on the family shield concept that was presented in Jen Gallagher's "Make It Meaningful" video from the beginning of the year.  The literal shield version Jen made wasn't to my liking but this alternate, more artistic/scrapbook-y version really appeals to me.

Crocheted Owl Hats

Total love!  I have a crocheted sock monkey hat similar to this that I wear for yard duty at work - I get so many giggles from the children, although they sadly don't understand the reference to sock monkeys (this generation, eh?!).

Men's Tie Eye Glasses Case

Here's a cute idea for an up-coming Father's Day or masculine birthday gift idea - make a glasses case out of a necktie.  Pretty spiffy.

Breakfast Brights

And here's a little colour palette inspiration that includes the Pantone 2014 colour of the year: radiant orchid (it even includes orange - how awesome is that?  I'm hooked!)