Sunday Stash - Mara's Destash

My lovely friend Mara recently decided to have a destash on Instagram. She lives in Greece with her family and, as you know, the situation there is very difficult at the moment. Her #grexitdestash was a way of making some extra money in case of need.

Her fabrics are beautiful and she was so nice as to make a special bundle for me, as the one I liked was sold in a flash.

She was also very kind to fussy cut two Melody Miller Ruby Star Shining Typewriters I've had my eye on for a long time AND the wonderful Cotton + Steel Black and White Pencils. They are both even better than I expected.

You can find Mara here on Instagram. If you have a moment I would really appreciate it if you could send her some IG love! You can also find her blog here.

Linking up with Sunday Stash over at the one and only Molli Sparkles'.

Sunday Stash with a Surprise Find!

It's a while since I last joined Sunday Stash and this time I have to thank two friends. First I have to thank a friend (a colleague) who has recently bought a new house. The house was completely empty a part from two boxes in the attic. One box was full of mouldy confetti (almond sweets you give for weddings and special occasions in Italy) which he threw away, of course. In the other box he found a very tidy collection of dressmaking patterns.

He kindly thought of giving them to me, knowing I have a passion for sewing (and he doesn't!) and seeing how well they had been kept. Thank you very much for thinking of me!

So now I am the lucky new owner of these patterns, that seem to all date back to 1956. I've taken it as a hint that I really have to try sewing clothes. That little voice that keeps telling me to try is getting louder and louder!

I would also like to thank my friend Mara at Secretly Stitching who is absolutely unbeatable at calculating the best offers and ways of reducing shipping costs. I do try to work out how she does it but in the end she's so good at it I put myself totally in her hands! I am always in awe of how every time she manages to think of a new way for saving money for us far away European residents trying to buy fabric from the States or Canada.

Mara's done it again. I love the low volume fabric she's sent me through a special offer. I can't wait to start using them.

She even sent me two lovely charms as a present for my Passport fabric. How cool is that?! Thank you Mara!

Linking up with Sunday Stash over at the one and only Molli Sparkles' with all my "low volume" photos!

Sunday Stash: DIY Bobbin Clips (or Clamps)

You might be wondering what this photo is all about and what it has to do with sewing. These green objects are plant clips I have decided to temporarily transform into bobbin clips. Bobbins unwinding are so annoying, the thread immediately gets tangled up. It's something I can't stand. So when I saw these plant clips the other day at the supermarket for less than 2 Euro (about 2.17 dollars) for 30 clips, I thought I'd give them a go. And they really work!

The idea actually came from the fact that I fell in love with these Tulips bobbin clamps by Smartneedle. I am so impressed by these clamps, the colours are beautiful and the idea is pure genius. So they are now on my wish list. I've pinned them on our Pincushions and Needle Books Board here. 

Think I'll have to suggest a Massdrop for these. What do think? In the meantime I'll make do with my green plant clips!

Linking up with the always sparkling Molli:

Lucky (and useful) Sunday Stash

I owe my Sunday Stash to the generosity of Pat at Life in the Scrapatch. I was so lucky to win her giveaway which was supposed to be the tree panel by Tracy Lizotte for Elizabeth Studio. Supposed to be because she surprised me by adding an extra panel with Tracy's incredible drawings of birds and nests. Thank you so much Pat!

This fabric is going to come in very handy because I'm joining the Tree Bird Blog Hop in March, organised by Sew We Quilt and with cheerleader Lana at It Seams To Be Sew. The theme fabric is this special Beautiful Bird collection. 

I also have a new sewing accessory! Oh no, not another pin cushion?! Yes, it's a "Wrist Pinny", a magnetic wrist pin caddy. I swear I haven't got one of these. It should be very useful because I sew upstairs in the "Little Room" but when I need space I have to go downstairs to the kitchen. My pins always seem to be in the wrong place when I'm going from one room to the other! This caddy should help solve part of my "going up and down stairs because I'm forgetful" problem!

Linking up with the always sparkling Molli: go and take a look at Molli's shiny posh Sunday stash!

Happy New Deer Banner and Sunday Stash

As a present to myself (!) for Christmas I got a wonderful bundle of fabric: Indelible by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics. This collection is incredible. Now I have it in my hands (thanks to the fantastic service at Westwood Acres), I must admit it is even better than it looked in the photos I had seen! This is the first project I've used it for: 

Happy New Deer Banner! 

It's an excuse, of course, for saying Happy New Year to you all and sending you a smile! 

I was thinking of adding a real crochet doily but then I found this scrap of trim in a bag of vintage fabric my Mum gave me. The scrap was probably part of a long lost blouse and the pleats are all hand sewn.

I am happy to notice that this little banner fits in well with goal number four I set myself for 2015. A good start!

And here is the lovely bundle in it's full glory (minus the fabric I used to make the banner!)

I now have my eye on Katarina Roccella's new collection: Recollection for Art Gallery Fabrics. I'm very curious to see how quilters are going to use it. The different styles of patterns and scales of the fabrics are a sign of how different trends coexist in today's quilting.

Joining the Sunday Stash link up over at Molli Sparkles!

Sunday Super Stash

I never win anything. Usually. During the last month I won three different giveaways! Our corner of Blogland is so generous, there are so many wonderful giveaways, we're really lucky. I have enjoyed hosting quite a few giveaways myself and I'm planning another one soon... It's so fun giving and it's great winning too!

Thank you to Mara at Secretly Stitching:

Thank you to Pink Chalk Fabrics:

Thank you to Quilt Taffy:

You filled my sewing room with lovely fabric I can't wait to start using!!!

All this wonderful fabric deserves to join Sunday Stash, doesn't it?!

Sunday Stash: Briar Rose Challenge

This week I received a fun packet in the post. As soon as I saw it was from Quilt Sandwich, I knew it had my two surprise prints for the Briar Rose Challenge. I was really curious to see what was inside:

These are so sweet and I love the delicate colours. I have an idea in mind for my project, just have to work out how to put it together!

I added this Lush Uptown Wood Grain in Brown designed by Erin Michael for Moda and I love it (it's actually more brown than in this photo). Quilt Sandwich has it in Moss too, which also looks really good. The wood grain is going in the project too..

There is already one entry at the Briar Rose Challenge and you can read about it here or at Anita's blog Daydreams of Quilts. It's really pretty!

Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash, this week over at Quirky Hannah, who is also hosting a fantastic giveaway!

Sunday Stash: fabric for Spring Infinity Scarves

At last Spring is coming, it's getting warmer and the Infinity Scarf I made in January is too thick. So when I saw this cheap fabric (it's not silk even though it feels so silky!) at my local Giesse Scampoli shop, I thought it would be perfect for making a spring infinity scarf for Ella and myself.

I am still following the Fabriholics Anonymous fabric fast and so far I've only bought fabric to pattern test the beautiful Bright Sky giant block by Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts and fabric to make scarfs, which is for clothing, so it should be an exception, right?!

Finalmente sta arrivando la primavera, sta diventando sempre più caldo e la Sciarpa Infinita che ho cucito a gennaio è troppo pesante. Così quando ho visto queste stoffe super economiche (non è seta anche se è così setoso!) nel negozio Giesse Scampoli di zona, ho pensato che erano perfette per cucire una sciarpa infinita leggera per Ella e per me.

Sto ancora partecipando al "digiuno" Fabriholics Anonymous e così finora ho solo comprato stoffa per testare lo schema per il bellissimo quilt Bright Sky to Alyce a Blossom Heart Quilts e stoffa per cucire sciarpe infinite, che sono in realtà abbigliamento e che quindi dovrebbero essere un'eccezione, no?!

I would like the back fabric to complement the front so at the moment I'm thinking about using white for both. Ella's flower scarf will also have a mini pom pom trim. It's so pretty!

Vorrei che la stoffa da usare dietro si coordinasse con il davanti e allora per il momento sto pensando di usare bianco per entrambe le sciarpe. La sciarpa di Ella con la stoffa a fiori avrà anche un profilo con il nastro pom pom. E' carinissimo.

Linking up with Sunday Stash over at Molli Sparkles

and Fabriholics Anoymous at Making Rebecca Lynne: