Finally!

At, long, long last the sun has decided to shine on my little corner of the world.  Finally, the grey clouds are gone and are replaced with glorious fluffy white ones.

It's been a shock to the system after all this while, but a wonderful, welcome shock and we've been enjoying it.  Little One went on a weekend day trip to the seaside with Nannie and Granddad and I got some sunny, joyful, outdoor hooky time.

I'll have to tell you about what's going on in that basket another time though, because I have so many other things still to share with you.  My productivity levels must have gone into overdrive or something because I can barely post fast enough to show you everything I've done and I don't want to totally overload you all.

Today, I want to show you some fabricy goodness...

...in the form of some flowery coasters.  Some trial and error involved in these little coasters mind you, but it's all good learning experience I suppose.  I had the idea to make some mini dresden plates and use them as coasters because I'd been seeing lovely dresdens everywhere and 'monkey see, monkey wanna do'!

I happened across a petal ruler while wandering around a quilt shop, so that seemed the perfect place to start.  Lovely fabrics selected and triangles cut, I was ready to go.


I love this bit so much, the sewing and pressing bit.  Nice neat lines, nice crisp pressed folds - heaven!


Soon I had some little circles waiting to be made into flowers.

I made my own flower shape as the curve on the ruler for this size didn't look at all right, so I pinned my batting and backing fabric and sewed again.

This time though...

...disaster.

What a mess.  I snipped around my curves and everything but with the batting, the curves were just to tiny and tight to work and ended up looking too pointed looking.  Now, a better sewer than me would not doubt know how to solve these problems (and if you do and want to leave a comment - please do.) but I confess, I was stumped.

Stumped, but not to be defeated.  Even those messy looking first tries showed me how cute these could look if I could only get them right, so I cam up with a radical and probably slightly nutty plan.

I decided to hand piece the triangles, complete with the curve I wanted so that the shape looked right.  So I cut out some little, individual petal templates.  Then I used this flower shape as a template for the batting and backing and carefully sewed the two halves together.

I haven't got any pictures of this rather convolved process I'm afraid but I'm very pleased to report that it did work.

 Much better flowery shapes, don't you agree?  I'm very pleased I didn't give up on them.  I love them now.

I also did a little hand quilting on it, just for a finishing touch.

They're for my living room and they are doing a very good job of adding a little flowery brightness and happiness to the place.

And, just so I didn't waste all my other bits of fabric, I made the disasters into plain ol' circles.  Not as good as flowers, but they'll do as an extra couple of back ups.  (They can be for my less favoured visitors.)









So if you ever do come and see me now, for tea and a chat, you'll know that you're also being ranked.  Who is worthy of a flower coaster, that's the question?







S x



Comments

  1. So glad you kept at it, these are beautiful :)

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  2. It was well worth keeping on with these - they are lovely. I like the little circle in the middle too. Lily. xxx

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  3. Perseverance reaps rewards...that sounds like Jane Austen...but well it fits doesn't it because those coasters look extremely neat

    Amanda :-)

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  4. I think the extra effort was definitely worth it - they're beautiful. And if I were lucky enough to be invited for tea I wouldn't mind which coaster I was proffered as they're all fab! Glad you had a great weekend x

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  5. So pretty Sandra. You make me want to start parchworkng! I think he circles are just as sweet as the flowers.
    Carole x

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  6. Oh! I am so glad you didn't give up. Those flower-shaped coasters are SO worth it! And you know what? the circle shaped ones aren't so bad either. : )

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  7. I love the little petal shapes. I had the same problem with making them. I was doing a larger size, like a candle mat. I still can't get the curves to look right. Glad you came up with something that works!

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  8. Absolutely adorable!! Love the petal ruler!! I need to get one!! Love all your gorgeous fabrics!! Have a lovely day!! xo Heather

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  9. The flower coasters are so adorable. It must have been difficult to hand sew them, but they turned out so pretty, it's worth it, it's a labour of love.

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  10. patience is the key....and you did it!!! BRAVA!!!
    xxxx Alessandra

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  11. Gorgeous, they look so pretty, well worth the effort!

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  12. P.s. Makes me smile actually as we have six quilted placemats that my mil made, they all have different traditional patchwork shapes on them and one of them (I think it may be the fruit bowl ?) the kids refer to as the silly mat, and youd be surprised at the rush to offer to lay the table just so they can give it to someone else!

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  13. These are gorgeous - they must have taken you ages xx

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  14. I love your little flower coasters! They are soo cute!

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  15. Gorgeous coasters! Don't you love it when a plan comes together (finally)!! xxx

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  16. Great coasters! Glad you didn't give up when at first faced with a disaster...your end result is a triumph!!

    Have a lovely sunny week.
    Fleur xx

    PS. In this sunshine I think a glass of Pimms would look perfect on one of those coasters!

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  17. Love your coasters! They are so sweet!

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  18. these are just wonderful, I'm jealous! Well done you for perservering!

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  19. Hello again dear Sandra, I don't know how I missed this post! How wonderful you are enjoying sunshine and warmth. I love the crochet blanket and pillow! So beautiful and cheerful! As I gain more crochet experience I look forward to making those. I adore all of your pretty fabrics! Your petals turned out perfectly and I love the hand quilting. It is such a lovely touch! I am glad you are happy with how they turned out. You sew beautifully and always inspire me! I am glad you could use the circles too! When I come for tea I hope to get a flower coaster! Hee hee! :D Have a beautiful day my friend! Love your pretty photos too! xo~Paula

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  20. Would be nice if there was a pattern with the article.

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