Giveaway winner...calling Ohio......

A huge big thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway for Sew Mama Sew! giveaway day. Wow, I had 983 entries, which kind of blew me away! I couldn't possibly respond to the comments but I did read every single one of them and it was so much fund to see where you are all going to spend the holidays. I love how the blogging community is spread around the world, I had entries from so many different countries.

Thank you too to all my new followers! I hope that you come back and visit me often - please just join in the chat :-) To all my "old" followers - yes, I know you're not old, bad choice of words, lol!! - thank you for all the lovely comments.

Ok, so, on to the main event, the winner. Big drum roll please.......

Mr. Random drew:

Who is:

Congratulations Sangeetha, I will be in touch with you to get your address and will send these off to Ohio next week.

I know quite a few people were interested in the tutorial for the phone cozies - it is now up and you'll find it here.

That's all for today folks. Hope you're having fun getting ready for Christmas. Did I mention that I am finished up work till 5th January? Yipee!! I will (hopefully, all going well) have a couple of posts with finishes up before the big day but if you don't get back to visit me before then I hope you have a wonderful Christmas xx

Last minute gift idea: Phone Cozy Tutorial

Are you in need of some last minute quick, easy and fun Christmas gifts? Something you can make from your scrap basket with a minimum of fuss? Something useful, as well as pretty? Here's your answer - my phone/gadget cozy tutorial!

These little cozies are perfect for a phone or a camera - I'm sure there's lots of other uses you could think of for them too! The featured cozy fits an iPhone perfectly, including a protective cover/skin.  So, let's get to it!


Requirements:

Scraps of fabric in solid colour, feature fabric prints and lining fabric. 2 batting scraps (approx 5 x 7" each). Medium size covered or decorative button.

Cutting List:

(The measurements given are for the featured cozy. Measurements for other variations are given at the end.)

From your solid fabric cut the following:

Strip A - 1.5" x 4" - cut 3
Strip B - 2" x 4" - cut 2
Strip C - 1.25" x 3.5" - cut 2
Button loop strip - 6" x 2". (If your cover button is quite big, you might want to add another inch to the length).
 
From your print scraps, cut as follows:
Back:- Cut a variety of pieces for the back strips. They should be 1.5" high and can be a variety of widths from 1" to 2" - I varied mine to add interest. You need enough so that when pieced they make 2 strips that are 4" in length. Equally you could cut 2 single strips from a feature fabric - they should be 1.5" x 4" each.
Front:- Cut 2 pieces that are 2.25" x 1.5" (D) and 2 pieces that are 1.75" x 1.5" (E).

From your lining fabric, cut 2 pieces measuring 6" x 4" and 1 strip for the handle strap measuring 9" x 2".

Making the front and back:

Use a 1/4" seam throughout.

Firstly, take the small pieces you cut for your back strips, and piece together 2 strips using a quarter inch seam. Press the seams open, and trim both back to 1.5" x 4". 

Next, take the print fabric pieces for the front panel. Piece the 2 (E) pieces together along the long edge, and the 2 (D) pieces together along the long edge. Press seams, and then piece them together, with the (E) pieces on top. You should now have the following:

Now you're ready to piece the front and back.

Front:

Take the 2 strips C and piece to the sides of the 4 patch front panel. Press your seams towards the print fabric. Then piece a strip B to the top, and a strip A to the bottom. Press those seams to the print fabric also. This will help the print fabrics to pop off the solid even more, once you have quilted it.

For the back, start at the top and piece together your strips as follows:

Strip A
1st print fabric strip
Strip A
2nd print fabric strip
Strip B

Press your seams carefully to the print fabric on all seams.

Your front and back should now look like this, and are ready to be quilted.

Place on top of your batting strips and quilt in the solid fabric as you wish, then trim each piece to 6" x 4". I quilted in straight lines 1/4" apart like this:

Make Button Loop and Handle Strap:

First, make the handle strap. Take the 9" strip you cut from the lining fabric and fold in the middle lengthwise, wrong sides together. Press the fold. Next, open out the fold, and fold both raw edges inwards on either side, so that they meet in the middle, along the crease you just pressed:

These should now be folded back over each other along the original fold line, and press again. You should then top stitch along both edges, approx 1/8" in to secure.

Next, do exactly the same with the solid fabric strip you cut for the button loop. Once it is done, you need to create the loop. First, curve the strip around as follows:

Then, keeping the edges as close to each other as possible, press the little triangle this forms down:

Lastly, sew a line across, following the top stitch line, to secure the loop:

You're ready now to sew the cozy together!

Assembling the cozy:

Take the back piece, the button loop and one of the lining pieces and prepare to sew across the top edge. First, place the button loop in the centre - it should be 1.5" in from both edges. Make sure the back of the button loop is facing up, as in the picture below:

Then, place your lining piece on top of this so that the right sides are together and pin the button loop in place through all the layers. I have let the loop ends extend past the top edge so you can see in the photo more easily, but you should line them up with the edges when you are making.

Sew along the top edge using a 1/4" seam. When you get over the button loop strips, reverse and sew back and forward over them again to strengthen the seam here, then continue to the end.  Using a small, sharp embroidery scissors, very carefully trim the batting in the seam to reduce the bulk. Be careful not to cut your fabric or your stitches. You can also trim back any little bit of the loop ends that extend over the edge.

Take your front piece and your other lining piece and place right sides together and sew along the top edge. Trim front batting as above.

Now its time to sew these two pieces together to assemble your cozy. You will be matching the linings and the front and back of the cozy right sides together, lining up your raw edges and the seams you have already sewn.

First, place the handle strap and pin in place. I put it on the right side of the front piece, about 3/4" down from the top seam as shown below. The strap will need to be inside the 2 pieces when sewing your seam, so make sure to place it carefully in the middle and not stray out to the edges so as not to get caught in any of the edge seams.

 

 Next, place the front and back pieces right sides together, and the lining pieces right sides together and pin around all the edges. Make sure your top seams are matched carefully.

Again using a 1/4" seam, start sewing along the bottom edge of the lining, about 1" in from the corner. Make sure to backstitch to secure. Sew all the way around the edges of the cozy, including reversing back and forward over the handle strap a few times to strengthen it. Finish up approx 1" in from the opposite corner of the bottom edge of the lining. This should leave you a gap of about 2" along the bottom of the lining for turning the cozy right side out.

As with the top seam, trim the batting in the side and bottom seams back very carefully

 

 Lastly, cut off the corners taking care not to cut your stitches, and then pull the right side of the cozy out through the gap in the lining.

Push your corners out carefully using an old knitting needle or a point turner.  Lastly, you need to sew up the gap in your lining. Fold the seam allowance inside and press together. Then you can either hand stitch the gap closed, or, because it won't be seen, you could also edge stitch it closed as I did:

Push your lining back into the cozy and give it all a little press to neaten it up. The last thing you need to do is add a button for the closure. I think cover buttons really work on this cozy and would highly recommend that you cover one using a coordinating scrap. If you need a tute on doing this, you will find one here. You could also use a pretty decorative button. All you need to do is hand stitch it on in the middle of the front - you want it placed so that the bottom of the button is just sitting along the seam joining the print fabric panel to the top solid piece.

 And now all that's left is to decide who you are going to give it to :-)

And don't forget that little handle - perfect to hang on your bag so you can always find your phone!

I have run up a few of these cozies trying to get the tute just right and get decent photos for you in the last week, in slightly different styles and sizes.

Variations:

The Letters Cozy: 

The Letters Cozy is made using a natural coloured linen/cotton fabric and instead of doing the tiny piecing for the feature fabric panel and strips, I cut them from one piece of fabric each.

Measurements as follows:

Front panel - cut 1 measuring 3.5" x 2.5"
Back strips - cut 2 measuring 4" x 1.5"

All other measurements are the same.

The Rainbow Cozy:

 

The Rainbow Cozy is a slightly smaller size, suitable for a narrower phone.

Measurements as follows:


The width of strips A and B is 3.5" instead of 4".
Strip C measures 1" x 3.5"
The print fabric strips on the back are also 3.5" wide instead of 4"

Lining pieces measure 6" x 3.5" each.

All other measurements the same.

Aren't they pretty? I hope you had fun making this cozy.

If you have any questions on the tute, please let me know in a comment or pop me an email to fairyfacedesigns@gmail.com. I would love to see any you do make - so please upload them in my Flickr group. 

Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway Day

 

Another week, another giveaway! It's December after all! I have put together a little package from my own stash for you today and I hope you like it.

To everyone who is visiting for Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway day - céad míle fáilte (or, to translate, a huge Irish welcome!) to my little corner of blogland. I hope that you stay and have a look around. This has been the year of quilting for me. I finished my very first quilt on 25th January this year and quickly became obsessed with the whole quilting process. So much so that I have made an average of 1 large quilt a month and lots of minis, table runners, mug rugs and other projects along the way, including jointly hosting the Across the Sea quiltalong with my friend Jennifer. Plus, of course, the 3 quilts that are in my sewing basket waiting to be finished by year end! I love to make colourful, modern quilts - big and small - with gorgeous fabrics and simple, clean design. Here are some of my favourite makes this year:

You'll find more about my finished quilts here. Next year, my plan involves lots of tutes and some quilt patterns so I would love if you came back and visited again when all the madness of the giveaways is over!

Later this week I will be posting a tute for these cute phone/gadget cozies - one for smaller gadgets, one for iPhones. They are super fast, and super easy and you can make them with scraps - perfect, last minute Christmas presents! So do pop back and check it out if you need some gift inspiration!

To all my loyal friends, well, you know how much I love you all :-) But I'll say it again, just so you're sure - you're the BEST!! I love how I have become friends with so  many of you though commenting and chatting via email, and I really, really hope I get to meet lots of you in London in June at the Fat Quarterly retreat, funds and flights permitting (lets talk about that more in the New Year, will we?).

So, let's get to the important parts!  Today's giveaway is all of my own fabric, from my (overflowing) stash baskets. In case you are wondering, my home is smoke free and pet free!

First up, I am giving a way a Fairy Tale Friends honeybun.

 

Nice, right? This honeybun consists of 45 1.5" strips, approx 44" wide. Have a look here for more info.


But that's not all, I'm also including 6 stashbuilding fat quarters. The fabrics are perfect mixer fabrics in a nice range of colours. 

They are, from left to right: Freebird by Momo for Moda, Hideaway by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda,  Grand Revival by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit, Pinfeathers by Carina Gardner for Northcott, Midsummer Magic by Laurie Godin for Northcott, and 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House for Andover.

What do you need to do? I'm keeping this simple... you can have 2 entries. Please leave your email address in your comment in the following format: fairyfacedesigns (at) gmail (dot) com so that I can contact you.

1. Leave a comment telling me where in the world you are spending Christmas/your holidays this year. Mine will be here, at home, just outside Cork city in the very south of Ireland.  (Everyone can enter on this comment, follower or not!)
2. For a bonus entry, let me know if you are a follower, new or old.

Important stuff: I will close the giveaway at 9pm Irish time (GMT) on Friday 16th December. The winner will be drawn using Random Number Generator. Giveaway is open internationally. I will delete duplicate entries. If I cannot get in contact with the winner by Sunday 18th December, I will redraw.

**This giveaway is now closed**

Circa 1934 Winner!

Thanks everyone for entering my giveaway!

Without further ado the winner is.....

 Who is:

Congratulations Nancy Sue, I'll be in touch with you shortly for your details. Thanks so much to Janette over at River Fabrics for sponsoring this great giveaway !

And don't forget to pop back Monday for another great giveaway for the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway day :-)

Help with a Drunkard Christmas ;-)

 
I've been turning over in my mind what to do with the Christmas charms I got from Emily's Christmas charm swap. I didn't need to use them in my table runner and didn't want to leave them there till next year. I have some other projects going on in the background but today I decided to try and start a Christmas quilt for snuggling under during the holidays. I also wanted to try something different to my usual square/straight line patterns and I have a Drunkard's Path die for my Accuquilt Go! Baby. I have been watching some great Drunkard's Path quilts turn up on blogs in the last few months, so decided to go with that.

I do love the Go! Baby. My pieces were cut in double quick time from the charms - and perfectly too. Then I started to piece but it did not go smoothly I must admit. I tried pinning just in the middle and at either end, but could not get my pieces as accurate as I wanted. So I started pinning all the way around and that did help. I also ran into some tension issues on the second half of each curve, I'm not sure if it was just a threading problem or if it was something to do with how I was matching the fabric. Yikes!

I was relieved to see once I pieced the 4 quarter circles together, it did look a little better than I anticipated, thanks to a little easing of the fabrics to get seams matching.  The blue and white one is not great. It seems off centre and the circles are not even, nor are the points matching. The red, green and white one is definitely better, but still not brilliant. When I squared off the block, it is at least presentable rather than disastrous. But I would hate to think that I can't improve on these. One or two like this will not be noticeable in an overall quilt, but a whole quilt of them - no way!

 

So at this stage I'm a little disheartened. Those of you who are experienced Drunkards, any advice? (I'll take advice from experienced drunks too!) Is it a flow thing with the curved piecing? Will practice make it quicker and easier? How can I speed it up because these 2 were VERY slow!! And as you can see above, I have lots of piecing to do.

All drunk and sober words of wisdom very welcome ;-)

PS - Don't forget to pop over to my Circa 1934 giveaway before Friday evening to enter!

Happy Christmas to me!

 
This has been a slightly mixed week for me but has had some true highs.

First up, my lovely Christmas table runner arrived in the post at the end of last week, all the way from Canada. I really love what Anne-Marie did with the circles - and I love how this is not overtly Christmassy and can be used all winter.
 

 

It will go perfectly on my living room coffee table, and blend completely with the colours in my room. She also send some lovely felt Matryoshka decorations which my little lady has already appropriated and I doubt I will see them again!

Thanks so much Anne-Marie, this is just lovely!!

Next, I found out that I had won 2nd place in the Fabric (Home Decor) category of November's Celebrate Color!! Woohooo!!!! I am so thrilled about this. A massive thank you to everone who voted for me, I really appreciate it - you can't imagine how chuffed I am! The prize is a full FQ bundle of the gorgeous Echo fabrics. Now, I think this is a little serendipitous as I purchased some cool-tone FQs in the Black Friday sales, but couldn't get anything close to all of the fabrics. Here is my beautiful little bundle so far:

And this is the full bundle:

(image from Stitched in Color)

Aren't they beautiful? Really love the colour tones and prints, I can't wait to have them in my hand. Now, what shall I do with it all?? You will have to wait and see!

I spent a little time this last few days making an angel costume for my little angel (not), for a special Christmas ceremony that her playschool were taking part in. Thank you Hadley for the pillow case inspiration....

 

I made this using an old pillowcase, and some sparkly fabric and ribbon. The wings came from the pound shop, but she insisted on pink trim on them (not being concerned about the gold/pink clash, clearly). I made a halo out of some ribbon, an old hairband and some gold chenille sticks which are a bit like pipe cleaner-y kinda things that I got in the craft store. Nice, right? Not one of my most tasteful makes I think you'll agree, but fulfilling the brief! When I added up the cost of the wings, the ribbon, the half metre of sparkly fabric and the other bits and pieces I really think I should have just gone to Tesco or somewhere and bought her an angel costume. But she was happy, so that's all that counts, in the end. Even if the sparkly fabric did not like the stitching I used and came away before the end of the church ceremony, ooops! Possibly I should have used a ballpoint needle? Oh well, I'll think about it next year.

Then, I woke up this morning to a surprising and fantastic email from AnneMarie over at Gen X Quilters....saying that I had won her giveaway.....for Electric Quilt 7!!!!!! OMG! I have been visiting the EQ website periodically for about 6 months now, trying (and failing) to justify how I could afford to buy this and I still can't believe I won it! I'm so thrilled - thanks AnneMarie, for a great giveaway. I am really, really looking forward to trying out this software and will definitely let you know how I find it :-)

Enough good news? Well, as you probably know, I have a great giveaway running at the moment for some Circa 1934....pop over now and enter if you haven't already. And, next Monday, there's the Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway day. I'm still thinking about this one :-) But I suggest you pop back next Monday.  Happy Christmas to me? Happy Christmas to you!!

Circa 1934 Giveaway sponsored by River Fabrics

A couple of weeks ago, I hit the 1000 follower mark on Google Friend Connect, something that I used to see on other people's blogs and dream about last year. I was thinking about it one evening, reading some of your lovely comments congratulating me and decided that really, as I couldn't do this without all your encouragement, suggestions, good advice and friendship, a little celebration was in order! So, I thought about it some more and reckoned that a fun follower appreciation giveaway was the way to go.

My fave fabric enabler, Janette of River Fabrics, very kindly agreed to sponsor this giveaway - and it is FAB!! Those of you who visit me a lot will know how much I love River Fabrics. I love the huge range of beautiful Konas, the gorgeous Aurifil threads, and the fabulous range of fabrics Janette carries - with lots of great designer names, new ranges like Ruby, Cabbages and Roses, Circa 1934 and lots of precuts - check out these fab layer cakes for example.  I love the brilliant service and most of all the fact that I get fabric into my hand 1-2 days after ordering it! I love it even more now, since they have introduced free UK and ROI postage for orders over £49.

So, what's the giveaway - well, this gorgeous bundle of 6 metric FQs of Circa 1934 - one of the coolest range of fabrics out there at the moment. I just love that typewriter key fabric, and the numbers...in fact, I love all of it!

You get 2 chances to win -

1. Pop over to River Fabrics and have a little look around, then come back here and tell me what your fave fabric/product is in a comment.
2. Either sign up for the River Fabrics newsletter OR like River Fabrics on Facebook and let me know which you are doing - or if you already get the newsletter/like the FB page - in a 2nd comment.

The giveaway runs until Friday 9th December at 9pm Irish time. I will draw the winner using Random number generator and announce over the weekend.

This is a follower appreciation giveaway so you must follow FairyFace Designs through GFC/Reader/FB/Twitter to enter. Giveaway is open internationally. I will delete duplicate entries. Please leave your email address in your comment unless you are sure you have one in your profile - if I cannot contact the winner, I will have to re-draw.