Designer Fabric Bunting Quilt.

I have wanted to get my hands on some of the new Designer Fabrics since I first saw the Spice Cake Fabrics in the Spring Catalogue. Next to paper crafts, sewing has been one of my longest and greatest passions. I love the colours and designs on the Stampin' Up! Designer Papers so to be able to get those same designs and colours in fabrics was an exciting proposition indeed and what better excuse then the impending arrival of a sweet little one to our family. My SIL isn't due to pop until late December but that is a busy time in anyone's life, let alone a Crafter who is usually flat out through the whole month of December, gluing, cutting, and sewing for all she's worth! So I got in early to avoid the rush and ordered myself 3 sets of Designer Fabric from the new Catalogue : Comfort Cafe, Summer Smooches, and Twitterpated. I cut them into 8" squares and sewed them all together, this left me with enough fabric to a couple of other projects and to cut out this for the back:

There are some really gorgeous bunting inspired quilts out there on the Internet at the moment and I thought this would be a lovely way to dress up the back of the quilt, using my Pennant Parade Bigz Die made cutting out all those flags a doddle:)

My SIL is a mad Disney fan so to make the bunting a little more special I (gulp) cut into my precious Munki Munki / Heather Ross Stash to add a few little characters, Alice in wonderland, Pinocchio, Snow white, they mixed in so beautifully with the other fabrics, I finished the quilt off with a Kona Solid in Grey (?) not sure which one, for the binding. The colours all work together so well for a gorgeous serene palette. I LOVE it, I hope it will keep the sweet little one it's intended for, warm, for years to come.

Little by Little.

I had seen divided page protectors for sale in a craft shop and had fancied trying them, so when I saw them make an appearance in the new Stampin' Up! Catalogue I had to order a set and give them a go. What appeals to me is that sometimes a whole 12" x 12" page can seem overwhelming, and a lot of space to fill all at once, with these you can work on a little section at a time, the whole page can link up or each section can have it's own little theme, trying out a new stamp set in one, some punch art in another, maybe a section dedicated to journaling and telling the story. While I don't think this page flows very fluently, I had a lot of fun making it, playing with each little rectangle. I can't wait to try my hands at the different combinations that are in the pack. 

 

You may also have noticed that the albums are now Ring Albums instead of Post Albums. This was a change that I was delighted about, while there seems to be more variety here in the UK when it comes to Post Albums, I prefer the Ring style because it makes accessing your pages so much easier. You just turn to the page you want and pop the rings open. The amount of time I have wasted trying to reorganise my pages or add one in, unscrewing the posts, pages slipping everywhere! If you haven't tried Ring Albums before, give these a try you will not be disappointed, they are excellent quality, really sturdy, and come in two sophisticated neutrals. I went for the Crumb Cake 12"x12" but am sure that an Early Espresso 8"x8" Album will be sneaking into my collection fairly soon.