1st Farmers Wife

One of the main reasons I started learning to quilt this year, was because of the farmers wife quilt along. I was so inspired by all the amazing blocks I was seeing on the blogosphere - I thought I had to have some of that myself! 

I loved the idea of doing a sampler quilt, it really appealed to me to have such a mix of blocks and colours in one quilt :) I'm planning on completing two blocks a week as the quilt-a-long suggests - here's hoping!

So these are my first two blocks! #34 Flock was my vert first to complete. I thought this would be a nice simple one to ease myself in. I then got wayyy to ahead of myself and had a go at #27 Darting Birds, which as you can see, was a little out of my depth!! haha I am a beginner though :) I used my very, very precious PamkittyMorning fabrics from my lovely blog friend Melissa, which I had been saving for a special project and I think this fits the bill ;) Are you all joining in the farmers wife fun? Jessie, xo

WIP: Granny Square Blocks

I've worked on quite a few more granny square blocks since my last post about these. I was dying to cut into my new fabrics, so I wasted no time in sewing them up. Look at my stack now! :) wooh it will be my first lap-sized quilt, so excited!!

I think this pink and red one is my favourite so far, I just looooove these fabrics together. So 16 down, 4 more to go! ;) how are your granny sqaures coming along? Jessie, xo

Craft Room Idea: Wall Storage

Hello friends! I had an idea recently to utilise some of the wall space above my desk, so this is what I came up with! I used to keep my tools and pens in a couple of pots on the desk but I've found recently I'm needing more and more space for cutting so this seemed like a logical idea for me. 

I used acrylic bathroom containers from Muji, you can find them here, adhesive velcro and 'No More Nails' or any strong glue. To make: cut two strips of velcro per container. Next, lay the opposite sides of the velcro to stick to the container and add a couple dots of strong glue, fix in position on your wall and your done! See, I told you it was simple :) I plan to share more crafty storage tips with you soon, so be sure to check back. Hope you all had a fun weekend. Jessie, xo

Happy Mail Days

If you follow me on Instagram (@messyjesse1) you will know that I've had some happy mail recently...

... all the way from Japan! I just love receiving little packages in the post, and the happiest ones seem to come from Japan. I spyed those gorgeous square dot fabrics over in lovely Ayumi's shop recently, and after a few email exchanges we thought we would arrange a fun little fabric swap :) she's just the sweetest, just look at those yummy goodies she sent me! So if you haven't been to her shop before - check it out, it's amazing! Thank you so much Ayumi, I hope yours arrives safely to you soon :D The other delightful goodies came from the etsy shop BonsaiBlossom, they were having a 50% off opening sale, so I found myself making a snappy impulse purchase! :O I got a couple half yard cuts of some lecien and kokka prints, and some really pretty trim that I couldn't pass up. It came wrapped in the cutest gift bag I have ever seen!! I need to get some immediately :)

I found these little gems on Ebay of all places, a nice seller was auctioning off some of her 30's reproduction fabric. I'm slowly building up a nice collection now :) and I'm actually waiting on another fabric swap from another bloggy friend of mine over in Germany, she's got some 30's repro's for me too, I just can't get enough of them! ;) What have you been buying/swapping lately? Not that I need any more temptations! Jessie, xo

Simple Envelope Cushion Cover Tutorial

I love making cushion covers (or pillow cases) whichever you may call them? They are such a fun and inexpensive way to add some colour to our homes. I sewed up a couple of sweet pillows to match our curtains recently, and took a few photos of the process to share a very simple tutorial with you all. So let's dive right in!

1. Cut: one 18.5" x 18.5" piece (the front panel), and two piece's 18.5" x 14" (the side panels) of your chosen fabric.

2. Fold a 1" edge over on the two smaller pieces of fabric, press.

3. Fold this edge over again by 1", to enclose the raw edges and press.

5. Then sew very close to the edge of this seam, removing pins as you go.

6. Next, sew along the other edge very close to the edge. Repeat this step for the other side panel.

7. Lay your front panel right side up, next lay both side panels on top so they are overlap. Pin in place.

8. Sew all the way around your pillow, with a 1/4" seam allowance. I like to do quite a few reverse stitches where the side panels overlap (so when you yank the insert in and out it stays nice and strong!) Trim the corners to reduce bulk. I also like to finish off mine with a neat, zig zag stitch along the raw edge to neaten it up a bit :) Flip inside out and voila, you're done!

I hope you enjoyed this! Any questions feel free to ask me :) Hope you all had a fun weekend! Jessie, xo

Paper Peiced Hexagons

Another big trend I've been noticing on the crafty blogosphere lately is hexagon paper piecing, naturally I had to give it go myself and find out what the fuss was all about. So I bought a bunch of 3" paper hexagons - because I'm too lazy to cut them myself! (I got mine on eBay) and started cutting into some pretty yellow and pink fabrics from my stash. I'm scheming something fun for these little shapes, but you'll have to wait until I've finished to see what they will end up as ;)

I can see why it's such a popular activity, not only can you do it anywhere, (you don't have to be chained to the sewing machine, in other words!) it's super easy, and gives you amazing results for not much work? it's also incredibly addictive! Right, I'm off to do some more, just looking at these pictures has got me itching to pick up my needle and thread again :) 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I've got a tutorial to share with you next week, and a fun organisation idea for your sewing room! be sure to check back :D Jessie, xo