Congratulations Kim L!!
Kim wrote “love lives here would be my choice! It’s adorable, thank you for the chance to win one!” Your free pattern is on it’s way to you Kim ♥♥♥
Happy stitching!Natalie xx
Hello again!
I’m back after my summer blogging break and I have been working on some new patterns that I’m super excited about.
I also joined the wonderful quilting community on Instagram – if you haven’t tried Instagram yet, I recommend it wholeheartedly! There are so many lovely and talented quilters on there who freely share their ideas and advice – I find it such an inspiring place to be! My username is @sewingroomsecrets if you want to follow along , I’d love to connect with you there!
It was on Instagram that I first came across the idea of a ‘mini wall’. Let me explain – a ‘mini wall’ is a dedicated wall where you showcase all your mini quilts! You simply display all your minis in a mosaic fashion to make a feature wall. And me, being a sucker for all things small and cute, I was hooked straight away 🙂 (Click here for an awesome example of a mini wall by the very talented Camille Roskelley – couldn’t you just die!)
I’ve had the most fun designing a trio of whimsical style minis and am super excited to share two of them with you today (number three is coming soon!).
First up is this little mini entitled ‘Love Lives Here’.
This one was inspired by a little block I made for a charity quilt. I had so much fun with this wee project and love how it turned out! And judging by your feedback on Instagram and Facebook you guys love it too! Thank you so much!
Finishing up at around 20.5″ square, the pattern uses easy raw edged applique techniques and a simple patchwork border to create this sweet little quilt.
Next up is ‘Woof!’
Now as minis go, this one is definitely on the larger side (22″ x 27″), but still cute! See that little pup in the top right ? … he’s the cheeky one! 🙂
Raw edged applique is used on this one too, along with a few basic embroidery stitches, making ‘Woof’ and ‘Love Lives Here’ suitable projects for even a relative beginner.
And guess what? I’m planning a ‘mini wall’ in my sewing room – won’t that be fun! I think this may be the start of a ‘mini adventure’! I’ll be sharing pictures of all the minis I make in future posts and would love to hear what you think as my mini wall evolves! I’m hoping to include some ‘pieced’ minis (all patchwork) as well as the whimsical style ones I’ve been working on. I’ll be utilising my own patterns as well as minis from some of my favourite designers, so there should be a good mix.
Well now, how about a mini-giveaway? I’m going to give-away a mini quilt pattern to one lucky reader on each of my Instagram and Facebook pages, as well as here on the blog. That’s 3 chances to win!
For a blog entry, simply leave me a comment telling me which pattern you would like to win i.e. ‘Woof! or ‘Love Lives Here’. Then pop over to Facebook and Instagram to enter there too if you like! The giveaway is only open until tomorrow evening (that’s Monday, 7th September) at 6pm (GMT), so you need to be quick! I’ll pick a winner tomorrow night, but if you don’t want to wait until the giveaway ends you can grab your copy from my ETSY shop now.
Good luck and happy stitching!
Natalie xx
P.S. have you made any minis yet? Leave me a link in the comments and I’ll pop over for a peak! 🙂
… I began my adventures in blogland with a very nervous first post from my sewing room.
To tell you the truth, I was not at all convinced that anyone would be the slightest bit interested in my ‘wee bits o’ nonsense’ (aka sewing projects). But I was amazed how quickly I was made to feel welcome in the blogging community with lovely comments and words of encouragement. Bloglanders are such a friendly bunch 🙂
Looking back over my blog I realize that I have created a colourful little journal of my life in stitches! I didn’t think about that aspect of blogging when I started out, so it’s an unexpected and happy bonus!
One year on and I would like to thank you all for reading my words, looking at my pictures, checking out my tutorials and for all your wonderful encouragement and amazingly generous comments! I can’t tell you how much you brighten my day by taking time out of your busy lives to share your thoughts with me! It is particularly heart warming when someone tells me that they have been inspired by something they have seen on my blog! And I have to pinch myself when I see a Sewing Room Secrets project on Pinterest! That still freaks me out every time! (in a good way!!)
I have picked out 12 of my favourite makes and posts from the past 12 months and hope you will humour me as I take a little trip down memory lane…
‘Morning Star’ … a journey of a thousand stitches
Thank you for your company this past year … having you along for the journey has really been a blessing ♥
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*Edited: I will be taking a step back from blogging for a while, as I will not be able to devote as much time to it in the coming months, due to other demands in my life right now. I will still be ‘around’, working on my Love Entwined quilt and drafting several new patterns for my Etsy shop, but unfortunately blogging will have to take a back seat for now. I will try to pop back from time to time with updates when I can, but for now I bid you all a fond farewell and happy stitching! Love & hugs, Natalie xx
Thank you to all who entered the giveaway and for all of your lovely comments. I gathered all of the entries on Facebook and here on the blog, and I plopped them all onto a spreadsheet with an allocated number for each entry.
Then, in his usual helpful manner, Mr Random.org drew the winner …
and the winner is …
Kathleen Robertson … it’s you! Yay! Congratulations!!
Kathleen, please can you email me at sewingroomsecrets@gmail.com with your address so that I can send your prize to you.
Thanks again for all your entries, comments and shares ♥.
Happy weekending everyone 🙂
Natalie x
I promised you something a little bit lovely as a giveaway prize and I hope this wee offering fulfills that promise.
You wouldn’t believe it, but I have completely trashed my sewing room putting together that wee bit o’ nonsense. My husband entered my sewing room during my “creative phase” and gave me *that* look. You know the one; complete disbelief mixed with a slight suspicion of some kind of hidden mental illness. Mania perhaps?
“Do you really need to empty all this stuff on to the floor every time?” and “How can you find anything in all this mess?” was what he said, or words to that effect. He was genuinely perplexed, bless him.
Good questions.
Why do I do that? Every time.
Almost every other creative person I know does the same. You get a whiff of an idea and every piece of fabric, thread, button, lace, ribbon, felt etc that you own gets pulled out and examined for worthiness of inclusion in your current project. You can lose track of all earthly time and find yourself still in your jim-jams and furry slippers at 2.30 in the afternoon. Shocking!
I had gone into Hobbycraft last week looking for something or other (can’t remember what?) and I came out, not with the thing I went in for, but with some beautiful Tilda fabric.
Sound like a familiar story? Are you kidding me, I know you guys do that kinda thing too 🙂
After much fabric stroking and fretting over the actual cutting up of such a thing of beauty, I finally convinced myself that it was the right thing to do. After all, it’s what the fabric would have wanted, right?
And with my Facebook page reaching a wee personal milestone of 2000 followers (I know! can you catch your breath!), I thought it timely to host a little giveaway to say ‘thanks’ for keeping me company all this time ♥
So, here it is … a pretty wee pouch for one lucky reader. Well worth getting my sewing room all messed up for 🙂
The pouch is padded with cotton wadding for extra softness. A wee bit of lace and a few other carefully chosen embellishments help to create a delicate, feminine look that I just love!
The little suffolk puff has a brooch pin sewn on to the back of it, which allows you to detach it from the pouch, so you can pin it on to something else if you like. Nifty!
And whilst I was on a roll, I made a wee lavender sachet to match which I’ll include in the prize
For a chance to win, here’s all you need to do:
That’s it! The giveaway is open until 24th October 2013 at midnight, GMT, after which time a winner will be picked at random from all entries here and on Facebook. The winner will be announced on Friday 25th October 2013.
Good luck everyone and thank you for entering!
Natalie x
Edit: This giveaway is now closed, but you can purchase the pattern for the little zippered purse featured in this giveaway here.
Just gathering together a few wee whispers of inspiration and planning to stitch up something a little bit lovely for a giveaway coming soon … ♥
… if I can bear to take my scissors to this gorgeous Tilda fabric!
Natalie x
Oh yes! These Irish eyes are smilin’ …. and the reason for my smiliness is this sweet wee linen pouch which I won in a giveaway hosted by my bloggy friend Irina over at El Petit Taller.
This gorgeous pouch has been lovingly made by the talented Margarita of Linen Artisan, who shares my love of linen. Margarita has a whole Etsy shop stuffed full to the brim with amazing hand stitched linen goodies – there are so many beautiful things to choose from in her shop.
It was beautifully wrapped too – such a personal touch, thank you Margarita!
And the pouch even has my initial stitched on the front. I really like the little embroidered trim too.
Thank you Margarita, I will treasure it ♥
Natalie x
And the winner is ……….
It’s you, Lindsay! Congratulations and thank you for your entry! You commented that you are a night owl and I am right with you there! I don’t do mornings either 🙂
Lindsay blogs over at PA Country Crafts where she shares her love of sewing, crafts, recipes, tutorials, and a peek at her life in the country raising six children. Why not pop over and see what she’s been up to lately?
I had so much fun with this giveaway! It was my first one and I will certainly be doing some more in the future. It was a hoot reading all of your comments – interestingly, it would seem there is a fairly even split between the night owls and the early risers!
The level of interest in my wee pouch took me completely by surprise, with over 300 entries received in just 3 days! So, thank you to all who took part and a big ‘hello’ to all those of you who now follow Sewing Room Secrets on Facebook, Bloglovin or any other means.
Next up …….. I have signed up to a Textile Artist Trading Card Swap over at Very Berry Handmade and I am so excited to share my progress with you! I’m sworn to secrecy as to the identity of my swap partner, but I will be posting pictures of the trading card I am making in my next post. Until then, happy stitching everyone!
OK, so here’s the thing – I’ve just got wind that there is a mahoosive giveaway taking place over at Sew Mama Sew (yes, I know, I’m probably the last to know *hangs head in shame*). Anyways, I’ve decided to join the party, albeit a little late!
I’m going to give away my ‘Wee Sheeps’ pouch that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.
All you need to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment below in answer to this really tricky question:
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
For a second chance to win (optional), follow ‘Sewing Room Secrets’ on Facebook or Bloglovin (or both!) and leave a second comment below telling me which way you are following.
That’s it! The giveaway is only open until 10th May 2013 at midnight, GMT so get your entries in quick and spread the word if you can (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc), so others can enter too. I will announce the winner on 11th May. Oh, and don’t forget to visit Sew Mama Sew for loads more chances to enter the other fantastic giveaways.
Good luck everyone and thank you for entering!
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