"A Stitch in Time" Book Tour

I could not be more excited and honoured when Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations asked me to participate in her book tour for her new book "A Stitch in Time" published by Tuva Publishing. I have been following Sharon's work for some time now and I am working on a quilt using her Tenderness pattern that I absolutely love and that has a special place in my heart. So I of course said yes because Sharon's work is amazing, inspiring and involves a lot of English Paper Piecing to make you appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of this technique. The book features 18 darling English Paper Pieced projects that combine some embroidery, applique, quilting  and is complemented with delicate tiny details. Bags, mats, pincushions just to name a few.

When the book arrived, I made myself a cup of tea (as usual) hoping to flick through the pages, enjoy the pictures while trying to decide on a project for the tour. Well, that did not last long because less than five minutes later I was in my sewing nook already pulling fabrics for a few projects. Yes, a few because this is how great this book is, I could not settle on just one project. Of course my tea was left to get cold.

The first project that absolutely blew me away, was the Dahlia Candle Mat with its intricate pattern. "A sweet little Candle mat which could also be used under a vase, cake plate or on your dressing table." This pattern is perfect if you would like to challenge yourself and try some kaleidoscope fussy cutting. After playing around with some prints from Tilda Lemon Tree collection, I happily settled on two for my centre. Then I had some trouble picking the prints for the rest of the mat. No matter what I tried, they just did not seem right. So I decided to get some inspirations from real dahlias and went to Google. I stumbled upon this amazing Wizard of Oz dahlia.

The soft shades of pink inspired me enough to pick the rest of the prints for my mat and I could not be happier with the result. I have to be honest with you, I was scared when I realised that this patten had a lot of small shapes and I was debating in my head if I should make something easier and quicker for the tour. But to my surprise, even though it looks complicated, it is very easy and quick to put together and very therapeutic as well. I spent a few pleasant evenings basting the shapes and then sewing them together. It felt like playing puzzles. My heart sang as the Dahlia grew bigger and bigger until it was framed with the coral background.

For the background of the Dahlia the pattern calls for a piece of felt that I did not have, so I decided to use fabric instead and I am very happy with how it turned out. I used the coral red for the top and the cream for the back and I love how the cream back is peaking out here and there.

This is the most complicated English Paper Pattern I have ever done and it was a pure pleasure to work on it. I am so glad that I overcame my fears and kept going because now I can enjoy this beauty on my dining table or bed stand. I used Tilda solids for the first time for this project and I really love the quality of this fabric. It's available from Fabric Pixie Store.

The second project I picked was Vintage Pouch. I used a collection of small Liberty Tana Lawn squares that I won a long time ago in Faith's giveaway. I treasured them for long enough and now they have a new home. Sharon's pattern calls for a piece of vintage doily that I did not have. Well, I have a few, but they are not the ones I can cut. 

After some thinking and looking around, I found a solution. I used a small piece of old fabric that came from pj's that my Mum made for my not so little Boy when he was really little. He asked to make him pink pj's with flowers and so she did. I made a single hexie, it even still has the punched holes from the stitches that I did not want to get rid of, and added stitches around in my favourite dark brown DMC embroidery floss with two tiny kisses. This pouch would be perfect for storing some sewing notions.

My third project was inspired by the Sweet Daisy Baby Quilt. Every time I looked at these sweet daisies, I really wanted to make them. So after some thinking I decided to make a couple of daisies and use them for something different. I made two coasters or mug rugs that are bigger than a usual coaster. If you have been around long enough, you probably know that I love making mug rugs. I used my all time favourite linen from The Remnant Warehouse Store for the background and Liberty Tana Lawn for the daisies.

Of course I could not compete them without some tiny stitches and kisses. These were really fun to make and now I feel like making a whole set with a table runner as well. But I am going to leave it till next year.

Thank you for stopping by! Make sure to check out the #astitchintimeepp hashtag to see all the lovely makes and keep following the book tour.

Happy sewing, Larisa xox 

5th Nov - Sharon Burgess @lilabellelane www.lilabellelanecreations.com
7th Nov – Lou Orth  www.imstudiolou.com
8th Nov – Michelle Hickson @coleandtaffy
9th Nov – Mathew Boudreaux  https://misterdomestic.net/
10th Nov – Lauren Wright www.MollyandMama.com.au
11th Nov – Heidi Grohs  www.buttonsandbutterflies.com
12th Nov – Cathy Ewbank @cathyewbank
15th Nov – Jennie Pickett  www.cloverandviolet.com
17th Nov – Nisha Bouri/Kim Martucci  www.brimfieldawakening.com
18th Nov – Martina  www.avaandneve.com.au
19th Nov – Minki Kim  www.minkikim.com
20th Nov – Sedef Imer  www.downgrapevinelane.com
21st Nov – Ali Phillips  www.arabesque-scissors.com
22nd Nov – Karen Tripp  www.thediyaddict.com
23rd Nov – Sarai Schuk @sarai_hobbies
24th Nov – Larisa Shurupov  www.stitchingnotes.com
25th Nov – Wendy Welsh  www.wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com
26th Nov – Laura Piland www.sliceofpiquilts.com
27th Nov – Alexandra Luenz @alexouq
28th Nov – Nadra Ridgeway  www.ellisandhiggs.com
29th Nov – Elise Baek  www.eliseandemelie.wordpress.com
30th Nov – Kitty Wilkin  www.nightquilter.com
1st Dec – Andy Knowlton www.abrightcorner.com/
2nd Dec – Stacey Day  www.staceyinstitches.com
3rd Dec – Anorina Morris  www.sameliasmum.com
4th Dec -Paper Pieces  www.paperpieces.com
5th Dec – Ange Hamilton www.alittlepatchwork.wordpress.com