Going Potty!

Thank goodness it's Friday!

I decided to get ahead of the Mother's Day gift making (30th March here in the UK) and make something for mum!  (needing an excuse to deviate from work stuff didn't factor at all.....much!)

I had a mini charm pack of Happy Go Lucky (from FQR last year) and some leftover jelly roll strips, which went perfectly with my stash of coloured bias binding!

These 10" potholders have heat resistant wadding inside, and are backed with non-slip table protector stuff (sorry, don't know the proper name!).

I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and think they'll look great on mum's black marble worktops.



I have a non-work Saturday to look forward to tomorrow, with a night out with the girls! Bliss!

Have a great weekend!

Jude xo

Mothers' Day Cushion

Although I'm not seeing mum til Tuesday, I managed to get her Cathedral Windows cushion finished in time for Mothers' Day today.

Hidden zipper!

This cushion was a struggle from start to finish, and while there are countless imperfections in it, I think mum will really like it!  And that's all that matters to me.

And my own Mother's day has been lovely!  The sun has been shining 'specially, and I got my favourite kind of pressies - homemade ones!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes - yum!

I did get another wee thing, which I'm too embarrassed to blog about right now.  But some of you bright sparks may eventually work out what it was!

Hope you've had a relaxing Sunday!

Thumbs are very useful things!

Aren't thumbs just the best invention ever (apart from the Pfaff sewing machine of course!).

You just don't realise how important they are until you can't use one!

All I'm going to say is that a newly sharpened vegetable knife & a potato conspired against me!

Especially when trying to tackle something as fiddly and annoying as Cathedral Windows!!

Now I know what you're thinking: 'that looks ok ... all those points are meeting up ... can't have been that bad!'  Right?

Wrong!

This is one of only 3 that is meeting up in the way that it should. Here is the full panel of windows, which will now be turned into a rectangular cushion (rather than a square one which required a lot more windows - please no more!)

Please don't look too closely, some of the points are horrifically off!  So, no surprise, the new design will also be involving buttons!

I've still the other half windows to finish and then to magically turn it into a cushion for mum. 

Isn't it fortunate that I've a poorly thumb to blame on my rubbish windows!!!

Hope you've had a knife free day!

Not For The Faint-Hearted!

Mothers Day is fast approaching here in UK (18th March).

I've decided to make my mum a cushion for her recently decorated lounge.

Here is a swatch of her new wallpaper:

The top right flower looks green but it's actually gold!

And here are the fabrics I've chosen:

Kona Ivory, Robert Kaufamann (Double Happiness) & some of my stash.

As I've been wanting to have a go at the machine sewing method of Cathedral Windows for a while (I learnt the hand sewing method at college) I thought I'd make a CW cushion for mum.

Oh boy!

It all came back to me like a disturbing suppressed memory from a trauma long ago!  The endless, tedious folding, ironing, burning fingers, more folding, ironing, trying to mitre and align points!  Who in the name of Henry thought this would be a satisfying and fulfilling patchwork technique?

If it wasn't for the stunning finished look of CW I think I would have reverted to plan B long before now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sewfantastic/4423451388/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theworkroom/4723460560/in/photostream

But I press on (ohhhh sorry about the bad pun!).

8 squares folded & pressed.  8 more to go!

If only I had teflon fingers!