Brrrrrrrrrr!

Temperatures have taken a tumble here, with log fires and cosy quilts becoming more and more alluring!

Or how about a hot water bottle!

Wet and stormy days make great sewing days, so why not rustle up some comforting hot water bottle covers?

I'm sure you know by now that I can't resist a little patchwork porthole!! 

And a great way to use up those smaller scraps (that just seem to multiply when my back is turned!).

If you fancy making your own hot water bottle cover (fits standard size hot water bottles) then pick up the November issue of Popular Patchwork! (If you are local to me and have difficulty finding PP in the shops, email me for a list of retailers who stock it).

Stay warm!

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Jude xo

FQR 2012 - The Makes

In a moment I will show you what I made at FQR.

But before I even got there, I was making things for the retreat.  You may remember a few rather annoying sneek peaks, so now I can reveal all!

I didn't sign up for the sample swap that many others did, so instead I wanted to make something for each of my Brit Bee gals - a wee token to remember our time together.

Firstly I made everyone a keyring:

And then little coin purses, to put the keyring into, along with some moo cards and chocolate!

I forgot to take a picture of the Union Flag fabric I bought specially to line these wee pouches!

And finally, I set my daughter to work making her bespoke fimo charms, personalised for each member.

L-R: Susan (sushi), Hadley (owls), Fiona (dog & bone),  Jo (hedgehog & cupcake), Sarah (zombie & slice of cake), Terri (bakewell tart with cherry & cupcake), Jennie (bunny & doughnut), Ceri (gingerbread man & cupcake), Trudi (birds), LJ (Lollipop & rainbow), Judith (lemon & Irish cupcake)

I also made a set for Katy (our new member) but forgot to take pics, sorry.  Katy makes the most wonderful teddy bears, so her fimo charms were a teddy bear and a russion doll.

So onto the workshops at retreat.

I took Portholes on Saturday morning with Lucie Summers (creator of Summersville).

Lucie showing the other shapes you can make using the portholes technique.  Her famous Portholes quilt can be seen here.

This was a great technique, and a really fun class with Lucie! 

My portholes aren't as round as they should be, but for someone who doesn't usually enjoy sewing curves I can definitely see more of this technique in my future!

On Saturday afternoon, I took Framed Purses with Katy Jones.

Katy is waaaaay too cool for school!  Just as well with the amount of glue and mess I was getting into with my framed purse!

This is far from perfect, and if I was rushing to do another one, I would do things differently. 

The framed purse I bought had much bigger knobs than anyone else (careful!) which proved to be a hindrance because they are so heavy.

But it was fun being there with Ceri and Susan (who was turning the air blue with each application of glue!).

I'll leave you with a celebrity name dropping mosaic (you'll be pleased to hear I managed to hold it together!).

L-R: Lynne with Judith and Trudi, John (on stage), Katy, Lucie

Thank you FQ team for an amazing weekend.