Keep it Covered!

If you're not too bored hearing about my Gifts 'One in One' course starting in November, here is another instalment!

Ipad, mini Ipad and Kindle covers:

Ipad covers

Mini Ipad cover

Kindle Cover

Obviously during the course you will only have 1 night to spend on these, so you will choose one cover to make.  However the pattern provided will give you the measurements for all 3 covers.

I know I'm not alone when looking for any excuse to make a pretty quilted pouch to cover or house something!  So I'm hoping folks will enjoy making these for themselves and others!

Jxo

Peg it!

One of my 'One in One' gifts will be peg bags! 

You may remember I made these deco weight ones from Alice's yummy fabrics.

It took quite a few attempts to get the construction of these just right.

But once you know how to make them, then you can be as creative as you like!!

I think these would make cute gifts at any time of the year!

More on my 'One in One' gifts tomorrow!

Jxo

Tea Anyone?

Firstly let me say 'thank you' to all of you who gave me helpful tips, suggestions and links for my Civil War Quilt dilemma.  I am thoroughly armed now with great information & resources to take this project to the next stage.

I was recently given a gorgeous wee gift by my bloggy friend Karen (Listen to the Birds Sing).

It's a Tea Bag pouch/case to keep in your handbag for those occasions when you're in someone else's house, and offered bog-standard tea!  

With one of these handy pouches, you can be all snobby and whip out your favourite Rooibos or Earl Grey!  (Just for the record I love bog standard tea - the stronger the better!)

I thought one of these would be perfect for my mum.  

It's her birthday next week and she only drinks Earl Grey.  When she visits me, I stick the kettle on - cue mum rifling around the bottom of her handbag looking for a wayward E.G. Teabag!

I thought mum might like a wee Liberty one to match her Boxy Bag:

But because they were so quick to make, I got a bit carried away and made a few more!

Well I guess I have a few extra Christmas pressies sorted!

Keep your eye on Karen's blog for a tutorial on how to make these!

Headless Chicken-itis!

You know what I meant, right?

Always in a rush, so much to do you don't have time to pick your nose! (euuuuh!)

Anyway, the mornings when I'm not teaching is precious sewing time.  I only teach 2 mornings a week, but you can guarantee they're the days the postman arrives with parcels, and instead leaves delightful red cards!

That was yesterday. 2 red cards.

So this morning I had to pick up some fabric, then go to 2 different postal depots to get parcels (one being my daughter's long awaited new mobile phone).  And it wouldn't do for these 3 places to be in close proximity to each other - oh no.

Well I got one of the parcels (see below), drove through the howling wind and rain to the other depot (which was in the back end of beyond), only to be told the delivery guy had it in his van and was delivering it now, while I'm standing in the warehouse!  'NO ONE IS AT HOME' I wanted to scream!  I had specifically rang the depot yesterday and asked them NOT to redeliver it but that I would come pick it up.  

So I hared off in the car, picked up the fabric, broke a few speed limits and got home in time to graciously receive the parcel with a smile on my face and a knife behind my back!  Only joking!  It was a chain-saw!

I did eventually get to my lovely Pfaff today, but first let me show you what was in one of the packages.

Elephants & cupcakes - what could be better!

One of my lovely Flickr friends and fellow Brit Bee member, Terri, made some gorgeous wonky stars for Bee Blessed. Thanks so much Terri for these, they will most certainly be a wonderful addition to a cot quilt top and a blessing to a little one when the quilt is passed on.

Terri also sent me some gorgeous crochet trim from a table cloth, which I am saving for a special project.  Watch this space!

I'm getting ready to bring stock down to my sister's salon next week (check out her fab website), for the start of my handbag sale.  I'm at that place when I think 'why did I ever think this was a good idea'!

Here's another boxy bag I managed to get finished:

And some cosmetics pouches (am hoping to get more of these done!).

Finally, a sneaky peak at a wee something for someone!

I'm off now to make tea and get ready for class tonight.

My friend is coming to stay for the weekend, so I might not be blogging much.

Hope you all have a creative and productive one!

Teachers' Gifts Sorted!

My kids' Primary School teachers always get a handbag from me at the end of the school year (except the year when one of my daughters had a male teacher - before 'man bags' were cool!).

I've only one daughter left in P.S so I could spend a little more time & thought on her wonderful teacher.

I recently saw a tutorial for a cute summer tote bag on Grosgrain.

And here is my version of it:

I added a handy pocket for the wee stuff that always gets lost at the bottom!

This pattern follows the standard rules of bag-making (pocket & snap fastener instructions not included) and was very easy to make.

My daughter loves it and is confident her teacher will love it too!  Phew!

The same daughter has 2 classroom assistants in her class who she doesn't like to leave out.  So they (plus my other daughter's favoured form teacher) are getting mug rugs which I had made a few months back.

All that's needed now are a few yummy biscuits or sweets to go with them and we're sorted!

I'm going great guns with my lounge cushions (once I finally bought the right size cushion fillers - duh!).  Will wait until I've all 6 made before the grand unveiling!!

Here endeth another productive day!

Little Things!

June is definitely a month of gifts and presents.

I have so many I want to make this month, and time is running out!  Eeeeeek!

My chilldren finish school for the summer holidays on 30th June, which means teachers' presents must be made by then (more on that another day!).

My daugher is going to a friend's birthday party soon, so I rustled up this cute pencil case, which will be filled with lots of goodies!

On Sunday, we have Father's Day!  Hubbie got some lovely plants for his hanging baskets, but I thought I'd run him up a fun wee mug rug for his office.

He's from the south coast of England, where beach huts abound!  Well, we can dream!

My friend's mum is also being a complete star and altering some of my clothes (I really must learn how to make & alter clothes!).

You may remember I recently made her a couple of little brooches, so I thought I'd make her a pin cushion & matching basket to put her bits and pieces in.  

Another little brooch for a very stylish lady!

The final 'little thing' today is my donation block to the Tokyo Quilt Festival Partnership Quilts. 

This is a foundation pieced, wonky log cabin block & finishes at 9.5" (perfect for the Partnership Quilts criteria).  

The fabrics are batiks, in strong orange & raspberry and reminded me of the flowers I received for Mother's Day which were called 'Tutti Fruit'.  

Don't you think a quilt made in these colours would be so tropical and fun!

I will post the pdf of this pattern on my blog for anyone else who is interested, just as soon as I figure out how to do that!!

Have a fab Thursday!

Mixing Old and New

This week I was given two very lovely things:

1. The most pungent-ly, gorgeous smelling lilies from my Oasis Class!  I adore fresh flowers - thank you ladies.

2. Some vintage, flowery curtains - aren't they fab!!

I make no apologies for getting excited about such a gift, and the lovely lady who rescued them from being donated to a charity shop, just for me, knew I would be ecstatic to receive them!

I would love to try my hand at making a skirt for myself, and this vintage fabric is spurring me on! 

I don't know why I love recycling fabrics so much, but I thought I'd have another rummage through my stock pile for inspiration for some lounge cushions.

You see, I used to have lots of lovely cushions and throws over my cold, leather sofas - until we got a dog!!!!

Then this happened .....

We make lots of excuses for her because she was a rescue dog, needing lots of training and TLC!  But one by one she nibbled her way through the lot.  My sofas are NAKED!  

But I have a plan!

I have put in a special request for a particular item for my birthday this year (can let you know if I get it or not in a couple of weeks) which will mean soft furnishings and Poppy can co-exist in the lounge. 

So here's my starting point:

Not v.inspiring I hear you cry!  

But I took inspiration from my love of log cabin, previous cushions I've made & this book ....

which has a lovely textured cushion featured.  

I particularly liked the corduroy element, and as I have lots of that gathered up (in the shape of trousers & skirts) that is going to be a common design feature running through the different cushions.

Here's what I've done so far:

Love the vintage-ness of this one.

Will have more to show you soon. 

Anyone want a handmade pressie?

Some of you may have heard of a concept called 'Pay It Forward' via other blogs, or the film a few years ago:

In blogland, this is how it works:

1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and it will arrive when you least expect it.
2. I will have 365 days to do it in. What's the catch? To get a handmade present from me, you have to play too! This means YOU pledge to send a little handmade something to 3 readers of your blog. It doesn't have to be quilty - just handmade.
3. You must have a blog.
4. Once you receive your "little something", you must post about your Pay it Forward on your blog to keep the fun going - be sure to use the Pay It Forward badge.

Well, the lovely Hadley over at Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle decided to do PIF a few months ago, so I signed up. 

However, with the steady shrinkage of my memory cells over the years, I forgot all about it.  Then the equally lovely Susan, Canadian Abroad was talking about it on her blog.  I mentioned I had signed up one time but couldn't remember who with.  So she very kindly suggested that I become her 3rd PIF person!  How could I refuse? 

Then Hadley reminded me of my first committment!  Thanks H!

So the good news is, I now have 6 people to gift to!  Wooohooo! 

So if you fancy a wee something from me, sometime in the next year, & want the opportunity to spread the love, then sign up here (& DON'T FORGET WHO YOU SIGNED UP WITH!!!!!).

Gift Pouches Complete!

Well I got the little purses completed for the 3 lovely sisters who donated clothes to my girls:

I was following the Flossie Teacakes tutorial which featured the covered zip ends.

This was a v.fiddly project and I'm not entirely pleased with the amount of bulk the covered zip ends creates in the top corners (& I only used 1 layer of wadding instead of 2 suggested in the pattern).

However, I was pleased with the finished size of the purses, and with an added wristlet to the design I think they turned out v.cute. 

Let's hope the 3 sisters think so too!