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It's been another beautiful day here today! 

Though the Indian summer doesn't seem to quite fit what I made today!

Mugrugs!

A few more samples for upcoming classes!  (I promise I won't mention the 'C' word!)

And how about entering a wee fabric giveaway here?  Just decide which Fabric Yard fabric you like best, and you could be 1 of 5 winners chosen to win 1m all to yourself!

But be warned!  It won't be easy to choose just 1 from all the gorgeous fabrics!

(Please note that leaving a comment here does not enter you for the giveaway.  You must complete the Fabric Yard entry form on the linked website.)

Happy Wednesday!

Jude xo

Cutting Crazy!

I don't seem to be able to stop myself from cutting into fabric at the moment. I've barely finished cutting up one layer cake, and I've hacked into another, or a fat quarter bundle (or 2!). 

I'm clearly needing to indulge the flow of ideas and creativity that are buzzing about in my head like some kind of deranged bumble bee!!

Problem is, I'm not getting much sewing done, just creating more and more piles of WIPs!! Oh dear!

And the only sewing done today, was half an hour of EPP in the Hospital coffee shop!

My daughter was having her legs scanned at half hour, and hourly intervals all morning!  Fun (not!!).

Lying perfectly still for 30 minutes at a time for my 'active' one was her biggest challenge. At least she got a day off school!

But I can show you something I made last week.

hand printed 'peek a boo' flower by Ceri

 Last night started my 2 week mugrug class, and this is one of the examples!

Can't wait to show you the brilliant mugrugs that are being made!

Happy Tuesday!

Jude xo

A day for Tea & Shortbread!

It's absolutely minging outside today!  It's so dark I haven't been able to switch the lights off yet (it's nearly 1pm!).

But I've the house to myself until 4pm so I'm a happy bunny. 

I've had loads of admin and teaching notes to do today, so not much sewing done, but I did get a few more Christmas presents finished last night.

I made another mugrug/hostess box set, which I'll show the class on Thursday night, but I'm thinking this one would be great for my mum.  

My vision for turning this into a present is to get some clear wrap and that fancy twirly ribbon stuff (you know what I mean!) and wrap up some delicious fudge or peppermint creams and set them into the box.  

Alternatively, if I see a nice mug that will go with these fabrics, I might put the fancy wrapped sweets into the mug and make it a full on gift set.

Does anyone know if Ikea sells the clear wrap?

Another finish were these cosy mittens:

These are a stocking filler for daughter no. 2.  That just leaves daugher no. 1 to make these for (daughter no. 3 mittens here), and she has already picked out her yarn so I'd better get cracking!

Some of you previously got the pattern for these from me, but I have to say that after crocheting it up several times, (before unravelling and resizing) I don't think there's any need to increase on the thumb joint half as much as it says in the pattern (except maybe for those of you who've already confessed to having shovel hands!!). I made one round of increase which is more than enough for small/standard sized hands.

And finally, another votive/tea light cover:

This one will probably be heading over to England (but without the glass jam jar inside!!).

So, the admin is all done, time for a quick lunch, before heading up to the sewing room for more present making!

Have a good 'un!

Judith xo

'I believe the children are our future ...'

In the true spirit of Witney, and like a good wee mummy, I spent a day with my daughter & her friend teaching them how to sew mugrugs!

The big girls were back to school but my youngest had an extra day off on Monday. So we arranged for her friend to come round, who also enjoys sewing.

They got straight to work!

It's a hard life barking at builders all day!

And with the builders banging, the dog barking, and the electricity going off half way through, the girls triumphed with 2 crazy patchwork mugrugs, while I nursed my very last shredded nerve!!

My daugher on the left, friend on the right & Abe Lincoln's nose in the background!

And in the words of another well known celeb.. "Didn't they do well?"

Judith xo

Christmas Gifts - Part 1

Details of my Celebration Giveaway can be found here.  Giveaway closes Monday 17th October.

There's something about Christmas time that brings out the excited inner child in us all.  

For me, I love the smells of Christmas, spicy cinnamon & orange candles, fresh pines from the tree, home baked mince pies and shortbread. Mmmmm!

So it's time for me to get ready for my Christmas classes! Folks who come along to class have already been asking me with excited anticipation 'what will we be making?'.

I have scheduled in 3 weeks this year for making Christmas Gifts.  These will be small items that are quick to make and can be varied and adapted to suit the intended recipient.  

I like to give my class a choice of what they can make, so this week I'll share with you some of the ideas I'll be teaching.

First up, a different kind of mugrug:

Last year I came across this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew for the Hostess Box.  I asked permission from the designer Jennifer Casa & Sew Mama Sew to adapt the pattern and teach it in class.  Permission was v.kindly granted and so I got to work downsizing the pattern to come up with this mini hostess box.

The box is held in place with velcro, but these wee boxes could easily be makes in themselves, filled with yummy sweets (I particularly like fudge!) and given to teachers as end of term pressies.

And the mugrug could be any design you like.  

I think kids would love these too filled with their favourite sweeties! Jxo

So there you have it!  My Christmas Gifts part 1.  Tune in tomorrow for part 2!

Have a great Wednesday!

Judith xo

A Glorious Day!

The sunshine does my soul good!

It's been another glorious day here, sunny, breezy at times, and even warm!

In our house today there has been cooking, cleaning, baking, sewing & gardening - and it's still the afternoon!

Here's what I got done today:

I got the back finished for my Across the Sea QAL cot quilt.  I wanted to keep a wee bit of white around the crosses so they wouldn't completely disappear into the solid blue.  Although if I was doing the bordered cross again, I would have those outer white tips blue!

Can anyone tell me why the back is so much bigger than the front?  I know that Nicky found this the case too!  Are we Numpty's Utd, or is there a logical reason?

My youngest daughter (10) loves to sew and is a natural on the sewing machine.  

Under my supervision, she made this mugrug for herself, choose all the fabrics from my scraps, pieced it, & quilted it with a variegated thread, having lots of fun using Mr Pfaff's more decorative side!

The cupcakes were made today by my eldest daughter!

And I can now reveal who one of my Small Goodie Swap partners was, cos she opened her parcel from me today!

Do you remember these?

Jan (Isisjem) got her parcel during the week and her mum hid it from her until opening day today! The blue handbag in the middle is based on Jan's 241 tote bag that she made recently.

Hop on over to the flickr group to see the full package that Jan received (my daughter made her a cupcake pin topper which was v.cute!).

Well that's all for now!

I hope you are having a great weekend, wherever you are!

Ooops!  Almost forgot to tell you that my Glorious Day today started with an email from Cindy telling me I'd won a Saffron Craig $25 voucher as part of Cindy's Start Your Own Series.  Thanks Cindy!  

If you've ever thought about starting up a wee business, check out Cindy's guest blogger interviews - v.informative.  


Bye for now!

Revealing Mugrug No.2

If you are visiting to enter the River Fabrics Giveaway, please see here for details.  Giveaway closes Friday 9th September.

Ok Goodies Swap Partner no. 2 - here is your mugrug:

I can't show the back of this mugrug because that will most definitely reveal its soon to be owner!

All I need to work on now is a small goodie to travel with these handbags!

Hope you like it partner!

One Finished Goodie!

Well instead of Bank Holiday Monday, yesterday turned out to be Mugrug Monday!

I got this goodie finished for one of my swap partners in the Small Goodies Swap.

The design is based on Lily's Quilts Little Big George, and while I don't like sewing curves, I'm really pleased how flat this turned out.

There is a reason why the mugrug is fan shaped, but to explain it would giveaway too much about the recipient!

I also made a brooch, but not sure yet which of my partners is going to get it!

So what do you think partner?  Like any of these?

Mugrug Fun!

I love mugrugs!

They are really just mini quilts, an excuse to get down and creative on a small scale.  But they make great wee gifts too.

I recently made this one for my friend Sarah, whose birthday I missed!

Sarah recently encouraged me to try out some new/modern hexie designs that have been floating around the Hex-a-long flickr group.  I was delighted with how this one turned out (check out a great tutorial for this hexagon here).

If you are wondering 'why the monkey face?' it's not because Sarah has a particular fettish for them (at least I don't think so!), but this is her profile icon for her fab blog and flickr page.  

If you've never visited Sarah's blog - check it out!  Sarah has an amazing ability to make even sewing disasters sound funny!  She's a very talented quilter, writer, Brit Bee member & friend.

You may remember I signed up to the Small Goodies Swap being hosted by Fluffy Sheep.  This involves making a mugrug & small goodie for 2 people.

We've all now been assigned our partners - I'm really pleased with who I've got but I'm sworn to secrecy.  All will be revealed at the end of September.

Suffice to say, I have already started on one of the mugrugs ....

....and have some ideas on what small goodies to make too.

All will be revealed in time!

Enjoy your bank holiday Monday, Brits.