The Big Day!

Tomorrow is our Big Day!

The church is all set up with reams and reams of gorgeous bunting, wall to wall displays of quilts and lots more, and our very own 'Team Rooms' at the back with our craft, fabric and cake stalls.

I had an army of amazing men and women helping me make this all possible!  What a team effort!  I hope to have lots of pictures after the weekend to show you.

I managed to get a few wee items made to sell on the craft table, but not as much as I would have liked.

I particularly like the pinnies, made from the sample pack in the FQR goodies bag!

The other ladies have made lots of wonderful contributions too.  The table looks amazing!  Let's hope they all sell and we can raise lots of money for Bee Blessed and Oasis.

Have a great Saturday!

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!

Practise Pouches

I've been experimenting with gift ideas that my classes can make in the run up to Christmas.

Pouches make great gifts, and can be made in various sizes and styles.

So far I've made 2 sizes, thinking that the smaller one would house a packet of tissues to keep in a handbag.  However, it's still a bit on the big side. I'm after a really snug fit so I will adjust the measurements and have another go.

My daughter has her eye on the larger one for her DS!  I thought it would make a great Kindle case or travel sewing pouch.

These pouches don't have zips, which makes them manageable for all ability levels.  

They can be decorated in a variety of ways (I sketched applique the hearts on, but they could easily be hand sewn on) and are multi-functional, which means you can tailor them to suit a particular use/person.

I also ran up a trivet with the off-cut ends from a Central Park (Kate Spain) Jelly Roll.

This trivet has heat resistant wadding inside (Insul Brite), which makes it perfect for taking a hot pan/dish on the table.  

I machine sewed the binding on, instead of hand sewing it over, which made it much quicker, but you definitely need accuracy and patience for this method to still look good from the back.

I've more ideas for dressing a table, but haven't had the time to develop them (I suppose if I just didn't sleep then I'd have another 8 hours to play with!).

Before I go, if any of you reading this are bloggers from Ireland (North or South) then you are most welcome to join this flickr group, share ideas and maybe even get involved in a quilting retreat next year! 

Hope you are having a great week, whatever you're up to!