Play it Again, Sam!

My daughter's flute comes in a hard case, with no handles or straps, which can make its journey to & through school accident prone eventful!

So before 2011 closed its eyes for good, I got this WIP finished:

Bethany really wanted a shoulder strap for transporting this to school, so I added some D-rings on each end, and sewed in a custom made strap.

Being someone who likes to recycle things, I had a red belt (from somewhere) that I thought would make good handles.  However they didn't say the nicest things on them ............

......... and Bethany agreed that they were unsuitable for an angelic 10 year old to have on her lovely new flute case!

Now that she has given the finished case her seal of approval (bless her she was so chuffed with it, teary eye!) she can't wait to show her music teacher in the new year, but I've warned her that the tune on the front is completely random, so he needn't bother trying to work it out!

I'm afraid I don't know my crotchets from my quavers!

Crisp, anyone?

Slowly But Surely!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas weekend!  

Mine was quiet, and although I'm struggling a bit with a yucky cold, it's been lovely chilling out with family, and living a slow pace through the day.

I haven't felt much like sewing, but my hands are too fidgety to remain motionless for long, so there's been a little bit of crochet.

More headbands

Lots of circles, which are meant to become squares for a cushion cover.

And I'll leave you with a sneak peak of a W.I.P. for my youngest!

Have a lovely day!

Judith xo

Doll Quilts & Ramblings!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days.

It's not that I haven't been making stuff, just too busy to get photographing and writing!

This is my busiest season of the year.  I'm frantically churning out class samples for Christmas classes and also trying to get next terms programme of classes sorted and samples made for those too!

But this weekend was all about fun, friends and playtime!

Saturday I had a lovely afternoon out with my special friend, Sarah.  We don't often get to spend quality time on our own, and we can easily spend 5 hours talking solely about fabric & quilts!!  We visited a local (ish) store called The Craftswoman, which is an Aladin's cave of all things fabric related, then had lunch, then stopped off at another fabric shop before heading for home.  The perfect day!

Most of my purchases were for other people, but I did get some extra wide, medium weight calico at a bargain price! (sad what gets me excited!)

Yesterday I was intent on playing with an idea that was formulating in my dusty old brain!

I recently saw these on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22833158%40N05/3984143785/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22833158%40N05/3952226512/in/photostream

... and thought I could make some doll quilts for my 2 small nieces along a similar idea.

So in my usual organic (aka 'make it up as I go along') style, I came up with these:

My youngest particular likes these wellies - she's a bit of a wellie addict!

With hindsight, there are a few things I would do differently next time i.e. use a heavier weight linen or calico rather than this stuff which was too thin.

But on the whole I'm pleased with them and enjoyed making them.

The matching pillows

So, apart from getting these ready to post to England, I can tick 2 Christmas pressies off my gigantic list!

Hope you all had a great weekend and a good start to the new week.

Judith xo

Going Bananas!

This is what my sewing room looks like right now (8.25pm)!

What a shocker!

After finishing up yet another handbag this morning (can't show you pics yet), I needed an injection of creative fun, and this is what it looks like after several hours!  

Mess, mess, mess! You should see the floor - I get so into 'The Zone', I no longer even try to aim all those thread & fabric ends into the bin, they get absent mindedly dropped onto the floor!

I'm beginning to think that sewing brings out one's alter-ego, 'cos in real life I'm a tidy freak (I know, you'd never know it looking at that horror!).

Still, I had fun, and if untidyness is the price to pay, then it was well worth it.

I've discovered 2 things about myself lately.  

1. That despite falling in love with fabric all over again because of these wonderful new designers, prints, fabrics and colours that abound, I can still return to my first love, recycled fabrics, with the same amount of zeal and passion. 

I don't know why I get such a kick out of reusing clothes that are now too small or out of fashion, or breathing new life into old, forgotten about curtains.  But I do!  Most of what you see on that table there is corduroy clothes and some curtains I've gathered up over the years.

2.  I love making cushions (pillows).  Again I don't know why exactly - I seem to be able to experiment more with ideas and creativity with a cushion.

So as a complete indulgent treat to myself (no not Ben & Jerry's & Baileys on ice!!) I started on a design for a recycled cushion.

This is what it looks like so far:

Sorry pics are dark but it's almost my bedtime!!

I probably would have finished it by now, but a certain teenager needed help making her proto-type GSCE textile project for art (it just happens to be a handbag and she just happens to have a mummy who knows how to make them! Win, Win!).

 Oh, and I made these last night to use up spotty bananas the kids wouldn't eat:

Banana muffins!  There are 15 altogether - but not for long!

Now those of you who know me well know that I hate cooking, so this is something for me!  

The fact that after I put them in the oven I completely forgot about them until I started smelling them from 2 rooms away, is neither here nor there!  This morning they got plastered with a not so healthy dose of cream cheese frosting and down the hatch they went!  I've already had 2 today, might just sneak in another one for supper!

Hope you've had a great Tuesday.  

Huge hugs and kisses to a special friend who had surgery today. xoxo