Weekend Round Up

I've had a busy few days: Fun With Fabric on Friday, Church Craft and Christmas Fair, followed by a baby shower on Saturday, and sewing today. 

I didn't get any photos of the 'homework' from last month at Friday Fun With Fabric but I did get plenty of moans about how difficult the binding had been!  I did remind them that we had been working with fairly small units, and that binding a large quilt would be much easier, but promised them something easier for this session.

As I hadn't finished my sample, I took them on a Magical Mystery Make instead!  Based on a tutorial from Lis at Piece 'n' Peace, (thanks, Lis) I got them making Christmas Coasters that DID NOT NEED BINDING!!!!  Just for fun I didn't tell them what they were making, just gave them one instruction at a time!

Ready for some photos?

Saturday was mostly spent setting up and then attending the Church's Christmas and Craft Fair.  I didn't take anything to sell as I don't have any stock, but I have an order for a Christmas sack for next year, and I was also promoting the church version of Fun With Fabric, and got some interest in that.  I also managed to finish the binding on Swirls, so when I unpack the bags that can go up on the wall, yippee (only 15 months!)

From there I went to a friend, Lisa's's, 40th birthday Champagne Tea Party.  As Lisa is also 34 weeks pregnant with her first baby (Congratulations Lisa) we turned it into a bit of a baby shower too.  I had cut 36 8" squares, and had the 'girls' decorate them with fabric pens.  After the baby arrives I shall stitch them together into a quilt.  Most of the squares are fab . . .

 

 

I knew I would late arriving, so I had done a sample block to remind them that they had to leave me some seam allowance - I thought I made int fairly clear, but these six blocks will need some creative work to be able to include the words that went right to the edge!

 

Ho hum!

Anyway, today I managed to get some more ticked off from the list: the draught excluder / door stop for school - done

 

A very girly baby quilt for Jane who became a Great Aunt - done

 

 with Amelia's name (need to wet that water soluble pen mark in the middle of her name!!!)

And a name onto a knitted blanket for another customer (yuck - knitted blanket are 'orrible to embroider onto!)

Now off to do some work of a bag for S-I-L and a play patchwork for nephew

What says "oom"?

(It's one of my favourite jokes)

Flushed with success of the FMQ on Richard's taggie, I decided to have another go.  I read a suggestion that a tree was a good thing to try, so I 'drew' a tree!:

It was such fun, and looks so cute with two of the owl buttons on it.  (I think this will become a postcard mug rug and will fly to Greenwich soon)

So I had another go, and added some hedgehog buttons

(This just might find it's way to Niki's room!)

Another favourite joke is a cartoon - Mummy Kangaroo is standing near her joey.  Joey is talking to a hedgehog.  Joey says "I'm sorry Spike, but mum says you cant stay for a sleepover"

And the answer to "what says "oom" - it's an owl flying backwards, up side down!

Problems with my Brother

Not my actual, biological, brother (hello Titch), but one of the Brothers I have paid good money for!

I came home from my lovely, relaxing Spa Break to a delivery of polo shirts that needed to have a company logo embroidered onto them.  I've done this several times before: same logo, same supplier of polo shirts, so I started the first one - the tension on the top thread was awful.  I re-threaded both thread and bobbin - no improvement, so I went and got the old machine out of the shed and used that for the next few shirts, meanwhile I tried another design on the newer machine.  The first 100 or so stitches were still far too loose, then, suddenly, it sorted it's life out and worked fine.

I tried a few more projects on the new machine until I was convinced it was behaving and then started on the polo shirts again.  Well i didn't get a photo of the first problem, but the second problem it decided to throw as me involved a bird's nest under the race which meant I needed to cut the shirt to release it from the nest!

Not impressed!

However - far more fun was the testing project.

Victoria from Boutique Uniquely has some great pins on her Pinterest boards, including some felt citrus coasters.  I thought they looked great and would be quick to stitch using the embroidery machine.  So in order to test the machine I stitched up seven of these: orange, grapefruit, lime and lemon.  These the machine liked making, the polo shirts, not so much!

I think I am going to load these onto my ETSY site and see if they sell