2019 Wk 5 - Off to Ireland

Chertsey Museum class was on last Friday and we made triangular purses.  Mostly these were made from leather, pleather / faux leather and fleece so no sewing although some ladies did use fabric.  We used Kam poppers which are really sturdy, and we had fun!

The next day I was up at 3:30am!!!  And off to the airport for the first flight to Ireland.  By the time I would normally be waking up I had been driven to Heathrow, flown to Dublin, been picked up and delivered to Jackie's and we were in the sewing room deciding what to make first!!!

These were the winners - pink penguin's cover lunch bag aka a very useful bag

We then made the first of 4 pay-it-forward gifts I have committed to on facebook.  This is for a niece who had sent a link to an infinity scarf with a zipped pocket for phone or keys.  I took the sent link to be a subtle hint so we made one and it will go in the post tomorrow

 We then made a pair of hobo / project bags fussy cutting some bold Ikea flowers (thank you Sharon)

Jackie has made a few Sew Together pouches, and this time we thought we'd have a go at the mini one.  It was a bit fiddly as were had to use the original instructions with the 'mini' adjustments but we got there in the end

 We made (started!) some storage pods

 and some larger-than-we-expected bowls

And then we went to have cuddles with little Miss Gorgeous

And the slightly boisterous big brothers (I am sooo jealous - isn't Jackie greedy having 3 grandchildren while I have none!  I am lucky that she shares though!!!)

we did our usual gift exchange but most of the goodies I brought home have been put into use (love the mug!) or put away before being photographed, but this has stayed on my wrist - so far it's decorative but who knows when I will need to measure something and will be able to!!!

2018 Wk 15 - bunting and EPP

One of our church wardens turned 70 today: others in the congregation arranged a card, gift and cake . . . I arranged bunting


And later at M-i-L’s, I worked on this:  I’m coming near to finishing this I-spy hexies and triangles


Just another 32 triangles and it’s a flimsy!!!

My Farmer’s Wife (handyman’s wife) block 7 is getting closer to being finished


And I treated myself to a new trolley to store my hand sewing in the sitting room - easy to reach everything and to push it out of the way when necessary

2017 Wk 44 - Back in England

After my far too short break in Ireland I've reverted back to real life with work and work and food shopping and other boring stuff. But now it's the weekend and my minutes and agendas are all up to date so lets see what I haven't told you about!

I had a full class at Chertsey on Friday - making sewing wraps. The bigger pic here is one that a friend made for me several years ago from a Woman's Weekly pattern - the others are the beginnings of the ladies' versions - I'm looking forward to seeing them finished for show and tell next time

This month's star show and tell was A's poncho - I LOVE it!!!!

It's just two weeks now until Remembrance Sunday and I haven't get seen a poppy seller to get my poppy, but the lovely R gave me this crocheted one - I'll pop my money in the collection box at church tomorrow

In the excitement of going to Ireland I neglected to shows photos from a family class last Saturday - Making Monsters: The kids have such great imagination!

I got a lovely squishy during the week: The lovely Barbara who blogs at The Flashing Scissors posted some finger-less mittens that her mum and sister have knitted for a local charity shop. Being slightly digitally challenged (I have to count in base 8 rather than base 10) I can't wear gloves. Jackie (and previously my M-i-L) have kept me in knitted-for-me gloves and mittens but these were a bit different so I cheekily asked Barbara for a pair (and I have paid my money to charity!)

Thank you Barbara (and your mum!) They are great

As for me, my creative 'juices' have been designing and embroidering for customers!

Fun eh? But I have some holiday left to take for this year so I'm having a few Wednesday's off where hopefully I can just SEW!

We did pop out this morning to collect our pottery which we threw back in September - now painted (glazed?) and fired they are looking amazing!

I might be back on Wednesday!!!

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2017 Wk 40 Bits and Pieces

A lovely afternoon at Chertsey Museum - making Autumn Wraps! We all started with an Ikea fleece blanket. We looked at two different design ideas

Ann made a poncho, the rest made a wrap

Take an Ikea fleece and fold in half lengthwise. Then fold in half width wise to mark the centre. Cut along the long fold from one end to the middle - about 1.5 inches from the fold, so you are cutting out a piece about 3" wide. Arrange so the solid section is at your back and the two thins section hang over each shoulder - you can throw one front jauntily over the other shoulder, and look as fab as the ladies!

Some then went on to decorate their wrap with embroidery, other salvaged the fleece scraps and made flowers

Next I went to Portsmouth to see mum. I gifted her the wrap I'd made - and that was very well received! Look at the fab view from her flat!

I just love when one of the girls comes home and asks "muuuummmmm..."! She was about to meet her boyfriend's baby nephew for the first time - and needed a quilt finished. Luckily it had been largely constructed but needed name embroidering and binding finishing

First problem was quickly solved

And then she got a quick lesson on sewing binding and off she went!

Me? I did some making too - some more of these porthole blocks. I'll take them to Richmond and Kew quilters tomorrow and see if I can work out the best arrangement - should all 4 patch blocks be made with with coloured portholes, or just some? Should the colours arranged randomly (randoku! Thanks Avril - it's a fab word) or in a pattern? Either way I'm loving the blocks

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The one where I found a craft I haven't shown you

I'm planning the Fun With Fabric crafts for Chertsey Museum for next year, and had planed to link to blog pages where possible -that only works if I have blogged about the planned craft!!!

Last winter I lusted after a Blanket Cape, but really couldn't justify the cost, so I started an improvised version.

I took an Ikea fleece blanket and folded it in half length ways, and then cut away a section along half the fold.  I used a grey one, but didn't take a pic so I've borrowed this photo to show

Once a section half the length x 4 inches is cut away, you can wear it like a cape: the full half against your back and the split half becomes front right and front left

I'm now doing some running stitch with embroidery floss to give it a bit of detail, but as soon as it's cold enough to need to wear it I can call it finished!

Not bad for £3 eh?

Look What We've Made

This trip to Ireland has been a bit different to previous visits - the usual sewing, yes, but the chats have been a bit more emotional!  I'm not blogging about the elephant in the room bcause we all know he's there and he deserves to be ignored (when we're not cursing him or calling him very unkind but well deserved  names!)

So let's look at what we've made!

We had some paper like fabric (amazon.co.uk sell it here) and had a go at embroidering on it then sewing it

I love the way it crumples, but the embroidery worked like perforation 

We'll revisit that!

We made some boxy pouches (link to instructions here)

And some makeup type cases

And a chemo carryall for Jackie to take everything we can think of: blanket, kindle, iPod, water, purse, knitting/sewing  etc (no link - made it up as we went along, but very loosely based on the Everyday Tote bag)

You can see we are loving this new fabric from IKEA!

Home tomorrow but we should get some more sewing done first!!!

Marking, Mending and Making

 Niki and I went to Ikea the other night, and amongst other things we bought a wireless charger for our phones.  the way the system works meant we had to have new phone cases - and they only came in boring white, so I jazzed mine up a bit

It helped that Tesco was selling this fab pack of sharpies for just £7 - about 1/3 of the usual price!

I've had a few bits and pieces in the sewing room that have broken.  Husband has passed on some Sugru stuff (see here for other inspiration).  It's like BluTak, but sets into a permanent but rubbery shape, and is great for fixing or creating!

I fixed a broken embroidery hoop, and broken scissor grip, and I used some more to put ends onto my felting needles, and to make a chunky handle for a crochet hook!

 My Rainbow Hexie project has stalled a bit

But some of the hexies that hadn't made the cut were bugging me. They were in shades of turquoise and teal and looked lovely together, but didn't belong in the quilt.  At Ikea I picked up some hessian/jute/burlap fabric and added it to a band of hexies I had joined together.  I added a lining of  hessian but it wasn't very stable, so I added craft/pelmet vilene inside.  I then hand quilted it to stop the whole lot shifting around too much

I'm not quite sure what it will be used for - but it's pretty, and it used up unwanted fabric!

Finished, Nearly Finished, and a Friday Fail

A friend has just become a grandmother, so a special quilt was called for: I made a bright sunny bricked I-spy quilt for baby Sophia

With her name on too

The binding has been stitched since these pics, so it's ready to be delivered.
I've also added the binding to the Red and Numbers quilt, so that can move to the-sewing-in-front-of-the-TV pile.  I think this may have a home to go to when it's finished

And the kids (big and small) at school were very excited about the expected eclipse on Friday. The children came to school with their heads down, having understood how very dangerous it was to risk looking at the sun, the science had been explained, trays had been filled with water so the reflection could be viewed, but no one remembered to tell the clouds to take the day off!

Finally, we had another lovely day at Crafty Church on Saturday: Cushions, cross stitch, tapestry, beading, felt Easter eggs, and a young man making masks, along with plenty of chat, a lovely cuppa, and even muffins - thanks Lynne!!

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