Bonus Bliss

What Bliss ... my sewing machine came home . . . and the rest of the family didn't!!!!

Well they did eventually, but they all went Christmas shopping straight after work so I had a couple of hours to myself!

I'm not showing you what I made though - Christmas is toooo close!

Done in December

How many sleeps until Christmas?  Really?  It still feels like about October: partly as the weather is so mild, but also the time is going past soooo quickly!

I have managed some sewing in the last week or so:

I did some secret selvedge sewing

from this magazine

I did some machine embroidery: A friend bought three identical stockings for her three daughters - could I stitch their names on.  Its really difficult to sew onto a completed stocking, so we discussed alternatives, and name tags seemed the best alternative:

 And I made some replacement medical bags for school.  4 years ago I made these

One for each class: to keep inhalers and EpiPens in so they can be easily grabbed when needed, and can go with the class on trips etc. One bag was falling apart, and another was now too small (so many more children with inhalers) so I made a new set using Svetlana's design

Today's project is the perfect pillowcase!  I used this 'Hotdog' method yesterday, and whilst her instructions are excellent, and I ended up (will end up) with a fab pillowcase with no raw edges,

It also doesn't have that extra bit of fabric that keeps the pillow inside the pillowcase.

Sometime over night I thought of a way to combine this design with what I want - watch this space.

I also have a Christmas sack to make for a customer - better get cracking!

Concluding Consequence

We have reached the final swap in the Richmond and Kew Consequences Round Robin . . . And I can't show you what I'm going to be working on!

 

I've finally received a quilt started by someone that I know, that I adore, and whose work I really love, but who I know checks in and reads my blog, so much as I'd like to show you the (fab!) strips that have been created by the previous ladies, all I can show you is the scrummy fabrics I can work from

 

Hi Plum - you didn't really think I'd spoil the surprise did you? You have to wait until the first week of February, and so will any other visitors to the blog!

 

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Secret Sewing and Selfish Sewing

The secret sewing?  Well I can show you this much for now, the rest will be revealed ... later

And I did some selfish sewing - for me: I treated myself to a pincushion and cotton reel holder:

Cut 5 circles, stitch two in pairs, right sides together, repeat

Snip in centre, turn right way out, press into circle shapes

Stitch running stitch 1/4 inch from edge of 5th circle

Stack the two turned circles on top on each other, stitch across centre 3 or 4 times (ie 60 or 45 degree lines) but start and stop 3/4" from the edge.  Stitch at edge- where the lines would have stopped

Pull thread tight on 5th circle, stuffing as you tighten.  Use ribbon or cord to thread through gaps created and through cotton reels or bobbins, tug to create bowl shape.

tuck stuffed circle into the bowl shape created, tie ribbons.

Ta da!

Secret Sewing

Today I've been doing a bit of machine embroidery designing and stitching, some (secret) sewing and packing for my trip to Festival of Quilts.

Part of the box of fabric recently donated was a sort of linen / hessian fabric in a stone / beige fabric - I'm not normally a fan of this neutral shade (it was part of my school uniform at senior school) but add a bit of dark red thread and I'm loving it

But this is all I'm going to show you today

I've packed the important things:  This fab triple zipped pouch that Jackie made for me holds everything for my Rainbow and Steel hexi project for the train

Roll on tomorrow!

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Gone Fishin'

No, I haven't really gone fishin' - yuck! But there is a boy who was almost part of our family for quite a long time (the only boy I childminded from a baby - the only boy whose nappy I have changed) who is a very keen fisherman.  He turns 13 later on this week, and this is his birthday pressie:

Hope he likes it.

I've also started on customer embroidery orders: One finished for Chertsey Museum, seven more to go - at half an hour each!!!

I prefer to stay nearby while the machine is working, but at 29 minutes each, it can be quite boring, so I am working on a secret project.  Doesn't the back look lovely - it's the first time I've hand quilted a quilt. 

It is hand pieced too, but the binding will be stitched by machine to the front, and by hand to the back

more mindless sewing

I have carried on with the dark red blocks and the pink and green pinwheels today.

I've got 48 red blocks, and I think it will work to arrange them on point (at 45 degrees) - I'll lay them out on my 'design bed' tomorrow and see if they work as I expect

I have done the pinwheels: most are stitched and pressed, a few just need the final seam sewing.  I seem to have ended up with 13 of these which is NO good for a quilt.  I guess it will be a 3 x 4 quilt with one block in the orphan drawer!

I also made things with these three fabrics, but they are being posted as surprises, so no details about what they are or who they are for until after they have been received!