Cross stitch

I have been known to dabble in a little embroidery now and again. I love anything with bees on so this is one that I'll be keeping.

the project is Her Majesty from the booklet By Blackbird designs called Honeybee Hill. I filled it with ground walnuts that has some lavender petals in it so it smells lovely and feels great with the weight in it.

 And for the back, I had some lovely bee fabric of course.

The Q is for Queen bee but it could easily be for Quiltsalott. Loving the small ric-rac finish.

Until next time, Janet



A little Christmas project

I couldn't resist adding this picture of Tully photo bombing. We are looking after her for a year for a family that moved interstate. That year is almost up and I don't think we'll give her back. We haven't heard for certain yet if we can keep her but it's on the cards.

Each year I make or buy a Christmas decoration for my grandchildren and they really look forward to the surprise. By the time they move out on their own, they should have enough decorations for a tree of their own.

This year I made them three birds each, they're so cute and look like doves to me.

 

The pattern is from Jody"s Crafty Creations (blog). The pattern was for bigger birds but I reduced it down to 70% which was just right for what I wanted. Luckily I have some turning tools (straw and bamboo skewer) or it would have been tricky with the smaller size. If you want your own pattern, it's 50% off in her Etsy store with the code she gives on her blog. That would be a whole $1 such a bargain.
How about you, are you doing any Christmas sewing?

Back soon, Janet

 

Sewing accessories

 I made a thread catcher and it's perfect for those times I sew away from home.
Here it is folded flat for easy storage from the top.

And ta dah, a quick twist and it opens up.

And voila you have a round mini bucket. Some people are so clever to think up this stuff. I made mine a lot shorter in length and I think I'll make another one even smaller. You can find the free tutorial over at Red Hen Fabrics.

I made it quite a bit shorter than in the pattern because I really only need it for catching threads

I got envious of the social totes I was seeing on the internet so bought the pattern and took four afternoons to make this one.

I knew from what I'd read that it was tricky to put together and it was. To be honest, I have no desire to make another one. I like it but I don't love it.

I couldn't have understood the pattern if it wasn't for the step by step tutorial from here.

And last but not least is this pouch, the famous Sew Together Bag by Sew Demented. It's my new favourite accessory because it has three zippered pouches plus the parts between are great storage pockets as well. I love it so much that I''l be making more than this one when I get the chance. Once again an online tutorial helped enormously with the construction. I chose not to add the pincushion as I don't need it but it has a little felt piece on one side for parking needles.

I've only been able to manage some limited sewing these last months as I had an issue with my right hand that prevented proper movement of two fingers but I'm back to full use now thanks to some cortisone injections and a brace I've been wearing at night.

 

I'm unable to reply to comments for the time being. I'm flying to New Zealand as my Dad passed away and after the funeral I'll be spending time with my family there. Thanks for visiting especially after my long absence. I hope to be back on board in a few weeks.

Wrangling with a travelling rabbit

Last week I made a bunny from some vintage chenille pieces for a grand daughter's 6th birthday and it turned out to be a bit of a saga. I used a commercial pattern for a twenty inch bear (that's big) and made up the ears myself. There was fluff spread from one end of the sewing room to the other.
During the stuffing part, there was a bit of an injury to the chest area due to a weak spot in that piece of chenille.

I managed to save the limbs and made a new body and carried on. Oh dear, the ears are way too long for this poor rabbit as you can see.

After sleeping on it, I decided to unstuff the head and try and extract the ears and do them again.
So here is the final result which turned out as good as it was going to get. It's very cute for a stuffed toy bigger than a newborn baby but it is light in weight.

And of course bunny has to have a tail. I wasn't sure how to do that so turned a seam allowance on a circle, gathered it, stuffed it and sewed it in place.

It's all squishy in the middle, I tested it with cuddles.

I just didn't get to the Post Office in time to send it across the ocean so it got packed in a suitcase and flew interstate to Queensland for photographing and posting the next day. It'll be well travelled by the time it gets to it's destination.

 

 .

We had a wonderful four days away to see the V and A quilt exhibition and have a relaxing break and also catch up with my son. We got to celebrate his birthday and also David's while we were up there.

 What an absolutely wonderful thing it is to see these incredible works up close.  

The embroidery on the quilts was so incredibly fine, the stitching was superb and I was surprised to see the above coverlet had been done by the English paper piecing method. That whole center was stuffed like a pillow. Not sure if that was for display. No photos were allowed so these are off the net. I also loved seeing a very old needlework casket stitched with Stump work, some sewing paraphernalia and other items of interest. It was well worth seeing.

The weather in Queensland was perfect, warm and sunny during the days cooling at night. This is their winter!. 

 

The locals were very friendly where we stayed in Surfer's Paradise.

These ladies dressed in gold sequined bikinis put coins in the meters along the beach front as a courtesy to the public. Not a job I would qualify for ;-)

Even the police were dressed for the weather.

Until next time, Janet

Stitching pillow take 2

This time, I know what I want, a 14" square pillow is just right for my needs. Pattern is chosen, now to make it happen.

Take some  aquas, add a little blue and pink for highlights. Cut into triangles and add some of those modern text fabrics.

After finding the block on my Blockbase programme, I printed some off ready for paper foundation piecing. This was going to be the most accurate way to sew the parts. The blocks will finish at a mere 2", now that's small.

 

I love my new light pad that I picked up at the quilt show. It's like an ipad, so thin, light and portable plus I have the option of changing the brightness on it. It was perfect for sitting on the table next to the sewing machine to check my seams were aligned correctly.

There were only three bits of paper to tear off each block which didn't take long and there wasn't mush fabric waste since I'd pre-cut the shapes.

Voila, all forty nine blocks are sewn together. I love it but then I knew I would when I saw this one and did a big copy cat.

I decided I'd like to handle these fabrics a bit more and hand quilt it simply with this thread I found in the stash. It's Valdani variegated 35 wt cotton.

Until next time, Janet

A wee bit of fun

I did say I had taken a little detour from what I normally sew and I had a need for something fast. My poor stitching pillow which I use when I'm hand piecing or appliqueing has seen better days. It looks so shabby that I'm ashamed to show it. Time for a new one.
I found a great tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew here. It's called a sprocket pillow and wow, it is fast, easy and fun. Only trouble is that I put the text fabric on wrong way round.

I was always put off making a round pillow when it doesn't have an opening for an insert. How do you wash them? I really need to know and just in case I have to put the whole thing in the wash, I used a large self covered button that is all plastic because metal would probably rust.

The back looks as fun as the front with an old  Auntie Cookie linen I had in the stash. Now the text fabric on the side is the right way up. Honestly, I have more trouble choosing fabrics for wee things like pillows, bags and pouches than I do for quilts. I made the 14 inch version.

There was one big glitch after I made this, it's too thick for to stitch with on my lap and I prefer a square shape so I'll just wait until the urge to make another pillow comes along.

I recently bought a small book from Pam Holland called The Adventures Of The Amazing Alphabet. It's a great book to read to little ones plus it has all the instructions and patterns for doing each letter of the alphabet.

Well, what letter should I choose but the "J" for my name. I just happened to find the Fabrico pens I needed on sale, I love it when that happens. Tracing and colouring it in was like going back to my childhood. Now what to do with it. It could be a wall hanging, the front of a tote or bag of some sort or maybe a pillow front for that square one I need.

Until next time, Janet

Treating myself

I made a bag or two. It's been ages since I had some real quality time on the machine and making bags is such a good way to use up a bit of stash. I promised myself that I'd get back to making the lunch bag from Pink Penguin. I love this free pattern, there are no zips, no hardware and the steps are oh so simple to follow.

The hardest part is stopping at one, it's so much fun thinking of different fabric combinations.

For my second bag, I thought I'd change it a bit and make a bigger size that would accommodate my knitting. It worked out so well by just adding a couple of inches to the height and width and making the handles a little longer. I kept the trim at the top the same width.

There is one change I make to the pattern and that is to overlock or zig zag the side seams of the drawstring cover. If you don't, the seams inside have raw edges.

You can see the size difference when they pose together. You can never have enough bags you know.

We had a glorious break from the wet weather yesterday, it was so sunny and warm that we used the opportunity to go for a drive.

The car pointed itself towards Balmain near Sydney where we stopped to pick up some treats from that Masterchef star, Patissier Adriano Zumbo.
Really we went to treat ourselves to the tarte au fruit de la passion. In English, that's a citrus passion fruit tart which you can see on the platter in the middle. It's to die for, that's all I need to say.
I kinda got carried away and decided to get some other equally famous goodies for the freezer although I'm not sure they'll make it that far. The blueberry and almond tart is not my favourite.

I have been ruined, who knew food could taste this heavenly. Healthy eating plan starts next week.

The  V8

8 layers of vanilla

Vanilla crème chantilly

Toasted vanilla brulee

Vanilla water gel

Vanilla ganache

Vanilla macaron

Vanilla dacquoise

Vanilla chiffon cake

Vanilla almond crunch

The happy birthday

Flourless chocolate biscuit,

chocolate sabayon mou,

ultimate chocolate brownie,

caramel mouse,

milk chocolate chantilly

cocoa nib nougatine with a White chocolate and Passionfruit glaze.

Next stop was to Quiltsmith where I got lost inside the store because I have to look at everything you know. I did get some some green fabrics and this little pile which are for a quilt in my head that is nagging at me. I've been overloaded with inspiration lately and have sewing mojo to spare. Does that happen to you too?

Thankfully, these treats are calorie free.

Despite fighting the urge to start something new, I'm trying to keep the blinkers on and have been nibbling away at this simple hand piecing project. It's nearly a quilt top.

My apologies if I didn't reply to all comments on my last post, some of my emails have disappeared and I can't get them back.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by, Janet

Missing in action

Not really missing but I have been crazy busy and spent the weekend on a quilt retreat with my stitching group plus I've had Dh home recuperating from an operation, nothing serious folks.

Here's a little report on what I got up to at the retreat. I didn't know what I'd feel like doing so I took  a few projects so I could decide when I got there. I did want to play with a couple of things and I got to do just that.

You might recognise this fabulous bag as a free tutorial from Pink Penguin. I made this one for a family member and now I'm just going to have to make one for myself. You can't stop at just one. The drawstring pouch is attached to the tote which makes the bag very roomy inside.

I got a request from one of my grandchildren for a soft and cuddly quilt that had to have animals, specifically zebras. Now I hear that's changed to giraffes. Just as well this one will cover all bases.
I'm using this Don't Look Now pattern , the Animal Alphabet. I'm not sure how soft it'll be using fusible web and machine applique but that might not get noticed.

Of course all the details will be added with the machine later including eyes, feelers and other important parts.

I did have some problems concentrating on reverse animals so I have to make another alligator facing the other direction.

 I'm pretty sure somebody is going to ask what a vulture is but as I said, I'm covering all my bases.

I won another giveaway, this time from Kelly at Pinkadot Quilts. I love this book for some ideas it's giving me for some bag embellishing. It looks like more time is needed to play. Thanks Kelly, I love that it's signed by the author, Cheryl Lynch too.

I didn't want to make this post too long so I'll be back soon with the other thing I got to play with at retreat.