To Busy to Blog...

Hello...
Again I have been remiss in my blogging again...I have been uber busy...here are some of my latest creations...
Stockings for my god-kids...

Made from strips of christmassy fabric cut to different widths, then pieced at different angles, then felt for the heel, and felt for the top, and then felt for the back...the ribbon for the loop is from my Granny, she bought it when she was on holiday in Switzerland, over 20 years ago, (she was going to make me and my twin sister some Christmas dresses but never did and whilst raiding her scrap box we found it...so now it is mine, it is very beautiful) I'm going to send up some little bits and pieces to go into each of their stockings.

I used the darning foot on my machine and attempted to embroider their names, I think they came out quite well...

Laptop Cover for my Mummy...
it's my Mum's Birthday this weekend and she wanted us to buy her a laptop cover...well...that seemed rather silly seeing as they are a ludicrous price, and well...I can make one...so I russelled one up...used a lovely print, not sure who buy and then quilted it, on my machine, then using the measurements my mum TEXT me...I made a pocket on the front and then sewed it all up...

Then came the very scary moment of sending it to her, without knowing if it would fit...miraculously (or you could say, due to my immense skill...but probably more likely a miracle) IT FITTED!!! YAYYYY!!!
Mum loves it and feels very trendy!!! I ended up using some strong elastic cord, in a loop from the top flap, and then sewing a button onto the front pocket for it to loop over. All in all I think my favourite thing I have made...beautiful yet functional!!!
(sorry for the lousy photos, I dropped my camera on the floor just before I finished these projects, so now relying on my iPhone until I get some money this week to buy a new one)

Busy Busy, not crafting much...

but I have been busy,

little sister got married... some photos to follow,

summer is over,

although the Autumn here is beautiful!!!

This is a block I have made either for one baby quilt, or the start of a bigger quilt...

The tables at the wedding, beautiful apple green was the theme, with apples on the tables with paper leaves as place settings!!!



I made the table centres, vase £2.50 from asda, candle under a £1, 1 stem of Gyp about a £1 and then the hired mirror!!! total bargain!!!



And this is Essie on her quilt...she is exceedingly, extraordinarily, astonishingly, amazingly gorgeous!!!

Blossom Quilt!!!

Blossom Quilt!!!

Another little bundle of joy will be with us soon, so I have made a little pressie for her. Her Mummy and Daddy are very good friends of mine, and it is the baby shower tomorrow. It's going to be a rather classy affair - a gazebo, blankets, cushions, bunting, cakes, food, flowers pressies and a Mummy to be!!! should be lovely!!!
Anyway this is the quilt I have made, 28' square, made from 1/2 squares, with white one side and beautiful prints on the other, creating a diamond quilt, inspired by this quilt from Pikku-Kettu Knits and Quilts.

Quilt top, before quilting

The quilt top was pretty easy to assemble, work out how many squares you want, then, half it and cut that many patterned squares and the same number of white, cut them in half, along the diagonal, then sew them together with a 1/4' seam. Lay them all out to give you the desired pattern, then I just sewed them together line by line, then pieced all the lines together and then ta-da a quilt-top.

Backing of Michel Miller Fabric with a yellow binding

Choosing the backing, as always is a total pain in the butt!!! But...I think between myself, my housemate and the quilt shop owner, we came up with this one and I am really happy with it. Whilst this is a blanket for a little baby girl, I didn't want it to be ALL pinks!!! hopefully this backing helps it not to be!!!

All wrapped up and ready for the Baby Shower!!!

Hopefully it will be well received, I'll try and get some pictures of the baby with it once she is here with us!!!

Eaaaaaakkkkk,,,,been away and very busy!!!

But, still crafting!!!
I went camping in Norfolk with some lovely friends from church and with some great kids...as  little pressie at the end of a long week, I made the eldest girl Tali a little quilted bag...I made it the same way I made the crafting bag for my friend Lucy last month, but I just made it smaller, used cotton binding as the straps and closed it with a button on either side and a piece of cotton ribbon to hook from front to back.

Tali's Bag

And I thought you might like a shot of my tent in the sun. It didn't shine all week, but I did manage to get this shot of my new Eurohike tent, with bunting from my kitchen and picnic blanket from Joules.

Lovely Sunny goodness!!! 

Will post again soon...going to start a quilt for a very good friends baby that is almost here!!! better crack on!!!

Scary Pattern sewing!!!

I am venturing into the unknown with a new project. Fed up of trying to find a Maxi skirt that  looks nice, is made of black Jersey, is Long enough for my 5"11 height yet fits me well, I have decided to make my own. Now I'm not stupid, and I know how one is made, I can pretty much work it out for myself, however, as it is my 1st dip into the clothes making world, I thought buying a pattern would be wise.

The sort of look I am going for!!!

So off to my local Fabric Land I went and looked through their MASSIVE amount of catalogues and chose a cheap-ish, very simple type of skirt. I chose a Kwick Sew pattern and am following the directions!!!

I'm going for skirt A!!!

I bought the prescribed amount of black jersey material, it appears to beWAY too much. But I'm only at the cutting stage, I guess if it all goes wrong I can always make a new one...or a top or something!!! Anyway...photos of the progress and outcome to come later this week, maybe even tomorrow!!!

Wedding Bouquets!!

A very good, and very lovely friend of mine, Ani Smith married Pete Taylor on  the VERY VERY hot Saturday the 22nd of May, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. As my lovely sister was bridesmaid and she was back over from America I also spent the week helping out with wedding organising and creating. The wedding reception was in a beautiful hall in an amazing little 'Jane Austin' type village, and so the theme came quite naturally as a country garden party. Complete with many, many metres of bunting, fairy lights, a hog roast, oodles of flowers, garden games, cup cakes, cricket on the village green and vintage tea cups for all the ladies.
For my part, and the reason for the post, is that the day before the wedding, we were setting up the flowers for the tables, when Ani came in, and (I hope she doesn't mind me saying) had a minor meltdown (every bride is allowed an odd few of these) because the flowers she had orders for the tables and for the bridesmaids bouquets were sooooo much nicer than what she had ordered for her own. These were going to be just plain cream roses in a hand tied bunch, but it woiuld have looked very insignificant next to ALL the other beautiful flowers which included AMAZING peonies, cream and antique yellow roses, stocks, anenomes, ranunculus and cornflowers.
SO, I offered to make her a bouquet up quickly to see if it was more of what she had dreamed of for her own bouquet and yes, (with a few more tears) the decision was made. I would make the bouquets for Ani and her 5 bridemaids. Now, I have done this before, my Mum has done the flowers for ALOT of weddings and I have helped her with those, but I am by no means an expert. But I am putting up the photos cause I am really pleased with how they came out, although, it is mainly due to the flowers Ani chose, rather than my skills.
So here it is in detail,

Pink Peonies in the centre, Blue cornflowers, Red Anemones, cream and yellow roses and there are some white ranunculus, hidden near the base!!!

The handle was tied with cream organza ribbon (from a lovely florist shop who SAVED the day) and then some beautiful cream trimming which Ani had bought to go on small jam jars on the tables. They were secured with cream headed pins.

The Bridesmaids bouquets all had a central peonie, and then cream and yellow roses, white ranunculus and blue cornflowers. The handles were tied with cream organza ribbon and secured with pearl headed pins.

Photos by the lovely and talented Mr.Paul O'Connor. Also an old friend, please contact me if you would like his contact details. 

Tri - Quilt finished and ready to be sold!!!

Sooooooooo here she is, my latest creation, I finished her a few days go, but life seems to be speeding by and I can't keep up!!! But I finally bought some binding (actually it was given to me by a lovely lady from the Brighton Sewing Machine Centre because it wasn't quite what I wanted) and sewed it on and here it is...perfect for a cot, or play mat for someone...

Made from 100% cotton, 52x65 cms, machine washable, can be personalised with names and dates...

£25.00 send me an email or leave me a comment if you are interested.