Zippers. Mermaids, Gifts & PDF pattern giveaway winner

Hi everyone,

I've overdosed on making zippered pouches this past month. The craft club I'm a member of does a fundraiser each year in May.
We are raising money for a childrens orphanage here in Spain. We only make small things as they seem to sell better.
I decided on a production run of zippered pouches.
First up is one I made in Tilda fabrics from this tutorial




Back view using pretty Tilda birdcage fabric which was also used for the lining




I made one large and two small in this pink print by Lynette Anderson. Tutorial here



They have a cute little cat charm attached to the zipper pull

and this blue project pouch again in Lynette Anderson fabric



The next one was made using the tutorial from the Pink Penguin blog. I used a few orphan charm squares



One in Eiffel Tower fabric



and this one with bow detail



A boxy pouch from a tutorial on this blog

and finally this one which is from a Norwegian pattern. I became very good friends with Google Translate during the process of making this pouch! I used pale blue linen from Ikea and the print fabric is by Bunny Hill.



With the sewing machine going non stop I haven't had much time for stitching so only one small finish to show this time.
This is from The Sampler Girl and I had fun stitching this along with friend Angela.



I received some lovely mermaid-y gifts from friend Pat. The new Kelmscott needle minder, scissors and scissor fob.
They are SO beautiful and I'm just over the moon to have them. Thank you Pat :)



I must have been very, very good because I also received this beautiful mermaid bookmark from Roberta. Roberta says she made this from a kit. Isn't it gorgeous?



also in the package this bag pattern. I've actually made the full size version of this bag many times but this is a mini version. How fun is that? I'll be making a few of these for sure.



and yet another surprise in the mail from friend Caz

I'm looking forward to making something with these pretty fabric FQ's.

One last make to show you is this wall hanging I have made for my grand daughter Amy.



The border fabric has glittery stars which don't show up that well in the picture but I chose this fabric because Amy IS a star and is making us all very proud. The dress on the skater is decorated with Swarovski crystals. Again, not showing up well in the picture but they have plenty of sparkle when seen for real.
I quilted the borders using big stitches and #12 perle cotton. I think my pictures are clickable if you want a better view of anything.



Grandson Robbie is following in his big sisters footsteps and is starting to win the cups and medals. All outfits made by my clever daughter.



I think that's it for this time but I know that you are waiting to find out who is the winner of the Little Purse PDF pattern offered by Stephanie of Loft Creations.

I used the Random Generator thing and the winner is #10 Phyllis (no blog)
Congratulations Phyllis. Stephanie will be in touch with you re your PDF pattern.

I'm off to UK on 3rd May. It's raining here but I think they have some sunshine there at long last.
Thanks as always for your continued visits to my blog and for your lovely comments.
Happy weekend to all!

Margaret

Loft Creations Little Purse pattern and PDF pattern giveaway.

Hi everyone,

One of my favourite quilting blogs to visit is Loft Creations so
I was thrilled last year when Stephanie allowed me to join her happy band of pattern testers.
Stephanie calls her group of pattern testers her Supremes and I have to say I feel I'm in exalted company as they all do such beautiful work.
The pattern I had the pleasure of testing is this one



If you've never made a bag before I can't recommend Stephanie's patterns highly enough. The instructions are clearly explained and you just can't go wrong.

Here's the bag I made using some fun fabrics by Michael Miller.



I think this would be the perfect bag for spring and summer. Use linen and change the look or try piping instead of ric rak or lace. The possibilities are endless. I know my daughter will want the giraffes so I'm going to need to make another bag for myself.

Stephanie has kindly offered a PDF version of the pattern to one of my readers. If you would like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on this post only.
Please be sure you are not a noreply blogger as then I will have no way to contact you should you be the lucky winner.
I'll draw the winner on April 25th. Good luck!

Margaret

Gifts given and received

Hi everyone,

My post this time is to share pictures of gifts given and received in the last few weeks.
My lovely friend Pat sent the most wonderful box of goodies for my birthday.
Inside one of the packages was this sweet little cross stitch piece. I love the cute ladybird button and the gorgeous frame.



Another beautiful framed piece. I believe this one is a Crabapple Hill pattern

I love buttons so this is just perfect for me.



Here's a close up of the stitchery which is done in a very pretty variegated thread



Yes, there was more! This little wool acorn done in wool is adorable. I love the little stick pins.



and how about this lovely stitched pillow with the wool trim and gorgeous button



This lovely little sewing themed charm set



and some yummy chocolates that are just a happy memory now. Thank you so much Pat. You really spoiled me and I love it all :)

One of my friends had a February birthday and for her I made this kitty needle keeper which was on her wishlist.



inside is a felt heart for the needles and the dress has a pocket at each end for sewing notions. I think the pictures should be clickable if you want to see a better close up.



and of course I had to make a little bag to keep the kitty in :)





The bag is from my well loved and much used Gail
Pan Poppy's Sewing Set pattern
I've lost count of how many times I've made it now but it's a lot. I changed the stitchery to one by Bare Roots



I stitched this design by the Sampler Girl and made it into a pillow


The back


Finally this little design by the Prairie Schooler which went to another friend. It is stitched on 40 ct Flax linen using the recommended DMC threads



I've also been sewing pouches for a charity fundraiser I'm involved in but I'll save those pictures for next time.

Thanks as always for your continued visits to my blog, for your kind comments and welcome to new followers.

Happy Easter!

Margaret

End of Feb round up.

Hi everyone, Just a quick post to show what I've been working on over the past few weeks. In spite of it being a short month I've managed to keep on top of my various SAL's. The February project for Chookyblue's Stitch-A-Long was finished just in time. Fabrics used are Rouenneries by French General for Moda I also made a basket using Tilda fabrics. There are six baskets made up of small hexagons appliqued to the front and back of the basket. The inside lining is sectioned off into nine pockets each with a Grandmother's Flower applique. This basket was a lot of work but it's very pretty and the big size will be very useful. On to the cross stitch I have finished my 1905 JHA SAMPLER sal which is a free design on this blog Stitched on 36ct Antique White Zweigart linen using Vikki Clayton Garnet silk. I had a bit of a trauma with this when I ran out of the silk thread. It all ended well. Many thanks to all the friends who tried to help :) I've made some progress with my Margaret Gibson 1839 sampler which I'm doing as part of Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year. I have managed one small finishing job on this little pillow. Design is Crows in the Pumpkin Patch from the Autumn Splendor design set by Brenda Gervais. I used mostly recommended threads on unknown 36ct linen. Finally a lovely surprise gift from Carol of iStitch Designs. It's a long time since I added anything to my mermaid collection so I was thrilled to open the package to find this pretty little mermaid scissor magnet and a lovely gift card using one of Carol's own designs. Thank you so much Carol I really love my gift :) By the way there is a brand new iStitch design out as of yesterday. I am hoping to start stitching mine tonight. I'm not sure why my formatting seems to be all over the place with this post. Each sentence seems to run into the next even though it looks fine in draft form. Anyone have any ideas? I think that's it for this time. Welcome to new followers and, as ever, a big thank you for visiting my blog and for your lovely comments. Margaret

Spoiled

Hi everyone, I recently did a private exchange with Ellen in Singapore who told me her favourite colours were Autumn. After a couple of false starts I finally decided on some small cross stitch designs by the Prairie Schooler which I then turned into a drawstring bag, needlecase and pincushion.

The front of the bag has a pumpkin and the back has a black crow. The bag pattern I used is this one by Gail Pan

Here's how the inside of the needlecase looks. It is a pattern I've used many times before and comes from the book remembering Adelia by Kathleen Tracy

Close up of the cute owl design

The package I received from Ellen was stuffed full of goodies. This gorgeous rose pillow and matching biscornu scissor fob

Both are just as pretty on the back as the front. Ellen's stitching and finishing are perfection.

and as if that were not enough there was two fabric FQ, a pretty tissue holder, lace, buttons, charms and more! It was such a fun package to open. Thank you so much Ellen I love it all.

Another beautiful stitched gift I received came from Brigitte in Germany. I had admired this pillow on Brigitte's blog never dreaming it would be coming my way. Thank you Brigitte I really love it.

Friend Sheila showered me with all kinds of lovely things for my birthday. This message holder looks very Cath Kidston - ish but Sheila tell me it was actually from Avon

Then there was this box with a crochet granny square design on it

with lovely leather handles

and inside there are all kinds of lovely treats.

It looks rather nice with my crochet squares inside. One of these days I might actually show you a finished blanket!

Do you remember the triple zipper pouch that I showed in my November post? It was made from patriotic fabrics. Sheila gave me these Union Jack scissors to go with the pouch and hanging from the scissors is this beautiful fob that she and her sister Pamela made for me. So pretty!

Finally here are some of the books that have been making me happy.

The Red Home and Tis the Season books were needed for the Chookyblue's SAL I am taking part in. Hopefully I will be showing you some finished projects from the book soon. Do visit the SAL blog as there are some lovely projects being shown there. As always as big thank you to followers old and new for visiting me here. Margaret