Friday, November 30, 2012

Rounding up November

Hi everyone, I was beginning to think I wouldn't manage to squeeze a blog post in for November but a last minute flurry of finishing means I have something to show after all. First up is this Christmas candle mat using Peace on Earth fabrics by Moda and a free pattern that you can download here
Another small Christmas finish is this Bon Bon by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched
Ideally it should be stuffed full of Ferrero Rocher but they would be long gone if I dared to put them in now! Now on to the cross stitched Christmas ornaments. The first one is by Pineberry Lane. It is stiched on 40ct Lambswool linen with one of the
Victorian Motto Shoppe overdyed threads. The second ornament is Oh Tannenbaum by Country Stitches
It was quite a summer in the UK with the Queen's Jubilee followed by the London 2012 Olympics and I was gripped with patriotic fervour. I made this triple zipper project pouch from a tutorial found on this blog The tutorial is for a small pouch but I wanted a jumbo project pouch. This one is 13 inches wide by eleven inches deep. Each of the three zipper pulls is adorned with a patriotic charm. You should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge if you wish.
Meet Patch! Friend Caz surprised me with this cute Tilda bear she had made for me. Patch arrived bearing the gift of a packet of tiny Union Jack buttons. The two little books you see in the picture are also from Caz. Thank you dear friend I love everything :)
I think the only things I have left to show this time is the knitting. I think I've been doing too much of it as my arm and shoulder are telling me. Last year I started this cardigan from the Rowan Purelife Organic Wool Collection. I finished it off this year and only just sewed the buttons on yesterday. The ruffles are done by picking up stitches with a crochet hook and then doing a chain before picking up the next stitch.
I've also knitted berets for my daughter and grand daughter using Sirdar Crofter yarn. Further details of all knitting projects can be found on my Ravelry page.
So that's it for this time. Hopefully there will be one or two things to show in a December blog post. As always a big thank you to friends old and new for visiting my blog. I'm always happy to read your comments :) Margaret

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Tally for October.

Hi everyone, It's hard to believe it is almost November! October was another productive month so I'll get straight on with the pictures. First up is my first ever box finish. This is the Prairie House Sewing Case from the Blackbird Designs book A Stitcher's Journey.
I had been dreading finishing the box and I put it off for months but it was nowhere near as bad as I imagined. I finished the inside of the box with fabric from the Blackbird Designs Harvest Home line. I thought the inside of the lid looked a bit bare so I finished that off with fabric in the same way.
I also stitched one of the pincushions from the book. This is the Oh, My Stars Pinkeep on page 33 of the book.
Friend Caz came from UK to stay with us and surprised me with this lovely bag she had made for me. The bag is actually made from three Sainsbury's tea towels. The fabric feels like the Cath Kidston cotton duck fabric and of course the fabric design itself is very CK although it isn't. Pockets inside are in the blue and white dot fabric. I love this bag!
While Caz and I were out "on location" taking pictures of the bag we also took pictures of another pair of fingerless mitts and a shawl I had knitted. The mitts look very strange off so I had to get a picture wearing them. Caz suggested I hug a tree. Hmmmmmm, I was hugging more than a tree as there were some giant ants and other creepy crawlies on the bark.
It was very difficult to get a decent picture of the shawl I knitted
If anyone is interested in the pattern/yarn details you can find them on my Ravelry page While still on the subject of yarn I thought some of you that knit might like this picture of the yarn stall at a local market.
The only other thing I have left to show this time is the Little Red Schoolhouse Quilt which I finally got round to hand quilting and binding. This design is from the book Prairie Children and their Quilts by Kathleen Tracy.
I did have a zippered pouch to show as well but the batteries have died in my camera so that will have to wait til next time. Meanwhile I will leave you with a couple of pictures taken while out and about recently.
As ever a big thank you to friends old and new for taking the time to visit my blog. Margaret

Sunday, September 30, 2012

September Makes

Hi everyone, The months are flying past! It's the last day of September already and I really don't know where the time has gone. Most of what I made this past month has been done on the sewing machine but I've had a fancy to do some knitting as well. Just a little bit of cross stitch but nothing that is ready to be shown just yet. Anyway, on with the pictures! First up is a bag.
the pattern for this bag is this one by Stephanie at Loft Creations
I love Stephanie's designs. Her patterns are very easy to follow and always turn out great. Now anyone that knows me well also knows that I just can't make a bag without something to go inside so I also made a matching sewing bag and a jumbo pincushion. The fabrics I used are Pure by Sweetwater for Moda. The pattern and labels on the sewing bag are also by Sweetwater and can be purchased here
Here's how the sewing bag looks inside. The labels are ironed on and then machine stitched close to the edge.
No sewing bag is complete without a pincushion. This one was fun to do
I did a little bit of stitchery on the needle case for friend Sheila who is cat mad. The design is Here Kitty by Lynette Anderson
Inside the needle case. Fabrics used are Rhubarb and Ginger by Blackbird Designs for Moda.
Now on to the knitting. I've had a bit of an obsession with Ravelry this past month and have knitted two pairs of fingerless mitts
and five cotton dishcloths. All of the pattern details, yarn etc can be found on my Ravelry page
finally things that have made me happy :) A new quilting book
and a lovely Cath Kidston surprise in the mail from my daughter in UK
I think that's it for this time. I'm afraid I haven't been very good at keeping up my own blog or keeping up with my blog reading/commenting. I'm trying to catch up and will hopefully be visiting your blogs soon. As always a big thank you for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment. I always enjoy reading your commentss and try to reply to them all. Wishing you all a happy October! Margaret

Monday, August 20, 2012

Olympic stitching and other stuff

Hi everyone,

It's very hot here and I haven't felt like doing much this past week but yet I still have a few things to show you because of things I had made earlier :)
The first is this sewing set consisting of a bag, needle case and pincushion




The pattern for the actual bag is Poppy's Sewing Set by Australian designer Gail Pan.
I've made the bag a couple of times already but this time I changed the stitchery designs to the ones shown on this machine cover by Bareroots.

The green fabric is Moda Essential Dots and this picture shows the cute sewing notions fabric used for the contrast


another stitchery design on the back of the bag



and here are the accessories






For my Olympic stitching I chose Sampler Farm by the Goode Huswife.
I started it the day after the opening ceremony and I finished it two days after the closing ceremony.
Not a great choice as it is stitched on 40ct linen with several areas that are stitched over one.


I had a hard time getting a decent picture of this and it's come out rather small but I think it should be clickable for a better view if you wish.

I signed up to do the mystery SAL on Niky's Creations blog

I had a bad finishing day where first I made it into a pillow which I decided I didn't like and it finally ended up as a small sewing pocket




inside




Another lovely free design by another talented Italian designer Teresa is this mermaid. I stitched her on 32ct Bonnie Blue linen using my own choice of silk thread for the mermaid tail.



backed with the same linen I did a beaded edge and stitched on a little mermaid charm to finish





My family came out from UK for ten days and my daughter raided my stash to stitch up this Shepherd's Bush Skating Sampler. She doesn't have time for stitching these days but with me doing all the cooking she stitched it not once but four times!
However, guess who got the job of finishing!



fabric used to back the pillows



This is my skating superstar grand daughter Amy aged 12yrs who lives and breathes ice skating. One of the pillows was for her, one for me and one for each of her two coaches.



When friend Angela was here we did a tin covering workshop with Angela as the patient teacher and me as the moaning, whining pupil :)
I didn't find it easy and it's far from perfect but here's my first covered tin attempt. Design on top is Stash Keep by Homespun Elegance



Inside - more of the Moda Essential Dots fabric which is all gone now! I had intended to make a tiny fob to go inside the tin but I only had a scrap of the fabric left and somehow I lost it. However, I put one of Angela's lovely pinbooks inside and it fits perfectly.
Angela makes and sells her pinbooks to order and you can see some of them here



One last thing to show is my win from Catherine's blog




I can't get this magazine here in Spain so I was thrilled to be the winner. Thank you Catherine I love it :)

Well, I just hope it cools down here soon as I have a fancy to get back to some knitting and crochet.
Welcome to my new followers and a big thank you as always for taking the time to visit.

Margaret