Shark's Dinner

Pincushion

eli 11th February 2012 #giveaway #pincushion

Did you read my previous post in which I showed off the lovely pincushion I won?

At the time of the giveaway Ali posted a tutorial for it on her blog Very Berry Handmade and I loved it so much that I said I was going to make one regardless of whether I won or not. I did…and here it is with Ali’s.

The cotton yarn I used is a bit thicker which means that my crocheted square is a bit denser. Maybe I should have used a bigger hook?

I’m still very pleased with it. The fabric I used is a dusky lilac with white polka dots. I love those colours together. The reverse of the pincushion is just as pretty:

Do you like it? I thought as I love the pincushion I won so much I would give this one away (hopefully to be loved as much as I love mine). The first person to write a comment on this post will receive the pincushion and I’m happy to send it anywhere in the world.

Edited to say:

Thank you so much for your kind comments about my pincushion which will be sent to Jane on Monday!

Categories: Giveaway, Home Projects5 Comments

Lucky me!

eli 6th February 2012

Look at what the postman brought me this morning:

Yes, that’s right. The loveliest pincushion ever. I was the very lucky winner of the Very Berry pincushion giveaway. That wasn’t the only thing I was sent though. I also got a recipe for Gingernuts (which will have to be made as soon as I get the chance to buy some treacle) and a little roll of scraps. I love those scraps; especially as I only have one of these fabrics in my stash (Denyse Schmidt’s Prairie Rose). All the others are new to me and I can’t wait to use them. This one is my favourite:

I don’t know who it’s by but I love it. Thank you so much, Ali!

Categories: Musings1 Comment

A Swoony Ta-dah!

Yeah! I’ve finished my trial Swoon block and I love it. Ok, so some of the points went AWOL but that’s fine. I’m sure nobody is going to go and check my points once it has been turned into a big floor cushion to sit on during a picnic.

This is the fabric I’m going to use for the back of the cushion. After all I want it to be practical. I know Little Miss Bossy-Boots well enough to know she will be dragging it outside to play in the grass and on her climbing frame.

What I like most about this block is that this is not fabric I would buy; it’s just not “me”. My colours are all the blues, greens and greys but now that I’ve finished it I’m really happy with it.

I’m just not sure what to use for the binding. Any suggestions?

Categories: Quilts2 Comments

Swooning again

eli 31st January 2012 #Camille Roskelly #Swoon Quilt #Swoon-along

First of all I have to apologise for my last blog post. I always say that a blog post without pictures is like toast without butter and there we have some very dry toast. There was supposed to be a picture but I hadn’t taken it yet. I wrote the post in the morning with the intention of posting later after taking a picture of my stacks of cut fabric and a bit of artistry when I hit the wrong button. Oh yes, I hit publish. I know I could’ve deleted the post and reposted it later but decided not to do it. Everyone makes mistakes and I believe that one should stand up for one’s mistakes.

Anyway, I finally finished cutting the fabric for my first Swoon block. I would have finished earlier but sadly I encountered a slight hitch. Two fat quarters are used for each Swoon block and not much is left after you’ve cut out your squares and rectangles. In fact there’s hardly anything left of one colour. Well, my fat quarter wasn’t quite fat enough and I wasn’t able to cut out three (!) rectangles. *Insert some choice words here*

Here’s the fabric that got away:

It wasn’t too bad in the end because this is a trial block. Being a beginner and reading about the difficulty level for this block I decided to use some fabric I won at a giveaway and some sheeting to make a cushion. Little Miss Bossy-Boots has already decided that it will be used for picnics. I’m happy with that.

This is part of my first Swoon block:

I’m really pleased with it. I have learned so much with this block so far and am really hoping that I can finish it today. Might be a tad difficult, though, as Little Miss Bossy-Boots is home with me today.

Categories: Quilts1 Comment

Swooning along

eli 26th January 2012

When Katy from Monkey Do (aka I’m a Ginger Monkey) asked if anyone wanted to join her Swoon-along my first instinct was to go “yes, I do!” Then reason hit me and I thought how can I even contemplate making a Swoon quilt with so little previous experience in quilting. So reason won. For about a week. Then I went and bought the pattern and started fretting.

Yesterday evening I finally decided that I’ve fretted enough, grabbed two fat quarters and started cutting. I’m going to make a trial block before I go and buy fabric for a whole quilt. The reason I decided to go for it are all the posts with tips and tricks that I read on the flickr group‘s pages. Yes, I’m new to this whole quilting thing but with that much support what can go wrong? A lot, I know, but I’m not scared. Ignorance is bliss after all.

Categories: Quilts1 Comment

Resolved to Sew

eli 25th January 2012

Very Berry Handmade has a fantastic giveaway going. All you have to do is tell the blogging world about your resolutions to sew for 2012. Well, I don’t really need a resolution to sew, do I? I sew as much as I can anyway but what I can have a resolution about is what I sew. So here goes:

1. I would love to make a big quilt for Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ bed. I’ve already bought the fabric (the same I used for the Tumbler Cushion) but just cannot make up my mind about what pattern to use. I will find a pattern and sew the quilt this year.

2. I would love to make a few things for myself. I haven’t made clothes for a long time and I think it’s time to go back to making myself some tops and dresses.

3. I would like to teach people to sew. When I helped my friend Delphine to make the bean bags for her children I had a fantastic sense of achievement (and so did she!) and was so proud of her. It felt good and I would love to help more people get into sewing. I’ve been thinking about getting another machine, one that isn’t as heavy as my Bernina, and either go to people’s houses with some fabrics and threads or have them come here to make some easy projects.

4. I really want to get the ball rolling with the Heart Pillows. Last year was rather difficult and quite a few projects were dropped. This was one of them and I’ve been feeling terrible because of it.

There we go. I’ve committed myself and it feels good. Now, all I’m supposed to do is pick one of the prizes in case I win. Very difficult as I like all of them, but I think I’ll go for the Kate Spain Fat Quarter Bundle or maybe the Fancy Moon voucher? Anything really, as they are all great prizes.

As blog posts without pictures are like toast without butter I’ll leave you with this lovely picture:

Boy + Girl + Dinosaur + Barbie = Lots of Fun

Categories: MusingsLeave a comment

Aron’s Bed

eli 23rd January 2012 #dog bed

A few years ago I made Aron a big bed to sleep on. He loved it and although I made covers that could be washed it started smelling a bit. The bed was too big to put in the washing machine so just before Christmas I decided to bin it. I was sure I could quickly sew a new bed for him but, alas, that didn’t happen till now.

I had been thinking about it for a while and decided to make a sandwich so that I could take off the top layer, wash it and put it back at the bottom, thus regularly washing one layer after the other. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans… they don’t always happen, do they?

I kept with my initial thought of three layers but now I have two thin ones, one on top and one on the bottom and a thick comfy layer in the middle.

They’re a bit scrunched up because Aron decided to lie on the bed just as I was getting the camera ready. The two thinner layers basically have a thick polyester batting that I sewed into the seam so it wouldn’t move when washed. The thick comfy “burger” is filled with polyfill and will soon become a bit thinner. At the moment poor Aron looks a little bit like the princess on the pea.

I didn’t have any nice fabric or fleece lying around this morning so I just chopped up one of Aron’s old blankets to make a cover. Because the bed is so high at the moment I added about two inches to the seam allowance to accommodate for the extra width. It was a bit much so the cover is too big. I’ll rectify that when I make the new cover. I just want the polyfill to settle a bit before I do.

Although he’s only had it for about 30 minutes, he loves it and I’m quite happy with it too. I just hope that the sandwich method will prove to work the way I imagined it.

Categories: Home Projects1 Comment

Missy’s Room

eli 19th January 2012

Just a very quick post on the state of Little MissBossy-Boots’ room. It’s incredible how much bigger the room seems now.

Mark has finished his part of the work. The plasterer is coming on Saturday to skim the ceiling and the carpet layer will be working his magic next week.

Then we’ll finally get to the fun part: decorating. I’ve got so many ideas buzzing around in my head and I can’t wait to get going. Patience, my dear, patience.

Categories: Home ProjectsLeave a comment

Another Bag

eli 17th January 2012 #Alexander Henry Fabrics #Gryffith Butterfly #messenger bag

Just before Christmas I had a request to make a bag for a little girl as a Christmas present. I delivered the bag on Christmas Eve (oh, yes, it was a bit of a tight squeeze but I managed) but in the rush I completely forgot to take pictures of it. Maybe Charlotte’s mummy will take a picture or two for me if I ask very nicely.

Anyhoo, that bag led to another order and this time I didn’t forget to take pictures!

I used my messenger bag pattern (the Jacqui Bag, as I call it) to sew it. The outside fabric is a really lovely denim while the lining is Gryffith Butterfly by Alexander Henry Fabrics.

There are two pockets for the mobile phone, keys or other things and one for a pen.

As for the name, I went for the slightly rougher looking free motion sewn/embroidered look. I had a lot of fun with the name but also one of the most embarrassing situations ever: I miss-spelled the name! I had been practicing writing “Sarah” without setting my pen down the day before but wasn’t quite sure about it. In the end I decided to go for every letter individually. I sat down at the machine did a few practice letters to see how I liked it and to get in the flow. Then I wrote the name with an air erasable pen and started sewing. I was happy with the look of the name and proceeded finishing the bag. I didn’t have time to sew on the butterflies but thought that was a quick job which I could do the following day. Luckily, I showed Master the bag before calling Alison to tell her the bag was finished as he commented on the funky spelling: S a h r a.

Mortified, I took the bag apart again and redid the name. Catastrophe averted, phew.

Categories: Bags1 Comment