Lazy Days skirt

My latest project was the Lazy Days Skirt from the tutorial from Oliver and S

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I didn't quite have the full selvedge to selvedge, but as Possum is pretty small it didn't really matter.

It was really simple and the instructions were very easy to follow.

As I didn't have the selvedges intact I watched this YouTube video on French seams, and I am now a whizz!

Christmas Gift and latest project

Here's a little gift I whipped up before Christmas for Possum to give to her Daddy. I used this tutorial from myrtle & eunice and I changed it slightly as I didn't want to use ribbon as a fastener so I sewed on velcro and it worked pretty well.

I also created my own vouchers for trips to the zoo, the botanical gardens, Sentosa and a few other places. I wanted tears from the recipient which I didn't get, but he was pretty chuffed with the present. The fabrics ae just ones I found at Spotlight with an animal theme.

And here's my latest project, little stacks of blue and green coins for a coin quilt. I'm using Jaquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio's tutorial found here.

New Years Resolution

My new years resolution is to look after this blog a little better!

There are so many projects which I made in the last few months but I've given them away or lost them before I got chance to take a picture! I worked on them all right up to the wire and didn't have time for picture taking. Maybe better time management should be another new years resolution?!

So I'll have to ask people to take pictures of their gifts to show you, there's the birthday quilt, Molly Monkey, a handbag and the B&W photo quilt to show you. And I made a Ruby doll from this tutorial, but Possum lost her somewhere on Orchard Road : ( So I'll have to make another and show you pictures of the new one.

I the meantime it's the hubbies birthday tomorrow, and there appears to be a distinct lack of husband birthday cards here in Singapore, so I found this tutorial on AlphaMom for a shirt and tie father's day card, I started making it and was inspired by my colour choice and the little bits of qhite poking through to the right side to turn it into the hubbies football team's home shirt, so here you go.

Catch up

So....... had visitors galore for the last eight weeks, and now we're home alone! Yay in one way, but boo in another as I miss my mum : (

Aforementioned visitors have resulted in limited crafting and even more limited blogging. So here's a post full of the goings on over the last few weeks.

I received my parcel from my swap partner for the friendship bag swap. The lovely Frieda of sheknitsallday sent me not one but TWO beautiful bags, one for me and one for Possum, she's adopted the one on the right and took it out yesterday to carry her maraca and a little cow (as you do). Frieda also sent some lovely FQs, a covered tape measure and a little toy for Possum (not in the picture - already in toy basket!) Possum also love the tape measure, she pulls the whole thing out and then looks on in amazement when I push the button to retract the whole thing.

The birthday quilt was not finished on the actual birthday, so I whipped up this tutu from this tutorial as a quick on the day present, and the quilt was finished in time for the party a few days later - unfortunately it was finished in the nick on time and was hastily pulled from the dryer and promptly wrapped and arrived only 15 minutes late to the party - which meant no pictures! But I have asked for some pics so hopefully I'll have some soon.

I sign up for the Sis Boom Pow! block gather which V from Bumble Beans has organised. Fabrics donated by Jennifer Paganelli and a request for appliqued blocks. Here's the fabric parcel I received from V (I don't know if you can see in the pic the little bee in the cornerof the envelope, a nice little calling card - very cool, think I may have to get me one!)

And here's my first attempt at machine applique, quite a few puckers so I think I need to lift the foot at every pivot and be a bit more careful, now I just need to finalise my design, hmmmmmm.

And onto my most recent project, the black and white quilt for the Grandparents for Christmas.

I have already printed lots of black and white pictures of Possum and her cousin onto the inkjet fabric, they are all wash, pressed and cut out. I think the fabric worked quite well, although it did skew slightly after rinsing, and the colours look a little green tt me which I think will annoy me beyond belief as I am a real stickler for colour matching (used to be a big part of my job!)

My inspiration for this quilt, started from this, and eventually turned into a version of this but with actual pictures. I'm going to frame each picture with one of the black and white fabrics, and then put them all onto a white background courtesy of the Ikea flat sheet, and the Piece de resistance of the whole quilt will be the backing courtesy of spoonflower, but you'll have to wait for that to be revealed!

x

Oh Fransson's pincushion organiser.

Introducing my latest sewing project.......

It's the pincushion organiser from this tutorial by Elizabeth from Oh Fransson on Sew Mama Sew. It was really easy to make and the instructions were al very clear. The little bag for scraps and threads is very useful. I used some Erin McMorris Wild Wood, and some cool batik-y type fabric from Quilts n Calicoes.

Spot the mistake? I cut the piece to make the organser section the wrong way round, so the trees grow sideways - never mind!

Definitely a tutorial I recommend - I'll be making my mum one of these for Christmas - and speaking of Christmas - flights back to Blighty book - YAY!!!!!

x

Handmade presents

One of mine and Possum's bessie mates is moving back home tomorrow and we had to say goodbye today : (

As a little token departing gift I made Possum's buddy this little fabric beach ball using this tutorial from Purl Bee. I used some Amy Butler Full Moon Dots, some Jay McCaroll's Wood Maze, some cute birdie fabric and some orange solid. It was really easy to make, except the circles on the ends, the tutorial says to cut out the circles and iron the the fabric in a little, but this was waaaaaay too hard for me, so I used this tutorial for circles, and they turned out pretty well I think!
And for my buddy I made the "Poopy Clutch" from this tutorial. A few things went a bit worng but I gave it to her anyway as I thought she'd see the wonky bits and think of me!

I'll definitely be making more of the beach balls, they're fab!

x

Another bag

I've made myself another bag - my Heather Ross Weekend Sewing Hold Everything Tote actually holds too much! So I looked around the good old "t'internet" for a bag tutorial. I knew what kind of shape and size I wanted but didn't know how to make one without some guidance. I stumble across this tutorial, and it was brilliant as I could alter the pattern to fit my needs.



I made the strap shorter and wider, and I made the bag bigger all around. I also lined the pockets and made the fastening from velcro. Big lesson learnt here - when pressing a project involving velcro avoid the velcro! I managed to melt the loops! I made it using canvas from Ikea which I bought to make Possum some curtains, and lined it with some orange fabric I have. Here the bag in use - carrying toys!





I'm well chuffed with it! It's just what I wanted! And I loe the super-bright colours. It could maybe be an inch bigger - but I'll just have to make another one with some amendments!

I've also signed up for a Friendship Bag Swap over at the Quilting Gallery - should be good fun, check it out. It'll be my first ever swap - how exciting!


x

Whirlygiggles finished!

Yay! Quilt No. 2 is finished! I started it way back here in May. It's destined for my niece in England as a Christening present - unfortunately I won't be able to deliver it myself, but it will be on a jet plane across the continents in September.



I used this tutorial as a starting point, but modified the angle of the trapezoid/trapezium (big words!) to fit the size of the blocks and also to make it look the way I wanted. I also added on the seam allowance to the measurements and used the rotary cutter instead of making a template and cutting out all the shapes.


Here's how I did it..... my finished blocks are 6.5 " so I cut my fabric into 4.5" x 4" rectangles, I then I marked 1/2" up from the centre line on one side, and 1/2" down from the centre line on the other side, stacked a bunch of rectangles together and rotary cut from the marking on one side to the marking on the other - hey presto a load of trapezium/trapezoid ready to be sewn into Whirlygiggles. More whirlygiggle quilts can be seen here and here. And if you're into paper piecing - here's a tutorial on paper piecing a whirlygiggle.


The fabrics, are left overs from this quilt with a couple of extras added in. I know my SIL is not such a big fan of pink - and she loves orange, so I added in the Amy Butler's Ripple Stripe in Orange, to try to de-pink the overall look, I also added the orange border in linen which I just love! Orange is a very happy colour!

I tried something a bit different on this quilt, I used a fleece blanket as the batting AND the backing, I think it works quite well, it's made the quilt a nice weight for a toddler quilt. And in keeping with the current economic downturn - the fleece was a bargain! I just wish I had put a layer of white fabric between the top and the fleece as the pink shows through a little - but hey you live and you learn.

My lovely sewing machine was purchased half-way through the making of this quilt so it is half hand pieced and half machine pieced. All the blocks were hand pieced and then the whole thing was assembled using the machine. I still really enjoy hand piecing, but I love how quickly things come together with the machine.

For the quilting, I hand quilted a quarter inch in on all the cream bits, and then did parallel lines around the linen border - I think that may be my trademark in borders as I really like how it looks.

This is the first quilt I've labelled properly - the other's are on my to do list! I hand embroidered the label as inspired by this.


I here's my little possum - who generously agreed to model for me!


I hope my little niece treasures this quilt for years to come.

Next project - a quilt for her baby brother or sister who is currently a bun in the oven!!

x

Things to make.....

I'm so inspired whilst trawling around blogland, I find so many fabulous tutorials out there, and I want to make them all!!

Here's what I really want to make. (I'm not really sure what the etiquette is for using pictures, but I hope all the people who's work I refer to don't mind me using their photos)

This gorgeous Felt Garland from Anna Maria Horner's blog, this one will definitely be on the tree come Christmas (that's how long it takes me to get my proverbial ahem into gear!)

The Kidlet Wall Pocket/Tidy Tote - from JC Handmade this one is way down the "to do" list - not because I don't love it, but because I think it's a bit much to ask of a 7 month old to tidy up after themselves! But I can just see these on all the doors and hanging on hooks in bedrooms in out beautiful house in England - oh how I miss my house : (

This fab Play Microphone - from Blueprints which is again way down the list until Possum is a bit older.

These groovy Soft Trees - from Little Birds Handmade, I'll have to find somewhere for these to go come Chirstmas time, but I also thing they make cool ornaments any time of year - don't you?

I just lurve these little Love Birds - from Molly Chicken
I'll be making six of these to send to my nearest and dearest six best buddies back in blighty.

This well used tutorial for Fabric Baskets by Pink Penguin, is there anyone in blogland who hasn't made one (well me - but I will make one soon!)

Another one for when Possum is older but this Tutu tutorialfrom Plumtickled has got Possum's name ALLLLLLL over it!

The Poopy Clutch - from IS.LY I'll be making one of these for me and many other ladies and ther adorable babies!It's great fits a few nappies/diapers and a packet of baby wipes, and hey presto purse magically turns into a nappy/diaper bag without morphing into some horrendous monstrosity!

This Toy gathering basket - from Sew Mama Sew posted by Kristen, is a great idea, it's a toy in itself with all the little toys in the side pockets, I think it's great to encourage kids to tidy up.

And these Baby Cloth Shoes - from Stardust Shoes, Possum doesn't really wear shoes at the moment, but when she starts walking/cruising she'll need some (and I don't think that will be long the rate she's going!)

Well those are all the projects I want to make, plus a whole load from the extremely talented Elizabeth from Oh Fransson. I made the laptop pouch for a friend but forgot to take a pic before I gave it away - doh!

Now I just need to decide which one to make first.....................