Fresh Sewing Day!!

Wow last month went by quickly. I'm glad I got to cram so many things into it. I'm hoping this month I can finish the projects I started.
Here is an update on what happened last month....

The Not Quite Rainbow

The Citrus Quilt

The Berry Quilt

Citrus Berry Project

Orange, Grey, Blue Quilt

The Purge!!

Well that's last month out of the way! Roll on August!

Tonight Linking up with 

Watch this space!

Cherie =]

A Few Finishes...

So I said I would be back soon and here I am! Yes two posts in one week! I'm getting there. I would have posted yesterday, but I went to bed earlier than usual.

I did get some finishes in yesterday however.

Here's how they started

Then them finished. It's great what you can do when you put your mind to it! I think I procrastinate so much so when it comes down it I just get on with things all at once. Those snaps in the last picture belong to the HST cushions from Wednesday's post

Wednesday evening Mother made Red Velvet Cupcakes. I helped her with the piping of the icing. She took them to work Yesterday. She said everyone was saying she should make more and some for Christmas....They were fairly quick to make. I may even make some to take to work.

Today I relaxed and tried out a thrown together pattern of something I've wanted to try for a while now. I had some scrap fabric sitting around. I also rooted through the scrap draws. Those scraps became this little thing

By no means was it meant to be neat and tidy. After all they were just scraps. It sits on Mother's dressing table. She said I could make them and use them as little scent bags for wardrobes or drawers. I plan to make some more in the near future as my WIP pile is pretty much clear. I can start some new projects. I think I have enough cushion covers!!

I'll make some more pouches me thinks. I have a lot of snaps left...Velcro...I can use the drawstring method...I have zippers....

Some more pincushions as you can never have too many! Hmmm then I have to have a good old think on what else to make...

Siya'll later. =D

Saturday finish up!

Well technically most of these things were finished during the week but due to awful weather and exhaustion no decent photo's were taken!
So coming in early where there was still some day light left I finished the Christmas hot pads, then pulled out my camera to take some pictures of everything finished this week!

First on the finish list is all the hexie cushion covers I started last week. That's 6 covers to add to my stock. All I can say is thank goodness for the market stash! Without those fabrics it would have been much longer before these were finished. I would also like to thank to good people who invented hemming web, making hems so much easier and neater.

Then I got all 6 hot pads finished too I made a start on those a while back and was waiting for the amazing Sarah-lou's package to come in the post. She offered to send me some insulated batting she had spare! She also sent a quilting magazine and a sweet belated birthday card!

I also with the help of Jano tried out some new stitches for some fun quilting styles! Jano QUILTING!!!

Tomorrow I hope to get the wadding cut for the table runners and work on a few other things for the shop. I found some large mailing bags at the post office the other day which are just the right size for those cushions I made! I'm sure a quilt could fit in them too.
I do so love the weekends! I can get so much done...(when not procrastinating that is!)

Siya'll  later =D

The Friday update....

I told you I'd be back today...I'm sure many didn't believe that to be true! I don't blame you...
I've had quite a few finishes this week only the weather has been so rubbish getting decent photo's has been a task and a half!

This week at work ended with relief that it's the weekend! I really feel like I'm doing the job of two people! A girl came in for an interview today. She starts next Wednesday for a two week trial. I have no idea what job role she'll be doing exactly, but I guess I'll find out then! The office is getting much colder! They need to install some heating in there, it's almost like being outside!

I'll be taking pictures tomorrow when it's in the day time. That way they might stand a chance of looking decent! I'll also have time to get a decent back drop to throw in too! The memory card for Father's camera has been ordered so soon I'll have some professional photo's to show off to the masses! I'll also be able to create some business cards! Then eventually open my Etsy shop!!

Mother has said once I get that done she'll bring some things in to work to show off on my behalf. I'll also take a few things in to work with me to see if anyone is interested.....I still won't be taking custom requests mind you!

Over the next week I'll be attaching my labels to the bigger things I've made like the cushion covers, make-up bags, pouches/purses  and the cushions themselves...I may have to order some more soon. I counted how many things I have and it came to 115!! I've made a few more things since then. I'll have to start making some more baby items soon, just little toys, burp cloths. I've got some fabrics/materials prepared it's just making them!

I've been working on some hot-pads this week I have 3 finished so far just got the other 3 to make...then the table runners to finish....must remember to cut the wadding!! I also want to make a few mug warmers as my tea gets awfully cold so quickly! I'll whip one up this weekend to bring to work too, as my office is freezing food doesn't stay hot for long.
I'll also be buying a thermos flask so I don't have to leave my desk to grab lunch! I think soup will be high on my menu...I'll have to bring in some bread too...or make some....Can regular food go in a thermos? (I'll have to do some research!)

For the new year I may just whip up some more table runners. I've used some simple methods to make a few Christmas ones and they came together quickly...all but the backing! I've had fun trying some new quilting/stitches with Jano, which I also need to get decent photo's of. They came out way too bright due to the actual light being on and you couldn't see the quilting decently!

I'm going to make some more zippered pouches up soon as I have a feeling they may sell quickly. I have a few ideas in mind already...
I want to get some more cushion covers made too ready for the new year..I'll have to dig out the rest of the market stash and possibly get father to do some cutting for me.....(he is always asking......) (Which reminds me I must get some new blades!)

I'm also going to look out for any Fairs coming up so I can test the market as they say....

Well I've gone on long enough!

Siya'll Later =D

The weekend roundup...

After completely forgetting to post yesterday and then getting so engrossed in a movie after blog reading.....Real Steel. You HAVE to watch it! It's a great movie with just the right amount of every good movie element to mark it as a 10/10! Plus Hugh Jackman is in it! Need I say more.....

Earlier yesterday afternoon Mother and I went to my Besties as she was hosting a Macmillan coffee morning. For the past two weeks she bought in cakes and such to raise more donations for the cause. I helped out on Friday and gave her some cookies and cake to share out. Mother and I ate a lot of cake and bought a lot back home with us too....Most of them are gone now......

I also got on with sewing the Christmas table runner tops. I went with 1 of each design in the end

I got the hot pad tops sewn up too

Just need to pull out a print for the backing of these. I'll have to see which one I have the most of.

Today I did an inventory of all the things I've made to sell in my future Etsy shop (still need to work on those labels!) and saw that I haven't made many actual cushion covers! So I pulled out the solid strips I'd for sashing, to make up some cushion covers.

This should roughly be a 20" cushion cover once the back is sewn onto it. I'll make up 3 more perhaps in different styles, using the solids. 

I'll also pull out my rainbow charms and make up a few cushion covers with those too. As well as those triangular prints to make up some covers. 

 Then I decided to join the 2nd round of the Modern She Made Swap this time round the theme is triangles. My partner was very specific and said she liked orange and grey together and would like a mini quilt. So I went through all my scraps to pull out pieces big enough to make a triangular mini. I made a template from news paper and sewed the pieces together until the strips were long enough to cover the template.
They are 3" by various widths I used some linen in there as I don't have a grey solid.

I had to swap some pieces around and add on some extra pieces to make them long enough after they had been sewn together. I just have to cut the final shape then work on the backing. That might just be one solid colour in a nice dark shade. Then I'll double up the batting and hand quilt it. I need to make up some binding..... The finished size should be 14" tip to bottom x 22" along the base. This may be an early finish! The deadline is mid November! So I can make some fun goodies to go with it too.

I noticed I really need some more orange and grey prints in my stash! It was a struggle to find those grey prints. Pink Castle here I come!.....

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Twas 3 months and 6 days before Christmas...

and all bout the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse..... OK so not true as a cake was totally being stirred....

So today was another busy work day, far more people actually coming in store to buy vacuums and pick up ones they had ordered. I still hate hearing the phone ringing, the sound really drives me crazy....I need to work in a building with no phones to answer.....

So upon returning home I dithered on whether to make a cake today or tomorrow...Today won as It'll give me a chance to cut it then bring it in on Friday without having to wait for it to cool down. Momma came in an made one too to bring to her work place!

We have a whole lot of cornmeal in the cupboard so I looked for a recipe to use some of it up. I'll have to see how the cake tastes before I bring it in, you know just encase....

I then got to work on actually cutting those Christmas fabrics...yes I missed the Christmas in July.....

I'm planning to make some disappearing 9 patch table runners I can get 2 out of those then some table toppers using the 4 patches-I plan to sew and then cut them into 4 triangles sewing them back together. I've used 6" squares for those....
I have some 3" strips cut too ready to make some more things with. I also want to try out some drawstring bags.....I'll see how that works out.

I have cookies to make tomorrow also to bring into work on Friday, oatmeal ones....I did find one for cornmeal cookies...I may just make those for the family.....
The Older Giant informed my that my Granddad is expected to be flying in next week!!!!!  My Grandparents live in Jamaica so we see them in turns once each year. I have to make him something light to take back with him, that will neither overfill his case or be too hot to use...suggestions are welcomed....

Siya'll tomorrow =D

An early start!

So now my hours have changed!! I work 7.45-4 now! Which means I have to get out of bed slightly earlier, which is no fun at all! When I set alarms I tend to wake up long before them and then feel meh when it comes to getting up, as I haven't had a proper sleep.
Hopefully this will improve! Monday is the busiest day with all the over the weekend orders to sort out! As well as the phone going and customers coming in! I didn't even get chance for a break I was that busy!
So I took it when I got home instead, soup with lacto free cheese and turkey ham toasties!

Then I set to finishing off my hoop

I found my fabric triangles and set to work on sewing a few together in pairs. I went with 32 for a nice rounded number

I have no actual idea what they will become though, but it was relaxing to sew them together. I still have a load left over.....

I managed to just about sew up the Younger Giants cushion, turn it right side out and sew it without him seeing...I hope.....He likes to pop in occasionally and linger behind me for some time! I also ordered him a graze box with a special message written inside, that's being delivered on Thursday. Mother is planning on getting a canvas painted up for him, from a friend at her work place.....I forgot to ask her about it. I said she should get the Older Giant to pay half.

Anyways it's getting late and I need all the sleep my subconscious will allow

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Sewing Fairytales!

As I've been loving embroidery after dealing wi sewing up the Younger Giants cushion back, I thought I'd do just a wee bit more.
I had already pulled out a scrap of linen and my 6" embroidery hoop to work on. I flicked through my sketch book for some inspiration and chose the fairy I love so darn much

I traced her onto baking parchment, which I will never use again, such a nightmare to tear off...I really need to get some tracing paper! I started with the outline of the wings

Then moved to the skin and her dress

Then went around her hair.

Completely forgot to take a picture once I had wrestled   taken all the paper off. (My seam ripper enjoyed this task!)

I ended up not liking the dress so I pulled out the stitches and grabbed my fabric pens instead. I filled in the shaded and more detailed areas to finish her off.
Then I removed the fabric from the hoop and gave it a good iron to set the colour in.

I used my purple perle cottons to embroider her as I have no actual embroidery threads. I like the colours and they sew up quite nicely too. I know the wings look like they are outlined with black, but that's just a very deep shade of purple.
I'm just thinking whether to add in a background or leave her as she is? I just need to finish the hoop properly using this tutorial then it will be finished!


On another note, my jaw hasn't been in pain at all today. I woke up this morning and nothing. Not sure whether that's good or bad, but it was a surprise. I half expected it to be swollen and hurt to the extremes, but nothing not even a twinge of pain oddly enough. The stitches look really odd though, the paper says they take 7-10 days to 'drop' out....

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Present in the makings...

So with the Younger Giants birthday coming up in like 8 days I thought I best get a move on with making him something. I pulled out the left over wedges from the pillows and had to to change them round as mostly pinks and browns were left! I managed to find a few other colours, and sort the other leftovers into reasonable colour schemes....

I still had to use a pink wedge, but hopefully he wont notice/mind....it's the lightest shade there was (the others were bright pink!)

Teamed with the fun rainbow sashing...

I found some green fabric to back it with. I'm not sure what kind of material it is at all, but it has a nice soft feel to it and is light in weight.

I eventually plan to rainbow embroider his name, I'll possibly get some done tomorrow when I get home....When I get started on embroidery it becomes so addictive! With some luck I should have it finished by Sunday stuffing and all. I'll let him pick a button for it.....not that I'll tell him what its for...

Oh and a picture of the bobbin casing which was casing the strange clicking noise...of which I didn't hear today, maybe Jano can read minds about him going to be checked out!

Well tomorrow is going to be a long day. I have a random appointment, maybe I'll grab some food after leaving there....then off to work for a shorter day!

Tonight I'm linking up with


Siya'll tomorrow =D

Anyone for a Quilt sandwich?...

I'm going to end up really hating labels! Lol. So this funny thing happened. On our eBay systems a lot of products were mysteriously marked as not dispatched (all the way from June!)...there were over 1000 of them! So the manager went through them and marked them as dispatched...now to my knowledge when this happens you get sent an email to say your item has been dispatched. I mentioned this, but she said hopefully that wouldn't matter.....So nearing the end of the day we had some phone calls from customers about the dispatches! We were trying hard not to laugh....just think if over 1000 were 'dispatched' and a few people have called already......you can just imagine what tomorrow will be like.....

Back at the sewing desk armed with snacks. I made up some quilt sandwiches to continue practicing the FMQ....only first I had to re-spin some bobbins...

 Practicing some loops and meandering....I should have used another colour other than the white! I made up two sandwiches, a big one and a smaller one. As you can see I need a lot of practice....I think when I tried before with the normal foot it was much neater!

I'm still far off from doing any major quilting, I may use these samples as some coasters...
I'll have to watch a few more tutorials to get better

Jano is still sounding off. I'll have to find out what days the machine shop is open as well as opening hours....

Siya'll tomorrow

FMQ take two!

Another day of labels, but at least there was less than yesterday! That was insane, so many kept on being added to the pile. Today as well as the labels I had to deal with phone calls. There was this one lady shouting down the phone at me...some people can be so impatient!  What did I ever do to them (well besides answer the phone....)
I learnt a few more things today and will gradually be taught how to do some of the other tasks there.

Back at home I chilled out a bit deciding what to actually make next. I remembered my pile of triangular scraps so pulled those out to use. I also grabbed some scrap fabric to use with them, I made a quilt sandwich pillowcase style first....need to turn it right side out....

The thread in the picture is more red than orange.....

I gave Jano a good dusting as he was starting to sound funny....a strange clicking from under the plate, I took it apart to check, but the clicking is still there? Maybe he needs to be properly serviced, but I have no idea how much that'll cost.....I'm not even sure they make the model anymore for me to get parts if they are needed. I can't afford a new machine right now so I hope it's nothing too serious if he does need fixing.

Then I decided to give the FMQ another go just making some random lines. The fabric actually moves this time!

I'll have to work out how to make actual patterns, this was just to get the rhythm of moving the fabric. some stitches were so tiny! I'll watch a few tutorials and read up a few guides to improve my skills. Then I might just be able to tackle those two quilts I have laying in wait.

Siya'll tomorrow =D