More christmas

Trying the new blogger app as I had used my ipad for my last post but half of it was missing! Very annoying. I am not sure how to add pictures from here though as at the moment it is just shown at the bottom corner so no idea if it will be in the post. See in a minute. Previously I was saying about sweetwater at http://www.sweetwater.typepad.com/. Their patterns and fabrics are just lovely, so please do check them out. They also have printed designs on iron on fabric to add to your projects, I bought some but I also bought some A4 printable fabric from http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/.-Iron-On-Cotton-Washable_024.htm to try my own designs, so ill let you know how we'll that goes. It just goes through an inkjet printer like normal paper, so I hope it turns out well. If there is a picture here? It's of a rag doll in a bassinet that I have made for my cousins daughter. The pattern for the doll is from the book wee wonderfuls by Hilary Lang and the bassinet is from a tutorial at http://nothingfancyschmancy.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/baby-doll-bassinet-tutorial.html.
Back to more christmas sewing now, bought the new cath kidston book of christmas decorations.

Christmas is coming

Hi, here are some of the christmas projects I have been  working on. I made new stockings for my children, first appliqué a design they liked then arranging 2.5 inch squares around it. Two layers of 4 at top and 3 layers of 6 squares underneath. I then just free handed a stocking shape, cut out, layered with batting and lightly quilted. The back was just some charm squares sewn together and lightly quilted.i made it larger so it was easier to place the front right sides together, sewn then cut out. It is lined with plain fabric and binded around the top. It only took on charm pack to make the two stockings so I was very pleased. I also made the snowman table runner from a pattern by sweetwater. It can be found their blog at http://www.sweetwater.typepad.com/ . It is the cutest thing ever. Their patterns and fabrics are the best

house quilt

finished putting my first batch of houses together. i think it makes a pretty cute quilt. i am busy piecing a new quilt top together and i still have 2 other quilts to actually quilt so i am a few weeks behind in building more houses,hope to cut out some more pieces over the weekend.

i am away back to looking over the simply charmed blog hop

at http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com

as there are some really nice things i want to make, i am just waiting for my moda always and forever charm pack to come in the post, hopefully tomorrow.

more houses

i have completed 30 little houses and sat today and cut the fabric for the borders. i chose a red spot and a blue fabric and as you can see i have decided to mix them up rather than keeping them all the same. i am really pleased with the fabric choice, the colours work well together and i am already thinking about what else i can use them for. i have decided to use these first 30 houses and make a completed quilt, i will still make a house everyday but i think that throughout the year i will make a few smaller quilts rather than one large one.i am really keen to put the first one together to see how it looks, i hope to have something to show by next week. i may not have it quilted though as i am considering pieceing quilt tops first then doing the quilting when the weather gets better, so i can sit outside and finish them. i think this might work better for me so that i am not spending the spring/summer indoors at the machine but i will still have sewing to do.

happy new year

hi, i have decided to take part in the building a house quilt by completing one block a day for 366 days! as you can see i have made a great start, 6 houses in 5 days, i am not sure how long i will keep this up. the house are fine to sew although a little wonky, but it took me 2 days of cutting fabric for about 2 weeks worth of houses. i did manage to get rid of a lot of scrap though so ill keep going for a while. if you are interested information on the project can be found at http://buildinghousesfromscraps.blogspot.com/
good luck.

dress a girl

hi, the last few months i have been busy making dresses for the dress a girl project, http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com/
it is a very worthwhile organisation and if you can sew then you should at least make a few, and if you cant then what a great project for beginners, pillowcase dresses are easy. give it a go.
even though it is an american website, they benefit the world.

I have been trying to get them noticed here in britain and managed to convince SEW HIP magazine to run a story which they have published this month ( April edition, check it out) so thank you to them for bringing this great story to all the british sewers where "every girl around the world will own at least one dress".

If anyone wants to help but can only manage a few you can send them to me and i will post them to america with my lot to save postage, also if anyone has any pillowcases that they could donate to me to make the dresses then i would be very grateful.

Dress a girl

Happy New Year,
just a short post to tell everyone about a great cause called dress a girl.
find them here: www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com
they need volunteers to sew simple pillowcase dresses to supply to girls all over the world.
please help

snowman pincushion

FINISHED

snowman pincushion part 3

with right sides together sew the front and the back pieces together leaving a gap for turning.

clip corners, turn and stuff. sew up gap.

snowman pincushion part 2

2. take the 2 longer pieces and sew to the top and bottom. iron.
Trim.

1. Take the fabric strips for the front and sew the 2 short pieces to the sides of the snowman. Iron flat.

snowman pincushion part 1

i had wanted to make a pincushion to add some Christmas cheer to my sewing table so i drew this little snowman. He was so enjoyable to stitch that not only did i make my pincushion i made hanging scented Xmas tree decorations to give with my Xmas cards. he is everywhere.

if you want to make your own, you will need:

linen or calico 8 x 8 inch

fabric strips for front 2 x 6 inch (2 of these)

2 x 8 inch (2 of these)

fabric for back 7 x 7 inch

stuffing

embroidery thread

Print the above pattern onto an A4 sheet, it should come out the right size.

Trace the pattern onto the linen( or calico), I just used a light box and a pencil but taping it to a window works just as well.

Embroider the design using 3 strands of floss, Snowman white (back stitch), Arms brown (back stitch), Nose orange (satin stitch), Eyes and mouth black (satin stitch), Star yellow (back stitch).

The scarf is done in 6 strands to make it look chunkier, it is a 2 colour stripe.

when finished iron and trim to a 5 x 5 inch square.

Angry birds christmas

it has been very snowy here the last 2 weeks, schools are closed, traffic stuck, so we are not going anywhere. it does however mean more crafting time for me.

as i am a huge angry birds fan i decided to make some Christmas ornaments for the tree, i have so far made these 4 and have drew up patterns for the remaining characters. they are quite big ornaments but i think they look great. i hope to complete the rest over the weekend as i am not going out (minus 15) way too cold.

finished cushion

here is the finished greg made into a cushion. dosent he look great?

wimpy kid 2

here is the pattern in block colour instead of symbols if you prefer

wimpy kid

my son just loves the diary of a wimpy kid books and even though i havent read them myself the film was very funny. "Touch the cheese" is funny at any age.

i have done this xstitch which i intend to stitch today for him, its done all in full xstitch and in one colour, black, so it shouldnt take long. i will post the finished item when done not sure what i am making it into yet.

hope you enjoy

Happy Halloween

A bit late but i have had trouble accessing my account for the last few weeks. Everything seems to be working now so hopefully i will be back on track. Maybe for next year?

Jelly rolls are great

I love Moda. Precuts make everything really quick to make. I used the jelly roll to make a book pillow from a Sew Liberated pattern and made a matching quilt from a jelly roll and a charm pack.

The quilt is made of 4 jelly strips, then 2 rows of 8 charm squares, then 4 jelly roll strips, the upight panel is 6 half strips, then 3 rows of 4 charm squares and then another 6 half strips.Then sew both panels together. it is very simple and very quick to make, you even use the jelly roll as binding strips, no cutting. I used fleece as the backing fabric as i hand quilted it (cant get the hang of machine quilting) it hides lots of mistakes as you cannot see the stitching because of the pile. Yah.

is it christmas?

a trip to the garden centre yesterday for some bulbs (yes i am running a bit late) left me wondering if i had been sleeping a lot longer and missed a few months. All that was missing was Santa Claus. The place was so over decorated with lights, decorations, gifts, the lot, that my children just stood there looking confused. They knew Halloween hadn't been, or that my son Ben didn't yet have his birthday (November) so what was going on? i think September is a bit early.

I have already been making gifts,this takes time, but i do not need to be thinking about Christmas dinner.

I recently bought this great book,(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fa-Felt-Handmade-Holiday-Decorations/dp/1600596150) see pic, with lots of great felt projects to make for your tree. I love making things that can be done by hand in front of the TV, and this is ideal. My only complaint is that the patterns aren't full size and it has taken ages to photocopy them then cut out sections and then recopy them to size. i had paper everywhere, i can never get the hang of where to place the image to be copied so i can enlarge it without missing anything out. It is very time consuming, full size patterns would have been so much better. The projects are really nice though and i cant wait to get started, some patterns are a bit fiddly looking and i will have to draw these myself as they are far too small to transfer to felt but in all a book i highly recommend.

cushions or footstools?

These are great cushions for children to sit on, i have been making them for everyone and all from just 1 metre of fabric. This allows you to buy something really nice that you may not be sure of what to use it for. I also find they make nice footstools although my daughter is forever telling me to get off hers. I am going to make one that is a little bit taller just for my feet.

so head on over to http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-land-of-nod-inspired-floor.html

for instructions on how to make it. piping also makes things look more professional.

i am back

oh its been a while but now that summer is nearly over and the kids are back at school i hope to get more time for blogging and crafting. my aim will be to post an item at least once a week (i think i have said this before) but i do hope to keep to this promise, its also good for myself to keep a record of what i do or i just forget. Thank you to pamela kirk of kirkskorner, http://kirkskornerathome.blogspot.com for being my one and only follower and showing me that i am not just talking to myself. Also for her baby bib pattern, its just what i was looking for as a baby gift, i couldnt find a pattern i liked but i really like the long flap on this one, i plan to make it tomorrow so i will post some pictures in the next few days.
over the last few months i have been on a sewing frenzy making a baby quilt, a quilt for my sisters christmas which i will have to take pictures of as i made it from a jelly roll and a charm pack and i cant believe how quick it was to put together, i also discovered that if you use fleece fabric as your backing fabric it hides a lot of mistakes. i even impressed myself to how proffessional this one looked. i also made a quilt from heather bailey fabric from a pattern in sew hip magazine, it is very bright, and i also made slippers but they turned out to be too small for my big feet. oh well just something else i can give as a gift. my husband says i would have been cheaper buying a pair of slippers but wheres the fun in that! i also dont even like slippers i am always in my bare feet, even outside, it was a cute pattern though. i have also been making reading pillows from a sew liberated pattern, again i love the pattern but i am not sure if people will use it, they are getting them as christmas presents anyway, maybe even everyone i know as i just love this pattern. i have also made a few hopscotch mats and i have also been making the kids floor cushion from living with punks blog http://3punkmom.blogspot.com , they look really good made up although it took me ages trying to find a circle large enough. well thats enough for now, will be back soon with some pictures and hopefully some crafts to do.