Hopscotch

Hi, today i made this excellent hopscotch for my kids. I used a basic tutorial which can be found at http://sewhappytocraft.blogspot.com/2010/03/hopscotch-tutorial.html

i had been looking for a pattern for a few weeks and came across many but this was this quickest and easiest way to do it. I don't know how i didn't think of it myself.

The kids love it.

The only thing i did differently from the tutorial was that i treated it like i was making a quilt and added wadding, backing and binding and just stitched in the stitched lines. I used the machine to quilt as it was narrow but i still found it hard to get everything under and rolled out the way for stitching. hand quilting may take longer but it is so much easier. if anyone has any tips on machine quilting i would love to know, i just don't know how to do it without getting in a mess.I have bought many a book and looked at a lot of web pages on quilting but there is not a lot of instructions on the actual process of doing the "quilting", no info on where to start or what patterns to use or how to do them. You always get lots of detail on piecing the patchwork top together but then all it says after that is layer batting and backing and then quilt.

is it so big a secret that you can only be born with the knowledge?

buttercup bag

I made this cute bag from a pattern i found at made by Rae,

http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html

it was really enjoyable to make and the pattern pieces fitted exactly which is actually a very rare find, this needed no adjustment at all. I made it from a fat quarter of Amy butler fabric and used a contrasting print for the lining. It is a bit smaller than i thought but ideal for when you do not need to carry a lot.

penguin cross stitch

As i have said before my daughter loves penguins. Here is a new penguin cross stitch taken from the Bang on the door animal range of images, i thought it was so cute i just had to convert it for stitching. I am also loving the new windows 7 snipping tool it makes uploading images so much easier and quicker as before it took ages to convert the cross stitch file to a file that can be uploaded to blogger but now i just have choose the snipping tool and drag a box around the image. How great is that?

valentine

here is a picture of what the back looks like.

valentine

picture 4

picture 3

picture 2

picture 1


1. Cut out all pieces. (picture 1)

2. Iron interfacing to large heart back.

Cut 2 slits on large heart back as shown on pattern for pin. (picture2)

3. Thread beads onto floss , i have used a small jump ring to hold the beads at the bottom, and sew onto back heart piece. (picture 3)

4. Blanket stitch around large hearts (both together) and the 2 small hearts, front and back together.

5. Attach the 2 small hearts to the large heart and add the pin to the back through the two small slits. (picture 4)

valentine

I have been making these felt heart brooches for my children to wear over the valentine season.

tutorial to follow.

Here are the pictures of the child's crayon bags I've been talking about. The tutorial was on Moda bakeshop a few weeks ago and i cant stop making them. AS you can see i have been adding stitching panels to them to make them a bit more personal but they are very useful bags indeed, i have also done a few non patchwork ones and they are just as nice, i will take pictures of these tomorrow. http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/01/childs-activity-bag.html#more