Zakka & more...........

Well, it's week 17 already in the Zakka sew a long.
I dipped out of last week's scrap "ribbon" and cut straight to the linen bag for this week. When I looked at the size of this little bag, I reckoned it might be just right for a Kindle........or two.

I didn't really stick to the instructions, I do that with recipes too.
First of all I decided I wanted to use wadding in the bag. Then I thought cutting the front in one piece made sense, also the lining.
I embellished the linen front and had great fun with it, adding all sorts of bits and bobs. I then laid the front on to some wadding and then very lightly added a couple of rows of quilting.

I cut the lining fabric half an inch longer than the outer, stitched the front & back together along the short sides. I then rearranged it so the right sides were still facing each other but now with the seams lying across the centre. I stitched the sides, leaving a gap in the lining for turning. When it is turned through, the little extra lining makes a mock binding. I had also stitched in a little "rattail" cord to make a loop.

                                                                  And the Kindle fits.

Other finished stuff this week - I made a quick, "cheater" quilt for my little 2 yr old nephew. Elmo was requested and had to be obtained from the US. The Fat Quarter shop came to my rescue.

Next Sunday is my first workshop of the new session, Christmas in July, and we are making this little fella.-

He is from Tone Finnanger's book, Crafting Christmas Gifts, and a requirement of the workshop is the purchase of the book, currently not much more than the cost of a magazine.If I run a workshop based on someone else's work, I usually approach them for permission. In this case, I contacted the publishers but never received a reply, so I reckon all the students buying the book is pretty fair

And still on class samples, I made progress with my NY Beauty variation on my "Topsy" project. It's measuring about 42" square at the moment and I intend increasing it a good bit yet. It's a long time since I actually did any curved piecing and I thoroughly enjoyed putting this together - I am making good use of my Joel Dewberry fabric that I got half price a few months back.............

Today I had a really thoughtful little gift turn up in the post from Helen. 

I think she might have been in secret discussions with my other half - it's his constant bugbear, the amount of thread that lies around the house - with this new thread catcher, I have high hopes that my messy tendencies will be a thing of the past!