Off Piste Again

Armchair olympics are very good for hand sewing & knitting aren't they?

This week sees the 19th project in the Zakka sew a long - I haven't managed all of them and hesitated on this week's project, a Sugar Cookie Sack complete with felt cookies.
It's going to be a long time before the wee girl in my life will be old enough to appreciate such goodness so guess what? I adapted and made it a bit different.
Our mentor this week was Jen, who made a little modification herself which I copied. Instead of an embroidered label on the front of the sack, I added a pocket, using the very last scrap of my chosen fabric.

                           

As I stitched the sack, I reckoned it could be a useful little pouch for sewing bits and bobs so added some of my tape measure tape as the ties. As Jen pointed out, a loose tie would be quickly lost, so I secured my tape with a couple of stitches on the back.

In an effort to stick with the programme, I made a wee felt pinnie in the shape of a reel of thread.
This is a simple little sack to construct - I tried to be clever and made mine with French seams to conceal all the raw edges but they proved too bulky, I should have cut the pieces a little wider to accommodate the extra seaming - so I unpicked 4 rows of stitching. I also unpicked and reduced the width of the pocket, pretty much doubling the time it took to complete a straightforward project. Smarty pants!!
Returning to my olympic achievements, I knocked up another wee hat, this time for an older baby I know, so a bit bigger than the last one.

Super Saturday, Super Sunday?

Don't have a lot of energy after all my armchair participation in the Olympics yesterday - what a wonderful day for team GB, how exciting to see the joy on so many faces and heartbreaking to witness near miss disappointments.
My favourite moment was the one where Sophie Hosking and Katherine Copeland  won the lightweight women's double sculls. I have no knowledge or prior interest in rowing but the delight on Katherine's face was wonderful....to be captured forever on a Royal Mail stamp!

Meanwhile, my weekend started on Friday with a girls' day out to Ayr Flower Show. It's many years since I went to this home - grown event and in those intervening years it has grown......we had a great day viewing giant vegetables, huge flowers, reading comments on flower arrangements, all very Kirsty Allsop............there were loads of traders, super plant sales, yummy foods (with samples) and a large craft marquee -  not a quilt in sight tho, something bluepatchquilters might just have to address next year!!
I shall leave you with these bonkers images of begonias. Clearly someone harnessed the little sun we have seen this year.

                                                                 Enjoy Super Sunday!

Wet Weather Work

It's been a productive July, a mixture of post holiday enthusiasm, rotten weather, and oh - not having to go to work!! As always, linking to Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day.

Zakka - Boudoir Basket

At first, when I was studying this next project, I didn't think I'd use it for the table as a bread basket - my choice of fabric changed its style a bit.

Recently I told the story of my friend Caryl who comes to class, sometimes bearing fabric samples for "distribution". These samples, once taking centre stage in furnishing stores are retired to landfill apparently - so Caryl's friend rescues them, and we in class willingly relieve her of most of the booty.

I also mentioned recently, the tea towels I bought on holiday. One of those was pulled for use in this project.

The tea towel is on the left, is 100% cotton but heavy, like a linen. The "sample" on the right is 100% linen, quite a fine one, with a tiny metallic, splodge like pattern that tones well with the tea towel. The trims were all part of the sample.

The cotton was quite coarse and frayed a good bit. The linen had a mind of its own and was tricky to cut straight without it moving. The construction of the basket was familiar and I kept to the instructions this week as far as dimensions were concerned. I used the cotton for the base lining to give a bit more body.

I fussy cut the tea towel so the word Paris lay across the front of the basket.

  And, on the back, I used a piece of the sample trim. Waste not........

    and, the inside shot,

I finished it off with a blingy button from my button jar. 

No,. it won't be used for bread - I rather fancy it being located in a bedroom, full of pretty soaps or the like - I am calling it my Zakka Boudoir Basket - it was fun, and quick, to make.

As always, I am linking to Lindsey's blog where you can check out the other Zakka makes.

Merry Christmas....

....in July. Yes, it was that time of year again when my classes kick off with a workshop dedicated to making something Christmassy.

This year we indulged ourselves all day by making delightful Santas from Tone Finnanger's book, Crafting Christmas Gifts.

                                 Group photo call, if you like this, see more on the slideshow..........

As usual, the sun shone most of the day, the hours passed more quickly than on normal days, and the company was excellent. Thanks ladies.

A Salutory Tale

Yesterday, during an uncharacteristic flurry of housework, my Dyson made a heart rending wail and stopped. There was an unpleasant burning smell so I whipped out the plug quick smart.

 I reckoned it was time for some TLC........I took out the washable filter, and washed it........then I turned the vac upside down and was horrified to see how much thread was wrapped around the brush/roller......this is something my husband has often mentioned (oops)..........I had to CUT it all out and the resulting pile of thread was quickly binned in my haste to hide the evidence. Suffice to say it would have stuffed a large pincushion!!

The filter had to dry for 12hrs so I gave the matter no more thought until this morning when I casually mentioned it to my OH - together we plugged it in and got the same result.I had obviously succeeded in burning out the motor. 

Luckily for me there wasn't too much in the way of accusation being directed at me - we bought this Dyson a couple of years back when the last one was suffocated with building dust and debris.. 15 all.

When we purchased it, we had just moved house, didn't have a lot of spare cash for new vacuum cleaners so I sourced one from a company that sells refurbished Dysons.Great value for money, good product, it was like new. We have ordered another today. I thought some of you might like to check your vacuum cleaners.............

On a cheerier note -

I finished my bee blocks for Judith's Bee Blessed.

                                                      I knitted a hat for Ava for winter,

                    and I added the final borders to my Topsy quilt, it now measures 60" square.

and I have enough fabric left to piece a backing, always a bonus when you suddenly have unexpected necessities to buy...

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

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!