2014 April (second half)

 

Goodies Galore

A while ago I was chatting by email to Kathy (Running with Rocket) and we agreed a small swap:  I had some aeroplane charms than she admired, and she has some selvedge edges that she knows I can use.  Well I have been particularly tardy and haven't done anything about getting the stuff ready (her address is in my desk, does that count for *anything*?)

However Kathy has been organised, and OH so generous!

Even the packaging is exciting

Hang on, what's that on the customs label?

 Bunting? Candy? neither were mentioned in the swap discussion ...

There most certainly was Bunting AND Candy!

(I love love LOVE burlap / hessian bunting - there is much more but I couldn't capture its loveliness if I showed much more)

And I'm fairly partial to candy too!!!!

And just look at the pouch the candy is in!

And the selvedges were there too - *loads* of them

 The pouch has been moved into - a great travel bag for hexies (the candies had to be removed, to eliminate the risk of dribbles on the fabric - I put them somewhere very safe!)

and the back of the pouch ...

And it arrived with this lovely card, and some lovely fussy cut scraps!

Thank you Kathy, its all amazing - and mine will find its way to you eventually!!!!

Plenty of Pottery

Day one in Ireland - pots at Mount Brandon Pottery - luckily Carmen's a very patient teacher who coped very well with her two special needs pupils!  

Making a mess 

Jackie's pinch pot 

And mine 

And me having a go on the wheel (*much* harder than it looks )

And our thrown pots waiting to be fired 

Blissful Blocks in Bulk

Oh the bliss of working on blocks with a friend! This afternoon we had a production line going - Me cutting, Jackie sewing, me pressing, Jackie sewing!

From blocks

 

To half square triangles

 

to *lots* of HSTs (half square triangles)

 

Each HST opens to a square

 

These can be pivoted to make the pinwheel

Pinwheels are then arranged ...

 

We had planned on leaving a gap between each block (sashing) but felt it was looking a bit bland ...

So we look away the gaps: and doesn't it look great! Hope you like it Tara!

 

(thanks Katy for your suggestions: we sorted the directional fabric so they "flow", and put the flowery fabrics in groups of similar colours)

And THANK YOU JACKIE! Team work is such fun :-)

Two crafts in one day, so two posts in one day!!!!!

 

Blooming Big Bag (and Basting and a Quilt Top)

When I arrived in Dublin we went to Ikea, partly for supper (mmmmm meatballs), and Jackie's daughter, Sabrina fell in love with a large scale flower print we saw in the fabric department - so while Jackie knocked up meals for six for two days, I knocked up a BIG bag for Sabrina (big enough for all the kit required when you have a baby, or for the baby itself?)

(the fabric was cut as 23" square!)

 

We also pieced, basted, quilted and machined the binding to the front of this woodland animals quilt

 

And basted this gorgeous rainbow spiral hexi (Jackie says you'll be sick of seeing it, but I don't think you can ever be sick of this!)

 

And sizzix cut 90+ big grey hexies for a new project,

 

and a couple of hundred smaller hexies for a friend of ours (hello Janet)

 

A day well spent!

 

Panic Production Line

Ahhh, two hours until I have to go home, think, think, what can we make / learn / teach?

Jackie showed me how to make a lined zippy pouch (can you send me the link Jackie, so I can make one again?) ( new to me - a successful zip, and fusible wadding)

And we learnt (thank you Hadley!  Link to Svetlana's post with instructions here) how to make lined drawstring bags, so we made one

Then another 

And a few more

And with 20 minutes sewing time left, made two more!!!!!

Do I HAVE to go home :-(

Lots Left Over

After Jackie and I made serious inroads into Tara's quilt there was fabric left over so I packed it all into my case and brought it home. I know lots of bloggers have been on a fabric diet this year: I haven't, but I have been trying to use up all the fabrics bought for a project, rather than keeping scraps in case they are useful one day.

With this in mind, I looked at Tara's left overs, and at the minkie she sent but I couldn't use, and thought about her two littlies, and got stitching.

Amazingly I managed to squeeze four triangles from the tshirt and from the baby gro (onesie) she sent me, and even more astonishingly my rough calculations were spot on: these two used up the extra fabric she sent, plus the clothes, plus all the minkie, I just need to get a bit more Kona for all the binding

Not a particularly specific design, but as a use-it-up project I'm delighted to be able to send two snuggle quilts that match mummy's quilt

Basted, then Bed

Back to work yesterday, and then gym, post office, food shopping, vets, and then finally home!  

I got Tara's quilt assembled and basted last night , but was too tired even to blog!

Hopefully I'll get the quilting started today after work

Guessing Game

I'm teaching two classes tomorrow: so I have two questions for you

(1) what are the afternoon ladies going to make from these crazy patch block we started last month?

And the evening ladies? I'll tell you they are making bunting, but your question is ...

(2) how many triangles of fabric can you cut from a man's shirt?  (My triangle template is about 7.25" wide by 8.5" high, and I've cut a short sleeved shirt)

  

With this heap of donated shirts we should get some great bunting!

(I'll give you the answers tomorrow xx)

Friday's First Fun With Fabric

Well done to Jackie who guessed the answer to yesterday's first question - yes the crazy patch was becoming a bag

(The brown & pink version was made by a lady who didn't come last month so she missed the crazy patch half of the lesson but got stuck in with the kite bag half!)

The other bags have gone home to be completed , but the completed crazy patches were awesome!

Well done ladies.  I've now tidied up after the first session and have set up for the bunting session  - roll on 7 o'clock!

Friday's Final Fun With Fabric

The evening class yesterday was making bunting, I had a whole load of large men's shirts donated and the museum had got some more - so *plenty* of shirts:

I was expecting (gulp) 13 ladies - and then we had two walk-ins too, so 15 in all.  We looked at different types of bunting (the hessian/burlap was much admired Kathy!) and how we *could* stitch two triangles back to back, turn through and press, but the evening was far too short for that method!

We worked out the most economical was to get most triangles with least cutting and then I let them attack the shirts!

We also looked at appliqué, how to use heat'n'bond (without getting any stuck to the iron, yay!). And how frixon pens could replace the need to work out mirror writing!

Several ladies got flags sewn to bias binding, others spent the evening cutting zillions of triangles, or appliquéing words onto their collection of triangles  with a view to machine sewing (or in one case stapling!!!!) this weekend, 

It went really well!  There are still loads of shirts left, so I'm going to do another workshop either at home or at church next month, and a friend (thanks Avril) suggested dying some and making bunting from that - which sounds a great idea!

(So how many triangles 8.5 x 7.25" do you reckon you can cut from a large man's shirt ?  I used a big shirt, a 19" neck, but I was amazed to cut far more than most guesses (which ranged from 8 to I think 24) - I got 30 triangles!)

Chatty Crafty Church

Crafty Church yesterday was a lovely relaxed afternoon.  Possibly more chatting than crafting, but no craft police were invited, so that was ok!

I managed to bring half of several projects : shirts but no bias binding; the ironing board but no iron, soft toys but no stuffing!  Sigh!  So I got cutting triangles from shirts

And I got done of the chatterers to rescue buttons from the scraps;

Paula and Mary fell in love with the Irban Threads Giving Bunnies bunnies and have taken them off to stuff and sew closed this week, and Janet gets the prize for being organised and working hard for her Hexie flowers

I also need to show you the fusible bias binding banner than Janet made a while ago for church:

Isn't it fab!  She then made another two for the mezzanine floor.  

I think maybe some poppies for the autumn?

Distracted by Daughter

Not much sewing in the last week - clearing the "overflow" sewing room so Lisa could sleep in her room, helping her find everything she needed to pack for a holiday, taking her to the airport at silly o'clock on Tuesday, then getting my sewing room back into some sort of order!

Lisa is off to Arizona to meet up with a friend from university, then they are off on a Road Trip taking in Grand Canyon, LosAngeles, Las Vagas, San Diego, and a Disney park: about 2000 miles in his dad's pickup over 16 days !!!!!

Route;

Lisa at the start of her adventure 

I made them Road Trip tshirts to match the route map!

I'm so jealous, it should be amazing !