2025 April

Hello to the April furtle in my little corner of blog world

At the beginning of the month I taught the Fun With fabric session at Chertsey Museum - we created  lots of felt birds

I (or rather Lizzie) made lots of gingers for a customer

Jackie came over for a few lovely days - we made pouches for crochet and knitting markers

We made pouches for knitting needles and crochet hooks

We (or rather Lizzie) added stitched dresden plates to Jackie's fab Dresden plate quilt - not sure if you can see the stitching but it is there!!!

And we made craft bags with a lovely big opening

And we went to Creative Quilting and chose backing for the mandala quilt.

(She's gone off to the longarm quilter and is being quilted)

I made some samples of slouch bags ready for the May FWF session at Chertsey (instructions here if you want a go) I used the template from https://sewcanshe.com/easy-sling-bag-free-sewing-pattern/ but simplified it for hand sewing and the short lesson time.  The daisy bag was made with SewCanShe's template, and the others were made shallower (blue) and smaller (red)

The New Hive quilt has been quilted and bound and is now finished.  I had just ONE yellow bee hexie remaining 😳 Nothing like cutting it fine!

And finally a few uniform zippies for the Chertsey Museum staff:

There are a few other things ongoing but not ready for photos yet.  The to-do list is currently at 44 items and I know there are still a few more projects to go on the list but at least a few things have been transferred to the "done" clip

2023 April

Hello lovely people inside my phone: happy May

Here is a photo heavy roundup of my April!

Little hexie flowers sewn on holiday (half inch sides)

   

Not many holiday photos!  Dad and Eileen's keep bees, and I love that they have painted all the hives a different colour!

I ran out of fabric for the mini hexies, but I had felt with me on holiday - this is prep for next month's Fun With Fabric class: the idea is that you can have several needles threaded onto the thead tail, and stored in the lid.  Take the end one and it's already threaded ready for you to start sewing

And then I decorated this (it was a kit but will also become a class)

Annnnnd . . . stitched this lama

Lizzie has been busy since we got back - we've made King Charles, and a coronation ginger

and I'm making 100 of these for a customer

(just 28 to go)

I made a cushion for the Coronation picnic

  

to go on the throne!

and made a load of name badges for a friend and his friends to put on their boiler suits

  

I finished this lovely balloon nail art kit that the girls got me for Mothering Sunday

And finished two i-spy quilts for two bonus daughters who have just had babies

 

and here are Freddie and Amelia

And loving the blankets Niki made for them

And I made bonus quilts for the Grandmas: I've embroidered "These grandparents belong to" and added the babies' names: as more babies come along they can bring the quilts back to me and get Lizzie to add more names (Jane is expecting the next one next month!)

Lisa helped me run a Crown making workshop in the village: not as many children as we'd hope for, but they all had a great time

  

In other news: Our lovely God Daughter got engaged last week . . . 

and then . . . .Niki and George did too!!!!

Huge congratulations to both couples!!

Niki and George are planning on next year, not sure when Alice and Liam's will be, but very exciting!!!

(of course there had to be a ginger to commemorate the occassion!)

And finally, I managed to put my back out and couldn't drive or even walk when I was supposed to do the April Fun with Fabric so the lovely Rhona came over, collect the stuff, had a very quick lesson in what to do to make Japanese Rice Bags and then took the class for me: Well done all expecially Rhona, and thank you so much!!!

 

2023 January

What did your January look like?  This is my January in photos!

The Stitch group packed lots of kits for Days For Girls

The Chertsey Museum Fun With Fabric ladies made Japanese knot bags

I was gifted this awesome pig in a blanket

I made badges for the scouts who delivered Christmas cards locally

I have been posting Gingers onto facebook - they are based on the National Calendar - this was for the 3rd Monday in January, known as Blue Monday, and the penguin was for Internation Penguin Day - who knew!!!

I also made a pregnant Ginger each for two of Niki's friends who are expecting,

An a couple of dozen 'naked' gingers for the Richmond and Kew Quilters ladies: I'm doing a talk about the gingers at the next meeting, then they all get to take one home and have a go at 'dressing' it

I dont think I showed you my lovely Christmas pressie from Plum:

Which came in its own sleeping bag (actually a FabWrap!)

Nor did I share the fab slippers Lisa crocheted for me: 

I went on a course with Stacey (ooops, have forgotton her surname), who had us FMQing designs to be put together as a tribute to the Queen

The lovely Debbie made me Buddy all ready for next Christmas, thank you Deb

And my awesome sister-in-law got me a whole stack of Tula Pink fabrics that are just at the stroking and loving stage, not the cutting stage!  Thank you Lisa

And talking of s-i-l: we actually got the whole gang together in the middle of January - my brother and his family from Australia, all 6 of us, and mum.  I hadn't seen him or his family since 2011, and Niki had never met her cousins so it was a great treat to spend time with them

Talking of cousins, this is Brian's cousin's granddaughter on her I-Spy quilt - isn't she a cutie!

Our Community Coffee Morning celebrated its first birthday at the end of January, and seems to be transforming into a Knit and Natter group too!  I think there were 6 of us knitting or crocheting and enjoying this a-maze-ing cake!

This is my project: it is actually changing colour but it's a very subtle change

Hope you had a good January and wish you all the very best for February!