July 2026

So July has now gone: I always thought August was the hottest month but I really hope not!  I'm happy up to about 25 degrees,  but this over 32 degrees stuff is no fun!

Unfortunately the sewing room is in the loft so has been too hot, but I still have a fair number of crafty photos to send your way!

Chertsey ladies made the Val bowls

I'm drying lavender from the garden for the next Chertsey session

I made Norwegian and English gingers ready for the FIFA semi finals

and a vest for gorgous grandson to wear

I met with Vicky and Plum for a sewing session at Richmond Museum - but had forgotten to bring any sewing.  Vicky very kindly produced a kit for a HouseWife - a sewing kit used by soldiers during WW1 and WW2.  I love it!  Thank you Vicky

I ran a bag making class at the village hall: 9 ladies attended and all made 2 bags, some managed three.  It was a lovely evening

I did some work on an old 1.5 inch squares blocks postage stamp project.  I plan to leave them on the sewing bench and use them as enders and leaders, hopefully it will grow a bit this year

I've prepped some baggies for the kitchen sink hand sewing project, ready for my holidy at the end of August

and made a packable flat needle case / pin cushion

A friend now has a new grandson, so here is Ronnie's I-spy quilt

And a cousin also has a new grandson so I made him a quilt to match his sisters' quilts (search Saga and Theia if you want to see them too)

I helped a friend decorate a school shirt for her youngest's school leavers day

and I updated another friend's scout camp shirt from a cancelled camp (covid) to the replacement camp

I also made gingers for all the kitchen staff at the camp

all 36 of them!

Lisa, Jackie and I went to Festival of Quilts.  We may have done some shopping!  

And we spotted Plum's (not a) clothes moth

June 2026

Hello and welcome to the June furtle 😊

I have been away (Croatia, lovely, hot, but a swimming pool just *there* made it so much more comfortable than being in the blistering UK heat!) and, of course, took hand sewing with me.  The Rainbow Kitchen sink blocks have multiplied:

The Chertsey Museum ladies made reversible cutting / pressing boards

I reduced an *enormous* pile of unused prepared binding and joined it into a single piece that felt it could reach to the moon and back

and then joined it end to end and made a jelly roll race quilt top.  Not finished yet but a fairly quick fix if a need an adult / teenanger quilt

I have been making Gingers based on National Days: in June we had a Yoga Day (21st)

Blood donor Day (14th) 

and Cycle awareness (18th)

#Craftivism 😊

I helped one of my favourite teenagers prepare her school shirt for Leavers Day: she designed this and stitched it on the embroidery machine and then used fabric pens and paint to add the other details: didn't she do well!!!!

 

I've prepared some samples for a class I'm teaching in a few weeks time . . .

and ChatGPT created a lovely poster for the class  

April 2026

 Welcome to my April furtle

My orange car was replaced by a seafoam green car: our first brand new car, and our first all electric car: quite a learning curve but I think we are getting the hang of it!

I bought this fabric when I visited Jackie: I love it but I wasn't concentrating and bought jersey rather than patchwork cotton.

It made a lovely sun hat for Jack!

I did some customer embroidery

and made some Gingers: Annual different limb day

And annual Puffin day 😂

The collection of giant pin cushions has grown

And a friend has become a grandma again

Gorgeous munchkin is a happy boy: this was taken at 5 months

This EPP patchwork has been under construction for a few years, but I've now started the plan to finish it

An evening class at Chertsey went well: kawandi as applique on tote bags

Not much else this month

Keep safe and stay happy

2024 May

 Here comes the usual photo bomb of crafty things from my May:

Chertsey Fun With Fabric group brought show and tell in the shape of these cute rabbits we made in April with Stephanie's help

And for May's class we made pinch pouches for scissors or other treasures

  

I made my sample out of a patchwork orphan block and still have some left over so I used it on a pouch for Niki's Kindle which I was using for holidays

I did some embroidery for customers

and helped Lisa bind this awesome quilt.  She had a vision of adding orange, for a while it might have had orange sashing, but it changed to orange backing . . . 

. . . and a flange on the binding which was a first for me

Brian and I spent half of May in Texas at dad's.  Lisa took advantage of us being there and ordered fabric for us to bring back (this is just part of her haul)

I may have bought some too

I did some hand sewing while I was there, a brick I-Spy quilt

And this "Kawandi" style cowl for the winter, and as a class sample.   Kawandi is a combination of 'plonk applique' and kantha stitching

The edges can be turned under but I went with raw edge.  It's all tacked, I just need to start the final stitching

Lisa used up some of her left over orange fabric to trial a quilt-as-you-go mini quilt while she waited for me to bring back her purchases

And I picked up some wool for a few crochet projects

This started as a blanket but then I decided to see if I can make a cardigan.  I'm sure I don't need instructions????

Eileen also bought some wool and asked me to start her off, I may have got a bit carried away!

See you next month xx