Quick Catch Up

I've been facilitating other people's craftiness over the last few days:

Fun With Fabric at Chertsey Museum saw the ladies making chick bowls

 

 

Then on Saturday we had mayhem in church with kids making all sorts of things:

Sewing projects

Colouring and beading projects

Pompom creatures, pipe-cleaner people with lightsabers, cobwebs on the front of a spider man den, and a Möbius strip

And what have I been doing?

A bit of this - shopping for some classes, with a bit of "oooh, I *want* that" jumping into the basket too

 

And the embroidery machine has been earning its keep, with 35 assorted tops for the local pre-school done and now ready to be delivered

Plus a sample being worked on for a book scheme at the borough

And a bit of applique fun, just because!

 And I still have another week off school - yippee!!!!

Pinterest Problem

I know sometimes Pins on Pinterest have a missing link - ones where if you click on the pic it doesn't take you anywhere.

I pinned this Easter Chick basket a while ago, and in the last few days have wanted to make it

 

The picture takes me to this blog, but its just the same photos as on Pinterest.  The watermark on the photo is http://blog.sina.com.cn/ but its all in Chinese (I think) and certainly no chick baskets are evident.

I have created my own pattern and instructions, but afterwards I found a link to this blog where Tiffany has done the same thing!  So if you want to make this basket maybe look at her instructions and mine and have a go!

You'll need to print this pattern piece: the PDF can be down loaded here

And you'll need these instructions:(the PDF is here)

I took photos as I went, so hopefully these will help too

Pieces cut: 

Instruction 1

Instruction 2

Instruction 5

 Instructions 7 & 8

Instruction 9

 Instruction 11

 Instruction 15

I try not to think of this as being late for this Easter - rather being *very* early for next Easter!

PS I know my written instructions aren't brilliant - if you find  mistake please let me know!

Friendship and Fabric part 3

A final day in Ireland :-(.

We attended Mass in the morning (gosh Catholic Church is different to C of E!!!) and went for a walk to St Mullins - a beautiful serene village nearby - in the sunshine (had to take advantage of the sunshine) then back for our final sewing project.

We'd picked up coin-purse clasps, and found a site with great instructions, but sadly the purse bit was just too narrow for the clasp bit

Maybe we rushed it - a repeat project for another day!

I also managed to have a chat with Lisa - she's gone from Australia for a mini holiday in New Zealand with a friend, and it was her birthday, so I was delighted to be able to find her and have a catchup and wish her Happy Birthday (my baby is 24 - that makes me feel SOOO old!).

Just before she went to NZ she sent Brian an email - it's lovely to know that some teaching stays with them for ever:

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Friendship and Fabric part 2

Day two in Ireland saw us out for a drive to visit a library with a quilt exhibition . . . we got there, and found the library - but it was CLOSED! Not impressed!

We consoled ourselves with a coffee and a slice of cake in a very quirky bookshop, then back 'home' to make a gathered basket

And thread catcher each

And a zippy pouch each (from Svetlana's Lola Pouch)

I love how wide these open - great for seeing what's inside

In the evening I added a "First" - my first hurling match! I had the game explained to me on my last visit (posted here) and now I've watched a match - just as bizarre as I understood it to be - the ball can be thrown by hand, held in a hand while the player runs, hit with the stick, or seemingly stuck to the stick while the player runs.   It all happened too fast for any photos, but a great evening, and here's a pic of a hurling stick (stick? bat? club?)

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Friendship and Fabric (part 1)

To misquote various cards and gifts ... There is nothing better than spending time with a good friend, unless it's a friend with fabric!

And this weekend I'm enjoying both! I've got a three day pass and I'm spending it all in Ireland with Jackie

There was an exchange of gifts . . .

There was the making of one Every Day tote bag (pattern won recently, can be bought here)

 

Followed by another (Getting the hang of zips now!)

And another one, slightly modified due to shortage of fabric for the handles

Not bad for day one!!! Especially considering there was shopping and an awful lots of talking and catching up to do, as well as games with young master "nearly one" and having to be polite to other members of the family as well as a meal or two to be cooked and consumed!

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Star Gazing

I started my Lone Star quilt long after everyone else in the western world, and it had several long "holidays" when no progress was made: mostly due to its difficult-to- manoeuvre size.

But it has finally been finished, bound, and had what I refer to as a haircut.

My next problem was finding somewhere to photograph it!

It's about 240cm x 165cm, (94 x 64")

A Bag? Or a Basket?

What is the difference between a bag or a basket? I made two today: same method but different measurements.

The one I made for husband's lunch is probably a bag:

While the one I made for my recently created 'hexie kit' is probably more of a basket

My hexie kit fits perfectly!

Is it a bit OCD to like to have my hexies all lined up neatly? It may be, but it makes me happy! (And that toothpaste boxes make the perfect size boxes for these hexies makes me happy too!)

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