2014 in mosaic

How did you do with your list this year? As you can see mine has plenty of ticks.

A good part of the year was making Bee Blocks which was on my list to join a couple, so definitely a big tick there. For those of you who don't know, modern sewing bees are now organised online and can be for charity or just a bit of fun. There are blocks for both here. Also there are some for the traditional meet up bee where you physically go and sew together in a group.

Here are all my quilts that I finished this year. When I realised there were only 7 ( no. 1 and 6 are just the front and back of the same quilt) I was surprised, I thought I had made a lot more than that!

Quilts

1. Modern wonky blocks, 2. Monkey magic quilt, 3. Baby play mat, 4. Murphy's quilt, 5. Thanksgiving Quilt, 6. Modern wonky blocks, 7. Pastels baby quilt modern kitchen windows, 8. Peach turquoise modern quilt

Of course, there are 2 others, one at binding stage and one top which will be my first finishes of 2015.

The other two big time eaters were 2 craft sales that I held, in the summer and just before Christmas. 

Summer Craft Fair

blogged about here

Christmas Craft Sale

Another event I held this year was my first craft class. It was a lot of fun but needs some refinement before I would attempt another one. 

The craft sales led then to some custom orders. I love and loathe these in equal measures! It's great that other people appreciate and like your work. Also you are making for someone in mind and not just 10 bags that might or might not sell. However they can put you under a lot of pressure (although most of it is mine and not the customers!) Some requests are also so unusual or specific that they can really stretch you or your supplies. 

1. Purple cushions, 2. Pot holders, 3. Cushions to match Harlequinn rug, 4. Kids Hudl covers, 5. Coffee pot cosy, 6. Table mat

And finally, all the other stuff that I made, mostly gifts and some I actually kept!

1. Tweed Baby Trousers, 2. Baby booties, 3. P1010458, 4. Christmas trees modern table runner, 5. Receipt wallet, 6. P1010626, 7. Voucher wallet, 8. Voucher/Receipt wallet


It's nice to have a new clean page for 2015.

It won't stay that way for long!

Merry Christmas

Table runner, a year in the making,

just finished

 in time.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is my Thanksgiving quilt. I started it at a class last December after buying some fall fabric in the USA on holiday.

I just followed the pattern for the class so you can see this isn't as modern as some of my other quilts. I chose the Barn Rising layout as I thought it gave the most impact.

I have been making an effort to finish my WIPs and so I perservered with this quilt even though I wasn't sure what I was making it for. Then a man in our church was taken into hospital on holiday. And I just knew that this quilt would cheer him up. He is always such a thankful guy in every circumstance. It was just perfect as it is that bit more traditional and no girly colours, and the right size for a lap quilt.

I sewed this verse from the bible onto the corner to remind him "In everything give thanks."

That turkey fabric just makes me smile.

It was also a great time to practice my free motion quilting and especially some feathers.

Enjoy Thanksgiving.

Murphy's quilt

I think I will name this quilt Murphy's quilt as in Murphy's Law - you know the one, everything that could go wrong will go wrong! This quilt has nearly been the death of me!

First the purples - most quilters will say if they are short on one colour it will be purple. I don't think that it is so much of a conscious choice rather than a lack of that shade available. It is so hard to get. If you go to the purples section on a fabric website it will show mostly that magenta pinky colour. I had really wanted a much darker truer purple. But in the end I settled for the mish mash of anything that remotely resembled purple. So I basically started a quilt, one of the few things I make to keep for myself, with a lot of fabrics I barely liked.

Then the pattern I chose way back when I first started quilting. I thought it looked so striking. However when I looked at the cutting, it was really wasteful if you weren't using a layer cake. So I reworked it so that I could cut with yardage. It still left a lot of crazy diagonal cuts and loads of half square triangles.

The sewing was basically 2 seams which I found it a bit boring and then there were no directions as to how to square up which meant if you didn't create your own system you could easily cut way off as each block is asymmetrical. So now I had a load of fabrics I didn't really like using a pattern that I didn't like making.

I got the quilt top finished and my husband thought I should really add an extra row to one side. But I had been sewing rows the other way and didn't really want to add it cross wise. So if you're keeping track we now have fabrics I don't like, a pattern not pleasant to sew and a quilt that is too small for the bed!

Next up comes the quilt sandwich. Easy, right? I had bought bamboo quilting especially for this project. But by the time I got round to this one I might have cut into it for something else. So I had all these large scraps and had to piece them together into a super king quilt! It took me about an hour to do the maths - and I am not kidding. Not that it really helped. I sewed bits to the wrong side and it was still just big enough...which wasn't enough when trying to square up the quilt sandwich. So some sides were over and some bits short.

It was even a nightmare to photograph with all the dark colours in it which is why it has taken me so long to blog about it.But at last it was done. Yay. We got it on our bed for a few weeks until the weather here got too cold and I begged for the duvet to go back on.

Posted with Blogsy

Quick Weekend sewing project

Getting back from hols, I just had to get at my machine again quickly.

So I picked a quick sewing project from my increasingly long list.

A receipt and voucher holder to remedy stuffing all my receipts in my bag and never having the right vouchers with me in the shops.

I made a bit of a boo boo when cutting out the holes for the magnetic clasps and tore the fabric and had to start again on that side.

I also wanted this yellow bike to be on the front but didn't think that through right when cutting.

I got the magnetic clasps in a parcel from Etsy seller, 3DPatternPaper and they were thinner than normal which is great for projects like these. However being square you really need to watch how you put them in so that they are both straight! Ask me how I know...

You could also make without the clasp as it stays together pretty well. I used a stiff interfacing on the pockets and exterior fabric but no wadding or fleece to keep it slimline.

September Queen Stash Bee

This month it is my turn as Queen Bee for the Stash Bee group. Check out my post that is over there at the minute to see what it is all about and the blocks I have chosen.

You will find out more about me and may even contain some pictures. I am trying to get over the weirdness of them being online as I don't usually participate in the whole "live my life on social media" thing.

Craft fair update

Just thought I would share the pics of all the stuff I made for the craft fair last month. Less said about the actual fair the better.

This is what I started with 10 days before the big day.

Cushions, baby shoes and clutches.

Coffee pot warmers, ipad covers and dummy chains.

Clutches

The finished table.

The fair was not an amazing success but my work colleagues loved a bit of Monday morning leftover shopping!

Fabric scrap packs and buttons. Some items still available on Etsy.