Time to go

I have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately. I have only been making a few things for my trip. I finished my jacket.

I also made two shoe bags.

And I made a zippy for my chargers.

I will be trying to make a few posts on my trip. I have worked out that I can only upload one photo with a caption from Flickr to blogger through my iPad. It is not like using the laptop. I will be stopping comments coming to my email. Hopefully I will get some time to visit some blogs but I am not making any promises. I may be having too much fun in Venice or Paris etc.

Arrivederla for now,
Val

Tidying up loose ends

I have been trying to get several things finished before I go away. One was the Club Bag Challenge for Beenleigh Quilters. We had to use a given piece of fabric. I didn't like the fabric at all. It didn't go with anything I had in my stash so the challenge was to make something I like out of something I didn't like. After lots of thinking I decided on the simplest tote bag with my rooster design appliqued as a bit of an art piece. I think it turned out all right.

 Another project I promised to do was a cowl collar scarf for DD1. I just have to press it and sew on the buttons. It will be in the post next week. It is merino and silk. Very nice to knit with.

Only a couple of things left to finish now. One is the jacket I want to wear on my trip. It is well on the way so I am not frieking out yet :D

I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself today. Yesterday about lunchtime I had to deliver a green frog from our spa to the dam. Later I was a bit itchy around my wasteband. I just scratched and didn't look. By late afternoon I was really itchy across my belly and down my leg. On close inspection I found I was covered in about 30 or 40 tiny tiny ticks called seed ticks. They barely registered as black dots. I put on some aeroguard to kill them a bit then I jumped in the shower and tried to scrub them off. No luck there so I had to use the tweezers to pick off every one of them. I now have lots of red itchy spots. I am glad I didn't have some more serious reaction to them. I must have brushed past some grass where they had just hatched.
This is not me but it gives you an idea of what they look like.

Source: http://mayalassiter.com/2009/08/seed-ticks-the-scourge-of-the-earth/ticks-1-jpg/

Hope your days are happy and tick free
Val

Tea bag wallet

 I tried out the tea bag wallet tutorial from Zoe at SewitGirl. I used the dimensions she said and found that three foil wrapped bags will only fit if you fold in the edges of the packet.

 
7  1/4 inches wide could be closer to 9  1/4 inches to fit three sachets. I also decided that the double thickness pocket was a bit bulky and since I don't use sugar sachets I didn't need the extra pockets. So I made it shorter and folded the end over only once. Total cut length reduced from 19 inches to 15  1/2 inches.

I then had to sew the strap on the outside and make it a bit narrower.

I like the tri fold pattern idea. It makes it nice and compact.

I have a sneak peak of a kitty item I am making for Quilt Kitty. It is a surprise, so don't tell her :)

Happy Quilting,
Val