Let's Book It - Feb

What a great challenge this one is. Let's Book It over at Vroomans Quilts.
Dust off those books and patterns and magazines and make those things that caught your eye. Luckily I brought my quilting books with me to the rental house. All my magazines are in storage until the new house is built. There are so many things in those magazines that I want to make.

I bought the Zakka Style book with the intention of making all the projects but what I really liked was the zip open wallet. However, I needed to choose something that wouldn't strain the brain too much so my second favourite project is the house zippy.

I loved that I could actually lay my hand on some coordinating fabrics and some lace and some cute buttons. Don't you love it when it all comes together nicely.

I have used this purse quite a lot just to pop down to the post office. It neatly holds my phone, purse and keys. I put two little pockets inside to stop the keys rubbing on the phone. They each have their own pocket and the wallet purse fits in the middle.

The cute cat button is a souvenir of my travels in the UK. I know it is not unique to the area but it reminds me of the lovely gallery just outside the tile factory in Ironbridge.

So, I am linking up with Let's Book It with Sharon today. She has the cutest little quilt block charms as a prize for joining in.

Update: I have just found Anything Goes Monday in a rather circuitous bit of web surfing. So I am linking up to that too. Maybe I can make it a bit closer to my Monday posts in future.

Please leave a comment on my flickr photo or pinterest pin if you don't go in for google+. I would love to hear from you.
Feel free to pin any of my pictures (hover over) and don't forget to like my posts in bloglovin and +1 my posts in google+. It is so nice to get comments from lots of new people and when we share each others posts and pictures lots more people get to see them outside our usual circles. I think that is really cool.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Christmas Critters

I just noticed that there is a linky party for these cute little critters over at Mocking Bird Hill Cottage and also at Creative Cain Cabin.
The patterns are PDF and free and simple to make. Two each month.

I made the owl yesterday and the cardinal and sheep today. Today I used the good felt. It is much thicker and nicer to work with. It is 100% wool.

The owl is out of 80% wool and 20% rayon? I think. It is much thinner and not as nice to handle but it is cheaper and not quite as 'squeaky' to work with as the acrylic felt.

I had to make a little English Suffolk sheep because they look so cute.

Visit Flickr or Pinterest if you are not into Google+ comments.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Welcome to the North Pole SAL for February

Hi everyone, I hope you are bouncing out of your seats waiting to get linked up. I made the decision to pay for a thumbnail linky service because pictures are much more interesting than text so even if you have a picture of some wrinkly fabric ready for your quilt I expect you to link up.

I put a call out now to anyone who sewed along last year to do a bit of a round up post and link up your progress. I know some were very close to finishing the quilt.

I still have my quilt to finish but I am not working on that until we move into the new house so I have started the cute table runner on the back cover of the book. I am doing it with a mixture of machine needle turn, which I suppose is really iron turn, and regular hand needle turn.

The straight pieces are easy to do with the machine using a blind hemming stitch and some fine thread. No. 13 is my stitch. It goes stitch stitch stitch zag and I make the length of the stitch around 1mm and the width of the zag about 2.

You can just see where the zag catches the fabric.

I am using invisifil  by Aurifil in a grey shade that blends with most colours.

For the needle turn by hand I am using the same thread and a fine flexible beading needle. I am not sure if it is the same as a straw needle used for needle turn but it works just fine. I will be doing the pointy bits by hand.

I have the stars and moon cut out. These three are positioned ready to stitch. I am using freezer paper and cutting out with a seam allowance. I have learned that you don't snip anything until you are actually sewing and then only just before you sew it down. A few frayed threads makes it almost impossible to sew down properly.

I look forward to seeing what others have been doing so far. Please link up. We all want to see what everyone has been doing.
Remember:
Include a link to my post in your blog post
Link your post URL not your whole blog
Linking to a photo is fine too
After linking visit 2 links before you and leave them comments
Come back again later and visit two links after you and leave comments.

Don't forget to pin your work and +1 others posts on google plus. I think there are still a lot of books on book shelves that can be dusted off this year.
You can also join the Flickr group and add you photos whenever you like.

Not into Google Plus?
Leave a comment on
  Flickr
  Pinterest

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

An InLinkz Link-up

Zippy Pouches

I am all excited about having a stall at the local Easter Fair market. I have my fused glass jewellery that I want to sell but I couldn't help trying to find something to sew. I tried the tote bag but I think that is not viable so I tried some little keepsake pouches that would be suitable to put my jewellery pieces in. I have finished two and have six more ready to sew up the sides and four more ready to put the zips in.

Production line

While making the 9 patches I cut off the selvedges and I love a good selvedge zippy. In the past I have had trouble sewing the selvedges together in parallel lines so I had to come up with a new method for me.
I had them all laid out and thought it would be a good idea to lay them out on a piece of iron on interfacing to hold them in place. I used my trusty teflon sheet to stop the little overhangs of gluey bits from sticking to the iron and I stuck them all on the interfacing. It was so simple to sew them neatly and in lovely straight lines.

I made two little zippies out of my selvedge fabric.

I cut the lining to match.

Sewed the zip between the outer and the lining then gave it a press.

Next I folded the outer up in front and the lining up in back and sewed them to the zipper.

Undo the zip and turn it all right side out to press around the zipper.

Do the zipper up about an inch then turn it all inside out again. Line up the outers and the linings separately and sew across the zipper on each side. I left an opening in the lining on one side or turning.

Give it a press and a bit of ribbon and voila!

I love zippies and there are lots of great tutorials out there. Here are just a few.

A simple clutch - like mine but a bit bigger.
A variation on the clutch - smaller and with cute curved corners.
A really easy way to do the zipper and lining.
Yet another way to get a really neat zipper.
A pencil case in the same style as my keepsake pouches.
A gorgeous little pleated clutch.
A nice border next to the zipper.
The wide mouth pouch.

You can gets lots of inspiration from my Pinterest board Zippy Things. Why not follow me. I am always pinning zippies.

I finished my latest dish cloth.

And I even found time to break the vacuum cleaner. It is now packed up ready to go off for repair. I think it needs a new motor. Dyson pay for the postage and it isn't even in warranty. They said maybe a few hundred dollars. Sounds better than $700 for a new one.

Make sure you check out those zippy pouch tutorials and anyone sewing along with Welcome to the North Pole don't forget Wednesday 26th Feb is the post day. I will be posting my progress and setting up a thumbnail linky for everyone to share what they have done.

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Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

WIP Wednesday

I am so glad I have managed to make another owl. I am quite a few behind now but I plan to make two more next month and try to catch up. I have to wait six months to get the others out of storage but I should be all caught up and ready to put the quilt together by then. The BOM finishes in August.
For this one I cut his eye sections in one piece. The pattern has it in two pieces but it doesn't work out right. The second layer is from a floral fabric and the darker petals make cute eyebrows. I am using raw edge applique and machine buttonhole stitch.
You can see my blocks pinned here.

I have been working away at another dish cloth. The blackberry pattern is much slower than the lacy pattern. I am using smaller needles too to get a firmer cloth. The lacy one looks to be more holes than cloth now :D

Don't forget I am having a linky party for everyone working on Welcome to the North Pole next Wednesday 26th Feb. It will be great for everyone to see what others are up to.

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced today.

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Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Some Sewing

I love to just pop in my sewing room and make something that I saw on the internet or make some new clothes. I haven't done much clothes sewing lately. I did buy that nice shell fabric before I left Brisbane and it is well on the way to being a blouse. I just need to get some interfacing from Spotlight tomorrow so I can finish it this week.

The other day I made a star dresden plate block that I saw on another blog. Phew! Just managed to find the link in my browser history. I was sure I saved it somewhere. You can find the tutorial at Snips Snippets blog .

I thought I would play at making a market bag that I might be able to sell at the Easter markets here this year. I wanted to see how fast I could make it. It is a simple bag that I made with homespun but it took me nearly and hour. I don't think they are a good item to make money on. Maybe if I could make 4 in a hour. Maybe I will try making some pot holders.
Anyway, here is the bag. It still needs a rinse and press to get the embroidery pen out properly. It is meant to fold up so I have to still put on the button loop and button.

I used the tutorial from Yarngeek

Here is a progress picture for our new house. I will be starting a new blog about the house soon but I am just really excited to have nearly got to signing the contract.

Nearly forgot. If you get a chance check out this BOM. The blocks look like old fashioned tiles. We have only missed one month and the Feb block is up now. Well worth a look.

Leave a comment on Pinterest if you are not into Google +

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Up the Garden Path Stitchery - January

I love the pretty stitcheries from Fee so far this year. They are free each month. I have struggled to sit and stitch though. It is a bit hot here at present so it makes for sweaty stitching.
I bought some whisper weft to use as interfacing but have since learned that it must be rinsed in very hot water before using it because it shrinks. I used it on the pockets of my pyjama shorts because I thought it would stop the knit from stretching. I now have very puckered pockets. I am so glad I didn't use it on outer wear.
So, the back of my stitchery is unwashed whisper weft so I will have to make it into something that only needs a cold rinse sometimes so it doesn't pucker. Maybe even a little framed picture. I have a spare embroidery hoop to frame it.

I have started another blog about my Mom's ToolBelt Planner Folder and what I put in it.
I am gradually getting through my sewing goals for February.

I love being able to keep this blog mostly sewing and just start another blog when I find a new subject to journal about. I also like having the quilt diary blogs for my non BOM quilts. Maybe in 100 years one of my household quilts will end up in a museum and they will be able to find the story of it in a computer data base!

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

WIP Wednesday Go Wild Quilt

Fortunately I had lots of motivation to work on my Go Wild quilt since it was a Jan goal for Something Old, Something New. Before I had to pack up the machine I managed to get quite a lot done.
I finished the 4 border strips, sewing all the squares together.
I pieced the last 4 blocks, so now I have all 16 done.
I only managed to get two blocks appliqued ready for stitching, almost:

and I nearly finished the one block I started stitching.

That puts me a few blocks behind my January goal but I have kept this quilt with me so I can keep working on it while I wait for the new house to be built. A couple of other UFO's are in storage for 6 months.
I have also updated my Go Wild Garden diary blog.

Yesterday I got to visit Spotlight with a couple of vouchers that I had. Did you know that when you register your VIP membership online they send you a $10 voucher that can be used even on sale items? I have been a member for years but only just registered online.

I desperately need some more cotton dish cloths so I thought I would try something cheap. The Moda Vera Gelato is 50% acrylic and 50% cotton and quite a fine yarn. I used it double with size 6mm needles. I will use 5mm for the next one.

I need about 6 more. I have practically worn out my 3 favourite small ones. They are meant to be cream but they look a bit grey now.
Here is dish cloth one from this pattern. It is very soft but cleaned nicely. Maybe a bit holey. I will try another pattern for the next one. Probably this one.

Today I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

In the Garden Paper Pieced BOM

This is quite a challenge but I love the theme. Both the trees blocks are cute. So far I have only been able to finish Trees 2. It took a bit longer than I expected.

I missed the Trees link up so I need to get cracking on February. There are two blocks. A humming bird and a hibiscus.

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Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Beginning My Home Planner

I downloaded the free samples and I searched for free pages but in the end I bought a lifetime membership to Mom's Toolbelt so I would have a coordinated look and the whole range of pages and calendars.

I printed out the Summertime cover then decided what I wanted to organise. I have tabs for Goals for 2014, Housework Routine, Meals and Shopping, Budget and Inventory.

I printed out a Summertime divider. I cannot say enough how great it is to look up my goals pages and get something done. I spent an afternoon writing my goals for Feb and Mar and now I don't need to worry about wasting time or forgetting what needs to be done. Mom's Toolbelt has PDFs that you can put your own text on. This planner is one of several layouts.

I have a little parsley plant on the back deck now and because I had these goals written before we moved I also have a multi planter herb pot with me ready to plant some winter herbs in a few months time.
My folders sit on the pantry shelf in our rental house where I can easily access them. This shelf is just along the meals room wall. They will be on our office desk in the new house. The Mom's Toolbelt spines come in different sizes and you can print your own titles on and save the file. At present I have a Contacts folder, a New House folder and My Home Planner folder set up nicely. I have other folders still in the process of being put together for lots of personal papers.

Along with my lifetime membership I have access to affiliate links (I get a % if you visit with my link and then buy something) . I don't hesitate to recommend the Mom's Toolbelt printables because they have really helped me get more out of my time as well as given me peace of mind that what needs to be done is getting done.


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Happy Quilting and Crafting and Organising,
Val