Little birds

I have had a lot of fun making little birds to hang on the tree. I used the bird designs I found on the web to get the shapes then made them all from felt. They are not heirloom items and will probably be good for next year too but not much more. I have decided not to buy any more tree decorations. I will just make what ever takes my fancy. Last year I had paper houses and handbags. I still have those and will put them on this year too. I threw away the paper hearts I made with beady dangles as I took them off the tree. They were quick and easy to make so I had no problem discarding them. I have to have room for all the new things I have made.

I have started on the tea cloth and love it so far. It won't take too long to finish.

You may have noticed that I have borrowed some pictures of free patterns and linked them to the site with the pattern. These are on the top right of my blog. There are the strippy triangle blocks, the apron with the built in pot holders and the fabulous crochet hat and some others.

Lastly but not least, a big hello to my new followers. I love it when new people find my blog.

Happy Quilting,
Val

My new tote, some sewing tips and scrapbooking

Scrapbooking

I was going to post about the progress of my tote bag and ended up taking pictures of my sewing room and my light box set up and then I checked my email and found a nice reply from Vanessa at Whirling Butterfly. She is into scrapbooking and pointed me to her guest spot at Tamar's blog. She has included lots of links to free scrapbooking related things. I can see myself spending hours looking around those sites.

Back to the tote.
It is from this pattern. I like the separate inner concept.

I put my patterns in A4 envelopes. I also write the year I bought it and an alphabet letter referring to what part of my pattern box it came from.

I made it to the pattern a while back and it was just a bit too wide for comfort so I narrowed the ends by nearly half. I put a zipper in the side pocket and divided the pocket on the other side.

The end pockets would be too narrow if you follow the instructions. I could only fix one end because I had to have it flat to sew the stitching that divides up the pockets. The other end has two skinny pen pockets but they will need to be long pens so I don't lose them into the pocket :)

I want to add a shoulder strap as well as the tote handles so I can have hands free for check in.  I thought it lent itself to folding the top down (if it is not packed too full) and I have a magnetic clasp that I will use to keep it folded. I will attach the shoulder strap just below the fold line. I will also put a zipper across the top opening. It stops things falling out when it goes through customs.

The lining is dark green and I plan to put a big zipper pocket on each side. One side to put the ipad and one side will have slip in pockets inside the zipper pocket to hold my passport and purse and phone while my travel jacket is in the overhead locker. I plan to keep this tote under the seat.

I think I will also make the inner bag with a magazine or ipad slot and pockets on one side only (since the bag is narrower now). I think if I put tape loops on the back I might be able to attach it to the tray table to have my stuff easily accessible during the flight. Elastic might be too thick to fit behind the tray when it is closed.

Magnetic scissor keep
I found this in Ikea and it is perfect for holding my scissors within reach and out of the way while I am at the ironing board. It is also close enough for me to reach them while I am sitting at the sewing table. Now they don't get lost under fabric or pattern pieces.

My blue screen
In order to make my scrapbooking elements from my own tea cups etc I needed a blue screen so I could remove the background. I do this in Fireworks on my Mac.
The screen is just some blue fabric - you know I have just realised where my light blue homespun is. I was looking for it earlier this week :D  
It is long enough to flow onto the table and under the item I am photographing.
It is just tacked to the window sill.

You can see the pillowslip I am working on and the green tote bag lining.

My light box
I have a little glass top coffee table that also came from Ikea a while back. At some point I realised it would be good for tracing patterns because I had the goose neck lamp that fitted underneath.
I sit on a little stool or just bend over from the lounge chair. It would be possible to do it on the glass doors during the day but the big sheets from the quilting books are a bit awkward to hold up. It is easier to do sitting down.

Just a goose neck lamp that I can twist over.

When it is pressed flat it is easy to trace.

Something I traced the patterns for. A 36" diameter table topper.

Crickey! It is lunch time already and I haven't even looked at any of Vanessa's links. When will I get time to sew :)

Happy quilting,
Val

Amber Jewellery

I love to do a bit of beading but my husband is into grinding and shaping gem stones. His latest favourite is amber. Not exactly a stone but tree resin that is millions of years old. It polishes up to a lovely lustre and has a soft honey colour in lots of shades. When I sort out my ETSY shop I will be putting these up for sale so stay tuned.

I set up my table cloth in front of my little lounge. I used to have a coffee table here but I put it into my sun room. It makes me feel like I am in Paris again.

I also made some arm warmers for one daughter.

I have been busy doing some autumn applique on my orange tea towel today. It is like drawing with the machine. I love how it is coming along but it won't be done for a few days yet.

I tried to look at some of the FNSI posts but there are just so many! I started going down the list from my name and have only visited about 10 blogs because it is impossible to visit without reading and commenting. There is just so much going on out there.
Time to take a break.

Happy Quilting,
Val

FNSI and catchup

This is just the top. I will finish it today.

Hi everyone.
I can't believe how hard it was not to make contact with you all in blogger land.  I checked my mail a couple of times but I had promised myself a break from typing (a laptop on a desk is not good for the forearms) and I wanted to rest my eyes a bit. Sewing is pretty intense on the eyes as well. I am typing with the laptop on my lap this morning. I guess that is the way it was meant to be used.

It is always nice to get new followers so welcome to Maryellen, Tarnyia and Donna. I hope you visit often and don't forget that even better then followers are comments. I love making contact with people.

I showed you my teacup fabric the other day and I have been busy making my table cloth. It is not completely finished but I have done the top and have the back ready to sew. At first I was thinking of a check binding but it didn't seem right  and I thought that table cloths don't have binding they have borders. I decided to include a narrow border in the top and the back and sew it right sides together and turn it.

I added borders top and bottom then the sides like a patchwork block.

I found a great pattern for crochet arm warmers on Julia Crossland's blog and made myself a pair. I decided to adjust the pattern a bit by decreasing either side of the seam each four rows ( from 41 trebles to 33 at the finger end ) and I moved the thumb hole slightly further from the seam line. I am making some for my daughters and have finished one more arm. I am going to make myself a short pair as well. I used Big W Shawn Sheep Stirling pure wool 8 ply.  50g of each colour should be enough. (I used some left over balls). I bought some Panda for the daugters' cause it is very soft.

I said I was going to look at the hills in my time off. It is a very pleasant view. I spent some time outside reading my crochet magazine and crocheting.

I was looking out my kitchen window and could see a big red blob in the swamp gum. At first I thought it was a bird but then I realized it was the first flowers. It is a lovely tree with big gum nuts and big flowers in a lovely shade of pink.

Such a pretty tree. It is Western Australian.

I can't believe how pretty my pincushion looks with the flowers Fiona added. You can have a look on Fiona's blog. I still haven't got Deedee's in the post yet. Should be here this week though. Now it is a bit of breakfast then back to checking around the blogs and replying to comments.

 Happy Quilting ( and blogging) :)
 Val