12 Christmas stockings

I finished some of the Christmas stockings I'd cut out and pinned last week. (Or maybe it was the week before!!) I decided to stop at the 12 I had done and will go back and do the other 10 I have ready to sew after I've done some other things. Anyway, here are the 12 I've finished.

As I was making these, I decided I HAD to listen to Christmas music. I know it's only October but I'm not bothered about that! LOL

Next time, I'll show you what I did with these - or most of them anyway! :oD

20 things

I found this on Pinterest the other day and really liked it. It wasn't correctly linked - don't you just hate that?? - and the only results I got in searching for it, didn't link to its orginal source either so I can't give proper recognition to the person who made it up. But I liked it so much I thought I'd put it here.

I should do more of these ... starting now. Mind you, I don't think "Play that Funky Music", which is playing on my iTunes as I type, ties in too well with number 15! LOL

my Christmas stockings production line

I've been doing the production line thing again this past week. This time it's been Christmas stockings. First of all I cut out lots of fronts and backs - I think it was 19 stockings I cut out!

Then I decided if it would be red or green linings and cut all those out.

Not pictured is all the curtain bump (aka interlining) which I use instead of wadding and the muslin that goes on the back of that to make the quilting of the pieces easier.

This is some of the fronts and backs pinned to their bump & muslin ready for quilting.

This is 3 stockings after their fronts and backs have been quilted and they've been sewn together.

This is the pile of red and green linings all sewn together with their tartan bee labels attached.

And here are 2 completed stockings.

I love them! I've got a few more finished but not photographed yet but there's still more to do before I get to the Christmas pinnies production line! Why can't I ever just make one thing at a time?? LOL

a strip quilt

I saw an interesting video from the Missouri Star Quilt Company the other week called "Jelly Roll Race! A Quilt Top in Less Than an Hour!" I was intrigued and wanted to have a go myself.

Now, I'm not one to buy Jelly Rolls - I'm too mean to pay nearly £30 for 40 strips of fabric, 2½" wide most of which you can't see what they look like - and I probably wouldn't like a lot of them if I could see them!

So, how could I make this quilt without a Jelly Roll? Why, cut the strips myself from my stash. So I did! I actually cut more than 40 as I wanted the finished quilt to be around 60" square. I think I used about 48 or thereabouts.

Then I joined them into one long strip with diagonal joins.

Which meant triangular off-cuts when I trimmed the seams.

Then I started joining the whole lot together.

Due to back pain (drat you, psoriatic arthritis, for kicking in when I wanted to sew!!) I had to take it slowly - no "less than an hour" finishes for me on this quilt top.

But I got there eventually and then started quilting it.

That took me days rather than hours as well but it was finally done and the binding was machine-sewn on the front. Don't you just love the spotty fleece? I do!

I then took a couple of evenings to hand-sew the binding on the back. And this is the final result.

My quilt holder first of all held it up this way. No, turn it the other way!

I just love this quilt!

This is for a wedding present. I'm going to put a note in with it that it's not meant to be kept for good. It's to be used for picnics in the park, tents in the livingroom and movie watching on the couch. I hope they like it!

a dressmaking catch-up

I've been sewing a few bits and bobs over the last couple of weeks which I haven't blogged about - until now.

First of all, I finished the corduroy pinafore dress:

I know it will be a great addition to my autumn/winter wardrobe. The pattern is the same as I used for the denim dress back in August - an old pattern I made back in the 90s.

My grandad was right when he used to say "keep a thing for 7 years - or in this case 20+ years - and you're bound to find a use for it!"

I then made a couple of blouses from my favouritest (!!) blouse pattern:

This one is in a cotton fabric which is made to look like linen. It has the look of linen without the crushable nature of linen.

I love the wee flower buttons!

This one is a flowery cotton. I love it!

I also made a black top but, for some reason, I haven't got a photo of it. I'll try and take one next time we get a day when it's bright enough to take photos. Autumn has well and truly arrived in my wee part of Scotland. Last week, it still felt like summer. This week, the coats have been dug out and I've even been thinking of digging out some gloves! Aaaargh!!

The Assembly Rooms - Edinburgh

On Saturday morning, we headed out to Edinburgh to take advantage of the doors open day. Quoting from the Doors Open Day website:

"Doors Open Days give you free access to hundreds of fascinating buildings across Scotland. Every weekend in September you can explore places that are normally closed to the public. Some open up once a year, some just once in a lifetime. This is your chance to discover the architecture, design, buildings, places and spaces right on your doorstep or explore a new part of the country."

We (I) decided that we would go in the train to avoid parking issues. As we headed over the Forth Bridge, I took this photo of the Forth Road Bridge. The green arrows are pointing to 2 of the towers the new Forth Crossing which is due to open in 2016.

Our destination was The Assembly Rooms on George Street in Edinburgh. We were not disappointed!

My favourite room was the Ballroom. I so wanted to be there in a floaty Georgian dress! This view to the left as you walk in the doors:

And this is the view to the right. Yes, it is enormous!!

I took lots of photos of ceilings. I can't remember which goes with which room so let's just admire them!

A potted history of the Assembly Rooms.

This is the Music Hall:

We then took part in a Georgian Etiquette Class. The ladies were given fans and taught some of the language of fans. I don't have any photos of that as I was busy concentrating so that I would know what to do when I attend my next ball in the Ballroom! :oD

The men were given lessons in cravat tying. Douglas did very well - for a first attempt - without a valet! LOL The man behind Douglas in this photo came up from Manchester especially to come to the Assembly Rooms. That's dedication for you!

Next several of the audience were chosen to be shown how to get in and out of a coach. Douglas became the Duke of Dunedin (for about 15 minutes!). He, naturally, got the best seat in the coach.

The photo I took of all the participants in the "coach" was so fuzzy, even I didn't know who was who! But I did manage to get a photo of the chap from Manchester in his alter-ego role as coachman and his horse! LOL

The ladies were taught how to curtsey (no photos of that) and the men were shown how to bow. The man behind Douglas is a bit better at bowing than Douglas but then, his alter-ego was a dancing instructor! :oD

All in all it was a facinating visit and a lovely day out. :o)