purse, pinafore, blouses and others

I've not just been a quilt-making machine this year. I've also made a few (!) other things. Let me show you.

First, Joanna asked me to make her a coin purse so I dug out my bits of leather and made this one for her. It's the same pattern as I used for my own one back in May last year (who knew it was so long ago!!). This time I made it from one piece of leather so no seam to contend with. I like it. She likes it. That's all that counts!

Next I made a cover for a notebook which I intend to use as a sort of journal for the things I make. This is the outside cover. It's not as big as it looks - this is it flat!

It has pockets for pens on the inside cover.

And this is it tied shut with the ribbons. By the end of the year, I suspect the ribbons will do a good job since the pages will get fatter as I paste the pics of my makes and maybe even samples of fabrics inside.

I made myself a pinafore dress. The pattern is the Mildred pinafore from SewgirlintheUK. I sewed it up very quickly and there's only been a couple of days in the 2 weeks since I made it that I haven't worn it. I LOVE it! I got Douglas to take a photo of me trying it on before I'd even sewn up the hem! You might be able to see the pins! You can see the back of it in the mirror out in the hall!

Then I made a couple of Archer shirts. I have made a LOT of these shirts since I got the pattern back in 2014. I have definitely had my money's worth! (The link shows the pattern costing $18. I can't imagine I paid that much - too mean/thrifty/canny! Actually, I just went and checked my emails and I only paid $12 for it. Wow! a 50% increase??) Anyway, the shirts are very comfy under my new pinafore!

This one is made from a duvet cover that I bought in Asda's. OMG I LOVE this!

When Joanna saw the stripey one, she asked me if I'd make her one too. The duvet cover for it is washed and pressed and ready to be cut out!

Lastly, in my bid to get on with the double wedding ring quilt, I made another block. It looks like it could do with a good press!

another 2 quilts finished!

Back at the beginning of the year, I saw lot of posts on blogs and youtube videos where people were making lists of 12 UFOs (unfinished objects) or WIPs (works in progress) that they wanted to get finished this year. I'm not guilty of having tons of those lying around but I did have the sampler quilt and the double wedding ring quilt I had started last year that I thought I'd try and get finished.

I counted up how many more blocks I'd need for the sampler quilt and decided I had too many for one quilt! I then worked out how many I'd need for 2 quilts and that was 6 more blocks each. There were always two of each block pattern so I needed to make 2 more of 6 blocks. I dug into my 501 Quilt Blocks book again and chose 6 blocks that didn't involve too much fussing! (Just as an aside, I got the link for the book from Amazon and there is NO WAY I paid £149 for that book! Holy moley!!) Anyway, these are the blocks I ended up with:

Strip Heart:

New Album:

Ohio Star:

Homeward Bound:

Crayon Box:

and Counter Change Cross:

As I started to add the sashing on to the blocks, there was one block that, no matter how much I tried, just would not fit on to the sashings. The block (Four X Variation shown in this blog post) was nowhere near the 9½" square it should have been so I dug out the book again and made Calico Puzzle:

I then divided the blocks into two piles so neither quilt had two blocks of the same design then added all the sashings and cornerstones - wee squares of colour between the sashings. I bought a couple of very soft fleeces from Asda for the backs as neither of the two I had on my shelves were big enough. They cost me £7.50 each which, to my way of thinking, was a great price to make the backing of the quilts easy to do and the results are so warm and cosy. Perfect!

Here they are in all their glory. I LOVE them!

This shows the penguins fleece on the back and the quilt label:

I hope to get on with the double wedding ring quilt this year too but I have a lot more of those blocks to make and they're nowhere near as "easy" as the blocks for the sampler quilts so it'll take me a while. Mind you, it is still just February so I might still get it done this year! 🤞

2 quilts made already!

Is it too late to say "Happy New Year"? I never know when we should stop saying it! I mean, if you meet someone in October who you haven't seen all year, do you wish them a Happy New Year? Maybe not. But, as it's my first post of 2023 and it's still January, I'm going to go with it! Happy New Year! LOL

First, let me show you Joanna's diary cover which I made way back in November but had to keep hidden until after Santa had been.

The front - I embroidered the wording on my embroidery machine:

The whole of the outside:

The inside.

My first sewing projects of the year are a couple of quilts for Joanna. I had mentioned I didn't know what to make next and she asked me for a quilt. No problem, said I! This is what I came up with.

I backed it with a fleece blanket which I had bought last year when Poundstretchers was having a half price sale. Naturally, I bought two of them - as you do! Or I do! 🤣 The label (again, embroidered on my embroidery machine) isn't too clear but it's a bit easier to see on the next quilt.

When I gave it to her she said she'd put it in a basket and that there was plenty room for more if I was still looking for something to sew. I didn't need asked twice! This was the result.

The backing is the second fleece from Poundstretchers with the easier to read label.

I used 2½" squares for the first quilt (already cut by me) and scraps for the second one but I swear you wouldn't know to look at my 2½" squares and scrap boxes! I suspect I could make quite a few more quilts with them and still have plenty left over.

My next "game" is to tidy my fat quarter boxes as they are jammed in pretty tightly. I really should use some of them up. Maybe an idea will come to me as I play with them.

some December makes

I'm posting this earlier than normal but I doubt I'll do any more sewing this month. If I do, I'll just include in January's post.

First of all, I had 6 tea towels in a box in my sewing room waiting to be embroidered. I had bought them with the intention of selling them in the tartan bee (closed for now) but changed my mind. They've been languishing in that box for a while (maybe 2, 3 or 4 years??) so I decided just to get on and make them and use them myself. So I did!

The tea towels show up kind of creamy in the photos but they're white.

In case anyone is interested in these designs, they're all from Embroidery Library. In order of my photos, they are:

trees:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=ESP79736-4

tree:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=M16381

mittens:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=M33122

tree:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=M22034

Santa:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=M22059

Bells:
https://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=M22054

Next I made a couple of placemats like the ones I made last year. I had always intended making 6 but only made 4 last year. I always write down how I make things so it was an easy job to find the instructions in my book and make 2 more.

This embroidery made me laugh when it came to my email last week from Embroidery Library. I bought it and made it immediately - a record for me! It's stapled on to a 20cm square canvas frame which makes it easy to display - see next photo!

It's now sitting on the piano along with the Ho Ho Ho banner I made last year - see here for how I did it.

The following photos are of some of the wall-hangings that I've hung on our walls (!) this year. I mainly took the photos to remind myself of where they fit as, every year, I have to think about that so maybe next year I won't have to! LOL

This is a tree that I made long before I knew much about patchwork and quilting - must be about 30 years ago if not more! The corners of the binding are not good but, you know what?, I love it as much now as when I made it. I remember the sense of achievement that I felt when I finished it and, boy, that felt sooooooo good. Perfection is NOT necessary to make beautiful things!

This corner has the presents wallhanging I made last year - the link for the instructions is in this post. The other tree hanging is one I made last year following the tutorial on youtube by Jordan fabrics.

This is a shot showing the reindeer hanging above the living room doors - originally blogged about here and here. It also shows the tree out on the hall, the circles tree hanging on the right wall as you go up the stairs and my Christmas Supernova is hanging below the stair window. In the distance you can see the door into the sewing room with all sorts of little hangings there! You can also see the hoover sitting out - just keeping it real! LOL

And finally, a couple of things I made yesterday - fudge on the left and tablet on the right. Recipes for those are in the "my recipes" link at the top of the blog.

I always laugh at the notes on my tablet recipe.

"This is kind of a hit and a miss recipe. I’ve been making it for years and it sometimes doesn't set. If that happens, I just scrape it all back into the pan, re-boil it, re-beat it and try again.

Sometimes, it sets before I can get it out of the pan on to the baking tray - no worries. It still tastes good even if it looks ugly! 😀"

This batch proves that point! Ugly but it tastes soooooooo good!

Finally, let me wish you all a very merry Christmas. I hope Santa is good to you all!

November's makes

Not nearly as many makes this month but a couple of the things I made took considerable thinking and figuring out! The first was my tree wallhanging. I saw the idea on this youtube video. I liked the idea of it but I didn't have the ruler that was needed to make it. I went searching for it and, to my dismay, could only find it on US sites. Not too bad but it cost something like £15 and the postage was something like £16! Good grief!

Now, I'm the first to admit that I have a LOT of quilting rulers but, if you use them all, why is that a bad thing? It's not! So, I dug through my collection and, sure enough, there was one with the same angles but mine was much shorter. No worries, said I to myself. You're a Maths teacher - or was! - and can figure it out for yourself! So I did. It took me a good few days and a good few attempts to get it right but I did it. This was my prototype:

And this is the final wallhanging. I *LOVE* it!

I was so pleased with it that I hung it up right away in the hall where it will stay until the decorations come down after Christmas.

The next thing I made was the head of a hobby horse for Isla's Christmas.

It's been sent on its journey to Canada with the instructions for mummy (and daddy) for how to finish it off. No way could I include the piece of wood for Isla to be able to ride it!

The pattern I used is this one. I made it for both my girls for Christmas 2000. Yes, they were grown-ups (aged 20 and 18) at the time but they loved them!

I made some more drawstring bags for the girls. Two have been sent already and the other two will go when there's room in a box!

Next, I wanted to make the girlies' dollies a cape each. I didn't have a pattern but had a look on Pinterest and found one I thought might work. The next day, when I looked at what I had downloaded, I realised I only had the front and the hood so back I went to find the pattern for the back. Well, imagine my hilarity when the back pattern had "cape for Barbie" written on it! Well, that wouldn't fit Grace by any stretch of the imagination!

So that started a good few days' worth of work trying to figure out how to make a cape that would fit Grace and, more to the point, would go over her hair! I eventually managed it - quite a few prototypes were made and discarded. Anyway, here are the finished capes. Grace loves them and she's positive Emily's and Isla's dollies will love them too!

The last thing I had to make before the Christmas box was sent to Canada was the girls' ornaments for their tree. This design is one I got from Embroidery Library shown here. It was made in grey felt on the pattern but I didn't have any grey so I used white instead. To be honest, I think it looks much better in white!

When Joanna saw them she threatened to steal them so I made one for her too!

There are other things I've made this month that can't be shown until later in the year so that'll do for now!