Need some more Oh Deer??

Are you in need of some gorgeous, colourful Fat Quarters? Some Oh Deer Fat Quarters to be mhttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3499681090658403618#editor/target=post;postID=277675852602174218ore specific?

If so, you need to head over to my good friend Cindy's Fluffy Sheep Quilting blog where she is giving away 4 of them this week :-)

Good luck!

Small is beautiful!

I have been trying to concentrate on small and easy projects in the last few weeks, seeing as my energy to sew is a little thin on the ground - the sort of projects that are not too taxing and are fun to make. In the last week, I managed 2 ( a major achievement, although it mighn't seem like one!) little projects in full, and finished off another small project too (more about that later this week) So here are the first two - both made in less than an hour each, but which made me smile.
First up - I needed a small extra to go with my pouch for the PLP5 swap. After dithering a bit about what to do (I seem to spend a lot of time dithering at the moment - which project to do, which fabric to use - its very frustrating and very unlike me! I think its because my sewing mojo is half asleep at the moment.) I decided to make a fabric basket using Ayumi's tutorial, as I have one that Kirsten made me in a swap last year and I use it all the time and love it. Even if my partner might have some already, they are something you will always have use for in my opinion!

I wanted something whimsical and I found a couple of leftover charms from the Japanese charm swap I did last year that I was saving for the right project. I fussy cut some 2" squares out of them and they worked exactly as I hoped they would.


I was pretty happy with the basket, so my package is now on the way to its destination.

I also got my fab package all the way from Australia - from the lovely Gina
 - Happy Go Lizzie on Flickr. I was so thrilled with this pouch. Gina included the jewel tones I said I was loving right now and lots of hand stitching - I just love it and the extras  - look at that cute mini pouch and the pincushion! Thanks so much Gina :-)

I also made a bit of an impulse Kindle buy over the weekend - figuring that if I couldn't sew, then I might as well get back reading again. Reading used to be my fave hobby until it took a back seat to sewing, and its pretty achieveable in bed and on the sofa! Of course, having bought it I needed a cover. I found a good tutorial by Whipstitch and loved the design.

 

This literally took about 40 minutes to run up - it was super simple. I could have taken a little more care if I wasn't in such a hurry to get it done before the new series of Downton Abbey started last night (wasn't it fab?) I actually didn't dither over the fabric for this one, believe it or not. The typewriter fabric kind of fell out of my fabric box and I knew instantly it was perfect! When I was halfway through making it, I brought in the Kindle to check for size and had a moment of serendipity when I realised that the screensaver had turned to the typewriter keys - so I just knew it was going to turn out perfectly.

 

What I love about this design is that there is room to hold the Kindle for reading.......and there is also an internal pocket to keep it safe inside when you're not using it, giving an extra layer of paddig to the screen.

 I really had fun with this one, but I also am looking forward to making a few other covers just for variety. I have lots of ideas on this one so you might see a few more covers in the coming weeks.

Pretty {little} pouch done!

This weekend I managed a little bit of sewing. Top on my list was my swap items for Geraldine and my pouch for Round 5 of the Pretty {little} pouch swap.

I'm not showing any pictures of my WIP on Geraldine's goodies as I want them to be a surprise. But suffice to say I made a lot of headway and hope to get them in the post to her early this week. I already received her doll quilt but will keep the reveal until I can show mine too.

I also managed to get finished my pouch. I had the front and back done last week  so it was a case of getting the lining finished and the pouch assembled. For the back, I wanted to do something less structured and traditional patchwork than the front to give a more whimsical look. I played around with lots of different ideas before deciding on this semi-circle of raw edge applique. The quilting was an after thought, to be honest, but I love how it gives a shell shape and how it "ties" at the bottom.

For the lining, I really wanted to do a zip pocket in it, to give a secure storage place for needles, scissors, thimbles etc so that it would be really practical for use for hand-sewing or crochet projects. Finally realising that my brain was not really functioning too well (combination of hormones, back to school this week and a rotten head cold) I decided to go to the expert, and I took out my Bag Making Bible book, where, of course, the ever-reliable Lisa had a set of instructions for exactly what I had in mind.

Hers were for a bigger bag so I did adjust them slightly but they worked perfectly - which was lucky as I didn't have enough of the alphabet fabric for a 2nd try! It gives a nice big roomy pocket, lined in the same Kona Charcoal as the bag exterior. I really like how the alphabet Summersville works as the lining - its a real contrast to the exterior.

Lining successfully done, all I had to do was run up the seams to complete the construction and ta-dah! It was done.

I'm really delighted with this pouch - I love how it is essentially double sided and that it is practical too. I tried to incorporate a lot of things she listed as "likes", so hoping it hits the mark. Its winging its way away from me next week and I hope my partner will love it :-)