Daisy Made It

At last!!!

I am finally joining in with the Quilty Fun Sew Along.  I may be seven weeks late but I plan on catching up over this weekend and the coming week, if need be :)

I bought Lori Holt's book Quilty Fun a few months ago when it first came out, but with Christmas fast approaching, I didn't have time to do more than flick through it with a coffee in hand.  I liked what I saw though and then Fat Quarter Shop's blog the Jolly Jabber ran a sew along and blog tour using the Quilty Fun book.  Well, I thought to myself, I just have to do that....but I just couldn't find the time, but HOORAY I am finally ready to dive in and catch up.  You can follow/join in over at Jolly Jabber or check out the Quilty Fun Sew Along and Blog Tour Flickr page.

I have a few hours to myself this afternoon so lets see how much I can get through today.....I may be gone a while :)

2014 and all is cosy :)

I can honestly say that so far this year I have been very productive LOL

First off the new sewing machine (which I LURVE by the way) is a cosy for Charley's teapot.  I've had the pattern for a while now but only just got around to making it and I have to say I love this, I'm now going to have to make one for myself....personally I think every home should have one :)

I'm not planning on slacking off any time soon.  I joined a birdhouse block swap with my friends in the USA and have just made up a sample block, so I think I'm all good with how I'm going to make the block and now I just need to make 20 of them and get them posted by the beginning of March.

I am also planning on finishing my Civil War Love Letters quilt, there are 121 blocks in total and I think, at last count, I had made 72, so not that many more to go!!!!

Of course in between there will be other projects that pop up and catch my eye, not to mention the Dear Jane quilt I started, the english paper pieced hexagon quilt, my Mystery BOM and learn how to use the embroidery kit on my machine, which will open up a whole new wealth of things to make.....there are just not enough hours in the day/week/month/year!!!!

Here's to a busy 2014!!!

Almost there.....

It's Christmas Eve and we are all ready and waiting for the big day....although I had my big day a little early.  My wonderful husband bought me a new machine for Christmas - a Pfaff Creative Sensation Pro.  To say I am excited is the biggest understatement ever!!!  I don't really know all what my new machine can do - I understand the sewing side of it, but I have never used an embroidery machine, luckily I get lessons from the dealer on that part of it :)  I can't wait until the New Year and my lessons to see just what amazing things can be done with this machine....this video has got my brain ticking and I'm sure I'll need lots of practice but you can get the idea :)

I also wanted to share a couple of projects I made for Christmas presents.  My sister was talking to me about a doorway puppet theatre for my nieces, so I made one up for them.  I hope they love it, I would've loved something like this when I was small.  It has a wooden pole through the top and it can hang off hooks in the doorway...and when you are not playing with it, it simply rolls up and doesn't take up hardly any room :)

I also made a teddy bear for a cousins little boy Harry.  Harry is 3, that wonderful age when they really 'get' the magic of Christmas.  We had lots of the family over on Saturday to catch up and I had to have a present for little Harry.....so 'HarryBear' was born.  I used some fab material I've had for a while now and I think it lends itself very well to the bear pattern.  Harry was certainly thrilled with his bear and I was thrilled that he loved it so much :)

I can't wait for tomorrow - there are still some great surprises for the rest of the family and it's going to be a wonderful day :)

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas with your families and/or loved ones.  

See you in 2014!!!!

Fresh Sewing Day

Well November flew past so quickly I missed posting yesterday for the Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts......but I'm here now :)

Here's a little mosaic of things I have made this month, of course not everything can be shown or I'll ruin some surprises for people.....

From top left, we have.....Union Jack cushion, some check coasters, free motion machine embroidery picture, needle felted robin, crocheted snowman and snowdog and a baby quilt that was ordered :)

Lily's Quilts also has a great downloadable Advent calender over on her blog, the Barn Quilt Advent Calender - they are really cute :)

Time flies....

Wow, I can't quite believe a month has already passed since my last post....it's true, time really does fly when you're having fun, and for me, having fun is when I'm creating - either sewing, quilting, crocheting and needle felting.

I made a few Christmas presents, not all of them are finished and some of them I can't show or I'll spoil the surprise, but here's a look at one of the cushions I made.

I also made a real cute vintage looking bear.  He has fully jointed arms, legs and head and I love him.  The glass eyes really make him come to life :)  

I've also made all the gifts for my Secret Santa in America and posted them. I hope they arrive there safely and the recipient likes them.....I had fun making them for her :)

One of the most recent things I made this month was a needle felted Robin, my friend taught me how and I really enjoyed doing it.
 It's a great stress reliever, jabbing the felting needle into the wool and feeling it change under your fingers and rally quite easy, I can see me doing more of this, but that might have to wait until after Christmas......or at least until I've finished all the Christmas sewing and crocheting :)

Cushions.....

.....for Charley :)

Of course with Charley and Stu buying their first house, I am happy to make them some yummy things to put in there.  Not that Charley doesn't have her fair share of cushions and quilts from when she lived in Brighton, but that was a small flat and this house is larger, so there's more room to fill up with lovely things :)

First off is this Heart cushion.  I love the mix of plain linen and colourful patchwork - there is a second one of these but I haven't finished the quilting on it yet....

I also finished a little crochet cushion (shhhh.....don't look too closely, there's a little booboo) I've alredy made a similar one, with a scalloped edging but forgot to take a photo of that one....maybe I'll get a piccie when they're altogether on the sofa's :)

You can never have too much handmade loveliness in your home :)

Prettified Pincushion

There has been a wonderful sew-a-long going on over at Flickr! using the fab book Patchwork, Please by Ayumi.

Although I missed the sew-a-long, I did manage to get the book and made the very last project......the Prettified Pincushion.  I love it and already have a few more almost finished, they will make great little stocking fillers for my crafty friends :)

Go and check out the Flickr! group, and Debbie's blog, where a lot of people have linked up their projects, theres some very talented people there and they will inspire you.....for me, it's time to make some more projects from the book :)

Bits and pieces

I've done a little sewing while I've been ill....no big projects, I don't have the energy for that yet, but I have enjoyed making a few small things :)

I love mugrugs and they come in so handy in the workroom.....no more accidental spills ruining your project or fabric and they wash and dry so quickly, they just do the perfect job :)  I made a couple of patriotic ones, one for the UK and one for the USA.....these are gifts for friends

And I also made a little sewing case....handbag size, for those times when you need to do a little stitching while waiting in a waiting room, picking someone up etc.  This is also a gift....part of my Secret Santa package with my friends in America :)  I think I'm safe posting a piccie as she doesn't know it's me sending to her :)

Now to come up with a few more small projects that I can tackle while recouperating.  Happy sewing everyone :)

Where did September go???

I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged.....September came and went with barely a glance.  Most of it I've been ill....trips to A&E, trips to the Dr, lots of time spent in bed and generally feeling rough.  Asthma is no joke, especially when you can't get on top of it, BUT I think I'm turning a corner, I have been able to sit at my sewing machine a sew the last couple of days - woohoo :) Much better than laying in bed reading, or falling asleep while reading would be more acurate :)

 

For a long time now I've loved the look of Zakka style projects and have now jumped in and made a cute little zakka style apron....mixed with some of my favourite vintage fabrics and I have to say I'm loving it :)

I can see lots more Zakka projects rolling out of the sewing machine and I have got my sewing mojo back - another woohoo!!!!!

 

I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet....why don't you pop over and check out the talents of these wonderful ladies and meet some new people :)

Right, I'm off back to the machine to sew some more goodies :)

 

Tiny - a - long!!!!

I've not done much crafting recently, in any form - quilting, crocheting, dressmaking - but I have joined a crochet-a-long to get me back into the swing of it :)  As you may remember I recently learned Amigurumi.  I love all the toys and creatures that can be made with this technique, it really brings crochet to life, and my favourite Amigurumi teacher, Stacey Trock, is running the Tiny-a-long.  I've already started my tiny Alistair the Caterpiller and doing things tiny does help to make them work up real quick - always good in my book :)

So this weekend will mostly be spend looking through my big magnifier to get this project finished - just wish my fingers didn't feel so huge :)