So much to do, so little time!

I am mad I know but particularly so this week - having made a pirate costume last week - my son announced on Sunday he needed a hooded cape to be a murderer in the 'Scottish play' tonight!  Eek!  


Phew I made that yesterday....no photo yet but I will try to cajole him into it soon!  [ He was quite convincing though I will give him that! - not sure that is reassuring though?]


I am also supposed to be getting ready for that retreat but still have four sample swaps to finish as promised.  So what do I choose to make ??  Something quick and easy?  No - something that seems so complicated that I don't know how I will make it...


You see it started with this.....a machine embroidered skyline of London showing Big Ben, the Gherkin, St Paul's Cathedral, Nelson's Column, the Millennium Eye and the Tower of London...

Next question what on earth do I do with it?


I know I'll make my London souvenir into a very practical pencil case....a boxy one so that my scene shows nicely on the side!   So how do I actually get it in the right place?  No tutorial I have seen made it easy to work out where the side panel would end up - lots of thinking and panicking later....


Then I come up with this ....maybe it could work!

Now what should I put on the other side - bright colours and patterns would kill my little London Skyline so it needs to be something subdued right!?  What about the golden ticket!  Great idea but not so easy to do....that writing is pretty hard to follow!

Now the colours to go with - there must be some colour - well Jubilee weekend, Union flags flying everywhere - it has to be red and blue!


So here is the outside 

- with a tiny hint of crazy traffic - expect even more when the Olympics start!


Some themed tape to go with!

Now the lining so represents me in my current state - completely dotty!

Here they all are lined up ready to go and ready to go home with one of you...

Why didn't I go for something simple? - I mean - I am not even sure anyone but me will like them!  

The postman came again!

Yes and he brought me a big bag of wadding which is why he knocked on the door!


But more importantly he also brought a small neat package from Terri!


Are you as excited as me??


My nametag for FQ Retreat and an extra!


Ok the tension mounts - this was the cutest of notes and the wrapping!

Here is the 'extra' a notebook - personalised just for me!  Terri writes my name with a sewing machine better than I write it with a pen!

Fuzzy photo of me wearing my nametag - perfect colours for what I am wearing today! 

A close up of the nametag saying hello to my constant companion Elisa's crane!

Sorry you guys but I have the cutest nametag ever!  And a perfect souvenir of the event - even though I haven't got there yet!

Such perfect stitching - Aneela I need your help!

Secrets revealed!

My nametag partner now has her tag so I can reveal who it was for and what hid on the other side of the birdy and her pouch!

Yeah these have arrived at Terri's house - otherwise known as Mish Mash Mama!  Bit in awe of Terri's beautiful handstiching - she is good but hope she will not think mine too ridiculous!!  Give me the machine anyday!  You can find Terri here!




I also posted about something I had wrapped up for my friend Fiona!

Well she has received it and this was inside!  A pouch with a scarf inside...

I made the pouch not the scarf!  Two different linens with daisies FMQed on both sides!  The idea of the daisies was inspired by the scarf...

No more secrets for now...but hopefully another quilt will soon be finished - ah but which one?  Ok there is another secret...sh!  

FQ Nametag Swap!

Yes I am going the London FQ Retreat in June!  Lucky or what!


I signed up for the Nametag swap, was assigned a partner, have thought about what I wanted to make, even decided what I wanted to make and then did lots of other things because I wasn't sure how to make it! [Do you do that or is it just me?]


Well I started on it yesterday!  Yahoo!  After a few bad starts I came up with this....

 Apologies for blurry shot but light levels are so low today - it's raining.....again!




I liked it but the linen I used was quite open textured and was fraying like mad so I had to try again today...


Mark II, which is a lot tidier and less likely to disappear into a heap of threads..

Missing something do you think?


Well if you know me then you know I make things with two sides and this is no exception.  So this is the other side....

Minus that giveaway name of course!


Now as it stands I could send it in the post like this but I wondered if I should send it attached to something like this?   Bling it up a little...

What do you think?

Funky Wonky Forest!

Here is the forest that I have grown in the last few days....

They are supposed to be wonky but I think they are more scrappy!   

I have strip pieced, curve pieced, appliqued, and reverse appliqued!  So much learnt - still lots to learn but I am taking steps forward....albeit wonky ones!

My forest will be flying off to the US and then distributed somewhere in the world.  I love that - a bit of my stuff ending up with someone else's stuff, somewhere on this round ball floating in space.  Awesome isn't it?

I have found this swap inspiring, challenging and fun!  The girls in the group are fun and supportive too and Jane our swap mamma is fabulous !  She manages to keep us in order - such a hard job!

The next round will be wonky four patches - nice and easy - and wonky stars - which I love too!  We have yet to decide whether the star blocks will be 9.5, 6.5, or 3.5 inches square! 

But I am not scared of this coming round as I have already done all these sizes on Cindy's choice of bee block in January - as you can see here....

- the Stargazer block which she is making into a great quilt!   Check it out!

We have the option to go for both blocks or just one, and we do a multiple of 4 - 4, 8 or 12!  It's that simple....!  If you want to join - here is the Flickr group! 

Oh and Happy Easter everyone!

Mouthy Stitches Pouches!

What is better than one mouthy stitches pouch - two, or maybe even three....?


I am way too indecisive and it shows when it comes to making things for swaps. I do look at my partner's mosaic and their blog and I read their comments about other swap items.  I will decide what to make and then unless my partner says yes with enthusiasm I go into meltdown and think that she doesn't really like what I am making for her!


So then I end up making more than one item in the hope that I can hedge my bets...



So that is why I have not one, not two but three pouches to offer my partner.

Option number 1 is quite close to something in her mosaic.  It is a mini handbag really and because I couldn't work out how to recess the zip - it would have required facings and all sorts - I just put in a zippered pocket to meet our zip requirement! Hope that keeps the mamas happy!?  It is made in cord to give it a bit of body and help to keep it's shape.   My youngest quite likes it and would have taken it for sure if it was RED!

Option number two is my original one in linen though rather modified.  I took off the button, the ribbon trim and bow!  And then added some material that went with my linen - a dusky blue, and an aqua dotty fabric and put the bow back on.  The same fabrics are inside the bag and I used the dotty fabric to make some pockets!

Option three is a wildcard based on the comments of my partner on the other pouches being made and on my own personal taste.  I have gone back to my favourite bright colours and done something I have been meaning to do for some time.  I have tried out some Kantha quilting! 



This is a technique from India which uses close stitching in running stitch.   I had to choose a suitable motif - one that my partner seems to like - an elephant.  She seems to have found a name already - Nelly!  Both Helen and Judith have named her so - so Nelly she is then!  

The bright colours continue inside with two pockets - one to take a rotary cutter or scissors, the other for a pen!  I could easily fill it up with a hand piecing project.....

Unless my partner wants it.....?

Wonkiness!.

You may have noticed a bit of wonky behaviour on this blog of late culminating in my completion of 11 wonky houses!

Before that I was tempted into wonkiness first by the lovely Susan and her brilliant wonky star quilt which she exported to Finland I think! 




And then I was drawn into it by the innocent seeming Judith with the first block in the Bee Blessed bee.  This resulted in some Wonky Star Bee blocks, 
but continued into twinkle !  A baby quilt I made and have now handed over to baby Alia!

I wanted a little more wonkiness in my life and signed up for the Wonky Houses Swap.  Well it appears that even that amount of wonkiness has not sated my desire for one step short of madness so the next round of Wonkiness has been announced and we will be continuing in our wayward ways but focusing on trees next.


This round is open to you all to sign up but will be run differently.  We make either 4, 8 or 12 wonky tree blocks in green, or coloured fabrics or both !  We send them to Jane and she kindly redistributes them!   This round starts on 1 March and we must get our blocks to Jane by 1 May.  Fancy joining us? 


The information on Round two is here! 


There are more rounds planned...for more information on those click here! 




Join me if you will in the wonky world....

The Wonder Swap!

Well I knew Helen was really a wonder person after all she is mum to Archie the Wonder Dog and I guess that sort of rubs off on one!

What I didn't know was that she is also a wonder maker - well actually I  strongly suspected it so when we talked way back last year at the time of the Brit Bee Pillow Fight Swap about a one-on-one swap I quite frankly jumped at the chance and very nearly bit her hand off in the process.  Poor girl!

Anyway we eventually decided on making each other a cushion cover and a couple of extras - though she has cheated and snuck in a few more!

Without further ado this is what I have been truly blessed to receive....


First of all the cushion cover....

Isn't it absolutely fantastic!  I absolutely love it!   The colour, the shape, the precision in each of these 64 - yes 64 teeny weeny logcabins and did I mention there are 64 of them - all different!  


Is she mad ?  I do fear so!  But each one is perfect and for the clear sighted of you they are made with batik fabric!  Eeek!  I hear you exclaim but I do believe that Helen is on a one woman mission to convert us all into batik lovers -  she started with Trudy in the Brit Bee Swap and now this....

AWESOME!

I do believe that there is no bad fabric - well apart from some of the stuff in Lucy's Fugly fabric party and I have to say I have seen some stinkers in the nicest possible way!  : )   But I think a lot depends on what you do with it.  And Helen has triumphed here!  I love these batiks!  I think even Hadley would??

Now don't forget the back of the cushion - am loving those buttons which co-ordinate beautifully with those fabrics on the front...

Next up the extras .....A little pincushion to match big mama cushion!  Cute or what?  I can strap it to my wrist - so no excuse for being without pins or someplace to put them!  It is so comfortable I shall be wearing it round the supermarket and on the school run - perhaps even to bed!  Ouch!!

And two beautiful wonky house blocks for my wonky quilt, with siggy block!   But not only did she make the blocks - she also had stories relating to them...and I quote...

...one family have built an eco friendly house with a sedum roof, ground source heating (so no chimney) and have just started a mushroom farm.  

The funny thing is we considered the first two when building an extension to our house!  Her stalking is really good as I haven't blogged about that!  Has she been hacking into the local planning department?  And we had mushroom compost to improve the soil when we first moved here so for a while we did grow mushrooms...  Don't know who the monkey is supposed to be??

The other family live on an island in the Thames Estuary and have declared it an outpost of Scotland but couldn't get planning permission for tartan patterned stones so they went for a royal/peacock inspired look...The locals aren't sure about it but regard the family with fondness and so put up with it!

Personally I think they decorated with a nod to Liberty - which I approve of wholeheartedly!  And Sheila and Katy do you see that Saltire fluttering from the battlements!

There was also some Green & Black chocolate ....though that seems to have gone somewhere else now....!  Oh yes I remember - my tummy  mmmmm!  We have similar tastes...it seems!

Now what did I send Helen?....I have posted a few sneeky peeks for you but she got the short end of the straw although she seems pretty pleased so maybe I got away with it...and she is easily satisfied!

The cushion cover was made to go with the cushion she got in the Brit Bee Swap - so I took the colours from there!  The design came out of my head sadly - haha - but was inspired by the spool blocks I was working on at the time!  I ended up paperpiecing this - not my favourite technique but I couldn't get the corners right otherwise.

The back was inspired by Helen's mosaic from the pillow fight - some string spools - yes there is a theme here  !  I love strings and scraps so I managed to weave that in. (Well if Helen can get away with batiks I think it is only fair that I dump some scraps on her don't you?)  I also like Free Motion stitching - so a bit of writing and some scissors, a needle and thread followed on the back!

The extras - one bone pincushion - not really for Archie!  Sorry boy!  But he did get some treats of his own though I don't have a photo of either of those!




And either a banner/wallhanging or tablerunner thing with Helen's blog name....and a paw and pic of Archie in his wonder cape and t-shirt!

It was great fun stitching him (not the real one) by machine - wasn't sure I could but I sketched it from a photo on Helen's blog - you may be able to work out which one Archie fans!  Strangely enough I cannot find a photo of the final thing - this is one taken before the finish.  You will have to visit Helen to see what it looks like - oops!

Anyway I think she likes it, but poor girl I got the better deal by far!  Not just because of the bigger bar of chocolate.... 

Still singing, squealing and dancing round the house!   And will be for some time to come!  Cloud nine - here I come!