Laminated fabric projects

The weekend was a good opportunity to finish off some sewing club projects from Sew This and That, my "local".

A couple of months ago we made these, a block roll and rotary cutter holder. (this post)

The next month's project was a carry all.  The three items were designed to take along all our bits and pieces for classes.

It has a zippered pocket on each side, as shown below.

  

This was not the easiest project to sew.  Again we used the Riley Blake laminated fabric, and quilters vinyl.  After putting in the chunky zip at the top, the side seams were quite difficult to stitch, because of the thickness, and to stitch over the cut off zip to secure it without breaking a needle.  Perseverence won in the end, I am pleased to say.

Again this month, Cheryl (at Sew This and That) chose to make projects using the laminated fabric.

Firstly a drinks cooler bag  

 For this we used InsulShine inside.

 We also made travel placemats.  The idea is to have a knife and fork in them, roll them up and leave them in the car.  When you are out for the day and decide to have a takeaway picnic you have a placemat to put on the picnic table, and knife and fork to use.  That is a very civilised way to eat fish and chips at the beach.

 These were much easier to stitch than the carryall.  They were designed to make using an overlocker, but as mine is in need of some TLC, I went with the optional sewing machine method.

With the piece of InsulShine left over, I decided  to replace my old lunch bag.  I looked at some styles, and went with this one.  It was interesting making up the pattern for it, but in the end it worked out well and I am very pleased with it.

Christmas Items for October

The 25th seems to roll around a bit quicker each month.  This month's Christmas items are this Nancy Halvorsen panel which I have been hand quilting.  It is almost finished, just 1 section, the border and binding to go.   I received the panel some years ago and this year it will finally be quilted and on display.  YAY !!!
(an overcast day makes for very wrong colours)

 These are the Christmas cards we made at our card night this month.

You will be able to see lots of other beautiful Christmas items that have been made by visiting Narelle at Pins and Whiskers.  

I will be back soon with my other "makes" and finishes..

FNSI stitching

Another great and quick project in the 52 week scrap challenge was a foundation pieced double tulip pin cushion.  They were very quick to make, and I didnt stop at one.

 As well last night, I did some more embroidery on the house on the left.  This is for a folder cover, and the house on the left will be on the spine.  The larger embroidery is a UFO - I traced it off a few years ago, and had not embroidered it until recently.

remember to go check out what other clever stitchers got up to for their FNSI stitching.  Thank you Wendy for organising the FNSI again this month.

What have I been up to? and FNSI

I have been quietly working away in the background lately, without posting much.  There hasnt been a lot to show till now.

On the quilters trail this year, each store gave us some 5 inch squares.  I have put mine together, with some added white/cream squares, then cut it all up with my L'il Twister ruler, and sewed it back together.  I was following a picture which made a heart pattern from the twister squares.  After I had finished I realised that the first border should have been in the white/cream also, to make the heart show more clearly.  However, here it is - the top only at this stage.

It was fun experimenting with the ruler, and I just may make something else in the near future.

As part of the 52 week scrap challenge run by Samelia's Mum, I made the mug rug project from a few weeks ago, for my daughter.  But of course she needed more than one, so ended up with 4.

She had recently painted/shabbied/stenciled her coffee table and needed something to protect the surface of it.  She is thrilled to have them.

I have also been working with these gorgeous Christmas fabrics - on a bit of secret womens  Santa business.

There will be plenty left over to make something else with it - maybe something to keep???

Tonight I am joining up with lots of other stitchy people at FNSI.  Go and visit Wendy here if you would like to join in.  There is still time to join - after all it is Friday night somewhere in the world for many many hours yet.  I think I will work on a UFO tonight but my dilemma is WHICH ONE.

Once again our country is being confronted by devastating bush fires, particularly in New South Wales.

There are so many heartrending stories and the loss of property is overwhelming - the only thing is we are so fortunate to have such willing and well trained firies who respond so quickly when needed.

Fun at the Fair

What a wonderful day it was yesterday at the Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair.  Some of the SEQueensland bloggers had arranged to meet up.

Here we are - Val, Teresa, Tatyana, Sandi, me and Noela in the front, with Lynda, Susan, Michelle and Fiona behind us.  Jane joined us also, and took the photo for us.  I think (as usual when we get together) we were the noisy table in the cafe area.

Eventually we all went our separate ways, and got on with the business of checking out the many merchants, and doing just a bit of shopping - some of us more than others.

My purchases included

just a little fabric, and some purse hardware and kit,

  

 some ribbons and trims,

 Natalie Bird's new book, In My Garden,

 which she signed for me  - the quilt on the cover is beautiful, as is the bag,

and my new cutting mat.  My old one is starting to flake green snow whenever I use it, so a new one was on my necessities list.  I must say though that it was interesting bringing such a large mat home on the commuter train, part of the time involving having to stand.  It did get a little bent up but has straightened out now.

Teresa gave me a lovely little painted spool to add to my spool collection.

   

And here it is, brightening up the corner of its new home.

    

 I love it so much, thank you Teresa for such a lovely gift.

Cool steering wheel

Another wonderful project from Sewing Club at Sew This and That this month - we made a steering wheel cover.   Good timing with summer fast approaching, we will have cool steering wheels if nothing else.

We used Insulbrite as the wadding, and the Mola design on the front is an adaptation of the traditional hand sewing technique of the Kuna Indian women - but with ours being done by machine.

Then of course I adapted mine even further - instead of the curly snake like design, I decided to make mine into butterflies.

These 2 Grandies are here to stay for a week while their Mum is being a leader at a music/arts camp.

 We are going to have a fun week I think.  Lots of movies for when we need quiet times, and lots of other activities to keep them occupied.

At the weekend they caught up with their cousin, Sammy for a fun time at the Play Centre.

It's a bind - straight to the birthday stash

On Thursday I attended a workshop run by Sew This and That.  The very talented Kath gave us some hints and clues about different methods of binding our quilts.  As always, even if you have made dozens of quilts and managed to bind them well, there are always things to be learnt in a workshop.

We needed to have 4 quilted pieces 10 inches x 12 inches and 1 piece12 inch square prepared beforehand.  Each of these were treated differently.

Techniques we used were adding ricrac over the top of the binding seam, single fold binding, top stitching binding down on the right side of the quilt, using a faux peeper, adding a fine piping under the binding, and the circle one.

The method used to work out the length of the binding for the circle was good - no maths involved, and as long as we were accurate it worked perfectly.  The person sitting next to me was heard to say "thats close enough" when measuring, and guess what - it wasnt.  Her binding ended up being a good inch too big.

I decided to make mine in coordinating fabric so that (providing they turned out well enough) they could be used as placemats.  Mine are going into my birthday stash gifty box. I figured that even though each of them was a little different in the finish, they would still make a great set.  

September Christmas items

Once again, it is time for

 This month I made my first Christmas cards for the year at our card making class.

I also added a small stitched item - or two -  double sided coasters.  One side is the log cabin, and the other a Christmas ornament shape. 

Why not go and visit Narelle at Pins and Whiskers to see what the other clever people have made this month.  There are some beautiful Christmas items made each month, well worth going to check them out.

Last month, one of my Sew Its Finished projects was this little dress.

Now here is young Grandie, Vicki wearing it.  It is very light, loose and cool looking which is perfect for the hot weather they are experiencing.

Such a cutie - and she is such a little girl now.

Another Grandie is growing up

A few days ago our Grandie, Peta celebrated her 6th birthday.

 Here she is talking to us when we rang to wish her a happy birthday.

  

I love the look of excitement as she unwrapped her gift from her parents.

And what was inside?

She is a bit keen on monkeys.  This is an interactive monkey and is amazing and so lifelike.  If you put your finger on its tongue it sucks.  Touch the side of its head and it will turn towards your hand. Plus many other things. She definitely loves this little creature.  She will have so much fun with it - she is that kind of girl.

We visited today and I was lucky enough to be in this photo with Pa, Zac, and Paul - 3 generations.

FNSI and other things

It is one of those times again - you know the ones where you seem to be chasing your tail attempting to keep up with what is going on - and just not making it.  But at least if you need to chase your tail it means you are alive, active and involved.

The last few weeks have seen lots of up times, a few down times, and what does it matter if I am a bit behind in some things when I have had wonderful times with family and friends, been lots of places and seen interesting things.  My blog is one place that has suffered from my lack of time so here is just a little catch up.

I did link up with FNSI, even though I didnt get to blog that I was going to do so.  Here is what I worked on last night.

 I stitched some 5 inch squares together.

I did some more work on this stitchery.

Early yesterday morning I received a phone call from a very excited Charlie.  "Gran, are you coming to Grandparents Day?".
Definitely, Charlie, I wouldnt want to miss it.

We worked together on doing the craft activity, had lunch, and enjoyed the little concert put on by each of the Prep classes, before joining all of the primary school for their final Chapel before school holidays.

On Wednesday a friend and I travelled to Peachester (45 mins drive away) to attend their Quilt Show and Tell.  It was a great day, with beautiful, inspiring quilts, wonderful country hospitality and tempting merchant stalls.
Their club had a challenge where they were given a piece of bright coloured homespun - red, blue, green, purple, pink, which they had to combine with only black and white to make a 12 inch block.  The blocks will be donated to Sunshine Linus group to be made into quilts.

The diamond block in the centre of the top photo was the winning block of the challenge.  It was so beautifully made and deserved its win.  There were many other impressive blocks, and there will be some beautiful quilts made using them.  The photo bottom right is their raffle quilt.

I have also finished the last of the projects for the Stitch A Long.  It has been so good to have a project each month to make, and all of them have been fun items.  The final one is the needlebook from Some Kind of Wonderful.

 Some of the projects grouped together - the sewing case with needle book, and 2 of the pincushions we have made.