mouthy stitches, Tote, the first!

 I made a New York Beauty for my partner, but she didn't really like it, so I have now made it up, as per plan, and another friend will receive it, who is likely to love these colours.














 The back is very lightly quilted round a few of the circles.

and the lining tones with the back.

So it was not wasted!

one elephant went balancing...

 on a spiders web one day, he thought this such tremendous fun, he called for another elephant to come!

Don't panic! NO spider pictures today!



 Sorry, this may be heavy on pictures,  we are to have visitors next week, and I will be sewing machine free until they go, but I have some past projects and a wonderful swappy thing to share!

First, I had a wee PIF to organise myself for. The recipient, is one of the most fun, kind and funny ladies I have encountered. She has a lot of mischief lurking, and, although I have not yet met her, she is chock full of glee, and I cannot wait to get to know her in person. She knows who she is!

So I wanted a mini project that would make her laugh, and that I thought she might enjoy receiving. 

I think you all know how I feel about elephants. I am not exclusively gone on elephants, I also love frogs, owls, cats, lizards, and have a very soft spot for pigs.  But elephants are so satisfying! They have nice big flappy ears, and seem so  much in tune with their matriarchal groups. So, elephants seemed liable to get involved.
I had made a wee dumpling pouch. and it was fun, and easy, and I felt I could combine dumpling and elephant.


 I made the big size first. Spotty fabric, bright ellie.

then I made a little one. Scissor fabric, and a yellow ellie.

These nest nicely together, but a nest of three, would be more fun?
So I made a bigger one.

More scissor fabric, and a green ellie. All with flappy ears.






Little starry eyes, and contrasty linings.

But you cannot send three nesting pouches with nothing in the middle?

 I have been intrigued by 'biscornu' . So I made a mini pinnie, biscornu fashion, and that went in the middle.












 The two sides are slightly different.

and here in the mess of working, are the main ingredients of the PIF. See, Nicky- your zippy pouch lurks in the background- very much in use!

so that collection of ellies, all zipped one inside t'other, has winged its way to a new home!




My mouthy stitches partner has been stalking me quietly. Giving no clue as to her identity. Watching and trawling through my blog. And a beautiful tote, and key fob turned up at my house today!  Ready for more piccies?

 more ellies? I guess someone noticed my affection for ellies!

But are these not really beautiful ellies. All shimmery and flowery powery!

 pretty wrapping!












and, on opening, the first sight of what has been lovingly made for me! see that subtle stitchery? and the pretty grey linen?

 Just look at that! beautifully pieced, beautifully quilted! I can tell you, this is a really well crafted piece of work.  Sorry, I have just cut off an ellie attached to that keyfob!
I love everything about this bag. The colours chosen, the piecing, the quilting- oh everything!

and the liberty lining! signed in there at the base- such  a clever and lovely thought.

Thank you Territee, I am a winner with this one!

And it goes to work with me tomorrow!

MY pouch arrived!

Did I just win the lottery? No I got the most beautiful pouch through the post while I was away on holiday. This came from the wonderful Nicky  who I started following ages ago, when Fluffy sheep organised the FMQ sessions. When I saw what she was making I was torn, All her makes were so lovely, and she wanted her partner to choose? Well, I was keen on all of them, but I did make a choice, and this was it. Afterward I wondered, had I chosen right, but then, I did not expect it to be for me really. And then when it turned up, I knew I had chosen right!

The pouch was beautifully wrapped, in bright and cheery parrot paper, this will be saved, and made further use of. Isn't it pretty?

And as a side order to the pouch, many more scraps than was ordained by our Swap Mammas. She got several of my colour schemes off pat, and was most generous with her gifting. I am fizzing with it all, and loving the choicest of scraps- some quite large scraps too. Pinky purply ones, bluey turquoisey ones and a yummy piece of navy jumbo cord. And do you recall her lovely embroidered pouch? It had a strip of elephants on it, and she was so kind, and sent some of them too! I do not think anyone could be more generous with their scraps than Nicky  Haven't I been very lucky indeed? There is a very pretty green with coloured spots, which I have so nearly bought in the past, and a floral in shades of blue and lilac, which has also run through my hands as a possible on several occasions. And a few others have nearly come home with me before now.
And she has sent some linen textured pieces too, which I love. I cannot list everything, but, do not tell on me, -swap mammas if you are watching, look away now- a bar of lovely chocolate also appeared. I am sure it was not in the parcel.... really??

and an ellie card to remind me of the littlest Ellie when we saw the elephant round up in Surin, Thailand, in November.

So, a few more pictures, so that anyone not following our mouthy stitching can get a better idea of Nicky's talents,

  Pockets!

secret Ellie

    

the back! 

bits and bobs

Frustration runs high. I can take photos, but we ran a virus check on the computer, and although it now runs a little faster, it no longer recognises my SD card. So I have to get into my DH's computer, and email them from there. Not helped by his computer needing the touch of the master to respond. I can put in the SD card, and it cannot find it. Ten seconds later he puts it in afresh, and there it is, large as life and half as interesting. How does he do it? Grr.

Well, Someone thought they might like more pictures of the pouch. I am still up for keeping a touch of mystery. So I took more pictures. But draped over it some of the scraps I am planning to enclose...

Here is the front, again.

And the back?


Hiding among the scraps is a little piece of the back.



I have identified another little problem. When you are sending a fat quarter's worth of scraps, various sizes and shapes, how do you know you have enough in there? I mean, useful and usable scraps. Some of mine have selvage attached, well, for some folk, they love that edge, and it is good, others do not like it and will dispose of that bit. So, although I am sending it, I am not counting it as part of the FQ. In the end I decided to weigh it. I weighed some fabric of known size, and did the sums, and decided, if I send at least 30 grams, I am safe. It will be sufficient. So I am sending a little more, I do not want her to be short changed.

I have now posted my stash blocks to their recipient, with this as a signature block, I do not have a decent permanent marker, so this seemed a sensible alternative.


I am falling behind with my FMQ practice, and have yet to do my skill builder for this week. Instead I have been making Morris belts. But these are just for stock, so no real pressure. Needs doing, but not the same urgency as other jobs.

Now I need to go and do horrid housework, as it won't do itself. And it is work tomorrow, and I won't do it then!

more mouthy

The frustration of the slowest computer left in the kingdom, and the fact that we are at the outer limits of broadband have prevented me from posting earlier this weekend. And then there is the small matter of work...
So I got a pouch done this weekend. It is not perfect, but I feel I could take it all apart and it could then get worse!So that is a no then. I look at it, and think, 'would I be pleased to receive that?' And, yes, on the whole I would. So, I shall stop there, unless I get a message to tell me my partner hates it.

Am I going to show you? Well, only little bits. When the swap is done, then I shall show properly. For now, teasers!

First, pockets. I like pockets, and I feel my partner could do with some sunshine in her life. I certainly do not turn down sunshine in mine! So this felt sunshiney and happy. So in it went. (yes I know that is the 'wrong' spelling of the word, but the right spelling didn't express what I meant. So I did a Humpty Dumpty, and used the one I wanted)

And a bit of zip, too.

Yes, I have done some appliqué, which I think went Ok, but you will have to wait to see the rest.

I changed the shape, as this shape worked better with the piece I had done, and I forgot to put a tab on, which I had planned, but, enough is enough, and I think it does not need it.

Poshest zip container in town!

Ok, I have finished the first try of a zippered pouch. I am reasonably pleased with the result, not perfect, but not a bad start. I need to do some calculations to get the proportions better, so that the panel is better placed, but having had a trial am better placed to get an acceptable result.

What have I learned? I need a wider turning gap in the lining. The elasticated thingy needs to be tighter, or it will be neither use nor ornament. I love King Tut thread for finishing my appliqué. My machine is happy with it too.

Pictures? Have you got fed up looking at pictures of this yet. If so go away and come again another day!

Here goes, I decided to use the black spotty, as it gave good contrast, without being boring.

Even the back looks quite fun! You can see it is supposed to be elephants- no I hadn't cut the threads off, sorry.

And I went on and did a simple back, and completed the pouch this afternoon. It is simple, but I am pleased with it.

As you can see, the elephants have lost their legs- this is where I need to get my proportions better. The result is ok for me, but not as a gift for another body.

Works really well for holding my zips though! Kindly do not see the mess behind. I am messy, I have always been messy, but I have a mental image of being a neat and tidy person, not leaving any mess behind me...I can dream.

elephantitis

Ok, I thought I should have a bit of a play, using fabric I am not intending to use for the pouch swap. As I was looking through, (my stash gets worse, not better) I found bits left over from another project. So they came into play. I reckoned small squares would materialise quite easily from the bits, and I now have a mosaic of blue and green. I didn't get it quite right and two of the same pattern have ended up adjacent, but it is not too bad for a first attempt at tiny mosaic. No, I didn't use the interfacing method, though that would probably have looked better in the end.

I also wanted to play a bit more with my elephant idea- no mammoths just yet, but you never know- and first drew a rough sketch of what was in my head,
and then played with it mentally, decided the baby elephant should look at mamma, and started to use the old faithful, Bondaweb, and got a first result.  I then have been playing with different backgrounds, to see how I feel about them. I know it is a very busy design, and not at all my usual style, but , oh, it is such fun!

Do look at these, and see what you think, 

The first one clashes amazingly, and in a loud sort of way I could quite go for that   

this second one is a 'safe' option. This third one is a very busy background again, but I kind of like it.

I feel elephants growing on me! Someone has suggested a polka dot background, so I shall try that too. So many options...

I am guilty again. I was just getting some bits and bobs, and spotted this. now if I didn't get it when I saw it, it was not going to sit there very long, now was it? There was less than two metres left. So, I am afraid, it just had to come home with me. I have not the least idea what I shall do with it, but it is now awaiting inspiration, with a lot of other bits also in the same state. Impulse buys should not happen. I am trying to declutter not increase the chaos. But I smile when I look at it. That says something, doesn't it? Yes, mad as a hatter.

zips are here!

My package of zips has arrived. I got a rainbow of zips, so that I could go with the flow, when I am ready to go mad with the zippy pouch.

Of course, I now realise that my life is worth nothing, unless I have a pouch in which to store spare zips! so I shall make a 'practice pouch' just to put zips into!

I really didn't think it through very much, but I got long and short zips, to be adaptable, without too much waste.

It is strange, just how much fabric one has stashed away, in various places. Yes, I know some folk are very organised, and have their fabric arranged neatly on shelves, in colour order. My sorting is into a variety of plastic bags, and tends to run along the 'tidy it into here in a hurry' type of sort. I have various shoe boxes, in different drawers in my tallboy, with essentials, like cutting and marking stuff in one, and sewing and machine accessories in another, and ribbons and bias binding in a different one.

I have had various responses from the group on the original fabric 'pull' I did, but I would actually like to achieve some negative feedback as well, as I think this might give me a different handle on how my partner thinks. So I have put up two more selections, to try out the reaction. Have a look?

This selection is basically all things blue, but with jewel colours included.

the second lot is pink. Now, I do know some folk adore pink- yes, you know who you are, and some of us are less keen. Not all pinks are candy pink though, and they can be more subtle.

It is all thinking material!In several senses.

I have also been estimating quantity for the pouch I am planning, and getting it 'festering' in the old brainbox, so will possibly be able to do a preliminary hash this weekend. For the zips of course.

Starting to think, mouthy

I have had a few ideas batting around in my head, I think I may go boxy for the pouch. I am also thinking pockets on inside, and maybe an elasticated strip on one side, divided to tuck odds and soda into.  A couple of outside pockets could be useful too. Perhaps.

And I am thinking appliqué,  but would be happy to do patchwork instead...  and perhaps a handle at one end?

Or I may be biting off more than I can chew here.

I am thinking versatile, so probably just long enough to hold either a pair of scissors or similar...

and I am thinking mainly bright and cheerful, though with a more subdued gusset, and a bright zip.


Comments welcome!