So how long does a UFO wait?

There are projects. And then, there are PROJECTS.
You get so far and somehow do not make further progress. They stall somewhere between a partial finish and a complete one. So, the first one is a quilt along. From the lovely Crazymomquilts.  Now I know she was doing it in 2008, but I am not certain when DD2 and I decided to have a go. And I have no idea how I came across it.
 So here, I proudly present.... Drum roll..... Trumpets....  our Star quilt!

Here laid out on the sewing room floor. It has many many faults. Points that are nowhere near pointy, seam allowances that wander to and fro, squares that fail in the first requirement- to be square-ish... But, when I look at it all laid out, I feel good!

 and laid on DD2's bed

 All rolled up- that is obligatory isn't it?

And, in the scene of crime!

I shall see if my DD2 can recall when we got it going, but I reckon it is at least 5 years ago.

And then...

This piece of work resurfaced when I was doing a clear out of the sewing room. This is almost a piece of history. It will have been worked in the days before I had children. That places it over 30 years ago. I worked it, and put it away so that I could do something with it - eventually. I am pleased to say, eventually has appeared! I had just finished the quilt, and this sat waiting my pleasure. Now, when I was doing my clearance, I also found a number of oddments of velvet. I thought one of them might just come in for this treasure.. I auditioned a couple of colours, and settled for this one..

I have mitred corners, while ensuring the nap runs correctly, and inserted a zip at the bottom, other than that, keep it simple.
I suspect I shall rehome it with a friend because of the colourway, but it may just quietly sit in the hall here, and grow good.

Two finishes in one day, and just before the next costume marathon begins! Roll on costumes!

Delayed thanks...

There was this little tiny swap... well just a wee pouch swap... and, yes, I fell into it. Who can resist a pouch swap? Not this one, clearly...
A direct swap, this one. She sends to me, I send to her.... Keep it simple, no great mystery, but great fun.

Her preferences? simple bright cheerful colours. Happy and bright. Other than that, anything I like.

Now swap guidelines are maximum measurement, 9". Must have a fastening of some description. And a surprise.

So I did a teensy bit of stalking, and decided I had some really cheery red linen that would be perfect. But you cannot leave it there, now, can you? so...

 

 a set of lined pleats... what would you line them with? Green, of course!

 I had seen geese trailing off centre somewhere... how to do them... Oh, easy once you do the maths! not that they came out quite as well as I wanted... but...
And a few lines of stitching with my Sulky,

 And those pleats just caght back to show how pretty the green linings are...

And we have a pouch. Simple, but, I hope, sweet. 

And the surprise? 

a dumpling pouch, they are sweet, useful ( I keep sewing machine needles stashed in one of these, then I know where to find a new one... ) and fun to put together. 

And I made a pincushion to put on her machine.but somehow, no pictures of that... 

And I received, a beautiful linen pouch in return!

 Simple, with accents that work! And the little cotton reel zip pull...

And a small notebook included, for the surprise. 

Thank you Karin! It is perfect. 

Stitchscape open day

A new resource has opened not too far from me. Just down the road a bit... Stitchscape. 

There used to be a pub on the corner, but it fell into the same old state as a lot of such establishments have, and shut down. Then refurbishment happened and it turned into a suite of offices, and into one of these offices has entered the really fun and friendly Diane.

Diane had a dream, of a sewing space where groups of friendly sewing folk could congregate, and sew a little, laugh a little and have a deal of fun... and today she held an open day.

Cups of tea, mince pies, and chatter and viewing of the facilities, a large surface for cutting out, several big tables to set up sewing machines, a Sissix, and an electronic, computer linked cricut...

and friendly Diane helping someone design a named Christmas stocking for a child.


Diane also organises workshops, with a good variety and user friendly time options, so many workshops run in the day or in the evening for those of us who may also have to work!

Come the New Year I can see myself attending perhaps a little more often than may be ideal...she will get fed up with my inanities!

This bright friendly room has on site parking, and is in easy access of the motorways, and seems to me to be a great venue for the North-west..

I had fun there today, even though I was only looking and not sewing! and here is a selection of views round the place, showing work she has done for workshops, as well as inspirational books, and fabric available to buy, for the project she had arranged on the day!

the usual gubbins! we all have to have a place.... 

    

World book day

Remember this?

Well, some schools have the children dress up, some have the teachers...

I did promise more pictures, and here they are-







my dressed up lass has requested, no face in the picture- sorry, because it is a lovely face-

She was Arwen from Lord of the Rings..


and the dress suits her so well...


I hope she will get use from it for years to come.

Bee blocking

At the moment I am taking part in two bees. These each run a little differently, and one asks for one block to be made, and the other, two blocks. This is very straightforward, but I seem to have trouble remembering that they do not both want two blocks!

So, first, the ' fat Stash Brit Bee' . For this one, you send a FQ's worth of gift fabric, and ask for what you wish, and the bee members create a block, 12.5", using fabrics from stash, with or without using the gifted fabric. Clearly, you want to send fabric which will help tie together all the blocks when they return, so, this month, Celtic Thistle sent fat quarters of cheerful plains, to be made to her pattern, adding in low volume neutrals, to really make the solids pop. I was lucky enough to get red through my letterbox, and quickly got a block made. However, my careful planning just missed...




 Do you see where I went wrong? I transposed two quarters.. Now I need to get that stitch ripper busy. Not having spotted that one, I happily got on with number two..

I had forgotten that only one block is needed...
and happily this one seems to have behaved itself. So, I shall have to sort that first one, but not just yet, as I have had to pack away the sewing machine for a short while. More on that later...











The other bee is the HipBee. With that one, we are sent a sufficient quantity of fabric to create a block, and return any extra with our TWO blocks. Jill waned beach huts, and sent a pretty selection of fabrics for us to do our worst, and create whatever our imaginations may come up with. There were also two pieces, one blue, and the other white, as backgrounds for the blocks.  So, a good bit of thinking, and a little bit of drawing, and these blocks came up.

  I had great fun working out how to introduce the 3 D effect on the parasol

There would be room for a little extra on this one, but, on balance, I am going to leave it now, quite apart from the fact that my machine is in hiding.








Why is the machine hiding away?

because of this! That is a hole in the ceiling




We are to have a plasterer coming in tomorrow, and she will be repairing this hole. So, my usual sewing haunt will be out of commission, and I think, once the ceiling is done, I will probably need to continue and redecorate the rest of the room.. It is a good job the Easter break is coming, and should give me time to do it.. With a bit of help I hope!

Wish me luck getting my sewing back up and running soon!

Dressed

You remember that fabric?

This was found at the Cloth shop, in Culcheth, if you are anywhere near it is well worth a poke around- she does all sorts of haberdashery and trims, as well as other craft supplies..

 well, it progressed, to this,












 and then to this...

and my daughter was kind enough to take a few photos.

Yes, the head is cut off deliberately...  it is the DRESS you are looking at, not me!







Oh, all right then- I will admit to being me!

and just for good measure, the next couple of shots are what goes on after midnight, when your self timer on the camera is maximum 10 seconds!

The invisible woman struck again!

















For the record, I cut most of the fabric out, all bar the black sections, on Friday night, and worked on Saturday 'morning', so after I had had lunch, I started sewing. There is an invisible zip in there, but I do not have an invisible zip foot, so I checked out the Burda tutorial for fitting one with the wrong foot- hey, it worked!!! and that took some time, I took a break for supper of about two hours-ish, and I finished sewing about ten past midnight. I reckon I took 6 1/2 hours to complete it, down to hems and everything.

I used my walking foot for a lot of the seams, and also my overlocker,  ( serger for the American element) so most seams are sewn twice.

On that showing, I reckon GBSB is safe from me, don't you? 

but the walking foot was a dream for sewing the jersey fabric. and I would definitely use it again!

Burda pattern 124 from magazine 9-2012

Poppy Bag

It is finished, so it can now go to be raffled.. I am quite pleased with the result- not perfect, what ever is? But, a result!
 Kindly modeled by DD2,   first side,


































Second side,

and, of course, a zippy pocket. and a thingywhatsit to clip a keyring onto..

And we are done! Yeay!

Edited to add  And, as this was made to order- a poppy bag for a prize- I am linking up to le Challenge  for this month!

go see what the others are!

Now. Anyone very sharp eyed will see my usual guddle going on,  and kindly look the other way..but in amongst it is a magazine, and a pretty pink padded envelope.. 

You see, I am a winner! 

Lovely Amy had a giveaway, and as her prize sent out that magazine,  a whole bunch of pretty scrappy bits, a good couple of fat quarters worth, some chocolate, and a 'finger pincushion'. Complete with pretty pins!Want a look-see? 

Look at all she sent! Amn't I the lucky one?!


Thank you Amy!

Revealing a few secrets...

I made some silly odds and ends recently, and as they have all now departed from my care, I feel able to share a little,

First, an explanation. This too will be a little obscure, but it is enough, I hope!

  I have had a wonderful weekend.

Slightly mad, but such fun!




































Everyone in England knows what a tea shop is...


but, somehow I do not think this is quite what we would expect...

The array of teas for sale, and not all fruit teas but honest to goodness black and green teas, defies my belief.

 And then there are all these cubbies, each with tea of one description or another...



















Tea on the shelf, has a little cup with the tea in, so you may smell and see what you are buying!

There are local blends as well, so you may buy the blend for where you stay..

oh, and all the odds and ends for enjoying your tea!

A far cry from an English Tea shop! What a joy!

 So, I visited a friend, and left behind some traces of my time..

 little gift for another member of her household,














And not forgetting another one...

So, they shall not forget my visit too soon....













but, then, I was laden down with gifts to come home- so, I suppose, it was a fair exchange...


I never saw a hedgehog cookie cutter before, either!








And I was given heaps of tea to bring back--- Thank you for my lovely time, and thank you for your very kind and thoughtful gifts! You know who you are!




And I hope you will visit me very soon!