Give it away, not a giveaway!

Well where did SMS Giveaway Day come from all of a sudden - guess life still goes on even when I have taken myself offline more than usual - dammit - I will make amends tomorrow… I hope!

But what I have been making to giveaway are pressies for the kids' friends.

You may have spotted this on Insta-Face, but for those who haven't, and because I am quite proud of my paper-piecing achievement…

Made using the awesome free pattern, found here, I then transformed the 10" block into a tote bag for the girls' best friend…

And as mentioned before, I made an Anna pouch, another of Svetlana's lovely patterns for the party this coming weekend…

Please accept my apologies for the very yellow pics, it must have been the only sunny moment on Sunday!

So those are the latest makes; I have shopping and Bee blocks to share, but guess I better get my prize-making thinking cap on and bring up the SMS rear xxx

From the boy...

Stitching up a birthday present for a girl friend, not a girlfriend, who is having a Disco party in a couple of weeks.  Dear son asked her for her favourite colours and so I am hoping to finish turning this…

…into a pretty little Anna pouch this evening.  Svetlana is on a roll of awesome pattern releases at the moment, so do pop over for some beautiful inspiration.

Ta dahs!

Here are the finished Lola's!

The first, for my colleague, now ex-colleague, which went down very well, it has to be said…

Apologies for the dodgy night-time shots before I wrapped it up last night, sorry.

However this afternoon I finished the other one destined for my Mum for Mother's Day…

Hurrah for the return of the sunny outside photos!!

Yep, I am more than happy with these, complete with little leather zip pulls, and the combos of heavier weight 'bottoms' in Essex Linen and a Kokka blend, with the lovely AGF 'tops'.

That's 4 Lola pouches so far, I know there will be many more!

A lovely pair of Lolas!!

Almost finished!

I pulled fabrics yesterday, but all the cutting, fusing and stitching were on today's agenda, (along with a load of school stuff and trips to the post office).

I have just finished the binding on the one I need to give as a retirement gift tomorrow, the other needs to be finished for the weekend, so I am on track.

I love this pattern so much; hope the recipients are in agreement.

Lighthearted Lola...

I may be suffering from a heavy heart, but a little sewing yesterday (which actually took me all day), and a combination of Lighthearted, (Ayumi's so gorgeous new line for Kokka), and Sveltlana's pattern, I ended up with this…

Poor rainy day photography, I have resorted to the stairs for pictures, sorry.

This large sized pouch pattern is superb!

With a metal zip, a little silver leather patch, and natural Essex Linen with sneaky band of the floral inside, this was a labour of love.  Yes, I stitched half the zip in upside down first time, but there was limited swearing.

I need to play serious catch up with my Amitié BOM, the next month arrived today, so I may be popping the hand-piecing in here, you know, to keep me motivated.

PS. Apologies if I owe you an email/reply, I'll be on it over the weekend, promise xxx

Lola, L-O-L-A Lola, L-O-L-A Lo-la-ah!

I bought Svetlana's Lola pouch pattern as soon as I saw it!

A pouch, with binding - genius!

Needing to make a present for my sister's birthday, on Saturday I pulled out a nice little combo of fabrics, Priory Square, Cotton & Steel, Pat Bravo and Frances Newcombe prints…

This is an awesome pattern.  I only made the smaller size, but I want one, or two for me now.

I obviously finished the binding by hand; even with that, it was under a couple of hours in the making.

If you fancy a pouch pattern that is just a little bit different, and like having someone else do all the measuring and thinking for you, I can definitely recommend it.

I also finished up my secret C&S cushion (oops, did I say cushion!?), too, so not a bad weekend's work.

Back to the office today, kids in school, really looking forward to my day off on Wednesday!

Brit Bee Weekender pt.2

There was much laughter, chatting and eating, you get that, but by golly there was stitching!

I was actually quite unprepared for the productivity that can be mustered when you are not having to clear away all sewing in order to eat, do home work or keep the family happy.  I took, what I thought was ample to fill the weekend, and popped in my trusty hexies, just in case, but I ended up making way more than I had hoped.

Top of my To Do list was quilting and binding my #IGminiswap; success!

An off-centre spiral and semi-scrappy binding, hope my partner loves it as much as I do.

Next on my list were Bee blocks for Stitch Tease; this month for Jen, Re-mixed Geese, using the no-waste method; so quick, even with all the nattering!

Then a pair for Jude and Sarah's Bee Blessed; I used Sarah's bright idea of creating the two blocks by my usual HST method, and it worked a treat.  I was able to pop these straight into her hands, which was an added bonus…

An unscheduled tick, Susan had handed me the next Brit Bee Medallion to work on, and luckily the package contained most of the fabric needed, with some additions of mine and Ange's, I was able to get my geese border and 4-patch completed and handed straight to Sarah, woo hoo!  As these are secret, here's the highly doctored proof…

On Sunday we got printing!  Dear hubby had turned my vision into an image, I then emailed it to Thermofax to create a printing screen.

I had trialled it at home beforehand, and am the proud and happy owner of a navy hoody and grey slouchy Tee emblazoned on the back, as well as a nice piece of Cotton & Steel.

Anyway, we gave the pool table a break from being our cutting surface to become our printing area.  Mass production ensued, everyone who wanted had a go, and the lounge became a drying room…

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone makes with all their panels.  I screened a little tote bag, just because, and when the screen comes home, afters doing the rounds at Troods' and Katy's, I am definitely going to get a few more printed.

What I made next was a zippy pouch.  Total fluke that it fits my iPad; I do love an added bonus…

I used up a couple of Karen/Blueberry Park's scrap bags, bought at FQR when she got me into this screen printing lark, so it seemed totally right to pair it with my Weekender print.  I was running low on fabric at this point, so the lining is pieced, and I love it.

My final finish of the weekend was an impromptu sewalong with Ange and Fiona.  Using Svetlana's excellent tutorial, we all made little drawstring bags...

A little Jungle Avenue with Cotton & Steel, a sweet little combo I reckon.

And that was me!  My mojo was definitely back at full strength.  I wish I had taken photos of everyone else's makes, because there was so much gorgeousness about, but honestly, if I wasn't sewing, I was too busy eating!

Back home, I just need to get the binding on my commission quilt, then I am going to dive straight into a Sew Together Bag.  Ange made one over the weekend, and what more inspiration could I need?

Forward planning...

Anyone who popped over to Jennifer's when I was getting all enthused about the Summer, patchwork and teacher gifts may remember that I was prepping already.  So on Wednesday these were on my hit list!

So here are the lady bags...

Fed up of waiting for better light - apologies!

Made with Svelana's tutorial, mixing up some bright scraps and Essex Linen, I think these will do the job.

I still have a couple of chaps to make for - key fobs this time, me thinks.

I am a whole half-term early, and it feels good!

Happy Friday everyone xxx

All go round here!

Honestly, I don't know if I am coming or going at the moment; I still have the giant star quilt to bind, as my evenings this week have been taken over plotting and planning a surprise and short turn-around commission, along with sorting a weekend away (woop woop!) and organising even more school bags and washing than ever with the start of the swimming season.  My temperamental MacBook has consumed more than its fair share of time and swear words, but it's playing nice right now, so on we go.

I have bumped my parents from Saturday to Sunday, so that I should be finished with the quilt by then, and have time to get some pics and enter it into the Bloggers Quilt Festival; I am also hoping that I can put the house back into some sort of order too - something will have to give!

I am guest posting over at Ellison Lane today too - Jennifer trusted me to start getting you in the mood for some simple patchwork action...

It seems a while since I made this happy pouch...

So please pop over and show some love!

And as for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways - I whizzed through those that appeared in my reading list and maybe entered 2 or 3 others, but you don't want to hear about that... you want to know who won my offering, which, I can confirm, has had the lining gap stitched closed (this afternoon!)...

Woo hoo!  I'll email you in a minute!  I met Sarah at FQR13, she was suffering from crazy-pregnant-lady-brain at the time, as you may deduce from her bag contents, she's having fun now!

Thank you to everyone who entered, I loved reading what old crap you all drag around in your bags too, I had planned to show you the contents of mine, but time got the better of me, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Right now I have the perpetual 24 clock going off in my head, see yesterday's post, so come back this time tomorrow, to see if I have managed to save the world, well my little bit of it anyway!

xxx

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!

***The Giveaway Is Now Closed***

Well it's that day again, so even though I am feeling a bit under the cosh, I rustled up a little something to add to the fun and games of the wonderful Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day.

This little tote has been made using Svetlana's wonder tutorial using some Joel Dewberry home dec, dark grey upholstery fabric, that feels so nice, and lined with a grey solid and a handy patch pocket...

If truth be told I haven't sewn up the turning gap yet, but I will do, promise!

I am not going to hold you up, I know there are so many giveaways, and so little time; and you all know the score that if you are a first time here, welcome, have a look around, blah-di-blah - I know you won't, well you might, no obligation!

This giveaway is open internationally, will close at 9pm UK time on Friday 16th May, and the winner will be chosen by Mr Random.   If a No-Reply blogger, who has not left their email address in the body of their comment, is selected, I will re-draw, sorry.

All you have to do is leave me one comment, (additionals will be deleted!).  So, tell me, other than keys, wallet, phone, what else do you always carry about in your bag of choice?

Thank you for stopping by - I will not be responding to individual comments this time, but I will read and no doubt chuckle at them all.

Good luck xxx

Love Sewing...

Not only a fact, but a new magazine too!  My subscription copy arrived this morning, complete with Liberty bonus booklet and a FQ of Kirstie fabric!

I had about 2 minutes to flick through it before heading out for a rather bracing Easter Egg hunt; 1 hour of clues and questions, up and down some rather big hills, and all for a cream egg for the kids!  Still, it means I can indulge later with a clear conscience.

So back home and after lunch, I pulled out the FQ and knew exactly what I wanted to make...

I used Svetlana's excellent tutorial to make this drawstring bag.  I haven't made a casing top like this one before, and I like how easy it was and how cool it looks.

The casing and lining were scraps I won from Collette, and they match perfectly, and I knew this was the project to use one of my long-time coveted and ultra-precious kerchief girls from Brit Bee Terri...

Finished off with some aqua ribbon, and only after I had finished, I realised not only was it the same colour, but a perfect fit for my filofax.

I would love to be able to tell you more about the actual magazine, but I haven't had the chance to really look yet.  However tomorrow I only have to cook the Easter lunch, so I am planning on putting my feet up, having a good read, and maybe eating a little chocolate; I am looking forward to it!