Infinity x 2...

I made my second Priory Square voile infinity scarf on Friday whilst the boiler men did their thing.  I couldn't waste the whole morning making tea and giving advice, so I settled for some long straight seams and a cosy finish!

I backed the voile with a wide width of navy jersey that I picked up from the village fabric shop when it first opened back in October; £2.50, according to the price tag, well spent!

Having rather a lot of infinity scarves, a couple of voile/velveteen, many voile on voile, this new weight is possibly my new favourite, a dangerous discovery; never has the hashtag #needmorenecks been so true!

I did nothing special to pander to the demands of the jersey, and it stitched up really nicely; I stitched with the voile side down and walking foot, if that made a difference.

So a second FAL finish already, woo hoo.  I am also on the road to a third, which I am hoping will be a Wednesday reveal, can't beat a bit of cold weather stitchery xxx

Not rocket science...

My day started this morning with this little box of tricks...

It's a test for H-pylori bacteria which we are hoping is the cause of my horrible chest pain, time, well about a fortnight, will tell.

The rain and hail, with an interlude of work, a Post Office trip, to send my tubes of breath to hospital, made up most of my day.

No sewing to show (too late, too dark), but from my stock of sunny-day photos from the weekend, here's another tick off my FAL list...

AMH voile and charcoal Sketch flannel, the perfect combo, an obvious choice.

I love my voile and velveteen scarf, but it is big;  the flannel in this one gives that extra warmth but less of the bulk, and it has already been much used and needed so far this week, and by the looks and sound of it, the need will be even greater over the coming stormy days.

So wrap up warm,  keep safe and dry, and I'll see you on the 'morrow xxx

It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

***The Giveaway Is Now Closed***

It was touch and go there for a while if I was going to have to sit out Giveaway Day this time around, both as a giver and as a hopeful winner, but here I am, and I have a little something that I hope you may like to win!

As regular readers will know, I went a bit panic-sewing crazy last week, trying to get as much done as possible in good time for Christmas gifting, and one of the makes on my list was a new lightweight infinity scarf.  OK, not strictly gifting, as it was for me, and I already have about 8, but I had bought some Valori Wells voile specifically for that reason, and didn't want winter passing me by without getting it made.  So I made two!

What I am offering up is a pink/orange dandelion voile infinity scarf, backed with pink Anna Maria Horner.

From memory it was made using c. 18" by 60" cuts, but don't hold me to that!

As modelled by my glamorous assistant.

If you would like to be in with the chance of winning, please leave a comment telling me how many handmade things you still have to finish before Christmas, just to make me feel better; I have 5, including a set of 8 table mats!  Obviously if you don't celebrate Christmas, or make handmade presents, you are not excluded, just make something up, or tell me what you really want to get finished by the end of the month.

Followers get a second bite at the cherry, leave a separate comment telling me how... obviously I like the followers that I can count in my sidebar best, but bloglovin or whatever takes your fancy, is fine too!

This giveaway is open internationally;  I will draw a winner, using Random.org at 9pm GMT on Friday 13th December (lucky for one!), I will be asleep at the official closing time, and out for all of Saturday, so it's then or never.

Good luck peeps; as with these (hopefully) popular events, I will not be responding to individual comments; please make sure you are not a No Reply Blogger (or leave your email address in your comment), otherwise I will have to redraw, and I reserve the right to delete duplicate comments, just to keep things nice and tidy.

If this is your first time visiting, 'hello' please have a look around.  It is probably best to skip back a month or so at least, because things have been a little slow in the health, computer and making departments of late, but I am hoping to turn that all around in the New Year.

Right, time for me to have a pootle round the giveaways, I may be some time.  Good luck everyone xxx

Finishing...

Last night's blog post heralded the famous last words on getting things finished.  No sooner had I put the Mac to bed, and buried a few threads, than I began to feel rather ick, and not long after, I was hugging the toilet.  I remained that way for much of the night.

So an unscheduled day off for me; with boy-child for company.  Fortunately his feeling sick did not amount to anything.  So we watched The Hobbit, well it was on; I slowly stitched away, until I was done.  I also managed to put together a couple of key fobs on top of yesterday's starts, and I have just finished the final non-family present, but that missed out on the photos today.

So here's what we'll be giving...

Reindeer brooches for one of the Rainbow's leaders, (aka Reindeer) and the other for the Cubs leader...

I used a template from the Plush Addict bunting, and the girls chose the heart; sleepy eyes copied from the Mollie Makes foxy brooches.

Key fobs for the two Young Leaders at Rainbows...

Quick and easy with ribbon, the YLs go by the names Ladybird and Butterfly, so it seemed apt.

Covered notebooks for the Teachers and TAs, and one of the Robot ones for my Dad's birthday...

And a retirement gift for the Headteacher...

My original plan was for a laminated cushion, to keep his butt dry when he was out and about doing the artist stuff he is planning on filling his time with.  The laminate was basically pants; the corners started to crack and split no sooner than I had turned the cover through; trust me, the swearing and stamping of feet closely followed.  Hey ho, live and learn... not to use that again!  So a covered sketchbook will have to do.

And finally I stitched closed the 2 Valori Wells/AMH voile infinity scarves, one for me, and one, well, come back Monday.

So how's that for productivity in the face of adversity.  Typically, the MacBook is working absolutely fine again, whilst I don't have the energy left to look at anything more today.  So love you and leave you, with a less anxious look on my face, but hoping the lingering ickiness goes on its merry way really soon, I still have loads to do!

A little Liberty...

... goes a long way.

Remember this little bundle of joy I bought at Shaukat...

Well the big floral print is a scrap quarter meter of silk that I picked up for whole £5.

Last week I trimmed the edges and turned it into a skinny, lightest of light, infinity scarf in about ten minutes.

I literally put it on as soon as I had made it, and then forgot about it until I went to bed, as it is pretty much weightless!

I stitched right through the final joining seam, as hand-stitching the closure on that fine silk would have been near on impossible, and to be honest, pointless.

I love my little scarf; I think I may definitely need to go back and rummage for more.

Getting prepared...

This was the scene about an hour ago, before I finished my lovely new AMH infinity scarf...

I ordered the 'kit' from Pink Castle, and the minute I got home to find the parcel today I was determined to have it finished by the weekend.  I want to be ready for the Arctic blasts that will be heading our way next week, apparently.

I love this combo so much, I even followed the AMH tutorial to the letter and hand finished the closure; I am so glad I did.

I am wearing it right now (with my pyjamas!) and prepared for whatever sleet and snow wishes to land on my doorstep!

And should the worst best happen, I have all the supplies I need to finish my #scrappytripalong and I've also made sure there are also some tins of soup and part-baked bread in the cupboard just to keep everyone-else happy... bring it on!

Windy!

This week, my To Do list included making a couple of infinity scarves.

I made 4.

All Anna Maria Horner voiles and one with some velveteen as I was feeling a little extravagant.

I took them all out for a photoshoot yesterday afternoon, before the rain started, and incidentally has not stopped since.

OK, it was not my best idea.  The wind did not want to help...

So indoors for a final group shot...

I love how simple these are to make.  Mine are all made with WOF fabric pieces of differing widths, dependent upon whether they were cut from yardage or meterage. 

Also on my list, you may remember, was finishing my Stitch Tease Secret Santa gift, that's done too, but I won't or rather can't show you until the recipient has it in her festive mitts, but trust me, I would love to keep it/them.

Onto today, and I have buried 3 hours-worth of threads in front of the TV.  I was really not liking how my Retro Flowers quilting was turning out and had considered ripping out everything from the last couple of nights, but I kept going, adding more and more and now the tatty threads are gone, I am happy again.  It's now all squared up, ready for binding tomorrow, and I can't wait.

Wrap it!

Last night I finally got on and made myself the AMH infinity scarf I had been promising myself for too long. 

Do you get annoyed with yourself, when something you have put off turns out to be so quick and simple that you could have made it ages ago?  I even made one for my sister at the beginning of the year, so it wasn't even as if I didn't know!

Well as the colder days are well and truly here for the duration, I am pleased I have this pretty all sewn up...

You didn't think you'd see me modelling did you!?

I have enough fabric to make another, but I may combine the voiles with some flannel, but I'll probably ponder on that one for ages too!

Tonight, I think more hexie basting is on the cards, and tomorrow I am hoping to get my Scrappy Swap item made - it's my 'pre-return to work, and keep too busy to think about it' plan!

For my sister...

I picked up that 1/2 meter of Little Folks voile on sale at Eternal Maker with a plan.

I decided that as I usually send my sister a bag or a purse every year for her birthday, and we always joke how she really doesn't need any more, a break with tradition was finally in order.  So an Infinity scarf seemed like a good idea as it is coming to the end of summer in NZ, (although she got sunburnt sailing last weekend, so little sympathy from me right now).

Rejecting flannel, as I wanted something a little lighter weight to mix it with, I pulled out my remaining Oakshott fat eighths and some of the Dead Simple Runner off-cuts, and set to work.

The Oakshotts were perfect as they stop the scarf being too floaty, (that is a good thing in my sister's eyes), giving it a bit more structure in a softer way than regular quilting weight cotton.

I stitched together a small panel of the offcuts to make a stripey section and take the length up to 54" and followed (well sort of) Kerry's post here.

I think I am definitely in need of more Oakshott - which is handy as Lynne has the most awesome giveaway running at the moment over at Lily's Quilts, and my fabric 'kitty' is well and truly depleted at present.

If you are in need of more proof of the greatness of Oakshotts, check out Fiona's recent quilt top, or the Brit Bee masterpiece of Judith's.

I am probably still going to make my sister a coin purse, as I am a traditional kind of girl like that, and I have enough voile left for another scarf for me, win win xxx