Winner-time!

Mister Random has spoken, and the winner of a copy of Issue 5 of Love Patchwork & Quilting and a custom-made key fob goes to...

Congratulations Marci,  purple it is then!

Happy Wednesday to everyone else too; hope you have got over the mid-week hump with smiles on your faces xxx

Friday catch up...

I have responded to about 200 emails/comments and read through 3 day's worth of blog posts this evening, so now it's my turn!

I was planning on sewing down the binding on my Cherry Christmas quilt, but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow now!  Yep, I got the most fluffy fleece blanket along with the groceries at Tesco yesterday - it measured about 2" all round bigger than my quilt top; (I had to look up my blog post for the measurements and a metric to Imperial converter on my phone), but the perfect colour, a beautiful teal, and only £12, it was a no-brainer...

And as the kids were over at their friends' for tea, I got on and pin-basted(!) it and quilted it all before they were picked up at 6pm.  So there will be a Christmas reveal some time soon!

Other things to show you...

Little felt cupcakes made with the Rainbows tonight...

... less painful than I was expecting, and I will be back there in a fortnight.

I whipped up a key fob earlier in the week for dear son's friend to go with her zippy pouch...

More blocks have been coming in for my Stitch Tease LV Scrap Vomit.  These from Katy...

 ... and these from Random Di...

Look how lovely they are all looking now...

Di also sent me some DS Quilts fabric I'd asked her to track down for me, from JoAnns...

What would we do without super friends, and Paypal!?

And finally, I whipped up a couple of blocks for the Bee Blessed ladies...

Busy week really!

To the wire...

I know the kids and I have been off work and school for the last six weeks, and I have known that we would all be going back on September 5th for even longer, so why I always decide on the last day that I need to make things for our return, I don't know!

For the girls I made some mini (5") key fobs for their new lunch boxes; these are for quick identification when the bags are all lined up on the trolley and they can only see the tops...

So they are happy.

For myself I made a new lanyard; when I pulled my pass from the bottom of my work bag, my grey FMF seeds were looking like I felt, worn out and a bit grubby; so a little Liberty spruce up was required...

... this will be my favourite thing about being at work!

Boy-child didn't need anything, but once he has got to grips with the new Year 4 routine, I expect there will be requests.

I apologise, I have just looked at the pictures I took of the finished cushion, and they are not so great, so I will take some more after work tomorrow, I promise, sorry.

Some of us are not looking forward to tomorrow, others can't sleep they are so excited; no prizes for guessing who's who!  See you on the other side xxx

Crazy busy...

Trying to get ready for Retreat is making me cranky and anxious and all sorts of sweaty, so I am going to write my Thursday List in a moment and then try to relax for a little while.  I know, unlikely, but it's going to be non-stop from 6.30 tomorrow morning until I get on train just before 10am on Friday.

Hubby and son have just got in from the 3rd and final KS2 performance of Scheherazade.  The Y3s and 4s were singing, the Y5s were doing all the solos and acting.  They all did brilliantly in the heat; polyester Arabian knight costumes did not look any sort of comfortable, it was bad enough sitting still in the audience; I saw it yesterday afternoon...

Apart from making the Giveaway fob and notebook cover last night, I also made a fob for the girls' swimming teacher in the end...

Heather Ross fishes, what could be more perfect!?

So I am now all done with the making; although in a mad moment I thought about making another Staple tunic as an answer to my wardrobe dilemmas, but I think I am just going with t-shirts; life is too short!

I'll pop back tomorrow and let you know how I got on xxx

You said you would!

Having asked if anyone would be interested in buying some Liberty key fobs at Retreat, the positive vibes meant I have been cutting, stitching and clamping away and have come up with these...

They weigh a tonne, and having played a little with my proposed baggage, I really am thinking again!  Travelling handmade is all well and good if you are an octopus, and not considering the train, Tube and anything the weather can chuck our way; but right now, a big wheely suitcase is looking very tempting!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend; I have ordered new specs, Gok Wan if you please, and spent a bit of time in the garden.  Tomorrow will incorporate all the boring stuff, but hoping to get a BBQ in before the Wimbledon men's final.

PS.  I am hoping this will appear in the Dashboard pretty pronto, as it seems recently that there is an annoying time delay going on, but hey ho, today I am sweating the hot stuff, not the small stuff xxx

Would you?

Before I go all gun-ho and make a load of key fobs like these...

Would any of you who are coming to FQ Retreat be interested in buying one, either by accosting me in a corridor, or on Market Night?

I was thinking Liberty Lifestyle fabrics and a cost of £3 each or two for £5.

I will probably be making some for a school fair later in the year anyway, (not going to say the 'C' word), but don't want to cart them up to town for everyone to say, "Nice, but I could make them myself cheaper" and leave me looking all sad and rejected!

If I can build up the strength, I will ask in the flickr group too; but as I am more likely to get an honest opinion here, I'm asking you first.  Thank you.

Despite evidence to the contrary, I have been busy sewing this weekend.  I have a summer-weight AMH voile scarf all ready to have the opening hand-stitched closed this evening and an AMH voile Staple 'tunic' just needing all the threads snipping off.

My Stitch Tease quilt is halfway quilted, but that is really, really hard going, so I am calling it a day for today; 50 x 80" stitch lines done, 50 to go!  So hopefully I will have lots to show you in the week, although when decrepitude hits on Wednesday, I may be turning to you for tea and sympathy instead!

Hope you have had a constructive weekend, making the most of the typically awful weather in the UK, NZ or any other place with a lack of sunshine xxx

Hot & Cold

It has probably been the hottest day of the year so far, and I have had the worst day of cold of the year too - figures!

I did get a few bits made and sorted, but by 11am the conservatory was so hot, and with not a wisp of a breeze, the prospect of basting my huge Stitch Tease quilt was just not my idea of fun.

Not one to leave you picture-less, I'll just fob you off with a photo from last week I didn't show you, a pair of key fobs I made; Liberty for me, Architextures for my Dad for Father's Day...

Hoping today was as bad as it gets, I am running low on tissues; I have things to sew, people to sew for, no time for germs!

Men!

The men in my life are conspiring against me!

Dear hubby was ill all weekend, and took today off work with a bout of Man Flu; then I got the call from school to come and collect a poorly-feeling son after lunch, and to top it all, the reminder pinged up on my phone for my brother-in-law's birthday in a weeks' time!

So not only did the weekend not yield as much me time as I would have liked, today, before I could get on with my Marcelle Medallion crosses, I had to make a gift, quick smart.

Some gent-flannel scraps left from the Christmas man-pouches and key fob hardware; Bob's your uncle...

One is for my Bro' in law and the other is for the poorly bloke upstairs; the notebook made me smile, and is perfect for the Kiwi recipient.

Sonny-boy went to bed feeling fine, hopefully hubby will sleep his off, and fingers crossed everyone will be back in their respective proper locations tomorrow, and I will be able to get back to the plan!

I've ordered some additional Eloise Liberty fabric (same as the spool) to bind my partner's Retreat name tag, and I am already sketching out my ideas for the sample swap.

Honestly, my To Do list does not have any more wiggle-room!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

*** The Giveaway is now closed ***

Hello, hello, hello!

I am going to cut to the chase, you have so many places to go, so many giveaways to enter, I am not going to keep you here for too long; I know you just want to know the what, and the how eh!?

The what is a small (8" square-ish) zippy purse made of Liberty Lifestyle and Essex Linen, my current favourite combo...

There is also a key fob in matching Liberty; you can never have too many purses and keyrings nor too much Liberty in my humble opinion!

If this is your first time visiting, it would be nice if you came back again; I know today is all about the goodies, not going to kid myself about that one, but if you are liking my style, (stop sniggering at the back), please think about coming back and clicking the follow button.

So anyway, the how...

Leave me one comment, (any additionals will be deleted), telling me your current favourite combination of fabrics; things that were born to be together, or others that probably shouldn't work, but actually do; it would be nice to try something new.

The giveaway is open internationally; Random.org will be used to select the winner; and I will say it again, if you are a 'No Reply' blogger, please leave your email address in the body of your comment - if I cannot contact you, I will click the generate button again.  I will not be responding to individual comments, but may well give credit for fab combos in my Winner post.

I will close the giveaway as soon as I wake up on Saturday (11th May), because 5pm PST, or DST or whatever Friday, is the middle of the night in the UK, and I'd rather give you a couple of extra hours than disturb my beauty sleep.

Thank you Sew Mama Sew for the hosting, and thank you for stopping by.  Good luck everyone xxx

A promise is a promise...

...and I promised some finishes.

So the strips I showed you the other evening, are now fully functioning key fobs...

Then I made a couple more...

So they get a tick on my whopping To Do List.

Then we have a bigger little make.  Now it isn't a case of 'should have gone to Specsavers', oh I do, and I have lots of their not-so-lovely glasses cases but I really thought it was time to banish the black velour.

So I chopped up an old case and retrieved the flexi metal to make my own.

Hmm... we are not talking about a lovely flexi clasp, oh no, 2 cheap pieces of what look to be old metal tape measure, so life was not so rosy.

I persevered and although I am not 100% happy, the flexi is a little too snug, and twists the case a little, but it does the job, and uses 2 of my favourite fabric lines, so it makes me happier.

Maybe when I have a little more time I will take the top clasp bit off and re-sew it; or maybe I will just make another one ;)  It's too hot to make such big decisions.

Back tomorrow with my SMS winner!!

My Monday...

Whilst my American friends are enjoying another one of their holidays, I had to go back to work today, oh joy.

Still I was greeted by a nice parcel of fabric on my return, so that's my consolation prize.

 

This was my freebie bundle for subscribing to Mollie Makes; it's only taken about 3 months to turn up and dare I say, contains some fuglies, but they are good size pieces and I love the kettle print, so it's all good.

Well I can't show you what I was mostly working on over the weekend, as it is my entry for the Modern Mini Challenge.  It is very different to my usual style, which is causing me to swing from 'total love' to 'not quite sure' on a disturbingly frequent basis; but I am going to go with it, so you'll have to wait until 5th March, sorry chaps.

The only thing, or rather 3, I can show you are these key fobs...

... made with thanks to lovely Kelly, maker of the most awesome sewing machine cover EVER, who kindly sent me some of the hardware which seems to be impossible to get in the UK - these came from a US Etsy seller, and I think I have found my new favourite instant fix!

Well it's going to be a long week, it's my Grandma's funeral on Wednesday, and all the kids' after-school clubs are back in full swing from tomorrow, so please bear with me if I seem a little distracted!