Mini Mania Challenge time

Oh yes, today is last day of the month and our big reveal day for Mini Mania Challenge.  Our October mini had to be Appliquéd, no more than 14" (any shape), have some Orange in it, and remind us of the month of October.  I have to tell you it took me a bit of time to fall in love with this one.  I sat and sulked  thought about it for a couple of days, then started to look through my scrap box.  I have had some leaves left over from this quilt which was made back in 2010 so thought I would try to use them.

but would it be to boring to have Autumn coloured leaves on the tree and appliquéd  on to some fabric.   YES it would, so off I went to look through cyber world after all it  might inspire me.  I found a drawing of a tree that had hearts instead of leaves so that was my plan.

Some big (well about 1")hearts and some tiny ones

My minimal bit of Orange.

Raw edge appliqué 

This was where I began to like it 

 I started to quilt this a couple of times and just didn't like it so unpicked (luckily it didn't leave stitch marks) so I just trailed some leaf shapes around the tree. Unfortunately the quilting doesn't show up on the photo, in fact it just looks a mess, but up close and personal it's not too shabby.

This will end up as a cushion

If you want to see all the others pop over here.

Wonder what next month will bring!!

Feeling Good

You know there are times when you make something that you are thrilled with, well, that happened to me the other day.  Mr D had some earphones for his birthday (back in June) and wanted some sort of wallet to keep them in.

They will be used mostly when we travel, so something with a little padding would be great.  I had been looking on Pinterest, and there have been a few ideas, but none were exactly what I wanted so I had to get into pattern making mode........

Just a start

will they fit

It might be a snug fit

bit of padding ...... scraps sewn together...

I think it might work

lets get this sewn.  I sewed a zip on the long curved edge to make it easy to get them out.

Think it works

snug as a bug

Ready for our next trip

Nice and neat

I had been putting this project off, but think it works really well......think I should get a fanfare!! 

Bit of this and bit of that......

I thought I had a been a bit quiet with my hand crafts, but after sorting out some photos it seems my little hands have been busy as usual.

I decided to make another Road Trip Scarf, if you remember the last one I made I donated to Higham Piecemakers bi annual exhibitions sales table.

A percentage of the cost of this yarn goes to W.I

and a selfie

They say it is going to be a cold winter, so I am prepared

I was also asked to make some more of these........

believe me they do keep your hands warm

 At the NEC Exhibition of Quilts I bought a pattern for a miniature that needed little sewing, but a glue pen would be handy.  The glue pen was indeed handy when it came to attaching those tiny houses and trees, but cutting them out took an age. You do have to sew to keep everything in place, but the secret is laying a piece of Tulle over your scene then quilting through all layers.  I am not sure if you can see that on the photograph, 

Finished size 7.5" x 9.75"

What next..... Oh yes, its getting to the time of year when the big December celebrations are creeping up (don't want to say it out loud), and a friend pinned this so I thought I would play.......

You never have the right beads but I can try

Not bad...

they will all be different I suppose

The red looks good

and while the beads were out I made a few stitch markers

a bit fiddly but hopefully will do the trick

I am off on Sunday to Malvern Quilt show, so we will see if that inspires.

Tah Dah!!!

As I said in my last post I was going to try to get together all of the Mini Mania Challenge quilts (made so far) to make a single bed quilt.   Well, its done...Yeah!

You may remember the mini's but just in case you need a reminder

I think these were the first two

Then I added some more blocks that I just loved

The one on the left is a pattern that a quilting teacher allowed me to use

The one on the right is another version of the log cabin. 

and this pattern was one from the Moda Bake shop, but I reduced it.   Instead of these being 12" blocks, I made them 7" blocks, so this one ended up 21.5" square

None of these blocks are the same size, so there was quite a bit of planning (I think not). but I did have to quilt together some white fabric to fill in some gaps. Putting this together was a bit like doing a jig saw that has no picture.  I first laid out all the blocks.

The first lay out

To fill in some gaps I added the white

Now to make them bigger

I changed the lay out a number of times, but this is the final

It took longer than I imagined to get this far 

But the big reveal.............

Tah Dah!

I am very pleased with the result.......after all it could have turned into a 'Dogs Dinner' of a quilt.

What's next I ask myself.

Log Cabin Crazy

I think I am hooked on log cabins....... Back in June 2014 I joined in a flickr swap group and received this  and I have always wanted to make another and having all the small scraps from the log cabin challenge has spurred me on.

Yep that block is going to be 2" finished

This was the plan

Once these are all sewn together it would be a very small block, so I made quite a few more..

Bit of arranging

 All sewn

Coming together

Now I have a plan for the centre

I like it

Finished.

This block will be 18" x 18"

I hope to get this block along with some of my mini mania challenge blocks into a quilt, so watch this space.

Going North or should I say been North?

Yep! once again we were able to travel up to Yorkshire to visit our daughter, her hubby and the grandchildren, and spend a day at the Yarndale show.  We travelled up on Friday evening, and were off to the show on Saturday.  I was going to be good and shop wisely....but always on the look out for ideas and inspiration.

I don't think I will ever attempt to weave, but do find this intriguing....

This loom reminds me of a cribbage board 

There were lots of Cattle Pens 'exhibitors stalls' filled with goodies, and  who wouldn't like a stash like this......

How could I resist..

and for inspiration...

Baubles, bags and blankets

Capes, Capes and more Capes.

There was some livestock,

Such a pretty face

 and a wooden sheep with a very woolie coat

Not sure of the breed

I loved this stand, all of the work is done with 'carpet wool', so it might be  inspirational for some of the ladies at our crochet group

Is she working on the Yarndale logo
 (the colourful sheep) or is it another bag????

These little stockings were cute ..

There was a massive rainbow display of the crochet flowers that folk had donated 

Not a great photo, but the best I could manage

and of course the tree deco's.

Mr Bumble

anyone for knitting??

and last but not least, the few bits I couldn't resist..

How controlled was I !!

 I plan to use some sock yarn to make this lacy cowl, so watch this space.

Getting ready for chilly weather

While we were up North we travelled across to Ulverston in Cumbria.  It was a really beautiful day, and to walk along the cobble High street looking at the shops was delightful.  We stopped for lunch at a Fourpence Cafe (please click on the link and look at their photos, as I am sure they are better than my efforts).

Oh so Cosy,

I loved the food, but everywhere I looked I was  'Oooing and Aahhing', I could have stayed there all day looking around.  

There was a selection of brushes and I had to have one to help clean out my sewing machine.

Isn't it a darling??

We also had some lovely walks in 'the dales' enjoying that late 'Indian Summer' weather.....great weekend.