Last minute Sewing

On Monday I went to my sewing/ quilting group, where we had someone come to give a workshop called 'Lavender Hearts'..... yes, you guessed it we made hearts filled with lavender and finally stuffed.   They were quite quick to make so I thought I would make a couple as gifts for friends that I hope to see soon.  Actually I think I could get carried away and make many of these as they will use up some of that scrap "stash" we all seem to accumulate and they are rather pretty.  

Pretty gifts

The other things I have been busying myself with are these.......

again these are quick to make and everyone can use another little bag can't they?

Can you guess what these are......

Yes, they are covers for an armchair.  I started these before Christmas, but sort of lost my way and found other more interesting things to make, but these did have to be finished before I left for my 'hols' as they are a birthday gift.

The arms on this sofa are a bit bigger than the chair they are made for

Now, do you want to see a real beauty?....well, I am going to show you anyway

Yes, my Amaryllis did flower for me,

So I have had the beauty of it all week, who could ask for more.

Off on my holiday on Sunday, so I am not sure when I will be back to this blog as I think the grandchildren have things planned for us, but if I do get a chance I will try to show you a little of South Africa.  Au revoir.

Quiet week

Well, other than a lot of snow falling not much has been happening this week.  We have been taking the opportunity to walk around the village, especially as we invested in some snow spikes for our shoes.  The spikes are great, they fix onto the bottom of your boots or shoes and make walking so much safer, they make a bit of a noise when walking around the shops and I certainly would not want them worn around the house, but to use them for what they were designed for is great.

So fresh and clean

The Church is much more impressive than it looks here.

I have been sewing a challenge given by my quilting group, but I can't show you that until they have all been unveiled in March, but I can show you this..

So darn cute

 I fell in love with this design the first time I saw it, and was given the pattern to play with.  It is paper pieced, and as the pieces are so small I can't imagine making it any other way.  I needed to add borders, but what colour would look best...

The blue is actually lilac, but bad photography 

or this 

think this is the way to go

Yes, I decided a bit more brightness would not go amiss.

Got to think now how to quilt it.

 For Christmas I received this beautiful Amaryllis as a bulb, and have had pleasure watching it grow, but my holiday is looming and I am thinking I will miss the full flowering, so I have cut the flower stem and hoping to persuade it to blossom before I leave.  If it performs I will take a photo of the flower heads.

We will be visiting grandchildren while on holiday, so writing this blog may not be at the top of my priorities, but if I do manage to do anything exciting I will get some photos and show you when I can, so until next time.... take care.

Winter has arrived.

Yes, winter has finally arrived.  On Monday we had some flurries of snow but I decided it would be fine to go to my patchwork group.... how wrong can you be... after driving out of our village it was like driving into a blizzard, very poor visibility on the highway with lots of spray as the snow wasn't settling.  While at group the snow cleared up so the journey home was relatively clear, but I was now on guard.  Thursday, we woke to the sun shining on the fields and what a picture that was.

Our view from the comfort of our bed

Friday we had more snow and a lot of families seemed to make the most of the school closures.  I need to borrow some children then I could 'borrow' their sledge and play along!

This is the recreation ground 

The group of trees in the middle of the pic. are the trees we look onto from our bed.

Love the look of the 'Old Vicarage'

Not much sewing going on this week as we were expecting friends for the weekend, so lots of cooking instead, but the weather closed in on Friday and nobody was going to travel unless it was absolutely necessary, so a quick phone call to some local friends who stepped into the breach and helped us eat the food.  Not sure when to expect the thaw, so we will wrap up warm and take some nice winter walks.

First things completed in 2013

I thought I had been just sitting around doing nothing, but not so... just look at what has been finished already.

While I was away over Christmas I took time out on my own to visit a patchwork shop,  just to see if there was anything I was missing out on.  No, nothing new in the patchwork world, but this shop also sells wool, and I have often seen a pattern I like, but when it comes to costing the wool etc. it seems so expensive that I just pass it by.  This visit was a bit of an exception, I saw a pattern and it required only 3 balls of wool..... even I can afford 3 balls of wool!.  So this is the outcome of my little trip.

It is lightweight and just right for the summer/

I was trolling the flickr pages, and came across this tilda teacup angel so off to buy the book.... that drew a blank, because the book is not being published until about May time.  I need this Angel, and I needed it now.... so managed to buy the Angel wings from one of the Tilda sites, and made my own pattern up using other Tilda pattens that I have already.

Cute don't you think

Now I just couldn't stop at one ...the Angel wings came in a pack of two....what can a girl do... no will power that's me! 

Arms a bit long! May need attention.

I love them.

The other thing I found while surfing the web was this very handy carry bag for an iron.  So Sunday was spent playing.... Voilà!

I am going to try to made a smaller one for my travel iron 

Now what do you think is going on here......

This might give you a clue...

8" x 4" finished

Keep you posted on that project.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all, lets hope this is a happy healthy year for everyone.

I thought I would share a few of the things that I have been busy making through this first year of "My Blog".

I finished this in March.   I had been saving the fabrics, which were a gift, for ages, then saw this pattern and decided that this was what the fabrics had been waiting for .....

The next project took a bit more work to just get the pattern, but once I had that in my hot little hand I spent a few happy hours making it....

Still a favourite of mine

May time brought an internet friend over from America,  it was such fun meeting up with her and some of her family.  We took time out to visit Blenheim Palace and what a wonderful day we had..

Dee  and  Me    

I had a little time to play at making my own pattern, and felt very proud that it turned out so well that I decided to try to make it into the button for my blog.  Making the button took a few days to get my head around,  but I got there in the end 

Meet the button

 June saw the completion of my Birdie Block Quilt.  I followed Little Miss Shabby's block a month 

My friend then asked if I would like to make up this little gem........she had no time, so decided to sew by proxy....

Cute don't you think?

  

I then joined one of the 'flickr' swaps.  I made this for my partner who had mentioned that she loved owls and fresh coloured fabrics..... girl after my own heart.

Dancing Ribbons was the next on my list to make.  

This one is for me

One of the other swaps I joined on flickr was a Round Robin, where we started by making a block which could be any size from 12" square to 36" square.  Mine started as a 15" square and I thought when everyone had added their round I would get back a lap size quilt, well - that was the plan!  As my quilt toured the world it became very obvious that when it returned home it was going to be a bit bigger than lap size.  In fact when it did get home, I decided it was going to fit the double bed in my spare room :

Before

After.. looks great don't you think?

Remember the friend that "sews by proxy"?  This was the next project she would like to have made, but again no time,  so, sew jo stepped in and had fun re jigging the pattern (the original was made with a layer cake, and I only had a charm pack, so its much smaller) and ended up with a lap quilt, just what I wanted!

There have been many more things being made in my little room, but I don't want to bore you, so I will just finish off with this little man that was completed just in time..

Two men actually 

Hope you all had a great holiday and happy sewing in 2013.

Santa Claus is coming to Town

Not a lot of sewing going on at this time of year, but just had to get this man ticked off my list...

I wonder if you recognise who is about to make an entrance?

Feeling a bit naked

Not one but two..... well I never!

Dressed and ready for hat bells and sign

Whoop! Whoop!! finished.

Opps! not quite finished needs some buttons for his coat.

One almost finished (needs a few buttons) and the other will have to wait now until after Christmas to get his 'No Pouting Zone' sign and buttons for his coat.

I am off tomorrow to spend Christmas in Yorkshire with my daughter, son-in-law and grand children.  It would be lovely to have a white Christmas, but think its going to be a damp one if I believe the weather man.


I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a very Healthy,Wealthy and  Happy 2013.

No sew blog

I have been out and about this week and what a week to be trundling around the countryside.  Monday was a sewing day at our group, and I must admit I didn't take any notice of the weather, but Tuesday was a different matter.  We woke to thick fog and very very cold, but I now know it was not freezing all day.  The reason I know it wasn't freezing all day on Tuesday is because on Wednesday, the temps. didn't get above -3 deg. all day, but how beautiful it looked.  The trees were covered in frost and looked like frosted glass, oh so beautiful!  I was meeting friends for coffee, and wanted to stop the car and take  photos of the surrounding countryside, but the only place I could stop safely had none of the stunning frost covered trees and the fog covered the fields like a blanket.

I did manage these though...

Every day we pass these lacy works of art and its not until they are covered in frost that we notice them.

This is my favourite 

This is the last rose in bloom in my garden, and this morning it is edged with frost.... so beautiful

Frost covered Hydrangea Leaves 

I am going into the sewing room now, so you never know, the next time you visit I may have something to show you......but I am on a bit of a wind down to Christmas.