OMG where has the month gone ????

Yup today I figthened the wits ( what I have anyway ) out of myself by looking at the caleneder and thinking where has the last 12 years  3 weeks gone ???

So I have had a productive montyh and Ithink that when yr busy sewingh you don;t always have time to blog it ..

That;s my excuse anyway. so today sitting at home with a child who is less than 100%  Tuesday and possibly tommorow allows me to put fingers to keyboard and laod pics and chat on about what is happening here.

Shhh I can hear the cheers from here in the UK      I wish !

Anyway my petit pois  here we go 

Mr Leo  as ever my faiuthful kitteny helper .... he;s an absolute monster and menace ... but such al ovely cuddly mummy;s boy as well . Much like the Kray twins Iexpect ... that's not saying much .  but anyway where I go he goes .... and as the label says ... "Everything is better WITH cat hair "

We can still negotiate all wel ike but at some point there will be fluff .

 Giveaway goodies

Here we have thep ictures in construction of 3 lovely chevron cushion/pillow covers there are 2 normal size and one mini. well it;s about 10 inch . square.  All are handquilted in co-ordinated  perle thread it looks great. even if I do say so myself.

 

I,m very very pleased with them .

Now below I have also made a quilted pouch.... it's done in plaid type hand quilting  It looks pretty cool.  

Then of course I went off on one with some more handquilting as I can't sew really after 8pm as my daughter has the room next door to my sewingm achine room etc and tbh I make such a load of noise when sewing that it would drive you nuts .... so I stop sewing after her bed time and so hand sewing is the answer providing my eyes or wrists don;t give out .

 

So at this point I drew out some sashiko style patterns on a larger piece of fabric and got some technical work in . This will be made into yet another blininking cushion cover... 

 

 

Then I was naughty and bought some fabric at the Wroxham Barns sewing and quilting shop .... and threw in a couple of fabrics I bought at the fabric guild .... and then made something nice for myself ... this was a trial pattern made by myself using the cutting common sense dished out in Fast quilts from fat quarters book.



 

 

Yup flying geese gone wild and only took 8 inch sq of the fabric so I have plenty left 

And who can resist this little hairy helper ..... awww he;s jsut a kitten



Then I got my edition of Gen Q and made a sample of the free pattern to use up some of my scrap box ... this cutie popped up .

My block of the month for STASH BEE  but as yet I have to hear if it has arrived at it;ls destination .  SIGH* 

Then I made this quick ear phone pouch for my giveaway , made from Kaffee Fasset sent as a swappee gifte. Lush 

Now my lovely friend Ali is expecting a baby in JAnuary and we know the flavour and so I madethis lovely happy rotating dissap 9 patch in a mix of fabrics  as Babies first quilt . This is part of the layette. and I will gradually add the bag, bibs, burb cloths etc .

 

This was quilted with simple wavey lines with Guterman sulky in soft lemons. I then hand quilted some star fish little orange fish and jelly fish and sea horses into some of the neutral areas. 

 

I also made myself the new sewing machine cover. Lovely 

Then I mde this one for my Sew Swappit partner . This is still being quilted and will be gfinished and posted soon .... but to where I hear you ask  

I blooped asnd added this again LOL but it;s cute



CLEAN YOUR MACHINE !!!

 

You may have guessed I have an issue with machines not being cleaned . I clean mine every day I use it and change the needle every 4 hours or so . Blunt needles wreck work , snag thread and make a right dogs breakfast of your sewing . There arel ots of simple guides on how to best clean yr machine .

 



One drop of oil regualrly and a good clean and a new needle and it;s like a new machine. If you do;nt oil yr machine I worry about yr car ... quite honestly I can't afford to throw away £1000 machine and for the sake of 1p drop of oil !!!!!

Fun eyemask ... using a simple drawn pattern and a bit of elastic and made this for Rowan ... just so she can't spot Santa nearer the time :))



Now the hexi quilt has gone with the addition of a black cat applique near and edge.  Miss Poppy sits in pride of place and is apaprentyl very very happy in her new home  .



 

Yup he is a big boy .... this is a Maine coon of 20 months! Weighing in at 16lb at present  and growing like a weed.

 



RIght .... I had done traditional sashiko style patterns and decided to do something a bit different . I took my 60 degree traingle and drew loads of traingles obviously 

 

Then I used a range of tones of perle thread and did this ... It;s sort of sashiko meets pink floyd  meets mod quilting . I like it . ANd thats what really matters to me . 

 

I have been making 22 Christmas stockings for my husbands class at school and had a few charm squares left. I made a D9patch then sliced them diagonally and then added some funky green spotty bastik I got from Pied Piper . I added some Riley Blake in vibrant red and made this jolly item . It will go to the Childrens unit at the hospital . 

 

My last trip to the fabruc guild netted me some free fabric. This is Flock by Thomas Knauer

I did it Jelly Roll race style .



 

 

I quilted it in a mad fingerling style to give  plenty of support . 

Beautifully modelled by my lovely girly

 

So Here is the pattern ....... select your colours and fabrics...  I chose about 8 fabrics and I cut either 2.5 inch ( standard JR size) or in this case cos I got it wrong... I cut 3 inch wide strips . 

 

 

I cut them into different lengths . so you get plenty of movement and interest ... I think when you do JRR you chop 18 inches off the end to get the fabric uneven enough . Some do it with mitred ends I like flat ends ... 

Take yr strips and sew the ends together .... 

So you have one HUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE strip...  I can;t quite say what total length of fabric I used  sorry but I cut about 14 strips across the width of the fabric to join together... this should give you a finished piece about 40 inches by 19 inches ideal for a good sized bag ... 

His Imperial Hariness came to supervise. 

So here it is JRR into the shape and size I want ... about 40 inches  wide and 18 /19 inches deep .

 



Then I set it up for quilting   I use 505 SPRAY and it is fantastic . 

Guterman sulky thread for quiltin and I did this made sort of fingerlingquilting  it gives a coral type look to the whole thing which for a sea type theme I love. 

 

It;s a lovely lovely texture ... sort of ripples under yr fingers...

I then zig zag of serge around the edges ot bind everything in I then aqdded handles and button loop.

 

I use a simple method just turning handles in under the edges and triple stitching in .

 



I am making Ali pouches and zippys to put stuff in rather than pockets that drive me mad!

 

I putstuff in pockets and then spend half my time rustling through them to find what I lost.... This will take lots of big bits that every new mum needs ... kitchen sink, washingm achine, spare everything plus extras . 

Right so you can see how busy busy busy I am . Enjoy and Remember the draw  ends at the end of October and I have some lovely items and freebies for the best referrer !

 

May your wellies be watertight . Love

 

Raven xxx