Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE

Woo hoo, I have a finished bag.  The Open Wide Bag, I was making my sister is completed.
This was the first time I had used soft and stable,  I really like how the bag holds it's shape. I made the large bag which is approximately 9" x 12" x 6", and omitted the front contrasting fabric panel, because I didn't want to lose any of that beautiful Kaffe print.  I may make another one in the medium size for me, and would increase the binding width to 2.25" for the binding around the zipper, which I think would fit slightly better.

Overall, I am really pleased with how it has turned out. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed making bags (even if they do cause a little bit of bad language to be muttered).  I think my sister was planning to use it for crochet projects, and it looks as though it will hold quite a lot.  Now to package it up and post it off to Australia with some treats for her.

Now, it's YOUR turn to share, by linking up your sewing and stitching projects, following these guidelines.

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching,
2. Somewhere in your post, please link to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew,Stitch, Snap, Share links - it's fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging too.

Thanks for joining us.

Julie and Linda

Weekending

Most of my weekends seem to be an endless repeat of cook, sew, clean, so here's what I have been sewing and cooking this weekend.

• I am really something of a quilting butterfly, I flit from one sewing/quilting project to the next. I guess there is no chance of getting bored with any of them, or finishing any of them quickly at this rate.   Anyhoo, I have flitted back to the Wide Open pouch I was making for my sister. After a concentrated sewing effort, I got the side panels completed and sewn in , (Gosh wonder clips are a wonderful investment and product for this type of project), the bias binding made and attached, then detached and re-attached. Those curves were hard with layers of soft and stable and fabric.  After finally getting the binding attached successfully,  I decided to hand sew the binding down rather than top stitching it on my machine.  Now it's just the zipper, and the final pieces of binding to be sewn on.

• A little whimsical ice cream soda block in progress

• Sunday night dessert in progress, Plum and Cinnamon Upside Down Cake - recipe from here

Wishing you all a fabulous week, hopefully,  I'll have a completed pouch to show on Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE.this Wednesday.

Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE

Now that my Bird Dance project is pretty much completed, and while I am procrastinating over choosing felt colours for my next applique project, I thought I would do some work on the Open Wide! pouch I am making for my sister.

I bought the pattern,  mesh and soft and stable while I was over in Brisbane visiting her.  She chose her favourite Kaffe Fassett fabric for the exterior, which we paired up with a beautiful coral toned shot cotton for the lining.

The exterior has been quilted and edged, it was the first time I have used soft and stable before, and I have just attached binding to the mesh which will be used for large pockets on the interior.

We decided to omit the contrast trim on the exterior, so we didn't lose any of those divine florals or colours in the Kaffe fabric.  Next up is the zipper installation.  Once this pouch is completed it will be sent back to my sister, filled with some yummy sweet treats that she can't get in Australia.

Of course, a sewer needs sustenance while creating things like this, so I have a little stash of raspberry M & M's to enjoy while making this. (Thanks Janine)  What is your favourite treat to enjoy while sewing?

Now, it's YOUR turn to share, by linking up your sewing and stitching projects, following these guidelines.

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching,
2. Somewhere in your post, please link to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew,Stitch, Snap, Share links - it's fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging too.

Thanks for joining Linda and I, we love seeing what you have been creating.

Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE

Welcome to our first Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE link up.

Work has been very busy lately, which though good for the bank account, does cut into the sewing time,  Any way here's a little run down of what I been stitching and sewing lately.

• Remember those little paper pieced flower blocks I had made for my medallion quilt, but decided they were to light for it.  I didn't want to waste them, so I have turned them into a pouch for a flower loving friend.

• I have been making more blocks for my medallion quilt - they are certainly bright, the next round will will use more of the black fabric I think, and hopefully balance it out a little. I have lots of ideas for it, just how to implement some of them is the challenge.

• A work in progress shot of my Bird Dance project, I am officially over halfway now having completed 17 of them.

• And on a non sewing related matter, we have a new family member.  Her name is still being debated, she is about a year old and into everything, needless to say, I have decided the sewing room is out of bounds to her.

Please link up what you have been stitching and sewing this so far this month, and visit some of the other bloggers who have linked too.  Linda and I have decided to share the commenting on linked blog posts, so as long as you aren't a no-reply blogger you will receive a comment from either one of us.

Thanks for joining us, we are both looking forward to seeing what everyone has been sewing.

Weekending

Photo from Janine

• Sewing:  the butterfly pouch is done, now I just need to get a few more goodies, and it's ready to post off to Australia

• Reading: I am really enjoying  A Year of Marvellous Ways, it's a little magical, a little sad,  just an enjoyable read.

• Eating - homemade caramel ice cream.  Absolutely delicious and such a shame I have to share it with my family.

• Gardening:  probably more maintenance than gardening.  My Star Jasmine had grown somewhat out of control with all the warm humid weather.  Two hours later, three full wheel barrows of trimmings, and a couple of blisters on my hands, I have a lovely tidy jasmine garden again.

• A proud big sister moment:  unfortunately this AMH Irish Chain Quilt isn't my work.  My sister, Janine gets to take all the credit for this beauty.  Mine is still in the planning, lets accumulate more AMH fabric stage, but this is inspiring me to get my other must do projects completed so I can start on mine.  Janine used the tutorial from here, but made it a couple of rows bigger. (She really needs a blog of her own to show off her beautiful work)

Wishing you all a fabulous week ahead.

2015 Finsh-along - Q4 completed

Well this has been the first year I have completed all my goals, plus a couple of extra projects in the finish-along.  Here are my Q4 finishes:

Christmas placemat - pattern from here

Birthday Club gift for Gwyneth - based on Noodlehead's wide open pouch

Rainbow Clutch, ( Grey Clutch) for Mum

X Factor Pillow Swap - done

It is so nice knowing I can start the year with some new projects and finish off some fun, just for me projects in 2016.

Linked up on 2015 Finish- along at On The Windy Side.

A Rainbow Clutch in Shades of Grey

Remember that pile of fabric that I wanted to turn into a Rainbow Clutch  (that isn't a rainbow )for my Mum. Well it has been made and gifted, so now I can show it off.  Mum had picked a variety of grey fabrics from my stash, which I subsequently narrowed down to two.

The front patterned panel is an Ann Kelle fabric and the grey is a shot cotton from Spotlight.  The lining which you can see in the top photo only, is a delicate floral from Dear Stella.

The pattern is from  Anna Graham's book, Handmade Style.  She gives really clear detailed instructions for all steps of the making process.  However after a couple of attempts at installing the back zipper,  I found it easier to baste  the rear zipper before machine sewing it in.  I did find  that some of the  many layers in places made it slightly more difficult to sew.  Overall I am happy with how it turned out, and as a bonus, this is the last item on my 2015 Finish-Along - Q4 goals, to be completed.

 Happy Birthday  Mum, I hope you enjoy using it this summer.

Weekending

• baking and eating - cinnamon and brown sugar brioche for breakfast, and also this chilli for dinner 
• reading - this book, by the fire 
• sewing - some secret and these not so secret blocks for my scrappy sampler quilt.  

Weekending

The birthday girl - Rachel

Show and tell

Deb busy finishing the other Rachael's belated birthday gift.

Those margaritas were everywhere.

My sewing girls and I had our bi-monthly get together on Sunday.  This time Rachel (Woodenspoon Quilts) was the birthday girl.  After the present opening session in the designated birthday chair, we did our usual show and tell of swaps received, new quilty books and projects to ooh and aah over, and of course a beautiful potluck lunch.  New margaritas - this time plum sorbet flavour (made by Gwen ,  a new member in our group) were a big hit,

The gifts I made Rachel were: a Liberty pincushion, a Liberty covered wooden spoon to hang in her sewing area and a Denyse Schmidt and linen zippy Pouch.  I used a new tutorial for the pouch from Tessa at The Sewing Chick.  This pouch has tabs at each end of the zip and covered seams, so there was no need to turn it inside out,, which made it nice and easy.  It has a lovely flat base too, so stands up nicely.  Tessa's tutorial has great photos and clear instructions, so I will definitely use it again.

Now I am at home recovering from a full day of fun, good food, a little sewing and lots of laughter with friends.

A Handmade Christmas

Now that Christmas has been and gone, the gifts have been unwrapped and live with their new owners, I can finally reveal some of the secret sewing I had been doing, that I hadn't been able to show on here.  First up two gifts for my sister:

•  a large fabric bowl, for all her fabric scraps.   Now this is a big bowl, at least 8 or 9" high ( yes I forgot to take note of the dimensions when I made it) I used the pattern from Nova as a basis and just made my own size. The paper pieced word comes from here.  Lots of bright cheery fabrics for this.
• A Sew Together Bag - lots of scraps including Bonnie & Camille, Heather Bailey and Carolyn Friedlander.  The inside is lined with a fabric from Heather Bailey's Up Parasol range, and inside pockets in a minty dot.
• Finally a pouch for my Mum - she is travelling to Europe next year, and wanted a pouch to put in her day bag.  I had the perfect lining fabric and then filled the pouch with some little goodies for travellers, like ear plugs, lip balm, hand cream, tissues etc.

What did you make for Christmas gifts?