Happy Bank Holiday Monday!

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely Bank Holiday! If you have to be working I hope it is a short day for you.

I should have posted about this AGES ago but nevermind I'm doing it now. It's time to show off what I made for the Mouthy Stitches Swap. I had the pleasure of making for Victoria @ Boutique Uniquely . Victoria likes rainbow, bright colours and wanted a pouch that she could put her own things into to throw into a diaper bag.

I wanted to make her something just for her but also be functional. I choose a dark purple (although it looks navy here) as I thought this would stop it from getting dirty whilst still being colourful.




I went with making a Keyka Lou pattern pouch as I knew I wanted a recessed zipper in it and that was the purpose of this pattern. I love this pattern. It came together so nicely and the pattern is so well written.




I coupled it with a very bright lovely floral lining.



I have made 4 more of these pouches since and I can see myself making more. I just adore putting them together.

Cross Stitch Books

Quick post just now, proper post to come about my Mouthy Stitches swap.

My big sister is moving into my dad's house and combining 2 three-bedroom houses worth of things into 1 is no easy task so Fran is clearing out. She has 13 cross stitch books she is getting rid of and has the details posted on her blog. I'd love it if you could have a look and see if there is anything you fancy.

Fran's Corner

Look what I have been playing with!

I have been playing! With my coveted Liberty fabrics.

I have to be honest I never really understood what all the fuss was about Liberty fabric. I tend not to like ditsy floral patterns but then I got my hands on some and I was a convert. It has been sitting tucked away in a lunchbox tin all nicely ironed until I figured out what to do with it.

On Wednesday I unhooked the latch and pulled it all out to play:







Can you guess what I have been making?

I will show you when I find someone pretty enough (i.e. not me) to model them.

FAL Quarter 2

I have to say that the first quarter of the Finish-a-Long was actually very very motivating to *get things done*. Therefore I am definitely in for Quarter 2. My list of WIP'S, however has gotten longer, not shorter. Let's review:

1. Skirt Bags



2. 4 Jewellery Rolls



3.A very VERY simple lap blanket that I cut out probably 2-3 years ago. Its really about time I get it sewn up.



4. A 9 patch quilt for me.



5. Creature Comforts cross stitch. This has been sitting un-finished for far too long. I forgot to put it on the last list because I was just thinking of fabric-y things. It only requires the back stitch outline but I keep putting it off.



6. A 241 tote. Again I cut this before Christmas but I only came across it last night when I was tidying up my fabric stash to make some room for my wool stash (sigh).



7. 4 Kids Pencil Rolls



8. Keyka Lou pouches - got 4 clutch size and 6 pouch size all cut out.



9. Black rib scarf - My nemesis. Not really, I just knit really really slow but I want to try and practice and get quicker since my wool stash just got bigger.



10. 4 The Hungry Caterpillar pencil cases.



11. Knitted shawl (i.e a big rectangle) - dragged on for ages but I am making progress.







Right so now I need to decide what I am pledging to finish by the end of Quarter 2 i.e the end of June:

1. Skirt Bags (a MUST finish)
2. The rest of the Jewellery Rolls
5. The cross-stitch. It will probably take like half an hour so just do it already.
6. 241 tote
7. Pencil Rolls
8. Keyka Lou Pouches
10. Hungry Caterpillar Pouches

So thats 7 things for the next 3 months and I think I will manage all of them, fingers crossed. I have other things on top of those that I want to get done so hopefully it will be a productive 3 months.

FAL Quarter 1

A bit late I know!

I have been absent for a while as I've not been all that well recently. Nothing serious certainly but just enough that the last 6 weeks have been a bit of a blur. I was having regular palpitations so I have been having tests etc done. One of the tests showed my heart rate would rapidly increase (which I personally think was just from unfitness and climbing the stairs in the car park but I was told no) so my doctor put me on a beta blocker to slow my heart rate down. These were fine for 2 weeks but then I started getting faint spells. Thankfully I didn't ever actually faint but every day for 5 weeks I would take a turn and think I was going to pass out at least once if not twice. Now that I have been to a cardiologist the tablets have been changed and I'm starting to feel much better.

Hence the lack of blog posts! I even managed to completely miss our March meeting of the West Scotland Modern Quilt Guild through sheer fuzziness.

Anyway, there is a slight upside to this. Those times that I did feel functional I made the decision to sew, particularly because I knew the end of the Finish-a-Long was coming up.

To recap here is what I pledged:

1. The skirt-bags. All 4 of them.
2. The jewellery rolls. Need to do them for my fairs anyway.
3. The ironing board cover.
4. Finish the top for the blue and red Ikea quilt.
5. Baste, quilt and bind the first Ikea quilt.


I actually did not bad considering. I made no progress on the skirt bags but they will get moved onto the next quarters list and WILL get completed.

The jewellery rolls are about 2 thirds done. I have finished 5 and the other 4 are in various stages of progress.







The ironing board cover is DONE! I'm not sure what to do with it yet, whether to keep it as a spare for myself or whether to take it to a fair with me and put it on my table. It is in a bag at the moment until I decide what to do.





Number 4 I took further than I pledged to. After writing that post up I remembered I was going to make a boy's quilt for a friend who was due to have a baby boy so I put it all together quilted it and gifted it. Unfortunately I gifted it before picturing it completed. Silly me! Nevermind.

I also managed to finish the pink quilt top that had been hanging in my sewing room for months. I decided I wanted to finish this one to gift to my manager who we know is having a little girl. We had a surprise baby shower for her about a fortnight ago and so I wanted to have it finished for then.







It went down an asbolute storm. I was a bit concerned that it might be a bit bright for her but it turns out that the things they have already bought for the nursery are bright also so it will fit in and she loves it!


Next post will be the pledges for Quarter 2!