Catch up on my pre Christmas sewing

In between finishing my course and heading off for holiday I got some sewing done for the first time in a while.  It was good to have some fabric in my hands.  First up this board bag for a friend (though I was quite tempted to keep it for myself because I loved the way the fabrics came together, but I do have a board bag and my friend doesn't).

 

Then these stockings just because it was Christmas...

 

And lastly this one for a stocking exchange amongst my quilt group.

Making a list, crossing things off

A couple of months back I scribbled a list of UFOs on a piece of paper and it was alarmingly long.  I thought I would only have a few, or maybe 6, because about 18 months ago I donated a lot of tops to various groups making quilts for charity.  Alas there were 13 projects on the list.  And to be pedantic there are now finished tops on this list because they  are "out of sight and out of mind" down with the quilting machine.

Now it seems like time to do something about the list so I started assessing some of the projects.  I decided I was never really going to make pink shopping bags (using up the fabric leftover from a Christmas gift to my sister 2 or 3 years ago) so I filed the pattern, put the fabric back into stash and crossed the project off my list. One down!

Assessing projects turned out to be very worth while.  It turned out one of the tops was actually finished... so off to quilting with it, and it is off my list. Two down!

Then I came to the quilt described on my list as "Blue/lime panel" with a note "covert to bag".  I dragged it out, decided that it didn't really need to be a wall hanging displaying my ability to quilt different textures on different areas of a panel that I had stitched different sized borders on.  So before I could fold the fabric back up I found my favourite bag pattern and CUT IT UP.  I added some of my own hand-dyed fabric for lining, and used 95% of the panel.  This is the result.

That makes three down!  Only 10 to go - if only they could all be so easy. 

One of these things is not like the other

A Christmas stitchery


A couple of diary covers, from bits and pieces found in my journal quilt box.


Bag holders made from old flour sacks... these were lovely to work with.

Long Weekend

We've had a productive long weekend.

Firstly I made this apron for Helen who is teaching a baking class at night school. This is the very cute *Apron In An Hour* pattern at Fapritopia. I used an old kiwiana tablecloth and a pretty stripe.


We drove to Utiku to the Wool Company which I love because they sell great New Zealand made woollen clothing and knitting yarn. I bought some wool to make a scarf for me and a ready-made scarf for Roy. The drive was very pretty because there is just the first snow on the hills.


We stopped at Sugar Plum Cafe - on State Highway 1 just past the Marton turn off - for lunch. Three cheese and spinach tart for me, tart nicoisse for Roy, and we shared the tamarillo cake! Divine. On the way home we stopped again for coffee - the sun way low in the sky making it hard to drive... and the feijoa friands were really good!


Today we replaced the letterbox. Our letterbox has been a sorepoint since we moved into the house six months ago, but it has been rather low on our priority list with all that has been happening. The trouble was, that when you opened the letter box to take the mail out, the whole fence wobbled and generally behaved as if it were about to fall down - which it was because it was only attached in 2 places. When it came time to tackle the letterbox we didn't want spent a fortune (some are $180) and preferred one that was made locally. We tracked down a man who makes letterboxes here in town from left over timber for $40.

The old, and the new:


Seeing this last photo makes me realise that now there is the fence post to mend, the fence to paint, some planting to do... Still, it has been a very productive weekend.

Recycling

My friend Helen came up with an idea a couple of weeks ago that the two of us should make bags from recycled fabric. We set aside a Saturday and spent the morning exploring the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Hospice stores. Helen fell in love with denim and chambray shirts for her bags, and I found tablecloths and scarves for mine.

This first bag is made from a small souvenir tablecloth and lined with homespun. The front:

The back:


The lining:

This bag is made from leftover fabric from an earlier bag project and lined with a 50 cent silk scarf.



It's challenging working with these fabrics because you have to make the pattern fit the fabric. Both bags turned out smaller than I planned and the designs changed along the way.

My April Journal Quilt was from another silk scarf bought on the same shopping trip. I wasn't happy with the first try so recycled it into this. It now has lots more texture (one of the themes for the month). I think some beads down the panel on the left would be good.


This weekend I also finished the Split 4 Patches for Bonnie's Orange Crush mystery. I cut far too many big triangles so now I've got lots ready for another project. Roll on clue 3.