December Update

Finally finished making the three

projects I purchased at the craft show back in October.  The angel postcard was made for the CQs Christmas swap.

HEXIES

The next milestone reached - 2,100 today!

1006 So Far

A WIP (work in progress) - these are half inch hexies using small bits from my stash, well over 1,000 different fabrics will be in it when finished.  It is a long term project - very portable in the preparation stage.  It is all hand sewn - no glue used at all!  I am joining 7 into a 'flower' and then adding these to the main piece.  Currently it measures 24 inches by 30 inches at the longest and widest points.

Scrap Bowls

At CQs evening group, I shared making these bowls - most watched and three members made one.  I have been making these bowls for years, since getting the pattern from one of my sisters.  Great to use as thread/scrap catchers beside your sewing machine - simple turn inside out to empty.  I have also made them out of Christmas fabric an used as a table decoration (filled with miniature pine cones or sweets) and a much larger one I fill with chocolates!  You can also make them for little girls to store their hair slides, ties, bows, etc - just use pretty fabric and decorate with ribbons, ricrac, buttons, beads, etc.
the two (purple and mauve) are old and in constant use.  The other three were samples I used at the class and have now finished.

Bag Workshop

I completed this Bamboo Bag in the workshop at CQs with Leesa Chandler.  We also made three small items in a half day workshop - a coin purse, tool tidy and pin/brooch cushion.  A great time was had by all with Leesa being very generous sharing her bag making skills with us.  

Catching Up

I have finished the blue quilt for my grandson for his 18th birthday.  He is a fan of wombats and I have free motion quilted one into each large square.  The star quilt is a charity quilt from a pattern I purchased from the Brisbane Linus Group.  The owl wall-hanging was made for the display case at CACA when it was Night Owls turn - lots of lovely comments about it - I pieced the background and did a different free motion quilting pattern on each piece.  The mug rugs and the small pouch were sent to my swap partner in Ohio.

Pin Pillows

I saw this recently in three quilting magazines and thought they would make OK lucky door prizes at our Show and Tell morning this week.  The other pic is of a sewing set I have also made for a LD prize.

Fat Quarter Show and Tell

For Christmas 2013 all members of CQs were given a fat quarter of various fabrics with the challenge to use it in a project and bring for show and tell morning/evening in May. It was great to see so many creative items on show - we had a grand time seeing what others made.  This is a pic of my projects...with the left over fabric.

Hyperbolic Crochet

I wanted to try hyperbolic crochet - the textile group at our centre has been doing it - lots of fun and very addictive.  These are my attempts.  I have now put wool/yarn away as I need to concentrate on sewing for our upcoming fair!

MUG BAGS, ETC

Easter is but a memory - the girls loved the chickens!   I have been busy making articles I may sell at our June fair.  My sister gave me a bag for my birthday and I couldn't help but try the pattern - I have made two, one the same size (cat fabric) as she gave me and one a mug bag size.  Two other mug bags with the UK theme fabric are already spoken for by CQ members.  My sister also shared her disappearing 4 patch bag - I tried this too, making a table runner.   The bag with the embroidered and bead embellished heart was made using pastel fabrics - not my cup of tea at all, but I was given a pack as a swap with a quilting book.

Star Quilt and Easter Chicks

The star quilt is made from a pattern I purchased from Sunshine Linus at last October's Craft Fair - this one is a charity quilt for CQs.  The Easter Chicks are a little bit of fun - thanks Ulla for the pattern - I am sure my little girls will like them, complete with chocolate egg of course, for Easter.

Stitching / Colouring / Chenilling

I have completed (?) a Christmas wall hanging - it is over 5 feet long - I may add more bits and pieces to it. When asked why am I doing Christmas in February - I replied 'It was not raining when Noah built the ark!"
My first (and maybe my last) attempt at colouring on fabric.  I had purchased a set of 12 Intense Pencils a few years ago and had not used them.  One problem I had was that with only 12 pencils, there was not enough colours and without a white or grey there was not opportunity to shade the bright colours.  I am going to make it into a cushion.
Our group is doing chenilling next week and when I cut my pieces for the workshop, I had a rectangle left over and I decided to give it a trial run.  I was happy with the result and made it into this small pouch which will go with a bag I intend to make out of my large pieces.
The bag with the treble cleft on is one I made for my grand-daughter to carry her music books in to lessons - the singing teacher wants one!

KOKESHI DOLLS AND WRIST PIN CUSHION

I completed this very cute swag of Kokeshi Dolls from the January issue of the Homespun Magazine and made myself a wrist pin cushion using a snap band I purchased from the Smiggle shop.

APPLE CORES

I made this small pouch using the project in the latest Quilters Companion using Sue Daley's technique for piecing apple core shapes.   I have used Japanese fabric scraps for the core, black homespun and another Japanese fabric for the lining.  Sew in magnetic clips from Chandler's Cottage completed the project.

FINISHED!

Have finally finished the 7 counting capes.  The numbers were sewn on with a narrow zigzag stitch - seemed to be never ending.  Now I can move on to other projects I have on the go!

LEARNING TO COUNT

I have made this counting cape as a teaching aid for my school teacher daughter - six more to go!