Leeds Art Library craft session

On the first Wednesday of the month Leeds Art Library has a free craft session. I've been going for a few months now and it's always a lot of fun. The group is mostly ladies, and we bring projects to work on and share and there are instructions and ideas for more.

This week, a lovely lady called Margaret had some cute little things for us to make - a triangular thread catcher and a tiny crane.

Here's my little fabric box ... I think it would make a great gift with a few choccies inside (if any of my family are reading this you have just found out what you are getting for Christmas!).

And here's the crane. He is called Tsuru in Japanese. I am going to make more of these and put lavender inside (possibly as extra Christmas gifts!)

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A sewing tidy

Thanks to the long weekend I managed to get round to working up a sewing tidy from a kit I bought at a craft show a few weeks back. 

It came together quickly as it was all glued on to cardboard pieces - no sewing! The fabric is a piece Hayley bought me a while back and has all sorts of sewing sayings and notions on.

This can now sit nicely on my desk or the arm of the sofa to catch all my threads and rubbish. The magnet for needles will be very handy as I am always losing them!

 

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A running bag

In a moment of madness a few weeks ago I signed up for the Spartan Sprint, a 5k obstacle course event in August. A couple of friends from Buns & Roses have done it before, and despite having to jump through fire, swim through mud etc, they survived, so I figured I would join in this year.

No big deal, except I can barely run for the bus, so something had to be done. I'm on a couch-to-5k training plan that means I have to go out for a run (read: slow jog with regular walking slots) three or four times a week. It's actually going pretty well but with no proper exercise gear apart from some running trainers I was a bit stuck for what to do with my keys and BlackBerry (so I can listen to music) while out sprinting round the park.

So I made myself a little bag.

Just a main pocket for my phone and a Velcro pocket on the front for my house key with a long strap to go across my body.

If it ever stops raining I'll be off to try it out!

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Fabric shopping

I have been doing rather a lot of fabric shopping recently (sssshhh!) so my stash is now bulging rather unelegantly. Which means I must begin more projects! Oh well!

Here are some highlights.

Japanese fabrics from www.japancrafts.co.uk.

Pinks and purples from the amazing fabric shop in Scarborough.

Lots of yardage of Parisville by Tula Pink. Now out of print so took me ages to find the bits I wanted.

Washi by Rashida Coleman Hale.

More fat quarters from www.creativequilting.co.uk near Hampton Court Palace. An amazing shop, how I only bought these 13 pieces I don't know!

A collection of Heirloom by Joel Dewberry.

At the moment I only have definite plans for one of these lots, so plenty of new things to decide upon!

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Hi! My name is ...

Gemma!

At Embroiderers' Guild we are all encouraged to make a name badge so we have a better chance at remembering names! It's really great for me - I meet so many new people at WI alone I can't really cope with trying to remember any more!

Here is my badge ...



I stamped my name on to paper and traced it on to the plain calico, then satin stitched over it in black cotton.

The tiny hexagons are paper-pieced. Very fiddly and not too symmetrical, but very cute.



I'll be wearing this to WI as well - we've started giving out sticky labels there to help everyone get to know each other.

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Kindle cover

I challenged myself to make something new last week - a Kindle pouch.

It's just a bigger take on the phone pouch I made myself a while back, but needed to have a flap and some sort of fastening so the Kindle doesn't fall out.

Also, it was for a male friend, so I couldn't just go for my usual flowery fabrics.

And here it is!



Luckily I had some of this funky boy fabric with cars and bikes and boats and planes, which is great for a small feature panel. It also matched in with the chequered fabric and I went with the traditional blue and red fabrics for the main construction.



This is the back, with two panels. I pinked them round the edges and stitched on with a zig-zag stitch. There is a layer of batting and the lining is a plain calico.



A Formula 1 car on the front and the flap has a press-stud for easy opening (and also because I had no velcro).

I used measurements from a tutorial online and it actually came out a little long for the Kindle, but it does the job.

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Flirtatious fabric accessories

And more fabric projects!

Today's items use the Flirtatious Stampin' Up! fabric, which has three patterns - two in pinks and one in purple. Yum!

First up, a Suffolk puff brooch - possibly the quickest and easiest stitching project in the world!



Made from just a circle of fabric with a running stitch all around they edge, you can literally make these in 15 minutes.

They have loads of other uses as well as brooches - stick them on headbands, hair clips, or anything at all!

Also, some sort of zipped case. It's completely the wrong size for a pencil case (I didn't bother to measure or plan - I just stitched away!) but would be quite useful for makeup.



On one side is a hexagon patchwork flower.



And the other has a patchwork triangle pattern.

I may go a little quiet for a while now as I'm about to start working on Christmas presents, but I'll try to update on other things!

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Beau Chateau fabric birds

Another fabric project today!

I made these two little birdies from the Stampin' Up! Beau Chateau fabric and showed them to some of my SU family at our team training last month.





Here they are sat on my sewing kit.



They look rather inquisitive.



I even made them a nest from a witch's broomstick!

A great little project to work on of an evening and I might have to rustle up some more. I have visions of them sitting on branches as a funky mobile, or just hiding around my room.

I've used up my first pack of this fabric now. Best go order some more!

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Beau Chateau raggy bag

You know when you make something that you just absolutely love and are so proud of? This is it!

I've seen loads of these raggy bags in blogland, made using the Stampin' Up! fabric and the Scallop Square die on the Big Shot so I just had to give it a go.

It takes 19 squares of the fabric for the outside, and 19 in a plain fabric for the lining. Also, 19 squares of batting to give it a bit of extra weight.



Each square is quilted on its own, then lined up in rows to make the basic bag template.



Then simply pull it all together and stitch up the sides.



Add handles ...



And a fastening loop. I stitched a press stud on for easy opening and closing and a decorative button.

I just love my new bag! I'm using it to carry around my craft stuff (it's full of quilted hexagons at the moment).

I feel more quilting and bags coming on - the Big Shot really does make sewing projects so quick and easy.

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More fun with fabric

On Monday I spent a few hours with my SU mummy Julie playing with fabric and making some projects for her all-day training event in a couple of weeks.

I'll hold off showing you most of the things I made so as not to spoil the suprise for my fellow demos attending, but here are two mini cushions I rustled up.



This is SU faric but unfortunately not a pattern available over here (its good to have friends overseas!).

The hexagon flowers are so pretty and easy to make. I used a technique called English paper piecing. Basically, you cut out small hexagons of paper (takeaway menus are the ideal weight!) and then tack a slightly larger hexagon fabric over them. Then stitch all the hexagons together into a flower (or any shape you want) and remove the tacking stitches and take the paper out. Not as fiddly as it sounds, but it's hard to describe!

I machine stitched them on to the plain fabric I had (don't ask me what it is or where it came from!) then made that into the front of the cushion covers, with an envelope-style back.



And here they are in situ on my blanket box. I even made proper tiny cushion fillers by chopping up a big cushion pad.

On to the next project ...

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Potty for patchwork and an SU peek

Wow, I really am getting rubbish at blogging regularly! It's the end of September, only 90 days until Christmas and there just aren't enough hours in the day!

As usual, I have been working on several things at once, and card making is still playing second fiddle to sewing at the moment. I have bought so many pretty fabrics recently and my head is swimming with ideas!

But, I have made a couple of things that combine my love for sewing and Stampin' Up! What could such projects entail? Well, here you go ...



Stampin' Up! fabric! Oh yes! I am in heaven! There are five ranges in total, each containing three different patterns. Not long now until the new catty is launched and you will get to see them all, but being a demo I already got my little paws on some samples! Muhahaha.



I have been giving patchwork a go, so I made this star and stitched it on to a cushion cover. There is a name for the style of star, but I'm not yet up to speed with all the lingo!



And I couldn't not do a bag for life while I was at it. These were leftovers so I just created a geometric tower.

I have many more projects planned with the different Stampin' Up! fabrics, so keep an eye on my blog over the next few weeks! Best get on with some stitching!

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A card for a seamstress

Today I have been at the Julie's Jems all-day training with some of my lovely Stampin' Up! family.

We had lots of fun making some fab projects, and we laughed a lot as well!

We love to do swaps, and here is my card.



I used the Sew Lovely stamp set. I know I keep saying everything is my favourite, but they really are! I think my WI ladies will also like this one!

The sewing machine is punched out with the new Decorative Label punch and I also used this for the outer frame - I just chopped the shapes in half and stuck them round the outside.



Remember that old hand sewing machine I bought? Well I used that to stitch down some of the yummy Seam Binding.



And at the bottom I added a button using the Sweet Buttons Embosslit made from the Sweet Stitches DSP.

Such a cute card I think!

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Card making and sewing - two of my favourite things!

As you will probably know I am fairly handy with a needle and love to stitch and sew.

I was over the moon when the Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue was released with the beautiful Oh Sew Suite range.

There is DSP, stamps, a wheel, new buttons and an Embosslit, so I can combine my love for card making and sewing.



Here's the first card, using the Sew Lovely stamp set. I think this is so cute and right up my street!

There was a bit of masking here, where you hide off certain areas to create overlapping images, but this is not as tricky as it sounds! This allowed me to hide the reels behind the frame and create the dressing dummies of different heights.



And inside, a tape measure!



For my second sewing theme card, I used the Sweet Stitches DSP. This is so yummy and bright and can easily be the focus of the card on it's own.



I simply matted four square pieces and added a bit of fake stitching on the sentiment (which is from a US Stampin' Up! set - sorry!).

Tomorrow, I am keeping it on trend with an owl card!

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The WI and vintage finds

Mondays aren't all bad! Today has been pretty good fun so far and a lovely start to the week.

I was up at the West Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institutes this morning for the membership committee meeting. I am all for getting involved and it's great to be able to help the WI grow. As usual, I came away with several tasks, so I will be busy doing my bit!

And on the way back I called into the antique shop on Armley Town Street. I keep meaning to go in and I'm glad I finally managed to visit today.

I bought a few books ...



The two little ones are for me. I will hopefully alter them and use them in scrapping and card making projects. The motorbike one is for my good friends Hayley and Flower as a bribe to get them to help me restore this ...



Mini sewing machine! I just had to have it! It does work but needs a bit of cleaning up and some oil. I keep meaning to use real stitching on my cards and scrapbook pages but it is such a faff getting out my big proper sewing machine. So once this is up and running I have no excuse!

And to top it all off, the sun is shining! Lovely!

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Buns & Roses WI quilt

We are making a members quilt at Buns & Roses WI and as a member of the craft sub-committee I had to be among the first to complete my section.

Each member is asked to create a 20cmx20cm square that represents them. They can use any medium and let their creativity run wild!

So, here is mine. I have featured lots of little things that represent me; a motorbike, Bodd, a cherry blossom, sewing, Formula 1, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, stamping and writing.



Here's the F1 car and bass line from The Chain!



This is Bodd with his odd whiskers! He was appliqued using some felt that Hayley made.



Stampin' Up! goodies!



And the motorbike and scroll and quill.



We're having a show and tell at tonight's meeting so hopefully others will be inspired to start their squares!

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