Travel Sewing Pouch

I finished my Embroidery Pouch from Patchwork, Please! Just in the nick of time to take it on holiday! Yay!

I used Essex Linen to finish off the front patchwork section and on the back, it's a bit thicker fabric and adds a bit of stability.  I bound it in black, thinking that if the pouch was floating around in my travel bag, the car and the caravan it might get grubby on the edges!

I copied Hadley's idea of using the Tesco pencil case instead of the 'hard to find' vinyl for one of the side pockets, I used the blue safety pin fabric as the visible under fabric which I love!

I made the needle book section with some fab aqua coloured felt, and another pencil case for the lower pocket.  I did bind the vinyl but it turned out way too skinny and barely covered the edges, so I sewed some coordinating ribbon over it instead!

I also added some elastics, with a button in the middle, so that I could attach some cotton and my scissors.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, it took some brain power in the middle there to pull it all together but I got there in the end!  And my hexie project fits inside just great!

Linking up with Link a Finish Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop, Crazy Mom Quilts

I'm back!

France was amazing! I'm sad our holiday is over for another year but we have spent some wonderful time together as a family and made some happy memories.

We took the boys to Disneyland...

It was hell on earth for me! I don't do crowds, but the boys loved it and we stayed until the bitter end of the fireworks at 11pm!

The campsite we stayed at had the most amazing swimming pool complex which kept us amused for days!

There were pedalos on the lake

And little quad bikes to race

Bungy trampolines 

I ate far too much freshly baked French bread and cheese and stopped at my favourite place in Calais...

The Calais Wine Superstore!  So I reckon I'll be back on a diet and exercise regime when the kids go back to school!

Just over a week left of the summer holidays now, and hopefully we'll be seeing Disney Planes next week!

Hope you're all having a fab summer too!

Xx

Sunday Stash - 11/8 Holiday Edition!

I had 3 very happy post days this week, those birthday purchases just keep rolling in!

First there was a lovely package of  Summersville from Lu Summers.

Then came an FMF package from Loom and Shuttle on Etsy.

And finally another FMF purchase, this time from Sew Fresh Fabrics.

My collection of Flea Market Fancy is now about as complete as I can find for the moment and it's looking mighty pretty in my cupboard there!

I've had a busy week this week;

Dress fitting with my friend - doesn't she look beautiful! And it's only the fitting!

 

And I'm going to be Matron of Honour - so that means another posh frock... !!!

Trying very hard to finish my sewing pouch from Patchwork, Please!

It's all done! This is the back, the sun was going down and the light was fading so I didn't take any other pics of the interior, but I'm really pleased to be able to take it on holiday TOMORROW!

So I've been packing today... Yay - the long awaited holiday to France starts at the crack of dawn tomorrow so I won't be seeing you for about 10 days (unless there's fabulous wifi at our campsite - which I doubt!). We're all packed and the sat nav is programmed with our first stop in France - The Calais Wine Superstore!  Gotta have your priorities right!

Linking up to Sunday Stash

See you soon xxx

:-)

Amateur Hour!

I swear the summer holidays are sapping not only my strength but my ability as well!

My next door neighbour has her first wobbly tooth at the ripe old age of eight and she asked me to make her a tooth pillow out of some scraps of owl fabric.  

How hard could it be? A little square cushion...

With a long ribbon to hang it on the corner of her bed...

And a little pocket on the front for her tooth and hopefully some money...

My mistake was trying to stitch on a tiny scrap of owl Minky! Too small and too stretchy!  Only after completion did I realise that it was only just big enough for a £1 coin, if the tooth fairy has big fingers she might not get in that little pocket to get the tooth out!!!

I showed it to mum and she deemed it perfect and fit for purpose and is sure M will love it - so that'll have to be good enough for me this time around as I have no more owl fabric left!

Onto the Patchwork, Please! Embroidery Pouch...  I can't tell you how many times I have had Mr Seam Ripper out on this!  Check out those uneven seam allowances!

I'm telling myself that the pattern calls for wonky stars!

The chances of this being finished by Sunday night when we go on holiday are so slim considering the washing and packing I have to do...

I hope everyone else has had some slightly more productive sewing time than me!

Linking up to Needle & Thread Thursday, Thursday Threads, Really Random Thursday, Link a Finish Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, Crazy Mom Quilts

Sunday Stash 4/8

It has been a very productive week from a stash building point of view!

Monday was a very happy post day with the arrival of some of my Flea Market Fancy purchases.  This bundle came on sale from Patch Fabrics.

Later in the week this lovely bundle of Sketch, Essex Linen and a Comma mini charm pack arrived from Simply Solids

I'm going to make hexies with the mini charm pack.

A trip to Ikea yielded some storage boxes, lint roller, a fab 100% cotton alphabet duvet cover and a hanging rail... Now to persuade him indoors to put it up on the freshly decorated sewing room wall!

And finally, from the car boot sale this morning, another fab Ikea duvet cover, this one is king size with 4 pillowcases all for £3!  And some lovely bright cottons from a lady who was destashing.

I have spent all my birthday money so hopefully I'll be getting a few more packages next week!

If anyone would like to take a snap or two of their fabric scrap storage to link up or if you'd like to comment on my post HERE, I'd be grateful for any advice on the subject!

Linking up with Sunday Stash @ What the Bobbin

And for Val's Sunday Organising Linky, here's a look at my fat quarter storage.  The left hand box has FQ's stored in fabric lines; Little Apples, Field Study, Backyard Baby, Pezzy Prints and some grey and yellow fabrics pulled for a quilt I've had on my mind for a while.

The right hand box is more of a stash box and has started to be arranged by colour, but it's not quite there yet!  The upright box on the lower shelf holds my Tufted Tweets, my sewing themed prints, my Kokka type prints and some more random FQ's.
 

I love these pop up storage boxes from Ikea, whatever won't fit in my sewing cupboard will probably end up in my bedroom drawers!

So there you have it, not an extensive stash but it is mine! :o)

Fabric Scrap Storage Linky Page

Fabric Scrap Storage

Having recently moved into my new sewing room - just saying that still makes me smile! - everything is quite tidy.

But the way I store and organise my scraps needs some consideration and attention!

I haven't been sewing and quilting for long, just a couple of years and most of the quilts I have made so far have been using a line of fabrics by one designer.  There were a couple of Central Park by Kate Spain, a Picnic Fairgrounds by Denyse Schmidt, a Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey... And so all my scraps are stored in zip lok baggies by their fabric line, not by size or colour.

I have some scraps in a small pile, some flannel strips in a bag (that I won), and a small lidded plastic crate for selvedges.

And then I have the really small scraps in empty tennis ball tubes by colour.  These I'm saving up for a bottled rainbows quilt one day!

But what constitutes a scrap? How small is small enough to throw away? I am very frugal and seem to keep pretty much everything!  

I'd really love to hear how you organise and store your fabric scraps.  I found a linky party on the subject over at Val's Quilting Studio but it's just about to close, so I'll open a linky of my own and you can all share with me here! I'll leave it open for a week to give you some time to snap a few pics.
  

Alternatively if you are on Instagram and would like to join in there please tag me in your pictures @quiltycreations  #fabricscrapstorage

Looking forward to seeing your scrappy pics!
:o)

July Round Up

Time for the July round up and Fresh Sewing Day already!?!

Blimey... time flies!

 

The heat of the long awaited British Summer is reflected in the fact that my July mosaic is full of small makes and not big quilts.

 

 

I started July with my tutorial for Baby Minky Ribbon Blankies being featured as part of the 2013 Finish Along over at She Can Quilt.

 

I cut my teeth on zippers with a couple of easy peasy pouches.

 

I made a little coaster with the scraps from my old potholder, now scissor holder.

 

I managed the Teabag Pouch from the Zakka 2.0 Sewalong from Patchwork, Please!

 

And then there was my lovely mini quilt.

 

In the bottom right hand corner of the mosaic there is a little preview of the beginnings of my Embroidery Pouch, also from Patchwork, Please!  I haven't blogged about this yet.

 

I hosted my first linky party in July with the Something Old Something New Challenge and it was great fun seeing what everyone linked up and arranging the giveaway!

 

And of course I have been plugging away at the hexies!  They've been to Hayling Island camping, junior roller disco, football camp...  All the hexies are made and half the table runner is sewn together now! 

 

 

I'm loving this portable little project so much that I bought a mini charm pack of Comma to take on holiday with me.  The charms are 2.5" square, so I think I'll need a 1" hexy? Maybe 1.25"?... Has anyone made a hexy project using mini charm squares?  Can anyone point me in the direction of some printable hexy templates?

 

My birthday was in there somewhere and with birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, there has been lots of fabric stashing going on!  During August I'm planning the UK Fabric Stashers Blog Hop where we will be looking at what we are buying for our stashes and from where - highlighting some great UK fabric stores along the way.  So if you would like to flash your stash, promote your LQS, or if you are a UK based fabric shop and would like sponsor a giveaway during the hop, please get in touch!