wednesday catch up

The giveaway post is here and theres' still a few days left to enter so why not leave a comment and you never know it could be you!

It's Wednesday again already! How did that happen? It must be a sign of old age but really the weeks are flying past. I'm rather terrified by the sight of Christmas (yes I did say it) stock appearing in the shops aaargh! I know people who have already started their Christmas shopping - oh no that's twice I've said it now! I refuse to do anything about it until at least Halloween is past but then that's probably why I'm always burning the midnight oil so close to the 25th (trying not to say it again). I shouldn't think it'll be any different this year but you never know.

Anyway after that sidetracked paragraph and onto some sewing. Well finally my cosmo cushion cover is finished ya ho! It seems to have taken an inordinate amount of time really but I guess I've learned quite a few things while making it and I am rather pleased with it.

I know a disappearing 9 patch isn't exactly rocket science but it was new to me and I will be using it again. I also learned to do tiny stitches at the beginning and end of quilting rows so that you don't have a zillion threads to tie off.  I used cotton curtain lining fabric on the back of the quilting sandwich and also to line the backing fabric. I'd do this again as it gives the cover a nice substantial feel to it and makes sure there's no feathers poking through which is good since I'll be sitting on this one everyday while at the sewing machine.

I've also now fitted my first concealed zipper yay! I won't say that I got it right first time as I didn't. My hubbie tried to help but soon realised that he'd be better off making a cup of tea instead as I ranted at my own ineptitude. It turns out that all I'd done wrong was to not flatten the coil of the zip enough as it was going through the zipper foot and when I corrected this it went in no problem at all.

So what else is going on ? Well I've only got the lining to sew in on my Keyka Lou cross body bag, which is good right? It is but I'm totally underwhelmed by it :( It looks really boring! The inside look great but the outside is a bit meh! Now this has nothing at all to do with the pattern, it's great as all Michelle's patterns are, no it's my reserved choice of outer fabrics that's the issue. I had thought of adding a fabric flower perhaps but I'm not sure that's really me or I have a cute button or two I could add. We'll see what happens, I'm sure something will come to me soon I hope.

There's no progress on any other projects so far this week but I do have several posts to write about some birthday purchases oh! and my 241 tote which I've not shown you and also I've still not blogged about the fabric swap I was in last month.

So I hope you're having a productive sewing week  and that I've not bored you to death with my ramblings today. I'd like to finish by saying "hi there and welcome" to new followers and thank you to all followers new and old for entering the birthday giveaway!

bye for now

wip wednesday

I've made some progress on my Cosmo Cricket disappearing 9 patch block. It's waiting to be quilted and then finally turned in a cushion cover. I still haven't decided what kind of closure to put on it. I could do my 'go-to' zipper style or I could be brave and try a concealed zipper. I found this great looking tutorial  from Jess at Craftiness is not an Option for a concealed zipper (check out the gorgeous Loulouthi fabric - big on my fabric hit list) so I might just give it a go.

Also on may wip list as I mentioned yesterday is a quilt for my eldest son. It's really tricky finding fabrics for a 14 year old! He's not keen on pattern much so it has to be mainly solids. Raiding my stash I found the transistor scrap of Ruby Star Rising that I won from Sarah at Pings and Needles and boom suddenly I knew what to make.

   

I added a few of the oakshott cottons, some charcoal and beige organic crossweave fabric based on the colours in the Ruby Star fabric. I don't have enough fabric to make blocks really and I don't think that's what he'd like anyway so I'm going to make a quilt with two large areas of plain fabric divided by a strip of random shapes and sizes. If you hadn't guessed I'll be making it up as I go along which I'm hoping will be fun ;)

Completed in the last week are the AMH zipper pouch (new make-up bag for me) plus a new pencil case for Jamie. That's not a great deal really but considering my output last month I'm quite happy. The Cloud 9 cushion cover is still ongoing, well hasn't been touched for some time actually and the 241 Tote will be finished tonight after being neglected last week. The cross-the body bag is still waiting to be sewn, hopefully by next week that one will be completed too.

So that's my first WIP Wednesday. I'm hoping that I'll check back against this over the next week and that I'll stay on track with these projects and not get diverted by other goodies that I see online. There are lots of gorgeous quilty makes on show over at Freshly Pieced including this one from Megan at Mia Dolce which I'm fancying trying for my daughters quilt request - oh no another potential wip aaargh! ETA ( ok I realise that this link was from last weeks WIP Wednesday duh! but I still really like it , think I need a cuppa).

Bye for now

mojo returns

Well it's been a while hasn't it?  There has been a lot going on here and following the 'if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all' route I haven't felt like blogging. There's been family health problems and hospital visits (all ok now don't worry) plus impending unemployment once again for hubbie dearest so I've been in a grump really. Don't get me wrong there's been good things happening too like birthdays (how did they end up being 14 and 11 already arrgh!) and visits to the seaside and also a fabulous fabric giveaway win and swap.

I also took a break from sewing due to.... yup tennis elbow/RSI again! Well I say 'again' but in truth it never goes away, I just manage to ignore it better at some times than others. However I'm now fed up of waiting for the nagging pain/tension/tingling to go away I have put my wrist splints on and am back to it.

So that's that out of the way, how are you all? The schools are back here and my youngest is now in nursery for 2.5hrs a day so I have some much appreciated time on my hands. It's a real treat to have some peace and quiet, those of you with kids will understand this I'm sure. I love them to pieces but sometimes a little peace and space to think is definitely required.

cosmo 9 patch 

Anyway what am I up to? Well today I decided to try out making a disappearing 9 patch block. It attracted me for many reasons, quick, easy and a great way to use a charm pack. I bought this charm pack from an Jeanette of Platypus Quilting on Etsy a while back, it's a mixture of of Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and Tailor Made. To learn how to do this block I used this video tute and it worked out great. There's another tute on there that I really fancy too, it's here if you want a look.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with this block, I might make some more or I might make a cushion for my sewing chair. Infact yes I think I'll sew some more blocks and make a cushion and a new pincushion too.

Other projects on the go include an almost finished bag using the Noodlehead 241 tote pattern and a cut out but not sewn Keyka Lou Cross-Body Bag. I'm also making a Cloud 9 Free as a Bird cushion plus a zipper pouch using the left over AMH charms from my attempt at hexagon making. It turns out hexagons and me don't go, well it's not so much the hexagons as the hand sewing that's the problem. Plus I've still to finish my Big Fat Dresden from the Lily's Quilts QAL from ages ago.

So there's plenty to be going on with just now and I really must dash but not before saying saying thank you to you all for sticking with Sew Quine Stitches despite the lack of posts.

Bye for now