There is a thunder storm and heavy rain outdoors today, so a good opportunity to look back over my achievements so far this year. So, in no particular order, I have made several birthday presents - a table runner, purse and 2 bags.
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| AB's table runner - mauve stripes with cream background |
This runner was made using a Creative Grids template
Scrap Crazy 6 inch, this is the third one I have made. I particularly like using striped fabrics to make these (see posts from June 2016 and November 2017). I have also used this set to make a pair of table mats of my own design and one of the patterns to make a table runner (see post from October 2017).
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| HW zippy fish purse |
This little purse is a pattern from the
Modern Quilt group, it is by Jackie Norris and fun to make.
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| HT jellyroll bag |
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| Knitting bag for V |
The knitting bag is for HT's daughter. Apparently her knitting needles stuck out the end of the one she was using, a smaller bag I had made for her mum previously. She liked this one and asked for a purse to match, unfortunately, I have no more gecko fabric, otherwise I would have obliged.
HT belongs to Shirley Quilters. They had a project making small quilts from a girls dress block 16 inches square. She wanted to make a quilt for her grand-daughter using a smaller version of the block. I set about drafting a smaller version, made a block to see if it worked, nine blocks later, I am on the way to making a Linus dress quilt myself. Yes, they are a bit addictive.
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| 10 inch dress blocks |
I ran two workshops for my quilting group this year. One to make a circular zipped box and the other on fabric bowls. The bowl patterns are based on those from Fast, Fun and Easy Fabric Bowls by Linda Johansen. I have made several over the years I have had this book. The same author has written books on making fabric boxes and vases. All of the books are excellent.
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| Bowl from 8 inch hexagon |
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| Bowl from a 10 inch hexagon |
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| Bowl from a 10 inch circle |
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Bowl from 14 inch circle
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I also made a bowl from a kit I had been given as a present. It is a Glitzy Bowl by Images of Egypt. It is beautiful and was fun to make.
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| Glitzy bowl |
I made a quilt for my brother-in -law and his wife. I had discussed it with my sister-in-law last year, but the fabric costs were off-putting. As they both had OH NO! birthdays this year, I thought I would make it as a present. I was pleased with the result, as I had adapted a design to match the headboard in their caravan. However, they like it so much, they brought it back home to use.
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| N and C's quilt |
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| Cable quilting detail |
I have been crocheting blankets and some amiguri bits from a book I was given as a present.
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| Linus ripple blanket |
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| Amiguri crochet fiddly but fun - 5p coin for scale |
I have also made a couple of quilts for Project Linus, one from a Modern Quilt Group tutorial called Interlocking crosses. It was an exercise in using a design board. The other came from
Missouri Quilt Company and is called Spring Dresden's, it has a very short video on how to make a block using tumbler and Dresden plate templates. I made the block a little bigger and added some stylised flowers, as I thought the fabrics I used a bit dull.
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| 24 inch square Interlocking crosses |
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| Spring Dresden's quilt |
I have been asked to give a Christmas themed workshop to a WI group in November, so am currently working on some samples. I have bought some fabric to do some dressmaking. I managed to make one garment last year, it was so successful I want to make another. I have also seen some more patterns I would like to attempt. Just need to find the time. I still seem to have loads of stuff to finish off. I made a list four years ago when I retired from work, only managed to finish one item so far, and that was not even on the list.
