Tears

My Mum passed away suddenly last week.  I am not coping real well, so will be back soon.

Mum

is the one who has shown us the way,

who's nurtured and guided us day after day...

Mum

is the one who is there by our side

with loving support and a heart full of pride...

Mum

is the one who forever will be

so needed and loved by her whole family.

Love you Mum

Judy

Busy weeks

Sorry, no craft to show, but I have been busy in other areas.
Very successful trade table last weekend at Barellan, thank you.
My Mum now has carpet in the bedrooms, a working kitchen & bathroom, however she has since fallen ill.  Hopefully it is only a passing virus and a couple of days in bed, will be the cure?

I was reading through posie patchwork blog about charity quilts and laundry bags for our soldiers, and thought "what a great idea"!  If you are interested check out this link

Until next time
Judy

Tradesmen!!!

The best laid plans, come undone.  We had a early morning visit from the Carpet Laying Company to say that their carpet layer was sick, therefore was unable to start laying the carpets today.  Not sure when he will be back on deck!

Then, we had news that the kitchen benchtops had not yet arrived in town, and that the kitchen sink was still weeks away... now hopefully my readers have determined that I am a lady, but let me tell you, a few curse words were uttered when I heard this.

This is the disadvantage of living in a small country town, where there are no big shops that stock general building or household supplies.  I was peeved, imagine how my Mum feels when it is at least another week before she can use the kitchen!

Lets hope the carpet layer has not got anything serious wrong with him, and that he is better tomorrow, PLEASE?

I think I need to go and beat a rug or something to release my aggression/anger.

Hopefully better news tomorrow

Judy

Updates (or not)

You may have noticed that I have fallen off of the edge of the blogosphere for the past week and I cannot see it getting any better this week.  Life has been crazy, the repairs at my Mum’s house, is dragging out, although I am pleased to say that they now have a bathroom after being without for over 3 weeks.  Waiting on kitchen bench tops, and fingers crossed the carpet will be laid in the bedrooms tomorrow.  Goodbye, cold, drafty  floorboards. 

As you can imagine, I have been cooking and providing transport and bathroom services while all this is going on.  To say my Mum is looking forward to having her house to herself again is an understatement.

This weekend, I have a trade table with my buttons and sewing notions at the Barellan Quilt Exhibition.  This is being held in the Barellan Hall, so I hope to see some of my local readers there.  I have two shipments of NEW buttons on their way from the USA, but my luck, they will not arrive in time for this weekend.  Not a problem really, as I have about another 1,000 packs to take!

Hope you are having more luck with your craft than I am at the moment.  I will catch up soon.

Judy

New Tissue Cover and Reasons

Well, I found out the reason I was so flat yesterday, I woke this morning with a slight head cold ... bleary eyes and sniffles.  Hope I have caught it before it gets worse!

I made a new tissue cover today, still a work in progress as I think the measurements may need to change slightly.  Not sure if it is practical, but looks OK.

I do not like having to take tissues out of their packaging to insert into this cover.  Health reasons, handling the tissues that someone is going to use!

Opens either end

Closes by pulling buttons through centre opening.

I also finished off more pink ribbon card holder key rings for the fundraising dinner. I love how these are turning out.

I still have the breast cancer drain bags, japanese knot bag and lined travel bag to complete.  It is always good to have things lined up ready to sew, right?

Happy sewing

Judy

Not Motivated

Do you ever have one of those days, everything is ready for you to "craft" but you are not in the mood.  The housework is done, a big batch of chicken soup bubbling in the slow cooker, a dull overcast day all pointing to available time in the craft studio, however I am "flat"!

I have pink ribbon card holder key rings, all cut out ready to sew

Fabric cut out ready for a lined travel bag

While I had the patchwork themed fabric out, I also cut out another Japanese Knot Bag and Breast Cancer Drain bag.

Everything is cut out, ready, I just need to sit at the sewing machine!  Oh well, maybe after lunch, I will find my mojo and get started

During the week I did get some more soap sweaters finished.  My sister found some Panda Feltable Wool at Spotlight and send half a dozen balls to me ... the wool is nice and soft and Australian! Ideal for the soap sweaters.

What gets you motivated?  Do you ever want to craft but are just "not in the mood"?  (Like Me)

Judy

Japanese Knot Bag

This little bag has intrigued me for awhile now.

 I first saw it posted here.  I left a comment on this blog that I would love a tutorial to make the bag.  FarahLin kindly sent me the name of the magazine that had the pattern, however I was unable to purchase it in Australia.  Then, bloggers being the kindhearted people that they are, she kindly scanned the pattern and emailed it to me ... THANK YOU FarahLin

I had a little bit of difficulty with the pattern instructions, and had to use my unpick, but once the pattern was deciphered, it was very easy to put together.

It is quite roomy inside, and the idea is to pull the larger handle through the smaller handle to close it.

I think they will make great gifts, and I want to make one in Christmas Fabric (as a gift bag) and another in "elegant" fabrics for evening.  They are large enough to pop your wallet, mobile phone, keys etc in, and the good part is that you can pop them in the washing machine to clean.  The pattern was available in  three different sizes, and this is the smallest size.

I really needed some-one to model this bag, so you could see how cute it really is ... it does not look quite the same just sitting on display.  I may be able to find a model for my next one (or two)

Hope you have had a crafting day

Judy

Getting Ready

I have not had the opportunity to get into the craft studio much this week, but with a long weekend in Australia, I managed to sneak a few hours yesterday.

I got started on my "Pink Ribbon" thank you gifts - I need to make approx. 50 items, and I finished 20 card holder key rings yesterday.  Great sense of achievement.

I still have another two different pink ribbon fabrics, so will be cutting more out soon.

While I was going, I made a couple in "coffee" fabric.  One for myself (with a emery board cover) and one as a gift.  I am finding that these have become my "go to" quick handmade gift.

I must be getting organised, not only am I getting the Pink Ribbon gifts ready (due October) but I have started looking at Christmas patterns, scary!

Judy

iPad Pillow

Yes, I made time to make this iPad pillow today.  I have been wanting to make something similar for a long time, so that I can rest my iPad on something while I read, and browse the web.

However, I was disappointed with the end result.  It seemed too "chunky".  Not sure of the right word to use, but it was not what I imagined.  It does seem to do the job, but then I think a under filled cushion would have worked also.  It may have even been the fabric choice, I am not sure?

Photo showing the front without the iPad.

Now the side view

This may be one of those projects that you pull apart and start again.  I followed the instructions from Janet At All Trades.  It had a few gaps in the instructions, but if you can sew, you can work it out.  Willing to offer advice to anyone that has difficulty with this project. 

I think I will stick with knitting dishcloths and soap sweaters for a while now.  I received my wool and cotton from Bendigo Woolen Mills and want to start using them.

Judy

Fabric Origami Bag

Last night I had a chance to whip up the Fabric Origami Bag that has been on my list of things to make.

This bag has a number of little pockets in the front that you can fill with goodies.

I followed the tutorial from here.  I found the site slow to load due to the number of photos in the tutorial, however it was very easy to follow. I think the only omission I found was that it did not mention the fact that you must leave a gap to turn the fabric right side out in the first step.

See how this flap lifts up, you could hide a special  gift in here?

It is quite roomy in the interior

Filled with some handmade items,  tissue cover, emery board cover & card holder keyring

Maybe fill it with sewing items for a gift ... See that Folded Christmas Tree pattern, another on my list of many things to make!

This bag can be made any size, it just depends on the size of your fabric.

I hope to be able to find time over the weekend, to make the iPad pillow, although the Flood Damage repairs have started at my Mothers house, so I have taken over the cooking duties as well as providing bathroom access.  Her entire kitchen & bathroom have been gutted, walls, floors removed.  I cannot convince her to move in with me for the duration, and for a lady of her age she is handling the disruption very well.  They estimate two weeks to have the bathroom back in use, ouch!

Enjoy your weekend

Judy

Australia Wide Two

A travelling exhibition which showcases art quilt making in Australia is on display at a neighbouring town.  I have a month to ensure that I go across and see it.  An opportunity not to be missed.

Judy

Four Finishes

I finished off four Breast Cancer Drain Bags today, therefore have my promised quota of six ready to be picked up in June.  I will need to make some more, so that I can get in front.

The following two bags were made with the same fabric, just cut differently.

These next two were made from left-over strips of fabric - I love the scrappy look of them

As always, I made a matching little tissue pouch to pop inside each bag. 

Next on the list of things I want to make, is an iPad pillow.  Then I saw a great tutorial for a fabric origami bag.  There are never enough hours in the day / week in which to sew or craft.

I just received a parcel from Amy Bradley Designs, new patterns to be added to the store. 

Two new pattern releases:

Animal Whimsy Quilt Pattern - I love this one, many uses for these cute critters

Little Cowboy, Little Cowgirl Quilt Pattern

Enjoy your day

Judy

Tiny Teddy Cars

I had children visit this afternoon and instead of spending time in the craft studio we spent time in the kitchen. They each assembled their own tiny teddy cars. 

I melted the chocolate and did any cutting required, but the rest was up to them.

The body of the car was made from a treat size milky way chocolate, smarties for the wheels, and one smarty cut in half for the steering wheel.  Tiny Teddy biscuit was cut at tummy level for the driver.  Melted chocolate was used to hold everything together.

Very cute, a little messy, but lots of fun.

All lined up ready to go.  How "grumpy" does this first teddy look?

We also made wriggly snakes in jelly, but I forgot to take a photo ... make jelly as per directions, wait about 15-20 minutes until it has cooled a little bit, and then put a Allen's Snakes Alive lolly in.  Have the head hanging over the side of the cup.  We used disposable plastic cups for the jelly.

All good fun... I did get started on piecing some scraps together for Breast Cancer Bags this morning.  I had a lot of strips of fabric donated, so now putting them to good use.

Hope you are having a crafty weekend

Judy

One Finished

I could not help myself, I had to knit up one dishcloth last night.  I used the bamboo and cotton combination yarn.  I must say, that I certainly will not be stopping at only this one.

I think the colours in this yarn are so fresh looking!

They look and feel soft and luxurious.

In my last post, I mentioned how I was having trouble sourcing the 100% wool and cotton yarn, well my niece pointed be in the direction of Bendigo Woollen Mills online store. I visited their site today, and the selection was fantastic.  They also sell huge 200g balls of wool for nearly the same price I paid for a 50g ball.  Great saving when you are making gifts.  I am not sure on the postage costs, as my order ended up having free shipping which was another bonus.  Check them out if you love to knit or crochet, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Here is the link to the pattern for the dishcloth I made, which was given to me by my niece

http://www.groupepp.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html

No knitting tonight, I should be in the craft studio packing up orders ready for posting tomorrow.

From the autumn/winter knitting fanatic

Judy

Wool and Cotton

I had to make a trip to Griffith today to visit the dentist, so I took the opportunity to stock up on some wool and cotton.

I needed 100% wool to make the soap sweaters, and I could not find any in town and most of my own stash was an acrylic blend.

Won't these make lovely soap sweaters?  Lincraft brand, however all 100% wool.

My next knitting venture is to make some dishcloths.  My niece, Donna, had made some for my mother as a gift, and after using one, I was hooked.  So she kindly sent me the pattern, and I will be trying them in the next few days.

These are the cottons I purchased.  The ones in the front are 100% cotton, but two in the back, on the left hand side are a blend of bamboo and cotton.  I think they will be suitable.  I love the feel and texture of them, nice and silky.  Worth a try.

It is always an expensive venture when we travel out of town, as our small town only has one fabric shop and no craft shop.  So when the opportunity arises I always stock up.  Griffith is approx 65 kilometres away, but our nearest Spotlight is 120 kilometres away, so as you can imagine sometimes it is a case of using what is available.  This is why I have begun to stock general craft supplies on my website, it is always available (for me)!

Stay tuned to see the finished dishcloths

Judy

Knitting afternoon

I spend yesterday afternoon with my Mum, sitting in front of a wood fire, chatting.  I took along my knitting bag, and found the time to make two knitted sweater soap covers.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and wanted to try it.  It incorporates the idea of having a wash cloth and soap all in one.  You must use 100% wool, so that the wool will shrink and felt around the soap.  Wool, is naturally anti-bacterial, so the soaps should not get "yucky" in the bathroom.

The brown one on the left has a much squarer soap inserted than the lumpy Dove soap in the pink cover.  The squarer the better, I think.  I am going to try the pink one to see how it works in the bathroom. 

Naked, without their card-stock sleeve.

I also knitted some coathanger covers, after a very BIG hint from my mother that she would love some more. 

The thing I like about these covers is that there is no need to pad the coat hanger.  I use "cheap" feathers wool from the discount store.  Cast on 70 stitches, and knit 18 rows in stocking stitch (1 row, knit, 1 row purl).. Cast off.  Leave a long tail of wool, to enable you to sew it on the wooden coathanger.

That is all there is to it... you do not even have to have neat and tidy stitches when sewing it on the hanger as the fluffiness of the wool, hides any imperfections.

One ball of wool, makes two covers... or very close.

Bundle a couple of covered hangers together for a lovely gift.

Hope you have enjoyed your weekend

Judy 

Fabric Corner Bookmarks

Using just small scraps of fabric 2-1/2" x 5" you can make some fabric corner bookmarks.

These would make great gifts for the readers in your life, or for your school fete.

• I used left over charm squares, cut in 2 to make my bookmarks.
• Iron a thin piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric you wish to have on the front. 
• With wrong sides together, sew a scant 1/8" seam all around leaving an opening for turning. 
• Turn to right side, and push out the corners. 
• Fold in opening, iron, and then top stitch all around.
• Fold in half (two short ends together) and then sew again on your top stitching down one side only ... iron flat with the seam at the back.  This forms the triangle as you can see above.

This was a quick craft and I did not take any photos of the process along the way, sorry.

Till next time

Judy