End of Term

Keep tuned over the next few days to see some lovely end of term photos.The ladies in my classes have been very busy over the last few months working away on their projects and this is some of their work.  They are all taking a well deserved break now and we will meet up again at end of January for the Spring Term.

Here we are looking at some embroidered needlebooks, pin cushions and zippered pouches.

"Petal Pouch"

Here are some more Christmas presents in the making!  These little pouches are so versatile, they can be made in any size, large, medium or small and you can fill them with lots of lovely goodies! I filled some of the smaller ones with chocolate Santas, bells and baubles and they will be finding their way into Christmas stockings while the rest are filled with chocolate truffles and will be given as "Thank You" gifts. 

The larger petal pouches can be filled with soaps, perfumes, jewellery anything really but I cannot say what are inside these yet as that would ruin the surprise!  

How are your Christmas makes coming along? 

Parisians and Aliens

Great fun around here last weekend as  my daughter and I spent some time together making cushions and mobile phone charms.  She had chosen the fabric (Parisian themed) the last time I visited her when we spent the afternoon in  "Vibes and Scribes"  (book shop and  arts & crafts shop, Cork city) just pottering about purchasing books, jig saws, stationary and fabric. This was her first attempt at making cushions and she was thrilled with them.  I have to say they do look pretty smart and I can't wait to see them on her couch when she "what's apps" me the photos during the week. Way to go Bec, well done!

As always around the beginning of November it's usually time to start thinking about crafty/stitching presents for Christmas and these "work in progress" cushions are in preparation for that!  Some free motion stitching, little aliens flying about in their space ships!! I just need to add some buttons to the spaceships and then they are finished.

And last, but not least, after a visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show last weekend we came home with the makings of some mobile phone/key chain charms. The lady in the Southhampton Bead shop very kindly demonstrated how to make them and, though it only took her a few minutes, it took us considerably longer but here we are a couple of hours later and don't they look cute?  Lots of ideas mulling around in my head for these, stay tuned!!

How are your crafty projects going?  Happy sewing!

Bike Cushions and Class Makes

These are two cushions I made for a friend of mine who moved into a new house recently. She loves to cycle and organise tours for her cycling friends when she gets the time.  From the sound of it, it is the kind of cycling you would love to do yourself, nice and easy, soaking up the sunshine, taking in the scenery kind of cycling and still covering ground.  Anyhow when I saw this fabric I just knew it was meant for her so I bought it immediately.  Here are some photos of the cushions being tested for trimmings.

The other photos are of some of the lovely work done at one particular class last term, all beginners, using left over fabrics they found at home, shared amongst each other and blended with calico. I really enjoyed working with these ladies, it was a fun class.  Here you will see some table mats, tissue covers, bags, tea cozies, pin cushions and zippy pouches.

We  are enjoying a bit of an "Indian Summer" here this weekend, hope you are getting out in the sunshine!

Some more summer makes!

 The first three photos are of two linen mug rugs made as a house warming gift for two very lovely ladies!  The nine patch centre is made from scraps left over from a quilt, which is not quite completed yet but, under way as we speak! The ribbons were bought in Dunnes Stores along with the mugs to match and girls loved them!

 The next three photos show a gift (inspired by Sew Jenaissance) made for a very gorgeous little family member who celebrated her First Holy Communion this summer. She wore a sleeveless long white brocade cheongsam (a one piece asian dress with mandarin collar) edged in gold delicate piping and white silk trousers with a little bag to match, all made by yours truly, and she looked gorgeous with her hair all curled and wearing a white hairband. It was indeed a happy day for her, surrounded by family members and lots and lots of friends. 

 And last but not least these three photos are of a zippy pouch, again made from scraps (more about that project next week). I literally had to use cut offs for this little project and didn't it work out well.  When I was about to throw what was left of the scraps in the bin I scraped enough together to make another zippy pouch so now I have  two.  This one holds scissors, pens, rulers and things  when I go to class.  I love when I manage to use every last bit of fabric purchased, just imagine, if I managed to do that all the time I wouldn't have reams and reams of fabric everywhere "tossing up the house". 

I hope you are keeping busy with your crafts and making lots of lovely things too. 

(Sorry about the wonky images, I can't manage to get them straight up)

Bye for now!

"Roses from the Heart" Memorial Bonnets

Wow, 1st September today! Where have the last three months gone to?  We had the most glorious and brilliant summer weather in Ireland this year, well deserved, long overdue and much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed your summer wherever you are and that you have lots of lovely crafty things planned to do during the winter. My Autumn round of classes started early, in mid August, and hopefully the evening classes will be starting end of Sept depending on enrollments etc. so I hope to catch up with some of you then.

So what have I been doing all summer? Well, let me show you the last project I completed.  My good friend has rounded up all her "stitching fairies" again (see last paragraph of post dated Sun 19th May 2012) to help make 150 bonnets as part of the "Roses from the Heart" memorial tribute. Twenty bonnets, all sewn up, embroidered with name and shamrock, embellished with lace and finished off with coloured ribbon. These were made to commemorate the Irish women who sailed on "The Neva" in Jan 1835 from Cobh, on transportation to Australia for penal servitude and who perished (224 lost souls) when the ship hit a reef not far from the coast the following May. For more information see http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/worst-shipwreck-you-ve-never-heard-of-1.1373988

As I was making my way through the list I noticed one of the names was the same as my mother's maiden name, now isn't that just  such a coincidence.  Of all the ships (and there were hundreds) and then, of all the women on that particular ship to end up with that name!  That bonnet was meant for me wasn't it?

Back again soon!

International Quilt Festival of Ireland 2013

The International Quilt Festival of Ireland 2013 is happening this weekend in NUI Campus Galway, and it is well worth a visit just to see some of the spectacular quilts on exhibit there.  The journey from Dublin to Galway was such a pleasure as we stayed off the motorway and the countryside looked magnificent under glorious sunshine and blue skies.  It was an ideal venue with the quilts spread out in different buildings all over the campus which also looked well in the sunshine.  These were some of the quilts that caught my eye:

The first quilt is designed by Brian Haggard, I love his quilts and have his book so I was delighted to see this close up, and the second two are also made by men from "The Mantality of a Quilter" exhibition.

This was my favourite of all the quilts, I had seen it before and I was thrilled to get another opportunity to see it again. 

The rest are just a tiny flavour of some of the quilts that are on display.

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather we are having here at the moment!