Thursday 30 September 2021

An overdue THANKYOU to Jude post

 This post is well overdue. 

Back in July Jude http://newsfromjude.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-bloganniversary.html had a special bloganniversary post and competition. She asked for how many posts she had done. What she didn’t realise was that on her side bar it tells you the totals each month. So you could quickly add them up.

Anyway Jude discovered this early on but still decided to send Di and I a gift to say thanks for joining in. This is what I received.

How special is this case. It’s a great size for any special work to be held


It was heavy so what’s inside……. It is jam packed with…….

Fabric, precautions 2.5” squares, thread, photo printing paper, her special pink pen, fat 1/4 bundle, jelly roll pack, so much fabric, bear pattern and a William Morris pattern. This will take a while to use up.

Thank you is just not enough for your generosity and kindness.
Keep up with blogging. It is a way of us staying together and sharing our craft.

Thank you Jude….

Have a look at what Jude has for sale.

I might have to start stitching those squares together. This is one design I like






Thursday 23 September 2021

Fabric postcards.

 I have had a few questions and interest about how I make my postcards.

Hope this helps a little.


I start by cutting a piece of bag wadding 6.5” * 4.5” (this will be trimmed later) to 6*4”

I design my picture and assemble by doing QAYG method.

For the ship one I used a solid background. But had fun making the waves.

I made thin bias strips for the waves.

 I cut an inch strip of fabric, sew wrong sides together, insert the bias bar, twist so the seam is underneath, iron with a hot iron, trim the excess seam allowance back so it is hidden under the bias and it’s now ready to place on your card or sew wherever you want…..

Working out where to place the waves.

I had fun placing the waves before I did a stay stitch around the edges. I haven’t stitched them down anywhere else. 


I had a scrapbooking stamp in the draw so I stamped on to calico


I attached my button before adding the backing. Spray basted the back of the card, attached the calico, trimmed to 4*6” … be careful where you cutting. As you can see I have chopped of part of my ship to get a better balance overall.  Chose a fancy satin stitch on my sewing machine.



All ready to write a message and post. I sealed them in a plastic sleeve (for cards) and they mailed with no trouble.


Sunday 19 September 2021

More mail.. QATW & teabag strings & some knitting

 I received an envelope one day from someone I don’t know. It turns out that Brenda had seen my posts about knitting with teabag strings and after a few emails sent me some. I was very happy with them. 



I have rolled them on to an icy pole stick that someone had given me with some already on there. 
But I still have a few to tie and roll up.
These will make another lovely scarf for a gift.
The kindness of fellow crafters gives me a smile and makes me feel good.
Thank you Brenda.

XMAS IN JULY - QATW

How about this happy mail from my swap partner Dorian from QATW. 

This was our Xmas in July swap. It didn’t make it in July but it did the first week of August. Yes, I am a bit slack and this is a catch up post. Anyway… here is my lovely parcel that arrived.

I opened up my parcel and some were wrapped and others not. I thought the postie had had a look inside but it was confirmed that this was how it was sent. Some wrapped to tease me.

There were a pack of magnetic bookmarks, heart shaped tape measure, sewing shaped buttons, a framed stitchery in a hoop, lollies and chocolate. Last of all a quilt themed novel which I will enjoy reading. I have all the Elm Creek novels and loved them too so I am looking forward to this read.
Thank you so much Dorian. It was a great surprise..



KNITTING
I have got my act together and finished sewing these knitted cot hanger covers on the hangers.

They have been knitted for over 12 months now. I thought it was time to finish them off.

Wednesday 15 September 2021

Happy mail and some baby sewing

 A while ago I commented on Mari’s blog that I loved the backing fabric she had used.

https://academicquilter.blogspot.com/2021/06/purple-morning.html

How lucky am I Mari sent me her leftovers…and a few other fabrics.


Aren’t those birds just so cute. More fabric for my stash. I knew of a design I wanted to make straight away.

First up I found some pale yellow to go with the birds.


Cut up the birds into as many squares as I could get in a workable size. 6 1/2” square. Cut some strips of the yellow to border them making a 10 1/2” square.


Then I searched for some other fabrics to match the blues and yellows. I cut them in to strips for the alternating blocks.


Put them all on the wall and cut the strips to fit the spaces. Layout no. 1



Layout no. 2 



One day I will get back to piecing it all together.


Thank you so much Mari for your kindness.


Saturday 11 September 2021

Postcards & Mug rug swaps.

 I have enjoyed being in the QATW swaps.It is fun and exciting to receive special surprises in the mail.

I received a lovely fabric postcard from Tracey.. Cosmcat…


This is the one I am sending off to my partner. It is for October.. Spring time..


I am also making an Autumn mug rug for a swap too. I went with the lovely colours of Autumn.


I made a maple leaf block into a mug rug. But also made the backing in a light coloured fabric so I could write on it as a postcard.





Wednesday 8 September 2021

SPF & AHQ Laundry bags workshop and donation

 Back in July my local quilt group SPF had a workshop day making AHQ laundry bags. We used my Mums souvenir tea towels for the fronts. 

I have a message of where they were sent to cheer some troops up.

**** We've sent the bags off to Chaplain Bruce Hammond who is overseeing eastern states training for OP COVID ASSIST troops  to hand out.....he has been messaging frequently to say thanks to all involved in this generous support of those deployed on this task.

So thank you to all the helpers that contributed to these being made.

With warmest good wishes and appreciative thanks, AHQ*******

Here is the link for the instructions and tutorial for how to make them.

Lots of photos to follow. But some cute tea towels to look at…


























Thanks to everyone that helped