Monday's Show & Tell

For today's show & tell I thought I'd show you a bag I made for my mum 2 Christmas's ago.  This is a pattern by Leanne Beasley called 'Marie Roses Carry Bag'.   Mum wanted a bag to store her knitting in, so I made this one up for her, and she loved it.  It's a great size and could be used for any kind of sewing project or as a market bag or carry all bag as it is quite big.

My daughter is still not well and so is still home from school this week - so I have also taken on the role of teacher, so I can keep her up to date with all her school work.  So unfortuanly I haven't been able to do any sewing - and I am having big withdrawals from it!  I'm getting the machine out this afternoon though - as I really need to get back into it.  Luckily my daughter loves sewing too - so it is something that she can do with me when she feels up to it. 
I hope you all have had a good weekend and have been able to get some sewing done.
Happy sewing!
Jody

A week of ups and downs!

Well this week has really been a week of ups and downs!  My daughter had a friend over on the weekend and they had heaps of fun making a softie toy each.  I found this great fabric from Saffron Craig with softie panels.  So they made up a koala each and I helped my son make the owl.  The girls did really well cutting out and then using the sewing machine (under my guidance of course!) and then stuffing their toys.   Here's a photo of my daughter's koala & the owl.

Cute aren't they!  I also managed to get a cover made for my daughter's reader.  I have been wanting to do this for the last couple of weeks but finally managed to get around to it and made it on Sunday afternoon.  The stitchery is from Cinderberry Stitches and is a new pattern (which is free from the Lecien website - just click here) called Woodland faeries.  It's just one of the faeries from the pattern - there are another 4. 

I used a tutorial from Moda Bake Shop called 'Charming Book Cover' to make the cover - they have heaps of great tutorials there. Then I had big intentions of working on one of my designs this week but by daughter picked up a cold/flu thing from school and has been home running really high temperatures for the last few days.  So instead I have been building Lego with her at times when she has felt up to it.  So together we have been making this instead!

This photo didn't include the lovely lego three storey house we had built as my son had used his ninga lego man to bash it down before I took the photo!

Until next time, happy sewing everyone!
Jody

Friday Night Sew In

For my Friday Night Sew In, I worked on my Woodland Magic project designed by Natalie Ross.  This time I managed to get the bag applique at least ironed on and ready to go.  So now it's time to hit the machine and machine applique all the pieces on and then I can start putting the bag together.  Thanks to Bobbi & Heidi for holding these FNSI - it gives me a time to set aside to work on these projects 'for me' that would otherwise be put on hold for a while!

Until next time, Happy Sewing everyone!
Jody

And the winners are....

Well - I can't believe it's Wednesday already and a week since my last post!  The week has just flown by.  We have had a very busy week - with school and kinder back and just trying to get into our routines again.  I've only just managed to finalize the pattern for Drafty and finish writing it today - so it will be printed out and packaged up tomorrow.  So for those of you waiting for the cat version - it will be a little bit longer I'm afraid.  Thankyou all for your lovely comments on 'Drafty'.  He has fitted into our household really well - and the kids love to say goodbye to him as they put their shoes on to go out the front door.  So, now for the winner of a 'Drafty' pattern!  I decided to draw the winner the old way and put the names on a piece of paper and had my kids draw the winner from a container.  So - the winner is.......Lisa!  Congratulations Lisa!  I hope you enjoy making your version of 'Drafty'!  I took a photo of my daughter drawing the winner as you can see below and then my son wanted to have a go....so......he drew a second winner!  Yes - I thought - why not...it's only fair that he could draw a winner too.   So the second winner of a 'Drafty' pattern is.....Cheryll!  Congratulations Cheryll!  I hope you enjoy making 'Drafty' too!   I will send the winners an email shortly and you can then send me your postal address's.

 

Please excuse the dirty faces - they were in the middle of dinner when I asked them to draw the winners! 

Until next time.. Happy sewing everyone,

Jody

Drafty - the Door Sausage Dog

So here it is!  My new design - 'Drafty' the Door Sausage Dog.  He's practical and cute.  Just pop him against any door and he'll stop all those pesky drafts! 

I used corduroy and cotton fabrics and he's filled with plastic stuffing pellets and fibrefill, but you could also use rice.  This keeps him where you want him and you can mould him up against the door to make sure those drafts stay away.  You can also make him to suit any door size - so the pattern allows you to shorten or lengthen him as you like. 

This pattern has been in the back of my mind for a while now, as since we moved into our house we built on our place 2 years ago, I have needed a door sausage for my front door.  I never like the idea of attaching a weatherstrip to the bottom of the door, although I did look at several different kinds.  So I have wanted to make one but decided I wanted something a bit different to your traditional door sausage, that would look cute too, and also serve the purpose of keeping out the drafts.  So meet Drafty!  He will now take pride of place in the hallway against my front door.  I'll be writing the pattern in the next few days - so it should be available by the end of next week.  And for those cat people out there - I've haven't forgotten you - there is a cat version that I'm working on at the moment too.  So keep watching and I'll hopefully have it ready for you soon!

And here's the pattern cover.  It will be available online from  'Cookies & Cream Craft' or from my local patchwork shop 'Riviera Patchwork'

For those of you that saw my previous post - can you see which fabric I have used from the Bumble Bub quilt?  Leave a comment with the answer (hint: bee) and I will draw a random winner on Wednesday next week and you will receive a copy of this new pattern in the mail!  Good luck!

Jody

Bumble Bub Quilt

Here's something I made early last year for a little baby boy.  It's called 'Bumble Bub' and is a cot quilt or playmat and also a softie bee toy too.  It's a Melly & Me design from her Kaleidoscope book and only the third quilt I've ever made.  I do love the fabrics I used in it and it has simple piecing and some machine applique so was fairly simple to put together.  I also machine quilted it in the ditch - as that's really all I could do on my machine at the time.  I would have liked to quilt it differently, so this year I plan to learn more quilting techniques and styles.  The reason I thought I'd show you this quilt is because I am using some of the fabric I used in this quilt in a new design I am working on at the moment.  I won't give too much away yet - but I am really happy with the way the design is all coming together and am just loving the fabrics I'm using in it.  So stay tuned as I'll post a picture of the new design very soon.

Until next time, happy sewing everyone!
Jody