A bag lovers dream

As someone who is slightly obsessed with buying handbags, the idea of making my own was too much of a temptation. My first bag was an Amy Butler Tulip bag using some liberty print fabric as the trim and lining. I followed the instructions religiously until I came to the magnetic closure which I didn’t have, it was time to improvise and a rummage in my gran’s old button box, which is an Aladdin’s cave full of treasures and worthy of a blog post in it’s own right, produced the perfect yellow button

I embarked on my second bag using the same pattern but this time using some FQ’s from My Fabric House and another button. Improvising again I put a little detail on the back of the button tie

Now I was starting to get ambitious and decided to have a go at my own patten and design. I was pretty pleased with the results.

I shall never be short of a bag again, not that I could ever be accused of not having enough handbags!

A stitch in time

Well I did say I would post any useful bits of info I come across and today I have found two great links about stitches. I found a few I didn’t know about and some great instructions on how to do feather quilting.

The first link was courtesy of the Craftsy blog this has a great tutorial on how to do feather quilting using different methods.

The second is a free download on different embroidery stitches from Windflower Embroidery

Summer cushions

We had another hint of summer weather today, not sure how long it will last but Hubby and I made the most of it tidying up the garden.

It was also a chance to give my bench cushions their first airing! I made these in the winter months after finding the fabric in a remnants sale. It said it was water damaged stock but I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. There was enough for four cushions which is perfect for my two wooden chairs and bench.

They were dead easy to make, I just cut an oblong out on the fold and sewed the two ends up, fitted a zip and hey presto a super smart cushion! Don’t do what I did though and sew all the edges up before you fit the zip, makes it a tad difficult to turn it right side out when all sides are either sewn or zipped together! You would think I learnt after the first one but no, I did the same on the second!

Satisfyingly accomplished

It looks as though spring might have finally arrived today! It’s been a lovely sunny day which gave me chance to re stain the decking and spruce up the wooden chairs.

Before I did all this I took the opportunity to photograph my first quilt in the morning sunshine. Yes this means I have finally finished it!

Borderline

Second day back at work after our away from it all break and already it seems like it never happened! Why does it take so long to unwind from work but so quick to get back into the swing of it?

As a little light relief, tonight I decided to tackle the border on my second lap quilt, it seems its a day of seconds! I was nervous about cutting into the Tanya Whelan for Free spirit Delilah fabric. It’s too lovely to make a mistake with.

The colour matches perfectly and the traditional flowers contrast well with the more modern prints, overall I’m pleased with the layout and look of the quilt. Next is a good pressing and then the basting, never done this before so lots of scope for it all to go pear shaped, think I’ll leave it for another day.

Natures Art

Long meandering walks along a Portuguese beach with my hubby and trusty camera got me snapping away at the works of art created by nature. The patterns left in the sand by the crashing waves were so inspiring, they looked like forests on a moonlit night with a sprinkling of stars falling from the sky.

OK so maybe I’ve got an over active imagination but I thought they were beautiful and worthy of a photograph!

Fabric joy

I hope you all had a lovely Easter, I’ve just returned home from a few days in Portugal which was a smashing get away from it all break and I’m delighted to see that the sun is shining! More importantly though on my return there was a parcel of fabric waiting for me!

The material I ordered for the borders on two quilts I’m making arrived and I can’t wait to start sewing again!

What do you think? Good choices or not?