Grumpy

It is the onset of winter and I don't like grey days.
Whatever I am doing, there is always something else that I ought to be doing.
I want to own lots of nice fabric and threads because I want to make stuff out of it - if I had the time anyway.
And I would like to go to White Stuff and buy almost their entire shop so that I look like a yummy mummy instead of being permanently dressed in jeans and mud.  (Yes, that is shallow:-)

Probably that sounds like everyone else's life too, except for White Stuff and the mud, so I will stop whingeing, grow up, get a grip and count the many ways in which I am lucky - like receiving this card from Geraldine as part of the Very Berry Handmade ATC swap:

It's just brilliant!

Feeling better now.  Have a great weekend!

Komebukuro Bag!

I've posted a how-to on the blog today.  It took ages to write and I'm not sure how comprehensible my instructions are so I'd be very grateful for any (kind) suggestions about how to improve them!

And, if you would like to help out by making a bag and giving me your thoughts in the next month I will send one reader your own lovely maxi pack of Liberty scraps to use.

How to Make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 2, General Construction

How to Make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 1 showed how I made the exteriors for two bags.

So, if you have decided to make a bag, settled on the finished size and made your sides here's what you need to finish it.

How to make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 1 Liberty Patchwork exteriors

I have got round to sorting the process photos I took when making my Komebukuro bags (here and here) and thought I would post a bit of a how-to in case anyone was curious. [edited to add links, sorry!]

These bags (originally made to contain rice) are quilted so they have a bit of structure to them, and being square and flat bottomed sit nicely on the floor or on a shelf when full.  I made the larger one above - great for knitting wools or a crochet project perhaps - and the smaller one below which could happily contain a stack of fat quarters.

The construction of the bag is quite straightforward, and you could make up the exterior in any way you like and to any size you want so I don't include measurements but just show how I constructed my two versions, with instructions for assembling the bag in another post.   If anything is unclear, or if you find it difficult to work out your own measurements, please do let me know.

WIP Wednesday

This is what my living room floor has looked like since Monday - good thing I have a tolerant husband.

I have pieced all my strips for my version of this quilt and decided to include some Klona sashing to contain the triangles so I have just been consulting with my daughter about the colour.  The mini quilt is my Klona swatchcard quilt!

I kept the key so I actually use it as a reference.  It does not photograph well, but is one of my all time favourite makes.  It is okay to say that, I hope!

Linking up to

Fresh Sewing Day

Finishes: three Artist Trading Cards on an autumn theme for the Very Berry Handmade swap (see the loveliness on flickr), another music bag, and 10 metres of halloween bunting made with my youngest from Ebay bargain orange felt and black bias binding.  It was all hand stitched as we were away from the sewing machine so we were quite chuffed with ourselves.

I should also have photographed this room after the children's halloween party it was tidied up for...

WIPs: Unfortunately getting the car through its MOT meant no fabric purchases so I am temporarily and frustratingly stuck in the middle of two quilts, Big Pebbles, and Leaves, but this did mean I got out a third quilt I started at the Stitch Gathering, in a class taught by Fiona of Poppy Makes.

Fiona's fab quilt is  here.  Mine is being made from Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill, and Natural Seeded Klona.  I am struggling with it slightly because it is someone else's pattern and I find that hard as I like going my own way, but I wanted to learn something new and it is a great pattern so I am determined to make it for one of my daughters.  I have all the pieces cut and paired. Three quilts in progress is a record so I'm hoping for a finish soon.

Incoming: a week of happy post.  This book was my winnings (by luck, rather than merit) at Celtic Thistle Stitches Holiday Memory competition.

Thank you so much to Fiona - I look forward to next year's competition, and the book is my current bed-time reading.

And this pencil case arrived from Fran:

It is for one of the Misses Knotted Cotton in return for  the music bag I sent Miss Patchy Rose.  It is lovely and so beautifully made I might just have to keep it for myself;-)

A good month!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I love looking through the entries for the Blogger's Quilt Festival - so much talent and so many different creative styles.  I think it can leave you a bit awestruck but in the spirit of what-the-hell I am entering my Beach Finds quilt in the Mini Quilt category.

This quilt was made for the Holiday Memories competition at Celtic Thistle Stitches.   I am fascinated by the patterns, shapes and textures of pebbles and had been collecting them on the beach with my nephew on a family trip to the Isle of Bute.

Since I love them (and my nephew) so much I decided to use some leftovers from a bed size pebbly quilt I'm making and make a smaller quilt as a reminder.  This quilt makes me happy because it is a very personal quilt.

It is made using three shades of Oakshott cotton.  The grainy sheeniness of the shot cottons is perfect for the texture of the pebbles which are all pieced - the one with a ring on it uses reverse applique. They are machine appliqued to a white Klona cotton background.  The binding is scrappy and the whole thing was pebble quilted (what else:-) except for some wavy quilting which washes from one side of the quilt to the other, like trickles of water across a beach.  Where the wavy quilting runs across I left the binding white so that the quilting seems to flow over and off the quilt.

I also threw in a tiny clam shell for fun and for practice at FMQ which I am not very experienced at.

This is the first time I used a proper FMQ foot, but I quickly got addicted and have been playing with it ever since.

Apologies to those who have seen this quilt quite recently, and many thanks if you have dropped over from the Festival to have a look!   Hello:-)!

Thank you very much to Amy for the massive amount of work that the Quilt Festival must involve.