Fabulous Giveaway

We all love freebies so giveaways are always good fun and this one is fantastic.
I just came across this site that's offering one lucky winner the choice of 5 bag patterns from ChrisW Designs.
There are two days left to enter so make sure you pop over to Crazy Little Projects for your chance to win.
If you've never seen or heard of Christine's Bag Patterns then go to her blog and see the beauties she has.

Best of luck to all of you.

~ Maria ~

Broadening My Horizons

Some of you may remember the post I did here about the birth of my friends baby girl and the bed set I made for her. I also showed some photos of the furniture my friends dad had made for his granddaughter. Well today I'm going to show you furniture from his shop. It's also the place where I sell my table toppers and runners so you may see some familiar items scattered around.

They asked me to make some chair cushions for the shop and it's not something that I really wanted to do but they were quick to make and one of their customers saw them and has ordered six so maybe this is another avenue for me.

These are the seat cushions I made. The fabric and foam was provided by my friends dad  so all I had to do was sew them up.

 

One side is floral and the other side plain so both sides can be used.

 I got to keep the scraps of fabric so you may see them popping up in a bag in future. LOLL I don't throw anything away.

This is an English style sofa.

 

And this is the same one but in browns and creams.

This is a modern L shaped sofa that could even be used as a single bed.

I love these chairs.

But with this table.

Today I'll be making a start on another six plain chair seat cushions.

Then hopefully I'll get back to making things I enjoy more.

~ Maria ~

I Never Tire of Dresden Plates

I made this Dresden Plate for the shop where I sell my stuff. The fabric on this one is actually a little darker than it came out in the photo.

 

This next one was ordered by a lady who chose the flower fabric and also the center and binding orange colour. The blue I matched up with the flower fabric.
I'm still not sure about this one. I love the blue but don't know if it's too strong or not.

~ Maria ~

Three More Fabric Boxes

Finally finished another three fabric boxes. If you missed my last post and want to make some you can find the tutorial by Tina at Seaside Stitches here.

I used the green one at the front to keep in the kitchen. It holds my vitamin bottles.

~ Maria ~

Fabric Boxes

When I saw this cute little fabric box on Pinterest I was delighted to find it was a tutorial by Tina at Seaside Stitches. These are so quick to make. I didn't time how long it took but I'm sure it was less than an hour or there abouts. I now have another three cut out ready to be made. These are the perfect project for me at the moment as I can't seem to concentrate on anything more complicated or too involved.
If you see my mojo on it's travels please send it home. LOL

When I first completed it I wasn't too keen on the flaps on the inside but once I caught on that they would make useful little pockets, it's one of those days where it's taking a while for the penny to drop, I loved it.

As with most fabric boxes these can be used for so many things. Here is mine with some sewing things. You can see I used the inside flaps to hold my seam ripper and a small pair of clippers.

Here is one with make up. Again the pockets came in useful for tweezers, eyelash curlers and my brush which is the perfect size for this little fabric box.

 

I'm off to make the other three and who knows I may see how they turn out in different sizes.

~ Maria ~

Bag Along Bag

I tested this bag for Katy at The Littlest Thistle and what a time I had of it. What with having to visit doctors and my industrial machine packing in on me it took forever to complete but Katy was very patient and understanding. Seems like a few of the other testers had problems also. Hopefully Katy will have better luck with her future designs.

The pattern is beautifully illustrated with loads of photos and instructions. I learned new sewing techniques with this bag and the thing that struck me the most was the amazing accuracy of the bag measurements.

This is a huge bag which also includes instructions for base, front and back, end and divider cushions so it can be used as a camera bag. This would be too big for my camera so I'm using mine for when I go visit my daughter. It's the perfect size for carrying all my essentials as well as my camera.

The floral fabric on the flap was a remnant left over from a friends sofa. I did some wavy quilting on the flap.

This bag has an adjustable strap.

This is something new I learned. Apparently the front pocket under the flap are called bellows pockets.

Something else new to me were the twist locks. I've never installed these before but they were quite easy. Mine were the screw in type.

Also under the flap is a zipper closure. The inside of the bag also has a zippered pocket.

The outer sides of the bag have elasticated pockets.

And the back of the bag has a large zipper pocket.

 

Katy is making a few amendments to her pattern and then it will be ready for sale. Make sure you check Katy's blog to see the bags the other three testers have made.

Thanks for letting me test your bag pattern Katy and also thanks for your understanding.

~ Maria ~

Evelyn REVISED win a copy & a Feature

Christine at ChrisW Designs has just posted about this gorgeous bag she's just finished revising and you have FIVE chances to win a copy of the pattern. Don't miss out on this one, go over and you could be the lucky winner.

Isn't it just divine. I love the colours. When Christine made the original pattern I still wasn't a tester for her but now I'm definitely going to make this one. She's also made one up in a chevron print which is really fun and cute and there are photos of the bag made up by two of her testers.

Best of luck to all of you.

Also I was really pleased to learn that the pajamas I made for hubby here have been featured on Threading My Way

Pam has ongoing linky parties in different categories covering practically everything so make sure you go over and check out her blog as well as the other featured projects.

Thanks Pam

~ Maria ~

Scrappy Lily Bowl & Plate

A couple of days ago while browsing through Pinterest I came across this tutorial by Michele at michele made me. Pop over and see how pretty hers is.

I just had to make it straight away so dropped what I was doing and made it up yesterday. It's a super quick project that uses up scraps of fabric and batting, something I know we all have alot of.

In the tutorial Michele slip stitches the top and bottom of the bowl and plate together before doing the echo stitching. I'm not keen on hand stitching so I machine stitched mine along the top. I also used interfacing with the batting to make it even more sturdy. Mine's quite stiff and holds it's shape really well.

The only hand stitching I did was around the hexie's on the top and bottom. This one looks a bit messy which will please Samantha but in fact it's the way it came out in the photo. Sorry Samantha. LOLL

I threw in some thread so you could get an idea of the size. It is actually deeper than it looks and could be used for many things in your sewing room or even on a table by the front door for keys, wallet and a cell phone. You could even put sweets in it, or use it on your dresser for jewelery or make up, the list is endless.

I'll definitely be making more of these.

~ Maria ~

Patchwork Tote

This patchwork tote I started a few years ago, yes you read it right. LOLLL

I started it when I was learning how to do patchwork and make bags. This was an easier block to learn with so I made quite a few different ones back then. The FMQ was also a first as was the little embroidered flowers in the bottom right hand corner. I wish I could remember where I got the tutorial from because I don't have a clue how to make them again.

The reason I've finished it now is because a lady came round and saw it lying unfinished and insisted she wanted it. 

I even tried my hand at sewing beads on the front.
 

The back is just strips of fabric that I used for the front.

And I stitched over the seams with a decorative machine stitch. Back then doing FMQ on the front was more than I could handle.

It's a good job I left it until now to finish as I didn't have a clue how to put in zippers then. I think that was the main reason it got shoved to one side.

This inside just has two slip pockets.

These are so cute. I must search for that tutorial.

Now it's finally finished I'm reluctant to part with it.

~ Maria ~