And more........

Yep, there is more!  Brooches to be precise.  You are going to be so bored by the time that I finish this!  I don't care though as it forms a good record for me to look back on.

I have been making what I call flower and button brooches from felt for quite a while and they are selling reasonably well on Ebay.   However I have not sold a single one on Coralie's Etsy.  Does anyone ever buy from Etsy?  I just use it to get ideas.

Anyway, here are some of my latest flower brooches.  I have quite a few in stock so haven't made many of these.

Simon got me a Sizzix Big shot machine in the holidays.  For those not in the know, it is a die cutting machine which means you can cut shapes very precisely with little effort and up to 8 layers at a time depending on the thickness of the fabric.  It is brilliant.  I do not have many dies yet but I do have a heart shaped one that cuts 3 different heart shapes at one time.  I can layer the fabrics that I want so can cut really quickly.

One day last week my mind turned to heart shaped brooches!  So, I have made a gazillion.  Well about 16 actually!  I have listed them on Ebay to see if they do better than the flowers.  I am not really too bothered if they sell or not as I want to build up a stock of small inexpensive items so that I can have a craft stand at the dog show next year to raise money for them.

They only had a cake stall and a bric a brac and I think crafts will sell well.  Especially if I can make things with a doggie link.  There is a lot of dog print fabric around right now so that might work.  In fact I made a couple of the heart brooches in dog fabric.

Well I still have more to "Show and tell" but I shall save it for another blog since this one was so long!

More Show and tell

Well I said I would be back with more "show and tell" and here I am!  It is a grotty horrid day here today, windy, cold and rainy so I have been pottering around doing odd bits of sewing and some scrap book pages for a scrap book that I am doing of my Mum's life.  It is a Christmas present for my Dad. Now it is time to sit at my computer with a cup of coffee for half an hour before I have to start on dinner.

So here we go with more of my projects. I have done lots of things for Christmas.  I have done 2 sofa throw quilts using the same pattern as the one on my sofa and the one that I did for Saskia.  The first one is for Sam and Lisa and is in browns and maroon to match their living room.  I have quilted around the rectangles as I did my previous two.

This one is for Josh and Charlotte and is in a totally different colourway for their room.  On this one I have quilted it by using a technique known as stippling.  It is a free hand machine embroidery technique.  I am pleased with how it has turned out although I have a long way to go yet to perfect my stippling.  It is not easy.  I find it difficult to get the tension right.

Next I have this cat doorstop which is for another family members Christmas present.  Don't think she reads my blog so she won't guess it is for her!  It has a brick inside it so it is really heavy.  I am pleased with this.

This is a wall hanging Christmas decoration and I am really pleased with this.  It was very fiddly to do and I nearly threw those triangles across the room!  They are so hard to turn through.  I think the beads work well.

What else is there?  Oh yeah lots of purple things.  First some purple curtains which hang at the window half way up the stairs.  They have my felt flowers attached which I think looks good.

I am half way through making a  purple wall hanging for my hall.  I have used the same pattern as I used for the wall hangings that I showed you yesterday.  The pattern came from Denise and we all worked on one each at one of our sewing sessions.

We usually try to have a sewing session with Denise once a week.  It is over a year and a half now since we begun and she has taught us so much.  I could not have got this far without her. Sometimes we have a "lesson" where she teaches us a technique.  Recently though she has been finding small projects for us to do so we can each work on the same thing at the same time and hopefully more or less complete it in one session.  It is really nice doing that and we can have a good old chat while we work.

This purple pouch was one of the things that we did together.  It is so interesting to see how differently things turn out when using different fabrics.  Coralie did hers in a beige print fabric with sage green trimmings.  Denise's was in a kind of gold.  Coralie and I placed the flower to the side where as Denise put hers in the centre.  I am not sure who this is for yet.  I may use it as a snowman present for someone.

Right, time to get on with dinner.  I shall be back soon with yet more.    Yes, I have done more!

Make do and mend on Tuesday

Well it is an absolute age since I did a "Show and tell" blog.  I have worked on lots of projects over the summer and in fact I did have an album of photos saved as a draft on Multiply but there is no point in adding them there now.

On my last show and tell which was on the 3rd of July; I showed you a wall hanging that I have made for Saskia for Christmas, a half finished red and white table runner, some half finished, small, cat applique pictures and a half finished turquoise wall hanging.

So I guess that is the best place to start today.  Saskia's wall hanging is finished and residing in my Christmas box. It matches the quilt that I made her for her birthday.  Same fabrics.

The turquoise wall hanging is also finished.  I have no idea what I shall do with it as I just made it on a whim one day when I was waiting on fabric to begin something new.  I used scraps for this one.  I may sell it or I may give it to someone.

The table runner is finished and is on my kitchen table.  I am only half pleased with it.  I like the colours but am not altogether happy with the design.

The cat appliques are now finished and are framed and they are a Christmas present for another family member.

I have made several cards.

I saw a picture on the Internet of a hanging cockerel so I tried to copy it.  It hasn't gone quite right as the head is a bit long.  He does have character though and is hanging in my kitchen.

I also made these 2 cards to send to 2 very good friends over the pond in Merika.

This is a tiny sample of the things I have done.  Tomorrow or maybe even later this evening I will show you some more. I have made 2 sofa throws, more wall hangings, curtains, a cushion and a gazillion brooches.  Oh Yes!

 

Doggie show

Another busy day over and done.  We were up early and out of the door at 8.45am to go to the dog show.  Simon stayed for an hour and a half to help with the setting up. There were gazebo's, stalls and a small show ring to set up.  He then went home to get on with garage stuff.

I helped lay up the cake stall.  They were thrilled with all the cakes that I made yesterday.  See below.

I was then put in charge of a stall selling bric a brac.  They didn't expect it to sell much as people would not really be looking for that kind of stuff.  I sold a half dozen things and made £30 for them so I was pleased.  It was the most glorious day.  The hottest one of the entire year.  Great for me, sitting under my gazebo but not so good for the poor dogs.

They had a brilliant turn out and I was right opposite the ring so could watch proceedings. There were some gorgeous dogs all with their own story to tell. It was lovely to see so many, happy and healthy and with loving human companions.  These were all dogs that had not had a good start to life.

This photo shows one of the other volunteers, Louise and he rescue spaniel, Purdy.  They won the first prize in the waggiest tail class!  Purdy is a little dear.  She spent several hours fast asleep in her crate behind my stall in the shade.

The show finished at 3pm and Simon came back to help clear up and to take me home.  I was really pleased that all my cakes had sold.  The fairy cakes were 50p each so they made in total over £55 just on my cakes. All in all it was a good day and I met several more of the volunteers.  I shall see them again next Saturday when I am going to the kennels to help exercise the dogs.

Once home Simon went back out to work on his garage and I  had a nice  bubble bath with a glass of the red stuff.  I figured that I deserved it.  Simon did a nice roast beef dinner and since we ate we have both  been sitting with our lap tops. I am half falling asleep.  I bet as soon as I go to bed I will be wide awake as per usual. I hate that!

Hopefully back here tomorrow.