Q1 Finish A Long 2015

Lately I do not feel like blogging so what a coincidence that one of the reasons therefore is the Q1 List. It is time to have a look at it and say some words.

When I made my list at the beginning of the year I was totally sure I will finish at least two of the items on the list. One was for a swap and the other for my sons birthday. Only one did get finished till now ;(

Modern Irish Bee Quilt

I a feeling terrible about that. My month was in December 2014 and I asked all the ladies to please be fair and talk to me. I knew at that time most of us will not have time to make the blocks in December but I was hoping they will at least let me know when they might be finished. What a dissappointment! I am still missing most of the blocks and none of them was fair enough to write me a message! 

Modern Stitching Bee Quilt

This is an other long story and full of dissapointment too. I did not receive two blocks and to get an even number I prepared myself to make the blocks. It was a coincidence that someone offered me to make the blocks (I had already all the fabrics cut and ready to sew) if I make the blocks she does not want to make. I did make them but she neither came back to me when she might be finished nor did she give me back my precuts. I am terrible sad about that as I asked a million times to talk to me ...

Games of Thrones Quilt

This is the birthday quilt and it is my fault it is not done. The top is finished and I started quilting but we are waiting for the binding fabric as we both, my son and me, desided to go for a different one than we had planed. I love this quilt and am so proud how it looks so far but now it is to be patient to wait for the fabric to arrive

Big Fat Beauty Pillow

This was just burried under the Games of Thrones quilt and there it is still waiting for me.

Snowflake gloves

I did one of the gloves but it is to tight so I have to start it all over again. But in the meantime it got nice and warm so there was just no need to do so

MakeAQuiltMakeAFriend Swap

Finally this one is done! It is already with its new owner who has the same name :) She loves it, she hung it up and I am so happy about that.

So this is my Q1! Not what I was expecting and maybe not a good posting after a long time absent but I did not want to be silent. I took part in bees and no matter what I only asked them to talk to me. I know life can be hard, cruel and unfair but I think it is rude just to let others make blocks and not making theirs. 

  

Going away ...

Sometimes you have to go away. It was already some time ago Rachel asked me to join a sewing meeting but it needed a kick from May to finally book the flights. It was the perfect timing and it was an amazing weekend. Everyone had planed to sew bee blocks or pin cushions or whatever .. except me! I did not plan anything! So when I arrived I was not prepared for sewing but at least I had my knitting with me. Just in case there might be some time.

We went fabric shopping the next day and as I only had planed at this time I might find fabrics for one more bee block for Rachel, I found something else: Sweatshirt fabric! In purple! A pig piece! I would loved to get a black one too but this was perfect for my girls hoody she asked for. I also found a jersey usefull for the hood. I still had not planed to make the hoody but Rachel can be really bossy and because she has a serger she intended that I use it. So we sat on the computer looking for the pattern somewhere in my email account and after a long time (I would have given up ages ago) we found it, printed it, sticked the pieces together and were ready for sewing.

Hoody Size 158

I have to say I am so happy that she did! I have never used a serger before but it is so much easier and especially faster than the fake overlock stitch I have on my machine. So while I could read a book when I am overlocking on my sewing machine I could make 3 hoodies the same time. I am so delighted with the end result.

Hoody Size 158 with hood

There was only the cuffs I had to finish at home but just because we did not have the right fabric therefore. Otherwise this hoody was made in no time. We also used a gorgeous rainbow thread for the seams. So in the morning I packed the rest of the fabric and the hoody but after lunch we were quite exhausted but not sleepy enough. Just because the serger was still threaded and the leftover piece was quite huge so why not make an other one. There is still lots of time left before we had to leave the island. Unpacking the farbics and cutting again. There was just not enough for a hoody but why not make a turtle neck. We had great fun desiding on the go what and how we wanted to make the second "hoody" but after about an hour it was done (missing the cuffs again of course).

Hoody size 134 with turtle neck

This time we made it for my little girl size 134. First she was not happy not getting a hood but when she figured out she can hide in the turtle neck she was having great fun peeking out. The girls had great fun trying them on and dancing around. Thank you so much Rachel for all the help. I am delighted to have learned so much and now I know some easy and fast ways. Tomorrow they can finally wear them for school. I am pretty sure they hope for a cold day to get the most out of it.

Hoody size 134

Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend with so much fun! It was fantastique!

There is a "wurm" in the house

It is this time of the year when I am sewing like mad and trying to finish my sons birthday quilt. I did not expect him to ask me for an other one but he did. I chose the fabrics already weeks ago and had them all sorted until I run out of the white one ... just for one inch!!!! So now I am patiently waiting until more arrives. It would be boring to do nothing so I did some knitting.

I thought this one might be for myself but my little cheeky monkey took it not only for the photo shoot. I found this pattern on ravelry and as it was writen by girls knitting in Vienna and because it is calles "Wurm" I needed to make it. They are right, it is an unisex beanie and even my son would wear it .. just maybe in different colors.

I love that is has a doubled cuff which makes it so nice and cosy. I am pretty sure even if my feet are frozen on the pitch at the next ruby match at least my ears are warm. Just need to get it back from this monkey :)

Bag tester

I love testing patterns. It is a lovely way to get challenged and to learn something. I was already lucky to test the messanger bag for Katy and this time I had the chance to make my own travel bag. Did you also see so many quilter travel handmade? I was so jaleous but could never get over my fear and get started. Testing is a good way to finally just do it.

A long time ago I got myself 2m of London-Map fabric and never really found the right way to use it. I did use scraps of it but 2m is quite huge. We have a London trip planed in April so this was the oppertunity I was looking for to finally use at least half of it.

no, there is no picture without her

The pattern was straight forward and with the template how to get the most out of the fabric it was easy peasy. The only problem here is to get the supplies but it worked out fine at the end. I had to change the snaps on the front to magnetic snaps but this is just a little tiny adaption ...

There are so many pockets and I love it. There is nothing more terrible than searching in the bag. Pockets and zips, so many places to loose my stuff! Only the key can he chained in the ring ...

I love to carry the bag over my shoulder but sometimes it is handy to use handles. Now I have both and if I do not want the long strap any more, I can just unclip it.

I am so happy that I could test the pattern and make my trip to London in style. I am pretty sure I will never get lost there again :) Thank you Katy and good luck with the pattern! It was fun and I am so lucky to have my own Katy-Traveller-Bag!

Midtermbreak

Sometimes you need a break and guess what: here it is! The children are of school (but not all other activities) so there is not much time for sewing. Actually I try hard to finish the birthday quilt for my son (which I just started) but today after one block I took my girl and let her make the "City Gym Shorts" herself. I already had the fabric cut. She had to chose a second one for the binding and than we could get started. 

It did not take long until I broke the needle. Unfortunately I only had a jersey needle left but this one did fine. We need to get new ones tomorrow but today someone desided to stay on the sofa and have a good rest.

The rest came together nicely. She was so happy that she tried them on and dit not take them off again. She was asking for short pj trousers some weeks ago and it looks like we found the perfect pattern therefore.

I love the pattern. It is straight forward and easy to follow. This short was made in such a short time that she did not have time to get bored or exhaustet. Wonderful! 

Foggy Ireland

I have to say this winter was mild and nice. No frozen pipes! no closed schools! There was only one day in November, when the boys had a match, it was so foggy, it was hard to find the ball. It was strange not seing from one end of the pitch to the other but the boys had fun. Last week I went down to the beach to find this ...

On a normal day you can see over to the other side of the bay but this day you were trapped in fog. The same as today. So when we left Galway this morning to go up to Claremorris for the girls blitz we were arriving here ...

The girls had fun but I always forget how wet the ground is in these conditions. Of course my shoes were soaked in minutes but who cares! We had a great day and when we came back to Galway the sun was waiting for us :)

Birthday party again

Last week I showed you the wide open pouch for the birthday girl on Friday. Today it is all about the birthday girl on Saturday. This lady turned 8 and is in class with my little one. You know, the one who is promissing pouches to all the girls for their birthday. So I had to sit down and make an other one but to be honest, I love them. I made a flat pencil case using two economic blocks got in a swap a long time ago. This time it was about fashion: a pretty dress and nail polish! Isn't that perfect for a little lady?

For the inside I used some polka dots. I think they are always perfect. I did a little quilting on the front using a varigated pink thread. This is still one of my favorites and I just love the effect it gives.

We did not put lots of sweets inside but pencils so she can use it straight away. I was so pleased when I got the text message from her mum saying she loves it! This is the best compliment I could get!