Blogversary Celebration Giveaway... Yippeeee

On 8th September my blog would have been live for one year. It has gone very quickly and the stat counter says that over 7,000 people have visited during that year. Over the past year I have learnt new skills, techniques, fabric designs, designers, quotes, gardening tips, baking tips, the nerve to open two on-line shops and many new friends whom sadly I shall probably never get to meet. (sniff, sniff, tissues out.)

During August my orders increased and September started off with some more.. I even ran out of tissue paper, stickers etc and spent last Sunday evening making more.

My last giveaway was very successful and gained some new blogs to visit in the process so I hope that this will just as successful.

As you may remember I crocheted a purple bag a few weeks ago using Granny squares, I have seen several featured on other blogs. My patchwork is better so I decided to take the crochet bag idea and transform it into fabric...

Harlequin Bag

The bag is made of Laura Ashley furnishing fabric which is slightly textured and is really nice to touch. It is fully lined with crisp white cotton. It has a firm base made from plastic canvas.

As an added extra I have also made a simple matching purse to go with it using the same fabric!

This is my first attempt at this bag in fabric so it may not be as perfect as normal but it certainly is not rubbish. I intend to make more of these to go in my shops for Christmas. However I, thought it might be nice for someone to win the very first one that I made.

Now, to give everyone plenty of time to find this post I will wait until Thursday 18th September Midnight (UK time) for entries. That is nearly 2 weeks. So pop back on the Friday to see who has won then if I can get the winners detail in time I could hopefully post it Saturday morning. Please spread the word of this giveaway, make it more the merrier.

Just leave a comment on this post telling what colour/ colour combination etc that my next version of this bag could be. Anyone can enter I do not mind posting internationally as it should not weigh very much.

Ok, that is about it for tonight. I have completed some WIPs but I shall save those for next time.

Take care!

Pincushion Challenge Sept/Oct

There is a new challenge for Sept/Oct over at The Pincushion Challenge. It tells you how to join up and link to their flickr page to place a picture of your entry. Interested? Click on the link in the margin. You will see some of my pincushions that I have submit over the past months.

Also at Sew Mama Sew there is a Sewing for the Home month which you may like to take a look at and join in. I took part in the Block along a few months ago and really enjoyed it, Sophie's quilt was inspired by it. The link is in the margin again. You will certainly get lots of ideas.

Giveaway info released tomorrow, sorry but I have been doing some work today and making jam before my windfall apples went off. Do not forget to take my button with you when you go for your own use on your blog etc.

Take Care

:-)

That Friday feeling....

Well, I have survived a training day and two days back at work! It is a long stretch this term but I saw this on google and it made me smile, so I am going to put this in my side bar and in my posts to keep me cheerful..

He seems to have that fixed glazed look that many of us must feel come Friday, eh? I went round to my elderly neighbours house to help put some drops in her eyes then we chatted.... for one and a half hours!

I didn't realise the time so I settled in front of the The Tudors at 9.15pm. Just me and Tiger sitting on the sofa in peace...bliss! He follows me around the house and was clearly pleased to see me when I got home. This morning I was woken up to purring in my left ear. I opened one eye to find Tiger with his face on his paws stretched out on the duvet watching me. When he saw me awake he patted my hand to make a fuss of him. Ahhhh! That wake up call ranks along with the first time Sophie woke me up with a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

Right , enough of the sloppy stuff, I have wanted for some time to have my own button. I have looked at a few tutorials and only manage to get so far. I have decided to try my own way. It is not much bigger than some of the awards that have been circulating, it is the link working that I am hoping works.

If you would like to have a colourful button then copy and paste the button in the margin. I would like to hear if it does not work properly as this is a bit of an experiment.

At this point I would like to say thank you for your kind comments about my laptop tutorial and for those of you who visited to look at it. If you do have a go at the laptop cover or a cover for something else, I really would like to see it. I have also added my email to help with this.

More tomorrow, including some crafting pics.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Take care.
:-) xx

Laptop Cover Tutorial

I bought a dinky new laptop and despite its cost it did not come with a bag, sleeve or any way of covering it to reduce scratches etc.
So I came up with this idea, it may not be very revolutionary but it could easily be adapted to other products and I am going to make another version for my Nintendo DS at some point.

Firstly I wanted to keep everything really simple so I created a rectangular pattern I decided how far up the laptop the opening would be and how far down the flap would come. Make it a little wider that the laptop itself. See pic.

This photo shows how high up the laptop and the section above is the flap which will come almost down the the base of the case.

I then cut out two pieces of fabric. One for the outside and one for the lining. I decided to use the same for both. Lovely bit of Cath Kidston fabric.

I then used a cotton fleecy batting which was placed between the layers and pinned. You can use whatever you are used to because the aim will be to lightly quilt your cover. This will give a protective thickness and you will now how thick you want the cover to be. I would avoid using synthetic wadding. I cut the fleecy batting smaller than the outer fabric to make sewing up the seams less bulky.

By dropping the feed dog I used a complimentary thread and quilted the fabric. Due to the design on the fabric I decided to roughly quilt around the flowers. This kept the flowers untouched but the layers stitched. You could determine your quilting on the fabric chosen. You could save time by purchasing pre-quilted fabric. I stitched through all three layers
Before I got too carried away with the quilting I added two magnetic fastenings.

These are easy to use but you do need to take care when making the holes to insert the prongs on the back of the fastening.

Magnetic Fastening

Make two dots where you would like the top and bottom of the fastening to be. The back of the fastening has a split pin so make small holes either side of the position dot. (Sorry about this photo, looked much better on the camera!).

Once the prongs have been pushed through the fabric from front to back then put the washer on and push the prongs in to the middle or out wards. They are easily pushed with your fingers but a small hammer.

Here I have both halves of the fastening ready to snap together. If you are concerned about magnets and your laotop then use another form of fastening.

Across the two short edges I put a piece of silky bias binding to neaten.

Using Bias Binding

Sew the binding onto the back of the fabric. I used to do this the other way around until a friend showed me this way. Put the pins at right angles as this makes them easier to pull out.I then stitched along the edge of the binding with the machine foot next to the edge of the fabric.

Turn the fabric over and carefully bring the binding around to the front and pin again. Try to keep it as straight as possible. You may need to trim some of the fabric if the binding struggling to go over the edge. Then stitch along the edge of the binding to secure.

At this stage I added some embellishments. Due to the thickness of the quilting it is possible to sew on buttons, sequins etc and not have the thread showing on the inside. With a little bit of fiddling and pushing I also added some flower shaped brads. Again I did not push them all the way through because I did not want them to scratch the laptop.

I also carefully added some hand stitching to the petals. You can basically do whatever you want. I love hand stitching so I did go to town a little on this.

Fold your cover where you had decided to have the flap etc and again using your bias binding seal the side seams. Remember to fold over the raw ends of the binding to prevent fraying. Use plenty of pins at this stage to stop the fabric from moving too much as you stitch through all of the layers of fabric.

Voila!!

I simply wanted a cover to keep dust off etc but at the same time my laptop is protected if I put it in my work bag. It does not look like a laptop so does not get any unwanted attention. I would never have a traditional laptop bag.

You could easily adapt this, some examples could be....

*Other products
*Add a strap

*Add pockets for CD's or memory sticks either under the flap or inside the body of the cover.

*Have a zip to fasten the laptop under the flap.

This seems to be very long and I really do hope that it makes sense. The area to set this out on blogger is not very big and I had to keep scrolling up and down.

Anyway, Let me now how you get on and if you email me any of your makes I will post them on my blog with a link to you. Please let me now what you think.

I thought that I would gradually do the other tutorials in order of popularity over the coming months.

My next thought will be a giveaway for my first blogiversary on 8th September.

For now I am going to go and have a lie down!!

Take care
Bye

XX

Freedom!!!!

Yes! Today was the day that we could officially let Tiger out of the house. We were told by Cats Protection to keep him in the house so that he understands that this is now his home. Now the other day he escaped again so under close supervision we let him sniff and wander around the garden. For an old boy he certainly scampered up the fences quick enough!!

So after Hubby had been to Asda to shop for our little end of holiday party we decided to let him out. Sophie was a little worried and to be honest so was I, we have become rather attached to this grumpy old tabby. He wandered up to where the trees had been taken out and suddenly a big black Labrador stuck his nose thought the fence. Tiger certainly shifted quick. This dog is visiting I think but we should be getting our fence up asap. He then disappeared over next doors fence and out of sight. After a few minutes Sophie and I could not resist looking over said fence because I was wandering if he could get back. Then I thought what am I doing? So I went indoors to clean the bathroom.

Then he came back and packed up on the bench outside and fell asleep! That was it, what was I so worried about?

He has discovered the window sill in our bedroom and I sneaked up on him with my camera.

He just about fitted on the windowsill and stretched out to nearly half the length of it.

I was, of course, spotted with my camera. Not long after this he moved because the had become too hot. I have to say that this is the second time of being on this sill because the first time he fell off and slid down the back of the head board and got stuck! We had to pull the bed out and I am ashamed to say end up with fluff and cobwebs on his head! This did not put him off.

Our party went well, so now I have to get down to some work for the day job plus my laptop tutorial but after I have been to the cinema to see this with my friend tomorrow...

Take care.

XX

Poll Results and Pincushions..

Many thanks for taking part in the poll. it looks like it is the laptop cover that won. I will do the others in the order that the votes came it over the coming months. I was pleased with my laptop cover and hope you fell the same when you see it. It could easily be adapted to other products and does not take up much material and could be added to/ adapted to suit your own needs. I have been at my in-laws for most of the afternoon and then I put eye drops in my neighbours eyes then got Sophie to bed so I will have some work to do for that and I am trying to gear myself up to do it. I have so enjoyed being at home and Hubby has been here too because he now works from home. It has been a very relaxing time. Even the weather has picked up again and today has been really hot. So no sewing today but some finished items to show you which Sophie really likes..

Whilst on holiday I went into a marvelous cook shop in Lewes and found these mini fluted dishes. They reminded me of bun cases and I thought that I could take my cupcake pincushions a little further.

Once one had been made a few more followed. I have run out of the fluted dishes for now but I want to make some more. They were fun to make and look yummy in a group like this.

I enjoy making these pincushions as well and they do not take up very much fabric. I am going to make some more for stocking fillers for my sewing friends this year.

All of these pincushions have gone either into Etsy or my Webshop. I have started another item using the cupcake theme and some little brown ceramic pots will suddenly have a new lease of life too over the coming weeks.

Well, I have a busy day tomorrow with 6 guests coming to visit so enjoy the day and I will be back with the tutorial plus it is my 1st Blog anniversary on 8th September so a way to celebrate this will also be announced soon. I just need to think what exactly

Take care all!

Fabric Baskets and Christmas Thoughts...

I found this tutorial on Purple and Paisley . I thought that I would like to give it a go. I had bought some Cath Kidston fabric on ebay over a year ago. They were already cut into squares, so I adapted the pattern so that I could use the fabric as it was. I found more fabric in my stash to compliment it.

I lengthened the handles and found some cotton for the lining with little pink flowers.

Side on view which shows the colour of the fabric a little better.

I decided to make a tab fastening for the basket that would keep large items in but not shrink the overall size too much. The tab was decorated with small Yo Yo's with some of the fabric used for the basket.

The last Yo Yo hides a button and button hole fastening.

Once having made this basket I decided to have another go, but this time follow the pattern exactly. Now I do not want anyone to panic or go "Oh Nooooooo! It is too early!", but I used Christmas fabric.

This turned out quite small and was in fact quite cute. It would be perfect for wrapped chocolates, nuts or maybe a gift bag.

I can see these becoming quite addictive and I want to add to the design.

Posting rather late today due to a busy day. Went out for a meal which was very last minute and it was fun to be spontaneous for a change.

Added to Etsy and web shop (still got an on-going battle with the web!) Whilst struggling with it a lady bought an item from my website and it was a pleasure to wrap it up as i love using the blue tissue paper, ribbon, labels etc.

As I type this Tiger is sat on the sofa next to me and it is really nice to have him spending more time with us.

Enjoy the weekend!

Award...Thank you!

I really need my wrist slapped for how long it has taken me to post this. I started to write it up then the trees etc took over so I deleted it and started again now.

IT was given to be by the lovely Louise at

The Home is where the Heart is...

Many thanks Louise as it is always fun and nice to receive these little pictures to put on your blog and the thought that some else likes what you do.

The rules are..

1. To cut and paste the award on to your blog.

2. To say who gave you the award and put a link to their blog.

3.Let the award giver now that you have posted the award.

4. Nominate 6/7 other blogs. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a comment to let them now that they have been nominated.
Now some of the above is a bit tricky as so many people have already got this award and last time I nominated 6 blogs and only three actually got back to me.

So I thought that this time because there are many who visit here if you would like this award on your blog them please accept it with my blessing just leave a short comment to say that you would like it. I thought it would be a chance to meet some new blogs that I have not yet found. How does that sound. If you are a regular visitor that I know and you have not received this one pleeeeease accept it. I am going for blow out and want to give it to loads of blogs. You can then pass it on again.

After Garden fever had calmed down on Monday I thought that we deserved a scrummy dessert for dinner..

So I made this up as I went along..

A cornet with a bit of double choc ice cream then filled with chopped strawberries and blueberries. Then a large spoonful of blueberries, strawberries and a few blackberries from the garden. Then a dollop of Cornish clotted cream.

YUM YUM!

We have ordered the new fence panels yesterday, so guess what I am doing at the weekend?

The poll is coming along well. Have you voted at the top of the blog?

Crafting pics tomorrow, baskets and pincushion(s).

Enjoy the day.

(No rain yet today)

Going..Going..Gone

Hubby was up bright and early yesterday for day two of Garden Fever. The phone rang, Sophie needed breakfast etc, so by the time I got outside much of it was done. I managed to take some photos f0r you to see what happened. It is probably the sunniest Bank Holiday in ages and ages and to day? Yep,it is raining again. A Friend came round with a special ratchet winch which helps to pull out the stumps by using one of the stumps to pull against.

So after a fortifying up of tea he set to work...

We were quite surprised at how well they came out. It was certainly a one person job so I sat on the patio and did some work, making cups of tea when needed.

Sophie thought it was great and was happy to 'help' which meant getting rather dirty, the bath water was very brown that evening.

This is the right hand side as you look at it from the house. The composter in the corner will have to be moved when we put the new fence up. You can see the amount of earth that had to be disturbed so half the grass has gone, but never mind.

This is looking at the left hand side with Sophie's play house. This end is a bit of a sun trap so we are thinking of putting her house at on the other side and then re-turfing around it. That is a little way off at the moment.

Hubby worked very hard yesterday and as we speak he is now loading the bits on our friend's trailer to take to the tip. I think that there are going to be several trips! I have popped into work quickly to get some paper work then we are off to look/ order fence panels.

Poor Tigger has looked pitifully out of the french windows at us because we are not allowed to let him out just yet. Sophie did forget to shut them and he was out like a rocket for an old boy and we just got him in time. He was not impressed. He is settling in well and spends more time with us during the day and has taken to sleeping on a wooden chest at the bottom of our bed or on the bottom corner of one bed by hubby's feet. I have also worked out his favourite food so he is eating better and is generally getting used to us.

I have made a little something last evening for fun...

I found this while I was on holiday and he is meant to be an egg cup. He made me smile and I thought he would look good as a pincushion. He is now in my web shop. He needs a happy new home.

I have also started a cupcake pincushion because I enjoyed making one for the swap. More on that another time.

Many thanks to those of you who have voted on the Poll at the top of the blog. Also I would like to thanks the new visitors I have had who have commented and I have visited back and added to my blog list. The stats on Craftyblogs are interesting as it tells me that people from the following countries have visited, South Africa, Pakistan, Canada, The Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Greece,Italy, France, Spain. It has been brilliant but who are you. Do not be shy say hello. There is a translator button if it helps.

Hubby has gone off to the tip so I had better get ready to look at fences and posts, I get taken to all the great places you now. He was chuffed that his hard work got him 6 comments too.

Take care

XX