W.i.P. - And the Fish Go On

The little fellas are coming along nicely. I should be able to finish these four tonight. A few seams per evening after work when I feel like it. Nothing massive. Slow and steady wins the race.

Working rows in batches instead of proceeding block by block has proved very efficient, too. You don't get the joy of seeing each goldfish framed in one sitting, but you save time along the way and four finishes must mean four times the fun once they're ready. Am I right? Eight times when I put them next to the those waiting in the wings. So much closer to assembling the top! I'll make one more centre block, though it might not feature a goldfish. Let's see.

Other than that, I'm still basking in the glory of my new bag and can't pat myself on the back often enough for inserting a key fob. It's pure magic, friends! Lol.

Stats

Finishes - 1
Nanette tote

Ongoing Projects - 5
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - should really work on these again sometime but my ride to work is a bus ride and I get car sick easily when focusing too much on anything

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt - oh my, really must start on that! How did time sneak up on me thus badly again?
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash

Is it really Sunday again, already? Time flies when you're busy having fun. I spent a wonderful evening with a bunch of sewing gals yesterday. We chatted a ton, drank some wine, and decided to found a sewing/reading/cooking club to combine many of our interests and repeat the enjoyable get-together. I'm already looking forward to our tentative meeting at the end of June.

But you're here for the eye candy so let's have a last look at that scrummy parcel and the fashion fabric it brought. (Here's part one and two.)

Lining fabrics of varying quality at a yard each that I wanted to give a try - clockwise a cheap grey poly, white Bemberg, light blue cotton lawn.The Bemberg and cotton lawn feel great, the poly not so much but that was to be expected.

1.5 yards rayon challis in mustard. I'd ordered one yard and they sent me only about 0.5 -  a quick online chat with customer service and they sent me another yard at their own expense. Great service. It's very light, soft, drapey and a little slippery, I'd not expected it to be that light. I'm not sure yet what it'll become.

The grand prize - two yards of Valori Wells Novella Rain rayon challis. It's so pretty. Not my usual colour but I felt adventurous.

And with that, I'm off for some sewing and tea. I love that crockery, we got a set of two as a wedding present. I wish I had some yummy biscuits to put on the side but no such luck today. Biscuit stash has been depleted and not refilled yet. I'll get by, though, no worries.

Happy sewing!

Linking up with Fiona who's celebrating a year of Sunday Stash. Come on over and join the party!

TGIFF - Shiny New Bag

This week's been dull and stressful busy at the same time. Like, some days have been dull and exhausting, others pretty busy on the less funny side of stressful. I'd prefer (obviously) to have things evened out between the extremes (who wouldn't), but such is life and at the end of the day woe is not me. Not least because I enjoy the ride and I still did finish my shiny new bag, too!

But first, a look at the old one. One of the million bags my husband thinks I own and have made - as if. I've never been much of a bag girl, actually, and most I've made have been for others. Anyway, this cheerful spring-y darling has been loved for two years and still is. A little battered, a little worn, a little faded, but grand!

Not only did I lengthen the straps a little, but behold the swanky snazzy improved interior - a zippered inner pouch! A key fob! I love it already.  No fumbling around for my keys today!

Filled with essential stuff. I tell you, this bag can carry around a ton of things - I've regularly stuffed tons of groceries, several books, or multiple bottles of wine in the old one and expect to do just the same kind of thing with the new one.

Topstitched straps.

I love my new bag!

The Ink & Spindle is a little less substantial than the Kokka print but the bag still beautifully holds it's form without the exterior being reinforced by interfacing, especially when filled with things. (I'd totally use interfacing if I were using a regular quilting cotton rather than a Kokka or linen mix, though.) I'm considering whether or not to add a row of grey topstitching just below the seam on the outside. Thoughts?

The pattern, Nanette tote by Rebeka Lambert, has once more been a fantastic choice.

Happy sewing!

Oh, and lest you think my old tote will die of disuse due to lost love - it won't. Definitely won't!

Linking up with TGIFF at Sew Hungry.

W.i.P - Slow Progress

I really enjoyed the long weekend after my first full week at the internship and this is what I've been working on when I didn't take care of a poorly husband or household chores.

1) Trying to find the perfect layout for the blue-grey squares. Still not there.

2) Turning my new Nanette tote from this...

...to this and some more.

The topstitching on the zippered inner bag pocket (tutorial) isn't perfect but I was eager to go on and it's a) a detail that 99 per cent of the population won't ever get to see and b) I can deal with it. I decided to add a key fob this time around because I've always got troubles finding my keys, even if I throw them into pockets. Thanks to my sis for always letting me harvest her old bags for hardware!

Hopefully, unlike last week, I can make time for a little sewing in the evenings and finish this baby until Friday. I love it already.


Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 7
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Nanette tote bag - nearly finished!
baby things
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - 52 finished flowers + 14 nearly-theres

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

Fish & HSTs - Sharing the Fun

Right after finishing Phillip - or block#3 - I knew I had to share the fun. In a girls' edition. With some of my favourite fabrics. And since Cassie not only loves my boy blocks but is expecting a little sister to her slightly less little girl I knew just who I'd like to share it with. I had a tiny layout insecurity for a moment which I took to my facebook friends - I couldn't possibly ask you all on here without ruining the surprise.

Try a different placement of the corner HSTs and overall darker impression or stick with the old?

Well, it proved a close call but the winning faction told me to stick with the blue. So, without further ado, here are the sister blocks I made. Same yet not the same. Unnamed fish, so Cassie can individualise them.

I'm glad to say the surprise went down more than well! Full-blown excitement well. Now close-ups. Because everybody likes close-ups. Matter of fact.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Cassie will turn them into. If she can ever stop stop staring at them on her wall, that is. ;-)

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash

Well well, it's Sunday again and time for another - quick - look at fabric from that recent large order.

You might have spotted these on Wednesday amongst my baby quilt squares. Love the woodpeckers in the birches though you can see only part of one in this picture.

I also ordered half a yard of this funky knit for a body or tee. My sister has decided on a monster theme for the nursery but I think dinosaurs are fair game, too.

Happy sewing!

Linking up Fiona's Sunday Stash, this time at Sew Happily Ever After. Let's see everybody's beauties!

W.i.P. - Square Central, or Central Square?

Last weekend I cut lots of 5'' squares (and some rectangles) from this pretty stack for the blue and grey baby quilt I'm planning for my nephew. Yep, the one on top of the Fish & HSTs quilt. Lol.

I love that fawn so much, Carol used it in one of her projects and I just had to have it, too. Doesn't it look too cute?

Nearly forgot to add these as I'd put them in a different box.

So, a blue and grey baby quilt featuring vegetation and animals from all party - sky, earth, sea. Anybody got a catchy name for me? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Stats

Finishes - 1
two loop/infinity scarves

Ongoing Projects - 7
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Nanette tote bag - more soon
baby things
Red Riding
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting

EPP hexies - 52 finished flowers + 14 nearly-theres

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

P.S. The intern is going well. So far I'm definitely enjoying it.

Happy Birthday

My husband regularly likes to ridicule my fondness for butter over margarine and other substitutes - hmmm, fresh bread with butter and salt, nommmmmmm - so this was the most perfect birthday card for him.

Happy birthday, my love. You mean the butter world to me and so much more.

I didn't manage to finish my me-made present for him in time. Alas. Soon, though. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Happy sewing and have a good week, friends!

Pay It Forward - Don't You Love Surprise Mail

Last year I signed up for Pay It Forward on Alyssa's blog and now I've received my handmade gift. Just when it had slipped my mind, so it really proved a surprise. So fun! Look at this beautiful sunny zipper pouch! It's so spring, or summer, even.

A few of you know how much I love Lotta Jansdotter's Echo collection. So this is perfect for me! Especially because I didn't buy this print back then because I was still a little scared by brights. Well, maybe I still am, a little, but I'm working on it. I really love the combination of bright yellow and aqua here and I love how deep the pouch is. I've yet to decide what exactly to use it for. It perfectly fits my knitting needles but also many other crafty things...

Alyssa also sent a lovely bundle of scraps and added some red pearl cotton. Once more, fantastic choice for me. Thank you so so much, Alyssa! My surprise mail really made my day.

Now, if you'd like to get some surprise mail, too, you can still enter my Pay It Forward. Two more open slots. Just sayin'.

Happy sewing, friends!

Life's Loopy Ways

Maybe not exactly loopy, ah well, but I've had an awesome week, did you, too? First I had a successful interview on Monday - I'll be interning at a foundation for the following three months. The intern is paid (lowly sure, but better than nothing), I can learn a lot and it will be good for my vita, and I can work with people who care about our wonderful city and try to bring about many different things. I had my first day on Friday and am really looking forward to Monday.

The afternoons of the rest of the week were spent with my sister who's started her maternity leave whilst the mornings were dedicated to sewing projects. Mostly prepping and cutting things. Now that I'll have little to no time on weekdays it'll be nice to have things ready to just sew. Thursday morning, however, I committed to finishing two quick projects before enjoying the holiday with a yummy BBQ with a great crowd.

My sister's partner's mum wanted a loop scarf and then my sister wanted one, too. We'd picked and ordered the fabrics over a month ago and they finally arrived on Wednesday. I really like the print we picked for her.

The one for my sister is a lot brighter.

I love how the chevrons and the ombre dots look together. So cheerful! I used a fancy stitch for that extra special touch on both scarves, but whereas I used teal on the first one to blend in I used green and teal as eye catchers on the second (teal on the bobbin, green on the spool) and boy am I glad I did that.

And here's my reward for unselfish sewing - beautiful scraps and more tiny diamonds. I really needed to restash these after the cushion cover I sent away so I gladly accepted this form of payment.

So, let's see how I settle into the new routine. Hopefully sewing and blogging won't suffer too much. Anyway, I'm happy and I've got two loop scarves to show for TGIFF. This week at Quilt Matters.

Happy sewing!