Knitted socks

I have made some socks before and then I stopped. In fact the first one on that pair was made probably last year. Recently I managed to start the second one, and then stopped again. But now that I am on holidays from work, I managed to finish the second one.This stopping and starting is the reason why they are not completely similar. But I am sure it won't have any consequence when wearing them.

I like the way the toes are finished. It's not like something you see in the shops.

My heels were difficult, but they look all right at the end.

I love my socks.

Here are the 7 cards I made for the swap. 6 were sent and I kept one to remind me of my work.

The background is made of 6 squares of fabric on the theme of summer. My idea was of a hot day, enjoying a cool drink in the garden.

The glass and jug were glued on the background and then I did some free machine quilting to attach them.

There is a zig zag stitch all around the edges.

I really enjoyed the process of planning and making these cards. My problem is still finding the time to make more.

July's card swap with BQL

I took part in a swap in July on BQL. We swapped fabric cards. I made 7 and sent 6 of them. In exchange I received 6 different cards.

Today I'll show you the cards I received. They are all different and all beautiful.

This first one from Irene in Scotland is of a thistle of course.

There is some distressed netting, and free motion quilting on the flower, with squares of fabric to make the background.

This one is from Carole in England. Each piece is carefully cut and appliqued on the background.

From Marian K, she had to eat a lot of penguin bars to make her cards and there is a very fine blue non woven fabric on top. Lots of fun.

From Sue W, the photo doesn't make justice to the shiny pieces on the fabric and to the hand embroidery.

From Miriam B there is some machine applique and free machine quilting.

And last in this series but there is no real order, this card from Inge in Germany, hand embroidered with a log cabin.
I am very grateful to all these ladies for the hard work they shared with me. In fact I enlisted on BQL post card group to take part in more card swaps.

Next I'll show you the cards I made.

Week end bag from Amy Butler

I started working on this bag, and then it took me longer than I thought to finish it.

I saw a sample at FOQ in Birmingham last August, and ordered the pattern. The fabric is curtain material, and it is all lined in cream.

I love it but am a bit worried about how strong it will be, and if it will keep its good looks with use. There is a lot of interfacing, and lining to make it stronger but I didn't have one of the products recommended.

And there it is with a photo of the pattern from Amy Butler. You can find these pretty much everywhere.

Sorry for being away

I realise that I haven't been posting for a month. It's never happened since I started this blog. I even prepared posts for when I was away on holidays.

The only explanation is that I was busy, just with life. There were all these end of year party, and children things. I do realise that my new job has taken a big toll on how much I can sew, and the time spent on the computer looking after my blog.

Now that the school holidays have started I hope to have more time to post and to sew. So before going away, I might do a few posts. I don't know how much internet access I will have while away, so can't guarantee that I will be much here then.

Now to write another post on some sewing.

Fabric postcards

When I met the wonderful Kandy, who runs BQL on the internet, and lives not far from me, she showed me her fabric postcards. She has taken part in a lot of exchanges and in consequence has got a large collection ( a few shoe boxes in volume, but in inspiration, so much more).

Later on she came to give a talk to our patchwork group on such cards, and then I was in charge of organising an evening workshop.

These are my samples, finished.

Oh and they are perfect rectangles, it's just the angle of the photograph that makes them look not so.
This card was made with a flower on fabric. The bit left wasn't much bigger than the final postcard. There is some wadding, a border and some free machine quilting.

All the edges of the cards are made with a zig zag stitch.

This one uses the appliqué technique with embroidery floss.

And the last one is 2 log cabin blocks sewn and cut to fit the card at an angle.

I enjoyed these small projects, tried new techniques.

Here is the back of the cards, with some white fabric covering the Buckram. This is used to give some rigidity to the cards, and sticks to the fabric on both sides when ironed. Very practical.

Now I have put my name down to do an exchange, probably with 6 or 7 people. I just need to find the time to make the cards, isn't it.

I think it will be a good challenge for me, and I will have some lovely postcards as well.

Lunch bag

I made this lunch bag quickly to use it when I went to Malvern patchwork and quilting spring show.

I took some photos but I don't feel that I can use them here because I would need to get the authorisation from every artist involved. It's a shame as we are missing out on spreading the word about what we are doing, but I do understand that it gives the artists more control over their rights.

The pattern comes from the website of the magazine "All People Quilt".
The button was one we made with the girls in Fimo paste.

DD3 new dog bag and pencil case

I saw this fabric at the Malvern show (more about this later) in May, and had to buy it for DD3 who is so fond of dogs. We don't have any because I am busy enough with the family and the house. But we had the fabric.I didn't use a pattern for this one, just used the 50 cm of fabric that I bought. There are 2 inside pockets. It is lined and quilted all over, including the strap. That detail was very important for DD3.With the bits left over I sewed a pencil case with a zip. I used the same lining fabric which comes from Ikea.

Here you have a view of the inside of the bag, with embroidery (by machine) on the top of the pockets.

DD3 wanted a big bag to put all her notebooks for school. We discussed the size, depth, pockets, lining fabric, and she is very pleased with the result. Apparently her friends are amazed that I can do THAT...They mean not buy it ready made.

Blue rabbits in my house

This is another big gap in my blogging. I do have things to show you, but not much time to sit in front of the computer.

So here are 2 at the same time.

The first comes from the book "Zakka Sewing" by Therese Laskey and Chika Mori, and is a pencil case in the shape of a rabbit.
The lining inside doesn't follow the shape outside. Very cute isn't it ?

The second one was much simpler, for a friend who had a little boy.

Old sewing notions

My grandfather worked in the textile industry. See it's not my fault if I love everything related to fabric, it must be in the blood. And I found these in my grandmother's sewing supplies.

I loved them both dearly but sadly they left us a few years ago.

Under the brown paper from Coats, are reels of thread. I didn't open them to check the state of the cotton, because I think they look so much better like this, with the tie around.

And then there were these books of buttons. Some were used by Bonne Maman, probably on some clothes for my Mum and Aunt.

Sorry it's all in french, but I am sure that you can catch the spirit of the time, just looking at these.

My first knitted hat

OK I'm a bit behind with writing my blog. I'm trying to keep up with everything : work, children, husband, house, and other commitments.

We have to finish some quilts for the Hospital. I only need to put the labels but it takes me longer than I thought to do that. I'll show them soon.

Now I took some knitting with me on our last holiday. I bought this gorgeous wool in a shop in Burford UK. It's called Colinette, Skye.

The pattern was on Ravelry and is "Pajunkissa". It is done on a circular needle.

Oh and the gorgeous model is DD1. I love her hair coming out.

I had to start 3 times to get the right size but the wool is so nice to use that I didn't mind.

Finally meeting Pascale

Again this photo was taken during the Easter Holidays in France. I finally got to meet Pascale, we share the same name, with her beautiful children. If you look again the youngest, who is only about a month old at the time of the picture, is showing his head out of Pascale's coat. I'm the one standing on the left.

We met on the Grand Place in Lille, and it was still very cold at the beginning of April.

There is so much to talk about, we will have to meet again.

You can visit her blog "Journal d'un Atelier". She writes in french but speaks english as well so you can leave her some comments. She has had some of her projects published in France, and is very creative. Enjoy.

As a present I gave her the little purse in the front, the other ones have gone already but I think I might make some more as I really love their shape. They are from Tilda and appeared in a previous post.
I also made on the morning of the meeting this blue rabbit case. It seemed to fit with her having a new baby boy.

It was so nice to finally meet her as she organised 2 challenges I took part in. The first one was red houses, which I need to finish, one of my UFOs. And the second used ribbon embroidery, and I also need to finish it.

She hasn't done a challenge this year, I guess I know why she is busy, but she is still an inspiration.

A rabbit to keep my card

You can see that I had a bit of time during the Easter holidays.

I made this little purse to hold my credit card, and replace the ugly, boring, plastic one I had before.

My only slight worry is that the snap fastener might need to be resewn at some point. Of course I can't use a magnetic fastener because of the nature of the credit card.

The pattern comes from a book I really enjoy at the moment, called "Zakka Sewing, 25 japanese projects for the household" by Therese Laskey and Chika Mori.

The meaning of Zakka is "household good" in Japanese, and the projects were made by 25 different japanese designers. Luckily it is all in english, no need to translate. You will see other projects from this book soon.

The black and white fabrics are a bit different from my usual choices. Interesting. And I'm glad I've made something for myself and am using it. Otherwise I have a tendency to make things that are so nice that I don't use them. Or I use them as presents, hopefully to people who will enjoy them.

I'm trying to change that as I have so much pleasure in using things homemade.