July's bag

And another bag finished, for the BQL challenge again.

As my niece was visiting us in England, I offered to do this one for her, she had the choice of the fabrics. She also decided on one pocket and the heart design in quilting.

As before the design was made by Kandy Newton for the challenge she organised on BQL to make a bag a month.

The 2 sides of the bag are identical.

The wadding is a bit thick which gives a good loft to the quilting. On the photo below on the right you can see our paper template for the heart, so easy to do.
The bag can fit an A4 paper.

And this shot to show the inside fabric.

Dorine loves it, and will take it back home in France in a few days.

I must say that it is now the school holidays, so I have been quite busy with my 4 girls and Dorine.

We try to show her around a bit- she came before- my husband was away on business and I feel like I am cooking a lot. There isn't much time available for sewing.

Luckily the weather has turned summery, at last, and we do enjoy that.

Chris's bag

My friend Chris liked the bag I made in April, from a pattern by Kandy Newton, and she will soon get her own bag, the same size, with more pockets and details.

I found this cat fabric, and she likes cats, bought a metre, and had some darker coordinate, half a metre, and at the end I had to check the position of my pieces to have enough fabric for the bag.

I added a pocket with a zip and another pocket divided in 3.

And the last detail but I think it makes a difference, is a long string and hook to attach your keys on, pull them from the bottom of the bag where they always end up, and open the door with the keys still attached. You shouldn't lose them any more, and if need be you can still detach them.

I also added a button to close the bag in the middle of the top, as it is quite big, it will protect the privacy of the content when the bag is on the floor.

I hope she will like it. She is quite worried about her Mum at the moment, so it will distract her.

Luxquilt cosmetic bag

I have found this tutorial on luxquilt for a cosmetic bag. I thought about it for a few days, and couldn't wait anymore to start, and finish it.

The finish is very professional, thanks to the directions from Fernande. And so I am very pleased with the result.

But it is not a quick project, or maybe it would have been faster with less quilting and less interruptions.

The fiddly bit is sewing the second part of the zipper, as you have to find space for your machine foot.

At the end it looks clean inside and out, go and have a look at the tutorial.

Evening scarf

Another knitting project which I finished a few days ago. I used to take it to the swimming pool, watching my youngest daughter. Again no need to think, just do row after row.

Although I must precise that you have to keep watching what you are doing because of the thread, which is made with a gap in the center, and the needles can get caught in this, and because of the size of the needles, 10mm. They are big.

So at the end it doesn't go as fast as you would expect, and I am glad I have finished it.

My first pair of socks

Some weeks ago I finished my first pair of socks, TADA..!

I told you about this project earlier here when I bought the wool at Cheltenham Craft Show.

I didn't show the photos as I thought Iwould change the toe part as they are not the same, but now I find that I can't be bothered. They are different anyway because of the changes of colour.

The tread changes colour irregularly, so there is no need to change the wool to get the stripes.

I bought more wool to do another pair, but my needles have been broken, twice, when I took my socks on the plane, or rather they went in my luggage. I had these lovely bamboo knitting needles, very nice to work with, but I can't find the same size.

So I will have to find another 4 in a different size.

I really enjoyed doing them, it is a very portable project, and not too much to think about until the heel and toes. I need to perfect my technique though as there is a small hole near the heel where the work is pulling a bit when it changes direction, if you know what I mean.

I don't think I will wear them as everyday socks, they are too special for me. More in the evening to watch tv sometimes, I don't want to wear them out.