Phone socks

This was a quick make.

DD1 has a new phone and needed something to protect it, we bought some baby socks, cheap, cut and sewed them to get this result.

THis was the first attempt, not good enough at the end. It looked very much like a cut sock because of the heel.

Then DD2 suggested that we sewed the toe of the sock to the top part, and I made 6 of them.

In a way it looks like very strange socks.

I think next time we need to find some for older children, still cute, but with a longer ankle part so that I can do a straight seam and be done with it.

It would be a good fund raiser kind of project.

June Calendar

This month's calendar in the challenge organised by BQL was easier or faster to sew.

This is my take on it, inspired by the sea and the waves.

The result is very tactile.

I loved the fabric used for the frame, and wanted to keep the design on it visible. I think that worked.

The back below shows that there was only a little bit of quilting done, that's because with the 3D design it becomes very difficult to go between the waves.

Japanese plates table mat

Ihave finished my japanese plates table mat which was previously shown as a work in progress.

Once the 12 blocks were hand appliqued, I sewed them together by machine, and added some strips of fabric on 2 sides to fit the table. That's the only bit not done by hand, with the first seam on the binding.

All the quilting was done manually, and

again I enjoyed that.

I have even put a label on, with the name of the designer,etc...

This is beautiful if I may say so, I love it. It will be what is sometimes referred to as an heirloom that stays in the family.

May calendar

As part of our BQL Challenge for the year, my May quiltlet had to feature some machine trapunto.

I had some practice last year in my

quilting group, so the technique was not new to me.

You need to draw your design on your front fabric, or use some tear away with your design on it, and put it in front of the fabric.

Place some wadding under the design pieces, and quilt using your favourite technique. Then you carefully cut the wadding around the stitching. You only have it left where you want more volume.

The second stage is more like normal quilting. You make a sandwich with back fabric, wadding all over, and your top. You quilt all the background surface. Here we used a method called Mc Tavishing, named from a lady who started this in America. I tried and am no way an expert.

By the way I used a variegated thread.

The design I chose is the name of one of my daughters, Clara, and a flower. She selected the colour to fit in her bedroom.

And now it is on the wall, until it can go in her bedroom. The colour seems different on this photo, but it is lighter in reality.

White hat

We have been on holidays, sorry for the gap in the posts.

As with all holidays, there was much preparation (cancel the milk, cut the grass...), much stress on the journey, what with crossing the Channel, but everything went well at the end. We attended a wedding in the Champagne area, guess what we drank ! and then had a few relaxing days.

Now back home, the fridge is full, and I have a few projects to finish.

The first one, started and finished on holidays, was this little white cotton hat.

With the time, and the sun, I have more and more freckles, so wanted something to protect my face. But I must say that I have a big head, so hats in shops never fit.

Nevermind I decided to make one, and it was easy.

The explanations came in the magazine Marie Claire Idees, summer number, published only in french. I went to a lovely shop in France where the owner recomended the thread. She insisted that there must be some rigidity in the finished product. I bought a crochet hook, and checked after every row that my head could fit. I made one mistake, which meant I added one more stitch per row, but it's OK. Just slightly too big at the bottom.

Oh and you get to see my face, with the little wrinkles that have appeared around my eyes, must be too much laughing...

I know that this hat is not high fashion, but I can wear it in the garden, to read a book outside, etc...and as the weather has been quite nice recently, it is pretty useful.

Enjoy the summer if you have it.