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.