Baby quilt

 My brother and sister in law had a baby girl back in the autumn and this gave me the ideal opportunity to have a go at making a small baby quilt for either the cot, car seat, floor...where ever they needed a small soft surface.

I used some bright owl fabric with an organic bamboo batting and a yellow fleece for the backing.

 To keep all the layers together I hand stitched around a few of the owls

It was lovely to be able to give my niece a handmade gift at Christmas.

Happy crafting

Kyla

WOYWW

Time to celebrate...the procrastinator has been thwarted!!!  Look....

 I know!  I couldn't believe it either.  I decided to put some more vinyl on the record player and settle down to a sewing session and I finally finished it!  I thought that since you ladies helped me think through HOW to do it at the WOYWW crop I would share it on a Wednesday (not actually my workdesk but I hope Julie doesn't mind).

The red sticking out the sides is actually my fluffy rug I placed this on top to take the photo!!  I think I made this in time as the weather in the UK took a turned colder at the weekend (not unexpected in the latter part of November) so I should be snug as a bug with this new topper on the bed.

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week left me wondering whether I should actually show them considering the awful news from Paris and Lebanon recently, but they really were the first four cards drawn randomly so I decided to:

A series of horrifying acts of violence....senseless.

 Kyla

Music to quilt by

So after a fabulous weekend in London visiting my brother, sister in law and my new niece Emily (she is SO cute) and a quick trip to the British Museum and Tate Modern whilst we were there I found myself extra busy with a mix of gigs (The Legendary  Shack Shakers) and an evening out with friends sampling a new Veggie and vegan restaurant in Bristol (1847-great good and service) not to mention crazy hectic at work to boot.

So I decided this weekend I need to crack on a finish some UFO's (unfinished objects-I am sure you all have them).

The one I chose to tackle is my quilt! Now some of you know I have been struggling for quite a while with this but I made great progress at the recent WOYWW crop with all the advice (couldn't convince anyone to finish it for me though!!) so I put on the record player and plugged in the sewing machine and tired not to swear too much as I tried to make some progress!

Quilt procrastination

Now, I am a really good procrastinator when it comes to certain projects and quilting is one of them.  I bought two jelly rolls 3 years ago with the idea of making my mum a quilt and one for myself.  I made mum's a couple of years ago but it was not an experience I fancied repeating so my jelly roll has sat there year on year.  I even decorated my bedroom in the jelly roll colours to see if that would inspire me, but no.

Then finally, last week I decided to have another go.  My husband was at a punk festival for 4 days and this gave me time.  Now, the Missouri quilt youtube channel says that this quilt top only takes an hour...NOT if you are left handed, new to quilting AND have Rheumatoid Arthritis (which means I need to take regular breaks and stretch/rest).

So I settled down and after an afternoon of sewing (and a little unpicking!) I had half a quilt top, by the following lunchtime I had finished my quilt top.

Now I have to work out how to add the batting, edging and backing.  Fiona (Starting at the Sea) has sent me some great tutorial links so fingers crossed the next part of the quilt doesn't take me 3 years also!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

First part of my Christmas make round up

Hello peeps, as many of you will know I have had to be a bit cagey over the past couple of months about what I show on my desk in case I uncovered something I was making for Christmas!

Finally I can share with you some of those makes.  First for each brother (hubby has 2 and I have 1) I made a homemade hamper.  They each contained a bottle of elderflower cordial, some spicy rhubarb chutney, spiced sugar (which contains flavours such as clove, orange, cinnamon and bay leaf, yep, bay leaf...it really does work) and some sloe gin.  All handmade and I finished off the hampers with some candy canes and some christmas tree decorations with their names on (not handmade but they did look so cute)!

 Back in the summer I did a glass fusing course and made necklaces, keyrings and coasters.  Now, I did make a few but I kept a lot of them myself so I need to do another course (luckily my brother in law and his lovely wife bought me a glass blowing course voucher so that's another craft to try!).

 I also made several book covers.  I made a few quilted ones (but these are a PAIN and took me hours to make just one!)

 So I decided to try using solid fabric instead and this worked just as well but took a lot less and didn't cause my RA to flare after.

Then there is the proverbial problem of what to make for men!  Well, my brother currently works for a Japanese company and I know that tradition states that they respect their business cards so I made him a leather business card holder with his initials stamped on the front.

So, that's a few of my latest makes.  I will finish uploading the rest of my photos soon and share them.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

A colourful trip

Since I have been inspired by colour and fabric recently my mum and I had a trip out to the American Museum in Bath for the Kaffe Fassett exhibition.  It is amazing but I lived in Bath for 15 years and married a Bathonian and have never been to this particular Museum!!

 Even the entrance to the exhibition was glorious technicolour (and there was yarn bombing in the trees outside too!).

 There were several LARGE tapestry's

 and the colourful quilts were exquisite

 and I found it really inspiring

all in all a great trip out and very inspiring.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW in a special place!

Hello peeps, yep its Wednesday again!  This week I have an extra special workdesk to share...now it's not from Wednesday but actually from Tuesday because I spent the day with the lovely Lunchlady Jan.  At the last crop I asked Jan if she did sewing lessons to improve my skills and she kindly offered a days sewing!

So off I went with my machine and SO much fabric stash in the boot of the car ready to hone my bag making skills.  During the morning the lovely Julia must have smelled the coffee as her timing was impeccable!

 from the left, Julia, me and Jan

I brought my "Man Bites Dog" cards with me and Julia did the honours by picking some for this weeks desk:

 "Teen Rehab Missing Again"....oooh, considering these are picked as random they can be quite dark!

Jan is a great tutor and soon my skills were being honed to another level and after a few hours (made longer as I do have a tendency to chat!) I had a bag that I am SO proud of....look:

 It has pockets and lining

and even a recessed zip!  I am so chuffed that its going to work with me tomorrow...and it is NOT going to be a Christmas pressie for one of my sister in laws as I thought it would be as I love it too much to give it away!!

So thanks Jan for a great day, great lunch, fabulous tuition and for putting up with a messy crafter!  Thanks also to Julia, without WOYWW I would not have made so many new friends (not easy as you get older) to share my crafting passion.

So there you go, I have the skills and now need to have another go at making a bag...somehow I think it wont look as good, but hey I have learnt a new skill and that can never be a bad thing!

Happy WOYWW

Kyla