Sent and Received

Sent to Kaelin, as part of Pretty Little Pouch swap: Clutch pouch with magnetic snap.  Kaelin (The Plaid Scottie) had a lot of little purses in her swap mosaic so that gave me the shape idea.  I went through her galleries and profile in the usual secret stalking way for favourite colours and patterns plus she had dropped some hints about green, houndstooth and bows in her swap info- all very helpful!

I love doing the research and finding all the different fabrics.  It takes me a while but it is an enjoyable and creative activity.   The little bow are detachable- I found the idea at How About Orange

I stuffed the bag full of goodies: houndstooth scarves for Madmen moments, fabric, chocolate, tape measure.   She did a funny blog entry with a great little pic of the bag living in Beauty's castle along with  Cogsworth and Lumiere- check it out here. I madea scrappy piece of fabric for the pouch pieced using the idea in this tutorial by Lady Harvatine.  Added the stitches and then cut out the bag shapes.

This was a little sketch book and cover for Anne of Film and Thread.  She so kindly sent me a big box of stamps that she no longer used and I wanted to give her soemthing back..  She is a talented sketch and she likes to be out on the move so I wanted something small and portable.  

Simple little shape with a couple of little vintage spool blocks.  

I thought the turquoise/yellow ripple looked like the sort of marbled lining paper that you used to find in hand made books.

It is happily with its owner.

Happy weekend x

Two Pouches

When I enter swaps I spend a lot of time thinking of what I will make and none thinking what will come to me.  Yesterday, not one but two pouches in the post.   The first from Krista of Spotted Stone Studio

Wow, I am so lucky!  This was one of the first pouch to have a photo posted in the Pretty Little Pouch Swap on Flickr and I admired it straightaway. Great colours, hand stitches, beautiful fabrics, attention to little details- did you notice the little owl zip pull?  And lovely fabrics and handmade goodness inside.

Lining: behind the grey and orange pocket is a lovely yellow grid check.

Close up: I love that dotty tag and those citrus cross stitches, and the shot grey fabric is tactile and practical.  It is a biggie as well, big enough to store my Ipod, phone and mini change purse on a day out!  I love it Krista, thankyou so much!

And sneaking into the same postage pile was this little beauty from Ali of A Squared.  These are my favourite prints from the new Denyse Schmidt range so it couldn't be a better fabric choice and this nifty little pouch can carry my essentials- lip balm, swiss army card of tools, aspirin and forehead stick! 

A big thankyou to Ali x

She sent this pouch as part of Pay it Forward, I was one of the first 3 commenters to respond so I received this cute pouch.  My turn to continue the giving, the first 3 commenters on this post will have a little something made for them- pin cushion perhaps?  Please make sure I can contact you!  I have up to a year to do this but I am guessing I'll be making things for you sooner rather than later, I like to get things done.   You part of the bargain is to Pay it Forward- once you receive your gift from me you will then make something for 3 more people, and so it continues...

The Kitchen, that's where You'll FInd Me...

I made this for a fun secret swap on Flickr- Favourite Little Quilt Swap, run by Kendra. There was a date to complete by and then all the mini quilts were anonymously displayed and the creators vote for their top 10 out of all the completed entries.   We are then secretly told who and where to send our quilts.  Then we must wait to see which one we will receive from our top ten list!

 As there is no one specific partner in mind, there is complete freedom to design any quilt you like.    This idea has been in my head for some time, inspired by some blocks in Kumkio Fujita's 318 Patchwork along with bright enamel vintage kitchen wear.  The piecing was surprisingly straightforward,   however the hand written note was nearly my undoing.  I felt like Goldilocks tasting the three bears' porridge...

Hand sewn, polyester thread- melted under the iron

Linen, machine sewn- too big

Hand sewn, embroidery floss- too bold and chunky

Stamped- too close together

 

Stamped with correct spacing- just right.  

 I can't even show you the stamping I did with red ink that I couldn't set on tiny scraps of linen- my little dog, Lottie kept finding them and eating them so they ended up in the bin!

Vintage large polka dot fabric on the back along with scraps from some of the front fabrics.

The prairie points on the shelf were adapted from Penny's great tutorial at Sew take a Hike.  The mini quilt was posted a few days ago and is on its way to its secret new home x