Sew Sew Modern continued ...

Yep remember the last post where I said I'll be back tomorrow.... well that never happened!!

So here we are mid December and counting down the days to Christmas!
Anyway as promised here is the gorgeous swap parcel I received for Sew Sew Modern 3 from Gingersnaps Quilts ~

Everything is gorgeous and I really got lucky with my swap partner!

Sew Sew Modern

So I may already be planning for Sew Sew Modern 4 but as I've neglected my blog for a while I haven't got round to showing what I made and received for round 3!!
Round 3 was my first time in this swap and it was wonderful, and I'm amazed by the talent and generosity in this swap!
So this is what was keeping me and my sewing machine busy!

 

 

My partner mentioned they would like a bag for their big item so I decided to make my second aeroplane bag. I love this pattern and actually really enjoy the process of making this bag too!

As I'm slightly addicted to Quilt as you go at the moment I decided to give this a try in bright rainbow colours and was really pleased with how it turned out, in fact it was pretty difficult to give this one away!!
I also went with a wide open zippy pouch for the small items along with a few other goodies and I was more than happy when it arrived safely across the other side of the world and my partner liked the surprise!!
I'll show you the wonderful goodies I received tomorrow!! 

Playing catch up!!

The phrase "time flies" sure has happened around here!!
After several weeks of horrible winter bugs, dodgy back problems and major deadlines at work, I've blinked and suddenly it's November (and nearly mid November!!)
My vision of spending any free time at the sewing machine has just been that - a vision! Although not all has been lost and I have managed to complete a few swap items.
So hopefully this is schedule resumed as normal and I can catch up on the few projects that I have completed, here's one from today my yummy Apple and Almond cake made with apples from my own little apple tree!!

 

This is one of my go to recipes and very easy to make thanks to Mary Berry!! Link here.

A little bit of hand sewing

After a recent clean up of my little sewing space I found an old, neglected project that I started possibly over 5 years ago and then the poor little thing had been forgotten about at the bottom of a drawer!

So it was time to get it finished!
It is a felt sewing kit pattern from Eternal Maker, I think I bought about 5 years ago from the Knitting and Stitching show. I didn't follow the pattern exactly and changed some of the designs and pockets etc to suit my sewing needs and equipment and I am really happy with the way it turned out and also reminded me how much I love doing blanket stitch!!

It's a great little size for sewing on the move!

Linking up to crazy mom quilts finish it up Friday! and Amy's Crafty Shenanigans TGIFF

Zippy pouches

Remember the QAYG panels from yesterday?
Ta-da! Here they are made into new zippy pouches!

Big and little make a cute pair :)

These were so much fun to make and I'm kinda in love with them :)
I used the open wide zippered pouch tutorial from Noodlehead, although I went with my own measurements based on the panels I made and added a little divided pocket to the large pouch. They have a really good firm structure due to the wadding from the QAYG method, and although the QAYG method did take a bit more time than using a single fabric I really like the finished texture and feel of them.

Front of large

Back of large

Inside with a divided pocket

Some people on IG and Flickr asked how I managed to get the stitching so neat. If you look really closely it's not perfect! I used Coats Cotton in white to sew with both as top thread and in the bobbin, stitch length 2.5 (on my Bernina 1005) and my 1/4 inch foot. When I get to the end of a row all I do is keep the needle in the work, lift up the presser foot, pivot, carefully raise the needle and move the work over so the edge of the stitching lines up with the edge of the foot, lower the presser foot and then I'm ready to sew again. Hope that all makes sense! Maybe I'll try taking some photos next time?

Little zippy pouch

Off to raid my scraps for more panels :)

QAYG love!!

I'm addicted!!
I love Quilt as you go - selecting fabrics, deciding on placement, straight line stitching and then voila QAYG panels ready to be made into something gorgeous!!

Pretty fabric scraps :)

Stitch, stitch, stitch!!

Large panels ready to go!

Small panels too!

Just one little quilt block ....

So August is my month for my quilting Bee "Bee Europa" and I've chosen the Churn Dash quilt block. I quickly made up a sample block to test the tutorial, which is a fab one by Sew Me, and made sure I had enough fabric, snapped a quick photo on my iPhone, uploaded it to Flickr and that was me done.

Bee fabric prep, Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille ~

My practice Churn Dash quilt block ~

Then the next day I started to get several likes of the photo from people who were not my contacts and seemed to have no link to quilting or sewing!? I was puzzled so logged onto Flickr to check the photo and activity and was amazed with what I saw!!

I was shocked - I know my photos get a few views generally and the same goes for the blog - I know there are a handful of peeps that find me and what I do somewhat interesting, most of the time :) but I was amazed at how many views this little old photo had!
I then found out I had been "explored", sounds kinda weird in so many ways! Shows how much I actually don't know about Flickr. It was a lovely surprise to have my photo added to Explore and that a little old quilt block was so popular!!! Current views 3603!
Bee Europa pretty piles ready to be sent out ~

Aeroplane bag love!

Ever since I saw the Sew Sweetness Aeroplane bag popping up on IG and blogs I knew I wanted to make one, and I am so happy that I have!
Luckily enough I won the Aeroplane bag and Petrillo bag pattern through an IG giveaway by Sew Fantastic and with a click of the mouse the PDF patterns had arrived!

Constructing the top panel sections!

A bit of late night sewing :)

The pattern is super easy to follow with great instructions, the only bit I did struggle with was the tapering of the zip, but it turned out all right! I decided not to add the internal zip pockets which I think did save me a bit of time, but the completed bag didn't take as long as I thought to make from start to finish!
I had loads of different ideas about fabric choices and was going to go down the route of quilt as you go but as it was my first go at the bag I went with a bit of piecing using a charm pack for the top and lovely Essex linen for the bottom.

It's nearly done!

The bag is a great size and I was amazed at how much I could squeeze into it for the FQ retreat! The handles are just the right size and I wasn't worried that they wouldn't hold the weight of all my stuff jammed in!
Another one is definitely on my to do list with a few minor alterations. Having seen lots of lovely versions at the FQ retreat I would add a pocket to the outside front in between the handles for a little extra separate storage, definitely take the time to add a zippered pocket for phone and key essentials, add bag feet to stop the bottom getting too dirty and try to find something in the UK stores to insert as a bottom to give the base a bit more structure. My heavy weight interfacing was not that heavy!!
I would definitely recommend making this bag!!

Sneaky peek of the lining!!

Can't tell you how much I love this bag!!

Fat Quarterly Retreat recap

It's been over a week since Fat Quarterly Retreat happened and somehow I'm only just getting around to talking about it now!
I could probably do a post every day for the next week about all the fun, but I decided to squeeze it into one post with mainly a photo recap so here goes! It was a lovely weekend with a wonderful chance to meet people I met last year, new people from blogs I follow or on Instagram and some of my fellow Bee Europa girls! It was a fun filled time of sewing, chatting, drinking and eating, and it was lovely to eat out with some of the London Modern Quilt girls on Saturday night!! Hello and hopefully I'll be joining you soon at a meeting!! However I still didn't meet everyone - I'm not great at introducing myself! I'll just have to go back next year :)

My aeroplane bag did me well during the weekend, stayed at the lovely Grange, gorgeous streets around Baden Powell House ~

 My embroidery hoop clocks that I swapped (hopefully they got home in one piece!), Liberty goody bag (thanks to all the sponsors!), Quilt Market haul, and gorgeous swaps received!! Sadly I can't remember the names of two of my swappers, so please say Hi if it is you!! Thanks to Susy for the gorgeous red and aqua cushion!

 Loved the workshops and tabletop sessions, so much inspiration! FQ team starting off the fun, Trudi and her amazing FMQ skills, loved Katy's EPP classes and Lu's hand quilting class. Also snuck into Quilt Dad's blogging session!

So that's the recap from me! It was a fun filled time and can't quite believe that it's over for another year!

Fat Quarterly Retreat hello!

Hopefully I'm not too late to the Fat Quarterly Retreat Linky Party but in 5 days time I'll be heading down to London for the Retreat!! Yay!!
So a few random things to help break the ice....

• Next Friday is not only FQ retreat but also the end of term for me in my day job as a teacher! This last week has been more than manic with a visit from the people that all teachers dread so any last minute sewing totally went out the window :(
• I'm left handed but only for writing, right handed for everything else - weird I know!
• Originally from Jersey before settling in the UK
• Most of my friends don't understand my obsession with spending far too much money on fabric, only to cut it up and sew it back together again!
• I went to the retreat last year and met lovely people but had to travel back and forth so felt I missed out on some things so so excited this year to be staying at the Grange!! 
• Met the lovely Pippa at retreat last year who is my roomie this year and was also my secret name badge partner!!
• Last year I was carrying this bag not sure what I'll have this year just yet - need to get finishing!!

• Not great at photos so here is one of me at the London Sewing Directory meet up (Fiona hope you don't mind me borrowing the photo!!?) I'm next to Fiona in Blue, think I was trying to be the M of YMCA! (It was held at a YMCA just in case you're wondering!)

So a list of totally random facts!
My classes are Spring Carnival, Free Motion, Triangle City and Hand Quilting so see you all there!!

Name badge reveal!

Yay! My secret partner has received her Fat Quarterly Retreat name badge so I can now reveal it fully!!
I had so much fun making it and I'm really pleased that Penny liked the badge. Thanks to Penny for her photo as I completely forgot to take a photo of the front!

Fat Quarterly Retreat name badge on the move!!

So the name badge I made for my secret partner is on it's way and hopefully will find it's new home tomorrow! Hoping my partner likes it too!
But silly old me as I'm looking through my photos on my phone tonight there's one of the back in progress and when complete but the front - well as it was such a secret for my partner my brain obviously told me not to take a photo of it either! Duh! So when my partner posts a pic I'll just have to borrow it!