Mystery Bag.........

On the 5th Tuesday of any month we do a mystery project.at the Patchwork Group I attend.  It is called Banana Patch. Carol is the instructor and she gives us a list of requirements to bring on that day.  This time we had to bring a variety of cut strips and enough for the lining.  It can be a bit daunting as we never know what we are making. I loved the way this bag turned out and it is in my favourite colours too.  I think this will become a one of my favourites.  Thanks Carol for your inspiration and your willinginess to share your vast knowledge of patchwork and sewing.

             

                                                                             

50th Birthday Gift..........

A birthday gift for a 50 year old. I loved the way it turned out. Once again I used Heat n Gone stabilizer on top and tha bottom.  Makes life so much easier.  I hate the bits that tearaway leaves behind and I hate picking solvy off the top.   I hope he likes the towel.
                                                                                 

Something Blue.......

I had one bag left so my youngest grandson Cooper was happy to get this one. This subway art is soooo cool, I love it.  I have got plans to do a few more of this type work of course time permitting. Krissy has all sorts of different designs, and she will do what ever you want. Great for birth announcements.

                                                                               

My Glaucoma Journey

Last week I had to go to Rockhampton for measurements for bifocal lenses when I have cataract surgery. This was about a 2 hour session.  Lots of different drops in my eyes and looking through all different sorts of  machines all attached to computers printing out information.  How wonderful and lucky are we to have all these medical procedures available to us.  As I was sitting there waiting for a reaction from the eye drops, I started to think about what might be available in 50 years time.  The mind boggles. Maybe no one will have to wear glasses, who knows........ Until we need to use these things we don't know what is available.
The pressure in my eyes is still a bit high but that should be all fixed with the cataract surgery.  On the 5th and 6th of November I will  be having my surgery. I am taking fish oil tablets and using eye drops 4 times a day.  This will continue for 3 months after the surgery.  I am getting a bit impatient  as I just want it all over and done with.  Rember everyone PLEASE GET YOUR EYES CHECKED.

                                                                           

Something Pink ...........

Having a bit of a clean out the other day I came across these little bags so I decided to embroider something for my friend, Desley's  three granddaughters. I love doing something pink for a change.  When I needed to go to Rockhampton for lazer treatment for my eyes, Desley offered to take me without hesitation.  I am lucky to have such a good friend. I have been following Krissy Helvy Embroidery Sayings & Phrases on Facebook and really love her subway art..   If you are on facebook just type in the above and the page will come up.  Only $3.00 per design and they stitch out beautifully.  Haylee, Georgia and Jacie thought the bags were just great.

                                                                           

Applique Towels........

I love the ways these towels turned out.   I always embroider towels for my friend who looks after my cat and garden while we are away on holidays.  Each year she gets towels for the girls birthdays.  I like to do something a bit different but I am running out of ideas. The numbers were done with applique, and  I used heat and bond lite so that the applique material stayed nice and firm.   The flowers and name were done on the embroidery machine.The design came from an Etsy Store.  I also used my multi-positional hoop for the name Georgia which made it so much easier by not having to rehoop the towel.

                                                                                       

Please Get Your EYES Checked!!!!!

Please everyone get your eyes checked. I had been away on holidays and when we came back I couldn't get interested in craft work or sit at the computer for long. I had a slight ache behind my eye but just put it down to eye strain, so I did less and less with my eyes. I went and had my eyes checked and discovered I had acute glaucoma. I never ever thought that I would have glaucoma. I quick trip to the specialist and I was having lazer treatment the next morning for a temporary fix.. He said that I could go blind at any time. Very very scary. I also have cataracts and they will be removed in a month and the glaucoma will also be fixed. At the moment my vision is not 100% but I am so lucky to find it before I went blind. The good news is that after the surgery,all going to plan, I should not have to wear glasses. I am having bifocal lenses put in my eyes. PLEAE GET YOUR EYES CHECKED.
                                                                           
                                                                               

Purse Tissue Holder !!!!!!

A friend wanted some purse tissue holders.  She is mad about cream on cream so I came up with these.
This is a  In The Hoop Project. from Design by Sick.  I have had this pattern for quite a while.  The one in the front has some cutaway in between the layers where the embroidery is, and the embroidery  sits a lot better than the one at the back.   She loved them and I put a smile on someones face today.

                                                                               

Beach T Shirts !!!!

Visiting the Grandkids at the beach for the school holidays, I thought that I had better take them a T Shirt with a beach theme.  I really love the embroidery designs from Embroitique, they always stitch out great.  The back two designs are from Embroitique,  I am not sure where the other design came from.

                                                                              

                                                                           

Bag for Alphabet !!!!

I thought that Cooper would need a bag for his alphabet. I had always wanted to make a snap bag .  I got the idea from The Tattered Garden.  The idea of using a  metal tape measure for the bag closure sounded like a great idea.
Cooper won't have an excuse for not putting his alphabet away. Another project crossed off my bucket list !!!!

                                                                             

Rag Alphabet !!!!!

I made this Rag Alphabet for Cooper.  I did one set of capital and small letters and one set of numbers .  I made extra of the small letters such as the a, e, n, o, l so that he could spell his name and also his brothers names.
I printed out the letters and numbers  and roughly cut around them and placed the letters on fabric with felt on the bottom.  I stitched around the letters on the line using a very small stitch (1.5), making it easy to pull the paper off the fabric, With a bigger stitch I stitched around the shape of the letter and used pinking shears to cut around the edge of the letters.  What a great way to use up all those odd bits and pieces of fabric, cotton and bobbin thread.  
                               
                                                                                   

                                                                                  

Finally Finished!!!!

I have been making Merry Christmas Bunting for Christmas Presents.  They were all made In the Hoop and I used the design from The Mad Woman of Locke Street.  In the middle of making these I made three lots of Bunting for my Grandsons in their favourite Footy colours so I am a bit sick of bunting at the moment. I still need to make some for my other two grandsons but they can wait for a while.  Tomorrow I will be starting a new project.
                                                                                   

Happy Mother's Day

Today I received these beautiful flowers for Mothers Day from my son and his family.  I would like to wish all  mothers everywhere a very Happy Mothers Day and I would like to share my flowers with you.

                                                                                   

Quilt Blocks for the Children's Hospital !!!!!

                                                                         

Our Patchwork group, Banana Patch is making two Quilts for a Childrens Hospital in Brisbane. We had to make  four blocks each, two for girls and two for boys.  I really enjoyed making the girl blocks, something a little different for me.. I used Heat and Gone as the topping on the girl squares.  I really like this product. I will post the quilt when it is finished.  We always try to do a community project  each year.  Last year we made Wheelie Walker Bags for the Retirement Village.

                                                                            

40th Birthday Towel

I was asked to embroider a towel for a 40th Birthday.  I wanted something a bit different and found this design at Embroidery Designs. com.   I decided to try out Heat and Gone for the topping instead of Solvy.
I was really impressed with it and pulled off the Heat and Gone from around the design and then with the tip of the iron I just touched any bits that were left and they disappeared.  I didn't want to flatten the pile of the towel so that why I just used the tip of the iron.   So much easier than Solvy unless you can wash the item. I did wash the towel before I embroidered on it.

                                                                            

Carrot Gift Bags for Easter

I wanted to make something for my grandsons for Easter.  I decided to make a carrot gift bag.  I was really happy with the way they turned out.  I put some lightweight ironon vilene on the orange fabric an then cut out the carrot shape.  I did a few lines and squiggles to make it look like a carrot in a very small satin stitch. For the leafy top I cut a sort of rounded shape, 4 for each carrot top.  I stitched 2 pieces right sides together leaving about 3/4 inch at each end. Turned  them the right way and stitched the carrot top accross the top, wrong side of carrot and  right side of carrot top ( just a single layer). I then bought the other piece of the carrot top,down over the seam, turned under the edge and stitched close to the edge. This is where I threaded the ribbon. I stitched up the carrot right sides together making sure not to catch the open ends where the ribbon is threaded.  I filled them with Easter goodies.

I thought they looked cute.,  I am always looking for ideas for boys if anyone has any I would love to hear from you.
                   
                                                                                

                                                                                

Bunting for the Boys !!!!!

Thinking of things to make for my Grandsons is not easy.  I decided to make some Bunting for them.  Since the footy season is about to start, I thought footy colours would be a great choice.   I made these In the Hoop and bought the  design from The Mad Woman of Locke Street.  I bought the Christmas Bunting and took the blank one and embroidered the letter that I wanted on it.  I have a program called PE Design Lite which allows me to do this on the computer.  I am making Christmas Bunting for gifts for  Christmas but got side tracked.  I will get them finished by Christmas I hope.

                                                                                  

Life gets in the way !!!!!!

Today I decided I was going to update my Blog.   I never seem to have any spare time these days.  I found these couple of hats in my sewing room  and decided I should embroider something on them before the grandkids out grow them.  It was quite a challenge as I don't have a cap hoop .  Cooper also put in an order for a blue shirt with a white bunny ( I had made one like this for him when he was 2, it was green with a chocolate bunny).  He loved the Toadally Lovable hat and his shirt but said the bow was different. Kids!!!!
The other shirt was for my older grandson as he is always on face book and he always clicking the like button.

                                                                            

Nasturtiums !!!!!

I made this three tiered skirt a very long time ago.  It was my favourite but it doesn't fit anymore.  I cut the flowers and leaves out and ironed vliesofix applique paper on the back of the flowers and then ironed them on to the bottom of the skirt. I then cut out the little holes on the flowers.  I used the satin stitch on my sewing machine and stitched around all the flowers and leaves and the the cut outs.  To finish off I stitched black beads in the centre of the flower.   The photo doesn't show but the flowers are in three shades.