Busy Busy - Opps! ... and a Thimble Holder Tute!

So, it has not been a good week ... china wise :( Sometime ago I gently smacked the sugar bowl to my good china. I didn't even notice it at first - then a small crack appeared. The crack has been growing ever since, and last week it exploded!!! WHAAAAA! Then, just to end my week, a tea plate to my every day china snapped - I mean just snapped in half as I was taking it out of the dishwasher. Geeeesss!

Ok, to make up for all that bad luck the mater, after cleaning dresser drawers (aka downsizing) donated a box (eat yer heart out girls) of hankies! Yup dainty hankies. Not sure what I'll be doing with them ... but at some point something creative will cross my mind. Speaking of creative .... here's block nine of my Tisket-Tasket block challenge. I enjoyed doing this one, I think the Scottie dog is kinda cute!

I've been doing a fair bit of blog surfing lately and have truly enjoyed several great tutorials out there. I have decided that it's time to take a stab at my own, so - for all you out there who like handmade, enjoy being GREEN, and appreciate tutorials .... here's my first! Just about all of us purchase either margarine or yogurt which leave us with loads of plastic containers and lids. Save the lids!
Make yourself a paper elongated egg shaped pattern about 3" to 3.5" long. With a marker trace the outline of this pattern onto recycled plastic lids. Cut out three with "utility" scissors. Next, trace your pattern onto your fabric, six times!

Cut out your fabric, leaving a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Take two fabric pieces and pin match the points, right sides together. Starting about 1/4 " from the bottom right hand corner hand sew up to the corner, around the far side and around the top to the left corner then about 1/4 " along the bottom left, following the marked lines. I use a back stitch as you want this seam to really hold.

Now, turn your piece inside out making sure you have nice neat corners. Insert one of your plastic pieces ... trim to fit if necessary, accuracy is not necessary and is the beauty of this little project! I use a ladder stitch at this point to close the fabric around the plastic. the smaller the stitch the better.

You should now have a fabric covered plastic pattern piece. Make two more exactly the same. Hold two of your pieces together and whip stitch them together. Once this is done grab the third piece and whipstitch it to one side of the pair - doesn't matter which side. Now it's time to decide if you want to add some beads, ribbon or some kind of tag/handle.
Here's where you get to be creative and come up with something unique! I've used ribbon and beads.
To complete your thimble holder sew closed about 1/4" at both ends. you will find the "thimble" holder closes and stays closed better if you do not skip this last step! I'm putting "thimble" in quotes - just because I use it to hold my thimbles doesn't mean everyone has to use it the same way. Mon mater uses her's to keep her rings in when she's away from home and takes them off . A friend uses her's to keep her pills in ... lots of ways these little containers can be used! I made up half a dozen or so for my guild for their quilt show. We have a "toonie" table - wee gift items which visitors can purchase, and the proceeds go to the guild and help finance our charity work during the year. Here are my completed thimble holders!

TTFN

End of Vacation - Waaaaah!

Well, it's the end of this year's summer vacation. I managed to get several items off my TO DO list, including getting rid of the ancient grapevine wreath and replacing it with a STAR Woohoo! I would have rather had something larger - but hey, this works!
I also managed to get lots of sewing done ... even did my version of the CQA leaf bowl . Silly me strictly followed the instructions, for example I used Heat n Bond as the adhesive, next time I'll use basting spray as it is much kinder to your machine and easier to complete the finishing stitching. None-the-less, since I am stubborn and like to complete what I start .... TaDa!! Here's my finished leaf bowl! Credits and Kudos to J Buckley from our guild who designed this project and shared it with us!

What else have I been up to? Well, I also finally got to that sewing machine cloth .... you know, the quilt that sits under your machine and holds all your tools - here's the tutorial from Get Your Craft On. As you can see I'm still on my use your up your stash kick ... and used some lovely yardage I got from a former guild's fabric auction. I decided to get bright for the binding and am very happy with the end effect. Now I can finally get rid of that carpet scrap I've been using under the machine....
That's all for now ... the rest of today will be spent getting ready for the next work week. BooHoo! To all those still asking me "When are you going to retire?" It's too soon to discuss but close enough to start planning! So, stop asking!

TTFN

Ah Peaches ...

I love Peaches - they're my favourite fruit. No - wait a minute Strawberries are my favourite - no wait a minute Melon .... oh what the heck. It's summer and fresh LOCAL fruit are in season. What can be better? Mmmmmm fruit and cheerios and sitting in the sun on the patio mmmmm.
Yes folks I'm on vacation and loving it. As per usual my TO DO list was/is huge, but I'm well on my way to completion.Week one was taking care of car and personal business. Week two has included some visiting and lots of sewing. Here's Iris on the ironing board with the "old" cover. It was in bad bad shape and needed recovering badly. TaDa! used up some pretty fabric which was kicking around and voila! Next was the Roman blind for my kitchen window. I get direct sun in the kitchen/dining area until 2 pm every day. This is great in the winter but not so good in the summer. Trouble was figuring out how to and still keep the antique stained glass hanging in the window. Pleased with my results but of course this meant I then needed to make a matching tea cozy, toaster cover and table runner! Just as I was finishing the runner my work horse Kenmore decided to go kaput! OH NO! So quick trip to Coolens and it's fixed - another YEAH! While that was in the shop I did some cleaning/re-arranging ... well, actually I wanted to plug in an old clock radio in my sewing room and, believe it or not, this entailed a major re-organization! I was not especially happy with all the work but am happy with the results. Here's a pic of that little corner!And finally - thanks to the gracious efforts of a quilty friend I now have a cordless Ott lamp. She dared me to make a bag for it (I have a bag for my corded Ott lamp), so ..... here's a pic of my efforts. I have been cleaning in my basement and linen closet and decided to reuse some of my vintage linens ... this bag was made from a previously loved dresser scarf. I think it's kinda cute. What do you think?

Anyway, that's all for now. One more week of vacation, then back to the daily grind. BooHoo.
TTFN