And the Last will be First

My last finish of 2014 is becoming my first gift of 2015.

Another little needlecase made using the excellent tutorial from  Amy's nanacompany.typepad.com

I have altered Amy's design a little by adding two thin ribbon strings which tie in a bow, instead of the button and loop which Amy did.

As I like to try to keep my stash and projects organised I have a Needlecase Pack containing the instructions, suitable pieces of thin ribbon, the Strawberry template, fusible webbing and scraps of fabric for the strawberry and leaf, the fronts and inside of the needlecase and 1.5" squares already cut for the patchwork. Then it's easy to grab the pack and make another little needlecase!

And here it is, opened up to show the patchwork back.

This one is a little "Thank you" for Teresa Rawson (her blog is fabrictherapy.BlogSpot.com)

I entered Teresa's Giveaway in mid December and won!  The prize was a great magazine, one I have seen mentioned in lots of blogs: Quiltmakers 100 Blocks which looks a great resource to have on the bookshelves in my Sewing Room.  So, thank you, Teresa.  The Strawberry needlecase will be in the post to you tomorrow.

I love these little needlecases and have now made quite a few which have all been gifted. 
This gift takes to 20 my total of little gifts for 2014. Not all patchwork: there are a couple of crocheted blankets and some knitting but I did make three of these Strawberry needlecases. 

I like to keep a record of all the crafty things I make: mostly Patchwork (quilts, cushions, bags and needlecases) but also a bit of knitting and crochet.  I use Flickr as a vehicle for this record and organise my finishes into Albums.  A couple of years ago I had the bright idea of keeping a clearer record of things I have made by adding the year in the title of the album.
For instance Small Gifts 2014 where this little gift is number 20.

By looking at these Albums I can quickly see what I actually finished in 2014.

I made 8 quilts, 5 of which I have already gifted, 4 sets of blocks for various charity quilt drives and 2 crocheted blankets which have yet to be given away. 

Not as many finishes for 2014 as there were for 2013 but last year was extremely busy on the health front - for me and also for my daughter who had a slipped disc in September which took a lot of time to improve so I was helping out a lot there too. 

We are hoping 2015 brings better health for us.

So, as this is my first Blog post of 2015, may I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy and Creative 2015!

Little gifts for Christmas

I have finished two little gifts for Christmas: little needlecases which have an appliqued strawberry on the front and small patchwork squares on the back.

Here they are:

 

For this one I chose a fabric with small cherries as the background for the strawberry. Added a small pair of scissors.  This is my Secret Santa gift for my patchwork group.  We are meeting again on Thursday morning and the Secret Santa will take place then.

 

This one has a Vintage look to it and I have added a cute owl decorated tape measure. This is for a friend and now has to be wrapped ready for posting.

I love these little needlecases which are based on a pattern by Nanacompany.  I have made several in the last couple of years and all have been well received.

I love the patchwork backs, made from 1.5" squares so good for using up tiny scraps of fabric.

So, two gifts finished but I am still trying to complete the two bags I am making. Still lots to do there!

 

Preemie Quilt top from Scraps

 

Lots of sewing this week but only one photo.  I guess you are all tired of my endless sewing of scrap triangles! 

 

 

 

 

All week I have been churning out 3" blocks from my paired triangle scraps.

 

When I tired of making pinwheels I arranged the HSTs differently to create a sort of  diamond effect.  I expect there is a name for this sort of block but I don't know it.

 

As a change from churning out little blocks I decided to use some of the diamonds to create a small 15" x 20" quilt top.  I sewed 5 diamond blocks together into each row.  What doesn't show up in the photo is that two blocks in each of these rows are the same, a red on cream patterned "neutral" with a wine coloured fabric. Pretty.  I interspersed these row with a rabbit fabric and added a narrow pink border to bring it up to the size my local hospital prefers for their baby cots.  The babies lie on the quilts and the quilts are washed in a washing machine on the ward every day so they get a hammering!

 

So next job is to sandwich and quilt.  a nice easy project with a quilt of this size!

 

Linking up with Clare's Thursday Brit Sewing Linky.

Thrilled with my FIRST EVER Drawstring bag

My last post featured the patchwork Book bag I had made for little Rosie.

This post features my FIRST EVER Drawstring Bag!  Can't tell you how pleased I am with myself. 

I was determined to use only 2.5" squares from my stash and had originally decided on a blue, green, orange  and yellow colourway.  But when I set them out on my "Design Floor" (aka the carpet in my sewing room!) the arrangement didn't thrill me.

 

It looked dull and boring and very "un-zingy".  So I left it, did something else and went back the next day when I decided to only keep the green squares and use pink and purple for the rest of the patchwork.  Much better!

 

After that I added another row across and jiggled around with the placement a bit.

I have never made a proper Drawstring bag before and my friend Sarah suggested I follow an excellent tutorial on the Pink Penguin blog.  It's actually for a Reversible Bag but I just used a piece of purple Moda marble fabric for the lining.

Then, as Sarah told me, I carefully followed the blog's instructions. 
I have a real problem with Spatial  Awareness so I couldn't see in my head how the instructions for joining the casing to the front of the bag and then to the lining would work out.  But they did!  I threaded 2 lengths of cord through the casing as instructed and - hey presto! - I had a bright, colourful Drawstring bag that worked!

The Back:

The Front:

 

 

And the drawn-up bag:

It measures 12" x 14" which I think should be the right size for a small pair of trainers, T shirt and shorts.

I have just popped round to Rosie's Granny's house with the two finished bags and she was equally delighted.  Hope Rosie likes them too.

Isn't it a great feeling when you try something new and it works out well?

Just realised that I used 154 x 2.5" squares from my Stash and I didn't have to cut one specially for these projects.  Proves that a few moments spent cutting scraps into squares when you finish a project does pay dividends.  Now I need to cut more squares, especially pink, purple and green as I am virtually out of those colours.