Finish it up Friday - Two Tiny Finishes!

Today I'm linking to Crazy Mum Quilts for "Finish it up Friday" with two small projects I stitched this week.

Firstly .....

Finish size: 4" x 3"

I'd been trying to think of a way of keeping my lipstick safe when I 'm not carrying a handbag, and then I found a great blog (via Pinterest) .... "Dog Under My Desk" by Erin Ericson, which had the ideal thing ... an easy zippy pouch tutorial.

I made my pouch in two evenings. First evening I quilted the fabric and the next I was ready to put it all together.

I'm really pleased how it turned out, it's light, and at 4" x 3" ... tiny ..... just right to hold a lipstick and maybe a few peppermints!

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Then, secondly .....

Later in the week I needed a hostess gift for a neighbour, and made this tissue holder using a tutorial I've  previously used here from Whim Wham.

Whilst making the tissue holder I took a few pictures to remind myself how I made it .... in case I want to make another one in a hurry! Unfortunately, my photos are rather dark as I was stitching in the evening!

Position the handle, and ....

... stitch into place

To ensure the centre stayed central when I stitched across the seam, I stitched each half separately, and then again across the two sides together.

The pin marks the centre ... fold edge just past pin.

Remembering to put one bound edge over the other,
before stitching

Stitch to edge. With needle in the fabric, lift presser foot,
turn fabric 180 degrees,  continue stitching for approx 1"
 before finishing, and cutting off thread.

Make sure the handle is securely stitched!

Finish with a scant 1/4" seam

Stitch over the seam a couple of times.

Trim ends, before turning inside out.....

Push seams out, pin, and stitch 1/4" seams at either end
of holder - again a couple of rows of stitches to be secure.

Turn through to the right side, and its finished!

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I'm so excited, before I go, I must tell you why!

Last Saturday I went to a wonderful quilt show, locally, and bought some raffle tickets .... like you do! .... and this Tuesday I had a phone call to say I'd won a quilt!!! This morning a very nice lady was actually good enough to deliver it to me ..... I have to say I was speechless - well almost! I'm amazed, I can't believe it wasn't the first prize, its so beautiful and very large. The work is really intricate and skillfully done ... and all hand quilted!

I didn't have time for photos today, but I will post pictures next time. Just wait till you see it!


Hope you've had a stitchy week!



Hugs,
Barbara xxx

Finish it off Friday - My Very Puffy Key Tray / Nancy's Halloween Giveaway

Eeek, I'm a little bit late, but ....

Yipee, I have a finish!

Ta-dah!

I started making this Key Tray a couple of weeks ago, it took much longer than I thought to finish, but I did use double the wadding which made the quilting slow going! I used stab stitch, checking how the stitches looked on the back as I stitched each stitch .... I would have liked them to be neater!

This is the back .... and I don't think it looks too bad!

I used a tutorial a blogging friend recommended  which you can read about  

BY CLICKING HERE 

I used safety pins for basting ..... I'm sure they were curved when I bought
 them ..... but I think they've been used too much, as they aren't now!

I stitched around plastic templates I had made for
some other stitching project.

Using DMC embroidery thread

and, yipee, it's in use!

Hope you are having a great weekend, and that you have time to visit some of the other stitchers over at CRAZY MOM QUILTS -  "FINISH IT UP FRIDAY"*

* Please excuse me "shouting" but I am putting links in capitals so that my Mum knows where to "Click"!
(For those who haven't visited my blog before, my Mum is partially sighted.)

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STOP PRESS!

Have you seen that Nancy of  Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe has a great giveaway  .....  a collection of her wonderful threads .... just right for Halloween .... with names like Glowing Pumpkin, Sleepy Hollow Purple, Hallow's Eve Orange and Headless Horseman, to name but a few! There is still time to comment for a chance to win before Halloween ...... go on, what are you waiting for???

But don't forget to comment here first!



Hugs,
Barbara xxx

Celebrating Kim's special birthday

Yay!

In case you've never visited my wonderful blogging friend Kim's blog, let me "paint" a picture of her  for you......

I "met" Kim of Wisdom With Needle and Thread! via a blogging "stitching link party" a couple of years ago. She is a very talented crafter and in the couple of years I have known her she has made many beautiful things, by many different methods .... cross stitching, knitting, and painting porcelain to name but a few!

This year has been something of a humdinger for her!

In April the very generous Kim asked her blogging friends to help her celebrate her special birthday year! Click HERE to see how it all began!

Kim wanted to send out 60 RAKs* - One for each of her 60 years!

*Random Acts of Kindness - these are gifts, given for no other reason than one feels like making someone smile!

Now read on:

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A few weeks ago Kim told me she had posted my gift on its way. Then, a couple of weeks later one of my close neighbour's was informed by a courier company that her package had been delivered, however, she never actually received it! This made me nervous that Kim's package might have disappeared in the same way! You can therefore imagine my delight when I heard the post drop through our front door a few days ago, I looked down the stairs and saw an unusual coloured envelope which I immediately guessed would be Kim's parcel!

 

Isn't this beautiful! It is tiny! Such teeny stitches!

But I've jumped ahead of myself!

Here are the contents of the envelope, and I certainly was smiling as I opened it!

This was such an exciting mystery!

The package included a very pretty card, a beautifully hand stitched monogramme, a heart shaped pin minder, a bird themed cross stitch pattern, and a sparkly fat quarter with some lovely matching flosses.

Couldn't resist another picture, to try to show the sparkle in the fabric!
Luckily the sun shone and I think you can see the sparkle!

Do join me in visiting Kim as she continues to enjoy her 60th birthday celebrations.

Kim's latest adventure is learning how to sculpt dolls from polymer clay!

CLICK HERE to read more about Kim's adventurous year .....

Our little lady cat says Hi!

Pictures of our huge tom cat to follow next time, and stitching, of course!

Bye for now,

Hugs,

Barbara xxx