Zakka Style Delightful Linen Bag

I have well and truly fell off the wagon of the  Zakka Sew Along, unfortunately life and end of summer term just got in the way.
But last week my mum needed something to put a present in for my sister and then I saw Liz's post about her Zakka Style Linen Bag and inspiration struck!
My mum had bought her tickets for a show and wanted more than a card to give them in. So I thought a small Zakka Style bag would be ideal!
I had lots of scraps left over from my sisters Swoon cushion and decided to use them to make an embellishment for the bag.
I made a pinwheel block with the remnants of some HST's and used a scrap of the linen to make the actual bag and Ta-Dah!!

Instead of the button closure I was meant to use I added some velcro to the lining.

It is fairly small, but I think she will be able to store some makeup in it after. It was a really quick make and I would scale it up next time for a Kindle Case.
I linking up with L R Stitched and the Zakka Sew Along. 

Swoon déjà vu!

Woohoo! I got the Swoon cushion for my sister finished just in time. She lives on the Isle of Wight and I don't see her very often, but she was having a short visit staying with my mum and dad and popping in to me on her way to the M25.  She arrived on Thursday morning and luckily (for me) phoned ahead to say she was on her way so I could finish the last corner of binding and run around the house taking photos!! Then wrap it in Christmas paper, as I didn't have any other paper that was wide enough!

I am so pleased with how this cushion came out. I did swap the cushion insert for a 26" this time to make it a bit more fuller. 

Now for some of those photos from the mad dash around the house!!

You can see just how large it is on the sofa next to my normal cushions!
The pattern is from the Swoon quilt by Camille Roskelley and is available from here.
The fabrics I used were Dotted cluster in petunia by Josephine Kimberling (on sale at MisforMake)
                                      Kona cotton in Crocus
                                      Essex Linen in Flax
The whole cushion with the fabric and the insert from Dunelm Mill cost me less than £20.
I bought all the fabric from MisforMake and their website has just had a big makeover. It's so easy to navigate, and helped me so much to be able to pick the fabrics grouped by colour as I knew I wanted to make something with purple/lilac in.
It's my sisters birthday at the end of the week, so hopefully she will love it as much as i do. If not I'll pinch it back!
I've also been busy with a small project for myself.

Which I've sewn together, but need to wait for a small finishing touch to share with you.


I'm linking this post up with
                                             

Swoon cushion Ta-Dah!!

My pink Swoon cushion is finished and was given to my Great Aunt yesterday for her birthday!!
I forgot to take any photos of the birthday girl with it but did go a little crazy snapping it before it left.

I am ridiculously happy with how it turned out and she seemed pretty pleased with it when she opened it. I have to say I was hoping she didn't want it so I could bring it back home.

I didn't attempt a zip with this cushion, so just went for an envelope back.

The floral fabric I used is Scattered Roses from Sugar Hill by Tanya Whelan and the solid pink I bought from John Lewis a while ago and am not sure of the name!! Which is a shame as I'd love some more. It ended up needing a 24" cushion insert so is lovely and big.
This came together so quickly (which was very lucky as I didn't give myself much time to do it!) and the pattern was a dream to follow.
In fact so clear and enjoyable that I've managed to start on another one today.....

This one is for my sister's birthday and needs to be finished by Wednesday....I think I should rename myself lastminutepresentmaker.com!! So I might (WILL) have another Ta-Dah before the week is out!!
All I can say is thank God I saw Katy's of I'm a Ginger Monkey Swoon cushion on Flickr or both of them would have got chocolates and socks for presents!!

Before I go and get the kidlets in bed I have to share with you my fabric that I bought with my voucher from the SewHappyGeek Mini Quilt Competition. I got a $25 voucher to spend at Intrepid Thread and I really had trouble picking things as Julie has the most wonderful selections.

I did add to the voucher but only $10 and the postage, which converted to £17!! The price of fabric really is so much cheaper in America. It arrived on Saturday so took less than a week to get to me.
And finally...... Jenna has just posted today about a new Quilt Along!! It looks amazing!!

http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.co.uk/

Ok, who shortened June?

Blog posts have been a little thin on the ground around here over the last few weeks!!
It started with the laptop giving up the ghost at the beginning of the month, it couldn't be fixed without a big cash injection, so we decided to upgrade and bought a new computer. This however, did not give me the few extra hours in the day that I need to get everything done!! Just added to my To Do list. I've finally got used to it, but feel like I've just slept through a month. Where did June go?
What with the end of term fast approaching and the feeling that it just a little to soon in the year to be thinking about summer holidays!!! I mean surely it was just Easter last month? And have you seen the weather here in the UK? I'm sure we had a dryer winter?! In fact I know we did, thats how we ended up having a 'hosepipe ban'.
Anyway, enough of my rantings. I have managed to fit a few bits of knitting and sewing in amongst all this moaning.
My Edie's flower top now has a finished back.

I'm working on the front, and am slowly getting to grips with intarsia. I have changed my bamboo needles to metal circular needles and I have to say it's been a lot easier since I switched. I'm hoping this will be finished within the next 2 weeks.

I have been at the sewing machine over the last 2 evenings and have been working on a swoon block by Camille Roskelley. This has meant lots of cutting and I'm now know for sure, I'm not a very straight cutter.

These blocks are a mahoosive 24" when finished and I have been wanting to have a go at one for ages. So I bought myself the pattern and got to work.

This is it laid out before the last few joins. It's going to be made into a cushion for my Great Aunts 80th birthday present. I'm seeing her on Sunday so need to get myself in gear. She is the lady who introduced me to crochet and knitting and I really wanted to make her something homemade. The Husband said he think it will be too big, but I say the bigger the better!!

It was our wedding anniversary on Sunday, so I decided to pop into RayStitch and buy myself some fabric from the Husband as a little treat!! I really can help him to be so thoughtful!!

I have seen that Carole over at Gingerbread girl is back with One a Day!! I really loved joining in with this on a Tuesday and I'm hoping as soon as I finish that jumper I will be jumping back in!!
Thanks so much for all the wonderful comment on my Siblings Together quilt, it really was lovely reading them. 

Siblings Together Quilt....Finally Finished!!

Yippee!! I have finished my quilt for Siblings Together!! I'm so pleased with it. I know it's taken me a while, but I am still very new to quilting and wanted to make sure it was the best it could be!!

Yes, you can see I've found PicMonkey!

You may remember back in April telling you about posts on Lynne's and Katy's blogs with the idea to make quilts for children that are separated from their siblings by the care system. The charity Siblings Together takes children away for residential breaks and days out to enable them to spend some time with their siblings. The hope was that enough quilts could be made so that each child could leave the summer camps with their own quilt.

When I read about the charity I really wanted to help with a quilt. Being a mum of 3, the though of anything happening to me and my husband and them being split up made me feel sick. Circumstances can change so quickly and we can never know when any of us may need some help. My Boys are aged 10 & 7 and the Lady of the house is only 18months so they would have very different needs within the care system and would probably be spilt. I know a quilt seems such a small thing but some of these children are constantly moved around with very few items that are truly theirs! Giving them something that they could take with them to remind and link them with siblings I think is really special.

I had been lucky enough to win Fat Quarter Shop giveaway from Jenna at SewHappyGeek and was sent a charm pack of Scoot by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake. The print is really cheerful, with planes, bikes and trains on it. I decided that this would be a great use of a lucky win. I ordered another charm pack and set off to my quilt shop for some spots to put in with it. I managed to match a green spot from Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket and an orange one is called Eggs Freebird by Momo both from Moda. The binding is Frog Spots by The HenleyStudio for Makower and the backing it just a blue solid from the quilt shop.
I used the Granny Square pattern from Blue Elephant Stitches.
It measures 50"x60" and fits snugly on a single bed.

All I need to do is get a label for the back of the quilt and then the husband will drop it off for me to the Sibling Together office.

My boys have asked who the quilt was for when I was sewing it and I have told them all about the charity and the children. I hoped it would let them see that living together as a family isn't always how things work and that they would appreciate each other more. Unfortunate my eldest just asked me where he could sign his brother up to living somewhere else!! Don't you just love them!

Lynne is holding a linky party for the people who have contributed to the quilts and her post, talking about the founder of the charity and their work will make even the hardest heart shed a tear. Please do go and read about the charity and pop over to the Flickr group to see the amazing contributions by some very talented people. People have donated fabric, wadding and sent it not just from the UK but from all over the world. The amount of time and resources that have been donated is really quite humbling.