Visitors

Dado and Rita arrived two weeks ago for their annual holiday, so you can imagine we tried to squeeze in as much time with them as possible. Thing is, we didn’t get any photo’s. We had a lovely mothers day despite it being a day late, the kids helped to make some heart shaped cup cakes, we did some sight seeing, lots of swimming, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. They last Tuesday, I was very upset to see them go.

ok, this one’s the best of a bad bunch!!!

 

I managed to get the quilts done!

It’s the perfect size to keep warm whilst watching TV. I stitched in the ditch with this one, boy is straight line stitching very unforgiving!

For Rita’s quilt I used Heather Bailey’s Pop Garden  for the front of the quilt and the back and binding are Sandi Henderson’s farmers market. On this one for the quilting I Shadow stitched, not as bad as stiching in the ditch.

My first finishes for 2010, thank goodness. I’m hoping to get two more done before my thailand holiday at the end of the month. Wish me luck!

FUN!

UFO’s

I have had quite a few UFO’s lying around of late and so have decided to join Nancy’s over at Pink Penguins 2010 UFO Challenge. I am not sure if these UFO’s can only be quilt related, so I have two groups of UFO’s, I will list the non-quilty stuff separately!
my wonky log cabin quilt made completely of scraps,I have made 16 blocks and need another eight. This one is for myself and I really want to finish it by the end of the month, I’m going to consider this my January challenge (Isra- stop laughing).
I started making this for a friends mother who was very ill with cancer but didn’t have the heart to finish it, she is on the road the recovery now and I would like to get it done and out of the way ASAP! It needs a border and to be quilted and bound. My February challenge. So Two For February!
These Blocks are the makings of my MIL’s quilt, they have been sitting for a couple of years now. I have loved it and then hated it and am now just going to plough along and get it done. I need to sew the blocks together in to a quilt top and then quilt and bind.
Diana’s quilt, I need to get this quilted and bound by April, which is when she has a birthday and  is to leaving to go back to the Philippines. It has been sitting for nearly a year boo hiss to me!  The two previous ones can be March, not much to be done there as long as I get moving!
This is the first quilt I ever made but have still not bound!

I must must must finish this stacked coins quilt, I could get it done in a morning if I got my butt in gear!

Both the previous ones are April!

and then there’s these!

        pot holders need to be bound, I have about twenty!!! Aprons to be sewn 3 x patchwork bags

napkins to be top stiched

Noora needs some new pillow cases

 

kids lounge pants and shorts

Nancy asks that you pick ten UFO’s and list them numerically, she will then select a number and you work on the project number picked (make sense?). I haven’t got ten unfinished quilts and what I do have won’t take long to get done once started hence the reason for listing two projects per month and also I have to meet me some deadlines! So I'm not really following the rules-sorry- but I’m hoping that joining a challenge will give me incentive to get things done.

My Dado married his partner Rita, in August last year and I have threatening to make them matching quilts as a wedding present! Now I’m aiming towards their first wedding anniversary or maybe if I’m on a roll I'll get them done before the summer. I even have the fabric picked out!

            

So my aim is to get any UFO done and out the door!
This is the second challenge I have joined so far this year, I am so full of good intentions. Wish me luck!

The Fairs

What a month it has been, the run up to the fairs was nothing but hectic. These were the first fairs I had ever done and I learned a lot. Isra, Jess and I were able to get tables together and had plenty of fun throughout the two days.

My table was made up of Organised Mum and the crafty stuff that I had made.

Bags, large enough to hold a couple of books some pens and a pocket large enough to slide a water bottle in to.

Plastic Bag dispensers, these were really beautiful but I think I only sold three.

I also made Napkins, Aprons , Patchwork pot holder’s/table protectors and drawstring git bags of which I have forgotten to take pictures. I’ll put that on my to do list.

At the last minute I took Noora’s Birthday quilt to cover my stuff with in case I needed to go to the loo. Me being me, I did go to the loo and came back to find people waiting to buy the quilt! I have a couple of orders for January. Joy!

I had great fun but will have to reconsider the stuff I intend on making for next year.

Hop on over to Isra’s blog for her version of the Women’s Guild Fair and the AWG Bazaar.

I’m Back!

It has been a bit hectic around here! Scratch that, it hasn’t been hectic but we have been trying to get used to our new routine. I seem to spend most of my life in the car. Dropping and collecting Noora takes up to three hours a day and Abdulla is about a forty minute round trip. So you can imagine, time is precious. The kids school/nursery is in opposite directions and so on the mornings that Mohamed can’t help out, my poor mum gets up at five and hits the road by six fifteen (the rush hour traffic is terrible) to be here in time to have a cup of tea before we all leave the house at seven twenty!!! It’s madness, I tell you, absolute madness. My mum jokes that she only stopped doing the school run a couple of years ago(Sara graduated in 2007) and already  she’s back on it. We wouldn’t manage without her help.
The kids have been back at school for the past three weeks, being back on a routine is great ( I am a bit Autistic that way). We’ve already had two parent’s nights at the school (more driving) and the birthday party invitations are rolling in(aaaaaaaaahhhh). All in all the kids have settled well. My kids are so different, Abdulla gives me every detail of what happens at nursery even down to the fact that he ate Ghalibs crackers! but Noora won’t tell me a thing, not a teeny tiny bit of information, nada!
On to more exciting news, Isra and I have committed to taking two tables for the Women's Guild craft fair on the 17th of November. Another bit of madness, which one of us thought that one up, I wonder? So we have both, very belatedly been sewing up a storm. I will be making coasters, napkins, table savers, tea towels, aprons, plastic bag dispensers, market bags and some patchwork messenger bags. phew….madness right. So far I have made the twelve Plastic bag dispensers, Yay!

 

I’m off to do story and bed time, make a herbal cup of tea then I need to work out which project I will be starting on tomorrow.
I won’t leave it too long next time!
XX

A kick up the bum!

I have been super unproductive of late and so my aim today is to get three things done:

1) Sew the backing together on Diana’s Quilt 2) Piece the batting together 3) baste the quilt 4) Iron and machine sew the binding.

I also have to keep up with my other mummy duties. Sounds like a challenge especially as I have been so idle of late.

I’m hoping that by putting my to do list up here, it will motivate me into getting some stuff done get. Wish me luck!

Chatty Crafters!

I’m off to a chatty Crafters morning tomorrow and boy do I need it! I have lost my sewjo and need a little project like the one we will be working on to get me going.

I’m so excited…. and I just can’t hide it…

Check back tomorrow for pics!

It's My Buisness!

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was going to turn my hobby in to a a little bit of a money earner. Boy have I been busy! Despite having the dreaded flu (not of the piggy variety), the other day I cut: ninety six napkins, forty eight tea towels, fifty coasters and their batting! This lot excludes the Miss G placed for her customers which by the way is done, I haven't photographed them yet as I finished late at night and the lighting was terrible.

These are the tea towels and napkins, it doesn't look like very much to me!

More photo's to come!

ModKid available soon!

Modkid patterns by Patty Young Designs

All the patterns will be available from me soon. If you see something you particularly like then let me know so that I can reserve it for you.

I owe it to a few friends!

I need to go back a bit for you to understand this story, it may seam a bit long winded but please bare with me.

Last December the FatQuarterShop.com had a sale on, everyday a different range would 50% off. So a good day was a day when the fabric on sale was one I was hoping for and a bad day was when I didn't like what they had to offer. All week I waited for Lotta Latte by Deb Strain for Moda to go on sale but it never did, I really wanted it for a friend but alas it was way to pricey!

I spent a bit of extra time with that friend last week but even after our goodbye's I couldn't not think about her, I decided that I wanted to make something for her. Isra and I had already arranged to go off to the fabric guy in AlKhuwair on Thursday morning. So there we were pulling out rolls but nothing took my fancy, I dug a little deeper looking at the selvages and flash flash what was that? Is that, could it be, could it just possibly be DEB STRAIN. I whipped it out excited and sure enough there it was Lotta Latte. You can Imagine right? Isra admired we oohed and aaaahed and then the guy says: Madam I have more at which stage I nearly wet myslef. So feast your eyes ladies...................

Wee milk jugs, tea cups, lattes with cream..All together now.......Issssssssssn't iiiiiit Lovelllly, Lovellly, Lovelllly

these ones aren't from the same line but they coordinate really well.

The Idea was that I would make her a sampler with the panels and some coasters, napkins, tea towells and aprons for her Shop(My pal owns Cafe G) which sells the best ever coffee and bits of cake. I asked Miss G over to so that we could brain storm the fabric, but my friend had other ideas. First she placed an order for some loyal customers who are leaving the country, then an order for her shop and then volunteered to stock the items in her shop to sell on to customers. How's that????? Isra recently had a brilliant idea(she's still working on it so I can't give away her secrets) and since hearing it I have been raring to go, so this offer has come at the right time. I'm bursting with ideas and want to get moving.

I went back the next day and bought more of the same as well as different fabrics so that there is a bit of a selection.

I will keep you posted on what's happening and let you know when the merchandise will be available for sale. Wish me luck!

Busy Busy Busy!

I've been a bit indisposed. First my brother shows up and insists on having BBQ's, when I declined he and my sister ganged up on me and started calling me a mummy and referring to me as boring! In my opinion the only wanted someone to set up, make the salads and clear up at the end of the night. I have to say apart from the cleaning up duties, I did enjoy myself. On both nights I didn't get to bed till two a.m.

I've also been trying to get some parts of the house packed up, we're having double glazing installed. We had to take all the curtains down, pack stuff away, tape up the cupboards (against the dust), put things in boxes, pack up our stuff for going to my mums, oh and I quickly organised the cupboards before I shoved everything else in (why???). I'm sure mt cupboard obsession harks back to my childhood, on Thursdays we would have to clean out our rooms including the cupboards. These had to be emptied vacuumed and then wiped down with a cloth!!! So Mama, that's another thing i can blame you for ;-) We're also going to be painting, getting the sofa's recovered, moving people around into different rooms etc..... Nothing like a bit of change to brighten things up a bit! YAY

I went to our Chatty Crafters morning, where we are making an Amy Butler Bag. I had a laugh with the ladies at all the silly little mistakes we had made following (or not) the instructions. The bag requires a lot of interfacing hence all I managed to do was iron all the interfacing on to the cut fabric, I worked at it for three solid hours!!!!!! It will be along time before I try making this bag again, It will probably be along time before I get the blooming thing finished. Alia has posted pictures of our morning here.

We have moved in to my mum's. I am looking forward to our next couple of weeks here. I'm going to have some friends round, throw the kids in the pool and pray that the cabin fever dissipates!