And now for something completely different!

Sometimes it's fun to go 'off piste' and make a few fun objects.

I spotted this fabric that I thought my great-neice would like, and decided to make a few bits that she could include for home schooling it she wanted to.

I know that she won't really need a shoe bag....

.....and that she'll already own more than one pencil case case......

.....and that she probably doesn't feel the need to carry her own tissues on her daily walk.....

.....but I'm sure that a covered ring binder is just what she needs!

All made for my pleasure, but I'm hoping that they bring her some too!

Back to my other projects now!

Continuing.....

Clearly making one of these wasn't enough, nor two! I'm just about to decide on my colours for number five, having completed number four last night.
 

I am enjoying them still!  Of course, the fact that the weather has encouraged me to sit and sew in front of the TV is probably a factor in this too!

Not Entirely Seasonal!

 
I've been spending my hand stitching time making this cute little Christmas tree decoration!

Having seen one on Instagram, I looked up the pattern (an Etsy download from mmmcrafts that can be found here), ordered some supplies (turns out that I didn't have the right felt, pipe cleaners, beads, stabiliser or sequins - but that I was OK for thread, seed beads, ribbon, stuffing, Sakura pens and Sharpies) and set off on my making journey.

Clear instructions with the pattern were great, and mostly I followed them (!).

 Of course, one isn't going to be enough, so I've started a second one in less traditional colours!  Here is an idea of the number of parts in each figure.

Hope that you have having fun sewing or crafting too!

Working on a Quilt Top

I was given some fabric packs for my birthday (thank you, Nicky!) and chose this project ages ago, but hadn't got very far with it.

It's a pattern by FatQuarterShop.com called Layer Cake Crumble and you can find it here.

You start by pairing fabrics and sewing down the left and right hand sides before cutting them into nine sections.

My squares were 9", so I cut them at 

3.5" + 2" + 3.5" in each direction.

Then you open up the sewn sections, spin the middle side ones around, and sort out the narrow strips too.

When you sew them, you make one extended 15 patch and one narrow 3 patch strip.

I used 30 fabrics to make these 15 blocks and 15 strips.

You then lay them out switching which end the narrow strips are placed so that the larger blocks are off set.
 

This is as far as I've got - but the layout can't be on the floor for long, as my sewing room is still being a more shared space, with schooling and other things going on in here too!