Sock Monkey

I've often looked at the various different sock monkey tutorials around and I finally decided to have a go at making one myself. I chose the Tutorial by Craft Passion which you can find here.... I thought hers were cuter than most of the ones I'd seen.

I took the instructions along to our last Club Quilt day and Jo & I both managed to get one almost finished... Paula made hers a couple of days later so I will try to get a couple of photo's of theirs to share with you too.

I'm very happy with how mine turned out.... it was super easy and I'm looking at socks very differently now!

I couldn't help adding a little pink tu-tu and a rosette.... she is for my little niece after all!

Quilting Retreat

 Last week was our annual Club Quilt retreat....and once again it was a wonderful weekend with great company and lots of creativity flowing!

I took lots of projects along (I was a little over-ambitious as usual) but spent the entire weekend working on a quilt for Miss 13's newly re-decorated room. I'm loving how it's turning out and can't wait to get it off to the quilters!

The fabric I used is Riley Blake, Sugar & Spice and you can find the pattern here at the Quilted Fish

The tutorial is only for a small quilt so I made mine four times the size of the original pattern....hence the amount of time it took to make....well worth the effort though don't you think?

Until next time....

Hemming....check!

Club Quilt last Sunday.... unfortunately nothing exciting to show for it as I spent the whole day cutting out so that I'm prepared for our upcoming sewing retreat. I'm looking forward to being better prepared this year so that I can make the most of my sewing time and get lots done.

When I got home I managed to get six pairs of the kids pants hemmed and ready for the winter and I just had to share this great method of hemming jeans which allows you to keep the original hem. You can find the tutorial here at Sew Much Ado. I usually procrastinate when it comes to hemming jeans, (once I left it so long that my daughters jeans no longer fit her by the time I got around to it...ooops!) but not anymore....this method takes about 5 minutes and I did it with no broken needles and no SWEARING! Unbelievable!

The seam lines are quite obvious in these photos but when they're on you don't notice it at all!

Until next time....

Weekend project

Last weekend Miss 13 and I spent some time putting this mini drawer set together to match her newly painted and re-furnished room.

We purchased the little Kaisercraft draws years ago at a craft fair but never got around to doing anything with it. The frame is timber but the little drawers are made from a heavyweight cardboard and it all just slots together really easily.

I think it's designed to use with scrapbooking paper but we used Riley Blakes 'Sugar & Spice' fabric that I'm planning on making a matching quilt out of later. We painted it in 'Tapioca' first before adding the fabric to the top, sides and drawerfronts and giving it a coat of Mod Podge to protect it.... and voila!

Perfect for holding all those girly bits and pieces!

This is what we started with:

and you can find them here.

Until next time....

A finish for Aunty Lin

I was so pleased to finally get one of my quilts back from the quilter this week... this particular one was started by my beautiful Aunt who passed away before it was completed, you may remember it from my earlier post here.

So, I spent most of yesterday getting it bound and now I only need to add a label before it can be sent off to one of my Aunts very special Grand-daughters. I'm sure little Karlie will treasure it!

Until next time....

Hunger games party success

A couple of long overdue shots of the Hunger Games themed Birthday party for Miss 13.... it was a great night and the movie didn't disappoint:

Choc mud Mockingjay cupcakes with buttercream icing....

You can find the cupcake recipe in my earlier post, here.

Movie Snacks.... I purchased a digital file from Olivia's Collection for the invitations and water bottle stickers which I adapted to make the lolly bags.

Bit blurry unfortunately....but the girls (and boy) all looked great in their Hunger Games tees!

Until next time....  :)

Upcoming Hunger Games party

To celebrate Miss 12 turning 13, next weekend we're taking a group of teenage girls to the movies to see the Hunger Games..... If you haven't yet read the book, then you're really missing out!

So instead of the usual party favours, this is what I've been working on.......

A big thanks to Jess of Craftiness is not optional for her great inspiration!

My first attempt wasn't so successful but after that I decided that unlike Jess I would use heat 'n' bond to attach the applique (I just used a pressing cloth so I didn't stick to the shiny fabric). I also used clear thread on top and was much happier with the result.

My daughter is thrilled and can't wait to give the shirts to all her friends. :)