Red bags

I made this red collage fabric some time ago and recently decided to make it up into bags. I even made the cords on my marudai.

This week in my studio

Experimenting with mouldable stamps:

Making poppies and daisies:

Making a cord on my marudai:

Knitting socks, despite the very warm (i.e. hot) weather:

Using up leftovers

About 18 months ago, I made a quilt for Astrid and, not surprisingly, ended up with lots of leftover fabric. Last year, I played around with the leftovers and made a group of cushions, which I gave to Astrid just before Christmas.

The first two are simple patchwork designs with stitch-in-the-ditch quilting:

With the next two, I explored some of the many built-in stitches on my Husqvarna Diamond:

Christmas stockings

A few years ago, I made Christmas stockings for my family - panne velvet with fake fur around the top. I wanted to make something a bit more special but, as usual, I had only thought of them a few days before Christmas and didn't have time for anything more elaborate.

But this year, with an uncharacteristic burst of organisation, I realised a few months ago that Olivia didn't have a Christmas stocking. This seemed the perfect opportunity to do something a bit fancier for both granddaughters.

And here are the crazy patchwork Christmas stockings I made:

A new beginning for a new year

My craft room is 3.9 by 4.8 metres, with a wall of cupboards along one wall - so there is lots of room for mess. Over the years, as the mess has increased, my sewing machines and cutting table migrated to the adjacent family room, which then also became very messy - a sort-of domino mess effect.

However, over the last week, we have made a huge effort and, with the addition of a sewing machine cabinet, the room is now looking unnaturally tidy, with plenty of space for the sewing machines and cutting table, even when opened out. I'm now looking forward to all the wonderful things I can do in there (although granddaughter Emma has currently turned it into an art gallery).

A birthday dress for Olivia

 I made this little outfit for Olivia's 1st birthday party.

And here she is wearing it at her party. She really enjoyed Pass the Parcel.

Nature bag

Inspired by the Nature Explore Bag at Chez Beeper Bebe (http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/make-this-nature-explorer-bag.html), I decided to make one for Emma for her birthday.

I collected all the things I thought should go in the bag: pencils, notebook, magnifying glass, torch and so on.

Then I designed the bag to fit the contents. I made the bag out of a sturdy blue fabric . . .

. . . and lined it with a bright print featuring a variety of bugs.

Here it is loaded up with everything:

The bag was very successful. Emma insisted on having it next to her bed at night - presumably in the event of some nighttime adventures.