Quilt with rounded corners and swearing!

 Finished my third quilt and tried out rounded corners.  They are so much easier to do than using straight edges.  Also cut up my 9 year old son's old babygro and appliqued his initials on the quilt.  It's my best one so far and was much easier to finish with the quilting on the top than the others.  It was a bit tricky to get the tension right on the machine but took me half the time than the others.  Has made me want to make another for my bed - muted shades perhaps!

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!  Again it's ages since I've blogged.... but I have got a few crafty things in the meantime.  I've managed to get my things sold in this shop and this one and another one called 'In Recovery' on North Street, Bristol ....very chuffed.  Sold a few bits over Christmas too.  This picture is of a cushion I made for In Recovery, made from a tea towel designed by the very talented Susan Taylor.  I might make another perhaps in white.

This picture is of one of my stockings that was in Glass Designs. 

These are my things inside Paper Village.

These purses seemed to go down very well, so must make some more....

I had a go at making a Christmas Tree, as I had loads of Driftwood we'd picked up from various holidays and it had been sitting in the shed for a while.  Got my other half to drill holes in the wood, while I nipped down B&Q to buy a piece of dowling for the centre of the tree.  My idea was for a lovely minimalist tree..... and then the kids got hold of it! Oh well, there is always next year.....

I also had a go at making a cake stand with some old plates we drilled through with a ceramic drill bit.  I bought the kit to do it on ebay.  Made a great present, I thought.

Hello again!

It seems like ages since I blogged last.  I suppose I have been pretty busy, but also I think I lost my sewing mojo after sewing so much for the last fayre.  Other things seemed to have got in the way like going on holiday and going out and enjoying myself!  So we are back in September the kids have started school and I have promised myself I am going to start to sell my stuff properly.  Just put on etsy a load of these rabbits I made a while ago:

Southville Arts Trail

Had a fab time at the Southville Arts Trail here in Bristol at the weekend.  I shared a stall with Louise Horler from Sew Scrumptious and met some really lovely people.  

We didn't have as many customers as we would have liked, which I think was due to 2 reasons: 1) We were downstairs at the Southville Centre and people just missed us and 2) the weather was good.  I think when it's raining, people tend to just go to one venue which in that case would probably have been the Southville Centre. When the weather is good, people go and have a nose around everyone's houses and don't bother with bigger venues.  

Ah well, it was a good learning experience, still sold some stuff so not a disaster and thinking about setting up a Craft Co-operative / Collective with Louise and others.  If any of the girls we shared a space with from Southville Arts Trail want to get in touch, my email address is cathboutwood@blueyonder.co.uk.

Here are some of the things I made.....

Japanese Tape and a bit of Upcycling!

I saw this photo on a facebook page (sorry can't link to the photo) for papervillage.co.uk (check out their facebook page here.  It's made with Japanese washi tape which they sell at the shop in Bristol.  


In the spirit of the Pin Addicts Pinterest Challenge I decided to have a go..... 


My son's table and chairs were looking a bit too young for him and I was thinking of buying him a new desk.  When I saw that photo I knew exactly what to do.....

I am so excited!!! Just half an hour and some old ikea furniture that have seen better days and a transformation.  Keep looking round the house for more things to add tape to.....

Light Fantastic!

Ok, for the Pinterest challenge this month, I decided to have a go at another doily inspired make on my pinterest board. I really love how this light looked in this tutorial, so decided to have a go.

I first of all bought some punch ball balloons from ebay and some doilies. I then covered the balloon in vaseline and soaked the doilies in wallpaper paste, before putting them on. I then hung them up to dry like this:

Actually I must confess..... I got a bit impatient and ....I don't know what I was thinking of...... tried to use a hairdryer to dry the doilies. Doh. What a surprise the balloon burst. Oh well, did one again and very pleased with the result.

They are now both on my landing casting lovely patterns. Even the other half likes them, so they must be good!

Pinterest Doily Inspired Sewing!

I had another go at the Pinterest challenge and had a go at making these storage bins which were inspired from here. I already had the linen and managed to get some doilies on ebay.

I love the contrast between the dark fabric and white doily so I made this door stop too.