Sew Happy BOM

I had seriously fallen behind with this quilt between visiting the kids and being ill.  Block 3 and 4 is done and I am busy with the borders.  I am however having trouble getting a coordinating navy fabric for the outside border as I had only a fat quarter.  Never new there are so many shades of navy until you start looking for a particular one...

Sport towels for bowls

My son was chosen to represent the Southern Free State bowls under/30 team at the inter districts tournament held in Klerksdorp.  As part of their outfit, they needed towels to keep the bowls clean.

I embroidered one for each of the 4 team members adding their SFS numbers as well.  

And this what it looked like.

They four young men representing their province.

From left to right:  Mardian Bezuidenhout, Pieter Kleynhans, Phillip Schoon and Trevor Geel JR

Online shopping at Fabricstore

Earlier this year I asked for help to obtain a certain fabric line from the Facebook community and was told about this store and I was absolutely blown away by their variety and prices.  But being a pensioner, I had to bide my time until was I able to shop till I dropped.  You know, you have to buy enough to justify the courier costs, or well, that's my excuse.  Great was my husband's astonishment when he arrived last night after lawn bowls, and it was just fabric everywhere.  And now I am in need of cupboard space as I literally don't have any space.

10 pieces of 0.5m x 1.50m striped pieces (bought for quilt bindings)

Cotton thread

A closeup of two of the offcut bundles, 100% cotton.

7m precuts of 1m x 1m.

Mixed prints for boys consisting of 10 x 0.5m x 1.5m pieces.

Mixed prints for girls consisting of 10 x 0.5m x 1.5m pieces.

Another offcut bundle.

White polar fleece.

Black Faux Leather

Winnie the Pooh Bunting

Mickey Mouse Bunting - 1m x 1.5m for R15 - I mean, really?

Various offcut bundles/remnants - softshell, cotton fleece, 100% cotton bundle, cotton knit (always handy when machine embroidering as you don't need large pieces)

20m roll of bias binding for only R10

Various lace pieces.

10m set for babies

Solid colors consisting of 10 x 0.5m x 1.5m pieces.

It's like having your own birthday party opening up all the packages.

Bubble puff quilt No. 7

I received an order for another puff quilt 3 weeks ago and as we are almost going on holiday, I started ASAP.  It was the first time I had to stitch one according to measurements (cot size 140 x 70cm) and had a bit of trouble getting it to exact size as it reduces in size when the puffs are stuffed.

The order was for grey and white with blue and yellow.  As I had the animal print already, I send a photo of it to the client, and she immediately gave the go ahead.

After adding an extra row to the top and bottom (which are quite difficult to do with all the puffs already stuffed) the quilt was still not the correct size.  I then added a 2-inch grey border all around and finished with a blue binding.

Another extremely happy client who will take the quilt with for their new grandson when they travel to the Netherlands at the end of the month.

Biscornu and Scissor cases

After embroidering a biscornu and scissor pockets for my friend's birthday, the other members of our quilting group, the Rotary Cutters, expressed their interest in obtaining similar sets.  I told them it's fine, I will do the embroidery as long as they do the hand stitching themselves as I am not big on doing hand stitching.  Luckily only one ordered the complete set with the biscornu included, so I decided to finish sewing everything.  Each ordered in their favorite colors, so after combining the various parts and pieces in the largest frame my Brother Innovis 4000 uses, I started embroidering.  And I must say, they did look gorgeous.

Marietjie loves red and green which was embroidered on a light ivory Chintz fabric.

Angeline chose grey, turquoise and magenta and I stitched this on white Chintz.

After friend Aletta saw Angeline's set, she also ordered one.

(Updated 1 October 2023)

Elsa requested black and red which was also stitched on white.

and Frances chose the rich bible colors of purple, fuchsia, scarlet etc. also stitched on white.

The designs are the Biscornu 2 set from Artistic designs available here. 

Friend Magda got a set for her birthday done in orange and green on the ivory Chintz.

Whilst embroidering al the sets, I kept everyone's bits and pieces in separate marked bags with the colors used as not to get confused.

All that remains now is to put all the thread used away in the handy steel drawer system I use to keep my threads organized by color and number.

Over the 23 years since starting to embroider, I managed to collect the whole catalogue of Marathon Thread of 399 cones as well as a few other brands.

Each one is wrapped with a plastic sleeve which are kept in place with a small elastic band to protect it from dust.

Teachers Bag

At our Rotary Cutters Quilting Group meetings of May and June, all except one of our members stitched Teachers Bags.  I am not sure where the name originated from, but that is what these bags are locally referred to.  Elsa, who won first prize at Bloemshow 2023 with her bag, told us all the tips and tricks she used for her show piece.  From first drawing the template for the bag by measuring the plastic file organizer which are used as an insert, to hiding the zips ends as well as the side pockets and various other practical advice.

I rummaged in my drawers for fabric and found this pastel-colored floral piece which I paired with tie dye fabric bought earlier this year from Curtain Dream.  Locally the same fabric is sold at almost double the price, so I will definitely support them again in the future.  

On the side pockets I embroidered designs from the Flower Market Set 2 by Hatched in Africa which I bought earlier this year when Secrets of Embroidery held their Gold, Silver and Diamond sale.  It is like an online shopping mall where various designers sell their artwork.  During this sale design sets which normally sell for $35 or more are marked down to $1 - for sure a sale one shouldn't miss out on.

                                        I think these designs compliment the fabric excellent. 

 

The file organizer looks like this

and here it is in inserted inside the bag

with the bag fully opened.

Closed the bag looks like this.

To help keep the loose flaps on top in place, Elsa gave us the advice to add some weight to it which I did by adding blue and pink satin ribbon with these beautiful large beads.  I also add the same beads with a tassel to the side pocket's zips and some small blue and turquois flower buttons to the top of the straps.

Elsa's bag

Frances's bag

Rika's bag

2023 is turning out to be a very fruitful year for our group with 3 projects already done and a new project starting with our next meeting on the 11th of July.

Online shopping

I discovered Fabric8 at the beginning of the year and it is just my kind of shop with handy tools, notions and gadgets for machine embroidery, sewing, quilting, knitting and crochet as well as some arts and other crafts.  Being a Brother retailer as well suits me just fine.  On Saturday night, I put my order in and yesterday it arrived.  I am very impressed with their speed, their prices and variety of products.

On the left-hand side is a ruler handle with suckers as well as two little plastic sucker hooks which when stuck to the side of the machine will hold small scissors etc. They even sell these nifty stands for cellphones.  My husband bought one some time ago at our local Pick and Pay which is always in demand by somebody.  These 3 will sure come in handy.  With me always losing pins around the whole house, one can never have enough magnets to try and keep those pins in check.

Using 505 temporary glue spray when embroidering, I got a glue and residue eraser which I hope will remove the glue stains when they occasionally happen without having to wash the item to remove it.  As I am always in need of fasteners for various charms, beads etc. I bought a packet each gold and silver Globe Pins. Another item I don't seem to ever have enough of, is quilting safety pins as well as the small fabric clips which is very handy for binding and other sewing needs.  I also bought a bottle of fabric glue and an adjustable rainbow thimble which have a raised rim to keep the needle from slipping.

Talking about those stray pins, I also bought a telescopic magnetic pick-up stick.  For ruler quilting, I got a sewing gauge.  Fabric8 included a small thank you gift of a sticker, two buttons, two metal clips and a fabric label.  Underneath these items is a non-slip anti scalding iron cloth.

As well as stocking Brother parts, they have a wide variety of generic presser feet and I bought a few.  From top to bottom they are a Clear presser foot, a Red Line presser foot, a Roller presser foot, a Seam Guide presser foot and a Teflon one.  On the right is a Bulky Seam Jumper and a magnetic metal sewing guide.  I also got a packet of Brother bobbins as I regularly run out of empty bobbins as well as a cleaning brush.  The Bulky Seam Jumper with two different thicknesses slide beneath the presser feet to help make the transition over bulky seams smooth.

Now to just get stitching.  With the cold winter nights we are currently experiencing, I prefer to bask in front of the fire.  And I have heaps of embroidery to do. 

Do have a look at Fabric8 when you are in need of just about anything.  Even the courier fees are very reasonable, and my package arrived within 3 business days with this cute message on the box: