Still three to go .....

Well I was very close but didn't quite make it ....... so what was left ?

1. Embroidered towel for a friend ..... I couldn't find the towel but have now found it (along with a few other things to go on the next list !!) .... shouldn't take long to finish 😝
2. Christmas stockings .... I finished one but not the other as it's for Steffi to finish and we ran out of time /energy with half term and exams .... will perhaps do it this weekend

 

1. Cushion cover .... something else o need to finish with Steffi

 

Medal hangers finished !!!!

Finally I printed some pics for the medal holders .... all we need now are more medals !!!

 

A day out at the beach

As it is half term

This week we went to the beach for the day, and rather than driving with two arguing monsters in the back, we took the train to Bournemouth.

It was a lovely sunny day so the kids spent most of the time burrying each other and playing in the sea ....

 

   

So I made use of the peace and finished off some cards that Steffi bought me for my birthday a couple of years ago !!!

 

Another two bite the dust ....

Half term so in amongst other things I've managed to get my little helpers to assist with a few things .... so here goes this is what we've done so far this half term ....

Weekend walking expedition with Markus

 

Cooking and more cooking

Whilst they were busy making soup, scotch eggs, flapjack, cheese straws, risotto and quiche, I managed to finish off a few Christmas cards so I could get the box tidied up and put away ✅

 

We've also finished painting the wheel of fortune for the school fair

 

And finally before jumping on the train to Bournemouth for the day we quickly finished off the reindeer decorations that have been sitting around for ages

To do: 3 (stockings half finished, cushion cover with Steffi and towel ... but I can't find it 🙀)

Done: 14

A finished quilt and a happy boy !

At last I have a happy boy ..... who is now planning what his next quilt will look like .....

You would have thought he'd be happy with the one he has in his room that has a fleece back and is apparently his reading quilt and now this one ... which is his tv quilt and has a really fury back ..... but no, he needs s bed quilt aparently with his initials on it :-) .... I did say he needs to get them and paper out and start designing !!

So here is the finished mini twister quilt for watching films in the lounge 

To do :5

Completed 12

Things to do are:

1. Finish Rudolph decorations with help from the kids
2. Finish cards that are out on the side (mainly Christmas cards)
3. Finish towel for Jo
4. Finish cushion corner with Steffi (freehand machine embroidery)
5. Finish stockings with help from the kids

,,.... luckily it's half therm next week ...

 

 

Oooops ..... something new ...

Ooops today instead of finishing off a quilt for Markus I've made dad a hanky for his "British" night on the cruise they are off on tomorrow 

 

The quilt is nearly finished ....... just needs binding ..... but someone had to check it would be ok and luckily it passed 😀

 

A monster evening

Last summer I took my crochet hooks on holiday with me and a few odds and ends of wool and ended up making the kids some monsters. We went and bought some stuffing so they could be finished on holiday but I didn't buy any beads for eyes ..... so they have been sitting around for the last 9 months waiting for eyes. They have also been joined by a couple of others that I've made on flights

 to various places and never finished ..... so finally this week I've finished them ..... with a little help from the bigger monsters in the house to ensure they have the right eyes and mouths 😀

 

And here they are in progress at the start of the week .....

 

To do : 6

Completed : 11

Super Saturday

Well we've had a blitz today and finished 3 things ......

A medal holder for my cycling, running and Tri medals .... just need print another picture and it's all done ..... but some other little monsters would now like one for their medals too 😜

 

Yet more decoupage finished, so it might actually make it back into the cupboard until next year tomorrow .... although Markus did say he wants to go shopping for another thing to do 

 

And the Christmas candles are finally finished after the purchase of a few more candles from ikea today ......

 

To do : 7

Done : 10 (decoupage wasn't on the list after all that!!!)

Friday night crafting

Half an hour free before bed on a Friday night ... what do you do ? Decoupage !!

In the spirit of trying to finish things off that have been around for a while Steffi and I started to finish the decoupage boxes and bits that have been sitting on the table in the family room for a while .... still some to do, and Markus wants to finish his tomorrow too ... so fingers crossed by this time tomorrow something else will be finished 😀

 

a finished dress ..... at long last

I bought myself some knit fabric a few years ago with the promise I would make myself some dresses .... http://josewsuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/my-first-dress-for-long-time.html?m=0

Well finally I have finished the first one !!!!!! 😝

It's not perfect by any means and as it's a wrap around dress it may be a little too low cut for my liking but I have a lacy top I can wear under it .... so I'm wearing it to work tomorrow.

 

To do: 9 (but 2 are nearly done)

Finished: 8

Yet more Christmas in May!

Another thing on my list of things to do was to try out the candle transfers Steffi and I found in a shop in Austria at Easter.

We bought some candles when we we went to ikea a couple of weeks ago so tonight we managed to give them a go.

We were both impressed with them so watch out for them in your Christmas presents 🎁 

 

 

Action man will be pleased ....

I found another thing on my desk tonight that's been there a while but it missed the list as it was buried under other things ..... action mans life jacket !!!

Now he neeeeeds a life jacket so that he can go swimming in the new pond at Grandma's house so goodness knows how he's been managing without it .... but it's all fixed now so hopefully he will be happy in the morning !!

 

Christmas in May !

This must be the earliest that I've ever started to make Christmas things  ..... but I had a packet of snowflake stickers on my desk so I just had to make some cards and gift tags .... the cards aren't finished yet and need a bit more work along with a few other cards but the gift tags are finished 😀 🎄

Cushions galore

See busy day today ..... am picking off the easy ones so I made 2 cushions this evening.

I bought the cushion pads at ikea a couple of weeks ago and they were slightly too big for what I wanted so I chopped them down to the size I waned and restuffed them.

Then I looked through my stash and found some material to make 2 cushions for some garden chairs .... and here's the result.

Only one small problem .... I pinned the layers together and then used my overlocker to sew it. Unfortunately the overlocker blade didn't like the pin that I forgot to take out and it had a catastrophic failure 😟..... luckily I can still sew with it, it just doesn't cut the fabric before it sews ..... which is a pain, so I'd best get looking on eBay for a replacement blade !

To do : 10

Finished : 7

 

 

3 at once !

I'm on a roll ...... found the hammer and nails and sorted out the things in my swing room that have been lying around for a while ..... so I now have s space to hang my cutting rulers and the things I've made are on the wall 😀

To do :  11

Finished: 6

 

#3 a crochet cushion with custom made cushion pad

I got some wool and a pattern with a crochet magazine a while ago and have been meaning to make a cushion with it.

I finished the crochet a couple of months ago and it's been lying around waiting to be finished. So today I found an old unused cushion that didn't have a cover, cut it done to fit my crochet front and re-sewed it, then made a material cushion cover and sewed the crochet front on to it.

I thought it might look nice on the sofa in the family room but I think someone else may have other ideas !!! ...... cushions for the family room need to be recovers but they aren't in the list .... I can feel another list coming in for when I've finished this one :-)

Quilting time next .... markus is desperate for me to finish his tv watching quilt !!

 

Made number two..... with a little help from a friend !

Every Jan I go to the Farnham quilt fair ..... Steffi came with me in Jan 2016 and chose herself a layer cake so she could make herself a quit .....

It's taken is a while but we finally hand stitches the binding on it tonight so tomorrow it will be on her bed

To do : 15

Finished : 2

 

On the bed and ready for use ....

 

Made one .... mans best friend

So the first thing on the list is finished ..... one down 16 to go 😝

Here is a little crochet dog that now need to jump in a box and wing his way to America. When Hathaway was born, 4 years ago, I made her a teddy ..... but he's been well loved and needed replacing. Unfortunately I couldn't find the pattern I used last time so I thought I'd give a different pattern a go. 

He is supposed to be a dog but I'm not convinced, Steffi thinks he is cute but defo not dog like !! Let's hope he is loved when he gets to America 😀

Here he is ..... the finished "mans best friend"

And here he is in the making .....

 

 

To do : 16 

Finished : 1

New piping nozzles put to the test

We were all excited by my new "Russian piping" nozzles ...... they make flowers appear by magic 😝

Markus is now planning to make a huge cake a turn it into a bouquet of different flowers .... Steffi and I were happy with just doing cup cakes. Next time we might branch out into different colours of butter cream 😀

 

 

Madeit ..... but its not yet May

So I thought as it's the bank holiday weekend I should start my challenge of finishing things, so this evening I've fiaihedcthe rgubarb I was given this week and made some rhubarb and ginger jam

 

And I've also made some choc muffins so I can use up the left over butter cream and then Markus can make some more to try out some of the other nozzles 😀

 

Early makeit challenge

This weekend Steffi and I went to ikea to get some new bedding .... apparently animals are too childish now.

Foolishly I thought that pillow case and duvet covers were a standard size but no .... ikea have made theirs bigger than they were so they were far too big for our pillows and duvet  😟

So luckily I have an overlocker machine so I just whizzed them through that and chopped and inch off each side so they fit perfectly ...... see you just can't live without an overlocker !!!

 

may make it challenge

I'm tired of having loads of half finished projects hanging around so I thought I would challenge myself to finish a few things off in May .... I read a different blog that was running an instagram campaign on it but that sounded far too complicated ..... so this is a challenge to myself.

Here's the list of things I can think of that I should finish ..... let's see how many I manage

1. Crochet dog for Hathaway
2. Quilt for markus
3. Help Steffi finish her quilt
4. Christmas stocking
5. Help Steffi freehand embroider her cushion
6. Sew covers for 2x rectangular cushions
7. Finish the dress that had been on my manekin for a couple of years ..... just needs a hem
8. Finish crochet cushion cover
9. Christmas cards ..... I know wrong time of year but I would then be able to put the card box away
10. Finish Rudolph ornaments with the kids
11. Finish the decoupage items with the kids
12. Put transfers on candles with the kids
13. Finish crochet monsters
14. Finish embroidered towel for Jo
15. Hang up willow wreath
16. Sort out nails to hang quilting rulers and hoops 
17. Medal hanger

..... and I think that's it ..... am sure I'll find some other things along the way !!!