Some finishes

So the last 2 weeks seemed to have flown by and I don't seem to have much to show for it. My father is out of hospital and seems to be recuperating well. He can't drive yet so I have their car and am going over once a week to take them shopping which isn't such a big deal as I do my shopping at the same time and their supermarket is way better than our local one. 

I have managed to get some sewing in now and then. The above bag is for a friends daughter to use as a peg bag. Her previous peg bag was well and truly worn out so I hope she gets as much use out of this new one. The strap is long enough to sling across your body making it hands free plus as requested I have put one pocket on the front to hold her cellphone. Her washing line is up a hill and must be some distance from her house hence the need for a cellphone. I decided to quilt it with a layer of thin batting in between the layers to make it more sturdy and durable. 

I do hope she likes the fabrics and the bright and cheery colours I've used. Hopefully they will brighten up her washing days.

And this pretty purple pouch is for another daughter of a lady from church. Her only instructions were to use the colour purple so I do hope she likes this mix of purple fabrics I have used . The fabrics are an assortment of batiks, florals with one or two vintage fabrics thrown in for good measure.

Now that these two bags are finished I am free to sew some things for my shop and I have no idea what yet which will not doubt mean I will have to have a play with some fabrics until inspiration strikes. Nice to have a clean slate but somehow daunting as well :-) 

New cushion designs......

 

 For the last couple of weeks I've been working on these new cushion designs for my shop but I kept getting interrupted with 'life'. I've had these designs floating around my head for a while now then I drew them out in a sketch pad and that was as far as I got for a while until the time seemed right to actually make them. 

 I'm really pleased with how they finally turned out and how they evolved further as I made them. I like how the grey background makes the prints pop out. The addition of the little buttons on both these cushions was not in my original design but not a surprising addition since I love buttons in general, you know big, small, new or vintage or whatever....

I did my favourite pebble quilting on this one but instead of circles I did ovals to echo the oval applique's. 

Then on this design I just did random loopy squiggles.  The fabrics are a real mixture of prints but I did start off with some of Sarah Feilke's fabric line "On the Pond" she designed for Spotlight.

And my usual handmade button and loop enclosure teamed with some pretty ric-rac :-) on the reverse.

Taking time....

Sorry about the unintentional absence here on my blog..... These last 3 or so weeks have been a little difficult for me to get through as it's been a whole year since my life was turned upside down which I blogged about here. We escaped for an extended weekend away to our favourite beach a couple of weeks ago and once we got there it was so nice to be back in this peaceful remote beach again. The above photo of my girls is taken on a walk at the northern end of Piha.

We also took along my parents who hadn't been back to stay in Piha for a few years. My Dad wasn't up to any walking but Mum did the waterfall walk with Caitlin and I one afternoon.

 On our last morning I managed an early morning walk up the lookout track above the gap ....

 I love the shadows created on these cliffs by the sun rising up from the hills behind.

 So just when I thought I was about to get back to a some what normal schedule my Dad was taken to hospital with a couple of broken bones after falling in the middle of the night earlier last week. There is more to this story than I will share here but he is on the mend for now and getting rehabilitation to prepare to be at home again. So I have been busy travelling back and forwards to hospital with Mum although now he is thankfully at a closer hospital in Thames. On the plus side Mum has been staying with the girls and I for nearly a week which is nice for both her and us to spend time together and my Dad has been busy being my sales representative and giving out my business cards to nurses and fellow patients. He was getting admiring comments on his bible cover that I made for him for Christmas which has led to 2 orders for diary covers for a fellow patient and his brother. Yay I love custom orders!

Be back soon to show the sewing that I have managed to get done these past couple of weeks.