Amelia's quilt....

 My eldest daughter Amelia turned 18 last month and since it's been a few years since I've made a quilt for her I decided an 18th birthday was special enough to make her one. This year has been a big year for both her and I as she moved out of home and into a Halls of residence in Wellington. She is doing a Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria University majoring in Film and Theatre. It was so very hard to leave her in Wellington once I had helped move her in but it has been so very rewarding to see her grow and mature into an independent young adult. She loves her new life down in Wellington as a student and loves what she is studying. She has a sign on her bedroom door at home that reads "Sorry out living the dream" and that is exactly what she is doing. I am so very proud of who she is becoming and what she is achieving so far. I can remember when she was just a few weeks old, pushing her along the road and commenting to someone who had stopped to admire her that I couldn't wait to see what and who she was going to grow into. I was eager to see the future her but also enjoying that first time motherhood period. 

When we were choosing items for her new room she had a definite colour scheme in mind of tuquiose, aqua, green. Once all her room was dressed with all her new things it looked fresh and modern which helped me choose a fresh, simple and modern quilt design. It had to be fairly simple as I didn't leave myself much time to complete it.

 All of the prints are from my stash of fabrics so the only purchase was some more solid grey print and the aqua and white spot for the backing.

I gave myself added pressure by being determined to hand-quilt it but I just love the look of a hand-quilted quilt.

 It should keep her nice and warm in Wellington's slightly cooler temperatures with it's inner layer of wool/polyester batting.

And of course a quilt isn't complete without a label. "Inez and James" is my new Etsy shop.

A4 Art/journalling folders

 Freshly added to my Etsy shop today are these A4 size Art/journalling folders made with my favourite colourful and vibrant batik cottons.

 They have each been embellished with some pretty machine embroidery as well as a handmade button and loop enclosure to keep everything securely together.

 Inside are 3 larger A4 sized pockets, 1 smaller pocket for pens or a small writing pad, 3 individual pen pockets and 2 business card pockets.

 Working with these happy colourful fabrics makes these cold wet wintry days more bearable...

A custom order.....

About a month ago now I agreed to make a friend some cushions to brighten up her her couches for an open home. It was a Friday afternoon and she needed them by lunch time the next day (no pressure :-)  I like a challenge and a deadline is always good for motivation. She had given me a clear idea as to colours (bright) and design but otherwise trusted my creative intuitions :-) I was immediately drawn to my stash of colour saturated Balinese batiks thinking they would work well with some modern contemporary designs. Two hours into cutting out, at about 5 pm, I decided to have a break and get dinner on but no sooner had I started, the power went off and didn't come back on till 10 pm so no sewing got done but I did get all the cutting out finished before it got too dark to see. 

So the next morning I worked hard to finish them in time but not to how I had originally envisioned them to look like. I made my friend promise me she would give them back to me after the open homes so I could do more work on them. They looked fine to her but I knew they could look much better. I added the hand-quilted circles to the above circle cushion along with a thin layer of batting on the underside.....

....then to these woven designs I added a line of stitching down each fabric strip to not only reduce fraying on the raw edges but to add a little texture.

Then on the back of each one I added a handmade button and loop enclosure.

To see how these handmade covered buttons are made, the tutorial can be found here on Michelle's blog.

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 :-) 

Custom made......

This is the custom ordered writing/journalling compendium that I've been working on most of the week in between the usual housework, washing, baking, dinner making and keeping my girls happy stuff that happens everyday :-) I have to say I'm really loving how this folder came out and it was a joy to work with these sunny happy fabrics. 

 Inside is pretty much the same as the others except just one pocket for business cards and of course it's 3 big pockets hold the bigger A4 size writing pads/journals.

The back showing some of the embroidery stitches I used to embellish the outside with.

And finished with a handmade button and loop enclosure. I'm going to make an effort to break out of my colour comfort zone of greens and blues and work with this happy colour combo more often I think. 

New additions.....

 Now that the school holidays are over I've been keeping busy designing and sewing new items for my shop. I added these 3 writing/journalling compendiums last week made with some more of those vibrant Bali batiks that I am constantly drawn to work with.

The covers of each one are made up of small pieces sewn together 'improv' style then embellished with various machine embroidery stitches which all takes a bit of time but is one of my favourite steps of making these compendiums up.

Yesterday I received a custom order for one of these compendiums in the colour combo of red/orange/yellow and in an A4 size. I rummaged through my stash and came to the sad conclusion that I did not have enough of those colours in my stash so of course a shopping trip was called for. It just so happens that there is a shop about an hours drive away that stock a wonderful range of true Balinese batiks and at reasonable prices. The shop is called "Wrights fabrics" in Morrinsville and has been around for years and the owners are really friendly and helpful. One of the fabrics that I had chosen had a cut in the middle of it so they gave me extra to compensate along with a further extra piece that had been cut previously but tucked into the roll. Once paid for my fabrics were not stuffed into the usual generic plastic bag but carefully wrapped in good old fashioned brown paper. Love that :-) And now my stash of batiks is much more colour balanced :-)

Parental Christmas gifts.....

 I didn't make as many handmade gifts this year as last year just because of time constraints but I did make an exception with my parents as they are probably my biggest fans (as they should be of course :-) and really appreciate my handmade gifts. So this year for my Mother I made this writing compendium based on the one  I made here. I picked out some pretty floral prints that I thought she would like and embellished the outer cover with some ric-rac and machine embroidery.

 A while back now I raided my Mothers button tin so I thought it was only appropriate to chose a button from her past and this button is such a pretty one don't you think?

 I've had this hen fabric for ages and since my Mother likes hens I decided it was the perfect use for it.

 And here's the back with some pretty blue and grey ric-rac that coordinates perfectly with these pretty prints.

 Now my Dad was pretty easy too as he admired my bible cover so I made covers for two of his three bibles. These are fairly quick to whip up once I've made the fabric choices and the pieces are cut out.

My favourite detail is the ribbon bookmark on this cover where I have simply combined the purple woven tape with the aqua ric-rac.

 Here's the back of each cover. As you can see I used some lovely vibrant Bali Batik's and I tried to avoid anything too feminine or pretty.
Suffice to say they were both happy with their respective gifts made with love :-)

New Boho Bags .....

  

Here's the latest versions of my Boho bag which I first made here and here. I finished them just a few days before Christmas. I just love working with these vibrant and colourful batiks, most of which come from Bali. Not quite sure which one I like best but apart from the pretty and colourful assortment of batiks used I love this style of bag and it's handy features. It sits nicely on the hip and is a great size to hold everything that a girl needs but not too big to feel cumbersome when it's full.

Inside is a zipped pocket to store things that you want to keep safe and secure and a handy lanyard with a hook for keeping your keys not only safe but easy to access when you need them. There is nothing more annoying than fishing around the bottom of your bag for your keys when you need them quickly don't you think :-)

The two straps tie together at the top therefore making it adjustable to your preferred length and also alowing it to be worn across the body or on one shoulder.

On the outside there is a pocket on each side which are perfect for holding sunglasses or a cellphone etc... 

For the enclosure on these bags I chose a simple loop and a large handmade button. These bags are now available for sale here in my etsy shop along with the navy version here.

And of course these cute little zippered pouches coordinate perfectly and can be hooked on to the hook/lanyard inside each bag.

Okay since it's once again unbearably hot outside here today we're off to the beach for a cooling dip and maybe a little snooze while I work on my tan :-) 

The lost art of the hand written letter..........

No I'm not going to write a post on how we rarely hand write letters any more but it is something that we see less and less of which I think is a little sad since how special do we feel when we receive even just a handwritten note. Anyway with those thoughts in mind I designed this writing/journalling folder or "compendium" I think is the correct word for it. I used up some scraps of batiks leftover from the making of my 'Boho bag'. As you can see it has 2 pockets on the front for pens and closes with a fabric loop and handmade button (a miniature version of the button on the bag). Inside it has 4 large pockets for storing paper, journals and pens, 2 single pen pockets and 2 pockets for cards. Once again I used some African 'shwe shwe' fabrics for the inside. I really like the way these prints coordinate with the blue batiks plus the fact that they've been in my stash for a while now and it feels good to finally find the perfect items to use them in.

Just like the 'Boho bag' it is embellished on the outside with a variety of machine embroidery stitches....

Admittedly I don't write many letters myself but I do like to have paper handy when inspiration strikes and I also have recently started a journal for writing down inspirational quotes etc... so I think I need to make one of these compendiums for myself. This one is now for sale here in my Etsy shop and also here in my Felt shop.