It’s February – oh wait, no it’s April!
It’s about time I caught up with posting my blocks for the Modern QAL, since this is the last month before putting all the blocks together!
February’s block was called Parisian Star, and like all the blocks comes from this book:
Here is my finished block:
You can see all the other blocks that people have made over on And Sew We Craft 🙂
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The final Christmas present 2013 post!
After the t-shirt I made turned out too small, I went back and cut out the size large pieces instead. I used the same Charlie Tee pattern by Fishsticks Designs, and again drew on a v-neck, rather than the original rounded neck.
 I followed the instructions from the children’s v-neck pattern I have, and stay stitched the v before adding the neckband on. I’ve never done that before as I didn’t really see what difference it would make, and it means changing the double needle to a single and back again, but actually it does make the v much flatter! So perhaps following the pattern properly is a good idea after all!
 Look at those stripes! I was so proud of these – they match up perfectly!
It turned out really well, and was even better as once finished I didn’t have any Christmas presents left to make! 🙂
It’s nearly the end of January and I still haven’t finished sharing the things I made for Christmas!
 This was intended to be an adult’s v-neck t-shirt that I was going to give as a present. It is made from grey cotton jersey with white ribbing for the neck.
There are not a huge number of adult patterns out there, at least not as much choice as there seems to be with children’s patterns, and I couldn’t find one with a v-neck at a reasonable (not extortionate) price. I did, however, already have an adult t-shirt pattern with the ordinary rounded neck – the Charlie Tee pattern by Fishsticks Designs. So in a ‘how hard can it be?’ moment I decided to just use that one and draw my own v-neck onto the pattern pieces!
 The answer to my question turned out to be – not really that hard! I think the v-neck turned out just fine.
 I used my twin needle again to do all the hemming …
 …and I also use it to sew all the seams and topstitching.
I sewed the size medium, and that turned out to be my one mistake. When I got my husband to try it on it was a pretty good fit on him, which meant that it was going to be a tiny bit too small for its intended recipient.
So it was back to the drawing board for the Christmas t-shirt, and this one went into our wardrobe instead. (and he does wear it, so even though he’s not a huge fan of me making him things to wear, he must like it really 🙂 )
It’s January! And there’s only four months of the Modern Blocks QAL left!
So everyone who knows me will know that I can’t possibly have made made my block this month. Living in a house with no table/chair/desk and with my sewing machine and all my fabric in a box ready to start its 10,000 mile journey to a new home I’d need some superhuman powers to have made it in the last two days!!
But when I made last month’s block, suspecting that this might be a possibility, I got ahead. So actually I made all the rest of my blocks, since there was only four, which is cheating a little bit, but now I can still link up when everyone else does – yay!
All of the blocks for the QAL come from this book:
This month’s block is called Everything Equal, and Alyce’s tutorial can be found on Blossom Heart Quilts’ blog.
I looked at all the colours in the fabric I’m using for my blocks, and couldn’t resist making it a rainbow!
I think it looks really pretty!
You can see all the other blocks that people have made over on And Sew We Craft 🙂
This post contains affiliate links.
I went looking for photos of all the things I’ve made this year. I found a lot more than I was expecting – I’ve been busy!
Crochet:
Clothes sewing:
Bags, pouches and pencil cases:
Other sewing:
Quilt blocks:
I wonder what I’ll make in 2014?!
For Christmas I made my nieces and nephew pencil cases for their presents.
Two of them I made the same as the one that went wrong, but these ones turned out well!
The first was made with pink and purple zips with pink cotton for the back:
The second I made with a rainbow of zips:
I used this pretty multi-coloured chevron cotton for the back of it:
I filled each one with some stationery items I thought the girls would like:
My nephew is a superhero fan, so for him I made this superhero pencil case:
I hope they like them!
Last year I took part in the 12 Days of Christmas charity preemie hat challenge. This year I took part again. These are the twelve hats that I made. I chose just the one pattern and made each one in a different colour:
I made a set of nine newborn reversible crib shoes from the pattern by Peek-a-Boo Patterns:
And nine sets of preemie crochet booties:
They have all been sent to help the Australian Outback Baby Project.
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This is one of my Christmas present makes, which I can show now because it has arrived (posted in Australia Monday, arrived in England Friday – post is doing well this year!) and I gave instructions to open on arrival so it would get more use.
I made a Christmas table runner!
 It is made from 4.5 inch squares using a variety of Christmassy fabrics, including some Christmas koalas and kangaroos!
 I quilted it using a wiggly stippling pattern.
It’s the first time I have used free motion quilting on something I have made. I watched some of this Craftsy course to learn how to work systematically and try to get the stitches of even length. I learnt some basic stippling designs that I repeated over and over.
You can see the pattern more clearly on the back. It’s not completely even all the way across – I started at the end where it’s closer together, but for a first try I think it’s pretty good!
 I bound it using red cotton and hand stitched the binding onto the back. The tutorials that say that is quick and easy lie! But is does look good once it’s finished.
I’m really pleased with my finished table runner, and it’s now sitting on my Mum’s dining table 🙂
I’m linking this project up for Sew Cute Tuesday on Blossom Heart Quilts.
This post contains affiliate links.
This month is month 8 of the Modern Blocks QAL!
The block this month is called Crosswalk. The tutorial for it can be found on Actually Amy’s blog.
I chose just two colours of the fabric I’m using to make this block – purple and orange, with the plain around the corners.
Here is my finished block:
All of the blocks for the QAL come from this book:
You can see all the other blocks people have made over on And Sew We Craft.
This post contains affiliate links.
My nephew has the last birthday in the family before Christmas, and this year I made him a bag.
I asked my sister what kind of things he was into, and one of the things on the list that came back was diggers!
This bag is made from the Fun-to-Go Tote Kids Bag pattern by Fishsticks Designs.
The digger on the front under the zip is paper pieced, and I then used yellow cotton around it to make the pieces the right side. I had some leftover digger fabric to do the band above the zip.
When it came to the back I was originally going to use the digger fabric, but when I measured it there wasn’t enough left, so I made a band across the top to match the front like this:
 The handles and the lining are yellow cotton, and there is a layer of yellow fleece inside to give the bag some structure. (It didn’t need to be yellow fleece, but there was a piece the right size and it matched the lining so I thought why not!)
 The zip pocket runs the entire length of the bag. The pocket is lined in grey cotton (see how all the colours from the digger are used somewhere else as well!)
I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I think it looks great 🙂
I’m linking this project up for Sew Cute Tuesday on Blossom Heart Quilts.