Key Fob Gifts

Last week I got a little production line going to make some key fobs from fabric scraps and woven cotton webbing tape.  Originally, I had intended to make these for my son to share with his friends at the end of his final school exams but since A-level examinations didn't happen in the expected way this year, we're now making them in advance of highly anticipated 'off to university' celebrations next month.

I managed to use up lots of scrappy offcuts from DS's university quilt - all those maths, music, chemistry and physics fabrics for keyfobs for his subject classmates.  I added a few more general fabrics and some for his female friends too.  But then I must confess, they became quite addictive and I made some for future school gifts too. (Miss CT is due to start Primary School in September, so my round of teachers' presents begins all over again.)

I must admit there was highly satisfying therapeutic element to hammering on that hardware 35 times!!

I also whipped up a few pencil cases from the remains of these grey and black science prints which will hopefully be acceptable for DS at university in the physics course he aspires to. He can hide them in a drawer, if not.  Then, because I was in pouch making mode, I pulled some Sweetwater Reunion and created a first aid zippy for him too.  It's a little bigger than I expected it to be but at least he'll have plenty of paracetamol, plasters and savlon to hand should he cut himself making pot noodle for diner ;-)

Pencil Case for Hubby

Hubby requested a small pencil case to pop into his Christmas present laptop rucksack.  I was only too happy to oblige.  Without being too boring he wanted to keep it professional looking.  I suggested using some old suiting fabric but apparently that was a bit too formal, so he opted for this Michael Miller (?) typewriter key fabric.  I love this fabric and have had it for ages waiting for a suitable project.

I teamed it with an Architextures contour fabric in orange for the lining, bought for hubby because of his orienteering hobby.  A cheeky orange zip and hey presto, one manly pencil case, not too boring, not too unprofessional (in my mind anyway). 

It finishes at approx 8" x 3"and although it's hard to judge the scale from my photographs, it's a really lovely little size.  Perfect for half a dozen pens/pencils, a pen drive and a few other small essentials.  Just enough to carry for work and when travelling.  I have to admit, such a simple quick project was fun.  Next time I make a pencil case for me, I will make it this size.

What's your favourite quick make?

I could use your advice ...

Before I get to the advice request, a wee apology if you have left me a comment and not had a reply since the beginning of December.  I have read all the comments on the hop but have not always had the time to respond.  December seems to have plans for my family that we weren't quite expecting and it has interrupted my ability to keep on top of blog reading and responding. So thank you if you've commented, as usual you've all been lovely, and please forgive me for not replying this time around.

In my plans for December there was a little gift making scheduled.  Thank goodness I hadn't planned too much as I've just been watching the days of December pass me by at an alarming rate.  Last night, I pulled out this bundle to get my gifts moving -

 Denim, wadding, shower curtain, tardis fq and a couple of zips.

My son had requested a large pencil case with "no fancy bits" (spoil sport!) and I wanted to use this brilliant tardis fabric which I got free from Spoonflower a few months back.

So I obeyed the brief and kept it simple.  There is a tiny wee bit of quilting on there, but not really much to see beyond the row of tardises (tardii?).

The tardis lining is pretty cool in my opinion, and I am super proud of those lovely covered zip ends.  They worked a treat this time.

As you may have heard me bemoan the lack of washbags available to purchase for boys in a previous post, I thought that I'd use the rest of the tardis fq to make him a surprise toiletry bag for a school trip he has in the late spring.  Sticking to the "no fancy bits" parameters I repeated the tardis strip and made up a super large boxy pencil case.

Tardis tabs on the sides.

Shower curtain lining for some waterproof protection.

And here's where I need your advice folks.  See those boxed corner triangles?  (Yes, I know I should have changed thread to pale blue - doh!)

What would you do with these corners now?  Silly me didn't look ahead in the pattern I used and I forgot from making these in smaller versions previously that the pattern just leaves the triangles in place inside the pouch.  But to me these look untidy and cumbersome, especially in this larger version and now I'm not sure how best to finish them off before I fill it with smellies and wrap it for under the tree.

Should I trim them back and leave them?  Trim them and try to overstitch them somehow? Or just leave them be?  Any other clever suggestions?

Ideally, of course the boxed corner seams would be hidden completely, but the construction of this pencil case didn't allow that as an option and I couldn't get my head around how else to do it.  So, what would you do?

I think once I finish the inside of the washbag that these two pouches will make respectable "no fancy bits" pressies to put under the tree.  Fingers crossed.

Bottoms Up!

I am so excited to show you some bottoms today!

See?

These cute and fabulous derrieres belong to this little swarm.

Aren't they adorable?

Several weeks ago I thought that I'd like to send something to all of the hipBees as a wee "hello" from me.  But what to send?

Well, the advantage of having some super crafty friends is that you know just who to go to when you have a secret commission.  Enter the gorgeous and talented Shannon, who blogs over at The Crafty Teen and sells her amazing polymer clay makes on her Etsy shop Poppy's Pocket.  She was just the girl for this job and I commissioned her to make these little bee charms for us.  Didn't Shannon do a sterling job?  And, how could you not love their flowery hippy bottoms?

Bee Paranoia:  "Does my bum look big in this?"  "Um, yeah!"

I am so chuffed to be able to send these to all of my hipBee friends a wee hipBee bee charm and I hope they have now arrived safely at each address.  The pressie is really all about the Bee charms but I did stitch up one of these for each of the hipBees too - Zakka Pencil Pouches.

Hope you all like them ladies!

BQS 3 Finished!

I am a little ahead of the BQS 3 schedule with this finish, but there are good reasons.  Although the Brit Quilt Swap 3 is running until the end of August I didn't want it to become neglected amid some bigger quilt commitments which I've recently taken on.  So, in order to give it the time and attention it rightly deserves, I devoted time to it early.  And now, here it is all bright and happy and finished!

For the binding, I was tempted by scrappy but it sort of got a bit lost because the centre is scrappy enough.  So I decided to use one of the bright prints from the hexi wheels, but I didn't want the binding to draw attention out from the wheels or compete with them.  I hope I have achieved that with my choice of the green metro circle print and ultimately, that my partner will like it.

I chose to quilt simply on either side of the straight seams and I love the resulting double triangles and the little stars that appeared in the intersections of all those lines.  

I added two wee hanging corners at the top too, just in case my partner likes it enough to put it on their wall.

As a wee extra I stitched up this cute little Zakka pencil case from that book and I'm sure some chocolate may also find its way into the parcel when the time comes too.

So, there it is partner.  I really hope it's something you like and not a disappointment.

A Challenge, an Update and a Promise

The Challenge 

Yesterday, my lovely nine year old son set me a challenge - to make something small very quickly and he would be timing me on his ipod stopwatch.  Hey presto, 15 mins or so later and I had a bright little tissue holder for my summer bag.  I've seen these on various blogs and always wanted to try one out, so this was my chance.  In fairness most of the 15 minutes was spent choosing and cutting the fabric strips, not in the actual making up.

Sadly my time doesn't show up in this pic, but my son insists I include it!

Pocket Tissue Holder

The Update

Last night was class night and I made some progress on my Beach Huts Cushion.

It looks nice and tidy all trimmed off and squared up ready for adding the back.  Doesn't it look cheery?  The was a lot of quilting in this little cushion front and my bunting string looks slightly like it was caught in a gust of wind rather than hanging nicely on a calm summer's day, but I tried to smooth it out three times and it just seems that breeze was determined to blow!

The Promise

Just a few days ago I noticed my son eyeing up some of the JoAnn's fabrics that I received recently.   He struck up a conversation and in the end I found myself promising to make him a new pencil case from the fqs he had chosen.  Actually, I was delighted that he wanted me to make him something.  Sometimes it feels so difficult to find things to make for boys - there are loads of little possibilities for girls but no so much for boys. Anyway, here is his new pencil case courtesy of me (and of course Terri's great tutorial) - 

Hope he's happy when he sees it in the morning!  Please note - promise kept!

Actually, all these little things and Agnes cushion are part of my attempt to clear a few things off my list before they become UFOs.   I realised that life has been so crazy this last couple of months and as that looks set to continue I need to be careful not to commit to too many projects at one time or I will end up with the world's largest UFO list!  So, in an effort to keep myself on track I'm keeping a wee note of current projects and what I hope to achieve in a given month.  Then at the end of the month I have something to review and see how I did - hopefully, this will also keep my WIPs from becoming UFOs.