Patchwork, Crochet and Sweet Wrappers!

I have so much on the go at the moment I don't know which to tackle next!

Last week's patchwork and quilting group saw the completion of my first place mat (1st of 6!) below. This is called Japanese Folded patchwork.  Not my favourite!  Too much room for error for my liking because of the bias of the fabric.  It took a bit of keeping square!

I then moved on to Somerset Patchwork.  This I enjoyed and found it very therapeutic albeit time consuming.  Lots of little rectangles, folded into triangles and sewn on by hand.  This is about the same size as one of the squares above (4").  Only another 5 to go to finish place mat number 2! Tumbling blocks for number 3 but no pictures as yet!

I have also been following a CAL over at Look At What I Made called Sophie's Universe.  But first I would like to show you another pattern from Dedri called Sophie's Garden.  I absolutely loved this one and learnt a tremendous amount from completing it. It is about 2ft across.

Now Sophie's Universe starts out life very similarly to Sophie's Garden but it will eventually grow into a blanket about 6ft square.  You can see below how far I've got so far.  This is already measuring 22".  I love them, so colourful and so interesting to do.  As soon as I've finished writing this post I'm off to start on Part 4.  Very excited!! Sad or what?

Another lovely day I had this week was making 'fabric' from sweet wrappers.  A group of like minded friends get together about once every month to play with textiles of some kind.  Last week we had a go at textile art using sheer fabrics, felt and sweet wrappers.  I made one piece of 'fabric' out of which I was able to make a case for my glasses and a needle case.  We had great fun.  I have had a request from an elderly lady, I help out, for a needle case. When I start making it I promise I will write a little tutorial to explain how I did it.  Watch this space!

And to cap it all, I tutored an Introduction to Crochet workshop today!  Loads of concentration, but great fun had by all.

Next week I am travelling up to Manchester for a girlie weekend with my friend.  I shall arrive on Thursday evening which is fantastic timing as it is the start of the Great British Sewing Bee !! yay :)  Fizzy plonk, girlie chats and The Sewing Bee.  Can't think of much better!  We are then going to the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show at Event City in Manchester.  I'll tell you all about it when I get back.  Right now I'm joining in with Handmade Monday and then going to carry on with Part 4 of the crochet along!  

Have a good week everyone!

x