Holiday sewing projects

(Warning - lots of pictures in this post!)

Have just had a week off and as well as spending one weekend in Edinburgh and one in London, I also spent a little bit of time doing a little bit of sewing. I finally got the quilt for H and CMcM's wee one finished (I only started it, what a year ago??):

(The finished article, laid out on the table.)

This is only the second quilt I have every made, and the first one that I have actually properly actually quilted. I'm still not confident enough to do binding yet - hopefully with the next one, but I think it looks ok without it. I love the colours in this - always a wrench to give it away! I stitched in the ditch to quilt it, which helped keep my lines straight, but not always very straight:

(Spot the slightly wobbly lines...)

The back was a single piece of teal fabric. I'm pretty pleased with it all in all. :o)

(I quite like the squares on the back caused by the quilting, as well as the colours!)

(The final item, all nicely folded and ready to be given to the new owner. I hope she loves it as much as I do!)

I also made myself a ring pin cushion. I saw some (frankly much more finished versions) at the V&A quilting exhibition, which were lovely but £35, which was really just a bit too much for me to pay. After a wee search online, I realised that it wouldn't be that hard to make. All I needed was a bottle top from a 2 litre bottle of coke or lemonade (Schweppes in my case), some stuffing and a bit of fabric and some elastic (and some glue) and I'd have a rudimentary version.

(Not bad eh? Can you guess where the little fabric scrap came from for it?)

To really finish it off I ought to cover the bottle top itself in fabric, but that's perhaps something for another day (and I sort of like it in its raw state). Anyway, it's very very useful. And anyone who doesn't have one, should - they're so easy to make!

And then, finally, I made one more project. We've needed a new door stop in our flat for our bedroom door, since we moved in a couple of months ago. I have a great pattern from a Lotta Jansdotter book Simple Sewing, that I have used twice before, so I broke it out and a cool bit of fabric from my stash that I was just waiting to know what to do with. I mostly stuff them with soft toy stuffing, but then add some rice at the bottom (in food bags) to give it the necessary weight. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though:

(Loving the funky fabric)

Here it is next to the other two that I made:

(They look cute all lined up, eh?)

The robots on the right was the first one I made - a present for Flaneur for Christmas a few years ago - and I clearly went crazy on the stuffing as it looks very 'comfy' next to the others! The chickens was used in the kitchen in the old flat. Unfortunately the freezer leaked a bit once and it got a little wet. I use it in my 'utility cupboard' now (the cupboard in the hall with the washing machine in it - it's great to keep the cupboard door open so I can use the blinking thing). I'm pretty pleased with my little family of door stops. And I think the last one I made is definitely technically the best.

Just need to work out what my next project is going to be now!