A Holiday Bag

It's that time of year again and for some reason before I go on holiday I usually get the urge to make
 something to take with me. This year I opted for a bag.

It is similar to the one I made recently as a present except that as it will hold passports and stuff I wanted a zipped top.

 I know I could have searched for a pattern but I had a big zip (bought from a charity shop for 10p!) and decided to just wing it.

I literally just sewed it in one side at a time using a couple of pins to hold it in place, and the result is actually ok.
 

 

The bag has a brilliant lining made from a recycled shirt given to me by my older brother.

You can see a peep at it here but I will get a better picture and show you the full effect when I get a chance.

Long may he wear bright shirts and recycle them in my direction!

 

 

The handles are very rustic. Strips of 3" wide denim cut from old jeans and sewn together before folding in half and zigzagging the cut edges together.

I added two straight seams for reinforcement. The slight give in the fabric (they were jeans with a bit of stretch in) gives the handles a really comfy fit on my shoulder. I like it when something very unplanned turns out to be a good idea.
 

 

I tried to get a hanging shot over my own shoulder!

 I don't know whether you've tried that but I found it impossible, so this will have to do.

Roll on holidays.

Cartwheels on the beach

 

I started this quilt way back in January and as usual it has taken me forever to finish it.

I blogged about the nearly finished top here.

I couldn't work out what to edge it with but eventually opted for

Full Moon Lagoon (brilliant name!) by mo bedell

which I found in Soft Touch Needlecrafts in Tavistock.

 

So this weekend, while sitting on the beach, I was able to hand sew down the binding and finally finish it off.

 

The blocks were made using a lovely tutorial by Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

I used a mixture of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably fabrics as well as some plains for the cartwheels and recycled shirts for the background.

I used an old blanket for the batting and backed it with a recycled flannelette sheet because they are so soft to wrap around you.

It is machine quilted around the edge of the background recatangles, if that makes sense.

 

Off to enjoy this sunshine!

 

Pink Elderflower Cordial

We have a pink elderflower in the garden and I used the flowers mixed with some white ones to make a second batch of cordial.

I was hoping it would turn the cordial a pinkish colour 

 but had not expected them to work this well..

It is a beautiful colour and even diluted is a pretty shade of pink.

 

Here it is next to some strawberries from the garden.
I have never managed to get strawberries to work in our garden until this year.
I moved the plants to a raised bed and they seem to love it there and haven't been eaten by anything apart from us yet!

Geraniums are looking pretty too.

 

 

A pair of Pot Holders

 

I have made another pot holder using the string quilt block tutorial mentioned here.

This time I quilted it with a spiral pattern.

  

 

While I was outside getting some photos I picked the first of the broad beans, a few sweet peas and found an egg.

 

I love summer!