Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly.....

My lovely nieces turned 21 last week and I managed to co-incide a trip up to see my mum with their birthday bash this weekend.  Hannah and Bethan are truly beautiful girls, inside and out, who want for nothing so trying to decide on birthday gifts is always a trauma.  In the end I made two Graceful Kelly bags...

for Hannah

for Bethan

The frames are from U-handbag as is the *free* pattern.  Easy to follow, quick to put together, great finished product!  The fabric is Melody Miller (I am obsessed) and the lining fabrics are Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush First Impressions (Hannah) and Amy Butler Midwest Modern Roses in sage (Bethan).  I was hoping to get photos of the girls with their bags from their dad - I will chase him and let you see how gorgeous they are.

The only other progress last week was work on the Sparkle Punch quilt - 1/3 sewn together.  *deep bow*.  Erm....  no wait, even though I was hoping to make the wheelchair cape/grobag ensemble for my mum before heading up to Scotland, I decided that, with the mixed messages about what was required, I would wait until my visit to confirm design etc.  Thank goodness that I did because "if I wanted to cover my shoulders, I'd wear a shrug" came the response to my cape question.  So we worked out the design.  Mum really disliked the grey fabric chosen for the exterior ["I don't like the birds", "Mum, they're flowers", "Hmmmm, I still don't like the birds"]  so we went through some online fabric shops and she chose

Alexander Henry fabric for Home Glendon in Ripe Avocado

Not quite the choice I was expecting BUT the order has been placed and the fabric has been despatched.  I have all the measurements from the wheelchair and I know what she is wanting (famous last words?) so now I need to draft a pattern and crack on. 

So a lesson learned - never try to second guess your mum.  Along with another lesson (haggis suppers are always better in theory than practice), it was an instructive weekend!

Linking with Manic Monday and WIP Wednesday

6 months old today...

and I can't imagine life without my wee man.

a finish and a conundrum

Last week was pretty much a washout, crafty wise.  Life (good and not so good) kind of snuck in and took over.  I did start AND finish something on Sunday though.  An easy-peasy purse from u-handbag, that I got for Christmas but I changed the exterior fabric and used a bit of Anna Maria Horner instead....

I am quite chuffed with how it turned out, especially given my first failed attempt at purse construction.  I now feel more confident about making graceful kelly bags for my nieces' 21st birthday - I can't believe that they will be 21 next week.  Mind boggling!

And so to my conundrum....  As some of you know, my mum is a wee bit poorly (well, to be honest a lot bit poorly).  She has asked me to make a "cover" for her wheelchair.  After talking to her, what she means is like a cosy or gro-bag type thing that velcos down the front and, I loved this bit, is "like a cape!"  I'm popping up to see her next weekend so I have about 10 days to design and complete this "cover".  I'm going to ask one of my sisters to get the wheelchair dimensions then I have to draft a pattern of sorts.  A LOT of head scratching has already happened and I'm guessing a lot more is to come.  I think I've chosen the fabric though - from my stash too! 

bought from Ikea a wee while back - like home dec in weight but not too dull and I think I'll have enough!  I'm torn between two fabrics for the inside....

some AMH lou lou thi flannel that I bought for a quilt
I'll be making one of my sisters soon

or

some Oliver&S City Weekend that I have had for ages,
hence the creases, and love to pieces.  I've only used a small
bit to make a bag for another sister.

What do you think?  Flannel might be more snuggly?  As I said a lot of head scratching.....  I'm going to try and document the process too just to see if it helps me in future endeavours.  If anyone out there has made anything remotely similar then please I could do with your help!
I'm linking this to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday as I will be working on this tomorrow too!

Fresh Sewing Day: February

I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts to review what I've been up to in February

So here's a little montage:

1. kitty's quilt top  2. sparkle punch quilt top lay out 3. UFO 4.technically a late Jan finish!

Doesn't seem much to me compared with others efforts but it's been a bit of a month what with one thing and another and the blocks for the Sparkle Punch quilt took aaaaaaaaages to cut put and sew together.  So all in all I'm happy with what I've achieved. 

Also linking up with Lily's Quilts' Small Blog Meet, which I linked up to in January and found some lovely blogs to follow and have gained some great followers. All good :)