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Finally,  I have finished a quilt! There wasn't much left really, just about half of the border that needed to be sewn by hand before we moved. And then we moved... I had packed the quilt into a suitcase rather than a box to retrieve it quicker. But I hadn't packed hand sewing needles or any energy/ motivation...

And finally last week, I did the last few stitches on the binding to have a finished quilt!

Just one year after I started it with the sew along. The top was pieced last autumn. I had planned to quilt ...

 Only 4 more... I kind of ran out of steam really but wanted to make 4 more to gift to some of the lovely people my children had interacted with in various clubs over the years. 

So with that, here are my last 4 bags. 

2 for the dance teachers

2 for the Scouts leaders (one with upside down birdies...)

And 4 additional finish for July and off my Q3 FAL list. 

Linking to Needle and Thread Thursday, Brag about your Beauties, Off the wall Friday, Peacock Party,  Whoop Whoop Friday, Patchwork and Quilts

Celine

 And that will be 3 more, including 2 rather last minute. I needed one for Brown Owl, to be gifted with the open wide pouches so I finished that one with about one hour to spare.

And I also needed one for school last Friday as the presents have to be quarantined before being handed to the teachers this week. So that was another one to finish off.

This one was with 2 colours as I messed up the cutting of the wave!

And some more OPAM for July. Ideally I need to make 4 more bags but I must ...

 It has been long time since I made an open wide pouch (pattern by Noodlehead) so I made 4!

I used faux leather for the outside and cotton for the inside, one with the sports print

Linking ...

 More end of year teachers' presents on my list but I took a break from the bags to make some pencil cases. I can't really make bags for men I think. 

I started with 10'' squares for those pencil cases and added a 1'' square of faux leather on either side of the zip.

First step is to sew the zip to the outside and lining so it is "sandwiched" between the 2 layers.

 I have taken some time to sew this week-end and although I had planned to do a lot more than I have, I have managed to make 6 more Zero-Waste Wave Bags. 

My first series was with this gorgeous raspberry faux leather. 

It was all going so well until I realised I forgot to sew one strap....

Thankfully after a little bit of unpicking, I could fix it and have 2 more bags

One for my daughter's form teacher and one for one music teacher

One for the French teacher and one for ...

 Finally, a finish, just before the end of the month! I am so happy that this UFO is no more. It is now a finished quilt that I will be able to gift to a good friend before I leave. I just finished sewing the binding tonight, didn't have that much left to do really.

 I hadn't listen to a podcast for a long time but a few weeks ago I listen to the Love to Sew episode on zero-waste sewing. I checked the links from the episode and was intrigued by the ZWWave bag pattern by bag.uettes. The shape is beautiful and I figured it should be easy straight forward enough to try this pattern for end of year gifts, especially this year when I have lots to make.

I duly bought the pattern and printed it to try my first bag. The instructions are very clear and the pattern pieces are ...

 Actually, this is another UFO! but not such an old one. After I finished my Calvin wrap dress by True Bias last year, I decided to cut another one. I don't have that many summery sundress in my wardrobe actually and I really like the fit of the one I had just made. I had this fitted bed sheet that was wearing thin at the corners but was still good otherwise and that had a lovely design. So I decided to cut another Calvin wrap dress then and there. All the cutting was done last year but never managed ...

 A few weeks back I received the Nautilus swimsuit pattern for free from Paprika Patterns so I could to try it out and promote it. I had just the right fabric in my stash (bought a few years back from Girl Charlee UK) but never used... but I didn't have lining or elastic so I ordered those.

 In 2016, I joined the Modern HST quilt-along with Alyce. I didn't quite follow through but eventually caught up with the blocks in January 2019. I had all but one block done and a problem: I didn't have enough background fabric left for the last block. 

I searched online, ordered some, my order was cancelled because the fabric was out of stock. I launched an appeal online but never got any reply. So I was stuck with 23 blocks, not sure what to do to finish it off. 

A finish! The Sewing Studio wall-hanging that I quilted last month is now all done! 

I finished sewing the binding yesterday and all that was left for today was to bury the threads. Thankfully there weren't that many for this mini (this is always my least favorite part of the finish...)

I am so pleased with it and happy it is finished.

Another OPAM, one of my Q2 FAL list and my ...

Not exactly exciting sewing today but I am happy I have done it. After finishing my quilting, we took the frame apart but I didn't put it away. I have been meaning to make some bags to keep the parts of the frame together for quite some time but never got around to it. I guess it is quite a boring and easy project so it has not been top priority. 

A new quarter, full of hopes for the spring... hope that some of our freedom will return, hope that the weather will improve and give me some energy, hope that I will finish all the projects on my list, hope that we will finally be able to cross the Channel and visit family? I think this quarter will be very busy too with "life" so I am not sure how much I will get through really but let's try!

 So a quarter of the year is over already and so far, it hasn't been very different from 2020. We have been in lockdown for most of it, with the kids home schooled until 8 March. We were all happy when they finally returned to school, and the increase daylight was much welcomed too... Of course I haven't crossed as many projects as I was dreaming I would but I have made some progress on a few and finished some too... Quite a lot will be on the next quarter list, unless they finally get dropped by getting ...

 Just before Christmas, one of my daughter's teacher asked her if I was still sewing and making bags, to which my daughter gave a positive answer. She then asked her if I could make a bag for her computer keyboard that she carries from one classroom to another.  I agreed to it but told her she wouldn't have it until the New Year. I also asked for her brief and wishes and all I received was the dimensions of the keyboard. So this has been on my to-do list for a little while and I put it off ...

 It only needed the binding to be finished off and it nearly took all month to sew it by hand.

Last ...

 I saw so many of these gorgeous Guadalupe bags on Facebook over the Christmas holiday that I really wanted to try it too! 

Everyone was saying how beautiful and easy/fast it was to make. Plus that came as a free pattern from the designer Sammie Valencia, so I was sold.

As often, I was put off by picking/cutting and using the interfacing so I parked the exterior pieces while I was constructing the lining. 

The pattern doesn't have instructions to ...

 l had cut all the 11 pouches I was planning to make before Christmas together and finished 5 before the day, my hope/goal/dream had been to make all 11 of them at the same time.... 

 Probably my last finish of the year, I put the last stitches on my glittery Moneta dress yesterday evening, ready for the non-party on 31st!