How is it almost September? Before you know it, Christmas will be upon us! Perish the thought. I’ve got a retreat to go to in between times!
Enough moaning, what have I been up to in the past month? Well, apart from going to Festival of Quilts at the beginning, I’ve since been trading at Little Stitches Quilt Show, near Bideford, their first since (I think, and I’m sure Avril will correct me if I’m wrong) 2018.
There was some stunning work, here’s a little look of what was on display:
Molly wanted to come along with me for the two days…
Bless her.
My stitching continues unabated (something very serious would have to happen to make me stop!). I’ve completed the final blocks for my Lovely Jubbly Geraniums quilt, and have begun the construction of the Mother Quilt. These final blocks were rolled by Sarahs B and P, Nessie, Jade’s Mum and friend Tracey.
I did have to do one final block to make up the numbers, but you’ll have to wait to see that one when I share the completed top.
Here’s the stack of all the blocks…
I’ve also completed another four Focus Cutting Sewalong blocks. This past month we’ve been concentrating on our Ps and Qs. So, I’ve done polar bears and pattern matched poison bottles, as well as Queens and quetzals (an exotic bird from Guatemala).
The Esther Block SAL has drawn to a close as well with August seeing everyone stitching their final blocks. I decided to go back and do another in the same style that I did for January, so that one didn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
I’ve now got to decide what to do with them. Do I put them together with large diamonds and/or triangles, or do I apply each one to a background fabric and do another QAYG quilt? Answers on a postcard please.
My ByAnnie bag making continues as well this month. We have a sort of rule at the shop – always be one step ahead. I haven’t been with one class attendee, so I rectified that by making two Clam Up Cases, the XL and XS versions…
Much like the Drop Zone pouches and Easy Does It bags, I can see these becoming a quick fix for birthday and Christmas presents – you have been warned!
Another month down, means another batch of hexagons for my 2024 Diary Quilt (formerly known as my 366 Fussy Cut Hexagons Quilt)…
Finally, we come to the project that is the title of this post. My handmade shoes. Yes, you read that right. I have made my own pair of shoes. They are the most expensive pair of shoes I own, purely down to the fabric I used for the tongues – it’s an OOP Tula Pink print and can go for £70 per metre! Madness. The SneakerKit itself was over £60…
Here are my shoes…
Even though you can’t really see the lining fabric, that too has otters on it, but it’s a Lewis & Irene print from my stash.
Were they easy to make? Sort of – my hands were aching after stitching the uppers into the soles.
Were they fun to make? Yes – especially when it came to putting the eyelets in. You can vent a lot of frustrations hammering them in.
Are they comfy to wear? Yes, very.
Would you make another pair in different fabrics? Nope, too expensive, but I may change my mind in the future.