Daughter's Sling Along Bag and Sunglasses case......

Dd wanted a case to put her sunglasses in when she saw the one I made and loved this Tula Pink fabric I had on hand.   As a reminder there is a link to the pattern on this blog post.  I used a heavier weight fusible fleece as the padding and just used the same material inside and out.  I will be showing you another couple of sunglasses cases I have made from fabric scraps later in the week, as this literally uses to pieces of fabric 9 inches by 9 inches, plus the two pieces of batting and one half of a zipper.

Now finding 25 inch zippers is a pain.  So I have found duvet cover zippers are 60 inches long, so you can get four sunglasses case's with the one zipper; BUT you only have one zipper head, so I buy three cheap zippers (usually 3 for $1) and use the zipper heads from them. 

The one I used for this one was a 22 inch zipper and it was a pain to put in.

Then I made her a Sling Along Bag and it turned out lovely.  Also a lot easier to make the second time around.

Fabric I used was:

Grey Poppy was Sarah Watts Magic Forest for Cotton + Steel (I would not use this fabric for bags in the future, not enough body in it; too soft for a bag)
Coral was Rae Ritchie for Dear Stella #SRR512
Grey was Basic Grey Metropolis for Moda Fabrics #30565

Below is one of the ladies bag who took the class with me, in a gorgeous Tula Pink print. She hadn't quite finished it when I took the photo.

Here are my two beside her bag. Such a lovely selection of fabric there.

Cut backs by the Government..............

(image credit)

I don't delve into politics normally but do have to mention I am ticked off about the cut back to the library services.  If our local library branches do not have a book, then we can order it through inter-library loan.  So they search the library system for the copy closest to us and order it in.  Due to the cut backs that service is no longer available.

This will affect book clubs as there are generally 10 + members in each book club and each month you read a book and discuss it.  Now granted you can read a book on an electronic device, but I am one of those people who like to feel paper between my fingers when reading a book.  Normally when ordering for 10 members they have to find books from different libraries.  You can also buy the book from a book store, but I personally don't want to buy books as I read that many.

There are "book club" packs of books where there are multiple copies of books perfect for a book club; BUT one member has to check out the pack for the whole club and no one was willing to do that in the club I had joined....LOL  I really did chuckle to myself when they were discussing this, as it's as though they don't trust one another to bring the books back.

Already the book club members have sent out email messages wondering how this will work out and how we will share books.  I decided that I didn't want to go through all the hassle of doing that and have sent an email to the organizer saying I won't be attending any more meetings.

One of the good things about our library here where we live is that they send out weekly emails for different genre's of book and I am finding those to be useful.  I will just carry on as before with my reading.

Are you a member of a book club?  Do you like it?  I have a stack of books to get through in May; five to review and a couple of my own choices.

To keep up with what I have read pop by my other blog That British Woman's Book Review Blog.

Petunia's

Saw these petunia's at the garden centre the other day and I was impressed at their lovely mottled colours.  I had never seen these types before.

 If I had to name these petunia's I would name them Northern Lights.

Although I like the look of petunia's I find them hard work with all the deheading you have to do.  Also they tend to be "sticky" when you deadhead them I find?

Answering a couple of questions.......

First about my ironing board.  I was asked why I put tin foil on the ironing board before I put the cover on.

Well as you can see by the photo below the metal is quite rusty.  So that the rust does not penetrate through to the ironing board cover I cover it with tin foil.  It protects the ironing board cover and hopefully will make my ironing board last a few more years. I wish it was something more exciting but it isn't.....

I was asked how to make the crib rail covers as seen here:

I basically googled how to do it and went from there.  I can't remember which site it was now, but below are a couple of links with similar ideas.  Each crib could be slightly different, so my advice is measure yours and adapt the pattern to your situation.  I did not use velcro as our little man can take off his bibs now when they have velcro so he would figure out how to remove the crib rail protector.  I was going to use snaps but I didn't have enough material, so ribbon/twill tape it was.  We'll see how that lasts!!

https://howdoesshe.com/padded-crib-rail-cover-tutorial/ (I think it was this one I used)

https://tashamillergriffith.com/2013/12/05/diy-crib-rail-covers-for-teethers-a-tutorial/

https://augustjoystudios.com/crib-teething-rail-guard-tutorial/

Like a kid in a candy store..........

I know we all have things we adore and places we love to visit.  In my case I adore visiting fabric stores and I feel like a kid in a candy store looking at everything.

I have been busy taking sewing classes at a local store called Country Concessions Quilt Store.  I was there at the beginning of the week to purchases some fabric!!  I took some photos while in there.

The building looks so quaint doesn't it?  Where the large windows are on the second floor of the building to the left is where meetings and classes are held.

 Look at all those sewing machines.  They sell Pfaff machines.

 Look at all those colours of thread.

 This is what you see to the left of the door when you walk in.   It's where all the Tula Pink fabrics live!!

 Another section with lots of goodies.  I see they have got a number of felt heavy duty pressing boards.

 Here are some of the batiks, love the colours, but never been a fan at batiks. 

 They have just got new signage.

 The "Queen" seemed pretty happy watching the world go by in the car while I shopped.

They don't have an online store yet, but it is in the works. Country Concessions is located in the village of Cookstown, if you click on this link you can read more about Cookstown.

I nearly forgot, here is what I bought!!  I bought the coral fabric and the black and grey fabric on the left of the photo.  You will see what I am making next week.

My new favourite thing.........

This came in the mail the other day:

David's Tea had a free shipping event, so took advantage of it.

I picked up my tried and tested favourite Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait.  Peach Mai Tai, which I haven't had before. It is a very light tea with a lovely peach taste, would make a nice iced tea.  Also got Apple Cider; which turns out to be my new favourite thing.  It is so good, and doesn't have cinnamon in it, which I like.  It is also caffeine free which is a bonus.  Infact the ingredients are as follow:

Apple, apple pomace (apple pomace, citric acid), sweet blackberry leaves, apple flavouring (artificial apple flavouring, concentrated apple juice), artificial vanilla and cream flavouring.

Technically I seem to prefer fruit infusions rather than just plain tea.  They also send three sample teas with each order and as I ordered 100 grams of both the Strawberry and Peach teas I got to choose two tins to put them in for free, which is nice also.

I should be reading some of Laura Childs, Teashop Mysteries while sipping this tea!!

(THIS IS NOT A PAID REVIEW)

A $14.68 fix........

Dd and the girls popped up for a visit on the weekend.  Amongst the things we did we had a trip to Homesense for a look around.  Miss N. felt very grown up carrying Nana's handbag.

 Miss P's hands were full with "Scarf Bear!!"

As soon as we walked through the door we saw this display.  I LOVE those milk boxes, really cute.

The girls took Timmy the Turtle home and here he is in their garden.

I found a new ironing board cover.  This is why the title of the post is $14.68 ($12.99 plus 13 % tax = $14.68)

 So on Monday I too off my old ironing board cover and underneath it I had put tin foil, which had rusted through.

 When I removed the tin foil, it was even more rusty, but very serviceable.

 So covered it with new tin foil.

 Added the new ironing board cover and everything is good too go.

 Remembered to cut off any usable hardware.

 Then bundled it all up and threw out the old cover and tin foil.  It looks nasty doesn't it?

Should be all good for a few more years.