It's already Week 3 of our Seven Weeks of Christmas Giving!
That means Christmas is sneaking up on us FAST! This week I have a very practical and pretty gift that you could make. It's the Ruby Red Keycase. It's designed so that your keys actually fit inside the heart and protect your pocket from wear and tear. Of course, with a lovely keycase like this attached, you shouldn't have trouble finding your keys again!
I have actually used silk for the embroidered area, but of course you can use whatever fabric you like - maybe you have a little scrap of off-white tone-on-tone cotton fabric which would be ideal. There are a few techniques that you might like to try in this pattern. I have used the super-easy method of needleturning the embroidered heart. I love the look of needleturn applique but I was never happy with the results when I tried the conventional methods. And then I found the cheat's method! Happy!
You'll also find instructions for making a twisted cord in case you've forgotten how! I hope you enjoy this free pattern which will be available for just one week, when it will be replaced with Pattern 4. You can download the pattern from my website.
Because I travelled by public transport to the recent Creative Craft Retreat, I travelled 'light' so didn't take my camera. Tonya of Crafty Mummy very kindly shared the following photos with me. Check out her blog - she has lots of wonderful things to show you. Here is a photo of some of the items I had on sale at the stall. Space was limited so it was difficult to display everything, but you can get an idea of the bits and pieces I put together.
Thankfully there wasn't much left to put back in crates after the weekend!
Another 'Craft Retreater', Carol, very kindly brought her crochet hexagon rug to show me. Carol was in my Crochet class last year. It was so lovely to know that she had continued with her skills and had done so much on this gorgeous rug. Carol's 'friend', Justin Beaver, also came to Craft Retreat. Check out his blog!
We had a lovely time catching up with four of our grandchildren last week and attending their School Awards Night. All four received awards, with some multiples also - seven awards in all! Very proud grandparents we are!
I don't seem to have had many hours at home lately but I managed to do some work on my apron yesterday and hope to finish it this week. I was also able to put the finishing touches to a wall-hanging which will be going off to a magazine as soon as I get it all together.
I'll leave you with a photo of what we discovered on one of our morning walks last week. A Tawny Frogmouth nested in the area last year in November and we have been keeping an eye out for a nest again this year. We finally found Dad looking after his two babies:
Gorgeous, eh?
Have a great week.
Hugs
Val
8 comments:
Val, thank you for the heart key case tutorial - great idea and so lovely.
Wonderful idea for a gift and I love those owls, so beautiful.
Debbie
Neat little key case - thank you for providing the pattern. Darling little owlets!! We have Tawny Frogmouths around here from time to time, but I've never seen a nest with young ones. That is a great photo.
Thank you, Val. So lovely!
Carla
Thanks Val... another gorgeous pattern to share with us! :)
Really like the owls
Hi Val! I'm catching up on blog reading after having a too busy schedule myself! It's wonderful to see all your pretties - the pincushions, the bottle bags, and this key fob/holder. You are one talented lady! Those publications do you proud! Love the picture of those tawny frogmouth owls. They're amazing looking. Thanks for sharing.
Don't know if you'll see this now Val, but I just had to tell you: a week after you posted your photo of the owls, we had THREE adults sitting in a tree in our back yard! They were there all day, but the kids next door had a rowdy party (no music, but yelling and screaming until 10 pm) and by next morning, our owls had gone...but it was lovely having them there for a day!
Post a Comment