Tea pouches have been my go-to small gift to make for friends for a while. Ayumi Takahashi's pattern is ingenious and fun to sew. I made a parliament of owl tea pouches (love a collective noun me!). [caption id="attachment_714" align="aligncenter" width="3024"] Festive tea pouches.[/caption] I recently visited Eternal Maker in Chichester,…
I wanted to make an heirloom Christmas quilt, a cover my husband and I could put on our bed every festive season. I chose the pattern Winterkist Snowballs Quilt by Lynne Goldsworthy which I found in an issue of Fat Quarterly e-zine. I looked for a design with large uninterrupted…
I've had an idea for a business, it's something I could consider setting up when I've retired. It needs a catchier name but for now I am calling it "Finishing Other People's Projects". All those projects started with the best of intention now languishing in plastic bags in cupboards and…
I got this fox sleep mask kit from Lucky Dip Club subscription box some time ago (love a subscription box, me!). I decided to make it for my best friend's daughter, she is a student and I used to adore receiving mail when I was a student. The mask is…
I recently finished a quilt for my friend's birthday. I wanted to make a traditional Irish design as she has an affinity for Ireland and all things Irish and I chose to make a single Irish chain quilt. I made it more contemporary by using a mix of low volume…
Recently my sister and I travelled to Stockholm to visit the Swedish side of our family. We had not seen them, in person, for eighteen years. We had a wonderful time and we stayed at our cousin Vendela's home where we received such warm hospitality. We wanted to get her…
When I had finished the Swoon quilt that I made last summer I had lots of half square triangles left over, HSTs as we call them in the world of quilt making (love a TLA, me. Three letter acronym, that is!). I had a browse through Pinterest for quilt…
Over the years I accumulated a large stash of fabric with cake, dessert, pastry, teapot, teacup and coffee pot motifs. Material so lovely that I didn't want to use it and I just occasionally got out to look at. However last year I thought to myself I must actually use…
Like Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin quilt-making and I had a conscious uncoupling this year. Until a few weeks ago my Bernina 440QE has barely seen the light of day this year. Sewing and I needed a break, we needed to try other things. So in 2015 I put away…
Melanie Makes Meringues