Mini Mania January Reveal

 It's a good job that I cracked on with the December/January Mini Mania early on in December because since Christmas, my sewing mojo has deserted me. I have loads to do, just no motivation to get on with it.

I have spent many hours playing with beads and making Christmas baubles in all sorts of colours and patterns and I am sure there will be more where these came from

 It's not that I've been idle. I have made good progress with my crochet blanket and once a week I make myself sew all the ends in

There's a lot of ends......

But I think I only have a dozen or so rows to complete before I stitch a border and then done!

That has been put to one side as Little Miss needs a new white cardigan so that has taken priority. Hopefully I will get the last sleeve finished and the border knitted up before we see her next. If not it will go off in the post and we always have a "thank you" video so that is lovely. How that child is growing!

my lovely Yarn-bowl bought at Fibre East last year

Back to the Mini Mania

I had sorted out some fabrics for this challenge, but I had also sorted out some of the leftover half square triangles from previous Minis and thought that it would be a good idea to use these.  We are making a Sampler Quilt and I was planning on 3" blocks.

My first block went together well, but my calculations were a "bit" awry ! 

Duh!! finished size is one and a half inches!!

 But I have made one block, so I can't waste that can I?

You know when you sew a strip on the wrong side?  And then on the right side but the wrong way round?  Twice ?  Yup. That was me!

still not giving up!

 Well, I got nine blocks done and thought it best to cut my losses and leave it at that.

 Quilting commenced and binding added

but I don't like the binding .......

 So off came the binding and changed for a softer colour.

Nine blocks and a finished quilt size of 8 1/2"

I have given myself a bit of  a kick up the whatsit and pulled a load of fabrics that I have had for a while and am surely never going to use because I have more that I like better.

A few hours using the over-locker

and a few more on the sewing machine has

resulted in 46 pairs of shorts that will be sent off to the Dress a Child Charity 

Just need to finish threading the elastic through all those waistbands...

Oh! And I whizzed up 9 more knitting bags with those bits and now I have a whole empty drawer.

And a "need to think about this" project has begun. I had been given an old faux leather tub chair which I plan to re-cover (hate leather and faux leather even more)
 I have been wondering how best to take a pattern for this when Darling Daughter came to visit.........

One chair "uncovered" and old cover ready as pattern!

 Brilliant!!