Lonely cliffs and waterfalls, If no one sees me I'm not here at all....

I've been reading several blog posts about crafting resolutions for 2014 and thought that it would be good to set myself a few goals to encourage me to spend more time crafting and to also challenge myself to learn some new skills too.
I've reorganised my crafting space so that I can fit my sewing related items alongside my jewellery making equipment and beads. This has helped me take stock of the many beads, fabrics and patterns I have collected over the last few years and I have come up with the following projects for this year:

• Hexagon EPP patchwork chair makeover - I have a small wooden chair which belonged to my mum and hides in shame under my desk. It was re-covered in the early 80's but is now in desperate need of some TLC and I thought it would be perfect for recovering with some hexagon patchwork.
• Baby playmat no 3 - I love making these and the size of them makes them a manageable project to handle with my sewing machine.  This time though I'm setting myself the challenge of making the quilt top from shapes other than squares or rectangles and to quilt it using free-motion quilting.
• Knitted toys - I received a book on knitted toys two Christmases ago and have yet to make anything from it. I want to make at least two items from this book this year. 
• Make five items of jewellery - I realised when organising my craft space that I have bought some really lovely beads over the years and I don't accessorize enough.
• Make 3 dresses for me! - I have collected some lovely dress patterns and fabrics over the last two years but have so far only made one dress or shortened long dresses and trousers. I noticed that a lot of other sewcialists were planning to do more selfless sewing this year. My plan is the opposite - less for others, more for me! 
• Learn how to use the button-hole feature on my sewing machine - I've owned my sewing machine for 18 months yet only learned to use the zipper foot in December.  I ought to learn to use the button hole feature too so I've set that as a challege for this year.

The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago.....

When I saw the Salt Air by Moda fabrics in a magazine I fell in love instantly with the colour palette and new that I wanted to make a lap quilt with it.  With my limited sewing skills and basic sewing machine I knew this was going to be challenging, but rather than let myself be dissuaded I convinced myself that it would be ok to buy the layer cake and store it safely until I could be trusted with such a project.....
My beaux-parents live on the north-lincolnshire coast and have worked hard to transform a run-down chalet into a beautiful beach-style home. The Salt-Air palette was a perfect match for the property and so I decided to split the layer cake so that I could make 2 lap quilts instead and gift one to them as a Christmas present.
I designed the layout myself, and chose a fairly thick wadding for the inside as I wanted the quilt to be warm. The quilt top went together quickly but basting all three layers together was much more difficult than I had anticipated.  I had wanted to quilt it using wavy lines but decided against this as I wasn't convinced that this was the right time to experiment with anything other than straight lines.
My straight lines ended up not being perfectly straight as the bulk of the quilt was quite hard to get under the machine and I also ended up with some puckers on the back.   I also wish I'd made the binding half an inch wider to compensate for the thicker quilt but overall I was pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect but it's not bad given my set up.

Close-up of Salt-Ait fabrics and my not-so-straight quilting lines!

I finished it days later than I had hoped and loaded it into the washing machine on 23rd Dec knowing that I could get it washed but not necessarily dried ready for the following days drive to Cleethorpes.....at least that was the plan.....The washine machine chose this particular evening and this particular load to stop working and the quilt was trapped inside, mid-cycle.  When we tried to drain it,  it started adding more water as though it was starting a new cycle and we ended up having to trick it into unlocking the door whilst trying to guide as much water as possible using a flexible chopping board into a washing up bowl and hoping that the massive towel we put down was enough to stop the floor being flooded. Went to bed that night with the quilt drip drying over the bathtub but by the time I had returned home from work the next afternoon it was perfectly dry and ready for wrapping.! My Christmas Miracle!
Here are some photos of it in the cosy lounge of my beaux-parents new lounge..

Full size lap quilt - perfect for snuggling under in front of a roaring fire on a miserable day.

It's even large enough for two...

 My belle-mere is particularly fond of bunting so last christmas I made some festive bunting which was hanging from the beams.

I had planned to make more christmas gifts this year, but the quilt was a fairly epic project for me and I didn't get have time to make the stockings I planned over a year ago for my nieces and nephews.  I'll put these back on my to do list for 2014 and will maybe try to start them in June in order to be in with a chance of getting them completed.
I did however manage to make this little cosmetic bag using a tutorial by Noodlehead which was so easy to knock up the practice one that as well as making one as a secret santa gift I made another as a birthday present.

Outer: Liberty Hera print fabric

Inner - Liberty Eliza print fabric

This was also the first time that I got to use the zipper foot on my sewing machine which wasn't as hard to use as I had thought (thanks to some you tube videos) and I also found a tutorial by Flossie Teacakes which explained how to cover the ends of the zips.

I enjoyed making these little bags so much that I think I might make some more. I'm in need of something to store my knitting needles & crochet hooks so I might make myself another and use it to practice a bit of free-motion quilting.