Colour block mug rug

This week for my mug rug quilting practice I followed a tutorial for a Scrappy Colour block Mug Rug from Sew Fantastic.

I'm quite pleased with the result - but I have to say it was a lot of work cutting out all the small pieces and putting them together.  I great way to use up some very small scraps though!

For the backing I used part of an old dress of my daughter's! A nice sparkly one!

For the binding - I followed a great detailed and clear tutorial from Contented.

I was really happy with how it was going and how neat it looked until I chose to ignore the part at the end that said to hand stitch the last side of the binding.  Being lazy, I machine stitched it, and missed a few bits I had to restitch!

Still - I think I'm getting better at those mitred corners!

And all these mug rugs are providing a good excuse for the odd cuppa with tasty snacks!!

Crochet video tutorial 2 - how to make an amigurumi monster

So - my second crochet video tutorial has now been published on my youtube channel!

I got my daughter to watch it and test it out yesterday - and she made her first amigurumi monster - see above!!

She did so well and is very proud of it!

It was lovely to watch her work..

I think she especially liked adding the beads for the nose and mouth, as afterwards she made this little creation to practice!

So here it is!

I didn't add any music this time, so it seems a bit quiet at the parts when I'm not speaking - and it's quite a bit longer than the last one, but I tried to break it down into smaller sections - that beginners (like me) can follow and produce their very own crazy amigurumi monster!!

Do let me know what you think!!

A heart mug rug

Better late than never, here's this week's mug rug.

Now I know last week after trying a mug rug with no binding, I said I was going to find one with so I could practice. 

Well - instead I found a cute heart mug rug tutorial and just couldn't resist trying another binding alternative - adding a ruffled edge!

The tutorial was easy to follow for someone with basic sewing knowledge. It doesn't lead you through every little step - but more gives you general directions with some nice photos!

I really liked the ruffled edge as an alternative to binding! And the patchwork helped me use up some of my small scraps!

Now I really will get back to a mug rug with binding practice next week!

Now - it's time to enjoy my cup of tea with a sneaky chocolate egg!

New crochet video coming soon!

Sorry I've been a little quiet on the blog this week.  It's school holidays so I'm spending a little time with my girls - but they also have a few days of boot camp - which has let me get my second crochet video tutorial done - how to make these crazy, ugly and simple amigurumi monsters!

I'll test the video out on my kids and should have it all uploaded and ready to go at the beginning of next week!

Anyone can make these - even beginner crocheters! It's not about perfection - it's about creating something as you learn and practice!

If you've not seen my first video tutorial - you can see it here!

Better eyesight!

Today I wanted to share something with you that I'm very excited about.

I went to the opticians at the weekend for an eye check.

I've worn glasses for distance vision since I was about 10 years old.

I've also over the years since then read a lot about improving vision without glasses.  But that has been the problem - I've read lots, but not done enough!

But a few weeks ago that changed!

(You can read more about what changed if you're interested here.)

Now, after almost 4 weeks of sticking to my eye exercises 3 or more times a day, every day, I've noticed a big change - and I was so pleased when the optician told me a couple of days ago that my eyes have improved to the stage that I no longer need glasses to drive!

Yippeee!

So today I went and got my drivers license changed from this:

(S means spectacles should be worn when driving)

to this....

I'm still continuing with the eye exercises to improve my eyesight further!

My daughter is also doing the exercises with me as she is beginning to have a little trouble with reading things at distance.

After our trip to the opticians, we also found that she has one eye weaker than the other, so he recommended wearing an eye-patch a little each day to strengthen the weaker eye.

So I made her a nice soft eye-patch 

(there's my crafty side to this post!):

Do you wear glasses? Have you ever tried eye exercises?

If you're interested - here's the website I got the eye exercises and charts from:

http://www.vision-training.com/

It's just so great to see a reward for sticking to something consistently! Now I have to apply the same level of determination and consistent effort to other areas of my life! I'm excited about what I'm capable of achieving when I put my mind to it!

How about you?

This week's mug rug

Since it's almost Easter - I thought that this week I'd make a mug rug in that theme!

So I found a lovely tutorial from The Split Stitch

It was nice and easy to follow - and included the downloadable template for the egg shape.

I chose scrap fabric from my yellowish box today - to fit with the Easter theme!

The fleece I used for the batting wasn't wide enough -but I just joined 2 pieces together - knowing how much quilting seems to squish those seams down so they aren't noticeable.

So here's what I started with...

After quilting the top and batting together - I then cut out the egg shape...

And stitched the layers right sides together to the backing.  

This mug rug was made without binding - just joining the two pieces together, turning out through a gap, then topstitching.

Although this was nice and easy (to avoid the tricky binding) - I don't think I like the end result quite as much.

Here it is compared to last week's mug (a bit like Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall)

I like the thicker feel when the quilting stitching runs through all the layers!  But, I also really like my new little egg mug rug - and can see that binding that shape wouldn't be much fun!!

There is another mug rug tutorial that doesn't use binding, and is made slightly differently again - over at Razzle Dazzle Quilter.

Very cleverly - she turns the mug rug out through a hole in the backing, then hides the hole with matching fabric and fusible webbing!  Another great idea to avoid that binding!

But next week - I shall be looking for another mug rug tutorial with binding - I really need the practice!

Learn to crochet - chain stitch, my first video tutorial

Well here it is!

My first video - on you tube! I'm very excited that I managed to get it done.  It's not slick, smooth and perfect - but I learnt a LOT!  Now that I know I can do it - I can work on making more videos that are better and better!

I've had fun making this and learning - and will be sharing what I learnt in some blog posts this week.

If there's anything particular you'd like to know how I did - please ask!

But for now - please take a look at my first ever video:

Anyone can crochet - starting out

Please please, let me know what you think. Don't be shy - any comments - what you liked and didn't - what I can improve on etc!

Go on - I can take it!