Last Finish for 2014

I started this project in October when staying with my parents for a few weeks on holidays. I used Mum's 25 year old Janome and it was super awesome, I was so impressed I upgraded to a Janome myself when my Viking blew up in December.

Comprising Umbrella Prints fabrics and Navy linen in a colour palette I am not used to using. I totally loved how the yellow and green popped against the black and navy contrast. I think I will be using these colour combinations more often.

After a little hand stitching to give some definition and add a new technique to this mini quilt. 

It was backed and bound in more Umbrella Prints fabrics. 

I just love these elephants!

And the sun was shining, which is great as the monsoon has now arrived, bringing much needed rain and cooler temperatures, but not so great for photographing completed projects!

A little look back at Christmas Projects 2014

I didn't get nearly as much Christmas sewing done this year as I have in the past, must start earlier in 2015.

But I did get a lovely small quilted wall hanging done, based on a pattern by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Hello 2015 - New Year Blog Refresh

Happy New Year!

And welcome to the first post under the new blog name of the Equilateral Donkey. The new name was inspired by Jack my 4 year old, who likes to "help" from time to time. After a session of cutting up some equilateral triangles and an interesting chat about what shapes have equal sides, he came out with the statement that donkeys don't have equal sides, except for equilateral donkeys. Can't fault that logic!

Quilting not so straight lines.

Apparently I am about 2 years behind the wavy line variation of straight line quilting lol. But I am glad I stumbled upon this technique as its lots of fun!

A special handmade Christmas Swap

I am part of a small online group of women who all met through a good old Google Group (remember them?) as we sought support from like-minded women through the start of our parenting journey. These women have become some of my closest support even though they now all live thousands of kilometres away. They hold my hand and spirit in theirs through the good and not so good days.

Most of these lovely girls are also incredibly talented artisans and twice a year we do a handmade swap.

Here is a sneak peak of my work in progress for my swappee. I am pretty sure I have matched this riot of colour perfectly to her personality!

Totes Awesome!

Finally got around to finishing a project that has been sitting on my to do list for months a Totes Ma Tote by Emmaline Bags.

This project started its life as a quilt block in a BOM that ended up being the only block I sewed and into the UFO pile. I think Cappucino is judging my lack of application here!

So to reduce the UFO pile I needed a pattern that would showcase this beautiful block. And the Totes Ma Tote fit the bill perfectly.

I made one adjustment to the pattern and added braided handles instead of buckled handles. I was able to use leftover fabrics from the quilt block which I think really add a lovely pop of colour whilst not detracting from the star attraction.

The Serendipity Hip - Pattern Review

Recently I was asked by the lovely Christine of Chris W Designs to test her latest Pattern the Serendipity Hip Bag. You can find the pattern here

Of course I jumped at the chance as I am a big fan of Christine's patterns and also being time poor lately means that the promise of a quick sew was a good one. And true to her promise, the Serendipity Hip is a lovely bag that I was able to sew up on a interruption free afternoon - big winner!

As with all Chris W patterns there are lots of storage options and pockets, which I love in a smaller bag (heck I love lots of pockets in any sized bag) and as always the pattern is written in lots of detail with Christine walking you through each step with lots of photos and helpful hints to making your end result look fabulous and professional.

Don't you just love top contrast top stitching. I sure do.

A little bag bling from Emmaline Bags really takes a bag from homemade to handcrafted.

And its the perfect bag for throwing a few essentials in and heading out for some fun - like a social bike ride.

If you are looking for a fun cross body bag with storage options I highly recommend this pattern. And its lots of fun to sew too.

Follow me on Bloglovin

If you like what you see and want to see more, you can now follow me on Bloglovin.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12363007/?claim=jh38m28qyqm">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Sewjo on Holidays

I recently took my son to visit my parents and while they were spending some quality time together, I got my sewjo on in a makeshift craftroom using my Mum's old Janome.

How can you not be inspired when in this room (I wish the Craft Room was always so tidy)

And here are the results.

A Necessary Clutch Wallet from and Emmaline Bags pattern.

And a matching Stow it All Tote from a Chris W Designs pattern.

Don't they look great together?

And finally, a wood carrier, which was a special request from my Aunty Pippy for her birthday. I hope she likes it!

A few recent bags

Also coming out of the craft room over the last few months have been some bags. I adore making bags, I wish I could have more bag making time each day!

First my complete 2014 Bag of the Month Club collection. I was super excited to win second prize for the March bag, which was the fabulous Mrs H's Convertible Backpack, made by me in Wonder Woman fabric

And then there has been some bag testing. My Gizmo Garage tester for Chris W Designs. I love this vertical laptop bag. It was very handy on my recent trip down south.

 
And a Nappy Bag tester for At Home with Mrs H. We are beyond nappies here (thank goodness), but I found that this also made a great carry on bag for flying or just as a large handbag.

So its been awhile....but I have been busy!

So its been awhile. Life gets like that sometimes.

There has still been some crafting though. Here are a few things that have come out of the craft room in the past few months.

Some seaside inspired doorstops, cushions and Supertote.

New Machine in the craft room

Picked up this vintage machine (including the manual and all parts) on the weekend.

Not 100% sure of the vintage, but I am guessing 1970s, but it runs beautifully and I am looking forward to sewing a project on it soon.

Fantastic Scraptastic Baskets

One of my favourite bag designers and bloggers Janelle from Emmaline Bags has a fantastic new free tutorial for these handy Scraptastic Baskets.

These are so quick and easy to put together, perfect for using up project leftovers and turning them into a useful storage basket. 

Once the first one was done, I couldn't wait to make the next! This time in some gorgeous Japanese lawn.

They also make perfect little storage baskets for Mr 3's treasures. Thermal lined curtain fabric scraps stand up nicely without any added interfacing - bonus for an even quicker sew!

Mr 3 said he needed 'straps like on your bag Mummy' to make the basket easier to carry. These dinosaur ones are perfectly cute and portable.

I think these will be perfect for gifts too. Thanks Janelle for such a fab free pattern.

Meet the Cat in the craft room

His name is Cappuccino.  He is a 13 year burmese cat who loves sleeping in fabric and being where ever I am.

Lately he has taken to sleeping on the ironing board. So far he has avoided a singed tail.

Umbrella Prints Trimmings No2

My second trimmings packet.

I decided to team with some gorgeous natural linen and my first attempt at a circle of geese block. Which I decided to turn into a cushion, just for me.

I let the trimmings geese and linen speak for themselves and quilted it simply between the geese and added a freehand spiral into the centre. I am thrilled with the result.