WOYWW.....

 Hello all.  I heard from Neet yesterday and she could tell be she is now back in hospital having had an accident at home so please send her lots of healing wishes.  I really hope she is back home soon.

I've had a lovely week since we spoke last Wednesday.

Do you remember me telling you that I had bought the last amaryllis in Aldis?  Well it is now repaying me in full.  The first of the three stems has 4 blooms, the second stem now also has 4 beautiful blooms and the third stem is now starting to open up....I wonder how many blooms that one will have?

Our Sunday afternoon was spent being proud Grandparents.

Firstly we went to watch Lexi dancing in a competition and what a beautiful little dancer she is now.

Then we rushed to Theatre Severn to watch Sam in Dare to Dream Jr.

He had to sing a solo [emotional moments]....and he has a beautiful voice.

There was over 30 youngsters performing and there were some really beautiful voices amongst them.

I have made 8 little rabbit bags filled with chocolate eggs for the charity.

I have also used a piece of fabric that Jan sent us to make this lovely quilt for the charity...fabric well used Jan, so thank so much for sharing with us.

I made these two beautiful bears yesterday.  One of my customers gave me the piece of beautiful Indian fabric to make a bear out of so I made two and intend to give her one of them as a thank you.

I am making another Memory bear today so that will bring me to just 12 from 1000 bears...exciting times.

I will do my best to pop over to yours later.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 It's been another busy week for me here at Sewing by Annie's....think my customers have all come out of hibernation :-)

I had a change from making Memory bears when I was asked to make 8 Memory cushion covers for a family who had lost a much loved Mum and Grandmother.  Each family member chose items of clothing they wanted their cushion cover made from so each one is different but they each had to have a heart on the front and the same sentiment.  I rather enjoyed creating them all.

I'm pleased to say I have made some Memory bears too....these ones were made from a mum's pyjamas for her three sons.

This little bear was made in memory of a young man who died too soon....he was only in his 20s and died of cancer :-(

I spent Monday morning under a quilt....but just in case you think I've had a lie in here's a pic.  I had to cut 24" off an Ikea quilt because it was too big for the bed.  I had to remove the binding, cut off the 24" and then rebind the quilt....it was huge!!

And that's it from me for this week.  If you leave me a message so I know you've called by I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello all.  Happy Wednesday.  I have been busy doing something that will surprise many of you this week....I've been cutting and using my fabrics almost as soon as they dropped on my doorstep.

That fun fabric that Catriona sent me has been put to good use already.  I made two of these pocketed hanging holders, one for Catriona to say thank you with and the other to go in our motor home for the toiletries to go in.

Last Friday also saw me working hard in the morning to finish these two quilts before we set out after lunch on our first adventure in our motor home.

We had two nights down near Builth Wells on a site we used to visit when our family were growing up.  It has been greatly improved since then with all new facilities so was even better than we remembered and although it poured with rain all weekend and blew a gale at times we had a really lovely couple of days away.

I even sat snipping all the thread ends off whilst we were away to finish the quilts off.....if those two customers hadn't turned up on the Friday morning I would have finished them before we left!!

On my desk this morning is my next project.  One of my customers asked if I could make her little boy a waistcoat for Christmas but I struggled to find a pattern to make one with so I put a shout out on a Facebook group I'm in and a really kind lady on there sent me this one free of charge....there are so many lovely people out there aren't there?

The pattern is a little smaller than I need I think but at least I now have something I can adapt....watch this space as they say.

That's all from me for today.  I hope you all have a fab week and thanks for calling by.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at our Wednesday catch up with creative desks around the world.  For me this week it's been bears, bears and more bears.....

Made from tiny babygros and a label  with the baby girls birth details on it.

Another bear was then ordered for another family member once the first bear was collected....it's always nice to get repeat orders.

This one was made from a lady's coat as a surprise for an elderly Aunt.

A pair of twin bears for a local school...one of which is to be given as a leaving gift for the school vicar.

The only other pic I have to show you is this one.  I have had an order for a special quilt in yellow, pale blue and light green and of course I didn't have enough fabrics so Jo and I went shopping in Shrewsbury on Saturday while the men were at the footy....while the cats away.....

 We have a new Abakhan shop now in Shrewsbury so we started there but then ended up going to our other fabric shop, Watson and Thornton's,  because of course we needed more choice.

That's all from me for this week.  My sciatica is still lingering but it's not stopping me sew as you can see.  Please leave me a little hello message so I know you've called in and I will do my best to pay you a return visit when I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Another week has flown past and here we are at our Wednesday catch up again.  It's been another busy week here at Sewing by Annie's.....nothing new there I hear you say.

I've finished the lap quilt I was making for my cousin in the care home.  I hope she loves it as much as I do and she benefits from a little hug from me each day.

I have had several last minute pairs of school trousers to shorten ready for going back to school yesterday....just as well I am happy to drop everything to get these last minute jobs done because they were only brought to me Monday morning with the instructions that they would pick them up later in the day!!

The middle of last week I received a parcel containing 16 ties in from a special lady with instructions to work my magic and make 4 Memory bears with them so.......

.....Abracadabra 

I followed her instructions and this was the result.....I just hope she likes them as much as I enjoyed making them for her.

The other little job I was given this week was to make a Memory School Rabbit for a little girl starting school this week......rather cute isn't it?

That's all I can share with you for today.  I have been busy making things ready for the crop at the weekend but I can't share those with you as yet....maybe next week.

Thanks for calling in to see me.  I hope to get around as many blogs as possible later to see what you're all busy with.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Here we are again at our Wednesday catch up with our creative friends around the world.....if you want to find out more then just drop over to Julia's at The Stamping Ground and why not join in the fun?  Warning....it is addictive :-)

On my desk today is...

I'm making a lap quilt for my cousin who is now in a care home.  I thought it would be my way of giving her a hug on a daily basis and wrapping her in a little of Annie's love.  I just love these fabrics....I think you may have happy memories of them too Ellie.

I've got as far as cutting out the squares but have been unable to make any more progress because of this....

I've had a steady flow of time consuming jobs to do ...

• A Bridesmaid's dress to alter
• An evening dress to shorten and re bead....15 rows with either 8 large beads or 18 small beads in each row!
• A pair of waterproof lined country gent crop trousers to put a new zip in....job and a half!

I still have three pair of trousers to shorten so that's what I will be doing this morning but I also have many Memory bears coming in to make this week / next week.....it keeps me out of mischief [nearly!!].

So that's what I'm up to this week.  I must apologise for not getting round to everyone who left me messages last week....life just got in the way of fun.  I hope to do better this week.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are again.....I love my Wednesdays.  Several of you asked to see the quilty comforter I was making last week so here it is....

I was rather pleased with the results as was my customer....and it will soon be flying round to the other side of the world to a new little family member....so I'm conquering the world slowly.😀

Another job I've finished this week is this cushion cover.  The pic of Rod Stewart was cut from a favourite tee shirt and I've appliqued it on the front of a cushion cover as requested....I get asked to do all sorts here. 😀 

 I've snapped a few pics of my drawers full of sewing threads for the folk that thought you'd seen a lot last week.....those ones were just my shiny machine embroidery threads.

These are my threads I use for every day sewing....rather a lot aren't there? ....but trust me I still have customers who bring clothing of a colour I don't have needing top stitching!

The pic in the top left is just the bobbins I use for my two machines.

The other thing I want to share with you today is this lovely ATC I had from Vickie [Okienurse] this week. It was for our last year's anniversary but was a little delayed because of her ill health.  It was just lovely to think that she was now well enough to think of me [and Jo cos she had one too]....we are so lucky to have friends from all round the world aren't we?

Of course I put it with my other ATCs from last year that were still sitting in a poly bag!!!

So.......

....I wheeled out my cupboard where I keep my card supplies [yes I do have some 😀], I dusted it off and set to and with card, favourite fabric, ribbon and a button or two I made.....

......my latest book to hold my last years ATCs safe.  I've now filled it with all the gorgeous ATCs from all my special friends around the world and it's now lined up on my book shelf in my sewing room with my others....

I really love looking through my books.  They are so inspiring and are filled with so much love.

Don't forget if you would like to swap ATCs with me this year to let me know and I will add you to my list....email is

wipso2310@gmail.com 

now so be sure to send your details to my new address.

Hope you all have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

I'm back working this week....I had a few days off last week with my hubby and enjoyed lots of quality time which included a full day with little Theo on Friday so his mummy could work [his other Nanny and Grandad usually have him on a Friday but they were both poorly]....treasured times for us while they got better.

I have had an exciting week because I posted my two finished quilts to the lady who commissioned me to make them and I then waited patiently for them to be given to her gorgeous little granddaughters.  Everyone was really thrilled with with them both and I can now share them with you...

I'm so chuffed with them both and have already been sent two gorgeous photos of Emmi and baby Phoebe with their quilts.

I've really enjoyed my quilt making and have now been asked to make some mini quilt / baby comforters so thought I'd share them with you...

I've decided to make two different sized mini quilts and plan to personalise them if wanted by appliqueing the appropriate initial letter in one of the squares.

What do you think of them?

That's all from me for today....I have another wedding dress to alter today so I will be visiting my blogging friends in between sewing jobs.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Here we go again...it's another Wednesday show and tell of our creative spaces.....I love it. There are so many really clever folk out there willing to share their skills so why not join in the fun?  To find out more then just pop along to Julia's blog by clicking on this link...Stamping Ground.

So what's on my desk today?

I had so many lovely comments about the finished quilt I showed you last week....thanks folks.

I've been working on the next one this week [now finished and posted so will share a pic as soon as I can].

We decided it needed a border of the spotty lemon before binding it in a pretty pale pink and of course I didn't quite have enough to go all round so.....

......I had to order some more lemon spotty.  Of course it was worth making  a parcel up to justify the postage so here's my latest fabrics.

I am aware I have a problem when it comes to fabrics but my quilts have been shown so much interest that of course I have to have fabrics to hand [to stroke] in case I get more orders.  :-)

I have also had this gorgeous Wedding dress to shorten plus a bridesmaids dress and another gorgeous dress to alter this week [sorry I forgot to take pics of the other two to share with you].  I have several more posh dresses up and coming too so it's really lovely to work on such lovely things.

As you can see no two days are the same here and you can probably tell just how much I love my job and I know just how lucky I am.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit and will leave me a little message so I know you've called by so I can pay you a return visit when I get the chance.  I hope you all have a great week and the our friend Shaz is soon feeling much better.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 261

Here we are at my Friday catch up of the week's smiles again....the week's are flying away aren't they?  It's March already and tomorrow is my darling hubby's birthday so, weather allowing, we will hopefully be making memories and having lots to smile about.

So here's the pics I am sharing today....

The materials I was waiting for have arrived.  They are for the two quilts I've been commissioned to make for two special little girls....and new fabrics always make me smile....especially ones as pretty as these.

I've already attacked them with my scissors too so haven't spent too long stroking them first.

Whilst looking for paperwork in my cupboards to finish off my accounts that I've been getting up to date this week I found two large wooden buttons that I bought ages ago and I've finally backed them with circles of felt and made two drink coasters with them.

I also noticed how I had scissors scattered in every cupboard I went in so thought I should have a sort out and made a sunshine out of them to share with you before putting them away where they should live [I thought it would brighten up this cold snowy day]....yes I do have rather a lot of scissors don't I?  Many of them get used on a daily basis as I have different scissors for each job I do...and God help you if you use my fabric scissors for cutting paper...the paper ones are the orange handled ones at 11 o'clock [no I'm really not a paper crafter am I?].

That's all from me for today.  Please leave me a little comment before you go and if you can then link to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

I've not a lot to share with you today but am really pleased to say I've worked very hard with my business accounts and have now got them all up to date....thankfully.

It's been a busy week with coat alterations this week.....guess the 'Beast from the East' has had something to do with that......brrrrrr it's been cold.

The one photo I have to share with you for those that haven't seen it already over on my Facebook page is this little character....

It's a little Memory dog I was asked to make out of tiny babygros.  He also has a label to hang round his neck with the baby's name and all the details of his birth but I've been asked not to share it for obvious reasons.

He's rather cute isn't he?

I've also been commissioned to make two special quilts for two little girls.....one yet to arrive but due any time now. I am to applique the names on a panel in the middle of each quilt and they are to be in pinks, lemons, creams and be pretty and girly.  Of course I didn't have the materials my customer wanted me to use so I've had to order them and cant wait to get going on them.....I've done all the planning and printed off the lettering for the applique so I'm raring to go now.

That's all from me for this week.....hopefully more to share by next week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Another week has passed and lots has been going on on my desk this week so here's a quick catch up...

The pretty fabrics you saw on my desk last week were stroked and pondered over and eventually I cut them out into 36 x 6" squares having removed the spotty one as suggested by Catriona last week....she was right that it didn't go with the others.  Here I am mid joining the pieces together.....Coffee cup handy of course.

Here it is wadded, backed, quilted and edges bound...I like to do a row of a pretty machine embroidery to hold the binding in place to finish it off.....I'm sure this will put a smile on the face of the birthday girl I've made it for.

I then moved on to making some bunting to go in a new shop near Doncaster....pretty fabric isn't it?

This is actually my desk this morning....I'm making two bears for a Foster mum so that the bears can be given to the two little ones she has at the mo when they move on to their new adoptive parents....isn't it a lovely idea and I'm sure the bears will hold very happy memories for them.....I do get asked to make some really special bears don't I?

There you go.  Just a quick round up but I hope you've enjoyed your visit.  Please leave me a little message and I will do my best to pop over to yours when I get a spare minute.....I don't always get many of those so if I don't call by then please forgive me....I do my best.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Here we are at another Wednesday catch up with our friends and their creative spaces around the world.....I love seeing what you've all been up to.

It's been another manic week here at Sewing by Annie's since last Wednesday...

• We were out Thursday night enjoying some quality time together with my life long friends to celebrate her 60th Birthday...she has moved recently to Chirk which is just 40 mins away from us so we hope to catch up on a more regular basis from now on.
• Friday night was our son Mark's 30th birthday party....it was an 80s / 90s themed fancy dress party and I hope to share some pics with you on my Friday smiles post so if you need a giggle then please pop back then and why not share your own smiles too and link up with us?
• Saturday morning was supermarket shopping and then in the afternoon we had our daughter Amy and her three here for a couple of hours.
• Sunday morning we enjoyed a walk around Attingham Park with Milly....she loves catching up on all the doggy news with the many dogs that walk there.  In the afternoon we enjoyed the sunshine and had a good tidy up in the garden ready for winter.
• Monday it was back to work for a rest and this is what I've been sewing......

A friend of our daughter Amy gave me a bin bag  filled with old jeans because she felt I might make use of the denim so as a thank you I made a memory bear out of one of the pairs for her 6 year old little boy.....washed denim really is lovely to sew with and it made a really lovely little bear.

One of my customers brought me a pale blue cardigan and a navy cardigan that used to belong to her one Grandma and a beautiful cream embroidered nightie that used to belong to her other Grandma and these are the two Memory bears I've made out of them for her.  Both very different but they hold very special memories of the two much loved ladies.

The other thing on my desk is this selection of fabrics that I have sorted out to make a lap quilt out of for an elderly aunt who will be celebrating her 100th birthday just after Christmas.....I may add/edit them yet before making the quilt but thought these were rather pretty.

That's all I've got to share for today so if you leave me a little message so I know you've called in I will do my best to pay you a return visit to see what's on your desk this week....and don't forget to call back on Friday for your smiles of the week and join in the fun if you can.

Hugs,

Annie x