Quilted Advent Calender Progress

Well today was the day when I was finally able to quilt my advent calender. Its been a long time coming. I actually bought the fabric for this project over 2 years ago, but never got round to doing it. I decided about two months ago that I was determined to get it made this year and cut out all the squares of fabric for the pockets. It then took me another month to get round to starting to hand stitch the pockets on, and now I'm at the stage of doing the quilting. I was a little apprehensive about this, as although I'm good at basic sewing (curtains, cushions etc) I had never done any quilting. The quilting part has gone reasonably well, as I just machine stitched around the main shapes. I'm now worrying about the finishing of the piece, as the quilting book I have from the library isn't that clear about the binding part. I think I may have to google that part or look on youtube for a video!

Anyway, here's a photo so you can see how its looking so far.
Each of the squares is a small pocket for advent gifts. Although the monkey is too young for chocolate in the advent calender this year we've been researching little trinkets to use for each day which tell the Christmas story. I found one set of items listed in Disciplines of a Godly Parent which starts at Creation and goes through to Christ, so I may use those.
Anyway, I'd better be off. Bye!

Children in Need antics!

Well, as a teacher Children in Need is a big day in our calender. This year has been no exception, and we had our usual Deanery's Got Talent competition. I was asked to take part in a Lady Gaga act, and set to making an exciting costume. After browsing online I found a picture of her wearing a fabulous geometric inspired dress, which I set about trying to recreate. I made some truncated tetrahedrons, and then glued them together in groups of 4. I also made a cube octahedron and attached square based and triangular based pyramids. You can find the nets here: http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/solid/other.htm
After attaching it to a headband it made a great head piece. A blonde wig, and a basic black dress made a pretty good Gaga outfit!

I also was on a baking mission yesterday, as I always sell my cakes in the staffroom. I managed to bake 9 cakes ( 2 lemon drizzle, 2 Cappucino, 2 Carrot, 1 parsnip and maple syrup, 1 coconut and a batch of brownies) in one afternoon. I then spent the evening making the fillings and toppings. The parsnip was a big hit, as most people are intrigued by it and find themselves trying it out of curiousity. Everybody loves it though! I think I'm going to have to start posting my recipes, but that will have to wait for another day.

 Chocolate Brownies - low fat believe it or not!

 Cappucino cake with white chocolate icing

 Coconut cake with buttercream and raspberry jam.

 Lemon drizzle and sharp icing.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

I have also been spending this evening doing the Spellbinders blog hop to try and win myself some goodies. Its been taking ages though posting comments on all the blogs! It has definately been worth it though, as I've found some brilliant new blogs to follow. Right, time to go!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog.  I hope you find something here to inspire you! I've been crafting for as long as I can remember, and will try my hand at pretty much anything. My favourite craft at the moment is papercrafting and card making, but I also bake, stitch, and various other bits and pieces.
I have recently been inspired by various blogs, and so decided that maybe I should make my own, which will hopefully inspire some of you! I can't promise to post often, as I have a dear husband and a little boy to look after, and work to do, but when I craft I will try to post!
Thanks for dropping by.
B x