Catching up..

Goodness me! I've just realised that it's been a month since I last posted about something crafty on here! It's not for lack of crafting, let me tell you! Infact, it's probably exactly why I haven't managed to post.. aside from the fact that it's "that time of year" and things have been super busy with end of year concerts and parties as well as half a dozen birthdays, I've been spending quite a bit of time focussing on the actual crafting which has left significantly less time for the blogging. I've been lagging behind badly on my blog reading, too - falling asleep on the sofa has become my new normal.

So here's some of the stuff that I've been doing this last month...

Crochet "wine glass cover" #3 - about 3 rows to go.

My first completed "Split Drunkard's Path Star" (will blog tutorial)

2 stars plus the tumbler medallion.. Harry Potter Quilt still in progress

Quilt for Blossom's Kindy teacher, who is retiring.
Each child in the class decorated a square, and I put it all together.

Back of the teacher quilt.

Christmas table runner, complete!

I just love the backing fabric.. might even pretend it's reversible ;)

I also broke my fabric ban.. it all started so innocently.. with a voucher for $40 off at Spotlight when you spent $100... and I needed more fabric/batting for the quilt for Blossom's teacher, so it totally didn't count towards the fabric ban.. and my husband decided that I should make some "Minecraft Creepers" for Bean & Blossom (like these) so I had to buy fabric for those (because I seriously need ANOTHER project that has to be finished in time for Christmas!) and my SIL decided that she wanted a jungle themed quilt for her nursery instead of Peter Rabbit, and I found a gorgeously perfect panel..

And most people would leave it there. But not me... once the flood gates were open, it was on. It didn't help that there were a whole pile of Black Friday sales being tweeted left, right and centre... The first thing I indulged in was a 21 FQ set of Riley Blake's Delighted from The Intrepid Thread, which reminded me how much I love fabric designed by The Quilted Fish so I went hunting for some more Sweet Divinity to go with the fabric that I bought a couple of months ago (which will be turned into a quilt and accessories for Blossom's new room when we finally move)... and I found what I was looking for at two separate etsy stores.. A total of 10 yards, made up of 10x Sweet Divinity fabrics, 9x Sugar & Spice fabrics and the "Quite Contrary" Green Stripe by My Mind's Eye. Yes, way more fabric than I will need to make Blossom a quilt, given that I already have 5 yards of Sweet Divinity (5x fabrics).

My Christmas present to myself

And then I went back to Spotlight and bought myself a walking foot, some coordinating fabric for my SIL's baby quilt, some more fabric for the teacher quilt (because my backing fabric was an inch short and I decided just to buy another piece than mess around) and then decided that I was all binged out.

One down, 5 to go!

So I finished the first wine glass cover/jug cover/beaded doily (you choose!) tonight! I just had to try it out on a wine glass, and the central design fit perfectly.. although it would depend on how big your wine glasses are ;) I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, and I must confess that I'm completely in love with the pale gold colour of the yarn and its gorgeous silky finish. Now I *could* start on Nat's wine glass cover, but I think I'll finish off the green poncho first... WICKED here I come!

View from the side

View from the top

And this is what it looks like not on a wine glass!

Crocheted Wine Glass Covers

I must confess that I've had a thing for tea sets ever since my mum bought me 4x Royal Albert "Old Country Roses" tea cups. Having collected the actual tea set pieces, the one thing that has been missing is some good old fashioned jug covers for my milk jug and the jam & cream bowls.

So one of my aunties happened to have not one, but two books about crocheted jug covers and was able to point me in the direction of her local craft store, which was closing down and where I was able to purchase my own copies at 40% off! Yay!

Anyway, initially I didn't have any beads so I tried out the doily version of the jug cover that I really liked. It turned out quite nicely if I do say so myself (I haven't starched it yet). In the mean time I'd had this idea that instead of buying my girlfriends Christmas presents this year, I'd make them each a jug cover that they could use as a beaded doily or whatever they wanted. Then Spotlight had a 30% off everything sale, including their clearance items and I managed to pick up some beads that I liked, mostly for my girlfriends.. and at one of our regular Tuesday craft mornings I mentioned to one of my girlfriends that I'd bought some beads but wasn't sure which pattern to try so she helped me pick one out (haha, little does she know that it will be coming her way!) and I got started on it when I got home. I'm *finally* up to the final row, so it should be finished tonight.

The jug cover with 2 rows left to go..

Meanwhile, yesterday we made pasta (which I blogged about on our co-op blog Needles in the Haystack) and I took along my crochet bag (as you do!) and was showing the girls how it was shaping up when one of my non-crafty girlfriends, Nat passed comment that she needed one as a wine glass cover to keep the midgies out of her wine in summer! We all had a bit of a giggle about that (especially the part about her having any wine left for the midgies to land in!) but the girls suggested that if I marketed them as wine glass covers instead of jug covers that they'd walk out the door. Nat picked out a pattern and put her order in, so I guess if she product tests it successfully then (once I've finished all the Christmas present ones that the girls didn't know about) I can look at whipping some up and putting them on etsy to see if anyone else finds the novelty amusing..

Would you buy a crocheted wine glass cover to keep the midgies out of your wine in summer? Let me know what you think!