Jelly Roll Quilt. French Braid Quilt. Prairie Braid Quilt. Friendship Braid Quilt.

This double quilt was also made for my friends 50th birthday and was a pattern from French Braid Quilts
by Jane Hardy Miller which is a fab book.(No connection etc blah blah)

I noticed when looking at patterns though that it seems to be also known by other names hence the title although these perhaps have some slight variations.

I made mine choosing all the fabrics specifically as they are my friends favourite colours but as the braids are made up of 2&1/2 inch width strips you could just as well use jelly rolls if the colours suited you.

It has taken months in the making. Started another quilt which is really pretty but on a visit she went bananas over some purple and green fabric so I thought my muted Roses & Chocolate jelly roll wasn't quite going to cut it! I mean, what was I thinking?!

Back to plan f! Decided on what I prefer to call the Friendship Braid pattern. How difficult would it be to find just the right fabrics? Extremely apparently! Some have come from Sew and So's in Bungay, some from Sew Simple in Taverham and the gorgeous flower batik boarder fabric came from 13 The Warehouse in Morecambe!

Anyway, my friend was delighted with it and I have to say that I was too and was really loathe to give it away. Lol.

Tote Bag

Made this for a friends birthday.

The pattern is a Pink Sand Beach design called Tuscany Tote.

She loves her chickens and I happened to see this as a kit so thought it would be perfect for her.

Only to find out after I'd made it that her chickens had gone to live with her friend in the country where they could roam free. Lol.

Never mind, at least she gets to visit them when they go in their caravan.

Wet Felted Book Cover

Had a fab day out in Cromer on a course learning how to wet felt.

I particularly wanted to do a piece that would be big enough to cover an A5 notebook for a present.

I wish I'd had a better idea of what my picture/pattern was going to be before I went in though as I did
have that "staring at huge blank canvas" moment and didn't know what to do. Lol.

Anyway, I had great fun and can thoroughly recommend Fibre and Earth Studios for a great way to have a go before
you go ahead and start buying all the millions of colours that us crafters MUST HAVE!

Finished off with lots of beads, some fluff and stitching.

I did make a bookmark out of the excess that I cut off but forgot to take a piccy. Ooops. Lol.

Birthday Card

For my longest and dearest friend on her 50th birthday.

Using Spellbinders embossing folder and die cutters.

Bird House Birthday Card

For a friend for whom I bought a very cute primrose yellow bird house.

Used an online template for the bird house. Jeeeez how I hate having to use scissors these days to cut things out but I'm much too dangerous to be let loose with a scalpel!

Thank goodness for the die cutter for the roof edging and the hole. The roof edging was cut from some pieces I had from an old marquetry kit. I knew they'd come in handy one day!

The bird is a actually a brooch. A while back I bought a sewing cabinet from a lovely, lovely couple on Ebay and got tons of free goodies with it. This bird brooch was in there so used it on the card so it can be detached and actually worn.

Happy Birthday Card

Used the Joy Crafts Cutting & Embossing Square, Spellbinders M-Bossabilities Card Embossing Folder-Framed Petite Labels 5"x7" and a sizzlit Happy Birthday.

Wasted so much card with the sizzlit die though that I seriously wouldn't recommend it which is a shame as I love the shape of the words! I just don't know how to get it to cut cleanly through the centre part of the die.

Tried all the usual tips and tricks and it was still a pain in the you know whatsit. ☺Lol☺ Have a great week all.

Tagul Word Cloud Caravan Card. Spellbinders Card Creator Labels Four Christening Card. Fathers Day Card.

Not terribly exciting but I do find word cloud cards very convenient when you're just stumped for inspiration and seeing as though they've just recently bought a caravan and the going away on holiday bit is going to be in full swing from next week it seemed appropriate!


Was asked to make a christening card and I really loved playing about with pretty pieces of card and this is the one that made the final edit. Tied it in with the original invitation by matching the fonts and using a yellow ribbon. Have blacked out the surname for privacy purposes.


Made with some papers that were in a magazine that was given to me. Bargain!

Strip Twist Quilt

Had a few lovely days away recently in sunny north lancashire visiting family. We all had a walk round beautiful Warton Crag

but managed to get lost. Didn't realise there were so many paths! Lol.

Had bought a Moda Sunrise Sunset batik jelly roll eons ago but was never actually that keen on it. Anyway, decided to do something with it which was the Strip Twist pattern. Only, I didn't read the instructions properly and cut mine incorrectly and instead of getting the twist effect, I just got more squares. I think I should have turned over some of the fabric to get opposite cuts but hey ho!

I decided to sash the squares to disguise the error and so began the trail to find the right batik to fit in. Because I'd left it so long I could no longer get the matching fabric on the bolt and the same also applied for the outer border. I also found that when I came to put the backing on, it had a huge flaw in it and I'd left it too long (and lost the receipt) to take it back.

I also laid out the squares prior to joining to try and balance the colours and it's only now in the final photograph that I can see the purples aren't evenly distributed. Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Lol.

Anyway, I asked my sister if she wanted it to use as a cosy lap quilt in the winter and she said "yes please!".

A Beleek Card, Mothers Day Card, a Tagul Word Cloud Beach Home Card, a Sympathy Card and an All White Daisy Card.

All self explanatory in the title.

Unfortunately the sympathy card is for the third death in the last two months.

The Belleek Technique

Yes I know this is nothing new and even I've had a bash at it before but it's never worked. Truth be told it didn't fully work this time either but at least now I understand where I went wrong.


I followed instructions found here on Splitcoast Stampers. I'd previously used a brayer as advised on another website but have since found out you need a soft ball brayer which would explain why mine just skidded across the surface.

This time I just patted the ink pad directly and it was sort of even but the centres of the dandelions picked up the ink and they should have been white so had to be covered with a crafters best friend; a self adhesive gem!

I wish I'd used thicker ribbon too as I didn't get the bunched up effect I was after but once the DST was on there was no going back!

I now have a soft ball brayer so I'm looking forward to trying again. The great thing about these embossing folder cards is that although I added the charms for this one for an anniversary they are so adaptable. Change the colour or just leave it white and it could be for any occasion; even the good old happy birthday!

Tagxedo 50th Birthday Card

Using tips from this very helpful blog entry at JustJimJams Blog this is another Tagxedo card for a friends upcoming 50th birthday.

Added buttons and gems.



And speaking of turning 50, here is a piccy of me at my 'tastefully' decorated (by my friend I must add, not the hotel, lol) table for dinner out at The Stower Grange. She is my oldest and dearest friend and she and her husband had come across from the other side of the country for this. They had put so much effort into making it special and it was wonderful evening and they had a fabulous stay in the hotel with their dog.