Happy Birthday Michelle

My lovely neice Michelle is home with her parents for a few days - and I've been busy sewing her a little something for her birthday.
I used an assortment of cream fabrics for the bag and the lining, and marked a grid for the quilting with a Hera marker (these are by Clover - they're great as they mark an indentation on the fabric that you sew over - no nasty pencil or chalk lines that won't rub off!!).....

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.....it is really easy to follow the lines, and I always use a walking foot for quilting - it stops the fabric bunching up underneath. I've used a Mettler quilting thread, shade 04, and used a slightly longer stitch than I would use for normal sewing.....

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.....you may remember I made a cute makeup bag for my sister-in-law for Christmas, and appliqued a picture of her daughter, Michelle, and granddaughter Erin, onto the front of the bag. This time I rather craftily used a picture of Michelle's partner, Simon, with Erin. Again, I used the miracle sheets of fabric that you can print pictures onto..... 

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.....I decorated the front of the bag with some vintage lace.....

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.....this was based on an AnnAKa pattern. I even used one of my printed labels as a tab. I'm so pleased with how this has turned out.....

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......and here's the birthday girl, along with her daughter Erin. We had a lovely family get-together this afternoon, Happy Birthday Michelle!

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