A sneak peek……

As I mentioned yesterday another one of the swaps that I have been involved in is the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap. This swap was a special Christmas round where we had named rather than secret partners.

Because of everything else that has been going on I have to admit that I wasn’t able to make exactly what I had originally planned having stalked my partner but I think I still came up with something fun.

You will notice there is a hand appliqued design with a machine quilted background. I used lots of glittery fabrics as they always remind me of Christmas.

You may have spotted who the main character on the mug rug is………

Hopefully my partner will receive their package soon and then I can show you the whole thing!

Rooting around in the sewing cupboard…

This afternoon I was rooting around in my craft/sewing cupboard looking for some fabric and I came across some sandwich bags full of part finished Christmas projects from a couple of years ago! Much to my amazement I found some fabrics I had cut out to make some bags and fused pieces to make ornaments/centre panels for bags. The bags were a bit boring really but the applique’s are so perfect for my various swaps and Christmas I will just have to use them.

The problem is that now I feel the pressure to spend my evenings doing all the sewing…I just hope I can complete it all in the time that I have….I’ll keep you updated.

 

Fused ready to applique....

 

 

Ornaments

 

 

You better not pout…

I’ve finally managed to finish the first of last years unfinished Christmas wall hangings. Earlier in the week I finished appliqueing all the pieces in place, attached the borders and added some free motion quilting on the night sky which wasn’t in the pattern but I thought was needed. On Friday night I started adding all the words…finished them last night, added some embellishments and added the binding. Phew…all finished!!

You better not pout.....

You may recall the pattern for the wall hanging is by Nancy Halvorsen and comes from her pattern book Santa’s Coming.

I’m really pleased with how it’s come out and I think it will look really good when I put it up nearer to Christmas.

Centre panel

Santa's sleigh

Rudolphs pulling the sleigh.....

Close up of wording

Share your projects or get some inspiration…

I currently administer three groups on flickr which I thought I would share with my blogging friends:

Christmas Tree Skirts - http://www.flickr.com/groups/treeskirts/

Currently we have 49 photos of some fantastic Christmas Tree Skirts. Take a look and you’ll see how many of them are really amazing. If you’re thinking of making a tree skirt and need some inspiration pop along and take a look. Maybe you’ve already made one and would like to share your photos with us. We also have some discussions where we are looking for any good online patterns or tutorials….maybe you have one to share.

Quilting Bee Creations - http://www.flickr.com/groups/quiltingbeecreations/

Currently we have 76 photos of quilts made by members of virtual quilting bees. I am truly amazed by the creativeness of people. It is so inspiring to see how these quilting bee quilts come out in the end. I am in a couple of quilting bees and I was looking for somewhere where I could look at finished quilts that the bees have made. Come along and take a look or post any photos you might have of your own quilting bee quilts.

In the style of Nancy Halvorsen - http://www.flickr.com/groups/nancyhalvorsenstyle/

Many of you will have spotted me making projects from patterns by Nancy Halvorsen. This group is for sharing pictures of your Nancy Halvorsen projects. At the moment we are getting posts of lots of fabulous Christmas applique projects. Take a look if you are looking for some Christmas inspiration.

First trim a tree decoration finished….

I have been busy working on finishing some  of my applique projects this week. I’ve had a bit of a cold for the last couple of days and have been feeling rather sorry for myself but it hasn’t stopped me from getting on with the hand applique while lying on the sofa! I have almost finished two of the projects I shared with you earlier in the week but one is completely finished.

 

A trim a tree santa.....

I’m happy with how it turned out – the stitching of the numbers isn’t perfect but it is handmade!!

 

For those that are interested the santa pattern came from Peppermint & Hollyberries by Nancy Halvorsen and most of the fabrics are also Nancy Halvorsen.

Hopefully I will have at least one more finished project to share with you all tomorrow.

Starting work on the Christmas swaps….

I have joined two Christmas themed swaps. I am away for the next couple of days so thought it would be an opportunity to start work on the applique for my projects. I have started off using some patterns from Nancy Halvorsen….I am trying out the exact projects first and then may produce my own work derived from the main pattern….mainly as I probably need to use some fabrics with a more modern colour range.

St.Nicholas Swap – I need to produce a Christmas related sewing item that is fairly small…..I am working on two different appliques to be incorporated into my items.

Gingerbread Angel

Long bearded St.Nicholas

Trim the Tree Handmade Ornament Swap - I need to produce a single handmade ornament for 3 partners. My partners all have different tastes so I need to do some research. It would be good to a get one or two out the way now.

Bird of peace

Santa

You better not pout……

As promised a quick peek at one of the Christmas projects that I am working on……

You better not pout......

This is a little mini quilt from a Nancy Halvorsen pattern book. I have almost finished appliqueing on the picture (just one small piece of the sleigh to do).

Next I will need to quilt the background…I am planning to do this in navy so it blends in. Finally I will need to add all the embellishments…eyes, reins, smoke and the words to go across the panel.

I think it will be perfect for putting up this Christmas.

Practice time…

We have been working on some more of the projects we picked up at Malvern.

I have loved the Nancy Halvorsen patterns for sometime and I picked up the new Sew Necessary pattern book. Cupcake Princess thought we could make a needle case for her teacher as an end of term…and leaving for Australia….gift.

Wallets - Flower and Acorn

As you will have seen from previous blogs it is never as easy as just making the pattern. I have to make the wallet but not as a needle case, it needs to be a notebook and pen holder. We want to make the flower wallet shown on the right hand (closed) and in the middle with a leaf on (open). Instead of having the leaf pincushion in the middle I need to replace it with a fabric band to hang a notebook from.

We don’t need it for a few weeks but I thought it best to have a practice run to test out the pattern and my proposed adaptations.

I bought some great American Retro fabrics from Sunflower fabrics so we thought we’d make a non appliqued version of the wallet using the retro fabrics.

So how did it go……overall I think it came out well. I made a slight boo boo when adding the fastener as it is a bit looser than I would like. I also used some wadding to give it a bit of thickness but I think it was too thick affecting the folding of the wallet.

American Retro Wallet

This was made rather quickly but you can see all the different pockets – 2 pockets on the left, one pocket on the right plus a pen pocket and the hanger in the middle for the notebook.

We’ve tried out adding a notebook and pen……it worked really well.

Retro Wallet

So Cupcake Princess now has her prototype….I just have to deliver the real version over the coming weeks. The final version will have a button sewn onto the fastener to cover up the velcro stitching but I think it looks ok without.

Wallet prototype