Merry Sewing Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

Today is a day of rest, though I did start it trimming the last of the blocks for my nephew's quilt as everyone else in the house slept in.

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour I wish eveyone a very merry Christmas.

Happy stitching.
Jenell

What to do while on Holidays, Hmmm

Merry Christmas,

Holidays have begun and so has a new project. I have three weeks off work and will be making a quilt for my nephew. His mother has requested red and blue and left the rest up to me. I am to use my MIL's fabrics for this quilt so that he has something from her also.

He loves playing with balls so I thought I would give the drunkard's path block a go and make his quilt with lots of circles. I had to add a bit of lime green as I did not like the blue and red only combination. Cutting them all out was a quicker exercise than I thought it would be. The finished quilt will be approximately 84 x 72 inches  depending on what I do with the border. This is still to be decided.

I found a great tutorial here  http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/running-in-circles-tutorial.html for making these blocks. It really is a simple process and no where near as daunting when a simple explanation for putting something together can be found. Hooray for technology.

So far the blocks that have been sewn together look fine. They are ready for ironing and joining into rows. Below is a photo of some of the cut pieces laid out on the floor as I was trying to sort and balance the pieces to make a decent looking colour mix. I just might manage to complete this one before I have to go back to work. I can always hope for a miracle.

Happy stitching and Merry Christmas.
Jenell

A Crazy Busy Llife

I have a crazy busy life but there is always time to sew. I have finished my Secret Santa gift and it is now wrapped and under the tree at work. I enjoyed making this one. The opportunity to use my scraps is always welcome and even though that crate of scraps is overflowing there is some satisfaction in not having to cut into my stash all the time.

I made my own version of Nancy Halvorsen's 'Joy to the World' wall quilt but turned it into a Christmas swag instead.

Work has been a constant of 12 hour days and sewing has been happening in the early hours of the morning quite often around 3am. I love the early morning as I am the only person awake in the house and it is so peaceful. A great time to get things done.

Enjoy your Christmas preparations.

Happy stitching

Jenell

Christmas is coming

I have been madly sewing gifts and one that I was making 12 times over for the lovely people that I work with has been a disaster so I am going to have to rethink that and put what I was making in the problem solving file for later. Maybe I will call that a head start for gift giving next year.

Anyway I have completed two more projects. They are Secret Santa Presents. One is a Christmas bunting using Nancy Halverson's fabrics. I have another 70 or so squares cut to sew up and they may become coasters to replace the above mentioned disaster. But this is the bunting.

I also made up a set of coasters for another Secret Santa present, quick and easy to do and am really happy with these.

Happy Stitching as you count down to Christmas.

Jenell

Something Finished Well Before Christmas

I am on a bit of a roll. Work is crazy involving very long days but there always has to be time to sew. Usually this is very early in the morning. While others are out jogging, the distance I cover is on the sewing machine.

I have finished the towels which were on my Finish-Along Quarter 4 list and as they are Christmas presents I am happy to have them ready to go so early. Not very exciting photos but here they are.

Happy stitching

Jenell

Flowers

My blog tag line includes flowers. 




This is the beautiful day lily which has flowered for the first time since it came into my possession. I think I have had it for seven years. Until 2 months ago it was in a pot. Now that it is in the ground it has flowered. Not the colour I thought it would be but what a great surprise. I was expecting it to be yellow. It is a beauty.

Third and Final Table Runner for 2015

I have finished my third table runner this year and it is a sweet finish and is was on the list for 2015 Finish Along Q4. It was started for one challenge but I wasn't happy with it meeting the brief for that particular challenge and made a different one to send. This table runner is made from two Moda charm square packs ' Gooseberry'.

The brief for the group table runner was to use one floral, two checks and three hexagons, all in the runner top. Gooseberry does not have any checks and following a conversation with the group member who led the challenge I managed to mix up the requirements and substituted the checks for spots. So again it did not look like it would meet this challenge.

When I realised my mistake I purchased two checks which complemented the Gooseberry charm squares and used them to make the hexagons which are 1/2 inch hexies put together to make the corner flowers. 

So it just scrapes in to meet the criteria.

I quilted it on my ancient Bernina using a circle of hearts stencil. This is the first time I have used such a loopy quilting design on this scale. It is rough, but on the front it looks pretty good, better than the back anyway.

I am happy with the finish. It is a pretty fabric line.

Now to get all those cupcake oven mitts completed.

Happy Stitching.

Jenell

First Finish Along Finish

Hooray,

I have actually completed something.  This was on my list for the Finish-Along Quarter 4 List . Wonders will never cease. The Goody Goody Binding bag for my group Christmas swap has been finished. This was a fun finish and very easy to make. The instructions via this link  http://lellaboutique.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/goody-goody-binding-kit.html are clear and easy to follow.

My partner requested bright spring colours, particularly yellow and said that she liked spotty dotty fabrics. 

I pulled out all my Riley Blake spots and dots for this. I had a small fabric roll of small spots in many colour ways which were joined to make the outer panel. I also had a selection of Riley Blake larger spot fat quarters. 

I decided to embroider her name for the front and and also embroidered the scissor holder inside. I wanted to continue the spring look with the embroidery.

I have added a spotty fat quarter, retractable tape measure and cute floral print scissors which complement the stitched scissor pocket. Of course there is thread for binding.

The only item left to add is a chocolate bar or two which I will leave until the day I have to give it as it is really warming up here and a melted mass is not a good gift.

It is good to have a finish and an early finish at that, a month before it is due to be handed over.

Happy Stitching

Jenell

Finish-Along Quarter 4 - another attempt to complete something... anything.

Well, here I go again ambitiously hoping that I can actually achieve something this quarter. Last quarter I finished one of my listed table runners but did not link my post before the Q3 deadline.

So fingers briefly crossed, because I am not going to achieve much if I keep them crossed!

There is a bit of deja vu in this post and then some extra sewing as well.

Item 1 - AP&Q Mystery Quilt - 

Its a mystery to me why I haven't finished it, it must have something to do with all those new projects I keep starting. Quilting almost finished, then just a binding.

Item 2: Squares Quilt- If I manage to complete this one it will be a miracle.

Item 3 - Cup Cake Oven Mitts - Christmas Gifts for Work Colleagues - By my calculation I need 10 sets.

Item 4 - Table Runner - For my quilting group challenge - has a deadline so should be done. Needs quilting and binding.

 Item 5 - Goody Goody Binding Kit - Quilting group Christmas gift - binding only to go.

Item 6 - Owl pot holder - had kit for a while. Would just like to get it done.

Item 7 - Sew together bags - 3 for my sisters in law - to be made from these beautiful fabrics (terrible photos) which were my mother in laws. 

Item 8 - Four of these appliqued towels; one each for Harry, Evelyn, Audrey and Charlie.

Item 9 - Jelly Roll Challenge Quilt - Quilting Group Challenge. I am going to use this one to practice my free motion quilting. Needs quilting and binding.

So off I go to sew and hopefully finish something. Good luck with your finishes. I am linking up with Adrienne at http://www.onthewindyside.co.nz/

Happy Stitching

Jenell