Ornies

I made this ornie for a friend.

Happy Stitching,

Last Minute Finishes & Secret Gifts

One of my favorite finishes this year was this wall quilt I made for our niece. She has a beach themed bedroom and appreciates hand embroidery. 

I pieced these blocks in 2015 for a crazy quilting round robin. Beginning in the upper-left corner, the blocks were embellished by: Kathy S., Sandra T., Renee Y., Barbara Nicki Lee S., Mary B., and Sandy B. (If interested, you may see more photos on my blog here.)

On Friday night, I created these two zipper pouches and put gift certificates inside them (one for a PaintNite event and one for a movie theater.) Both recipients seemed pleased with their gifts. 

I also mailed out this little tissue-pack cover made with upcycled denim. The snowman pictured below was embroidered on the back.

Narelle, thank you so much for opening the workshop for us all this year. Without the extra motivation, I would not have had as many handmade gifts to give away.  Thank you!

Secrets Shared

Merry Christmas dear Elves, you have all deserved a nice rest after creating all the wonderful handmade gifts and decorations through the year. Just a short rest though if you wish to make a new head start beginning January 2017.

For now if you have photos of projects that were "secret" at the time of making, you might like to post a picture to share with your fellow Elves.

Quilts for the children

Rather belatedly Here is a photo of the six lap quilts I made for the grandchildren this Christmas (and a couple of rabbits).  there are more photos over on my blog with a little about each child and their likes.

xx

c

December

Hello everybody,

I had a rough year and between health problems and an extremely hot Summer, not much Christmas crafting happened. I did make one Christmas gift, a shawl for a friend.

I hope next year will be better and I hope you will let me play in the workshop again, even if I only made 3 Christmas items this year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas to All

10 Sleeps!

Well done to all the clever crafty Elves who have been busy in our workshop ... another year of handmade goodness to gift and share with family and friends.

Thank you for keeping company through the year ... our workshop may have been quiet at times but it only takes one handmade gift to put a smile on a loved ones face xx

Time has been hard to find this year to be creative but I did manage another dish cloth and christmas ornament for our patchwork group's gift swap .. of course I forgot to take a photo in my rush to get them wrapped.  If cooking counts, or perhaps the decorating after, then I was busy yesterday baking these treats for our family Christmas get together this weekend.

Enjoy the Season with

Family and Friends

The LAST one!

Well, it's been a very long year for me with many ups and downs, and I am looking forward to 2017 . However, despite all the "ups and downs" I managed to get my final Christmas gift finished this week.
Many thanks to everyone on the blog that inspired me to create and finish so many lovely gifts for my family and friends in 2016.  I may not have been able to post as regularly as I would have liked this year as we have been away from home for 8 out of the 12 months but I have enjoyed reading all the posts from the "Elves" and I look forward to seeing more in 2017.

Merry Christmas everyone.  Have a safe and happy holiday season with many happy memories with friends and family.

My final "gift" for 2016 is this quilt labelled "Flying High", for my youngest grandson - designed, embroidered, stitched, and quilted by me. There are 3 embroidered blocks, 3 "surprise" blocks, and 3 appliqued blocks. His name is appliqued at the top of the quilt and his birthdate and initials are on the embroidered aircraft.

Flying High, single bed quilt

An embroidered block

another for November

I finished this one last night but forgot to post it.

Happy Stitching,

Ornie for November

I needed a little gift to send to a friend & this Aussie ornament is perfect.

Happy Stitching,

Fabric Postcards

This month I created a fabric postcard with the crazy quilt block I embellished and shared last month. 

While I was at it, I decided to make a second fabric postcard using a scrap of fabric from my stash. 

I love this "Christmas Spirit" fabric by Geoff Allen.

The backs are not perfect, but the colors are fun. 

There was one more finish this month, but it was mailed out early and has yet to be received. I will share it next month.

I am wishing you all a very productive, crafty month.

The big day is sneaking up on us...

Finally some finishes

It's been so long since i finished anything let alone Christmas items that i forgot to post on the 25th.

These little precut ornies were a quick finish.

I had this kit several years & finally dragged it out to make up.

I was given this cross stitch card kit a year or so ago & found it when sorting through my patterns. I realised after i glued the cross stitch in the card that i'd forgotten to press it. :(.

Happy Stitching,

Christmas Postcard Embellished

It is not a complete finish, but I did complete the embellishment on this Christmas postcard. (I thought I would have time to assemble it this evening, but my family wants a movie night!) Next month, I will share a completed photo along with next month's finish.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, productive October! Thank you for providing this workshop, Narelle. It gives me an extra push. (Can you believe there are only 13 weekends - including this one - until Christmas?)

I'm Late .. I'm Late

Super quiet in the workshop at the moment ... hope we can all find a little crafting time for some finished projects in the last few months before Christmas.

Gremlins have been busy at my place ... my computer is very ill ... my internet is almost non-existant and time has been swallowed up by the hum drum of daily life. But not complaining ... I am about to cast on for my next knitted wash cloth ... still a few days of September left 😊

Who else can squeeze in a last minute finish?

Xmas items from Michell

I haven't been doing much sewing due to my studies but back in July I participated in a couple of swaps and made these items for my partners

I am also stitching slowly in downtime a red work stitchery which i plan to finish by Xmas this year.

August - No Sew Fleece Blanket

Thanks to this blog, I have a finish this month. Last December, my son and I found this no-sew fleece blanket kit marked down by 75% at JoAnn Fabric. We put it in a safe place, planning to put it together before Christmas. We rediscovered it in February. Oops!

Today, I trimmed and tied the edges. This was my first no-sew fleece blanket and I had fun with it.

Thank you for offering this Santa's Workshop, Narelle. This would still be in its "safe place" awaiting attention without it.

Hello August

Well it's time to dust off the camera and take a picture of my next two wash cloths for the gift box.

It's beginning to  look alot like 2016 is my year of the wash cloth.  Happy just to have a finish, how has this month been for you, fellow elves?

Merry Christmas Crafting xx

Christmas making in July

Ducking into the Workshop

for just a moment to show my "made"

for this month.

A non-traditional mini

with some yummy Aussie flavour :)

Hopefully I will make it back in a few days to read up on

what everyone else has been up to for July :)

Sisbabe

July - Christmas Stocking Finish!

I finally finished the crazy quilted Christmas stocking I was making for my husband. 

I believe the Santa cross-stitch is from the book Alma Lynne's Country Cross-Stitch. 

I also made a pillowcase for my husband using the "roll up" or "burrito" method. I watched this YouTube video by The Crafty Gemini, but also followed this tutorial by The Seasoned Homemaker using French seams. Aside from my print being sideways, I love the way it turned out. (My husband will not mind, as he frequently turns his pillow sideways anyway.)

Narelle, thank you for providing this blog. It really pushed me to finish a few things this month.

July offerings

Hi all. Great weather here in the Southern Hemisphere for celebrating Christmas in July - it's freezing cold in Toowoomba.  But wonderful weather for stitching!! Been busy since we arrived home and here are the results - table runner, cushion cover, mug rugs (placemats) and my beautiful Aussie Xmas embroidered wall hanging that I showed you in May is now completed with borders.

Whirligig placemat/mug rug

Reverse of whirligig mug rug

Mug rug 2

Aussie Christmas wall hanging now finished

Reverse Mug Rug 2 

Lovely bright cushion cover

Table runner

Summer in Winter?

Here in Australia it is traditionally our Winter time ... except the last week has been feeling like summer with record high temps ... crazy!

I have managed a small finish for July ... another dishcloth for the gift box.

Pop in and share this month ... even if you've made some progress on a project.

Merry Christmas Creating

Oops almost missed June

well this month's end snuck up on me!

I do have three little finishes for June 

bright and cheery for a miserable wintery month :)

This years stitched family cards

2016 is yellow

and bears :)

 Lots more elves busy this month, well done to you :)

Sisbabe

There Goes June

I feel a little embarrassed to say that I have been a bad chief elf and have nothing to share this month. Of my two finishes one was an addition to a baby shower gift and the other is a warm crochet rug for myself to keep the cold away. If you would like to pop over to Pins and Whiskers you can see those items there.

Over the school holidays we are patching, sanding and painting our kitchen and dining room so the sewing is packed away for now. I promise to do better next month as I still have more dish clothes I wish to get finished and those I can knit a few rows at night if my eyes stay open long enough.

Half way through the year with plenty of time still to make a good start to your Christmas gift stash or some new decorations for the home. Thank you for continuing to share your lovely makes and if, like me, your stash is a little low, don't give up. Just one crafty Christmasy creation is a bonus.

Catch up

Hi all. Here are my projects for June. Have been travelling since February so I needed to 'catch up' with my Xmas items for April and May as well. Table runners, placemats/mug rugs, and cushion covers will be high on my gift giving list this year, so this mug rug and these two table runners are the start. I used the "scraps" from the tops to make the reverse side of the runners. The wall-hanging is my interpretation of a pattern by "That Raggedy One". The fabric is hand dyed cotton from a designer based in Flowerpot, Tasmania.

Wall hanging

Mug rug and mug huggers

Australiana table runner

Reverse Aussie table runner

Pinwheel fun table runner

Reverse of pinwheel using left-overs