SLIKstitchesblog: December 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

For years I have used an embroidered Advent Calendar that I made before Lisa was born - I carefully wrapped small toys or sweets, and hung them from it: the girls took it in turns to open a package each day.

Now they are older they aren't as interested, and Lisa isn't here for half the month anyway, so I haven't got it out of the loft this year.

But

An Advent Calendar still feels like the start of the build up to Christmas! I went to a website to buy some wool tops, and saw they had Advent Calendar Buttons (badges) - somehow they jumped into my shopping basket, and arrived a few days ago.

Today I managed to create an advent calendar that uses the buttons (and was inspired by Hadley's Countdown Quilt) and will do just fine :-)

Internet interruption

Hello again friends - we've just emerged from ten days with no Internet at home - I've had to do grocery shopping and Christmas shopping either using the tiny screen on my phone, or, shock horror, in person!!!

We have now returned to the 21st century and I can be a blogger and a bloggee again at last, and can catch up on Christmas shopping the "traditional" (clickitty click) way

There have been lots of small projects happening here:

I added initial tags to some lingerie bags pressies as several of the recipients share a girly weekend once a year:

I made some mug caddy wraps for Christmas pressies for colleagues,

I cut a whole load more kona solid into triangles for a group quilt

And I decorated my Christmas tree

There has been more too, but that can wait for another day, this post is (almost) photo heavy enough!

But just one more . . . After Niki sewing as she was bored without Internet, Husband was clearly lost too - he *baked*!!!!!!!!

Internet Interrupted (2)

In the last week or so I made some Christmas Eve gifts for the great nephew and his sisters: I figured littlies get plenty of stuff at Christmas, so I would do a little something to open the night before: hopefully to help calm them down at bedtime. Sam and Nina are too young this year, and Emily is all grown up, but maybe it will work for Lulu! These have been filled with pyjamas and Christmas story books

I also finished some sewing and embroidery for customers:

And following a family photo session (fifteen of us for Nanny's birthday), I just want to share with you this pic ... of everything I've ever made . . . These are my *best* creations!!

All 4 of us:

and all fifteen:

Linen Love

The red linen quilt is finally finished, in use and loved!

I think it is possibly my favourite quilt!

I had a quilting plan which I promptly forgot/ignored and I decided to quilt, by hand, a design in each big square. It felt more like embroidery than quilting, and I had great fun drawing frixon designs to stitch over

There are 20 or so, but I shan't bore you with them all!!!

Gifts from Girlfriends

Isn't it lovely when people give you *exactly* what you would have bought for yourself?

I met up with three girlfriends a few nights ago, and received two fab button mugs:

And a hand made hexi sewing travel kit -Jane, you are awesome!

I've nearly finished making gifts - thanks to Plum's fab tutorial I have made just a few covered notebooks for Santa to distribute on the day!

So Long Lisa

So Lisa has gone - flew to Australia this morning, on a one way ticket - but she has promised her mummy that she will come back!

She's a light traveller:

and she left her room SO tidy

I felt a bit sorry for myself, but then husband sorted out a silver lining:

And I managed to cheer myself up a bit by sewing, and have finally assembled / basted / quilted this onto a fleece:

Just a few more quilt blocks in strips to go!

Good job I have another week off school ;-)

Quicker than Quilt As You Go

I've mentioned this method before on the blog, and it's what is helping me assemble / baste and quilt these strips of blocks so quickly - a few hours and they are ready for binding.

I know the result is a Coverlet rather than a Quilt (two layers rather than three) but it is just as long lasting, much cheaper, and MUCH quicker than the conventional method.

So I have my blocks in strips (in this case just 'bricks' of fabric joined into strips the same measurement as the width of the fleece)

I have already done the middle ones (numbered 16 to 21) and I am now joining the next two (15 and 22). I have pinned them to their next door neighbours, and to the fleece below

Then I stitch through 15, 16 and the fleece, (and 22, 21 and the fleece). I press 15 and 22 open, and repeat with 14 and 23 etc.

I'm not a great fan of heavily quilted patchworks (unless its quilting in the negative spaces - Jen, you rock!) so I'm very happy with there being no visable quilting on the surface and there is no crawling around on the floor stretching, taping, pinning, or tacking the flimsey.

And I managed two and a half tops today!

Measuring Time

The conventional way to measure time is, of course minutes and hours, but sometimes . . .

A wait for a hospital appointment . . .

51 basted hexies

The drive to Portsmouth:

34 hexies

but I don't mind these waits . . . Look how they are going together:

And one final photo - it was pointed out that in the prev photo of it you couldn't really see the Red Linen quilt as child and cat had obliterated most of the view, so here it is in (most) of it's glory:

Friends and Flowers

Following on from me showing a felted flower on Facebook, (from a lesson in felting flowers), a few friends wanted to have a go.

I *had* to shop for supplies. It was difficult to choose a supplier when I'd never bought felting stuff before, but Gillian's Glad Rags didn't let me down!

These colours are soooo lush - aren't they awesome!