It’s officially Christmas day in the Eastern States of Australia, so I thought I’d wish you all a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS on behalf of the Sewing Sisters. Thank you all for visiting our blog & giving your encouraging & beautiful comments about our various crafty endeavors.
With Love and Many Blessings
Janelle, Kylie and Katherine xxxOnly two more sleeps! We have had a lovely time staying in pyjamas in the morning and eating fresh lunches (with no lunchboxes needed!). It’s great to be on holidays. I finished my table runner in time. It was cut out and partly sewn for last Christmas, but just not big enough. Our table is 3m long when fully extended, so the new length is much better. It was hot day today and the tulips I bought this afternoon were tightly closed at 3.30pm. I hope they last until tomorrow night!
Now for the Christmas goodies. I have discovered the random number generator. Sorry I was planning on a creative cut and children pick approach, but the printer is upstairs, children are in bed and I am tired… don’t know why!?! So the winners are…
suzitee said...
Your Christmas creating is so inspiring Katherine...well done! I love those birds especially. I have mentioned your giveaway on my blog...the more chances the better, I'm thinking :)
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and all the best for 2010 xxxx
December 20, 2009 5:06 PM
Bron said...
Hey thanks for sharing all your craftiness this year .Have a lovely Christmas and New Year.
December 21, 2009 2:39 PM
tassierobyn said...
I have loved reading and seeing all of your creations throughout the year. I absolutely love the birds they are beautiful. Keep up the good work Katherine, Janelle, and Kylie in 2010. Merry Christmas to you all.
December 21, 2009 11:21 AM
Well done girls! Please let us know your snail mail addresses so we can send you your goodies. Thanks and have a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends!
Katherine
Christmas wreath is hung – will add to it next year as time got away from me…
Life has been a crazy and blogging has moved down the list of priorities a little. We’ve just had the last day of school for quite a long time and I’m very excited! No more school lunchboxes to make for at least 6 weeks!
What has been going on?
I survived the last minute baking… for a market that my 9 year old son’s school class were running. He came home, “Mum we need more things to sell tomorrow, so can you make some things… please”. So we then sat down and made 15 little angel decorations from left over wool batting and baked 20 gingerbread. The things we do for our children.
Next it was time to make gifts for all the gorgeous women who come to my sewing group on a Tuesday. I decided on some Christmas themed pin cushions.
Although red and green, I chose fabrics that weren’t too Christmassy. After all one needs to sew every day of the week and year. They were well received and I have two left for gifting to others.
Last week was the Carols in the park which meant we could all stop and focus on Christmas TOGETHER. It was a lovely night and it didn’t rain!! Here are my very tired Cherubs proudly displaying their candles!
And an even more tired cherub who had to be content with a battery operated tea light candle!!
I am very excited about my latest project which I got from here. It’s an advent calendar with a Christmas Tree made from felt with little felt birds in all different shapes and sizes to pin on the tree. The birds are absolutely gorgeous...
I’ve made ten already and I’m absolutely hooked. My two oldest children made some to give to their teachers too.
Speaking of giving -
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME!! It’s a MERRY CHRISTMAS from Threads of Friendship. We have three little Christmas packages to send. One will be a Christmas package from me with pin cushion, felt bird ornaments and other bits and pieces. Second will be one of Janelle’s gorgeous bags made with Michael Miller’s fabric “China Doll” :
AND the third giveaway will be a beautiful covered notebook made by Kylie… no photo, but will surely add a smile to your Christmas.
Leave a comment on this post and we’ll put your name into the draw for our goodies, mention the giveaway on your own blog and get 5 more entries. We’ll draw the names on the 23rd. You won’t get the parcels by Christmas but you will know by Christmas if you’re one of the lucky winners.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Happy Stitching to your all,
Katherine
Kay and I had another successful, and extremely hot (37 degrees C), market yesterday. The temperature didn't stop Christmas shoppers from coming out & stocking up. These were the bags I’d made for this market, I included a few more Summery designs. I now have some ready made presents for teachers gifts, 1 more Pay It Forward gift (thanks for being so patient Dee!), and a GIVEAWAY gift.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to be making 50 library bags, with my friend Jenny (aka JennyWren) for a Playgroup end of year present. Well, they all have new homes now, Santa gave them out at the Playgroup end of year Christmas parties this week. Here are some gorgeous wee munchkins with their library bags. A HUGE THANK YOU to JennyWren! I absolutely couldn’t have made them without you & your precious family – Amy (cord threader), Matthew (bag turn right side outerer), & Georgia (stacker).
BTW Santa arrived on a scooter, and doesn't he wear very trendy shoes!!!
Just to finish off, I thought I’d show you a few of my new favourite Christmas tree ornaments that I picked up in the post Christmas sales last year.
Now I just need the handbags to match!
With Love
Hi my name is Kylie, you may remember me? My New Years Resolution will be to make more time for sewing and me time. It’s been an interesting journey adjusting to going back to work this year, how does everyone else manage to fit to two together? So I’m here writing a blog post at 6.30 in the morning while eating my cereal and drinking my cup of tea…
Katherine and I had a wonderful weekend away, we sewed our little hearts out. Just to prove we do it in style we took a photo of Saturday lunch, no 2 minute noodles for us! We do indulge in plenty of extra curricular eating…..chocolate, licorice, gingerbread covered in chocolate, Christmas cake, fruit toast the list goes on… This weekend was the first in a loooong time that we didn’t have any little ones with us, we kept listening out for the baby to wake up, but there wasn’t one! I must say, our DH’s are great in supporting our habit and keeping the troops clothed and fed while we are away, it’s always interesting to see what my children are wearing when I arrive home!
I have a very funny story that involves my DH, I am just in the process of establishing whether he reads the blog first before I can share it….this story caused Katherine and I to almost pee our pants on our sewing weekend, let’s just say it involves my DH and a patchwork shop.
I finished my nieces first birthday quilt, pity it was her birthday back in JULY!!! So now it may be her second birthday quilt…
Here’s the wee Princess receiving her certificate for grade 1 ballet exams and an award for most improved, what a star.
Well I’ve a big day ahead, wish me luck, hope you find time for your creative passion.
I went to my store Christmas party this afternoon with all the fabulous girls from work. Instead of buying/making each other presents, our manager Suzy gave us 1/2 metre of herringbone calico & a name of a recipient. We were to create an apron for our Secret Apron Swap partner. We gave out the aprons today and they all looked fabulous!
My apron made for & modeled by Kay - it has handbag material!
Emma wearing her apron made by Yvonne – look at the lips on that fish.
Me wearing my apron made by Eileen – it has Babushkas on the front.
With Love
On Wednesday Clarry (from my book club) and I went to a literary morning tea with Paullina Simons. It was a slightly smaller crowd than the last event – 73 women & 2 men, compared to 248 women & 2 men for Diana Gabaldon!
Clarry, Paullina and Me
We had a delicious morning tea whilst we waited for the guest of honour to arrive. We chatted with the fabulous people at our table and discussed our favourite books. Apart from ‘The Bronze Horseman’ series/trilogy, the next favourite of Paullina's books was ‘The Girl in Times Square’ – which is now on my bedside table being devoured nightly :) The first things I noticed about Paullina when she arrived was her gorgeous hair and her gorgeous handbag (I have an inbuilt handbag radar) – a Valentino Rosier Taffeta Tote, I Googled it. You can buy one online at Neiman Marcus for $1,795 USD.
I think it’s just delicious, click in the link above for a better look – or if you want to buy one! She bought it especially to take on her book tour.
Out of the 18 bags I made for market, I have 3 left. I sold 10 & gave 5 away for presents & PIF’s (except for Dee, yours got sold so I am making yours today). I’d better get my act together for the next market in 3 weeks time – plus do Christmas shopping and make 50 library bags, with my friend Jenny, for playgroup end of year presents.
Before I sign off, I thought I’d give you a quick update on Smileykylie – she is alive and well (I spoke to her yesterday!) Katherine and her will be going away on a sewing weekend soon so hopefully we will get to see some of her creations – no pressure Kylie.
With Love
I am almost there with the Christmas wreath – just need some red velvet ribbon to finish it off. Until then I’ve dug out another wool felt project. About three months ago I started making a fairytale type toadstool house. I had done the basic cut out and started stitching on some details such as ivy, but that’s were it stopped.
Last night I decided it was time to dive in and finish it off. I was going to try wet felting the roof, but decided to needle felt it instead. But first I needed a base to felt it over. So out came the bread knife…
It’s a good thing that there is no one shape for a toadstool, because it was not that easy… my DH entered about this stage and looked at me and said, “Do I want to know?” I told him that my 4 years at uni were vey useful as I learnt that a good way to shape foam was with a bread knife. He said nothing…
I got the basic shape with the plain felt and then started needle felting the red fleece on.
I trimmed it down, added on some white dots,
I finished the little house off with a bell, door knob and a little bird on the window.
I had to make a little garden for it. Will add some felted bushes when I get some green fleece. Oh, and I thought the little people needed a clothes line “out the back”…
It was a fun project – my children are already discussing who it will be for. I might need to make a little gnome to live in it. So nice to have another UFO completed!
I hope your UFO’s are inspiring you as the year rolls on by.
Happy stitching to you all,
Katherine
As in - I’ve just got back, fresh from the Inglewood Artisan Market. Kay and I had a very successful morning, I sold several bags/notebooks and key rings – My mother even bought a bag! (I will squirrel her money back to her, I can’t have my mother paying for a bag). I still have some bags for my Pay It Forward girls, they will be going in the post this week – and just in time too. I had a year to make & deliver my gifts from the 19th November 2008, talk about cutting it close. Here are some photos from this morning…
My Bags - PVC Totes & Shoulder bags
Kay’s Bags & Kids Aprons
Fabric covered notebooks, key rings, purses, beaded bookmarks etc.
Me (with a ridiculous cheesy grin on my face) & Diana. I am wearing my ‘Fraser of Lovat’ kilt pin (from Mog) and some Fraser tartan ribbon. I also made her a wee gift – a bag (of course). It’s the black watch plaid tied up in white ribbon on the table.
To top it off, I’m off to another literary morning tea on Wednesday – this time with Paullina Simons. She is my 2nd Favourite author of my 2nd favourite series – The Bronze Horseman trilogy. I am going to get my birthday presents signed. I am currently reading her new novel ‘A Song in the Daylight’.
Hope you are having a fabulous weekend.
Much Love
Cleaning through the upstairs cupboard I happened across a quilt I began making for a friend’s wedding about 11 years ago. I think it may have been my first attempt at quilting (and it was queen size!!). Anyway it didn’t get made in time, and just got abandoned until this week. I was meant to be making curtains for a our new bedroom… BORING, so instead I decided to quilt it and put on the binding. I just did a simple diagonal across the blocks – enough to hold it all in place. It was a challenge to even do that much as it only just fitted in my machine… Once the checked binding on the edge is sewn down, it is finished.
It has a boring interesting choice of prints, checks and stripes… It’s a good thing experience and time has changed the way I choose fabrics!! Any way it’s done and I know a young family that might enjoy it for Christmas. It would make a fun picnic mat…
Speaking of Christmas, I am starting to get into preparations… I thought a hand stitched Christmas wreath might be in order, and the girls from my sewing group were keen too, so here is what I have so far…
I plan to stitch more detail onto the leaves and I think I’m going to need lots more of the felted red beads. If your haven’t had a go, they are a lot of fun to make. Even my children have had a go at making them. Just roll red fleece in your palm until a ball forms, wet it with hot soapy water and keep rolling until it forms a hard felted ball. I’ll let you know how the wreath turns out.
All the best with starting your Christmas sewing and finishing all your closet projects…
Katherine
I was looking through this months Homespun magazine (Vol 10.11) when I discovered this:
I wasn’t sure that my email had even reached them as I hadn’t reduced the file size of the photo and it seemed to take a long time to send. That was a lovely surprise. There’s a couple of lovely quilts in this month’s edition that I might try too. Maybe I’ll use some of this fabric that arrived in the mail today…
I thought we needed a holiday quilt – I can imagine holiday photos and memories being built with such a quilt as a common thread!… And I couldn’t resist the HAPPY CAMPERS range by American Jane. I’ve never sewn with a Turnover, so of course I had to give it a go. I’ll let you know how it goes. This might come away on the sewing weekend that Kylie and I are due to have in a few weeks time. Along with how many others?… I found some fabric for my “Spring” Quilt…
My seven year old thinks it would be a lovely quilt for her. Unfortunately for her there isn’t enough fabric there. The roll is a ‘honey bun’ – I’ve never sewn with one of those either, so it will be fun to give it a go. This will be a very pretty quilt and quite different to anything else I’ve sewn lately…
The other thing I’ve been trying to find is the right range of fabric to make my DH a quilt with for his 40th. I have a little time up my sleeve still as it’s not until 2011, but “Authentic” by Sweetwater for moda was the range I’d been looking for. I’m very excited, but will try not to touch this fabric for a year or so, to avoid it being discovered. Here’s a peek (he’s unlikely to read the blog – I HOPE).
Now to find more time for sewing…
Happy stitching to you all,
Katherine
My DH says my craft room currently looks like the Fabric Fairy has thrown up in it. It is a wee bit messy and re-arranged, but for a good reason. My friend Kaye and I are having a bag stall at:
Which is held on the 2nd Saturday on the Month (not THIS Saturday, like in the ad above). The next Market will be in 2 weeks time – on 14th November. I have been sewing PVC covered bags all day today, here are a few examples.
I shall be giving my lovely Pay It Forward girls (no, I haven’t forgotten you!) their presents from any of the bags that don’t sell. I will also put one up as my part of the giveaway when we eventually celebrate our 100th blog post (Oops!).
I also FINALLY finished another Pleated Beauty Bag for my friend Steph, who has been patiently waiting for it for awhile. She chose denim with brown and aqua pleats.
Oh, BTW, I managed to travel to NSW and back last week for a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Field Staff Training Seminar. I had a excellent time away with some wise, loving, encouraging and courageous women – and lots of laughs too. Many thanks to my beloved DH for holding down the fort.
Best get back sewing (& blogging).
With Love
