Merry Christmas!

I have lots of makes to show but have decided to leave them until after the big day so I can show them all - some are not allowed to be shown until after the unwrapping has been done. So, a short post from me today wishing you all a very merry Christmas. I hope Santa is good to you!

what I made in November

I started the month by doing a quiltalong. I never do quiltalongs - or knitalongs, crochetalongs, dietalongs etc. - because I know myself well enough to know I would probably get distracted and not keep up! Well, that changed with this one! The quiltalong was from this blog. I liked the simplicity of it and that fact that, although it was a Christmas quiltalong, the fabrics were not specifically Christmas fabrics.

I started well, following along on her youtube channel and doing the blocks as directed. Then, when I only had 3 blocks left to do, I wanted to get them done so I worked out what I needed for those blocks and got them done. I have to say, I am VERY pleased with the result!

The front - please excuse Douglas's socks! LOL

The back - I didn't have enough of the spotty that I'd used on the front so just added a stripey fabric all around the bit I did have. I like it!

I then embroidered a label on my embroidery machine for it. Chuffed with that too!

Next I made a wallhanging of presents. The pattern is here. I have no idea how I found it - must have seen it on somebody's blog! - but the pattern was free (always a bonus!) so I got it and made it. Again, I didn't use specifically Christmas fabrics but I think it looks fab despite that. It will get hung on a wall soon!

The next are things I made for the girlies to add to their Christmas parcels. I wanted a tiger to go with their dressing gowns - shown here - but only had cat patterns so went with those. I tucked them into the pockets of their dressing gowns before I wrapped them.

I then made them each an ornament for the tree. I hope to make this a tradition so, by the time they leave home, they'll have tons of Grammie-made ornaments to take with them.

Joanna asked me to make her a gingham curtain for her kitchen so I did!

I made a few more stockings to keep up with the sales in the tartan bee.

I haven't sold as many this year as previous years but I'm fine with that. This is the first year in a long, long time that I haven't felt pressured to make more to keep up with demand. It means I've been able to make quilts and wall-hangings, cats and ornaments, gingham curtains and other things!

I made myself a new blouse. This took me a while to make as I wanted to make my favourite short-sleeved shirt but make it long-sleeved. Sounds easy enough but, when you use two patterns that don't actually fit each other at the armholes, it turns into a bit of a mind-bender! I made a few mock-up sleeve tops to make sure I'd got it right and I must say I'm really pleased with the result. The fabric just makes it all the better! I LOVE it!

Next, I made some new placemats. The ones we've used for years have always annoyed me because they're too small so I used some of my 2½" Christmas fabric squares and made some new ones. I then reminded myself how to make flanged binding and I think that wee hint of red before the green just sets it all off. Chuffed with those!

When I buy fabric to make the stockings, sometimes they just don't work. The squares on the stockings are cut at 2½" and sometimes the patterns just don't allow that to happen. So, I dug around in my pile of "these don't work for 2½" squares" fabrics and made some new napkins. A great way to use the fabrics!

So, another busy month of makes for me. And now it's December. I wonder how much I'll make this month?

back again

I find myself back here again but it's mostly for selfish reasons. If I want to know when I made a certain quilt or garment or embroidery etc etc and I can't find it in my photos because I can't remember when I made said item, I come here to search for it. If I don't blog about my makes, how am I going to know these things? Anyway, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So here we go. I might fill in the months I've been away later - I might not. We'll all just have to wait and see.

These are the makes for October, 2021.

The first three photos are the patchwork Christmas stockings I make and sell in my tartan bee shop on Etsy. I've been making them steadily throughout the year and have just sold my first - hopefully of many - last week. Yay!

These ones are backed and lined with red -

These are backed and lined with green -

and these ones are backed and lined with dark yellow -

Next Joanna brought me some old towels and asked me if I'd make cloths out of them for her. I LOVE making cloths from old towels. The towels might be past their best but they're still very useful as cloths. Re-cycling and re-using at its best! There was the same amount of yellow as red but I'd already given the rest of the yellow ones to her before I took this photo.

These next two are dressing gowns I've made for Emily and Isla for their Christmas. I have to make them early as they've moved to Canada - 💔 - and I need to get them into the post soon. They are so soft and cuddly. I hope the girls love them! I'm sure they will.

This is Isla's -

and this is Emily's -

Next I made them both a Black Watch tartan pinafore each. I'm hoping they'll wear them as their Christmas outfits. Got to remind them that they might be half Canadian but they are also half Scottish!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Then I went back to a habit that I had when my girls were wee - if I made something for them and had enough fabric left, I'd make something similar for their dollies. Aren't these just fab?

So that's the makes for October. Even if I only do one post a month, it will help me keep an eye on what I made and when I made it.

taking a break

I am taking a break from blogging ... again. Everything is fine with me, I just can't seem to work up any enthusiasm for blogging these days. Whether I return any time - soon or otherwise - remains to be seen. In the meantime, take care of yourselves!

quilt, skirts and snow

Last week I finished off a quilt which I had started last August. It might have taken me a while to get it done but, oh my goodness, I am so happy with it!

Next, I made a pair of oven gloves for myself. They are already in the rotation and the ones that they replaced because I noticed they had a melted bit on them are now in the bucket!

I made a couple of skirts for the wee girlies. I made Emily's one first - the front:

And the back:

And Isla's - front:

And back:

I've been keeping the Christmas stocking sewing ticking over. I now have 4 with the squares all sewn together and ready to quilt and another 6 already quilted ready to be made into stockings.

And lastly, we have had a huge amount of snow here. Our shopping delivery was cancelled on Tuesday. It was due between 6pm and 7pm but it didn't come and it didn't come. It was blizzarding outside and I was worried he had got stuck somewhere but we finally got an email just after 10pm saying that the van had been in an accident and that the delivery wouldn't be coming. I do hope the delivery man is okay! I managed to order a food box from Morrison's and it's coming this evening - hopefully!! That will tide us over (and then some) until next week's delivery comes.

Anyway, this was the view out of my favourite window on Tuesday - nothing to see here!!

This was halfway through - it was deeper than this later that day!

And this is the view across the fields this morning.

Douglas and I are going for our Covid jags next week. I don't think I've ever been pleased about getting a jag before but I'm really hoping that this is the light at the end of the Covid tunnel for all of us. In the meantime, stay safe out there!

some sewing and the ones that got away!

I haven't been sewing much recently - or at least not as much as I usually do. Let me show you what I've made.

First of all, I made a topper for Debbie's sewing box. I used bits of all (or most of) the sewing-related fabrics I had. I'm really chuffed with the way it turned out. Here's the front:

And the back:

My next project was a laptop bag for Debbie. She'd seen the one I made for Joanna - in 2014! - and wanted one like it. She asked me to use denim on the outside and chose the lining fabric from my stash of fat quarters. I made it the same size as Jo's one even though it'll be bigger than Deb's laptop but she told me she'll probably put other stuff in it too so better to be bigger. I put pockets on one side only:

Quilted the whole thing:

This is the inside:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Just have to say that sewing a zip around corners is hard when you're sewing quilted denim!!

Jo asked me if I'd make a runner for her new hall table. This is what I came up with. I LOVE it! The top:

And the bottom:

Debbie facetimed me one day last week while Emily and Isla were painting. Emily already has a painting pinny but Isla was wearing an old tee-shirt and, boy, she was messy. She didn't quite get that she was supposed to keep the paintbrush on the paper - she is only 15 months, after all! Needless to say, she now has a new painting pinny the same as Emily's except it's a wee bit smaller and has different coloured straps.

I decided to top up my Christmas fabric squares which I use to make the patchwork stockings I sell in the tartan bee. (No direct link to them as there are none loaded at the moment.) I need 45 different squares for each stocking so this has helped to fill the Christmas squares box considerably!

Lastly, I found the ones that got away! Isn't there always something that you miss when you clear away the Christmas decorations?

In fairness to myself, these were underneath this quilt so they weren't exactly visible. If I hadn't decided to tidy the quilt, they'd probably still be there! LOL

filling in the blanks and other things

Happy New Year! I'm not sure it's going to be much better than last year but, at least there's a vaccine now which gives us hope for better days. Soon. Fingers crossed! 🤞

Time to fill in the "blanks" which I had made before Christmas but couldn't show on here as the recipients read my blog.

First of all, Joanna asked me if I could make a round patchwork mat to fit a basket she was giving Debbie for her Christmas. We discussed measurements and fabric choices and this is what I came up with.

Front:

And back:

Thankfully, both girls loved it so we were all happy!

Next I made a cover for Joanna's diary. This is something I do every year and sometimes struggle to get the size right. This year I bought the same kind of diary as I had used a couple of years ago when the cover fit well. I used those measurements again and, yes, it fitted beautifully. I hope I remember to do that next year!

This is the front:

And this is the back:

A few days before Christmas, Debbie said to me " Mum, you know what I don't have? Christmas oven gloves!". Needless to say, that was remedied very easily!

After Christmas, Debbie asked me if I'd make a few pencil cases and pouches for Emily's new felt pens and other wee things. I first of all made a prototype of a pencils pencil case. I wasn't entirely happy with it - I know! I am way too critical of my own work! It wasn't a problem, though, as Joanna kindly offered to take it off my hands! 🤣

I re-made it changing a few things here and there. I am much happier with this version.

Then I made another 3 which I hope will store all sorts of wee things for the wee girlies!

This next one is the last of the fabric I got from Jo's blog giveaway. Thanks again, Jo.

The best thing about all of these pencil cases is that they're all made from scraps. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have reduced said scraps! Honestly, when I'm not paying attention, I'm positive that fabric scraps breed! 🤣

Take care out there. Stay safe. Wear a mask.