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?