the last post of the year

As Christmas is now over, I can show Jo's diary cover which I made for her this year. I embroidered the design on my embroidery machine. She actually laughed out loud on Christmas Day when she opened it. It made me smile too! This is the front:

This is the inside which, sadly, isn't seen unless you take the cover off!

And the back.

I used to have such trouble getting the covers to fit well but these days, I buy the exact same make of diary every year - obviously one year on from the previous year!! - and then I know that the cover will be the same size every time.

Our next door neighbours had a baby girl at the end of November so, naturally, I made her a quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. All those wonky triangles just make me smile!

The back is one side of a downie cover bought in the sales at the end of summer. That's quite a quick turnaround for me to have used it already!

My next project was to make myself a dress to wear for Christmas Day. I decided to use McCall's 8553.

I am not scared/wary/terrified of zips in the slightest but this one nearly broke me. I was so close to just throwing the whole thing in the bucket but I didn't. In the end, I decided to ignore the pattern's instructions for the zip and did it the way I thought it should be done and that made all the difference. By the way, the pattern tells you to use a metal zip and to cut off the ends to make it fit. No way was I doing that! I used a normal plastic zip and it worked just fine!

I'm so glad I persevered. I LOVE this dress! (As usual, my facial expression is just silly! 🤣)

It was so comfy to wear on Christmas Day - no tight waistbands to worry about! LOL

Jo got a kit to make a "gingerbread house" out of chocolate. We had so much fun sticking it all together with melted chocolate. We've made a few real gingerbread houses over the years and they've never gone together as well as this one did!

And demolishing it a few days later was fun too! Nom nom nom! 🤣

This was the last thing I made this year. I have so many tree wallhangings that I've decided it's my thing. You know, some people collect frogs or pigs or whatever. I make tree hangings! That's okay, I enjoy doing it and there's plenty of wall space to hang them! 🤣

So, that's 2025 nearly over. See you in 2026!

adding to my stash

At the end of October, Jo and I went to a Crafter's Destash and had the best time. I think everyone there, at one time or another, said to one of the ladies (and men) who were manning the stalls that they really didn't need to be buying more stuff. But, oh it was fun! Here's what I got:

Some fat quarters:

Some bigger pieces:

A couple of scraps bags:

This is what was in them:

and, finally, some books:

I was delighted with everything I got! If we spot it being on next year, no doubt we will be there!

I was laid up for a couple of weeks with a bad cold so I made good use of the Christmas Cheer book in the last photo and made this wreath. It's been decades since I did any hand-stitched patchwork and I was surprised how much I enjoyed doing it. It helped to while away the long hours I spent on the couch trying not to cough up a lung!!

This is what I made the wreath into - a wall-hanging - door-hanging actually!

A few weeks later, we went to a Quilter's Exhibition. The quilts were lovely and very inspiring. The best bits for us were the various sales tables dotted around the room. Needless to say we spent a little money there too! First some books:

and some fabric pieces.

Actually, I have to admit, the absolute best bit was the free coffee and home-made cakes and biscuits. Those alone were well worth the price of the ticket!

When I was finally feeling better, I made another wall-hanging. This was self-designed and I LOVE it!

Jo mentioned that she wanted a Bourbon biscuit decoration for her tree so, after a bit of searching, I found one and made it for her. She's delighted and it's hanging on her Christmas tree! This is the embroidery design I used but I changed the M to an N using my Embrilliance program.

The last two things I made were these. I have a Tiffin recipe and a Peppermint Slice recipe already but they sometimes don't work as well as I'd like - no idea why! These are both from the Baking with Granny website. Both were very easy and very delicious.

This is the tiffin:

And this is the peppermint slice:

I really should make them again! Nom nom nom!

fabrics bought and makes for August

When we were in Canada, we went to the fabric shop. Twice. The first time, Debbie and I went with the girls and, although they were very well-behaved, they did get a bit bored. The second time, Debbie and I went alone and had the best time. I spent quite a lot of money but, because of all the stuff we had brought to Canada, we had practically a whole suitcase available and I did my very best to fill it with fabric! LOL

When we got home, the first thing I did - after washing the clothes, of course - was to wash all the fabrics. Luckily the weather was perfect for me to be able to get it all dried outside. Naturally I had to take photos of it all on the line. I love every single piece I bought and don't regret buying any of it!!

There is a definite blue theme going on! The first photo is a bit in the shade but the colours are still amazing!

I decided I was going to make something out of the pile so decided on the Monty shirt from StyleArc which I have made before. I looked for a link to the pattern but it's no longer available, apparently! I love this shirt and the fabric is fabulous! Very happy with this one!

I then made another one. This fabric was a bit odd in that the stripes were horizontal across the fabric on the bolt. No problem for this shirt, though, as I just turned the pieces around to make the lower part have vertical stripes. I love this one too! (What is with the funny face??)

I'm thinking I might leave the rest of the fabric for now - no point in making more summer clothes when autumn is fast approaching!

When buying all that dressmaking fabric, I had also bought a couple of Christmas panels from the sale table. I decided I would make those - one for Jo and one for us. (I did ask Debbie in the shop if she wanted one too but she said she didn't.)

I made both quilts the same - cutting the panels apart, adding sashing and cornerstones and sewing them back together. These are the results - they're the same quilt but the panels are in different (random) places. Jo's has already gone to her house and ours is on the spare bed waiting for December so it can come out to be enjoyed!

Christmas is coming! 🎅🏻 🎄

the rest of December

I know it's not quite over yet but I thought I'd post the other things I've made this month - and last - so that I can start the New Year with a clean slate. There's actually not that much to show but, like every other person, I've been a bit busy with Christmas prep! LOL

First of all, I made Jo's diary cover. I make one each year for her and she seems to appreciate them so I suspect I'll keep doing that! For this year's one - actually, it's next year's! - I used calico for the outer fabric, the pockets and the lining. I used my embroidery machine to embroider a J on the outside and the year - here's where I got that.

This is the diary cover flat:

The inside showing the pocket flaps:

The front when the cover is closed:

The back when the cover is closed:

As you can see, I used a piece of elastic to close it this year - MUCH easier than faffing about with buttons or magnetic catches etc etc. The elastic also holds the pages at the one you're working on. I will definitely use this method of closing the covers in the future!

Next I made a Christmas stocking for a wee baby boy. I'd made him a quilt earlier this year which is being well-used so I thought a Christmas stocking would be a nice thing to make. I made it double sided so he can hang it whichever way he wants! I bet it'll be filled with lots of stocking fillers!

I put his name on one side:

And this is the other side:

I then made myself another Archer shirt. I LOVE this pattern so much. According to my notes on the pattern envelope, this is the 11th one I've made! And I have one more cut out and another ready to be cut out. Goodness me! I've definitely had my money's worth out of it!

So that's December done. No doubt I'll be back next year showing off all the things I've been making. In the meantime ...

things I made in November

I started the month with some quilt blocks. I can't remember where I saw these blocks as they've been in my "inspirations" folder on my computer for a very long time. The name I have for what will be the completed quilt is "squares and chains" but that didn't lead me anywhere when I tried to find out a source. Oh well, here are the blocks:

I haven't joined these together yet - I suspect that will be a January make.

I then made Douglas some pjs. He needed some new ones so I used up some of the tartan from my stash to make these for him.

They're already in the rotation and, more importantly, the ones that needed replaced have been taken out of said rotation!

Then I went on a dolls' clothes making binge! First of all a cardigan:

I tried it on Grace. She loves it!

I made another one exactly the same. I haven't shown it because, honestly, it is exactly the same!!

Next I made a couple of dresses out of old shirts of mine. The shirts had seen better days but still had enough decent fabric to make dolls' clothes so that's what I did. The fronts:

The backs:

Yet again, Grace loved them!

Then I wanted to make an easier dress - sewing dolls' clothes can be very finicky! I couldn't find a pattern in my stash that I wanted to use so I made one up myself. I am so very proud of these!

Grace tried them on. They don't quite sit right at her neck because I left her top on and it had a rose in the front which made the dress stick out a bit. Still, Grace loved them!

Next, Debbie asked me if I had a pattern for trousers for dolls. I didn't but I did have a shorts pattern so I lengthened that to what I thought would fit Grace then tried it out. It worked beautifully! (You can see the rose I talked about in this photo!)

Of course, I had to make 2 pairs of those!

Next I made Christmas ornaments for the girls. This has become a bit of a tradition now and that's fine by me! These are the bejewelled heart ornaments from Embroidery Library.

I always put their names on the back so they know which is which!

I watched a youtube video of how to make Christmas tree shaped napkins and wanted to have a go. I'd tried a couple of years ago using a different tutorial and they were not good but I thought these ones might work and they did.

I had to make another 2 so Douglas, Joanna and I could all have one on Christmas Day.

There is another thing I made in November but that's a Christmas gift so will have to wait to be shown later.

Normally, all of these dolls' clothes and the ornaments would have winged their way over the pond to Emily and Isla but Canada Post, in all its wisdom (!!!) decided to go on strike. So our girls won't have all the little bits and pieces I've picked up through the year for their Christmas. It's so disappointing. I sent Debbie money so she could get things from us but it's not the same. Thanks Canada Post!! How selfish could you be?

Oh, and I *think* I might have solved the problem I was having with the comments on here. Blogger, for some reason, wasn't sending me notification of comments so, unless I came on here and looked, I never knew if anyone had commented. Apologies again to anyone who wondered why I was ignoring them! Anyway, fingers crossed that's sorted now. I suppose I'll find out!

I hope to get back with my December makes before the end of the year. I doubt that'll be before Christmas so let me wish anyone who's reading a very merry Christmas. I hope Santa is good to you!