Simply Sunday

Cookie Christmas Cards

Have you spied this yet? I thought it'd be perfect for making this years Christmas cards.

I made the above card with a cute little family in mind. Even though the dad is not a well-dressed pirate, I thought they'd like it :)

Basically, I just cut and pasted the cookie people that I wanted to use, added the xmas tree, and shrunk down the boy in a box so he looks more like a 2 year old boy in a box!
For the gift cards above, I shrunk the original image and cropped it in half. I arranged four on the page so I could print them out onto card stock and cut them into 4 small cards. I bought the card stock from a little scrapbooking place in Ormond (Melb) that's closing down, so got it for 5o% off. Perfect!

Quilted Christmas Wall Hanging

Inspired by the simplicity of this quilted wall hanging I saw over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio the other day, I decided to make myself a Christmas version.I searched for a Santa quilt block with no success, but knew I'd seen gnome quilt blocks around the traps. I ended up modifying this gnomeling quilt block to make the Santa. I also googled Christmas tree block, the star was a simple nine patch star. I've quilted it in straight lines that are roughly 1/2 an inch apart, and it's bound in red and white candy stripes. Now it's due for a wash so I can see how crinkly it turns out! After the wash, I'll sew on a little bell to the top of Santa's hat, and maybe a little gold belt buckle.

Another sneak peak

This little guy is just waiting for the sun to come up so he can be photographed properly!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I'm 35 today!

Card made by my mum - check out that mini quilt!

Some of my new goodies!

Someone's onto the fact that I like to bake and sew...

FMF Giveaway

Really, if you have any regard for the fact that it's my birthday on Sunday, you won't enter this giveaway in the hope that you'll increase my chances of winning a lovely birthday present!

But, if you're not quite as self-centred as me, enter away! Just don't forget to add your name to the petition so that people like little old me can get their hands on some of this loverly fabric.

Grandma Twinkles

I'm a sucker for a new (easy) tutorial!

November Blocks

It's Meg's month in the Beehive, and she requested mosaic-y/beach-inspired improvised blocks using a beautiful range of fabrics.

The above block measures 10.5 inches square, the one below is 10.5 by 5.5 inches.
Over at Bee Addicted 3 it's Katrina's month. She sent these 2 solids, requesting wonky quarter log cabins.
My interpretation of wonky was the varied widths of each layer (as opposed to sharper angles). Having seen some of the other blocks in the group, my second block (incomplete, so not yet photographed) is ever-so-slightly more angular, but very similar to the above. This block measures 15.5 inches square.

December is my month to send out fabric for the Beehive, so I've been busily practicing blocks to decide (!!! - so late to still be unsure!!) what I want the girls to make. I need to have the international parcels sent off by the end of the week, so tomorrow (my child-free day) will be a busy one. And a hot one, I hear, so I'm hoping to squeeze in a swim at the local outdoor pool in the morning. I'm going to steal my daughters goggles and attempt a few laps - but I may end up just lounging on the steps instead....

Vintage Spring Quilt

Like Sheridan, I too have been cutting up vintage sheet fat quarters. A friend has requested a pastel coloured quilt for her niece. I searched my stash in vain - there was very little to be found. Fortunately I have a good stack of vintage sheet fat quarters after this swap.

I'm not sure that I've ever made a nine patch before - I've made a couple of disappearing nine patches, though. The quilt top currently measures 45 inches square, so it'll make a nice little lap sized quilt for a little girl who loves to steal her big sister's quilt.

Finally!

I made myself a new bag! I have searched and searched the internets for a suitable bag pattern, to no avail. Alas, I had to deconstruct my old bag to use it as a template for the new.

The old bag was one that I bought on Etsy from this seller - she makes lovely practical bags (highly recommended if you're in the market for a newbie).
My little Janome struggled over all the layers of fabric (I broke 3 needles on it!). My workmanship is a little shoddy, but hopefully it still lasts as long as my previous bag, which was of a much higher quality!

The front pocket features some fabric cut from an Aunty Cookie panel.

Sneak Peak

The flock...

...is finally coming along. It's one of those projects that I know I have to finish, so of course it sits on the back of the couch glaring at me, night and day.

I've just laid the strips out to get an idea of the finished size (my little helper there thinks I'm making a snake quilt - the triangle edges on the sides are apparently teeth). The strips are already joined in pairs, I now need to join those pairs up to finish the quilt top!

Skirts Ahoy

Melbourne has put on some summer weather this week, so I thought it was time to get into sweat shop mode.

A super lovely person bought me this gorgeous Clothkits skirt a while back. The fabric panel sat on a shelf, washed and ironed, for far too long. I finally cut it on Sunday night, and sewed it up today.

I'm delighted with it!

Before sewing it up, I traced a pattern from the pieces. I figured if I liked the fit, it would be a simple A-line pattern to have on hand. Needless to say, I liked the fit, and made myself another! This time I made one from an upholstery weight fabric - perfect for the cooler months :) I can barely even try it on in this heat!

Oh well, at least I have the perfect skirt for next winter!

Tea Wallet

A quick gift whipped up for a friends birthday today. I've seen these around the internets here and there, but just went with my own measurements as I couldn't be shagged hunting down a tutorial.

The colour is not a true representation - it's actually a limey green, but the time of day that I took the pics coupled with the dark green cutting mat has distorted it.
In case you haven't yet figured it out, it's a tea wallet. My friend drinks herbal/camomile/peppermint - types of tea (which I never seemed to have in the house), so I thought stashing this in her bag would be handy.

The outer fabric is Aunty Cookie's white on lime papercuts, the pocket fabric is from the ginger blossom range, and the binding is green and white woodgrain.

A pity the colour didn't come through in the pics - I really love the green!