I did it

Just what I didn´t want to do and had voiced to one and all that I wasn´t going to do, and certainly wouldn´t do until at least next year.  It happened yesterday afternoon when I was walking home at a moderate pace due to the cold weather with absolutely no intention of stopping or looking in the window or even glancing in the direction of our local patchwork shop.  However, as I got nearer, my legs took on a will completely of their own, slackening their velocity until on reaching the shop I was practically dawdling and as chance would have it, at that very precise moment someone chose to emerge from the shop, leaving the door ajar and I was inescapably suctioned inside.

Considering that I spent nearly an hour contemplating and scrutinizing all the new goodies, I left with only four itzy bitzy pieces of fabric enough to make a couple of Christmas place mats.  However I must finish my table runner first.

Here is another heart I made this year, very different from the ones of my last post.

This embroidery is a  pattern by Atalie called  `Gaelle´. .

I backed the heart with red velvet and added a pearl to the cording. 

A month blogging

I started this blog almost a month ago and I would just like to thank the visitors I´ve had passing by and for the kind comments made.  I hope you will visit again soon. 

  

                                                             



Have a heart

Seems like it´s been raining forever.  Amazing how grey rainy days affect your mood.  As soon as you wake up, draw back the curtains and observe that it still appears to be midnight outside, with the streets glistening from the falling rain in the reflection of the street lights, you immediately forget that joie de vivre spring you had in your step during the summer months and start shuffling around the house in your slippers.
  At least these dismal days have helped me advance with my Christmas sewing and I´ve made good progress with my table runner and have finished these mix and match heart ornaments.

I added some beads and sequins and ribbon and cording.

I´m pleased with them and might make more so I can keep some and give others away.

Thank you for visiting, until next time.

 

                                                                 



Rain, rain go away

After five or six days of rain, rain and more rain, the sun timidly made a brief appearance yesterday afternoon and I ventured to visit one of my best buddies, Marie.   I told her about my new adventure in blogland and she made a quick perusal of my blog.

Marie keeps me sane and makes me laugh.  I laughed all the way home one day when, while at her house I asked her for some pins.  She´s not a sewing enthusiast and after rummaging through drawers, opening tins, and peering into boxes and containers, she produced a total of four pins, one blunt, two rusty and one bent.  I´m going to buy her some pins and make her a pin keep one day.

Here are some photos of a tissue holder house that I made Marie on her request a couple of years ago.  The petition wasn´t so easy because the item was for her brown and beige bathroom and she only wanted those colours.

I added a lot of silver beads and sequins because I liked the contrast with the browns. Here are a few close ups.

  

  Decorated window boxes 

Apart from her image peering from behind the curtains of one window, I think she liked the end result.

I´m making a table runner and some ornaments so I found these Christmas fabrics and cut out a few  hearts for the ornaments.

Then I embroidered a few tiny designs and the next step will be to mix and match.

Which I hope to show in my next post.

  Thank you for visiting.

Sheryl   

                                                                                                  



A terrible weekend

...weather wise that is.  Our mild dry Autumn has suddenly evaporated and been replaced by low temperatures, high winds, rain, hail, storms and the promise of snow to come - all fury let loose.  We have innocently been taken by surprise, misled to the proximity of Christmas by such a placid November. Those young things, who only last week sported T-shirts and shorts have suddenly vanished into oblivion.

These grey afternoons have really been well put to use and I have been sorting out fabrics and patterns to make some small Christmas items.

I´m going to make a table runner with these colours and will use other fabric oddments to make some ornaments. 

I´ve been hunting around for some tiny ric rac ribbon but it doesn´t seem available here unless you want pale blue or pink, not very Christmassy at all.  However I did find these cuties which insisted on coming home with me.

Here are a few more photos of the Christmas tree skirt which I made for my grandchildren.

This perhaps is my favourite  little shop as I enjoyed sewing the various jars of sweets.  I also like the dog with his Xmas hat.

  

This is the gift shop.

  

 This is the sushi house with a hungry cat outside.



The church.

This photo shows the backing fabric with a small label, I wonder if you can spot it?.  I hope they like this gift, it was great fun making it and hopefully they might remember me when each Christmas comes around. 

  Until next time. 

    

       





Friends for Life

Congratulations to Pokey Bolton on having raised a staggering $40,666.18 with her Pet Postcards for the Friends for Life project at the Houston Quilt Festival this autumn.  Pokey had appealed to all and  everyone with a needle in hand, to make a Pet Postcard to raise money for an animal shelter in Houston.  I only discovered this project at the very last moment and quickly stitched up this sole offering.

However I plan to sew up a few postcards now and then during the year and encourage any other animal lover to do the same, so we will have a nice number to send in to Pokey for the next festival.  All information is found at Pokey´s ponderings (including how to make a postcard).

Happy stitching until next week.

        



The Top Secret Christmas Thingy arrived

So out of the window go all my good intentions of repairing and covering my address book because this Christmas thingy takes priority. However before placing The Queen of Hearts back in `that´ drawer, I´ve been looking through my stash to find a prime candidate for the backing fabric, and have come across these compatible colours.

From Spain to Denmark.

Well I can tell anyone who may be interested, that a parcel sent from Spain to Denmark takes exactly 6 days (including a weekend) to arrive.  Here is a photo of the Christmas tree skirt which I made as a surprise for my grandchildren.

  

This tree skirt was inspired by a beautiful one made by Mrs Twin which I saw on her blog about  four years ago, and I saved the photo, vowing to make one myself some day.  Mine isn´t exactly the same as I´ve added my own bits and bobs, but it´s very similar.  Here are close ups of some of the houses.



My granddaughter´s cake shop.

A little sleigh and Xmas tree

  

This is the tea shop.  Of course to make something like this tree skirt takes a bit of time and one has the whole year really to plan, design and sew at one´s leisure and with calm and patience, taking things with ease unless of course you forget all about Christmas until nearly the end of October, when you unexpectedly tumble upon the saved photo.  I´ve never made anything in such a rush and hurry.  I would sew until late at night with the fabric extended over my entire bed, precariously risking dispersing sequins far and wide with the move of a limb. 

Mrs Twin had commented on the amount of sequins used, and I´m convinced that a great many fugitives are still to be discovered hiding in nooks and crannies, although a considerable number of these runaways were irresistibly attracted to my husband´s bare feet like pins to a magnet.  

More photos to come in my next post.  Thank you for passing by.