Christmas Clutch & Merry Christmas

This is a clutch i made for a friend for Christmas. The pattern is from the Meet Me at Mike's book. They are very simple. I used some leftover Anna Maria Horner fabric and some soft denim. I was on a bit of a roll and made a few. Might have to keep one for myself.

This will be my last post for 2009. The year that I discovered the blog world and became hooked. I still have about 3 things to make for Christmas gifts so will be very busy over the next week. I'm really looking forward to a nice relaxing time in Wagga with my family and friends, chilling out by the pool, drinking copious amounts of champagne and maybe a few sleep ins as well.....
Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all have a safe and happy break.......thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments, they really make my day....
xx

What's in this box?

OMG is exactly what I said when I opened this big box of surprises. This is my Polka Dot Christmas Swap from Maxine.

Inside was lots of spotty stuff including pencils, notebook, patty pans, tissue pack, napkins, gorgeous paper chain making kit which I just love and can't wait to make with the kids.....but wait there's more....lots more!

This funky Christmas wreath made with tied fabrics pieces in my fave Chrissy colours. This was perfect because slack old me didn't even have anything on our front door.

How cute are these hand made decorations for the tree, those little gnomes or men are just too sweet! I love them.

Some dotty fabric, stickers and treats for the kids....

And a special gift just for me to open on the 25th..

And last but certainly not least, this gorgeous bunting in red and aqua.

I am one very lucky chickie, thank you Maxine, you certainly have spoilt me and I'm so, so pleased you did.

SUNDAY STASH # 16

So I went into Tessuti for some simple supplies and out I come with this 2 metre Florence Broadhurst remnant for $25. It is a stretch cotton, the print is quite large, it's continuous and runs down. I'm thinking a maxi dress or an oversize T shirt is in order. Gotta be happy with that!

What's in the box?

How lovely are these clay decorations my friend Vicki made me? She presented me with this gorgeous box full of hand made Christmas tags and decorations.

A special one for each of my children....

some tiny hugs and kisses to tie onto pressies or sew onto clothing or wire onto wine glasses. (she tells me they are quite dishwasher proof)

and some tags for pressies or the tree.....one in every reindeer!

How lucky am I?.......thanks Vick, a Christmas cake is coming your way soon, I promise!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I haven't been sewing much lately, it's one of those weeks where I start something and things get in the way or I run out of black thread and interfacing. Our nearest spotlight is nearly half an hour away and I just can't contemplate taking a pram and two kids in there with all of the crazy's out shopping at Christmas. I'm just going to have to forget about it this week and get over it.


What I did manage to send off last week is this little polka dot swap for Maxine in the UK. She received it yesterday so I can safely blog it. She said she loved it and that we have similar taste so I can't wait to receive mine.........thanks Stacey for hosting the Xmas swap.



For my swap partner I made some rounded spotty Christmas bunting, some button hair ties, covered buttons in my fave fabric, some spotty fats from spotlight, a handmade Prints Charming linen decoration for the tree and an eco friendly shopping bag secretly disguised as a strawberry (ahhh the things people think of??)




And here is one of Harvey's very best creations, it is our whole family standing under the Christmas tree that we just set up. He is spending lots of time drawing at the moment which I just love, he has also done a couple of red fat santas on paper which I hope to do something special with. Don't you just love Rosa down the bottom?

It was Charlie's turn this year to put the star on the tree (or so he tells me).

And Charlie's Christmas concert at school where he proudly donned a hand made tree covering the perfectly cut wide legged green pants I made him and his green k-mart t shirt......why do we stress so much about these outfits???? most of the other kids wore their green school pants and here is me up til midnight the night before stressing about the perfect coloured green to match his beautifully painted tree......

This and That

This is a dress I started in class and finished last week. The fabric is Amy Butler and Heather Bailey. The sleeves are a bit stiff but have softened in the wash. SO simple and quick to make. Rosa insists on wearing this and everything else with her black patent winter shoes which is so not attractive but you get that!

And that is a dolly quilt for a Christmas present. I have made a few pressies so far but obviously cannot show yet for fear of spoiling a suprise.

SUNDAY STASH # 15

I'm loving this weeks SS. I was in Vinnies yesterday buying an orange cross stitch table cloth that I had seen earlier in the week when this little beauty was sitting right at the counter still in it's plastic. It's vintage and brand new. It still had the $6.59 price sticker on it from Venture...does anyone remember that store?? I do. It is a light flannelette so I probably wont put it into a quilt but I'm thinking of some large cushions for the boys beds. What's even better is that it is made in Australia, I'm pretty sure most commercial sheeting and bedding is made in China these days.

grandmother's flower garden giveaway

This giveaway is just gorgeous, check out retro mummy. It's a beautiful blog with an online store. Very generous indeed!........my fingers are crossed.

Meg's blocks for The Beehive

This month's blocks are for Meg in the US. She wanted a mosaic beachy feel with squares and rectangles and a little wonk.........well she certainly got wonk with these. I had lots of fun creating these blocks, the fabrics are really calming. This was my first attempt, it's a 10.5" square block.

This one is a tiny 5.5" square


And 10.5 x 5.5" it actually goes horizontal but I couldn't work out how to rotate my pic.

I love the idea that just a little bit of my craftiness will be sewn into a quilt along with lots of others and used all the way over in the US........Can't wait to see it finished.

SUNDAY STASH # 15

This weeks stash piece is one of Sandi Hendersons Farmers Market range.

A first for me

For ages I have been wanting to make clothes for the kids, you get so much satisfaction out of seeing something you have made on a little body. I have made clothes in the past, I'm talking back in my high school days in textiles and design, needless to say I have MUCH to learn!

I have started with a simple dress for Rosa with a pattern I got from Prints Charming. This dress is a two of a kind as my friend Alison from my sewing class had oodles of fabric and kindly gave me some and made one too. It's a gorgeous Michael Miller fabric and best of all I got the thumbs up from Rosebud. Always a good sign when they want to put it on again the following day.

Hand Stitching

A little hand stitching has been keeping me busy at the moment. I have a large quilt top finished, one cut and ready to be sewn after waiting patiently for a couple of particular fabrics.
Hand sewing on the lounge at night is sometimes all I can find the time to do......at least that's something!!
Here are a couple of hexagons for my soon to be God Daughter Lucia. I find these quite therapeutic, fiddly but fairly quick and instant results. The bit I hate the most is cutting that god awful double sided iron on stuff. Not sticking the iron to the iron board is a real challenge.




And here, a couple of embroidered heart motifs from Prints Charming. Very lolly like don't you think?

SUNDAY STASH # 14

My stash this week is a few Amy Butler fabrics. The pinks will be a couple of summer dresses for Rosa and perhaps some pj pants for me in the greens.

Yee Haw...

It's almost done. The top is complete, now off to the quilters for some circle work. I wanted to keep it as a surprise for Lea but I was lucky enough to see her today for a couple of hours while she was in Sydney. I am thrilled that she loves it and hope that Ollie loves it just as much.

SUNDAY STASH # 13

This is one of my all time favourite fabrics. I put this one is Rosa's first quilt, I love it so much I went back and bought 2 metres of it. It's called Chantilly by Free Spirit.

Happy Birthday Honey Bunch!

Another special day was had today in the Jackson house. Our number two baby turned a BIG 4. Happy Birthday Harvey Boy! You have such a huge personality and free spirit. There is never a dull moment when you are around. You drive us crazy mad most days but we just love you to bits and can't imagine life without you. You are one very special and hugely loved little man.

Happy number 4, we love you to bits!

5.30am you bolted into our room with excitement. You woke your brother and sister (which we were NOT happy about) just so you could open your presents..... ...the look on your face as you were opening your presents was priceless....so exciting!

On the phone to Aunty Ade after a huge day of play, cake, lollies, play and more play.

Sharing your shark cake with your friends....

SUNDAY STASH # 12

This is some cute Japanese fabric I bought a long time ago. Not sure what to do with it, just sitting there looking pretty.

And certainly not a stash piece but a gorgeous butterfly the kids and I saw out the front. They kept chasing it away but it it kept coming back to the same spot. He made it very easy for me to get a good shot. Reminds me of an art deco lamp.

Colouring in-style

Well I wouldn't exactly call it stylish but it is fun and colourful. I saw one of these cute little creations in the latest Vogue Living mag. It's a pencil roll. I have changed the style a little by adding quilt wadding to make it stiff and sewing seams all the way down the fabric.

As you can see Rosa loved it and she knew exactly where her colours needed to go.

SUNDAY STASH #11

Here is a couple of vintage pieces I bought off ebay about a year ago. They appear to be linen, the large one is actually a paisley print, very old and a little stained but very girly. Once again sorry for the late entry, Paul and I were lucky enough to get a week end away with out children. We were in Brisbane for a wedding and had the nicest time......thanks mum!

Beehive Blocks for Belinda

These are the October installment of our Beehive group for Belinda. This was a really large block 18.5". I really enjoyed working on such a large scale and the fabrics are really sweet. This will go into a single bed quilt for Belinda's little boy.

This is a 9.5" log cabin to go into the backing of the quilt.

And a bit of a practise run which I will make a cushion for Rosa to go with her Bab's quilt.