Thursday, December 22, 2011

Some small Christmas finishes

It being Christmas week, my parents came to stay overnight last night, which meant no sewing for me! Well, no sewing on the machine. I did, however, manage to stitch away on some small projects I've been meaning to finish for ages while chatting to my mum and watching reruns of Pride and Prejudice (the classic BBC version, I enjoyed it SO much!) and got all the handstitching done. An hour this morning and I had the rest sorted. And here they are!

22 Dec pouch for Catherine


First up, I made a lovely zippy pouch using Kat's tutorial for my childminder for Christmas. I needed a small extra to go along with her main gift, and after picking up a nice lip gloss during the week, I thought maybe a little make up bag would be nice to go with it. I loved this tutorial and its a very good size for a makeup bag. Instead of using interfacing on the outer layer, I used thin cotton batting and quilted in the linen/cotton fabric in straight lines. Then I added some handquilting on either side of the patchwork panel in the front. I really like how it looks and hope she likes it too.

22 Dec pouch lining


I also added some handquilted stars to my Christmas stockings block which I did for the quiltalong some time back and I quilted and bound it. I'm not sure whether to hang this little mini on the wall or use as a table centre, I suppose I could do either. I did not do a good job on machine-finishing my binding, I used the wrong colour thread and it is not remotely straight. If I have the energy I may unpick and just handsew it again in front of the tv tonight, but I think that's highly unlikely and I'm not sure my kids will notice the stitch quality ;-)

22 Dec stockings mini


Lastly, I FINALLY finished this Happy Garden embroidery piece which I've been working on for months now, a tiny bit at a time. It's actually not slow work at all, I just keep putting it down and not picking up again for 6-8 weeks. But I'm thrilled now its done - isn't it pretty? The pattern is available here if you're interested.

22 Dec embroidery closeup


I found this frame in Ikea about 3 months ago and bought it specifically for this and I'm really happy with how it works with the embroidery, its got a nice natural feel. Now I need to decide where to hang it on the wall :-)

22 Dec embroidery framed


Hope you're having a lovely time getting ready for the big day. I think I'm going to sign off now for Christmas. My tonsillitis is back today with a vengence only 2 days after finishing my antibiotic course from last week :-( So I want to rest and try and get better. Hopefully this lot of antib's will do the trick!

I will be back next week with another quilt finish, my last of 2011 and I'll be checking my mails and working on stuff behind the scenes, but no more blog posts from me till after the big day and most likely I will not be doing any much blog reading either. Aside from the getting better business, I really want to focus on the kids and preparations between now and Sunday.

So I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season and that Santa brings everything you have wished for!

Sarah xx

22 comments:

Heidi Grohs said...

I couldn't think past your comment about P&P. A favorite version of mine!!

But I love everything else too!!!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Happy Christmas to you and yours twinnie - get better very soon and enjoy it! xxx

PS Love the embroidery x

Judith, Belfast said...

Lovely makes Sarah, esp. love the embroidery. Get well soon and enjoy the Christmas break! Jxo

Teje Karjalainen said...

Hi Sarah! Your pouch is beautiful and I love that small Christmas quilt! I'm enjoy seeing turquoise and light blue for the winter and Christmas sewing and not only red and green! I think that binding is good and you can create something new rather than re-do this!
Have a lovely relaxing time with your children and family! Merry Christmas! x Teje

Nicky said...

With you on P&P! Best ever!

Love you pouch and your other stitching. Get better and enjoy the season!

pippablue said...

Lovely makes! You are so productive :) Have a great Christmas and enjoy the kids and festivities. Pippablue is moving in the new year so it will be a busy time for us, I'll keep you posted with our new plans...

Gill said...

I love all your finishes! especially the pouch!
Happy Christmas!!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Love the pouch and embroidery - I watched P&P (same version!) earlier this week, it gets better each time I watch it! Take care and get better soon!

cheeky monkey said...

It's a lovely bag and the stitching looks great to!

Happy Christmas and enjoy the day with your kids and family :)

Catherine said...

love that pouch! Sorry you are not feeling well again - wrap up warm over Christmas and have a good one

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Get well soon and hope you have a lovely Christmas xo

Anonymous said...

THE MAKE-UP PURSE IS SO PRETTY,AS ARE YOUR OTHER CHRISTMAS THINGS! THANKS FOR SHARING!
MERRY CHRISTMAS ♥

Dianne Neale said...

Hope you feel OK before Sunday. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

That pouch is so adorable! Hope you feel better quickly and have a merry christmas!

Cindy said...

The pouch is adorable and I am totally sure she'll love it. I really like the embroidery, so I'll have to have a peek at that pattern. Thanks for the link! Merry Christmas, my dear. I can't wait for a good catch up after the holiday. xx

Canadian Abroad said...

I love all the makes, and really hope you shake this germ quickly so you can properly enjoy yourself. Have a wonderful Christmas with your family!

Susan said...

All such pretty things! That has to be THE perfect pouch! It's gone to the head of my 'to-do' list! Rest up and get over that bug! Merry Christmas!

Katy Cameron said...

Woohoo, love all your makes, go you! Boo to the tonsillitis though, hope you feel better very soon!

my4lilgirls said...

Have a gteat christmas Sarah, love all your new makes, beautiful as always :D
Will be in cork next week to visit my husbands family, great city, can't wait
Enjoy every moment of the holidays
Lol Karen x

Helen said...

Happy Christmas Fairy Face!

You have accomplished so much this year. Your talent and creativity gets bigger and better all the time and I know that 2012 will see your empire go from strength to strength!

In the meantime, enjoy some well deserved downtime relaxing with hubby & the kids (& Mr Darcy!) and feel better pet!

Love
Helen

Mary Menzer said...

That Happy Garden embroidery looks great in the frame. Perfect.

Have a fun Holiday weekend with your kiddos.

Anonymous said...

Lovely makes Sarah! I'm really glad you liked the pouch tutorial :)