.: Handmade Christmas - XO and #spellitwithfabric once more :.

Oh Christmas is over?  I know.  We've been away for a week at the beach, in a unit with no wifi, in a little town with very unflash internet coverage.  I took the laptop with me and was full of excellent blogging intention, but I barely kept up with instagram on my phone, and knew the dodgy internet connection would just drive me a bit batty with the computer. 

So, here we are on the 27th with yet more handmade Christmas goodies to share with you - all cushions, lots of pics, let's go. 

I posted some XO cushions recently and had been surprised I hadn't blogged about them - I'd gone searching the blog for them so I could remind myself of their size - and that was all because I was about to make two new sets of XO cushions.  This first set - all sewn from Cotton + Steel - follows the tutorial on Canoe Ridge Creations blog, with added borders to make the cushions finish at 18 inches.

These cushions have not yet been gifted - they're my Random Santa (as opposed to Secret Santa, since the results of the random name-draw are not a secret ...) pressie for my sister-in-law.  They're arriving at the beach from Sydney today - and we left the beach to come home this morning - so we'll arrange to meet up at some stage for a catch-up and pressie handover. 

The backs are made from two different Echino prints.

And this next set - already gifted to lovely friends + neighbours - follows the same XO tutorial, but with bigger pieces, so the XO are bigger, but the cushions still finish at 18 inches.  I was very intentional with my fabric selection for these cushions - I made them to match a couple of cushions I'd made for our friends a few years ago.  The Prints Charming Starbursts and black Echino cars are the same, but this time for a touch of red I've gone with Cotton + Steel lions (one of my favourite C+S prints, along with the navy arrows up above), and added the sweet Echino rabbit print on the back. 

And now the third - and last - set of cushions, for my nephews.  Mr C is four and loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Apparently he most loves the red one (interesting, since I've recently made a Mr Red Turtle cushion ... what's with the red turtle getting all the love?).  Mr C also loves Batman.  I had the Turtle fabric already sorted, but had to ask my lovely friend Tracy for some Batman scraps. 

The backgrounds for each cushion are Lizzy House 'Constellation' prints, and I framed each letter in solids - one red and one orange. 

My nephew Mr A is only six months old, so really, he's getting a cushion to match in with his big brother.  As the girls gave me the ok to not have to focus on the Red Turtle, I made sure to include the other three as equally as I could, so welcome to the blog blue, purple and orange turtles, one day I might even learn your names.

And since Mr A is only six months old ... I figured he wouldn't mind a little bit of Wonder Woman fabric in his cushion ... I couldn't quite stretch the Batman scraps far enough ... I'm really hoping Mr C has a bit of love in his heart for Wonder Woman, given that she's awesome and has an invisible plane and golden lasso. 

I went with red Echino rabbits for the back, plus a bit of Spolight big-spot print in orange.  We haven't gifted these cushions yet either - since Mr's C and A are the sons of my brother and sister-in-law who arrived at the beach today (the day we left) as mentioned above.   Cross your fingers for a bit of cushion-love. 

I hope your Christmas was relaxed, merry and bright and that you shared the time with people who make you happy.  'til next time xoxo cat

.: Christmas swapping via hashtag :.

Lovely Ros coordinated the Sweet Pouch Swap (#sweetpouchswap) once again this year, and this time with a Christmas theme.  This was a direct swap, with each partner swapping with the other.  I was partnered with Nic, who said that she loved (amongst others) Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner and text prints.  Here's what I came up with. 

I followed Anna Noodlehead's Open Wide Pouch tutorial for the zipper (but not for any pouch measurements), which results in a very handy open-wide pouch - surprise! 

And here are the goodies I popped in, for the "sweet" part of the Sweet Pouch Swap.

I've received a very gorgeous pouch + goodies package from Nic, which I will share once I have also received my swap package from the #carecirclechristmasswap - oh, what an awesome segue!

Our Care Circle of doGoodStitches decided to do a little Christmas swap this year.   This time it was anonymous, meaning the person you make for doesn't know you are making for them, and a different person is making for you.   My partner-to-make-for was Merran, and after a little stalking, I went with Ayumi's envelope pattern from her Patchwork Please! book - I made a Christmas envelope and a Liberty envelope, and sewed them into a basic zip pouch.  

My love for Monica's Holiday Happy gnomas is showing no sign of ending.  How sweet does he look with Monica's Winterkist fabric for the envelope!

And I thought Merran would really like this Liberty combo for the other side, I so love that animal print, paired with the gorgeous floral. 

And I popped in a few extra goodies - Aurifil thread and chocolate treats.

I made the lining a Christmas/non-Christmas combo too - with Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas and Anna Maria Horner hearts. 

Both my swap packages have safely arrived now, with Nic and Merran.  I'll be back again soon to share what I've received in the swaps.   Enjoy your weekend - we've got out Brisbane MQG Christmas lunch tomorrow - there will be fat quarter swapping and lucky door prizes, as well as a lovely lunch and lots of chat, wahoo!  xoxo cat

.: Handmade Christmas - #spellitwithfabric :.

In the second of my Handmade Christmas posts for the year, all I can say is - thank goodness for Moda's little 'Spell it with Fabric!' pattern book.  All the letters are very easy to follow, and quick to sew up.

First up is an 'E' cushion for my younger daughter's little Prep buddy at school.  I hope you are noticing, even if you have to squint, the fussy-cut red Ninja Turtles, since she told me that he (Mr Red Turtle) is her buddy's favourite.

Next are three enormous coasters/small table mats/mini quilts for teachers of my older daughter  - her French teacher, year adviser, and music/drama/homeroom teacher.  

Sewing up these three enormous/small/mini's coincided with the arrival of my Priory Square half-yard bundle from Pink Castle, so I have used it in each one.  I love all the prints I have used, and will most likely be looking to buy more.  

Here are the backs - two with Priory Square, and then the last with Kate Spain - though all three with Priory Square binding.  I do get a little immediately obsessed when fabric packages arrive in the mail.

And now last up, a set of coasters for the girls' violin teacher and his wife (since I figured it would be a little mean to just make one for him ...).  I half-sized the Moda letters for the coasters, and used Bonnie & Camille's new Daysail line for the letters, and my favourite print from their Bliss line for the binding - as well as the perfection Andover 'Love Notes' music print. 

And for the backs - come on, could I really go past violin fabric?! - since it exists?!

More sewing will be kicking off tonight, and will possibly be finished to share tomorrow but certainly by the weekend.  It's the last day of school tomorrow, which is just so completely fantastic, I can't even tell you.  Hope your week has been going well and you are gearing up for a great weekend.  xoxo cat

.: Handmade Christmas - let's get this party started :.

Ever since I started sewing, I've had Christmases where EVERY gift I give has to be handmade, and then others where for whatever reason - time, mood, life, a too-hot summer to be sewing - I don't have the same handmade-gift-giving-obsession.

This year is a handmade year (despite it being a very humid, hot summer so far ...).  Not EVERY gift will be handmade but a lot of them will be - bags, coasters, mini-quilts, cushions, zip-pouches.  So let's start with this one - a tote bag for my younger daughter's very fabulous + awesome teacher. 

I wanted to use one of our cat&vee panels for the back, so I cut a piece of batting a little larger than the panel, and made a quilt-as-you-go piece for the front.  I started with the Melody Miller typewriter and went from there, slowly choosing and adding favourites.

I sewed a strip to go across the top, and then added it as a whole piece.  This teacher is an absolute favourite, she has now taught both my girls and we're very blessed to have been in her class. 

For the lining and pocket, I used fabrics to make her think of her grand-daughter, Lily! - are you with me on the lily-pads line-of-thought?

For the handles, I pieced fabrics that would go well with the bag's front and back.  I'd run out of interface, so lined them with strips of calico, which seems to have worked just fine.

And for the back of the tote - our 'Stand Out from the Crowd' panel, which is just perfect for this gorgeous lady.

I'll be back to share a few more pressies over the next few days.  Are you having a handmade Christmas, or are you off to find a few goodies at the shops instead?  A mix of both is usually my favourite thing to do.  xoxo cat

:: new year ::

Happy New Year, and may 2013 being good health, peace and happiness. 

We've had a really relaxing, quiet and happy time over Christmas and New Year.  Our family alternates between my and my husband's families each Christmas.  This year it was my family's turn, so we headed to Lennox Head to join my parents, brothers and sister, and their families, to celebrate my Mum's birthday on the 23rd, and then Christmas Day.      

{{Lennox Head, taken from the boat-channel, where the kids swam each day}}

{{super-creepy 'Welcome to Lennox Head' Santa.  why the black eyebrows and mustache?!}}

I grew up in Lismore, about half an hour from Lennox Head.  My parents built a little house at Lennox when I was about 10.  It's changed a lot in 30 years, though it's nowhere near as busy and over-crowded as nearby Byron Bay.  There are some great places to eat, shop and drink coffee.

{{make a wish - outside the bookshop on the main street}}

{{street window of Riley Burnett - surprise - also on the main street}}

We always buy new pyjamas for Christmas.  The girls were ready for Santa, thanks to Peter Alexander.

{{baby reindeer?}}

We were back in Brisbane for New Year's Eve, and had our own mini-celebration - we finally saw Skyfall (gotta love Daniel Craig), and then had dinner at the Barracks, ice-cream on the way home, and then sparklers in the backyard just to confuse Ted.

{{cheers}}

{{in love with these lamps ... need to go back during shopping-hours}}

Hope your Christmas and New Years were fun and relaxing.   We'll be back soon with some pics of the sewing that's been going on over the last few days.   xoxo cat

:: Merry Christmas! ::

I have now ticked off the last of the goodies on my pre-Christmas sewing to-do list - with four whole days to spare! 

First up for today was the project-size from Jeni's In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag pattern.  I made one each for my girls, to store balls of wool and other goodies for their most recent crafty-obsession - kumihimo braiding. 

They each chose their own fabric combos.  I really love Jeni's pattern, it's really easy to follow and comes together very quickly.  I will be making more bags in the new year - to add to the five I've now made in the last few days :-) .

And then it was onto two zip pouches, using Anna's open-wide zip pouch tutorial on her Noodlehead blog. 

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I had seen zip pouches made from 2wenty Thr3e by Cosmo Cricket, on Badskirt Amy's blog and loved the look of the line.  Amy mentioned in her blog, that QuiltJane had some layer cakes in stock, so I clicked across and bought one. 

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I figured I may as well make two pouches while I was at it - so I made the grey camera-print version as part of my Secret Santa pressie for one of my brothers ... 

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... and this gorgeous one is for me to keep!  I LOVE this print.

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Anna's tutorial was great, and I'm really amazed at how roomy the pouches are, and how big the zippered opening is.  It makes a huge difference to the usable size of the pouch - you can easily see what's inside, which is important when you're scrabbling around for pointy things like embroidery-snips.  I really want to sew some pouches in the two bigger sizes that Anna has in her tutorial.

But that will have to wait for a few days, as I am stepping away from the sewing-machine and the computer, to focus on Christmassy things and to spend some time with my family.  

So - this will be our last blog post before Christmas, and maybe the New Year.  We'll see how we go. We wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year, and a peaceful and safe holiday period.  We'll see you back here in January.

take care  xoxo cat