.: oh hey hi we're still here :.

Oh hello.  It's been a while. 

Lots has been happening - just the usual stuff, life rolling on.  We've been printing orders, sewing, studying, taking part in the World's Biggest Orchestra, celebrating birthdays, baking, reading, driving - just stuff.

We had a custom order request for Finn McTrickster in purple - he's so gorgeous that we thought we'd share.

He's so sweet isn't he.  We'll print more, once our next Essex linen order arrives from the lovely Alice from Fresh Modern Fabric. 

In the odd half hour of time I've found over the last few days, I've been cutting and ironing my little fabric packages to send to the AusModBee girls.  They look so sweet, don't they?

Everyone will receive a fat-quarter-and-a-bit of text-print on a neutral background, and about 20 inches square of coloured scraps.  I am asking everyone to sew one word block - any word.  It's kind of tricky to know how much fabric to send everyone, so I sewed up a test block - I figured a seven-letter word was a good choice as a test run. 

I am so looking forward to what everyone chooses - any word, any size, any pattern.  I use the awesome 'Word Play Quilts' by Tonya Ricucci - but I am happy for everyone to use whatever pattern they feel most comfortable with.  My plan at this stage is to put all my word blocks with my x+ blocks, to make one super-sized-quilt.  I think ... we'll see. 

And in news overnight, I signed up for round 2 of the Sweet Pouch Swap! - I loved being part of it last time, when it was coordinated by the gorgeous Ros of Sew Delicious.  For this round, it's being coordinated by the lovely Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts.  Alyce set a limit of 100 swappers - and registrations hit 100 within five hours!  My swap partner is the fabulous Kara of Me and Elna - which is so awesome - I first met Ros when she was my partner in the Secret Santa Swap that Kara coordinated.  So it feels like things are coming full circle, ready to start all over again, and I am so excited to be sewing up something for Kara.  

Hope your past couple of weeks have been great fun and not too cold.    xoxo cat

:: Secret Santa Swap ::

With 5 days til Santa arrives, I thought it was a good time to post about the Secret Santa Swap.

The gorgeous Kara from Me and Elna organised the swap a few months ago, and I came across it on Instagram and put my hand up to join in - my first-ever swap! 

We all filled out a little profile, created by Kara, to show our fabric-y and crafty likes and dislikes.   That was a fun thing to do - to really think about favourite fabric lines, designers and colours, and also about whether there was any hand-made item that I really wanted (or didn't want!) to receive.   

I was matched with Kimberly from Hitched and Stitched, in Kentucky.  From Kimberly's list - and from secret sticky-beaking on her instagram and blog - I settled on making a zippered bag, using lots of grey, teal and yellow, some Sweetwater Reunion and Moda Half Moon.  I also wanted to include a sausage dog or two and an elephant.  

Happily, Vee and I have our Pipsqueak panels on hand - ohh, so handy! - and we had recently printed some onto turquoise (teal?...) dots.    

{{Pipsqueak in the middle.  Spot the elephant and the Heather Ross sausage dog}}

{{the back - Moda Half Moon butterflies and scissors, and Reunion bunting and text}}

{{inside}}

I really enjoyed making the bag, hoping that Kimberly would notice all the little snippets of fabric that came from her wish-list.

{{hangin' by the pool before the flight to Kentucky}}

{{more pool time}}

I posted it way early, so that Kimberly would definitely receive it in time for Christmas.  Which she did.  I think it arrived even before November had finished ...  And she did love it - shared pics on instagram, which was awesome.

Once I'd sent my pressie, I kind of forgot all about the Swap for a couple of weeks (plus I knew I had finished and posted early).  So when a package arrived - literally sitting on my front doorstep - I didn't guess where it was from.  

I was SO excited when I opened it, to discover it was MY Swap pressie! - and to find this inside:

{{a cute little bag, bunting and the only pic you will see of the Lindt Santas.  they were goooooone in a flash}}

My Santa Swap partner was the lovely Ros from SewDelicious , based in Melbourne.  Ros has a gorgeous blog full of sewing and crafty tutorials and great recipes.  She really nailed it with this sweet little drawstring bag: 

{{love the pink and green together, love the whales and LOVE that it's an In Color Order lined drawstring bag!!}}

Ros also made me some really cute Christmas bunting (I do love a bit of bunting), sewn onto a way-fancy gold satin ribbon. It's so sweet and Christmassy.  I have taken so many pics of the bunting hanging up and I just can't get it to look awesome - too much white wall.  So here is the bunting nestling up to the whale-bag:

{{love}}

Lucky, eh.  I've been using the pouch a lot already, to carry crafty supplies and little bits and pieces.  It's a perfect size in fact - to carry just what you need, but not too much.  I've just started making bags from the In Color Order pattern (the Gnoma Santa sacks from my last post), but haven't made this size yet.  That will be next on my list. 

I loved taking part in the swap - loved making something for someone all the way over in Kentucky, and loved receiving a surprise package at the front door.  I loved the thought that went into my choosing fabrics and making a gift for Kimberly, and that the same thought was going on with Ros to make something for me.  

This online sewing-and-crafting community is such a blessing.  We have met so many lovely people, who share the same fabric-obsession and love of creating things, whether for a useful purpose or just because it makes someone happy or looks cute and makes someone smile.  

So, thank you Kara, for putting the whole Secret Santa Swap together - I am definitely in again for next year.  And thank you Ros for my gorgeous pressies, and Kimberly for being the recipient of my first-ever swap-a-thon piece of crafty-makery. 

And now - the countdown to Tuesday continues.  Hope all your Christmas planning is going well.   xoxo cat