Christmas Gifts - the last 2011 'catch-up' post

It started with a simple request (at the end of October) from the Mum of our god-daughters, if I was looking at ideas for Christmas presents, "A cushion cover would be a great present for them," and I was off - out of the starting blocks and creating. The rest of this post is all the lovely things I made in November and December.

I never just give cushion covers so first stop was eBay for two 22" duck feather cushions (I usually use 18" but was going for a bigger look this time). I wanted them to be similar but different (if you know what I mean) - there's only two years age difference and as soon as I picked out the fabrics, I knew I'd have to make Pants Bags to match as well!

Then there was a quilt for my Mum (Mutter) - we had picked all the red and green fabrics on a visit home earlier in the year. If you ever met my dear Mutter, you would think, "she has a big heart," so there was my inspiration:

And she had to have a cushion too! That's what scraps are for ... I put binding on this one - very pretty and made the cushion feel rather sumptious. The front of my cushions are 'mini quilts' - pieced, batting, calico backing and quilted - it finishes them off nicely:

Then a Pants Bag for my little niece to match her quilt:

And a cushion for my friend to match her cat quilt (just enough scraps left):

And a cushion for my nephew to match his quilt:

And a Pant's Bag for my cousin's wife (filled with smellies):

And one for my brother's girlfriend (also filled with smellies):

And one for my friend at work's grand-daughter:

And a cushion and two Pants Bags for the Church raffle:

And a cushion for my friend's daughter at work:

Then I GOT PAID!!! Two friends asked if I would make cushions for them to give as Christmas presents - oh my ... no pressure!! So I made these - the first two were for my friend's neices, she chose the fabrics and I chose the designs and the last one is very similar to the 9-patch church raffle cushion (see above) that my friend's friend won and was so thrilled with it my friend thought it would be a nice surprise to have me make another (similar) one too:

And finally, remember the quilt I made for Mum's birthday that sat on the back of settee all year because it was 'too nice to use'? I made Mum (in-law) another lapquilt and called it, "Use Me" and I'm pleased to report that it is getting used!!! She told dear husband yesterday on the phone that she was 'wrapped up in it because that's what it was meant for' ... yay!!

The back - just as lovely

PHEW!!! I enjoyed making every single item - and seeing the recipients' faces - everyone was thrilled (I think!) with their gifts. All created in the evenings after work and at weekends ... not much ironing got done, I can tell you!!

All in all a wonderful end to the year. I learnt lots of new things and can now free motion quilt (meander/stipple) quite confidently and put 'proper'lining in Pants Bags and knock out a cushion in a couple of hours. I am sooooooo looking forward to 2012's projects, adventures and challenges ... I AM a lucky girl, my dear husband is so very supportive and I am very thankful that I get to make such lovely things ;)

USA September 2011

We had a wonderful holiday (we always do) with our dear family again this year in Chesapeake Beach, MD - our 10th wedding anniversary - and they took us to Charleston for a holiday within a holiday ... we are such lucky people. Of course, I found a quilt shop:

and I bought lots of fabby fabric. I had the shop almost to myself (the rest of the family didn't shop with me - the boys went off to see some big boat and the girls went for a coffee!) and the lady in the shop was so very nice to me, talked through some quilting techniques, explained the 'disappearing 9 patch', let me take photos of quilts hanging in the shop ... she was really lovely.

And when we got back to Maryland, thanks to another dear cousin (who is a quilter too and a new Grandma - and what a cute grandson x) I had time to pop and shop in here too (huge shop, well huge compared to UK standards, in Annapolis):

I have only used two USA-bought fat quarters since then but the rest is waiting to be used in a special project - at both shops, I went for pinks (of course!) and the older dusky pink/red tones so I may even use it to make a Farmer's Wife Quilt for myself ... watch this space ;)

But the best fabric I acquired I didn't have to spend a penny on. Towards the end of our stay, my dear cousin brought out from the garage a big old packing box of fabric that had belonged to her Mom (my Nen's sister), asking if I'd like any of it ... any of it? ANY of it??? ALL OF IT, THANK YOU!!! So, a hasty online payment to the airline for another suitcase later and a bit of jigging about with the packing meant all of this loveliness left Chesapeake Beach and came to London with meeeeeeeeee:

Thank goodness for spacesaver bags!

Stash collecting is obviously genetic!!

All folded (actually could't get it all in one photo!)
and it's in such good condition considering it's been in a box for over 20 years ;)

Quote from dear husband, "Cos it's not like you didn't have enough already!"

And some more of 2011 ...
Another church raffle, another cushion:

And I made one for me:

And then a lapquilt for me (at last!):

And added some IKEA furniture and new stash baskets to my quilting room:

Fabric wrapped around comic backboards for stability

We visited the USA in September (a separate post to follow on that) and, of course, I bought some more fabric whilst in Charleston, SC and Annapolis, MD. But when we got back, I went on a bit of a creating frenzy. Firstly, I finished a Playmat for my dear friend's baby:

Another lapquilt for my (adult) niece:

And a crib quilt for her boyfriend's brother's baby:

A throw and two cushions for my little big sister:

And a quilt for my youngest nephew. He was so cute when I gave his sister her quilt: he asked me if I would make him one. Of course, I said, what colour? After only a few seconds, he replied, all earnestly, "Black and with skulls!":

And I finally finished a quilt from 2010 (Kent workshop - 1/2 Log Cabin)which I gave to my friend, as they were 'her colours':

All in all October was a very busy month!!

A bit more of 2011 ...

I met a lovely French lady in hospital - she had broken her femur whilst stepping off the pavement ... we weren't on an open ward as we have over here in the UK but in a room for two with an en-suite bathroom - all very civilised. She spoke no English and my schooldays French was slow to return but thanks to a phrasebook and Google Translate, we managed to chat away like old friends for the 5 days we were together. As I was able to sew more and more, I wanted to show her my gratitude for her kindness and bon-ami and so I made her a cushion and a notebook cover (she loved to write her prayers) and sent them over to Versailles (end of April 2011). Nell had to make sure the cushion was comfy ... of course:

Cheeky little Madam ;)

As is my way, I then made a few more of these notebooks for friends and family:

And I finally finished my niece's quilt (single bed size) and she LOVED it:

Piecing was tricky matching all those points

The 'meandering' quilting was still coming along but onto the binding - my favourite bit

And the finished quilt ;)

And a friend asked if I could make her a 6ft x 3ft 'throw' - something with cats on it. I didn't follow a pattern as such but decided on a couple of blocks then repeated them until the quilt was big enough. A little bit hit and miss because of not deciding on the measurements at the beginning and I ended up running out of one of the fabrics but, thankfully, was able to source some more. This can be a problem when only buying fat quarters but by using a variety of fabrics, I was able to stretch them out and this was the end result:

Shame the photos don't really do it justice

I finished another quilt and decided it would make a lovely birthday present for Mum (in-law). This was the quilt I had started at a workshop in Sevenoaks last year but hadn't got around to completing. Thankfully, I had all the fabric for the borders and backing so I just needed the discipline to get it done and with Mum's birthday approaching, I had my motivation:

As thrilled as she was with it, it didn't move off the back of the settee all year - quote, "It's too nice to use."

I free motion quilted all of these quilts with a meandering/stipple effect and, whilst it is rather tricky, it definitely gets easier with practice!

This blogging does take time - my apologies for the lack of finesse to my blog but I'm really not sure how to do it any better with the 'host' I'm using coupled with my total inexperience. When starting this blog, I thought it was only ever meant to be for me - to catalogue my quilting journey, it's challenges and the lovely feelings I get to experience when I'm creating ... I may have to think about sharing (will anyone want to read my ramblings?) but that's a decision for another day ...