Christmas Cushion, etc so no Scrappy Sunday!

This is two Sundays now I haven't made any scrappy blocks but in my defence (not that I'm putting myself on trial!), I have been making lots of other things. 

First up two more mini Pants Bags (my tutorial is here) - one for our cleaner at work ... she's such a nice lady and always admires the quilty things I make. She's not expecting this so I'm hoping it will be a lovely surprise for her:

Not sure yet who this one's for yet but it's good to have an emergency in waiting! 

My friend Shauna @ lovinquiltin made one of her own from my tutorial - and it's gorgeous ... why not pop over and take a look? It was a lovely post to read - thank you Shauna :)

DH's colleague makes delicious chutneys and jams and we've benefitted from one or two jars this year so I offered to make her a Pants Bag and she told me her favourite colour was green:

And finally, a Christmas cushion (pillow) for dear SIL who has a reading room with elephant curtains so when I came across this fabric in my stash:

I knew I had to make her a cushion out of it ... isn't it fabby? I didn't want to cut it up though ... some fabrics tell their own story which, I think, gets lost if it's cut in to so I decided to go for a simple 18" x 18" bound cushion. I had some 'old' Christmas fabric in my stash for the binding that matched perfectly:

Always fun making the cushion this way because you just look at it and go ... really?!

But you get there in the end :)

(PS Still haven't wrapped my Christmas gifts!)

Christmas treats :)

I wanted to make my aunt in Germany a Christmas present. Mutter said she loved her Pants Bag I'd made her in the summer, so I thought I'd make her a cushion. I used some charm squares for a simple 4 x 4 design:

And this fabric from my stash for the back:

All packed up with some bars of Bourneville chocolate (her 'allowed' treat) and sent off to Hameln ... Frohe Weihnachten, liebe Tante Margot x

Last night and tonight, out of my new Christmas fabric bought in Liberty, I made 2 more Christmas sweetie (pants) bags (I will makes some more tomorrow and post a tutorial). They came together so quickly, perfect gifts! 

If you had one, what sweets would you fill it with? For me it'd have to be retro sweets:

I asked DH, what would he put in his - he thought for about 5 seconds before saying with a big grin, "M & Ms ... but emptied out so your hand moves about in them!" Hmmmm, funny the things you still don't know after nearly 16 years:

Tomorrow, I'll be basting, quilting and binding this:

Sunday, we'll be buying and putting up the Christmas Treeeeeeeeeeee! Busy busy busy ... but what fun! Hope you have a fabby weekend too :)

Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Liberty London ... how did I NOT know??

After a lovely Christmas lunch this afternoon with my team, I was walking back to Oxford Circus tube when this amazing building appeared in front of me:

I ventured in - as you do - because, although I have shopped in here years ago, it was BQ (before quilting!) so I had never actually visited the fabric department. It was FAB-U-LOUS ... my eyes were delighted by all the beauty before them! Sadly, a hundred other people were experiencing the same delight as me so I didn't linger. Today. I will return (sorry DH!)

I did buy some Christmas Fabric which I'm going to make more mini Pants Bags out of and fill with sweeties:

And some 'could not leave on the shelf' fabric which I might use in my Strip Bee:

And when I got home, this bundle of loveliness had arrived in the post, which will be used up in my post-Christmas project:

And out of my scraps / stash tonight, I have started making a Pants Bag / Ballet Shoes Bag for the daughter of my colleague at work:

Phew! So much fabric, so little time *sigh*

Linking up for the first time with Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

More Christmassy stuff and Scrappy Sunday :)

After church today, we delivered the advent calendar I made yesterday for the 3 daughters of our friends. The pockets are a bit on the small side so would only take one chocolate so DH bought an extra tub so that the sisters who's day it isn't to pick still get to eat a chocolate too ... bless him :)

I wanted to jazz it up a little bit so added some scrappy binding from my leftover binding basket:

Was about to leave for church when realised I hadn't taken a photo, hence DH coming to the rescue:

And the back:

This afternoon, I made four more scrappy blocks, still just totally at random picking up a scrap trimming it and adding another until there are 7 rows on each half log cabin, then trimming down to 7":

Still got loads and loads ... and loads of scraps left! In fact, I wonder if me looking at them has actually made them multiply because even after making 20 blocks, the pile is not going down :)

Next week, I'm going to a Christmas Meal with colleagues and there's the obligatory Secret Santa to participate in so I decided to make a mini Pants Bag which I'll fill with chocs. I took lots of photos today (I may write a tutorial next week, if you'd like one?), here's just a few for now:

And made entirely from scraps from dear niece's Christmas Throw (which just needs basting and that'll be quilted next weekend!) 

Linking up with Karen at Sew Many Ways ... lots of loveliness to look at :)

Lest we forget ...

I've had a very special weekend: last night we spent the evening with our dearest friends to watch Strictly Come Dancing and eat a delicious curry - we had great fun! Their youngest had her 10th birthday this week so I made her a mini Pants Bag (7.5" x 6.5") and we filled it with sweets:

Today, we commemorated Remembrance Sunday by meeting up with old friends and taking part in a parade and service at a little village in Kent. The sun shone on us as we marched and stood in the church grounds. I am always moved at such events especially as my grandfather John Evans, a Captain in the Merchant Navy, was killed during the second World War. He was lost at sea so has no grave but is remembered at the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill in London:

The whole service moves me but I always find these words taken from the poem by Laurence Binyon particularly poignant:

I have wanted to make and donate a quilt to a member of the armed forces for some time but just couldn't find the right pattern or decide on the colours. With DH's advice on Saturday (should have asked him months ago!), I've decided I'm going to make it in the colours of the Help for Heroes charity:

So, I have ordered some fabric today and have drawn my design based on this pattern I saw on Julie's blog on Friday:

The rest of today, I have been working on my Scrappy Sunday blocks and my Strip Bee quilt! The scrap blocks are a challenge that Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts and I have set each other to try not to be too OCD about it and just use up our scraps. Last Sunday, I made these 4 blocks:

And this afternoon, I made these:

And I still have gazillions of scraps to use up! You have to start somewhere, hey Jennie?

We are on Round 4 of our Strip Bee Quilt organised by Maria @ Sew love to Sew and this round, I have the strip started by Julie @ Mack and Mabel:

We're not allowed to show too much of what we add as it's going to be a surprise finished quilt top for each of us at the end of the 6 rounds. But here's some of the fabrics I'm thinking of using:

And after making one block today, I cut the fabric for the 2nd block ... I have to make 5 in total. It's taken quite a bit of time but it's so worth it. I can't wait to see all 6 quilts (including mine!) at the end of this Bee:

So that's been my weekend, hope you've had a special weekend too :)