Addicted to these things...

These are worse than chocolate!! Alright, not that bad - they are not fattening after all.

I made some more book covers for gifts. Four from the same fabric.

My DH looked at them and said "I didn't think this kind of fabric was your bag". I said that it would be hard to make a quilt out of, but it's good for these. Plus, I bought the fabric on sale a year ago and hadn't found anything else in particular to use it for. To this, he nodded agreeably.

I used different kinds of ric-rac. The pink ric-rac is pretty swish!

I know just who to give these to!!

Look at this stack! What was I thinking?? LOL!!

I already gave one of the oriental ones away!!!

What do you do with oven mitts?

How do you make these look good when you give them as gifts???

Put them with something else! LOL!!

If I just give oven mitts, the recipient might feel I only think of them as a cook!! If I only give bought goods the recipient might feel the gift is not very personal. So, I think I have it worked out!!

Quilting Christmas party

Those three words really do go together well: quilting, Christmas and party. Yeah!

I showed you the bag I made for Gill. Sue made this one for me.

I indicated a preference for icky green fabric (That's what non-reproduction fabric lovers would call it. Group members who know me well would know I meant repro). Sue filled my bag with green stuff!! Threads, fabrics, buttons and even green chocolates! (well, peppermint filled Freddo frogs). I ate them straight away!! Yum!!

At our Christmas-In-July function (this is a great idea for us, because we get to enjoy traditional Christmas foods in the weather they were meant for, sometimes it is just too hot to eat roast turkey and pudding.... just kidding!!) my group had to present our Challenge items. These are the miniature quilts in the slideshow on the sidebar of the blog.

At that time the new Christmas Elves were chosen by the previous ones. The rest of us had no idea who has been organising our next Challenge! Tuesday night, our Elves were revealed (Fiona and Di H). We received a parcel of goodies and instructions.

This is Andrea's parcel (unopened) - she will get it early in the New Year.

This is what I found in mine (there are slight variations in fabric between the parcels).

The challenge is to make a free style collage applique quilt: (Yay!! I love it!!) Basically, one cuts fabric the size and shape wanted then secures with glue or fusible web. Fabric is added layer upon layer until the image is constructed.

The picture on the cover of this mag was used as an example.

• The background must be pieced
• Only straight edge machine applique allowed (no buttonhole, no zigazg, no satin stitch etc.
• No broderie perse
• Quilt must be at least 14 inches square or a shape adding up to that measurement
• Must include some free motion embroidery
• Binding is optional
• Use at least one piece of the fabric provided somewhere in the project

You can see the free motion embroidery in this close-up.

And yes, I made more books!!! LOL!!

I am trying to make them for gifts, but my DH has said I need to keep a Dick and Jane one and a kitchen print one (I do not need any persuading!!). I thought the kitchen print books would make good recipe books.

I am going to buy more book inserts today. VBG.

The night before

Well... the afternoon before really...

I took these photos yesterday afternoon before the quilting group Christmas doo.

Here is the Christmas Cookie bag with the gift I bought for my K.K. I chose Civil War Dressing Gown fabrics for Gill as she has just finished hand-quilting her Dear Jane. It took her 10 years to hand-piece and hand-quilt her masterpiece. So, I knew she would like these fabrics.

I've gone a bit crazy on the book covers.

I am loving the fabrics!!

I bought more ric-rac yesterday! LOL!!

Suffolk Puffs or Yo-Yos?

Whatever you like to call them (Suffolk Puffs or Yo-Yos), I have finished the Christmas Cookie bag. That's the only thing I finished off my weekend list!! ... the list I shared with my quilting diary anyway...

On the quilting side of things I dug out my box of "Oriental" fabrics. It's amazing what I had stuck in there. You know, not many of the fabrics actually go together. Some are like this:

and others are bright purple with Japanese ladies on them. I must have bought the bright ones cheap sometime and forgot about them!!!

Here's what I was doing with them:

Can you guess what it is?

I knew you would work it out!!

This is fun, I love small projects for fast finishes!!

I am having fun picking out co-ordinating fabrics!!

Luxembourg in Down Under Quilts

Down Under Quilts have a completely new look on the cover and new formatting inside.

Doesn't it look great?

You can see my project "Luxembourg"published in the December edition!!! Find out how to make it in the mag!!!

Click here for a free digital 6-month subscription to the magazine.

Three things to finish...

I've got three things to finish this weekend. I've been slack with the finishing and too fluid with the starting right?

Thanks to this blog I have finished 28 items this year so far!! I am going to keep that list showing for a little while next year, then move on to 2009.

Okay, here is the monkey I have nearly finished. The felt eyes are pinned on, they just need to be sewn on.

Here is the peg bag. The binding is sewn on (I bet you recognise the binding from the monkey's shorts - clever you!), it needs the coat hanger in, fabric cover for the metal hook, and a bow with buttons to hide the opening where the hook comes out.

This bag needs to be finished by Tuesday. I did frog it all and re-sewed it. When the gusset bent it needed more space within the fabric envelope. Basically, I left one end open until I had sewn the lage suffolks onto both sides. It just needs the handle, and I want to glue some braid along the joins of the gusset and suffolks.

Then, it's Christmas presents full on! Some to start, and some to finish! I will show what I can, when I can. One can't really know who is reading their blog posts!!!