New Years Resolution !!!!

My New Years Resolution is to not leave my Christmas sewing till the last minute again.  I am making these gorgeous little bags from Val Lairds Blog ( free patterns).  I am making the bags out of Christmas fabric ( a great way to use up all that fabric) and then embroidering a design with the persons name and the year 2012. I am going to make a set for all of my family and what a great gift for workmates and friends personalised with their name. Could even make some Birthday ones. The bags have plenty room for little gifts. I have made these two and still have about forty to go.  I also have some little Christmas trees to make and they will use up a lot more of bits and pieces I have lying around my sewing room. I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may all your deams come true.

Santa, Santa Everywhere !!!!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Merry and Safe Christmas. I would also like to thank all my followers and the wonderful people that  left lovely comments on my Blog. I decided to do a Santa theme for Christmas this year. I decorated the inside of the house with Santas. I started collecting Santas as soon as the Christmas decorations where in the shops. This is a photo of my tree and all it has on it is Santas. The Santa on the top of the tree I got at the markets for $2.00. Bargain !!! I really love Christmas, it is such a wonderful time of the year to spend with the people you love.

Cracker Swap

This is the photo of the cracker I sent Anne from  http://snailpatches.blogspot.com/   my swap partner in the cracker swap. I didn't want to put the whole photo on my Blog as Anne might see it and it wouldn't be a surprise. The Swap was hosted by Lisa from

http://mylittlecreativewonderland.blogspot.com/
Check out her Blog for some very creative ideas.

My Prize Wow !!!!!!!!

This is the gift I received from Jenny Blair of loveand peas Blogspot. The little zippered bag and journal are absolutely beautiful. I will be showing them off every chance I get. I just love them. Jenny is so creative so go and have a look at her Blog for some inspiration.                                                 http://loveandpeascreations.blogspot.com/

Christmas T Shirts

Christmas T shirts that I embroidered for my grandsons. They are getting older now so it is a bit hard to find designs for them.
I thought that my 14 year old might like the black one with the writting on it as it seems to be the fashion at the moment. The other one is for a 8 year old so he will love the green one. I did these last night for the FNSI.

It's a good thing...or is it?: Kids' Crafts- Sponge Ball

This is a great idea for a hot summer day. The kids can play and have lots of fun while cooling down and not hurting anyone.   Here is the link on how to make this sponge ball from Martha Stewart.

http://www.marthastewart.com/265636/sponge-ball?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/summer-crafts-for-kids

2012 Calender

This design is gorgeous. I bought the calenders and there is a space left up the top to embroider and embelish how you would like.
The calenders are made from a heavy material and are really hard to embroider. The machine needle gets blunt really quick but well worth the effort.

Embroidered Tea Towels

I have been busy for the last couple of weeks getting ready for the Markets. We have not had markets in our small for many years. So everyone is looking foward to Saturday 3rd December. These are just some of the tea towels that I have embroidered, I have also embroidered baby bibs, Christmas T Shirts and towels. I have made some headbands and hair clips for the little girls, felt playfood and lots of other goodies. Should be lots of fun.

Christmas Stocking

I finished this Christmas Stocking for the Friday Night Sew In. Great to get something else finished out of the way.
I found this Christmas Stocking panel in my stash and decided to make it for Cooper. The other 2 boys have large stockings like this one.
I used wadding between the panel and inside piece and quilted the front and to make the back piece I sandwiched wadding between 2 pieces of red fabric and quilted it on my machine. I then sewed the 2 pieces together and overlocked the seam. I finished it off with binding around the top.

Santa Hat Tutorial !!!!!!

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Make a Santa hat, here is a free pattern from Fleece Fun.

Check out Fleece Fun Blog for more exciting ideas.

http://www.fleecefun.com/santa-hat-how-to.html

Table Runner.

 I chose this table runner to make for our Christmas Gift exchange in our sewing group. It is very easy and quick to make.  I love the Australian Wildflower fabric.   I embroidered some bottle brush on the centre piece of the cream fabric but I didn't like so I just used the wildflower fabric.  I will be making some of these for myself.  Here is the link to to the table runner pattern. Check out the site for a lot of other great patterns.
Have Fun !!!

http://www.quiltbug.com/free/table-topper.htm

Bag Challenge.

We had to decorate a green (blue) bag as our challenge for this year in our sewing group. I loved this design as soon as I saw it.  As I have no little girls I decided to use it on the bag.  I think it is perfect for a shopping bag. I embroidered the design on a piece of fabric and then unpicked the handle straps and placed the embroidered fabric under the handle straps and stitched them down again. I also made the embroidered fabric long enough so that I could turn it over at the top as well.

LOOK !!!!!! What I Won.

I just received an email from Jenny saying that I had won this beautiful fishie pouch and journal.  I am so excited, this is my first win. Thank you to Jenny for this great giveaway.  Visit her site to see her gorgeous work.

http://loveandpeascreations.blogspot.com/

Pincushion Swap

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I joined a pincushion swap at  http://craftybitsswapspot.blogspot.com/  .   My swap partner was Ruth from the United States. I made this Biscornu pincushion for her.  I did the roses in a bright pink as she likes bright colours.  Thanks to Jill for organizing this swap.