Christmas Eve - What Have I Been Doing?!

So this happened?

I'd like to know where the rest of October, November and most of December went thankyou?? 

That's the last time I was here! And now it's Christmas Eve afternoon Down Under??

I'm hoping to remedy that...you may get sick of me..as Santa came early and bought me a new laptop...I've been a very good girl..not so much in the fabric buying department ...but everywhere else for sure!

So lets get on with a quick Christmassy post brought you by the lovely ladies from my #dogoodstitchescarecircle ladies. We decided to do a quick blind swap amongst ourselves and these are what I made for my partner.

My partner was Gina of @happygolizzie who has a love of all things linen and floral and cuteness...don't we all! So I used my teeny tiny dresden pattern from Westwood Acres ( pssst it's free on their website ) and a Thimbleblossoms pattern for a wee pouch.

It's been a long time since I handstitched anything...which I used to do alot, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But it was this mouse from Gina's mosaic that really captured my eye! It's also a free pattern from Bustle & Sew and is really quite straight forward. I made a couple of amendments only to allow for my lack of practice at handsewing and I think she turned out cute!

I filled her with half rice and half polyfill so she sits very upright.

I received a lovely package from one of my fellow Kiwis in the group Vicki......she only lives about 1 1/2 hours from me so it arrived very quickly, and it was gorgeous!

A really lovely paper pieced Owl incorporated into an equally lovely quilted pouch....I love pouches and rarely make them for myself, so win win!

And it was filled with some cute and very thoughtful gifts

I know I bang on about it but quilty people are simply the best

The details sometimes make the gift...I was very spoilt!

And on that note I hope you're all very spoilt with the things you can't buy, family,friends,love,kindness and a safe holiday period xx

I will be back after the Xmas Day bloat has subsided!!

A Profanity Swap - Bitches Get Stitches

*WARNING*

This post does have bad words in it and pictures of bad words, if that's not your thing, that's OK with me just don't scroll down!

Just had to warn some of my peeps that this isn't a sweet smelling nice post, it has some very salty words in it, and I appreciate that not everyone who stops by here for a visit enjoys seeing bad words in all their fabricky colour........and that's completely OK!

I myself have been known to throw a few unladylike words into the air... and if I get really pissed off some down right "wash your mouth out with soap" hair curlers LOL

Sooooo when Angelina from @weenchaweena threw out the question "who wants to do a profanity swap?"....it was a no brainer people!

 Here are my "Shit Buckets"...or if you are wanting to make some of your own...more appropriately named "Nesting Fabric Bowls" they are from here.

Great pattern,very detailed and easy to follow.

 Lets make no mistake here I am NOT A SEWER, if I can do it anyone can.I do not know why I can do Y-seams and paper piece and follow detailed quilt patterns but any type of straight sewing takes me at least two goes to get my head around???

This was not my original plan and also not the use I had in mind for this Dr Seuss panel when I purchased it...but it sooooo appealed to my sense of humour.

So I made some Fuck coasters as well. Used this tutorial here, but wished I had just stuck to my tried and true method of binding instead of the pull from the back double over method I used here.

After two layers of wadding and some Insulbrite to disperse heat the double folded canvas was an absolute Bitch to sew and my machine was complaining loudly...more so about the black thread than anything??

What is up with that? I am tempted to buy Aurifil in black just to see if that makes any difference.

The boys thought this swap was pretty cool....I don't allow them to swear willy nilly so I think the whole quilting and swearing with a childrens book theme was just too bizarre for them and they had to ask questions.See I can be an educational Mum LOL

This is the miniquilt I received from Camille  @sosaysthehermit....and I'd like to think it is very apt, in a humorous way.

The stitching is sublime

And look at these gorgeous extras a lovely handwritten card, fabric pouch,wonder clips and some foreign lollies that the boys ate and didn't spit out so I'd say they were delicious!!

All joking aside it was actually quite hard using and saying profanity to a person you don't know, especially when swaps are usually a nice fabricky hug and not in anyway aggressive or insulting.

But I really enjoyed thinking outside the square and if you're on instagram search the hashtags #bitchesgetstitches and have a look at all the clever and very witty things everyone came up with.

So lets link up with Amanda Jean for a finish and M-R Charbonneau from Quilt Matters for TGIFF

A Teeny Swap - Mug Rugs

To be honest I didn't really get the function of a mug rug when I first heard about them a few years back.

Isn't it just a weird shaped coaster???

 Clearly I was and still can be an idiot, they are oversized awesomeness!

They fit a drink and snacks and are very, very sexy coasters, who rightly so, look down on the sad and very small, plain, one function only,coaster!

The gorgeous and dynamic Ang from Gnome Angel set up another quick swap through Swapbot just before Xmas, and this is my contribution.

Mug Rug pattern is from Lethargic Lass, aka my hilarious friend Katy...go visit she is gold!

 

The dumpling pouch pattern is from here and was surprisingly easy to do and a pouch that I think you'll get better at the more you do.

Of course no swap is complete without some little extras and as the theme was Xmas and at the appropriate time...easy peasy

I wanted to keep this little glass Snowman but they always seem a little out of place in a Southern Hemisphere Xmas when we're usually sweltering in either humidity or blazing sunshine LOL

This is the gorgeous Mug Rug I received from Karen.

The Chopin reference comes from the fact that I often listen to music while sewing down in the garage/basement and quite often mixed in with my Fleetwood Mac,Ed Sheeran,Bob Marley and Eagles is classical music.I also like some old Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald.

My music taste is eclectic....bit like me!

I love the Kaffe piecing and Karen also included these two fat quarters of fabrics I did not have!??

Love them...and a quick shot of the musically themed back, so cute!

Swaps are so fun...especially teeny weeny ones!

Linking up with my girls Alyce and Meg/Heather

 

 

Swaps - My New Addiction

I promised you some actual sewing and not just fabric purchases, so this week I'm going to talk about my new addiction....Online Swaps!!

They are so much fun and it's a bit like an auction...your hand just randomly shoots up to join without checking in with your brain, and more importantly your schedule!!!

First up I have a love of all things Sarah. It started with her books

Specifically the Material Obsession books I and II. I just loved her sense of style and fabric placement, it all just seemed to click with me.

I have made my version of these two quilts, which you can see here

I also contributed to this quilt, which was made for Amy Lobsiger her co author on the Little Quilts Book

Which brings me to me first swap since the beginning of the year.

Sarah decided via Instagram to run a Little Quilts Swap using only patterns from her book of the same name.When my partner was a assigned I had a little freak out as she owns her own brick and mortar quilt shop!! WTF?! But I put my big girl undies on stalked her a bit and got sewing!

I always do one block first to test out fabric placement

Something you should know about all Sarah's patterns is this....they always look straight forward and generally are but they are NEVER as easy as you think! She is a master quilter and pattern designer and for results as good as hers there is always a technique that will test you!

Individually these units were a cinch to sew and not a huge amount of time was involved...but...theres always a but....getting them to sew up POINT PERFECT took some patience, accuracy and a few godammits!

But I was pretty happy with how it turned out and so was my partner! She cried...what a sweetie

These were the extras I made and popped in, the pouch is stuffed with chocolate and mini herbal teas.

This is the quilt I received from @sewcuteby lindsay....loooove

These are my all time favourite colours and the colours of Little OWB's room, which she based it on.
Plus these wonderful extras, fabric ,a purse and a seam ripper...always need an extra of these!!

I have two more swaps due in 2015. One is the #bitchesgetstitches Profanity Swap ( awesome ) and the #schnitzelandboom swap. Plus I've just signed on for the #rainbowminiswap which isn't due until March...luckily.
Somewhere in there I have another border due for Possum Magic !

There's another swap to talk about it but I think our eyeballs need a rest, talk soon my peeps x

I would normally link up with Alyce for Sew Cute Tuesday today, but instead pop on over and read her thoughtful post today about her home Country and it's recent tragedy in our news.