Handmade Christmas - Part 1

Now that our youngest son's birthday has passed (last week) we are officially allowed to mention Christmas in our house!

So I decided to get a start on some of the handmade presents I am hoping to give this year. I have had lots of ideas spinning around in my head, but it is now boiling down to what I can get the appropriate supplies for locally and what I actually have time to do.

First up some pineapple chutney for my foodie son and daughter-in-law,

Before the big day I will search out some Christmas fabric and my pinking shears to make covers for the jars I promise!

Next up a bracelet from memory wire for my eldest son's girlfriend

This was actually a kit that I bought a couple of weeks ago and was so easy that I will definitely be out buying more memory wire soon. It must have taken all of 10 minutes in front of the television to do - definitely my kind of project :)

Finally I got around to using up some of my blocks from Quiet Play's Say Cheese Polaroid Block swap to make a doll quilt. The doll and quilt are for my niece's daughter, I am not quite sure what that makes me to her or her to me!

I had great fun sorting through the blocks I received picking out the girliest ones!

Now that I am finally reunited with my stash I had the ideal backing fabric - bright pink and flowery, not something I would normally use but perfect for this.

I hope she enjoys playing with this quilt as much as I have enjoyed making it.

Just in case you are thinking that I am really on top of things I am admitting to this disaster, a stollen that didn't rise!

 It wasn't entirely my fault as I went to what was billed as an "Edible Christmas Gifts" cookery class and we ran out of time to prove our stollens for the second time, which meant taking it home and having to leave it overnight to prove. I think the freezing cold journey home didn't do my poor stollen any favours and it could have doubled as a brick the next day!

Unfortunately the stollen wasn't the only disaster in the kitchen this weekend. I dropped my Christmas pudding when taking it out of the steamer (I know it should have been made weeks ago!) and the pudding basin cracked in two! Cue a hasty switch to another bowl, but I will only know on Christmas Day whether it survived the fall or not. I am hoping everyone will be so full of the festive spirit they won't actually notice that the pudding is a rather strange shape :)

Hopefully the next bout of handmade activity will be less disaster prone!

I hope your weekend was productive too.

Polaroid Post

A few weeks ago I was allowed to be an "honorary Aussie" to participate in Quiet Play's Say Cheese, Polaroid Block Swap. I think my devotion to the cause of Australian wine was a crucial factor in the decision:)

I sent my 50 blocks off and on Saturday my return blocks arrived.

 

There is a lovely mix of fabrics in the blocks, which are destined to become a doll quilt for my niece. Fortunately her birthday is early in the year, so if this doesn't get finished in time for Christmas to accompany the doll I have already bought for her, then it won't look too tardy to be giving her the quilt for her birthday!



Don't forget there is still time to enter my Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop giveaway for 6 Christmas FQ's here. The giveaway closes Tuesday, November 27th at 18.00 UK time.

Check out today's stops in the Blog Hop too

Monday November 26

Living Life One Day at a Time

Polka Dot Classic
Sophie Junction

I'm Keeping Busy

Sunshine Quilting

The Treehouse

Petit Design Co

Nun's Quilt World

Ellison Lane Quilts

From This to That

Mary on Lake Pulaski

Luann's Loose Threads

Till We Quilt Again

13 Woodhouse Road

I am fascinated by all the different cushions from the same pattern!

Cheesy blocks

Although we are about to move and I should not be taking on any new commitments, I couldn't resist the lure of Quiet Play's Say Cheese! Polaroid Block Swap especially when I was allowed to be an 'honorary Aussie' as well!

The blocks have 2.5" fussy-cut centres and are bordered on all four sides with plain white, hence the Polaroid in the title. Sign-ups were in multiples of 5 with a top limit of 50 blocks.

Well I really only meant to make a few blocks but they were going together so quickly :)

I had never used Kona cotton before and it was such a joy to use that it seemed a shame to stop. So this is what I ended up with.

I can now understand why Kristy set a top limit of 50 blocks!

I actually made 51 blocks by accident, but as it happened it was a happy accident. When I was giving the blocks a final press I noticed a small flaw in one of the white strips.

Can you see the pink mark? I have no idea how I didn't notice it when I was putting the block together, but I am really pleased that I noticed it before parcelling up the blocks and putting them in the post this morning. I am hoping that the mark was picked up whilst I was working on the blocks and wasn't a flaw in the fabric.

We visited a collectors' fair over the weekend and I will post some of the photos later, but I thought you might like this one.

I thought these were an interesting combination and not a pair you often see so closely together!

We are off to Lithuania tomorrow for my last linen spree before the move, should be fun. Hope you all had a great weekend.





Linking up to BOM's Away , Manic Monday and Building Blocks Tuesday.