Christmas sewing and Happy New Year!

I think I've just got time to squeeze in one more post for 2016... I made a few things which haven't been shared yet —
Last post I showed you the beautiful gifts I received from Julie in Chooky's annual SSCS...here is what I made for Cheryl.
The decoration she opened earlier in the month —

I loved making her so am saving the pattern in case I
get a chance to make some more one day...!

And then her main gift. I made a block holder for storing projects in —

Batting pages for good grip

I fancied up the back with a bit of Cathedral Window styled piecing.

Another gift I made was this 'pin cushion' for YD. The original pattern was in Russian which made for interesting interpretation at times! It was also designed as a teapot cozy but I wanted it to sit on top of a jar which could be used for gadget storage. That meant a bit of adapting!!

The green  is crocheted snugly around the bottom of the pull-off lid, then hot glued on. Hopefully it will stand up to a bit of use and doesn't come apart too quickly!
*Here* is the original pattern if  you are interested in trying this out; it's not as tricky as it looks!

I also made a few more kitchen things. You can probably tell from the kiwiana fabrics that these things were sent off overseas! —

And a few more decorated hand towels... I seemed to go overboard with these
this year but I got into the groove and had a ball going through my fabrics finding
just the right one to use :-)

A few posts ago I shared about this runner I had made. My sister sent me this photo of it in use —

Just right I'd say!

And I'll close with sharing this photo of Mum's lovely and mammoth effort this year....each grandchild received a set of ornaments....she did a monthly stitchalong through her local Embroidery Guild (I think). All together she made at least 28 ornaments and each child received 4 of them.

This selection which went to YD

Tonight is New Year's Eve and we are looking forward to a nice BBQ dinner at ED's place. Cows to milk in the morning mean we probably won't stay to see 2017 in but I may just read until the New Year so I can say I was there!! I'm about to head off to the kitchen to make Ambrosia from the first-flopped-pav that was supposed to be part of Christmas dinner! No one will know it came out as flat as a pancake!!!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year's celebration, and a healthy and happy 2017. Hopefully with lots of quilting and sewing involved :-)

Thank you for following along this past year, I look forward to your company and friendship next year,

Handmade for Christmas

I said on yesterday's post that I would be back soon to show you some handmade Christmas goodness. Here is a sneak peek I shared —

This is a beautiful cross stitch made for me by YD - here it is in its full glory —

I'm not kidding when I say I was blown away, it's gorgeous!!

I also received this sweet tree hanging from a dear friend —

Thank you so much :-)

A few posts back I shared this photo of the lovely ornament made for me in Chooky's SSCS (secret Santa swap). At that stage I wasn't sure who had made it for me.

On Christmas Day we were allowed to open the main present from our Secret Santa... and I found out that Julie of simplestitches was my partner. Look at the beautiful runner I received —

Thank you Julie, I love it!

Julie also included a wee pattern but whoops I haven't photographed it sorry.

I've found the perfect spot for it!

My dear friend Doniene also sent me a runner - a simply gorgeous log cabin, in totally different shades of blue and reds to Julie's one.
Now don't despair, I am more than happy to have received two special new runners as I have more than two spots in my house that need them :-)

You may be able to see the lovely feather quilting in the blue but I didn't capture it quite as well as I thought I had.

Again, thank you Doniene, it is simply beautiful :-)

I started this post showing you what YD gifted me, but I haven't showed you what else she has been working on....the two wee dogs in the family both have new Christmas jerseys!!

ED's wee dog is a 'proper hunting dog' so his jersey is camoflauge green... and the reindeer could loosely be interpreted as a hunter's deer.

Two lucky little dogs..they were knitted shorter than usual as a nod to our
summer Chirstmas.

This pic shows the 3-dimensional scarf!

Hmmm, my 'group photo shoot' didn't go well!

I know you'll all agree with me in saying that these are all very special gifts, made with love and care; just great ♥
See you next time - I hope to squeeze in one more post, showing my makings, before 2016 ends!

 

'tis the season for leftovers

Interesting vignettes abounded this year with the kiddies doing the decorating!

I hope this blogpost finds you all content after a lovely Christmas. We had a nice day spent with close family, there were lots of laughs, happiness and good food aplenty (hence the title of this post!).
Although I was relaxed with my Christmas crafting, the lead up to the big day was a little busy as YD and I had baking (and other) things we decided we really needed to do - at the last minute of course.
The obligatory Christmas cake *recipe here*

I agree,  my decorating skills need some improvement - think I'll stick to quilting!
A little crumbly but very yummy - the recipe said to leave it a month before cutting - maybe 12 hours wasn't quite long enough!!!

And YD really wanted to make a Gingerbird house —

She thought it was wonky but I thought it pretty darn good for icing under pressure - tastes great too!

Our Gingerbird House

Cold meats and salad made up the rest of the meal plus of course a Pav (had to make two - the first one was an absolute FLOP!!) with fresh fruit salad.

We had a fun time with 'stockings' hung for all. Earlier in the week YD and I spent a day remodelling the step-grandies' Santa sacks - the felt applique on them was becoming hideous so we appliqued over it with huge shapes and added a little fancy-ness :-)

After lunch was scrabble time —

And crackers —

I put our own together this year - it was fun shopping for bits that would fit - how nice to have crackers where people actually wanted the gifts inside them!

Gifts were chosen and received with love. Even the pets were remembered —
(I bet you don't see many 'farm-dogs' with their own squeaky toys - now maybe she won't sneak into the house to steal the wee dog's toys!)

To give credit to the beautiful handmade gifts I received, I'm going to save them for my next post...in the meantime, here is a sneak peek.....

Here's to Christmas leftovers ... not having to think of what to serve for meals for a few days is much appreciated!