Christmas round up.....

Finally today we took down the decorations and cards and returned the house to some level of normality. I love to have it all packed away ready to start the New Year in a clean and tidy house (not counting the children's bedrooms in that, clearly!)
I love making gifts for people. I think it's so much nicer to give something a little more personal than shopping off a wish list of some kind, although they are handy at times! So I thought I'd do an end of year blog and record the gifts that I made for loved ones this Christmas. There are already plans for things I'd like to make people, more food related gifts next year, so long as I'm organised enough.

This year the gifts were either sewn or assembled with love.

There was of course R's quilt, the first one I've ever made.

I'm pleased to say he loved it and declared it to be this years best present!
The girls got note book covers as they're always jotting things down and making lists.

Last year I made several stationary or make-up rolls. They went to the children and Mr P

Last years 'roll's' piled up and ready to go

This was an extra large one for Mr P to hold all the equipment for his studies.

My Niece, who's a midwife, said how handy she would find one for work and I had intended to make her one through the year, but that didn't happen so I made her one for Christmas, along with one for my nephews wife to keep her make-up brushes in.

I wanted to make something for my sister, but didn't think she'd use a make-up roll or a notebook cover so I decided on a stationary wallet as I know she still likes to write and receive letters. I adapted my note book pattern to accommodate envelopes and stamps ad I was quite pleased with the finished product.

Pockets for envelopes and stamps and a larger section containing writing paper and greetings cards

When closed it looks like a notebook

 I also made and embroidered a cushion for my brother and his wife, who this year returned to the UK to live. I can't find a picture of it but it's similar to the ones in my post mentioned above.

I made some super speedy, thrifty gifts for MB's new baby brother. Baby burping cloths made from Ikea guest towels. Simply take a guest towel and decorate with patchwork or felt shapes for an easy baby gift in no time and at very little cost (The towels were a mere 19p each!!!)

My favourite 3 little felt birdies

Bright patchwork

Baby blues stars

 The towels are the perfect size to pop on your shoulder while bringing up wind and prevent your shoulder from getting covered in sicky dribbles! (I've been there!)

Burping cloths ready to be wrapped

They were so quick to make and I'm hoping they were a welcome gift. I know I would have made good use of them especially with babies 2 & 3!

The children's teachers got sticky ginger cupcakes with tiny little candy canes that I made from icing

And then there were the hampers. We have some special people who are a little tricky to buy for, but for whom we wanted a special gift, so I hand selected little luxuries and filled wooden crates made by my lovely Mr P. 

There was a coffee and sweet treats hamper for Mr P's lovely Mum. Special coffee, black cherries in Kirsch, coffee syrup, nice biscuits and luxury cereal were some of her items.

 Mr P's Dad also had a hamper with nice wines, cheeses, crackers, chutneys and a book about the mapping of steam railways, complete with an engine driver cap! (photo? No, lost in cyber space!)

 The hamper above was for the children's Godparents, who happen to be wonderful friends. The idea behind their hamper was a little box (or crate!) of inspiration for those 'what shall we have for dinner?' moments. sachets, jars and spices and of course those little treat items that don't often make it into the weekly shopping trolley

 And last but not least the Chilli lovers hamper, well that's how it started out. This one was for Mr P's sister Lynsey. I started off finding all manner of chilli items (chocolate, crackers, crisps, jam etc) then I spotted Marmite products and Olives and alcohol and all kinds of things that I thought she'd love. I could barely squeeze them all in but with a bit of jiggling and a lot of patience I somehow managed it!

Stack of Hampers

So there it is, my Christmas round up. I've left you with one last shot of Felix, our cat, gazing longingly at the baked Brie. You'll be pleased to know Mr P and I got a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully better pictures on our blogs from now on!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and send you all best wishes for the coming year x

A quilt's not just for Christmas.....

We have three girls and a boy, which when giving gifts can be tricky. It's easy to give the girls similar things but sometimes hard to find something that suits all four children. I like to make them all a gift at Christmas and last year I made them all rolls ups, make up and stationary ones for the older girls and pencil ones for R and MB.

R's pencil roll in marble fabric

Special button fastner

One for pens and pencils..........

 and one for the handbag

All four children already have cushions so that wasn't an option for this years gift. Our girls all love writing lists and keeping journals so it was easy to choose a notebook cover for them, but not really suitable for R. Maybe when he's older, but not now.
For ages now I've wanted to make a quilt, so I decided that the girls would get their notebook covers and R would get a small simple quilt. Being the 'odd one out' might have benefits after all!
I had a brief chat with my friend N about how I planned to go about making the quilt and she gave me a couple of tips for finishing, which I was grateful for.
I had in my head the design for the quilt, simple squares in rows and offset so that I didn't have to worry too much about lining everything up perfectly. I used a fleece blanket for the backing, meaning I didn't need to worry about wadding, like I say, nice and simple.
I bought some pre-cut novelty 5x5 inch squares and hand cut the rest from fabrics I already had. The backing fleece was red, R's favourite colour so I decided to edge the patchwork section in red cotton that I had left over from making his cushion. Once I had all my pieces together all I needed was a quiet day at home.
When that day came I sorted the squares into rough colour groups and set about laying them out into a pattern I was happy with.

Almost the final design......

I laid all the squares out on a fleece blanket until I was happy with the pattern. The middle section was ten squares by six squares. I sewed each strip of ten squares so that I now had six strips. Each time I sewed a strip together I put it back in it's place and moved onto the next set of ten squares. Once I'd done them all I offset the strips so I had a brick like pattern. I pinned the second strip to the first to sew them together, then when I came to do the third strip I made sure that the squares from the first and third were lined up.

I lined up alternate rows

Once they had all been sewn together I joined a border in plain red cotton. I don't mind admitting that I did give a little squeal of delight once the front was finished, it actually looked how I had hoped it would!
I pinned the front to the new red fleece blanket, face down and sewed round the edge leaving a gap for turning. Once turned (I was very pleased at this point) I stitched round the edge to close the seam and then round the edge of the patchwork section and decided to leave it at that.

The quilt had taken me four and a half hours from start to finish, not including cutting the fabric and without any breaks, As I went along and could see it growing, I simply couldn't stop. For so long I had wanted to try making a quilt, but I really wasn't sure I could do it.

The fabrics included are some I've used before, like the marble and football prints, some that I saved from my Mums house, various novelty ones with bugs and creatures on and two Christmas themed squares, just in case he ever forgets when it was he got this quilt.

Folded ready to be wrapped

I was very pleased with it (can you tell?) It's the perfect size for R. Big enough to go on the end of his bed, for him to snuggle under while he watches a movie or if ever he's poorly and when I finally got to give it to him on Christmas day, despite all his other gifts, he says this is his favourite. Now I'm just wondering how long it will be before the girls ask if they can have one!
It's made me realise I need to 'have a go' more. Maybe the girls will finally get their comfy pants they've been asking me to make for months, after all I've had the fabric and the pattern for ages and now I have the time.