Merry Christmas from Meribel

Having a wonderful time. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.

Embroidery and daffodils

After the storms of last week it is like spring around here.



The reindeer is a DMC free pattern and the hedgehog is from welovefrenchknots blog
Just trying to blog from itouch

Beechnut Fairy Cross Stitch

Here's a closer view of her, she's soooo cute....



Having seen all the lovely Autumn inspired handmade items over at Stiched in Color - I was reminded of this that I made a few years ago. 

It now hangs on my mum & dad's wall and I think it took about 10 years on and off to complete!  I don't do as much cross stitch now as I find it time consuming and also a bit restrictive as I need to follow the pattern carefully.  I have several that still need finishing, including one from a charity shop that I have just seen is £79 new....so I might dig that one out of the cupboard.  I wonder how many part finished sewing projects are hidden away in other crafters houses, when they move on to a new craft?

More Shabby Than Chic Union Jack

My first quilt finished and now on show at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  I previously blogged here about the making of it.  The pattern is over in the Moda Bake Shop and it is by Lynne of Lily's Quilts.

I decided to machine the binding and I was very happy it worked first time as I used this tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts.

As I used some donated scraps I do not know what fabric it is made from, except there is some French General Rouenneries in there, so if you want to play i spy, then please let me know what you can see.




The pattern requires large pieces of newspaper to be covered in fabric and then stitched to the paper.  I thought this was a fantastic idea and I sacrificed my souvenir copy of the Royal Wedding as it was the largest paper I had.

Echino Patchwork Purse

I finished a few things over the weekend. This little clasp was provided free with Mollie Makes magazine. I used the tutorial on U-Handbag and replaced the fabric with this wonderful Echino Patchwork print that Nikki who blogs at Sew Quine very generously supplied when I won her birthday giveaway.
I also needed to finish this mug rug for a friend's birthday - 2 weeks ago! but I have never quilted or bound anything before - so this was my first attempt, no practice or tension check, I just got on with it and this was the result. I was trying to do "an apple for teacher" as she is a deputy head.  I think the front is Spring/Summer and the back Autumn/Winter.

Embroidered Penguin Book Cover

Having read a post over on Lily's Quilts Blog about her Penguin Book quilt I remembered this book cover that I made a friend last Christmas. Karen is a very talented interior designer, who has a pasion for Penguin Books, and her Blog is full of artistic and colour inspiration. I didn't have a pattern I just made it up as I went along and as I didn't know how to print on fabric, I embroidered all the words and the little penguin.

Sorry to publish this twice but the pictures never seem to load......anyone know a blog on how to blog?

Shabby Chic Union Jack Quilt

When I saw the pattern for this quilt I thought it would be an easy option for my second quilt top - I say top as I haven't yet quilted the first one I made. The pattern is over in the Moda Bake Shop and it is by Lynne of Lily's Quilts. Don't be put off by the fact that you need 8 charm packs, as you only use half of each pack. I went for a more shabby version as I used some scraps donated to the quilt group I go to.
It is a very well written pattern and it involves sewing the overlapping scraps on to newspaper cut to the correct size. I liked this as the seam allowance didn't matter too much and where I had a few holes after I had peeled off the newspaper - I just covered them over with more scraps.
Here are some of the scraps sewn on the paper. All the edges are pinking sheard, wish I had a pinking blade for my cutter as it would have been a lot easier!

I love the colours and Mr ID says he would like one too as it reminds him of a flag made out of scraps during the war. This one is being given away to a very deserving lady who needs a little happiness in her life...and some hugs too. So I am now collecting red, white and blue scraps......it may be a while before I make the second one.

The pictures have been taken using an App called Instagram - makes them look "cool" quickly, but changes the colours.

Syko Tomte

This is a Tomte I made from a pattern in Scandinavian Stitches by Kajsa Wickman. The book is a wonderfull collection of small, cute sewing projects for each of the seasons. Kajsa also has a fantastic blog over here ...........http://syko.typepad.com/

Tom Tomte loves his "Bliss" fabric scarf and his pocket looks a bit like the vintage quilt cover he is sat on!

I'm linking up to......