December Birdie Stitches

I managed to finish up the final Birdie Stitches block on Christmas Eve -

I changed this one a little bit from Little Miss Shabby's design because with the parcels in the original it was quite similar to my redesign of the November block (which I redesigned because Thanksgiving is not a holiday I celebrate).  In part, that's been the beauty of this BOM - Corey's designs have been gorgeous but there has been plenty of scope to rework those that didn't quite work for me.

So, to add to my 2012 stitching plans I now have 12 Birdie blocks to make up into a quilt.  One of these days ....

Hope you are all putting together your 2012 stitching plans too - look forward to seeing what 2012 will bring from your creative hands!

Attention MAC quilters

If you're a MAC user and have wistfully read and re-read the system requirements for EQ7 and mourned its incompatibility with MAC then you need Jackie's great tutorials for MAC Numbers.

Check out her blog and you tube posts here:

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2
• Lesson 3

I am so delighted to find these tutorials and Jackie's videos are nicely paced and very well explained, so if you fancy a go click the links above.

See what you will be able to do after just the first couple of lessons -

Can't wait to play around a bit more!

I also think those of you working with Microsoft Excel could probably do something very similar if you were able to work out the Excel equivalent functions that Jackie points to in Numbers.  Might be worth a peek!

Christmas Gift Make Revealed

I wasn't able to reveal this little Christmas gift before the big day in case my mum should take a peek at the blog as she does from time to time.  But now that it has been safely delivered and opened I can tell all.

I stitched her up a little mug rug after my son volunteered me to make her one when we visited one afternoon.  I casually pretended not to take the suggestion under my notice, but then secretly began planing this one for her.

I made fabric choices from the remains of the fabrics used to make her this quillow last year - 

And, I chose a paper pieced angel design because she's a bit partial to cutesy angels.  Some of those pieces were really teeny but it was lots of fun to see her take shape in the fabric.

I did add a wee bit of Christmassy folksy angel fabric (mum's style) on the back but deliberately left the front non-Christmassy so she can use it for her cuppa for longer than just a few days now before she packs away the Christmas decorations!

Hope you like it mum!

Secret Quilt Revealed

For those of you who didn't spot my accidental publish of this wee post back when the quilt was just finished here's the "official" Secret Quilt reveal. 

So remember I started with this

and a sketch of what I was aiming for (I only made a few changes to the plan in the end).

Then I spent a lot of time with one of these

nervously wringing my hands and hoping it would all fit together.

And it did!

Here it is in all it's Roman glory!

I know the border block is Greek key but the Romans used it lots too.

This applique block is the Eagle - symbol carried by the Roman Legions (or something like that)

When Constantine became Emperor and introduced Christianity across the Roman Empire, he had the Roman legions carry this Chi-Rho symbol before them.  Chi and Rho are the first two Greek symbols of the name of Christ.

Close-up of the border blocks and the foundation pieced lettering

Washed and dried and ready for wrapping.

The wrinkly crinkliness after tumble drying hides my not-quiet-so-straight-line quilting!

My 2011 Secret Quilt project was for my lovely hubby who seriously enjoys Roman history.  I'm sure he'll be able to tell me that some of the "Roman" elements are historically inaccurate - but I did try Hubs!   Can't imagine there'll ever be another quilt like this one is the world ever!  Unless, of course, anyone would like me to do a BOM quilt-a-long?.....

Kidding!

Hope you and yours all had a fabulous Christmas Holiday!

PS - I think he liked it - a bottle of whiskey and a quilt to snuggle in, what more could a man want from Santa?

Drumroll please ...

DS obliged this afternoon by drawing the winner of my little Blogiversary giveaway. So without further ado, the winner is ......

no 7 who was...

Congratulations Catherine!  I'll be in touch to get your address to send these lovelies to.

Thank you all for entering the giveaway, but mostly thanks for all your kind words and comments over the year.  I hope you all had a good Christmas and that the things you were most looking forward to lived up to your expectations.

Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas!

Last Pressies Finished!

Ssshhh......

You need to be quiet please because my sewing machine is sleeping.  She is having a well deserved rest after her pressie making fest.  The last of my presents is stitched, pressed and wrapped and here they are  in a quick sneek peek for you -

made from Artsy Craftsy Babe's Pleated Tote Bag tutorial

triple pocket inside the bag - I love this lining!

Someone has dropped lots of hints about the shape and size of a bag I made for myself earlier this year being just perfect so this one is now taped up inside festive paper with their name on the tag.  Bit nervous about my fabric choice on this one. I love it and would happily keep it for myself, just not so sure what the recipient will make of it.

I had a little play with quilting the lining on this one and really like the wavy line gridwork that I ended up with.  I would like to try this out on a quilt sometime soon (is it just me who thinks it's scary to try something different when quilting?), just have to pluck up the courage to give it a go.

And (drumroll please) as my final handmade pressies I finished up this bouquet of crocheted brooches.

A couple of these are specifically destined for some stockings but the rest are little pot luck pressies for those who would like one at our family Boxing Day gathering.  I know you don't see blue roses too many places but I think the blue/teal ones are my favourites in this bunch.

Phew!  It's been quite a month or two of making, but I do hope it'll be worth it when folks open their gifts this weekend.

Hope your gift making is going well too!