Happy New Year!

to all my blog friends. Best wishes for 2012, and may all your projects be finished!

My patchwork gifts are appreciated!

Thank you to those who commmented on the memory table runner in my previous post. My SIL absolutely loved it. When she unwrapped it, her face was at first mildly interested as she unfolded the fabric, but when she opened it up and looked at the photos, her mouth dropped and she said "Oooooh!" Looked over at me, then came around the table and hugged me, saying "It's beautiful, I love it! I will hang it up", and when I said it was just a mat or runner, she said "I'm not going to put anything on top of that!"
Remember the My Pantry project I made for Ken's niece's daughters? The one I was going to keep? Well, I took it over to show them on Xmas Day, just to see their reaction. They LOVED it! Started playing with it straight away, ignoring their other gifts, re-arranging the items on the shelves. I said "Mummy said not to give you this yet because you won't look after it" and two little faces looked up at me and said in unison "Yes we will!" I showed it to their Mum and she thought it was really cute. I reminded her of what she said when I told her I was making it, and she said "Oh no, I won't let them wreck it. We'll hang it on the wall and they can play with it from there". So it is going to be where it was meant for in the first place, and I'm happy about that. We haven't got any more room on our walls here to hang it, so I'd rather it be somewhere that it can be seen and played with!
Addition to original post: I forgot to mention above that I also gave the kiddies the rug mugs/placemats that I made for them months ago. They liked those too, and when I explained the mats are to go on the table for their bowls and plates, Olivia (the older girl) said "No, I want it on the wall above my bed". She must have been thinking about it and the Pantry hanging, because later on she came up to me and said "Auntie Gina, did you make all those things?" When I said yes, she said "You are a good sewer" {soh-er, not sue-wer as in sewerage!}. If we lived closer to them, I would start teaching her some stitching, but they are an hour's drive from our place, so that is not going to happen any time soon.

Memory Quilt table runner.

My SIL gave me a book on making memorabilia Quilts, and I have been playing around with a few ideas ever since. SIL was impressed with my experiments, so I decided to make her something for Christmas this year.

The photo of the left is of SIL's great aunt Emily who was on the stage, and is still talked about by younger members of the family, even though not many of them ever met her. The other pic is of Ken and his sister with their Dad. I'm not really sure if I like the lace around the photos, although everyone I've shown it to assures me that it adds that 'olde world' touch. I added it because the whole thing looked unfinished without something around the edge of them. Incidentally, I put the runner on the carpeted floor to take this picture; the dark orange/brown edge is the carpet, not the border of the runner.

'Mollie Makes' cute craft!

The English magazine 'Mollie Makes' has taken off here - according to my local newsagent, they sell them the minute they are on display. I've been able to snap up a few after the first two issues that Jane kindly sent me, and one of them had the instructions for making this cute penholder. Here she is outside for her first photo.

I took her inside to take a more intimate picture with her knickers showing!

This is what she looks like from the back - a pocket sewn on for a pen or pencil to slip in to, and perched in a cotton reel.

She is made entirely from felt, except for the knickers.  I used the colours I had on hand, but if I make more of these, I'll buy some different colours.  The 'blonde' hair looks all wrong to me.  Maybe next time I'll give her black hair and a yellow dress!

Skills Sampler Block 19

I didn't do the previous four blocks because I wasn't keen on the designs or the method used to make them (paper piecing). But now we are working with applique, and that is right up my alley. Leila has named this block "Orange Windows" - probably because her example had more orange than other colours. I used up odd scraps of any coloured fabric that I had in my stash, so I can't call it Orange Windows! I'm sure I've seen this pattern elsewhere, but I don't know what the name of it is.

Rainbow kittens layout - please advise!

I have finally finished the blanket stitching around all six Rainbow kittens, and they ready to have the borders attached, and made up into a small quilt/wall hanging. I've taken photos of them in various positions, but can't made up my mind which looks the best! Any comments would be greatly appreciated :-)
(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

New additions to the Collection.

One of my colleagues at the Embroiderers Guild gave me some pretty linens yesterday - a crocheted doiley, an unfinished supper cloth and a Duchess set.