Relaxing time.

This year being very organised paid off.  Not only did I make the gifts, they got posted and will arrive in time for Christmas.  The last week was one of relaxing and baking. Family birthdays and now its is time to get back to doing a lot more everyday stuff.  With the cold weather, we can now get to sort out the inside of the house. Including hand quilting a lap quilt or two,  over the course of winter.

 Tried this recipe, was not sure if it would work, it did.

Traced the Christmas tree, it is now ready to for colour tinting, it is done with wax crayons (see how, here). Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for tutorial.

Also pulled some older patterns out, it is time to do these.

 Traced the outlines on freezer paper. Normally it is traced directly on to the heat and bond, before it is ironed on to the back of the fabric.  Forgot to do this.

The grey yarn arrived.  Will spend some time next year knitting with this yarn.  It feels like bamboo once it is knitted.

Chocolate in the winter, is a great idea.

...especially when it is snowing.

Santa Claus Parade

 It is almost the end of November, cannot believe how fast this year has flown past. This past weekend was the Santa Claus Parade, it was held at night time, so that was a bit different.  To start it all off, we had a big snow storm just a couple of days beforehand.

The theme this year was Vintage. Old truck, on one of the floats, decorated with lights.

A  Model T all dressed up in festive lights.

Last but not least, Santa on his sleigh.  By this stage, most of the kids had burned off the excess energy and was tired enough to go home.  Content to have been able to see Santa and to give him their letters, which kind mail carriers collected along the route.  We were all ready for a cup of hot chocolate, to warm us up.

The Snow arrived.  Turning the world white again.

 Finished two more NWC wallets.

 This one for a budding cook, with a love of pink.

This one was an experiment, with a different stabilizer on the outside fabric.

 Two more beanie hats had to made for some of the guys.

 Retreat bags, all gifts for Christmas.

The matching purses with the bags.

They have all been sent to there new homes, to be opened at Christmas.

Old man Winter is here, with a blast of cold.

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the USA.

A learning curve.

The last while, has been a learning curve.  Playing with more detail and quilting to make a baby quilt panel more interesting.  The other how to install hardware on purses.  A golden rule, is to always test the screws and that the hole actually have the thread to grip the screws.  Doing this tiny test, will assure that the hardware is not faulty. 

 Quilting in the ditch, then around the shapes.  Added more shapes to the elements.

 Making the sun even more happy.

 Birds got wing detail. Flower centers with stars.

Butterflies always have so much patterns on their wings.

Quilted all the backgrounds with stipple fills.

The complete quilt, ready to go to a new baby girl.  The panel is called "Anna's Garden" by Patrick Lose.  Very apt, as the new baby's mom is called Anna too!

 Diane finished her 2017 Stitch-a-long.

Those purses are done.  Only one more to go.

This is what they look like open.

 The zipper pocket all have special theme's.

 This one is for someone who loves silver.

 The big five.

 Science.

They were made from the leftover fabrics from the retreat bags, which they received as gifts for Christmas last year.  One way to make sure the leftovers get used up in a very creative way.

Applique can be used to add so much to a project...