Christmas in July completed...

Well, my Christmas in July gift is completed and I don't want to give it away!

I wonder if I could some how fix Kris Kringle to ensure I get it...

Christmas in July

This Friday night my Friday night sit n sew group are meeting for a Christmas in July dinner and as part the celebration we are swapping a small Christmas present.  The rules are simple, the gift should be handmade and be a needle necessity.  So I have been madly stitching the front cover for a little booklet that will made, somehow, before Friday.  I love the stitchery so much that I am thinking of making a few more...

A Birthday Gift

 Angela, my Aunt, is a quilter too!  It was her birthday last week and I made this finger pin cushion.  She does a lot of hand piecing, appliqué and quilting and I have noticed that others find a finger pin cushion very handy.  She didn't have one so I made it!  I found my inspiration from Shannon makes stuff and Very Big Jen.  Please note that I had a manicure the day of the photo and my purple/black nails were not selected to match the pin cushion, though it is an amazing coincidence!

And what did we do BG (Before Google)?  Every time I want to make a small project I have done a quick search on Google and usually find a number of different and interesting options.  These sites have proven to be very helpful, particularly for me as they offer visual explanations of each step.

My fabulous pencil case, it is fabulous cos I have had it for over ten years and while small is carries a veritable treasure trove of items, anyway it has a broken zipper.  So I guess the next project is a zipper pencil case...

Wrist Pin Cushion

Kathy, my mum, has a long arm quilting machine and she has found that having a wrist pin cushion is essential when working on a quilt.  A couple of months ago while I was visiting her home I noticed the wrist pin cushion that she was using.  It was obviously made very quickly and was not very attractive.  The worst part was that as it had no backing material most pins scratched her arm if they went into the pin cushion too far.  Kathy said that she would love a pin cushion for Christmas.  I got the hint but I didn't want to make just a plain boring pin cushion.  A quick search of the Internet resulted in a number of inspiring options from Girl in Pink, Flutterby Patch, Embroidery Garden, Needle Book, and Keyka Lou.  I decided to make one that was was a combination of a few of them, a wider cuff would ensure that the elastic would not leave marks on the arm and I decided to use templastic to create a hard disk to ensure that the pins wouldn't hit the skin when in the pin cushion.  I used leftover Mrs March fabric from my Antique Flower Garden Quilt to create a Jane Austenish pin cushion!