Look at this. Seriously, if this doesn't charm the pants off you then you're probably just dead inside.

It came upon a midnight (well... about 7.30pm) clear

So my awesome friend Alison from Stitches of Time gave me a MASSIVE box of Christmas fabric today, and I've been pondering what to do with it every moment since.  I'm planning a few drawstring gift bags, maybe a few stockings, but then I came across the suggestion of Christmas aprons and thought, YES.

I have spent the last hour trawling the internet for a good free pattern and Lo!  LO.  Here is EXACTLY the apron I want to make: Elephant in my Handbag: Christmas Apron Tutorial.

...it's the weekend now (and as per, I am horribly behind in all my bloggery) but I shall see if I can't rustle up a few of these in time for the Craft Fair on the 6th December.  Craft Fair?  Oh, yes.  See, told you I was horribly behind.  :)

Eye pillow and two lavender bags, commission.

OH LAWKS

Of course, the ridiculous thing is that while I haven't blogged for months, I have been sewing like a mad thing the entire time.

In the spirit of my "use stuff up" project, I've been doing 12.5" quilt-as-you-go blocks for the wonderful Soy Amado project:

And I made some pot-holders for a wonderful friend of mine who got married last week in the US.  I wish I could've been there but from what I've seen it was a fab day and she made a gorgeous bride.

And I've joined a real actual sewing bee!  The Siblings Together Bee (mk 2), where we make 2 x 12.5" blocks per month for a year.  These are November's rainbow coloured slab blocks, although I got a bit carried away and made 3...

I also made a commissioned toddler quilt which I didn't even take a photo of, and half a dozen baby quilts for Project Linus which will go to the Calderdale babies ICU.  I didn't take photos of those either.  I am USELESS!

Worst of all, I've realised I never posted the finished Bear Quilts.  So here they are, two disappearing nine-patch quilts in "Indie Chic" by Riley Blake fabrics and a few stash bits and Kona solids, for a pair of twin boys:

Here's a close-up of the Bear Block at the top of each quilt (based on this block at Quilter's Cache, but tweaked a bit for my purposes):

Each quilt had a little teddybear to go with it, made from a Love Patchwork & Quilting pattern.   Unfortunately the bears had to be posted off before the quilts were finished, so I didn't get a proper photo, but I managed this one while the quilt tops were still on the design wall:

There, that'll do for this post.  Now let's see how long before I post again...

Plan for today...

A Fairy Door!  My son and I are big fans of our local toyshop, The Magic Box, who recently started stocking Fairy Doors from the Irish Fairy Door company.

Now, I am all about supporting local business, and I would always buy Trainboy's endless stash of Brio from the Magic Box, but these fairy doors cost £20 and I was pretty sure I could make one myself.  So when Trainboy stated categorically that he wanted one, I got on Google and eBay and sourced the items above for £6.05, including postage.  Now I just have to get on with painting enough coats of enamel paint to make an MDF door glossy, and hopefully Trainboy won't have lost interest by the time I'm finished...  

Piles of neatly-starched 4.5" squares waiting for corner triangles + wicked, muddy hell-cat = GAHHHH

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1n0Us7t

Rather enjoying how these hexies co-ordinate with my cutting mat...