Some random finishes

 Just need to record these finishes while I remember!

A cosy knit, made from mostly op shopped wool.

The Dogs in Sweaters block has become...

 a pillowcase.

And a Christmas Mug Rug!

I think my grandsons will love this!

Have you started your Christmas sewing yet?

Happy days!

SUZ

Of Needle and Thread....

If you're here for some quilting inspiration or sewing eye candy, you may wish to save yourself the time and leave now!

My mojo has temporarily left me...

although I have finished Finnley's quilt top.

The orange gingham I chose from GJ Fabrics is called 

Midnight Magic by April Rosenthal

and suits it perfectly, I think.

While purchasing batting for this quilt, I snagged four 

new clothes patterns for $20!

I'm thinking I might have a go at a patchwork coat for 

next winter.

This little tree is decorated with mostly handmade, felt 

Christmas decorations, some made my be, others by 

friends.

Finally I have been stitching together an Advent 

Calendar- 

a cute Christmas Panel from Red Tractor designs.....

Look at all those wonderful Australian references...

a real Aussie Christmas!

Happy sewing,

SUZ

Trixie Zip Pouches

I really should finish this quilt. 

but I am not ready to commit all that time into 

basting, quilting and binding in the lead up to 

Christmas.

So I decided I wanted to make some 

Trixie Zipper Pouches.

pattern available here, if you want to make one or 

two or twenty of your own!

This fabric was gifted to me. It is gorgeous!

It takes more time to choose fabric, trim and quilt 

the fabric than it does to construct them.

The last one took me a little over an hour to make!

And that's doing some final hand stitching inside 

rather than forcing ten+ layers of fabric 

through the machine and risking all sorts of mishaps!

I stopped, for the moment, at four!

Mr PnP went for a little road trip as soon as work 

finished.

The silos north of Benalla had been on my 'must-see' 

list for some time.

This beautiful painting (below) is in a church.

 in the town of Goorambat.

This one dedicated to those who have fought in wars.

And this one in honour of GJ Coles, the founder of 

Coles stores here in Australia.

And this Christmas tree is tucked away in an alley in 

Chiltern...

And one last thing...

a couple of Christmas decorations made using a free 

tutorial from here!

They are by Amy at NanaCompany!

(thanks Debbie for pointing out the wrong link- all fixed now!)

I hope to be back with that one quilt finish before 

2019 is over.

Until then, Happy Christmas from my house to yours.

SUZ

Bags, bags and more bags!

I have had the WeeBraw bag pattern 

(available here)

for a few months....

And now that school holidays have started I decided 

to give one a try.

                                              But could I stop at one?

NO!

  I found myself delving through my fabric stash for

                  all sorts of pretty combinations!

 If you make the linings from different prints to the 

outer pieces, 

 there are five different fabrics to choose....

and a little piece of ribbon for the tab.

 So I kept going and going!

 Sort of like picking fabric for a quilt,

but much quicker to get a pleasing finish!

It became a bit of a production line as I perfected 

the order in which to sew everything! 

Luckily I have a gift list of recipients ready...

I just need to decide which one I want to keep for 

myself...

     
            Of course, there is the smaller version to try...

and the possibility of making it bigger too!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Christmas Tree Skirt

As we are moving into Summer, there is not much 

use for Christmas quilts, 

although I do have a couple that I bring out for six 

weeks or so.

And I've made my share of Christmas stockings

over the years....

But I felt my Christmas tree could use a skirt.

I decided it would be quicker to make my own 

pattern.


First I measured from the base of my tree out to 

give me a diameter of 18 inches.

(You may want to make yours larger, of course.)

Then I cut a piece of brown paper 18" square and 

rounded off the outer edge.

(I also cut a semi-circle out of the centre, but you 

could probably do this at the end.)

I folded the paper on the diagonal a few times 

to accommodate the fabric I had on hand.

I used one of these wedges for my pattern.

I made one from freezer paper and ironed it onto the 

back of my fabric, adding a 1/4" seam when cutting.

Then I simply sewed the 32 wedges together, 

leaving the last seam open.

Ignore that lump, everything flattened once it was cut away!

One metre of Christmas fabric was enough for the 

backing,

and about 4m of binding!

Some simple quilting...

and VOILA...

Happy sewing!

SUZ