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Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is creeping up on us..... and I have made a start on my Christmas present making. By it's very nature I can't share much here, but there's a few things I can show you. I'm also going to update my slideshow with some cards I made for last Christmas and some other photos I found on my camera before I wiped it!

To start with I spent yesterday morning finishing off four cushions: two for James, and two for Jane (guess who's is which!)

Firstly two pirate cushions. Both are the same so here is a picture of back and front. The pirate fabric came from Harrogate and the spotty and stripey fabrics came from the Fat Quarters. The cushions have envelop backs to I don't have to do any slip stitching, and so they are easier to wash (vital for a three-year-old!).





The pink ones are inevitably for Jane. The pattern came from a summer issue of Qutmaker magazine, and I have been collecting up fabrics to make a quilt of the same pattern but in blues and browns (with cream instead of black). The pink fabrics came from Linda, as I only needed a1.5inch strip of each colour, so she got back nearly a full fat quarter. The black is a tied dyed effect and came from the Fat Quarters. I have quilted both cushion covers - my first attempt at machine quilting - using an orange peel motif. I am thilled with the result - I hope Jane is too.

After the first failed attempt at making a mobile phone case for Vicky (the phone was just a bit too big - the case was fine - it was the phone's fault) i have now comleted a replacement (on the left).

The one on the right is a joint birthday present - it is a phone sock for Aunty Barbara (Aunty Barbara's birthday present) which will stop her using an actual sock to protect her phone (birthday present for Benjamin who seems to be a bit embarrased!). The one for Vicky is exactly the same as the original, but a little bigger. For Aunty Barbara's I used some fabric I got at Harrogate - I bought two fat quarters, one with a small print pattern and a matching one with a larger print. I used the smaller print pattern for the back of the case and the beinding round the top, then cut out a single motif from the large print pattern and appliqued it to the front.

Having already mentioned that it was recently Aunty Barbara's birthday, there was of course also a card: this stargazer lily design came from Cross Stitch Collection over the summer. I've already stitched a slightly smaller design from the same collection and I bought the fabric (turquoise 22hpi linen) in hope of stitching the main, larger design.

Will keep you updated as and when I make something that I am able to share this side of Christmas.

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