Christmas treasures

The Club Quilt Christmas party was wonderful as always. I received these gorgeous cushions from my lovely friend Leanne. These cushions are very special as Leanne is the mother of lots of young children, and has very little time to stitch. Thank you Leanne - I love them both & appreciate every one of your meticulous stitches! Leanne cleverly selected parts of this little Nancy Halverson print to embellish with stitching. She has backstitched over the wording, emphasised the the angel's dress & wings with running stitch & added three very sweet heart shaped buttons. This cushion is also a Nancy Halverson design, and I will know when this little ewe is lost because her rusty bell jingles. Too cute! My gift was received by Dale, and she was either pleased, or a very good actress! No doubt, Peg will have the details of the night & all the wonderful gifts on the Club Quilt blog over the next few days.

Happy 'Club Quilt' Christmas

Finished just in time, here is my swap gift for our Christmas party tonight. It is a Bronwyn Hayes Christmas design (Australian Homespun No.32). I was trying to achieve something Christmassy without using fire-engine red & bottle green. I have used some favourite Robyn Pandolph fabrics. I'm not completely happy with the inner border - not enough contrast? But the 'candy-cane' piping makes up for it I think. The piping was a nightmare to do, but it was worth it. In an attempt to avoid zippers and buttonholes (!) I decided to close the back of the cushion with fabric ties. I will do that again. Really easy & so much more interesting than a zip. I've now only to wait nervously to see if the recipient likes it!

School is out ... almost

Three teacher presents, done and dusted! Decided to keep things simple (for once!) and make them identical. I love how the 'Dick & Jane' fabrics have worked for these. Also really love the dotty Faber-Castell pencils. The inspiration for the pencil rolls is entirely from Pink Chalk Studio. My children are a little uncertain about giving their teachers coloured pencils as a gift, but I have pulled rank (a mother's privilege!) and hope they will be well received. They will be delivered on the last day of school tomorrow. I am busy completing my Club Quilt gift for our Christmas Party tonight. Not at all happy with how it is progressing. You know how you have a picture in your head of how you want something, but can't seem to translate it to fabric? Have to push on with it now though as I'm out of time. I will post about it later tonight, after the big event!