Library book bags....

 A few weeks before Christmas I was asked by a friend if I could make up a couple of library book bags for her niece and nephew so I put Pinterest to good use and found this tutorial. I am so pleased with how these bags turned out as was my friend thank goodness :-) The tutorial was really easy to follow and I managed to make both bags in 1 day which was a bonus considering I left them till the last week before Christmas to make them.

 My friends niece likes 'owls' so I appliqued an owl to the front pocket and found an owl print to use as the library card pocket that is on the front of the strap. The main striped fabric is a cotton twill that was a leftover remnant in my stash from a skirt I made Caitlin when she was about 5 I think.

For the boy's version I found some striped canvas by "Prints Charming" at Spotlight and added some whale fabric from my stash which helped me come up with the whale appliqué on the front pocket. These bags are really roomy and strong with a 3 inch wide strap that is made with a creamy coloured canvas and they are fully lined with "french seams" no less :-) Makes me wish my girls were younger so I could make them one each although I think I might use this pattern to make my eldest daughter a laptop bag with a few measurement alterations of course and at 15 years I don't think she will want any appliqué on the front either.

A surprise in the post....

 I am feeling very blessed and grateful today to have made such good, supportive and generous friends through my blog. One such friend is Karen who is an Australian blogger who today surprised me with this Christmas parcel. Included in it was an Aneela Hoey quilting journal which  is filled with blank thick artist quality paper and some graph paper at the back and I can't wait to start using it. She also included a pretty embroidered laced edged linen and a very much needed bookmark. Much needed because I currently have no less than 5 books on the go. Yes books are my therapy at the moment as are girlfriends :-) 

Thank you Karen, you are so generous and thoughful :-)

 I have also been meaning to share this parcel that I recieved a couple of weeks ago just in time for the Christmas decorating. Back sometime in the beginning of November I agreed to do a Christmas ornament swap with Julie who follows my blog and is unfortunately not a blogger herself but I think she should be as she is a very clever crafter going from what she sent me for this swap. Everything is perfectly made right from the pretty wrapping of the parcel itself.

Julie generously made me not one or two ornaments but four ornaments all beautifully and perfectly crafted. 

Thank you Julie for your generosity and I would gladly do another swap with you next year!

I hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful and joyous Christmas/New year holiday break. For the last month I have been very busy sewing things for my shop and also some last minute Christmas gifts so will back here soon to share what has kept me away from blogging these last 3 weeks.

More baby sewing .....

Have been busy again making more crib sized quilts and bibs in some fun bright colours. I used the same patterns as last time just because I think these fun bright fabrics need simplicity to stand out and do the talking themselves;-)

The baby boy version is made up of mostly spots, stripes and stars but has two novelty prints for added interest. The teddy bear fabric is leftover from items I made when my girls were babies so not too long ago
;-)

The other novelty print is this duck/rabbit print that is from my Aunts sewing days when her girls were small so it's genuine vintage fabric that I try to use sparingly:-)
 

I used this same cute vintage duck print as the focus fabric for a matching little bib.
 

And here's the baby girl quilt in lovely bright greens,yellows and pinks. I've had these fabrics put aside to make a girls quilt for what seems like ages. I often put groups of fabrics together for future projects but then never seem to get around to actually making anything so it feels good to have finally done something with these fabrics.

  A couple of my favourite feature fabrics in this quilt are these little yellow chicks and the green hen fabric which were both begging to be made into something sweet for a baby;-)

    I've kept the quilting simple too with just straight lines using a matching variegated thread then bound it with a solid pale pink.

    .....and a matching bib made with some leftover pieces from the quilt. Both these quilts and matching bibs are for sale here in my Etsy shop just in time for Christmas :-)