I made a point of laying these fabrics out at the sunniest point of the day to get some good pictures as we are into the short days of December here in Canada. I have this set of fabrics to give away because I accidentally ordered it twice - you know, forgot about the pre-order I made - I am sure no one but me ever does that. So I tucked it away knowing that Giveaway Day would arrive.
To be eligible to win this excellent set of fabrics, leave me a comment letting me know your favourite movie of all time - yes, if you have two or more favourites you can tell me all of them. I am hoping to snuggle under some quilts, relax and watch some movies over the holidays and need some new ideas.
I am happy to ship anywhere in the world, so everyone is welcome to enter. I will draw the winner at 5 p.m. PST on Friday, December 7, 2012.
**** You must either have an email attached to your profile or leave your email address in the comment to be eligible for the prize. I will immediately draw another name if you skip this step, and since this is such excellent fabric, you don't want that to happen. ****
********** This draw is now over and the winner has been drawn, it is Leanne who blogs at Daisy and Jack, go here to read about the draw. Thank you to everyone who entered and to Sew Mama Sew for hosting Giveaway Day. ************
Remember, there are 5 different giveaway groups at Sew Mama Sew to enter, good luck!
Those are my November makes. I have to say I spent a lot of November making that weekender bag, if you missed it, the post about making it is here.
I am going to take that Weekender some places - this week I purchased airline tickets. Marianne from The Quilting Edge and I are going to Texas in February - we have tickets to Quiltcon. And I have a ticket to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London in July too - it is time to make the travel arrangements. That Weekender Bag is going to see the world.
Since the November makes are looking a bit thin, I wanted to show off my two other big projects this month. The Oakshott Lipari table runner is coming along. Those 3" Ohio star blocks are not a quick make but worth the fuss. Maybe I can get this one done this weekend, or at least over the next week.
And here is my Mod Pop so far. I am going large - it will be queen size - so I have 6 more blocks to make this weekend and the edge bits. Cindy from Fluffy Sheep Quilting has sponsored a give away of a Mermaid Splash fat quarter bundle in the Mod Pop Quilt Along for finishing the Mod Pop tops by the end of Sunday. Since everyone is quilting along with me, I have to keep the pace myself. And I cannot wait to quilt this one so I am backing it with a nice sheet so I can go from top to quilting without delay.
I am linking to Lynne at Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day. Do head over there to see what all the wonderful bloggers have been doing this month.
When Rebecca Lynne, from Making Rebecca Lynne asked me to host one of the Holiday Editions of the Thursday Think Tank she asked me what I could write about that had to do with the holidays. I said I was trying to think up gifts for the many young people on my list and so this topic was born. I am going to give you some of my ideas for the quilter/sewer who wants to give a gift that will be loved and appreciated, but wants to have fun sewing it, not shopping.
Quilts
I have to say that all of the quilts I have given to people who are 11 - 29 have been received with great joy and continue to be well loved. And although is it not long until the holidays, there is actually time to make a quilt if you want to and don't yet have one on the go. Quick quilt ideas start with making a lap size quilt, not a full bed size. Then consider an easy pattern. A couple of my favourites is a pattern of simple stripes or large squares - or use a stack of bee blocks just sitting on your shelf waiting for you. You might want to make the Jelly Roll Race quilt - a great video for doing that is here:
Cases and covers
It seems that all young people now have several electronic devices that they use and actually value sufficiently to want to take care of them. So cases and covers for cell phones, ipads, computers, small, portable game machines, kindles, hobos, other readers, netbooks, the list goes on and on.
A simple cover can be made from a front and inside fabric with some quilt batting/wadding sandwiched in between. You can can add hand or machine quilting, piece it, use an orphan quilt block and if you like, use flannel, polar fleece or felt for extra protection for the electronic item on the inside. Simple cases can close with a button, a zipper, velcro, snaps, ties, or whatever you like. There are many patterns and tutorials for such cases, check out the Sew Mama Sew blog over this last month if you are looking for start on excellent tutorials.
Zipper pouches and cases
Zippered pouches of all kinds deserve special consideration as they are perfect for electronics and also for make up, trading cards, art supplies, school supplies, or collections of all kinds. Debbie at A Quilter's Table posted a tutorial for the triple zipper pouch here. It would be perfect for a game machine, games, charger cord, stylus and earbuds. If you were to use some Japanese style fabrics for a teenager or a tween I am pretty sure they would love it. There are many tutorials for other styles of zippered pouches available too.
Bags
A tote bag of any sort will also be used by many (although not all, at least in my experience) tweens, teens and twenties. I think you need to gauge their taste carefully and consider what you put on the outside. It could be modern, but also consider applique of a favourite logo or character they love from a movie, game, video or book, or maybe more Japanese fabric. If you put another gift in the bag - a new electronic device, video game or movie, fantastic new running shoes or a cute new piece of clothing - you also can use the bag for a lesson in environmental stewardship. A tutorial for my bag is here, and there are hundreds of other excellent tutorials available.
Gifts for the apartment
If you are luck enough to be gifting to twenties who have actually vacated your family home, remember that they are just beginning to fill their homes with lovely and useful items. A set of hot pads/oven mits might also ease your worries about their kitchen skills and are almost always needed. You could put them in a tote bag, along with useful kitchen dishes, interesting food or a recipe book. I don't have a pattern for this set, I just made them up as I went, but again, a quick google search or two will lead you to many tutorials and patterns.
As you start to think about holiday gifts, you will have many more inspired ideas. Feel free to share all your ideas at the Think Tank.
This post is part of the Holiday Edition of the Thursday Think Tank. You can link up a post about anything you have been thinking about, it does not have to be about the holidays or gifts. And you can link up more than once, as the blog hop continues, for a chance to win. Also, do follow the links to see what interesting thoughts are being shared.
You can find the Holiday Edition of the Thursday Think Tank here:
Link up any post from the past week that features some creative thinking going on in your creative world. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank. TTT is all about whatever you are currently brainstorming and would like feedback or encouragement on!
Somewhere in your post, link back here to my blog. (Or grab the T.T.T. button for your sidebar.)
Comment on at least a few of the other links—because what fun is a linky party without comments?
Sometimes I just need to do something easy. This light weight baby blanket took no time, in fact I thought about it far longer than it took to make. It is about 36" square.
I used two prints from Bella, by Lotta Jansdotter, and I backed it with flanel. Rather than cutting the flanel wrong (tonight I was truly having cutting issues so I was pretty sure I would mis-measure), I laid the flanel on the floor and smoothed the top on it just like when you baste a quilt only without the batting and with right sides together. Then I cut around the edge with my scissors. I sewed around the edge leaving a hole to turn it through.
I did just enough stitching to keep it all nice after washing, which I will do tomorrow.
It looks nice all folded, although the pictures are questionable, taken after dark and all. Time to get out the fancy lights for winter photos I think, thank you for bearing with me in the meantime.
This is destined, along with Whitewater, for a new family baby who is due very soon. I might have to make another of these light blankets tomorrow, they are fast and lovely.
I cannot resist showing off Whitewater again, and in the summer sun too, I really love that little quilt.
Yesterday I did make more Ohio stars with my Oakshott Lipari fabrics. I took them out in the 10 minutes of sunny sunshine for a picture so you can see them glowing a little.
The sky was overcast by the time this much was done. It is hanging on my closet door now while I decide about borders. The star blocks and the plain linen squares are 3" finished so the runner/wall hanging is about 33" x 9" right now.
It is a week with blogging homework. On Thursday I am hosting the Thursday Think Tank for Making Rebecca Lynne. I will share my ideas for holiday presents for Tweens, Teens and Twenties. You can link up a post where you do some thinking, about anything at all.
Then on Monday December 3 is the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. I have a set of Bella by Lotta Jansdotter fat quarters to give away, so you don't want to miss that either. Oh, and maybe you will plan a give away too?
And finally, you will be pleased to know that in this round, so far, the score is: Lurgy 0, Leanne 1.
Later I finished sewing. These Ohio stars finish at 3" square.
I need more green ones, but it is late now. I will put them in the sun in the morning and take more pictures. And make more green ones, and then make them into something nice.
I worked hard this week and the lurgy is lurking again so I am taking it easy in the hopes of fighting it off. There were naps and healthy food in between star making. And tea.
