Sew Seasonal Blog Hop!

Welcome to my day of the Sew Seasonal Blog Hop!

You might see something that will get your Christmas 

sewing off to a good start!

I gave you a little sneak peek of what I was making a 

few days ago...

It is a paper pieced block...

I trace my block onto drawing paper that is 

reasonably see-through!

And sew through the paper...

It does tear away very easily at the end!

I also cut my fabrics to the rough size required before

I start! 

Now you can tell what I made, can't you?

 I was having so much fun, I made....

not one, but two more!.....

In three different sizes!

I made these into a pillowcase!

Do you want to know why?

When I was growing up in the sixties, we didn't have    

Christmas stockings....

A Santa Sack!

We hung a pillowcase from the end of our beds and    

that's where Father Christmas left our presents!

It was known as a Santa Sack!

Does that seem weird?

Greedy?

Did anyone else do this?

I'd love to know your thoughts!

Kelsey over @ KelseySews is also 'sewing seasonally' 

today!

Be sure to stop by and say hello!

And now a word from our sponsors - 

lots of great prizes ahead!

Fat Quarter Shop

Awesome Launch Day giveaways at Blossom Heart Quilts and Quiet Play

2 x $10 vouchers

Intrepid Thread

Joy by Kate Spain - full fat quarter bundle + panel

Fabric Worm

2 x $25 vouchers

Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts

1 x $25 voucher

Stash Modern Fabric

$30 gift voucher

Blossom Heart Quilts

Japanese Christmas fabric - fat eighth bundle

Quiet Play

Charm pack

Plus, are you needing some Christmas fabric supplies for the hop?

Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics has set up a special discount code on Christmas fabrics in her shop! 

If you need supplies, be sure to check it out. 

The code is "sewseasonal10" and is for 10% off all Christmas fabric (Joy, Blitzen, and Sentiments) through November 18th. 

A charm pack or layer cake will work perfectly for Ornamental!

Full details can be found @
Kirsty's blog Quiet Play

or 

Alyce's blog Blossom Heart Quilts

Happy sewing!

SUZ

MQPS.....

stands for Modern Quilted Pillow Swap!

This is secret sewing at its best!

Simply...make a pillow and send a photo to Tiina the 

administrator!

Close up!

They are published on Flick'r under the MQPS 

banner.....

When the time is up everyone with a pillow entered 

ranks them!

The back.....

It's fun trying to guess who, from this group of 60+ 

sewers, made what!

The maker of the pillow with the most votes receives 

her first choice, and so on! 

This is the pillow I made...

inspired by a mini quilt I saw here!

I used my Echo scraps and Kona Ash.

It's now off to its new home,

and I'm waiting to see which one is mine?

It's a shame MrPnP was partial to this one......

Typical!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

A Spot of Decorating...

The idea started with this lovely fabric from my dear friend Mary...

Sorry - it does need an iron!


and was made into this......



Well, this is the back, actually!

The back of this......

I'm loving my new cushion!


I want to make another cushion using the bike fabric as a feature on the front!

And a trip to Ikea scored me some fabric to match....

Not a bad purchase, for less than $5.00!

Now I'd like your advice on this....

I have hand quilted quite extensively in the blocks of my "Favourite Things" Quilt......


but does it need quilting in the blue sashing pieces?


I have some lovely variegated Auriful thread in aqua which I would really love to use!


But does it need it AND how would I quilt it?


HAPPY DAYS!

SUZ

Not Much To Show...

...on WIPS Wednesday!

After finishing "A Dog's Breakfast" the motivation to start something new hasn't 

hit yet!

So I have worked some more on this....

Twist and Shout is nearly quilted!

And this....

A pillow is taking shape!

Don't forget to pop back at the end of the week to share your best bits!

Linking here...

Happy sewing!

SUZ

The Decision has been made!

Yes I've made a decision!

Thank you to all those who took the time to comment on my bird cage block....

I've decided to make it into a pillow.

Val said something that rang true with me...

.....that she loves to be able to handle and touch her projects!

And when Kirsty said it would look great with a brooch on it I knew the decision    

had been made!

And as I have little wall space to display too many mini quilts at the moment, a 

pillow it is!

So I machine quilted the back to make it really special...

And it didn't really need anything else!

Except for maybe a special bird brooch!

It's taking pride of place on my bed...and when my husband commented on it, I 

knew I'd made the right decision!

I'm entering it in the final month of the Blogger's Pillow Party

over at Stitched in Color.

Pop over and check out the other lovely pillows entered!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

My week in review...

Besides receiving some wonderful mail this week I have been sewing too!

I had seen this lovely pattern for a birdcage block over at Chasing Cottons 

(It is also linked to SewMamaSew!)

And this is what I made...

It was a great pattern, clearly explained and not to difficult to construct....

Except for that curved piecing at the top!

The bird fabric was a sweet little scrap sent to me in the recent mug rug swap.

I especially love the bird detail here....

In fact I am thinking about making the same block again, with this bird in the 

cage and one of my new fabrics (see previous post) as the background.

I've spent this week hand quilting it....


Still adding to it...

 I haven't decided yet whether to make it into a pillow or doll quilt.

It is rather large...20 inches square... which would make it a pretty big pillow....

But I have only backed it with a plain white backing....which makes it rather 

boring for a doll quilt!

What do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy days!

SUZ

Pillow Talk

I've finished another pillow.....

I had a small square (12''?) of this pretty lemon and red floral fabric that I was saving for something special.

No idea what the fabric is!

It is not an exact colour match for my bedroom where it is now living, but I still love it.

HST with crisp white and a touch of redwork embroidery.... 

I have entered it in the latest "Blogger Pillow Party" @ Stitched in Color"


Pop over and check out all the talent out there!

So that's 4 WIPs off the list and in the finished pile!

Yes, that list is working!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Another Pillow, Another WIP

Firstly, I am rather disappointed at how Blogger has made this wonderful flowery print look SO washed 

out!

I'm sure it wasn't so pale in iPhoto!

Trust me, this looks MUCH better in 'real life'!

I wanted to make another pillow for my bed and had been holding on to this fat quarter for one such 

special project!

It is still a 'work in progress' because I am going to embroider some flowers, I think, in the centre.

Probably in red and a pale yellow!

(I must remember to come back and show you when it is embroidered and/or finished.)

I have made so many HST lately, it might be time to move on and stretch the boundaries again!

But I've had a ball playing with all the possibilities!

Do you find yourself resorting to a favorite type of piecing?

What do you like making?

Happy sewing

SUZ

Blogger's Pillow Party

I stumbled across the Blogger's Pillow Party being hosted by Stitched in Color

And as I was already working on new cushions for my bed, what better opportunity to join in!

This is my first one.

Again I raided my stash to find a small selection of pink and green (yes, green again!) to go with some of

my 'summer' bedding.

I really enjoyed practicing my straight line quilting on this small and manageable piece.

Each row is about 1/2 inch apart.

I added a bit of ric rac and a pink ribbon to finish it off.

I want to make another one but as I am on a fabric diet,  I'm not sure whether I have enough scraps for

the next one?

Just as well I have other projects to keep me busy!

Happy sewing!


SUZ


PS I have some new pages for you if you are interested