Christmas Crafting 2020

Hello Everyone!

Christmas Tree Bunting

I has been a different year this year for all of us in some way, and very difficult for some. Things are looking brighter here in Australia at the moment, as we are going in to summer with very few Covid cases.
I haven’t done as much sewing and pattern designing this year as I have done previous years.

We have moved house and out of the big city, like so many others have done this year. Due to the lockdown and restrictions here, we couldn’t get much help and I ended up with a tendon issue in my left wrist. But it is slowly getting better and I won’t need surgery, so that is good.

I have been able to do some crochet the second half of this year, like my never ending hexagon throw that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Today I finished a Christmas Tree Bunting crochet kit that I bought earlier this year from Deramores, it is designed by Melissa Collings. I enjoyed it very much and it will probably be the only Christmas project this year.

Previous Christmas blog posts

Last year I did this Christmas Wreath Wall hanging and these Placemats. Previous years I have done among other things, a Christmas Table Runner and Christmas Cushions. So there is still some Christmas reading to do on my blog.

Two of my oldest pattern in my Etsy Shop are reduced by 70% to $3.30 each. I am going to retire the patterns on the January 10, 2021. It is my Pencil Case x 3 pattern and my Beach Bag pattern. They will be replaced by new patterns during the year, I am already working on a new pencil case pattern. I feel I can do alot better patterns today and that it is time for an update of my patterns.

From me and my family to you, Happy Holidays. Hope you have time for some sewing or other crafting if that is what you want to do. Take care!

Annika

Christmas Sewing

Hello Everyone,

It is almost Christmas time and this year I haven’t had time to make any new tutorials. I haven’t had time for any Christmas sewing at all, which is a shame since I have so many pretty Christmas fabrics.

Two Christmases ago I posted this post about how to make these Christmas pillows. You can find the post here. The pillow on the left is made from a pattern from Diary of a Quilter’s Amy Smart. You can find the post here.

Last year I found a picture on Pinterest of a table runner that I made with Christmas and wrote this post about how I made my own version. You can find the post here.

These cute little Christmas bags is a great way to use scraps of Christmas fabric. You can find the tutorial on my tutorials page or here.

I hope you have time for some Christmas sewing. It is still two weeks left until Christmas, hopefully I have some time too. Or I have to plan better and start earlier next year. Don’t forget to enjoy Christmas time, it is very hot here so tomorrow I am going to the beach with my teenage daughters.

Until next time, happy sewing and take care.

Annika

Christmas Table Runner

Hello Everyone!

Merry Christmas to all of you, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

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I found a picture of a very nice table runner on Pinterest. It came from a blogpost on Sew Sew Go from 2012 and is called Dresden Table Runner. I made one with Christmas Fabrics and finished it last night. I had some poinsettia fabric and some matching green and red. I also used an off white print on print fabric for sashing and binding. For backing I used the poinsettia fabric.

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I used the wide part of my 10 degree ruler when cutting the pieces. First I cut a 12″ strip of all three fabrics. Then I used the ruler to cut out the pieces, alternating the direction not to waste fabric. I cut 7 of the poinsettia fabric and 3 each of the green and red. I also cut 1″ wide sashing strips. I cut these in to 13″ lengths and stitched them to both sides of the poinsettia pieces. I trimmed the sashing even with the edges and then stitched all the pieces together, see picture. When I finished I cut the short ends of the table runner straight and made a quilt sandwich using thin iron on batting.

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I quilted in the ditch on all seams. Then I quilted each section but not the sashings with free motion quilting using clear polyester thread.

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After that I cut all the edges even and bound it with 1/2″ wide binding to match the 1/2″ inch sashing pieces. Cut the strips 3 1/4″ wide, fold length wise and press. Attach to the front and then stitch by hand to attach the binding to the back of the quilt.

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This was a fun and relatively quick/easy project. I think it turned out great and looks great on my kitchen table. What Christmas projects have you made this year?

Have a wonderful Christmas however you celebrate it. I will go to the beach on Christmas Eve and eat a barbecue lunch with my family in the backyard on Christmas Day.

Until next time, Happy Sewing and Take Care!

Annika

Christmas Heirlooms

Merry Christmas to all of you. Most of us probably have a few family things we take out every Christmas. Some of these I made years ago and some more recent. The plate and the ceramic Santa family was painted by my husband’s grandmother and the crocheted hearts in the tree was  made by my mother in law. The embroidered table runner was made by my grandmother. The rest I made myself.

Christmas means different things to all of us. For me and my family it means a day at the beach on Christmas Eve and presents in the morning on Christmas Day followed by a barbeque at home for lunch. How do you celebrate Christmas?

Enjoy the pictures of my Christmas things:

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