CHARM ABOUT YOU

Now it doesn't look too Christmassy (not great for a seasonal blog hop - sorry!!) because I have no Christmas fabric left and I chose instead to use up some of my favourite scraps. I also only had the most giant notebook to hand so it's ridiculously big!

I had a little time to myself this morning and of course I had to sew. In a fun mood I decided to finally do something with my paper pieced donkey that I made from Kristy's pattern and after seeing her gorgeous donkey basket I knew I wanted to do the same.

I used this tutorial by 1/4"mark and it came together really easily! I added some machine stitching to the donkey to liven it up a bit and some fmq, then gathered some lovely DS scraps (practical can be pretty too!) and free motion quilted a scallop pattern.



This has been adopted by my little girl to stuff all her toys in and carry around :) I will have to make another for my son obviously.


So that's one more project to link up with the Donktober party which starts tomorrow. There's still time to make yourself something Donkified as the linky stays open until Friday 16th November, go check out all the fabulous projects you could make!


I also managed to get a couple of bee blocks (Scrappy? Sew Bee It!) done for the lovely Rosa:

She asked us for these Red Pepper Quilts blocks using this tutorial. I think it's going to be gorgeous!

Finally I've finished a little project for the Sew Seasonal Blog Hop...


come back tomorrow to see what I made and make sure you visit all the other participating blogs, just click the button below to see the list:

Welcome to the TGIFF party! I am hosting the linky this week I can't wait to see what everyone has finished :)


I am thrilled to have finished some gifts for my dear friend's baby boy who was born last week!



Obviously I had to make a quilt and I used this lovely 'Windy Days Quilt' pattern. It came together easily but I was stumped how to quilt it until I saw Judith's beautiful vintage quilt and decided to do the same. I knew my friend wanted simple, she's far more sophisticated than me, so I wanted to go for something modern but classic; sweet but not too baby. I think the overall low volume works really well for her taste. I used Kona Snow for the background so it stayed warm and neutral.


I originally bought the fabric for this quilt not knowing the gender so went with the gorgeous Bunny Hill Designs fabric. I used a layer cake of Windsor Lane in green (not all of it so you may see some crop up again!) and the backing and binding fabrics are from the Puttin On The Ritz collection. I added an embroidered label.


I adore these prints and love the grey binding.



This is also a finish checked off my list for this quarter's Finish-A-Long at Quilter in the Gap.


In addition to the quilt I made a couple of bibs using this Clover and Violet tutorial for the small one and this tutorial by Kim for the larger one.



Last night I went for a visit and gave the gifts to the happy new parents and they were thrilled. I was delighted to get to have gorgeous cuddles with the little baby boy, I'd forgotten how tiny newborns are! He is utterly darling and such a content baby. He slept in my arms for a little while and I had such a thrill thinking of having my own in the new year. So precious.

So now it's over to you... any finishes this week?
Please link to TGIFF in your post so everyone can join the party, visit the other links and comment away!

Welcome November!! This means I have just over two months of pregnancy left!! Woo Hoo!!!!
(too many exclamation points I know but man will I be glad to meet this baby!)

I was pleased with what my crazy hormones let me achieve this month. It was exciting to be part of Donktober at Missy Mac Creations and make some fun Donkey themed projects, I also got two quilts and a tree skirt finished as well as other little makes. I have tons left I want to do before the baby arrives but I'm just sewing for pure pleasure and making whatever takes my fancy, it feels awesome!


Vintage Holiday QAL tree skirt, Girly Garden Quilt, Vintage Baby Quilt, Donktober book bag and embroidery patterns, Skull tooth cushion, paper pieced Donkey - pattern by Quiet Play, Birthday Crown, Zip bags


I've also continued making the rose star blocks. I finished another last night, so this brings the total so far up to 24:


After an email from my darling Nicky, realising we were making the same size blocks, we agreed to have a little swap. I got mine done quick because if I don't do something ASAP I totally forget. Here's the one I sent her and I'm happy to say she likes it! I was worried because hers are so much more sophisticated and coordinated than mine and I can't seem to stop myself from being eclectic, nonetheless I tried to make this a bit more thought out and the colours look prettier together in real life I think:


I also made a pincushion for the incredible Emily. We had a little swap as part of Bee a Brit Stingy, which doesn't officially start until January.


I checked out Emily's flickr favourites and pretty much ignored all of it (except the tattoo style lettering! - I had the pattern from Sublime Stitching) and came up with this:


Selfishly I really wanted to make the paper pieced Lil' Matryoshka by Sonja Callaghan from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol.5. The actual quilt block has 3 dolls but that would have been a cushion not a pin cushion! So I made the little one and added some embroidery. I am pleased that she likes it! I knew she'd love the glittery text fabric on the back though :)


I also received my gorgeous pincushion from the talented Janet. Actually I got two!! One is lovely and bright, made from the softest fabric and the other has been beautifully embroidered. Thank you so much Janet, they are both fabulous. The macaroon was quickly devoured by my Scottish husband when I wasn't looking but it was a great reminder of home and childhood for him so I couldn't be too mad!


Such fantastic stitching!! This is a really handy size too and I've been carrying it around while I EPP.

I had another couple of nice Bee treats in the post, this time as part of Scrappy? Sew Bee It! It's my turn as queen bee and I requested AMH feathers. Here's the lovely rainbow one from Annika and a great siggy block too! Thank you Annika!



And here's the beautiful ones from Carla:


Thank you so much Carla, that little feather is just too cute!


Finally I was SUPER DUPER excited to see my Winterkist challenge projects featured in Fat Quarterly Issue 11, the Christmas edition. Go get yours to see all the fabulous Christmas patterns and ideas!
Here's my Gnome on the Shelf and Totally Tropical Christmas Garland:

Those lovely prints you can see in the background are available at my Mr's website Bee Morris

Huge thanks to Lynne for letting me take up the Designer's challenge and just generally being a total inspiration and support  :)

In the Christmas spirit I will be joining in this lovely blog hop next week - definitely check it out, there are some great prizes:


And if you've had any finishes this week make sure you come back tomorrow to link up and join the party, I'm hosting TGIFF!


**Randi at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics has just added some colour scrap bundles to her shop - hurry to get yours!**

Linking up: