Secret Santa Swaps continued...

Last post I wrote about the lovely gifts I received in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap. I was Michell's SS in this swap and this is what I made her...
The main part of the gift started with some hexies cut out of Christmas fabrics...

And these were made into a drawstring bag...

The lining was also Christmas fabric...

And there were pockets inside the bag too...and in those pockets, I put some decorations which I had knitted or crocheted.

All ready to post...

At our Sunday Stitchers Christmas party we also had Secret Santa. When I wrote the blog post about that amazing day, I couldn't show what I'd made as the recipient couldn't be there on the day; instead receiving it in the following week.
So this is what I made...

Instead of making a cushion with EPP hexies, I made a hexie cushion out of triangles. The pattern is by Liisa from Quilters Corner and I used some sewing themed fabrics.
I'm already picturing this cushion made with Liberty prints...although if I think this through, I've been working on a hexie baby quilt in Liberty for months and haven't made much progress, so maybe best not to start a new project just yet! 😉

FNSI...

Last night was Friday Night Sew In. One plan was to cut out some hexagons to start another Dilly Bag...

I had a packet of sample Liberty prints that I bought last year from the lovely UK shop, Alice Caroline...

Perfect I thought. And the templates had been put away in the correct spot, so out they came! ( I only use the big Perspex template as this pattern doesn't use the 'papers' method')

But then I remembered that at the Albany Creek Knit and Natter just last Wednesday, I heard that K4BN had already been asked for 1000 mini Christmas stockings by a charity. This was a 'new' charity for us to help, let alone the 6000+ stockings we provided last year, complete with sweets. Hmmm, so maybe I should be thinking about sewing some stockings??? So I printed off the pattern I use for the fabric ones I make...

But you know what? I ended up just knitting for the evening...

A few more rows on the 'blues and black' chevron/ripple throw. Only about 30cm or so till it's long enough. 

Thank you to Wendy for organising FNSI ! Check out the links to other participants here...http://www.sugarlane-designs.com/2016/07/july-signups-for-fnsi.html

Secret Santa Gifts Unwrapped!

Yesterday, being Christmas Day, I could unwrap my Secret Santa gifts. The first one I opened was from my SS in the Knit for Charities swap. And this is what I got...some fat quarters in the most beautiful colours. My SS knows what I like, clever lady!! ( My SS reads this blog!!) Thank you Secret Santa! 

  Now I was Secret Santa to another member of K4C and I sent her a knitted wreath that I had bought at our Parish Christmas Markets...

  Now back to the unwrapping....

Then I opened the parcel which had come from Michell in New Zealand. Michell was my SS in the Chookyblue SSCS.

And look at the lovely table runner that Michelle made me...the fabrics are gorgeous...the background fabric has gold flecks in it...beautiful! 

And Michelle popped in some other goodies, just to spoil me!

I love the Manuka Honey hand lotion and always buy a supply when I visit NZ, so I'm thrilled to try the lip balm! Thank you so much Michell! 

I was SS to Tonje in Norway. Tonje stitches but she also knits and that's what I focused on when I was deciding what to make her. Yes in the Chookyblue swap the items must be handcrafted by the Secret Santa. I love making Judy Newman's Dillybags and as I have a stash of 'knitting themed fabrics' I combined the two! By stalking around Tonje's blog, I established that she rather liked mice. So now I was combining those 3 bits of info. And this is what I came up with...

Knitting themed fabric hexies...

And a stitched 'Lily Mouse' from a design by Threads on My Socks, on a hexagonal panel appliquéd to the bag.

But that's not all! 

I forgot to take a photo of the two skeins of hand dyed Aussie wool that I placed in the bag. So next time I was at Knitch (a yarn shop in Paddington, Brisbane) I took a photo of the types of yarns I bought for Tonje.

Some sock yarn...

And an eight ply yarn...

Hopefully both ladies who had me as their SS were pleased with their gifts. I certainly loved mine! 

Friday Night Sew In...

Last night I joined in the November FNSI, hosted by Wendy over at Sugarlane Quilts.

I worked on secret sewing again...

I finally finished 'Stage 1' of this project; a strip of fabric made of hexagons...

This will form part of a drawstring bag...for a fellow knitter perhaps??

The pattern is by Judy Newman and I enthusiastically follow her instructions for joining all those hexies...no papers, no tiny over stitches...just running stitch. It's quicker than the normal EPP.

A little peep at the back...

Also last night I worked on my stitching project which will be incorporated into this drawstring bag...and now I only have one tiny section to stitch and I'm finished that 'Stage 1'...yay!!!

I'm on target to have these items completed and in the mail early this coming week; all ready to head off to my swap buddy.
Here is the link to Wendy's post where FNSI ers signed up to join in...you will be able to see what other bloggers achieved by using the links in the sign up widget. I can guarantee you will see some amazing projects.

Santa Sack Swap, Part 2.

Now it's time to show the items that I sent to Christine in this swap.

Not all the gifts would fit in the Santa Sack :-)

 

As you can see, the Santa Sack was a Judy Newman Dillybag! This was the first one I made and I had fun cutting the hexagons out of my stash of Christmas fabrics...many fabrics date back to when my children were little in the 1980s. Every year I buy a few more to update the collection! Lol. 

I love making mini quilts/wall hangings, so I made one for Christine...added a hanger too...

Also in the parcel was a fabric basket with some Christmas serviettes and some coasters made from Christmas fabrics...

 

Some tree decorations....

Christine had said she didn't mind the odd chocolate treat every now and then, so that took care of another gift for the Santa Sack...

At some Christmas markets I had gone to, I was able to buy a tiny Christmas cake, which was decorated with a wooden Xmas tree cutout. 

The 5th gift started out to be a table runner, but I decided to turn it into a tabletopper, as the dimensions were set by the design and 2 rows looked ridiculously thin and 4 rows looked a bit wide for a runner...so I squared it up. Christine's photo looked better than mine, so I'm using that photo, lol. 

Usually in Christmas swaps, I add some iron on labels that I buy from Fabric Patch. This is Christine's photo too, as I forgot to take a photo.

I had great fun putting together the Santa Sack of gifts for this swap. 

Christine has used the Dillybag to store all the Christmas ornaments/decorations she has received in blog swaps...a lovely idea!