Halloween Mini Swap 2018

The following post was supposed to be posted early Fall, but somehow ended up being left out.. which was really not my intention at all! And I do have a follow-up post about what I received too - which I will post, I promise!


I joined a Halloween swap on Instagram this Summer, and my parcel is now currently waiting for the "good to go" signal from the swap's coordinator.

Sending to one person and receiving from another is kinda exciting. I'm curious to see what will be sent to me - and I'm anxiously awaiting word from my receiver to see if she likes what I've made for her.

She liked happy colours more than the traditional Halloween colours, so I decided early on that I was going for the brighter shades in my stash (of hoarded Halloween fabric). I really like stitcheries, and decided that the main item had to be just that. I found this gorgeous, happy little bat on a board on Pinterest, made a few minor changes (I skipped some of the teeny tiny stitches going here and there, and added some glow-in-the-dark details in thread). I ended up hand quilting it using the same fluorescent thread (another hoarded item, I think I have two spools). Love the green fabric and the details that were added by the characters.



I've added three extras, as the rules for the swap said, and decided to make all three of them. A mug rug made of Tula Pink fabric (the turquoise and pink fabric), a coffee cosy (I think the fabric qualifies as "ghoulish"? or....?), and an ornament (adorable!) with Frankenstein and pumpkins.



The backing fabrics are all from my stash - a couple of them are so old they're almost qualified as antiques *hahahaha* The hearses is the newest of the three - and I think I need to find an adorably, perfect project for the last little piece left.

***
Happy Fall, changing colours and candlelight stitching!

Second finished project in 2019

In my advent calendar my mom included a kit for a tablerunner for our new table, complete with pattern, pre-cut fabric and binding (I only had to provide batting and backing - neat!). And in a few quiet moments (divided through most of the Christmas holidays) I managed to finish this in time for New Year's Day, making this my second finished project in 2019 (There's currently no photos of the first finished project, but I'll get to that soon.)



Since I began subscribing to the SewSampler boxes from FQS, I've had a bit of practice sewing blocks - something I didn't really do very much previously. I can see that my earlier projects were more simple squares, stripes and more stitcheries rather than blocks. I always had the impression of this being too difficult for me, that I wasn't accurate enough when sewing to be able to make these blocks.



But look at these stars! They're amazing! All the points may not be 100% perfect, but they're close - and it looks really great! Being challenged and testing out techniques in my own speed is really fun.



The petrol star even matched my Christmas knitting (a large wrap-shawl called Abbie storskjerf)!

Christmas tree 2018

We decorated our Christmas tree early in December, and in doing so, I was reminded again and again of friendship and a tie that connects and binds us all around the world. Ornaments of rememberance - of trips, of experiences, of family members no longer with us - and of secret santas from all around the word. 

Thanks to Chookyblue I’ve gotten to know so many fellow crafters - and each Christmas is another reminder of how lucky I’ve been - and how lucky I am.

This is my 6-point diamond star for week 3 of the #fussycuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec 🧡 A rather dark «coral» this time, with center motif in the outer round. Love the birds 😍

via Instagram