It's not like I have time for this .... but:

Apron in an Hour - available as PDF tutorial by Jona at Stop Staring and Start Sewing

V little elfin activity ...

At the last minute I managed to make this little stocking wadded and filled with cloves, as a pendant for a gift on Saint Nikolaus Day, 6 December.

I would love to make more Christmassy stuff but there simply isn't enough time in the day or night yet, what with all the other elfin activities going on here ...

Happy Second Advent

In other news, there is another finish:

This has been in progress since early 2010 ... more.

Happy Advent!

This is this year's "Advent Wreath" - I was ill the days running up to First Advent Sunday and couldn't get a green wreath to decorate. When I was well enough again to venture out, obviously they were all sold out .... so none of this this year:

Getting ready for Christmas ...

Originally, these towels were meant to go into a Christmas charity raffle but there are so many items already that I am just giving them away as gifts. Because I was having fun with them and a lot of cat-themed Christmas fabric, I made some kitty Christmas towels for my friend Caroline:

And now, finally, for me, me, me:
I found the pattern on Ravelry and I can tell you that Rowan Lima is delicious, soft and wonderful to work with!

Christmas Countdown

I actually made two of these after stumbling across the Candle Mat swap. One will go to my mum, the other will go to the raffle at the International Brunch the International Women's Club Stuttgart is hosting in aid of the Kinderschutzbund Stuttgart and their amazing efforts in supporting children in need.

Fat Quarterly: Holiday Edition Coming Soon...

Fat Quarterly: Coming Soon...: "We have been working really hard over the last couple of months to bring you a special 'Holiday' Issue of Fat Quarterly. Packed to the bring..."

and I will be buying it. Although I have my Christmas crafty plans all lined up, it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas 2011 ;-)

Finally finished!

These have been hiding at the bottom of my must-mend bin for 22 (!) months now and this year they are the first Christmas items to be finished.

I have a plan or two for this year and we will see what comes of them. But having finished those feels very good ...

First Gift Idea for Christmas: Candle Mat

Via the Quilting Gallery, I stumbled across this adorable Candle Mat by Sandi Andersen, which comes in a two-part tutorial: part 1 and part 2.


I volunteered to make a goodie for the charity auction at my club's International Brunch in December and I think this might just fit the bill!

Done! Christmas gift for my mum

I grew up with a mum who said that handmade gifts were always the nicest gifts and that she didn't want any gifts at all.

So here she goes: four semi-hand made guest towels to add an accent to my parents' silver-grey powder room. I hope they will get there on time!

AmandaJean's Figgy Pudding Quilt

In case I get bored over Christmas - and find some lovely light green fabric - I might make this Figgy Pudding Quilt.

Happy Second Avent!

Gesendet mit BlackBerry von Vodafone

Happy First Advent Sunday!

Gesendet mit BlackBerry von Vodafone

Getting ready for Santa

Lots going on in my sewing room these days. I have a hard time prioritising at the moment. Santa? Emergency Quilt? Objects Quilt? Hell, I'll just parallel engineer ... !

Godchildren's Pressies sorted!

Check out the Christmas Stocking Tutorial by Aneela. Originally, I had planned on making place mats but the family is moving and that makes colour coordination so difficult. And they're also gone over Christmas ... so that now I will make Christmas Stockings and send them in time for German Saint Nicolaus. Yay!

Christmas all packed up

Now that it's all packed up and on its way to the attic crawl space, I realise it looks like nothing much at all. I've not bought a lot of decorations the past few years simply because I like what I have ... only now - in January - I have acquired two wreaths for next time: one from Landmark.co.uk and one from the coffee shop that shall not be named.

12 Days of Christmas

There are people around me who use terms, of which they do not know the meaning. I find them incredibly annoying. Yet I had a hunch that I am one of them ... and alas, I was correct. I thought that the "Twelve Days of Christmas are twelve days leading up to Christmas Day (especially given that on Boxing Day, most of my Northern English neighbours packed up Christmas to be ready for the New Year). Boy, was I ever wrong.

Wiki says: "The twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days from the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) to the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6, or the Twelfth Day). Thus, the twelve days are December 25 through January 6. (...)

Twelfth Night is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking."

Another thing I'd like to win:

Star blocks in Christmassy fabrics and colours, check it out!

All Christmassy, all the time ...

A lot of my Advent decorations are up, much the same as last year ... and I am finishing up my coasters, looking forward to doing my potholders and needing to work on other assorted Christmas jobs.

Rick Rack Reversible Napkins

Another great Holiday and gift idea: make-your-table-pretty-a-reversible-rick-rack-napkin-tutorial by Filminthefridge.

Definitely on my list of pre-Holiday projects!