A few other Christmas finishes ...

Here are a few projects that were finished before Christmas - I had this post scheduled to post after Christmas, but I forgot to modify it/write it out properly before it actually posted, LOL.  Here's the redraft :D

An XS'd flamingo ornament ...

...a kitty quilt for a gorgeous kitty (April), and some theme appropriate zipper bags ...

... some cupcake zippies that were part of a cupcake themed set (zipper bag, notebook cover and hotpad, all made with cupcake fabrics) ...

... and two selvage bags (lined with the map fabric they're displayed against) :)

Image obese post ;)

 4 treasure bags for Matteo - a humbug bag, 2 zipper bags and a trinket keeper :)

 Notebook cover - my own Frankensteined design - I don't remember having posted a photo of this one before.

 2 bibs for our neighbour's baby Nelly :)

 Kitty quilt (17" square) for our oldest son's girlfriend Alex ... or rather ... for her cat! ;)  This is, of course, from our Zoomer to his buddy Mickey :D

Treasure bag for our neighbour's daugher Nikki (Nelly's big sister) :)

WHEW!!!  It's the home stretch - the night before Christmas Eve, and I still have things to get done tomorrow, lol!

Ferrets - almost better than cats ;)

A few more finishes from the To Do list :)

 This travel set (2 shoe bags, and a passport/receipt zippy) will have some more pieces added, so I'm not sure if it will get mailed tomorrow or not.  It won't arrive in time for Christmas or the recipient's post-Christmas birthday, so life will go on if it's a bit late ;)

A little gift for a special someone, will be mailed tomorrow as a post-Christmas surprise :)

Cut 6, quilt 6, assemble 6 ...

and FINISH 6 - composition book covers - yay!  I only had 4 notebooks so will pick up some more tomorrow.  I love this fabric and tried to get more the last time I was at Joanns, but none of the 3 stores we visited, had any!   I have a couple of very small scraps left over - enough for one or two tiny little notepad covers, maybe, or a small zipper bag ;)

I finished this Thanksgiving bib today - I wanted to use up the last tiny little bit of brown chenille I had, and it was just the right size for this project :)

Here are the last of the gift bags I made with fabric given to me by my friend Nancy's Aunt Rita - thanks A.R.!!

A couple of finishes ...

I have to run into town (run, lol - I catch the bus :D) to hit the post office --- here are a couple of projects I've finished in the last couple of days. It's crunch time - I'm sure I'm not the only one very flustered, with a million things to do!!

Baby Adventures mat completed - my way ;)

Guess who this might be for! I just got it completed a few minutes ago (after doing quite a bit of frogging last night, argh) - I took quite a bit of poetic license with the pattern ;)  I hope baby Shawn likes it!  I think in the new year I'll make some stuffies with the critter patterns :)

"Sponsors" on blogs - I hate 'em!

Is anybody else out there in blogland bothered by blogs that take on sponsors, then spam the sponsor's crap stuff in their posts?  WHAT THE HELL!  I understand and accept commercial blogs doing that, but for the average housewife chatting about her crafts on her crafty blog (average housewives like - oh for instance - ME!) why is it necessary to sell out "rent" your space for ads?  Don't we already get enough spam shoved in our faces every time we turn around - now we have to see it on every second blog now too?  I'll pass, thanks - I've started unsubscribing from blogs that do this - I just don't need the annoyance.  And when I visit a blog that has a list of sponsors on the side, I depart quickly, as I know that there will be lots of hawking of sponsored items.  It's one thing to mention that had great luck with store XYZ when you went there for thread and walnuts - it's quite another to accept money to hawk someone's warez!  This is quite a disturbing trend, and one I hope fades out soon!

Baby Adventures mat :)

Here are the 4 "monsters" for the Baby Adventures mat I'm working on.  I'm setting the blocks 2x2 instead of 1x4 - I just like the look better :D  The backing and borders/sashes are denim - hopefully I can get this project finished tomorrow so it can be mailed for a Christmas gift!

Here are a couple of bibs I made last week to finish off the last of these two fabrics - I think I'll get more of this the next time I go to Joanns - it's quite lovely to work with, and I think it would make a great quilt set for a little boy :)

Snowflakes :D

I didn't get any sewing done today - too busy to go sit at the sewing machine.  Here are a couple of zipper bags I finished last night, so I only need to make 2 more to finish the 13 I wanted to get done for a project.  They're cut out already so I can get them done and delivered tomorrow :)

 I ended up coming down to the basement late in the evening and finished up the last 2 zipper bags for the set of 13 ... here they are ...

... and here are all 13 bags - they're for a child and family centre here in town.  I have a friend that works there and when she told me about the 13 kids that are currently living there I thought I would make them each a zippy for their treasures.  I'll deliver these tomorrow to my friend and she can take them in to the kids on Friday :)

Snowman bibs :)

Two snowman bibs I recently completed - the folded fabric below them is the snowman flannel I used for the backing.  I don't have a link for a pattern for these - I saw a photo somewhere online (etsy, probably), and copied them :)

Linked to Creative Itch's "Sew Cute Tuesday" linky party :)

7 flimsies :D

 3 more zippies for Project X ... which makes 9/13 done :)  I should get the last 4 done by Wednesday and then I can deliver them Wednesday evening! 

7 string/scrap flimsies that want to come out of storage and get completed!  2011 look out - here they come!  Inspired by Sarah - thanks, Sarah!

2 cardinal zippies I made today, which have already been mailed as they're gifts :D  I think one of the recipients might realize ... 'nuff said :D

Not much sewing today!

Lots of shopping today - DS2 finally gave us his Christmas list - some cooking, some cleaning, some mending - I fixed a pair of work jeans for DS2, and made one zipper bag (#6 of 13) - must find camera so I can get a picture ;)

10 minutes later - found it :D

6 of the 13 zippies I need for the mystery project :D

5/13 :)

 3 zipper bags completed today (I'll explain the project when I finish it) :)

5/13 - these are the bags done so far for the above project - 7 more to go, and they're already cut out :) 

Passport receipt bag - this bag finished off the last of this snowman fabric, yay!

Drawstring bag with a cross-stitch panel :)

Last year I did a stitch-along and created two dog panels.  I decided to make something with the panels, and found this dog pawprint fabric in my stash.  The panel was too big to be used for a zipper bag, so I created this drawstring bag instead.  It measures about 13" x 13", and is lined with black TOT fabric.  I love how it turned out!

 A couple of zipper bags (trying to use up that piece of fabric, lol).

Chicken with maple mustard glaze :)

I wish I'd "plated" the chicken for the photograph as it would have looked prettier, but we ate it out of the pot, lol.  I did it a bit differently than the recipe - I browned the chicken breasts in the frying pan then let them cook for about 10 minutes.  They were really thick, so they were only half done by then.  I mixed a double batch of glaze and added it to the pan, then let everything simmer and reduce until the glaze was thick - about another 10 minutes.  I don't even like mustard and I loved this, and both kids gave it a thumbs up - this is definitely going into my recipe rotation :)  Thank you to The Ungourmet for posting about this recipe - I'm glad I tried it!

Linen + XS (cross-stitch) = pretty :)

This linen zipper bag worked out beautifully - it's lined with the Christmas print that it's sitting on, and measures 7.5" x 7.5" - I'm really pleased with it!  It'll be going in the mail tomorrow or Saturday, hopefully to arrive in time for Christmas, lol.

 Another success - this one worked out far better than the freakish one from yesterday, LOL.  I love this fabric - I think I need to find more of it!  This passport/receipt bag measures 8" x 9" :)

A failure and a partial finish :D

I'm not sure why the bottom seam came out completely wavey - I should have taken a photo when I first noticed, as it was quite odd!  My "fix" only made matters worse, LOL - it's still wavey plus it's thick and bumpy as all hell.  Into the failure box she goes, bad girl!

 I finished this little guy tonight - it's a good thing I only had to fill in some snow, as I can't find the pattern or even remember the name of the pattern - oops!  I have a project in mind for this and will finish it tomorrow :)

 In this close-up photo you may be able to see the seed beads I added for dimension :)  I also added a couple of smyrna crosses in the snow, but they're really hard to see, lol.

Rocket and cupcake gift sets :)

 Cupcake set - Buttercup bag, pleated pouch, 3 trinket keepers, and 2 zipper bags.

Rocket set - Peek-a-boo toy bag, 3 trinket keepers and 2 zipper bags :)

Buttercup, buttercup ...

Oh butter buttercup (sung to the Lollipop lollipop tune) ;)

Here's the buttercup bag I'm working on - Bella - my 1953 Singer 201 - just loves working with pink and cupcakes, LOL.  Who wouldn't? :)  This is step 9 of 20 :D

The other side of the front pinned, ready to be sewn.

The lining waiting for it's turn at the machine.  Notice the magnetic snap has already been applied :)  These are REALLY easy to install, and add a nice touch!

 An hourish later - finished through step 16, and skipping ahead to step 19 (strap).  Should be finished soon *fingers crossed* :)

 Ta da - Buttercup finished ... and oh so sweet :)

 The inside of the Buttercup - cherry lining with a cupcake pocket :D  I made a resized (85% of the original) Skip to my Lou pleated pouch to go inside the bag - will post a photo on my next post.  This set is now ready to be mailed :)

Trinkets and zips :)

3 trinket keepers (link on sidebar) and 2 zipper bags for the cupcake gift set I'm making.  Small tote is next, then either a pleated pouch (link on sidebar) or a cupcake shaped zipper bag.  I don't have a pattern for the shaped bag and I need to get these items is mailed tomorrow, so I'll likely do the pleated pouch instead of trying to draft a pattern.  The pleated pouch is one of my favorite zipper bag designs - simple to make, but so very pretty and feminine!

Stuffing balls!

Stuffing balls before they go in the oven ... with Zoomer in the background :D 

 Two got grabbed before I had a chance to get a photo, lol.  These were quite good - and surprisingly low in fat (I made a half batch, and only used 2T. of butter for 6 balls).  Will make these again for sure!  Recipe by Jun @ Jun-blog - thanks, Jun!