A little happy Tutorial ~ Christmas Stocking Garland

Remember those sweet little Christmas Stocking from the Merry Christmas Mini Quilt?.......well, when I was stitching the red ones for the Sew Along, I started thinking how sweet a Christmas Stocking Garland would be.  So in complete denial of all my current works in progress, I decided last Friday what my precious weekend stitching time would be taken up making!  Oh what a lovely I had....here's the result.......

It's a very simple affair, 5 felt stockings embellished with hand stitches (spaced at 6" intervals) and buttons, rusty tin bells, ribbons and lace (aprox 6" lengths), all simply tied with bakers twine on to some rustic hemp twine.  I chose a Scandi themed colour scheme to fit with my Christmas decor, oh but the possibilities....I'm thinking a sugary pastel affair (think sugar plum fairy!) would look gorgeous in Poppy's room and obviously a red and white version would be perfect...or maybe cool blue's and whites............

If you would like to make one, you can find the free pattern and instructions for stitching the felt stockings HERE.  Please do feel free to resize and add as much or as little extra decorations as you wish....I bet you'll make some really pretty versions!  Oh and don't forget, if you share on social media, please use the hashtag #alittlehappytutorial so that I can take a peek!   

I shared a little snippet of the finished garland on Instagram the other evening and I was asked if this one was going to make it's way to the shop..........hummmm I know it's early in our house for Christmas decorations, but I think I kind of like it hanging on my living room door...so we'll see....

Happy Stitches!

Quilt Petite Blog Hop

Thank you for joining me today for my stop on the Quilt Petite Blog Hop.  Having been a huge fan of Sedef for some time now....what can I say....she has perfect taste when it comes to picking pretty fabrics, she takes really pretty photo's and her attention to detail is impeccable.....all the things I love!

I was obviously sooooo excited when she announced that she was writing a book with Tuva Publishing...another perfect match as they publish the most fabulous sewing books..... I just knew it was going to be good!  I was not disappointed....Quilt Petite is crammed full of the prettiest projects including mini quilts, place mats,dolls quilts and lots more.  The projects include a good mix for all abilities, making it suitable for both beginner and more experienced sewers alike.  As I am 'all' for getting people sewing, I really love the clearly written instructions for each project, which are also supported by a very thorough techniques section and to cap it all, there are full size templates included...yay!!!.

So do you want to see what I made.........

After much deliberation, I chose to make the Flower Potholder from P.63 but as you can see, I put a festive twist on it and chose a bright and cheery red and green scheme combined with Mochi Dots linen.  The 1930's reproduction fabrics I used were a combination of 'Little Joys' by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics and 'Storybook Christmas' from Windham Fabrics, plus the fabulous bias stripe is from Sedef's own 'Sweet Orchard' collection for Riley Blake.

The pot holder calls for an English Paper Piecing design to be appliqued on to the front of the pot holder, I deviated slightly from the examples shown in the book and created a festive star design and used a mix of a 3/4" hexie with 3/4" half hexies and 1 1/2" equilateral triangles..... I'm really happy with how it turned out...

Another feature of the pot holder that I particularly like, are the curved edges along the bottom......I know these might appear slightly daunting, but let me reassure you, Sedef has provided very easy instructions on how to deal with these.

I can not wait to have this hanging in my kitchen this Christmas......but lets be honest about this..... there is absolutely no way this is going to be used...ever...anyone found using it.....or just to be clear...... even pointing it in the direction of a roasting tin, will be instantly put on washing up duty! It's far to pretty to use!

The blog hop continues everyday until the 11th December and there will be a whole host of super talented bloggers sharing what they have made from the book. I've popped at list below and you must go and take a peek at what Wynn made yesterday and I'm super excited to see what my fellow bloggers will create...... Bridgette at The Family Hearth is up tomorrow, so I'm sure we are in for a treat:  

November 6: Sedef at Down Grapevine Lane (intro + giveaway)
November 7: Wynn at Zakka Art 
November 8: Sarah at A Little Happy Place
November 9: Bridgette at The Family Hearth
November 10: Heidi at Fabric Mutt
November 11: Minki at Minki's Work Table
November 12: Ange at A Little Patchwork
November 13: Lauren at Molly and Mama
November 14: Michelle at Cole & Taffy
November 15: Nadra at Ellis & Higgs
November 16: Amy at Nana Company
November 17: Faith at Sarana Ave
November 18: Debbie at Happy Little Cottage
November 19: Erin at Why Not Sew
November 20: Amanda at Jedi Craft Girl
November 21: Melissa at Oh How Sweet
November 22: Stacy at Stacy Olson Design
November 23: Ayda at Cafe Nohut
November 24: Peta at She Quilts A Lot
November 25: Amanda at A Crafty Fox
November 26: Keera at Live Love Sew
November 27: Sharon at Lilabelle Lane
November 28: Kate at The Homemakery
November 29: Jemima at Tied With A Ribbon
November 30: Jodie at Ric Rac
December 1: Anorina at Samelia's Mum
December 2: Alisha at Ministry of Fabric
December 3: Xanthe at Wife-made
December 4: Cheri at Tinker With This
December 5: Kristyne at Pretty By Hand
December 6: Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop
December 7: Veronica at Vivid Felicity
December 8: Shari at Doohikey Designs
December 9: Jina at Jina Barney Designz
December 10: Emma at Emma Jean Jansen
December 11: Sedef at Down Grapevine Lane (wrap up + giveaway winner)

To celebrate the launch of her book, Sedef is also having a Giveaway on her blog where there is a wonderful prize including a copy of the book and Zakka goodies up for grabs!

UK peeps, as well as all the normal sources, the book is also available to purchase on our website.

Thank you for joining me today and I hope that you are looking forward to the rest of the Blog Hop!  Finally before I go, a big thank you to Sedef for inviting me to take part and celebrate the launch of her fabulous book and thank you also to Tuva for sending me my copy!

Happy Stitches!

A Little Happy Christmas Block of the Month ~ Sneaky Peek

It would seem I am completely rubbish at keeping secrets (don't worry dear family and friends...not those sort of secrets!) but secrets of the fabric and quilty kind!  You may have seen a picture on my Instagram account a few days ago of something I have just started working on.......but in my defence part of the enjoyment for me is sharing the progress of an item and not just doing a grand Ta Da moment!  Well getting to the point...following on from the 'a little happy sew along' to make the Merry Christmas Mini Quilt (if you don't know what I'm talking about click HERE) I received quite a few emails asking if I had any plans for a full size quilt... after mulling it over for a few days, I thought why not, I'm always game for a little Christmas sewing.  I know for me Christmas crafting tends to happen late on in the year, so to be able to spread it out would make sense and for it to be so much more enjoyable.....so I set to drafting some ideas.  

I find it easier to take inspiration from things that have a personal meaning to me and my family.  When I started writing them down, I realised we have quite a few traditions, some from my childhood, some from Andy's and some that we've started for our children.....................we hang our family advent calendar filled with little treats, we like to build a decorate a gingerbread house (and eat all the left over sweets), make salt dough decorations, put a sign out for Santa to please visit us and just to make sure we're not missed...... on Christmas Eve we sprinkle magic reindeer food on our front lawn.  We obviously like to hang up decorations..lots of decorations, but without question this is always done two Sunday's before Christmas, whilst we wear Christmas PJ's and without any question or complaints from the children, Michael Buble sings along in the background whilst the tree is decorated in all its glory!

It's from these and other precious traditions, I came up with the quilt design, it's not 100% set in stone as I type, but in my head I know where I'm going .....

Sewing has started, which for me helps finalise the design.  I'm going for a traditional colour scheme.....think rich reds, sage green, golden yellows, duck egg blues and silvery grey......  and my idea is that the colours and the quilt block designs will give the feel of Christmas rather than using actual Christmas themed fabrics.  A timeless Christmas quilt, that will itself become part of our Christmas tradition as we bring it out year after year.

As with the existing Block of the Month 'A Little Happy Year' the quilt will incorporate some of my favourite techniques, English paper piecing, applique and machine piecing and I'm also planning on incorporating some embroidery on this one....exciting!

I'm planning for the  'A little happy Christmas' Block of the Month to start in February 2017 and it will run for nine months, finishing in October, giving you time before Christmas to layer, quilt and bind your quilt top.  I'm anticipating on it being a lovely lap quilt...perfect for snuggling under in the build up to Christmas.

Sound good........if you would like to register for more information you can do so on the website HERE.

Guess what I'll be stitching this weekend and I hope that your weekend is full of happy stitches too!

Farm Girl Vintage ~ Scrappy Maple Leaf Table Topper

On my wish list for what seems an age, was to make a Scrappy Maple Leaf quilt.  Well I didn't quite manage a full size quilt but I have made a Scrappy Maple Leaf table topper, which has somewhat satisfied the itch!

Obviously I knew exactly where to go for the pattern and pulled out my copy of Lori Holt's fabulous book Farm Girl Vintage Book...honestly if I could only have one quilting book this would be it!  I used the Tabletopper setting from P.122 and combined a 12" Postage Stamp Block from P.57 with twelve 6" Scrappy Maple Leaf Blocks from P.58.

The fabrics I used are mix of scrummy 1930's reproductions and the background is a Black on Cream swiss dot from Riley Blake......whilst talking Black on Cream/White, there has been so many new arrivals this last week or so in that colourway......Thicket, Chestnut Street, Handmade...here's a little flat lay I did to celebrate Halloween, which of course was much enjoyed in our household!

I chose an orange stripe from Backyard Roses for the binding...I know, I'm so predictable when it comes to my binding choices!  Maybe my New Years resolution for 2017 should be to use anything BUT stripes (however I can not promise that's a resolution I would stick to!)

For the quilting I initially decided to free motion quilt pebbles on the background fabric, which would have looked fantastic if I had used a solid fabric, but I didn't like the effect on the polka dots...after an evening spent unpicking....I eventually went for a spiral, which provides just enough interest without being over the top....lets be honest there's a lot going on in this little quilt!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.....I would still one day like to make a full size Maple Leaf quilt, but for now this will have to do!  By the way isn't it great to put on those winter boots and coloured tights...I think I'm definitely an Autumn girl at heart...I wonder what your favourite season is?

Thanks so much for visiting and see you again soon!