On the 11th day of Christmas...

With Christmas less than two weeks away,

I've been rushing to get things ready to go

(to the other side of the world).

Com o Natal a menos de duas semanas de distância, tenho estado a apressar-me para conseguir ter tudo pronto para mandar (para o outro lado do mundo).

Supervised by Miss Pooh-Pooh

I've went trough my cards, selecting the most precious ones

for friends and family:

Sob a supervisão da Miss Pooh-Pooh,

fiz uma escolha dos meus cartões mais bonitos

para mandar aos amigos e à família:

"What do I think about this one for my friend ..?, 

and what about this one for...?",

I asked her.

"O que achas deste para a minha amiga...?,

e deste para...?",

perguntei-lhe.

 "Fine! Whatever!...", she meow back to me...

Definitely she has an attitude problem!

"Tudo bem! Como quiseres!",

miou como resposta.

Ela tem definitivamente um problema de atitude!

Anyway... after the cards,

I went and finished some small items that needed to be finished

to be put into the package to ship.

De qualquer modo... depois dos cartões,

estive a terminar algumas coisitas

que tinham de ser acabadas antes de serem colocadas na caixa para enviar.

Regarding the little snowman with the earmuffs,

the credit goes for Artmelza,

whose directions and pattern I've followed,

though I've  given it a different purpose (pencil holder).

Em relação ao pequeno boneco-de-neve com os tampões nos ouvidos,

o crédito é da Artmelza, cujas instruções e molde eu segui,

embora lhe tenha dado um objectivo diferente (uma caixa para lápis).

Everything else is my own creation

and absolutely confidential

and I shall say no more!

Shhhhhhh!....

Tudo o resto foi criado por mim

e é absolutamnte confidential

e mais não direi!

Shhhhhh!....

 I wish you all funny busy days and

I'll see you soon!

Desejo-vos dias ocupados e bem dispostos

e até breve!

Handmade Christmas Gifts

It has been more then a week since Thanksgiving,

but it has been a busy week,

between sewing, medical appointments,

baby sitting

and everyday chores...

... I was left with no time for blogging.

But today I was able

to take and edit pics

from what I've been working on.

First, a big accomplishment,

due since before Christmas last year:

I finally finished a quilt intended for a Christmas gift.

I'm happy with the final result,

and I hope the recipients will enjoy it as much as I did making it

and it's now all ready to go.

Another intended Christmas gift,

a hexagon quilted table center.

I like the colors and the final color/effect combination.

It's also ready to become a gift.

Some time ago

I had found a tutorial about making a basket/bowl/box

out of yarn and clothe line.

This was my first try out

and didn't came out bad.

I will experiment with other colors/type of yarn

and maybe add some embellishments. 

Maybe as stocking stuffers

I've finished a couple more fuzzy hair scrunchies,

 and some flower felt key rings.

Also finished another Tunisian crochet lined pouch,

and a couple of softies, tough I still got a couple more in the forge.

And finally some christmassy felt coasters,

this time all sewn in the sewing machine.

They ended up pretty too.

And that's some of the things I've been making

with my thoughts

on the upcoming holidays.

I'll see you all shortly. 

Fleece blankets and belated Xmas gifts

I've finished some fleece blankets for the girls

(maybe as belated Xmas gifts).

Three of them are the classical tied knots I usually make:

I used two fleece fabrics, a printed one and one coordinated solid color.

These are always a huge hit,

they come out pretty good and everybody seems to love them.

And I made another one, with fleece also, but with the raggedy blanket technique:

cut 30 7" squares each color (60 total)

Sew them together

and then in rows of 6

and then the rows together till the desired length.

After all the rows are sewn, machine stitch all around the blanket.

And then just slit all the seams to make like a fringe.

And that's it!

The finished blanket will look like this:

I've made some bags to fill with the blankets and some other stuff:

For the bags,

I've used flannel and ironed on some applique Christmassy motifs.

I think they came out pretty.

I know I'm not really in the mood anymore

(spending Xmas in the hospital alone with J was even more sad than usually),

but I'm trying to be okay with everything

and not to think much about stuff like this.

Sewing and crafting do help me to keep a fresh and stress free mind

as much as possible.

Anyway...

I kept the Christmas tree and everything Christmas up till now

(so we could enjoy it for a little bit)

but I think this weekend it's time to take everything down.

Rag coasters, Felt coasters & Xmas Gifts

I've been working on my Xmas gifts

(only 36 days left...),

finishing some stuff and starting some new projects.

Outside fall is everywhere.

I love the way my gardens look

with the berries and the autumn colors...

Tough the leaves are almost gone on some of the trees and bushes,

my maple tree still looks astonishing.

Inside, and besides caring for J like always,

have been doing some more stuff for gits this Xmas.

Using the same technique as in here,

I made some rag coasters

and tried to play with the colors a little bit

and that's how they came out.

I've also finished the cards

for the gift baskets sets with the crochet slippers

(peek this older post).

Now they are ready to go!

Made some little fabric pouches,

not sure yet what for,

but I suspect it will be for something to add to my grandson gifts;

he used to love treasure boxes filled with all kinds of little precious things.

I think he still does so I'm fixing him one for Xmas... :0)

I've found some leftovers from last Xmas...lol...

The pet rocks!, do you remember those?...

I know, I know... old stuff, but I reckon the kids still enjoy it!

I had made some for last Xmas and I think they're cute.
I've also printed a little wee card, got the sayings from somewhere on the net...sorry.... don't remember where...:0(

which goes in the pouch with the rock

(which as you can see I had previously golden paint sprayed and glued some hair, eyes and mouth).

Another project I've been working on and already finished quite a few is the felt coasters.

For this one I've cut some felt circles,

a little bit larger than some old CD´s,

used some embroidery floss,

cut some felt applications

and needle felted it on the felt circle.

Did some stitching around the motif

(didn't forget to put the old CD inside)

With a blanket stitch, stitched it all around

grabbing the two felt circles together to enclose the CD inside,

et voilà!

Fishes...

and flowers!

What do you think?, I think I really like them! :0)