Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Up

Welcome to this month's Link up! I'm so glad you are here. I was absolutely delighted when Fiona @

Celtic Thistle Stitches

asked me to host the Link up. I think the idea  of getting ahead with our Christmas makes is absolutely brilliant! I have found myself every year trying to scramble my handmade gifts in the week leading up to the holidays and it is absolute madness.

Since you are all coming up with great handmade gifts I thought I'll share with you an idea of how to wrap your beautiful handmade gifts this Christmas. I created a tutorial for this string bag that your gift recipients could save or re-use. You can find the tutorial here.

We'd love to see what you have been up to. Please link up you holiday makes below. You have until the end of the month to add your link and automatically be entered on the giveaway. An InLinkz Link-up

And now on to the giveaway! This month's giveaway is this beautiful Be Jolly Mini Charm Pack by Moda donated by the kind people of The Fat Quarter Shop

. 

Thank you so much Fiona for inviting me to host this month and to all of you for stopping by!.

Also, a big thank you to all the sponsors of the monthly giveaways:

Tutorial: Re-usable Gift Bag

It is interesting to be working on Christmas projects in June; in a way it feels a little bit early.  But that is the way to go to avoid the holiday rush. Fiona from Celtic Thistle Stitches came up with this amazing idea Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew,which is a monthly link up to encourage other bloggers to get a head start with our Christmas makes. Every month there is a link up and a giveaway! You can find this month's link up here.

Every month everyone participating  in the link up shows beautiful makes, so  I thought I will share with you a tutorial for a gift bag to wrap your beautiful handmade gifts that can be re-used. It is basically a string bag that you can personalize and embellish to match the recipient's personality.

Here is what you need:

-Fabric for the bag

-Fabric scraps at least 5X5 inches

-Fusible interfacing

-Twill tape

-Stamps and ink pad

-Various trims and decorations

-Ribbon

Let's get started:

1. Cut a fabric rectangle for the body of the bag: It can be any size you want; the width that you want your bag to be plus 1 inch for seam allowances (for a French seam) by the height you want your bag to be times 2 plus 3 inches for the channel for the string. i.e. I cut my rectangle 9 1//2 X 22 inches for a finished bag approximately 8 1/2 X 9 1/2 inches.  Fold your fabric in half wrong sides together. On each side from the top down make a mark at 1 inch and another mark at 1 /12 inches.

2.  Now this is the super fun part and where you can unleash your imagination. Let's decorate the front of our bag! I made a little christmas tree and added a twill label with the words Ho, Ho, Ho! (I thought it would be appropriate for the theme of the link up). Attach the Christmas tree to the bag using fusible interfacing according to the manufacture's instructions. Topstitch to secure the decoration with a zigzag stitch to make it more attractive.

Stamp a fun message on the twill tape with your stamps. Iron on high to set the ink. Then attach to your bag with a small zigzag stitch.

3. Now that we have decorated our bag it is time to close it. Using a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance stitch on the right side of the bag on each side stopping at the 1 1/2 inch mark that you made earlier. Trim any loose threads. Turn your bag inside out. Flatten the seams of the bag and stitch again using a 1/4 inch seam ( this will enclose the raw edges that we had on the outside of the bag. Stop at the 1 1/2 mark at the top of the bag.

4. We are almost done. Turn you bag right side out. On each side of the bag fold the seam allowance that was not stitched on each side and stitch to secure. Now to form the channel for the string fold from the top down to the 1 inch mark that you made earlier and again to the 1 1/2 inch mark. Stitch to secure. Using a safety pin run a ribbon through the channel. *I had planned to use natural twine but it was too rough and didn't run well through the channel. So I used baker's twine instead and worked so much better* And finish it off with a jingle bell on top of the tree.

If you have any questions, leave me a message or send me an e-mail.

Happy Sewing!

XX

Martha.

Knitting Update and the Slow Bloggers Linky

Hello fellow slow bloggers! Welcome to Weekend Doings and  to this month's edition of the Slow Bloggers Linky Party.  I'm so happy you are here. I was so thrilled when Catherine invited me to host the Linky one more time. As you know the Slow Bloggers Link up is a place to share and  celebrate our crafty or personal achievements during the month whether big or small; as well as to connect with and support other fellow bloggers.

In honor of this month's link up I wanted to share with you one of my slow projects. This is shawl I started a couple of months ago. I love to knit, but I'm very slow at it. Before I used to get frustrated at myself for not being very productive.  Nowadays,  don't think much about how long it is taking me finish a project. I try to enjoy and savor every stitch that I make and I have to tell you, it is so much fun that way. Every little progress that I make it really feels like an accomplishment and before I knew it my shawl is almost finished.

How about you, what you've been up to this month?

Thank you so much for stopping by!

XX

Martha.

Color Inspiration

I have a new color crush. I'm always inspired by nature and the flowers in my garden are a constant source of inspiration. Lately I have discovered that I'm drawn to the color purple, which happens to be abundant in my garden. Whether I'm choosing colors for my projects or my wardrobe purple seems to always be in my mind.  And my recent yarn purchase was no exception. It had to be purple! It is such a happy color don't you think?  The light purple or lavender yarn will become a shawl (a birthday present for someone special) and the darker one will become a cowl for me :) I can't wait to get started but in the meantime I'm getting lots of inspiration for even more future projects from this book.
I hope you have a happy weekend.

XX
Martha

On My Table...

A new project I started over the weekend. I'm still deciding the the direction I want to take it. But so far I'm really enjoying cutting up strips of fabric and sewing them together. 

Have a happy week!

XX

Martha

Conquering My Fear of Color

I finally got back to my sewing machine and I finished a quilt! It is a small one but I'm really excited about  it and so happy to share with you.  The colors are not something that I would typically choose. For some reason I always shy away from bright colors. But I received a fat eight bundle of these happy fabrics as a gift and I couldn't resist to turn them into a quilt and conquer my fear of color. The quilt top was so easy and fun to put together; I simply cut strips of 1-1/2 inches wide and  of different lengths and joined them together randomly to get a scrappy effect. For the backing I used the ever so popular Britten Nummer fabric from Ikea (I had some left over from another project and was very surprised at how well it complements the bright colors from the quilt top). But I think my favorite detail about this quilt is the aqua binding. I chose it a the last minute and I absolutely love how it ties everything together. It is like an explosion of color :)

I'm so thankful to have received these lovely and cheerful fabrics because they have definetely made me less affraid of using more color on my projects. 

*Linking up to

Let's Bee  Sewcial at Sew Fresh Quilts

 *

Have a beautiful week!

XX

Martha

May Moments

Hello friends! How is May treating you? For me May so far has been a busy and exciting month filled with great adventures and lovely moments to remember: celebrations, birthdays and a few road trips have filled our days. However, there has not been a lot of sewing going on. My sewing machine is feeling a little bit neglected. Also, I got new fabric with some birthday money and I can't wait to cut into it. But for now I'm savoring every special moment May is giving me.

I hope you have a lovely week!

XX

Martha. 

Sunday Sewing

After a short break I'm finally sewing again and it feels great. I started a new quilt and decided to go out of my comfort zone. Ever since I first saw the Marcelle Medallion Quilt I fell in love with it. I bought the book (

Liberty Love

) last year and every so often I would read through the pattern  and dream of the day I made the quilt. The tiny piecing and Y-seams for the center were a little daunting. Well, the Y-seams are not difficult you just need to work slowly (at least in my case).  I'm working on border number 2 and there has been lots of cutting, pinning and some seam ripping. My cutting table is quite messy but it is a fun quilt and I'm really enjoying the process.  I can't wait to get back to work on it and move on to the next borders.

Have a lovely week!

XX

Martha.