Candy twists

It's that time of the month again; Quilt Now Issue 4 is on the shelves in UK shops. The beautiful cover quilt is by the very talented Jessie Fincham and I'm seriously tempted to try one myself.

This month's block of the month uses the tube technique commonly used for Scrappy trips - quick and easy :)

 I was thrilled to discover that Katy managed to squeeze in the BOM project too, so it's not only available online this month. Who doesn't need a hessian present sack?!

There's also an easy peasy quilt by yours truly between the covers this month - Candy Twists.

I love the styling with that cute cot. I used the rather lovely Winter's Lane by Kate and Birdie Paper Co for my version of Candy Twists. It's such a great line from last year and the colour palette says winter without the overt novelty element that can sneak in to Christmas fabrics. Sorry for using the C word, it's still a bit early in the year to be using that word. 

I'm hoping to get chance to sew up a variation of this design in some brighter colours...

Catch you soon x 

Still crackers

First things first, thank you all for the overwhelming response to the Animal Crackers Christmas tree skirt. It's been really exciting seeing so much positive reaction to it. A special thank you to Mr Aurifil for featuring it on the Aurifil Facebook page :) I've spent the last 2 days making more crackers this time in the form of a table runner. I used the basic tutorial for crackers but enlarged it to allow me to use the cards from the panel from Winter's Lane by Kate & Birdie Paper Co.

I  went for a "grown up" brown linen for the background because I love the way the red solid and Aurifil thread look with it. Also, if I'm absolutely honest, it's because it's going to be on our dining table on Christmas day and there's bound to be a gravy spillage! I was very thankful for the red thread as I managed to sew through my finger quite spectacularly whilst top-stitching and I'm sure a white thread would have been ruined. No fabric was harmed in the making of this runner!

By the time I finished the runner it was starting to get dark so it's been a bit tricky to get the colours accurately in photos.

Winter's Lane is a really gorgeous range so I'm planning on making a slightly more grown up Christmas tree skirt to match the table runner :) I seem to have started an obsession with crackers. Thank goodness Christmas doesn't last long or I'd be making them all year ;)

I have another of the Winter's Lane panels left over from the bundle I bought in July and was thinking that it might be nice to give someone else the opportunity to make a runner like this using the panel...or indeed to make something else. So, I'm having a super speedy giveaway. If you fancy the chance to win a Winter's Lane panel just leave a comment saying "yes please". I'll draw a winner at random on Sunday 24th November around 8.00pm GMT. Happy weekend to you all. catch you soon x