Goodbye 2013!

Well, that's another year done!

2013 Finished Quilts

My 2013 has been eventful, joyous, sad, fulfilling, busy, treasured.  Just the way a year being lived to the full should be!

I'm sure we would all prefer to have a year full of the highs, successes and things that make us happy. But then that's not real life, is it!  To not have the lows, the sorrows, the failures, is to miss out on opportunities to grow, to learn, to mature.

And standing on the precipice of a new year, can be exciting, full of hope, or perhaps a little scary! Not everyone enjoys new beginnings or ventures into the unknown.

For me, I think 2014 will be a year of change. But I'm going to try my best to embrace those changes and not to look back with longing for the things that have gone.

I don't make new years resolutions, (I know my limits!) but I will endeavour to see this year as one full of hope, opportunities, and new beginnings. It won't always be easy, and just like any other year, it will have its ups and downs. But then that's living isn't it!

And here's one great way to see in the new year!

Fabric Yard are having a SALE!!  Woohoo!

Check out Alice's gorgeous range of sale fabrics, and UK peeps can enjoy the £1 flat rate shipping too!

Here are a few of my favs from the sale section.

Enjoy your New Year's celebrations! See you next year!

Jxo

SURPRISE!

Secret Santa is tradition in Brit Bee! 

I love all the excitement & chatter about what we're going to make each year, eagerly anticipating our allocated 'secret' partner and then deciding what we think they will like! 

This year we went with a cushion swap, and we could choose whether we wanted a Christmassy or regular one.

Just before Christmas, I received this stunningly beautiful Cathedral Windows cushion, perfectly crafted and exactly what I wanted!

A huge thank you to my very own Southern Santa, for spending so much time hand and machine stitching this beauty together.

It goes perfectly in my lounge!

And the one I made?

One 20" cushion, 2 Christmas baubles! It was my absolute pleasure to make for Susan, who said she would like a Christmas cushion. 

I found my inspiration from here, but had no pattern to work from, so did a quick drawing of some bauble type shapes and voila!

I've a couple more secret makes in the pipeline; must get cracking on those soon!

Hope you were all safe through the UK storm!

Jxo

Winners all round!

Firstly, let me announce the winner of my blogiversary giveaway.

And Moira was the last qualifying person to comment, lucky number 47!  Congrats Moira and Happy Christmas!!  6 half metres of Pearl Bracelets will soon be on their way to you!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day yesterday, whatever way you were or weren't celebrating!

The Hollies girls had a great day, laughing & chilling with family & eating way too much!

Yes I did get my hair all chopped off!!

Thankfully all the homemade gifts went down well!

And I got some lovely gifts from friends and family too!  Thank you especially for the beautiful handmade gifts, including my Brit Bee Secret Santa cushion, which I'll show you tomorrow!

Storm round 2 is hitting in here with a vengeance! So it's batten down the hatches & snuggle round the log fire with a steady stream of movies & nibbles!

Have a great Boxing Day!

Jxo

Pure Joy!

Click here to enter my Pearl Bracelets blogiversary giveaway.  Giveaway closes 26th Dec.

While we are surrounded at this time of year by songs and messages of good will and great joy, for some Christmas isn't so easy!

This is my first Christmas in 23 years as a single person.  But I was reminded yesterday how much I have to be thankful for and how possible it is to be joyful!

You see joy is so much more than fizzy emotions! Joy is a choice! Often a courageous one! 

It is choosing to rise above one's circumstances, to find things every day that are blessings, allowing others the opportunity to help and love you, and steeling your spirit towards living rather than just existing.

Choosing joy is choosing to do the possible while expecting the impossible!

This little life lesson today was the inspiration behind this:

Something that brings me pure joy is working with recycled textiles, or rather, re-purposing unwanted, discarded textiles into something that makes me smile!

A while back I was given a scrap bag of tweed & wool. YUM!  These textiles are so wonderfully tactile and there's something very comforting about wool based fabrics.

This 18" cushion will be given to my great Uncle on Christmas day!  It took less than an evening to make, but totally lifted my spirits! 

My girls have also fallen in love with it so it looks like I'm going to have to make a few more for ourselves! 

It's wonderful when joy is infectious!!  So whether you are dreading a day with the out in-laws, are far away from family and friends, or experiencing Christmas without a loved one, I pray that you can find strength and courage to choose joy this season.

Wishing you all a joy-filled Christmas.

Jxo

Log Cabin Love!

Click here to enter my Pearl Bracelets blogiversary giveaway.  Giveaway closes 26th Dec.

In part 2 of the 'Cushion Drive for No.1 Daughter', I got the 24" cushion finished.

I purposely made this one in the same Log Cabin Circles block that I made her 18th birthday quilt in, and backed it in the same Amy Butler fabric.

The quilt was long arm quilted in beautiful connecting hearts.  Sadly lack of skill and time prevented me from attempting the same on the cushion.  So I went with an organic repeating swirls pattern!



This cushion, and the other 2 I've made her, are all wrapped up and ready for the big day!

Only problem now is, they are way too big to fit under the tree!!

Still a few more presents to make, but I'm not panicking (much!).

Jxo

Update: Some of you may be interested to know that my daughter was offered a place at Derby Uni next year, after her 4 hour interview last month!  Thank you all for your well wishes for her. Jxo

Giveaway!

I'm 3 years old today!!!  In blogging terms anyway!

And you know what that means!!!!



Fabric Yard are very kindly sponsoring this giveaway with these stunning HALF METRES of Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets!

That's 6 half metres of gorgeousness!

So if you are a regular reader, live in the UK or Ireland (sorry my overseas friends) and really want to get your crafty hands on these fabrics, then just leave me a comment!

Remember, if you don't ever get a reply from me when you comment on my blog, it means you are a 'no reply comment blogger' so you must leave your email address in the comment box.  If I have no way of contacting you, you will not be considered in the draw.

The Giveaway is open until Thursday 26th December, when I will announce the lucky winner!

Happy Christmas peeps!

Jxo

Twins!

Well ...... almost!

Daughter no.1 asked for some new bedroom cushions for her birthday back in October. Unfortunately I didn't have time to make them then.

So they went onto her Christmas list.

These are 18" cushions, and I used some leftover Amy Butler jelly roll strips from her 18th birthday quilt, teamed with brushed cotton in this blue/grey denim.

I've a 24" floor cushion also in the pipeline for her .  Hopefully that will tick the 'I need more cushions' box!

Jxo