Sheepish Cuddles

A while ago I made a Bear cushion for our elder grandson, which I am pleased to say that he has really taken to. Recently, however, our son told us that our younger grandson has also taken a shine to the cushion, so in the interests of filial harmony a request was put in for a second cushion for our littlest grandson.

As I didn't want to make a replica of the first one, I trawled through all sorts of cushions on Pinterest until I finally decided that I would have a go at a sheep cushion.

I had never worked with fleece before so that was the first challenge!

As you can see, however, it turned out fine :)

The front and back of the cushion are 16.25" fleece circles, the face is grey felt with scraps of white and black for the eyes which I have raw-edge appliqued to the fleece backing.

I used six strands of black floss to backstitch the mouth and nose.

I wanted to make the ears stand proud of the face and body, but wasn't sure how to achieve that until I came across this tutorial by Shiny Happy World that uses Soft & Stable as wadding. Now, as it happens I had a strip of Soft & Stable left over from the Catch-All Caddy, so problem solved!

My first attempt at the ears wasn't very successful as I made them so slim at the bottom I found it impossible to turn them right side out. The second attempt, which you can see here, was much better!

I didn't have a round cushion inner so had to make do with a square one, however, it gives my sheep a slightly wonky shape which I think suits her very well :)

I was really pleased with how this turned out and hope that she will be as much cuddled as her Bear companion! 

A Bear Necessity

Our son and his family moved in to their new home just before Christmas (one week before our new grandson arrived!!) and have been settling in ever since.

One of their first moves was to install a bookshelf and comfortable chair in the bedroom of our 2yr old grandson. He loves his story time and has a great memory for his favourite books so skipping pages is never an option :)

Comfort is, therefore, a high priority when settling down with a book pile before bedtime, so when I came across a pattern for a Bear cushion in a recent Bustle and Sew magazine I knew that it would be the perfect addition to that reading corner.

It was really straightforward to make, the cushion itself is made with grey fleece with white, black and pink felt for the nose and ears. The pattern used grey felt for the cushion body but I thought that fleece would make a more comfortable cushion so went with that instead.

The details of the nose and eyes are embroidered on. I could have used buttons for the eyes, which would have been better from a size point of view but thought that embroidered eyes were better for safety.

I delivered the cushion a couple of weeks ago when we went down to visit and I am delighted to say that it was a hit!

A beast of a finish!

Today I am hosting the TGIFF link party, so if you are new to the party welcome I hope you enjoy your visit.

My finish for the party has been a long time in the making, I blogged about it nearly a year ago here when the front was finished but then the project hit the proverbial brick wall. There is nothing like a looming deadline for a completed project to concentrate the mind though is there :)

I am always annoyed with myself when I finally getting around to finishing a project that I have been putting off for a long time and find that the actual finishing is fairly quick and very straightforward. Needless to say that is what happened here!

I used this tutorial by Chris Dodsley for the hidden zipper at the back. I have used this technique on several cushion backs now and really like the clean lines and neat finish that it achieves. I also like the pop of colour that I end up with on the back of my normally plain cushion covers. The front fabric is a grey linen and the back is a light grey quilting cotton with the dark purple band for the hidden zip. I am fairly sure that I kept enough of the purple patchwork pieces used in the reverse applique on the front, to make a hidden zipper band but, of course, couldn't find it when I went to make it. I shall probably find it in the next day or so :)

The cushion was originally intended for our eldest son's wife, who loves purple, but as our youngest son has just recently moved into a new flat and he is a big fan of Stag decor then it only seems right to gift it to him instead. He is not the gentlest of users of a handmade cushion so I am hoping that the reverse applique will stand up to the wear and tear. Having said that he has moved in with his lovely girlfriend so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this and any future cushions will fare a bit better under that much more benign feminine influence :)

So, that's my finish for the TGIFF link party, now it is your turn to link up and share your finishes. As ever a bit of encouragement is always welcome so check out your fellow linkers and share some of the celebrations around. Include the TGIFF blog button in your post if you link up so that your followers can check them out too.

An InLinkz Link-up

Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew - keeping it in the family

Welcome to another Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party, where we encourage each other to work on Christmas and Holiday related projects throughout the year to ensure a stress-free handmade holiday. Ok, maybe that last bit is stretching things a bit, but we do try to build up a stash of handmade gifts and Home Dec items that will at least give the illusion of a stress-free holiday for a little while :)

My Ho, Ho, Ho make for this month is a cushion for our youngest son, who loves nothing better than lounging on the sofa so is the perfect recipient for a new cushion!

The main fabric is from the Riley Blake line Rocket Age and the tweed check was bought in Latvia. I loved the Rocket Age line when I saw it first and bought a couple of FQ's with a vague plan to make something for our youngest son with it. Fortunately, he saw it in my sewing room one day and declared it "cool" so with that seal of approval I had to make him something with it, didn't I?

I used some denim-like linen and another fabric from the Rocket Age line for the hidden zipper back, which is again from the tutorial at Made by Chrissie D I really like how the tab becomes a design feature as well as hiding the zip. I think this may just become my finish of choice for cushion backs :)

So that's a gift for one member of the family done and dusted. Another member of the family is the guest host for this month's Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew link party which is over at Pesky Life, where Danielle, our daughter-in-law blogs. Danielle only took up sewing recently but has really taken to it with aplomb. My own wardrobe boasts a lovely new summer skirt and a very stylish wrap dress thanks to Danielle's efforts on her sewing machine, so I am really looking forward to seeing what she has come up with for the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew archives :)

Of course it wouldn't be a Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link party without a giveaway and this month we have something a bit different for you up for grabs and not just for one but two lucky linkers courtesy of the lovely Nicole at Nicole de Bruin!

Nicole has generously donated 10 packs of her wonderful sewing-themed charms so each winner will receive 5 packs of charms. The charms would make great zipper pull, or how about an appropriately themed kilt pin or set of wine glass charms for quilty friends? I am sure that you can all come up with a myriad of uses for these charms.

The winner of last month's Christmas Decoration Kit was Sandra who is a regular Ho, Ho, Ho'er and the doyenne of novelty pouches! Congratulations Sandra!

To be in with a chance of winning this month's giveaway head on over to Pesky Life and link up your Christmas or Holiday makes from March. As ever the link party closes at 23.59 GMT on March 31st, so you have lots of time to get those projects linked up. No blasts from the past though, we are all about stockpiling throughout the year here so restrict yourself to links to projects you have worked on this month:)

Thanks again to our lovely giveaway sponsors who have been so generous in their support of the link party.

  

 

Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew - the final straight!

Welcome to the final Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party of 2015, I hope that by now you are all organised with your Christmas and Holiday crafting, but if not fear not there is loads of inspiration for Christmas and Holiday crafts in our archive of Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew posts just follow the link at the top of the page.

And for even more inspiration head on over to this month's hostess Paula at Mud Pies and Pins who is sharing her tutorial for a handy button down pouch to solve at least one of your gift wrapping dilemmas :)

Of course it wouldn't be a Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party without a giveaway now would it, and this month we have a wonderful giveaway prize courtesy of the lovely Rebecca and Pam at Sew Hot

 

 They have donated a kit for this gorgeous mini quilt that will make a great addition to your winter decoration. 

To be in with a chance of winning this great kit all you need to do is link up your Christmas and Holiday makes for this month over at Mud Pies and Pins,  where one lucky winner will be randomly drawn when the Link Party ends at midnight on December 31st.

My own holiday make this month has been waiting quite a while for its turn in the spotlight.

I knew as soon as I saw this printed panel from Cat and Vee a while ago that it would be perfect for a gift for my newly-qualified lawyer son. The panel measures 18" square so was ideal for a cushion.

I used a New to Me method for the back closure of the cushion, a hidden zipper using this tutorial from made by Chrissie D. I like how clean the back looks with this hidden zipper method. It was so straightforward to do that I will definitely use this method again.

So, that's my Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew project for this month, now it is your turn to share your Christmas and Holiday crafting over at Mud Pies and Pins

As always, a special thank you goes to all of our generous sponsors who have wholeheartedly supported the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party throughout the year.

http://www.patchworkelephant.com/

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew - a Christmas Cushion

Welcome to another monthly Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party. As we are now in the seventh month of the year, it is definitely time to start thinking about that big holiday looming at the end of the year!

To get your Christmas and Holiday crafting kickstarted we have not one, but two, great tutorials lined up for you this month and two wonderful blogs to check out too.

Martha, who blogs at Weekend Doings is a wonderfully talented blogger who takes the most beautiful photos of her makes. Martha's photos of the produce from her garden will have you drooling :) Martha has a very stylish iPad cover to share with you this month.

Chelsea, who blogs at the brilliantly named Patch the Giraffe is sharing her tutorial for a Flying Geese Christmas tree pillow that you should definitely check out. Having made a tree skirt last month Chelsea is definitely a Ho, Ho, Ho-er :)

As ever our mission is to have you all organised and calm by the time December 25th comes around, and to help us we have gathered together a great bunch of bloggers, who are posting tutorials for gift and home decoration projects throughout the year. You can find all of the previous tutorials by following the link at the top of the page.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party without a giveaway and this month's giveaway comes courtesy of the lovely people at the Fat Quarter Shop

                                                             

                                                               

This month one lucky winner will get to pick their favourite from the Fat Quarter Shop's range of mini charm packs, and all you have to do is link up your Christmas or Holiday makes for July to be in with a chance of winning. The winner of last month's giveaway was Sue, who blogs at SuperMom - No Cape!

My own Christmas make this month was inspired by a block that I made several months ago for the Fat Stash Brit Bee.

The block is from this book Modern Holiday by Amanda Murphy.

I thought when I made it that it would make a nice cushion cover (the pattern in the book is for a quilt). So that is what I did!

I used red linen for the background and the wreath fabrics were all from a pile of layer cake Christmas fabrics that I received in a fabric swap a couple of years ago. It is difficult to see from the photo but the red linen has a Christmas bell pattern woven in to it, so was ideal for this Christmas cushion. Needless to say the linen fabric was brought back from Latvia and there is a lot more where that came from :)

So, now it is your turn to share your Christmas and holiday makes for July, you can link up either with Martha at Weekend Doings or with Chelsea at Patch the Giraffe, the choice is yours!

As you know we couldn't do this without the support of these generous sponsors who have provided us with such great prizes throughout the year.

http://www.patchworkelephant.com/

Linking up to Sew the Library at Weekend Doings