Advent Calendars, done slightly differently

Back in 2009 I made two quilted advent calendars, one for me and one for my brother. So for December of 2009 I had my advent calendar, excitedly taking a chocolate out of it each day in the lead up to Christmas. Then in 2010 disaster struck! I couldn't find my advent calendar. I was SO upset, I'd spent so much time making the advent calendar to only be able to use it one?! I was gutted! So I turned into a bit of a scrooge that year. Again in 2011 the story was similar, my advent calendar hadn't turned up and I wasn't quite ready to make a new one, so again, no advent calendar.

Then, earlier this year when I was moving it turned up! My Christmas decoration had been stuck inside another box so we hadn't found them when looking! MASSIVE thanks must go out to Darren, who is the one that actually found them. So this year I'm very excited to have my advent calendar back again! Also, since I'm now living with my brother the two advent calendars are reunited, so of course they've been put up on the wall next to each other:

In celebration of having my advent calendar again, I am doing something a little different this year. Rather than just getting some chocolates and having one a day, I've teamed up with a friend and I've filled her advent calendar and she's filled mine. The friend in question is the talented Kristy of HandmadeRetro.

We set ourselves the guidelines of:
- Weekdays get a chocolate goodie
- Weekend days get a little gift
- Every day gets a task of some description.

So Saturday afternoon I popped into Kristys and we filled each others calendars. Even though I took a photo of her advent calendar after filling it with the stuff I got for her yesterday, I won't post it as she needs to post about it on her blog, so keep an eye out over there to see hers, I'm very excited to find out whats In all of the pretty packages that she's prepared for me though! (pictured above)

So far I've opened two packages, both of which were weekend packages so had gifts! The first had a set of cable needles, which is great as I don't have any of them, I've been using a double pointed needle for cabling. The second had a spool of fancy silk thread, I'm not sure if it's meant to be used for anything special (Kristy? Pardon my ignorance!), but it sure looks and feels beautiful!

I have to confess, I haven't actually done the task for day 1 yet, as I was headed to a wedding and had already planned my hair, and today I was just bumming around at home all day, but I will definitely do it ASAP. The second task however I happily followed! And this evening I baked some Raspberry and White Chocolate muffins.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the packages hold! Do you have an advent calendar?

Advent Calendar 2010 - Happy Early Christmas Vicki

I showed you this sneak peek of a gift I'd made a while ago, but couldn't show you the whole thing until I'd given it to its recipient. Thankfully this gift was given today, so I can finally share all the gory details!

It was an advent calendar for my friend Vicki, hence the over a month early Christmas Pressie - I think giving it on Christmas day would have been a bit mean and stupid as she'd have to wait almost a whole year to actually be able to use it.

I used Elizabeth's advent calendar tutorial with a few variations to make the advent calendar, including a panel with printed numbered squares for the pockets, and not off setting the pockets in the sashing (although I wish I had, but I didn't have time)

As I mentioned before, It was made on my Grans Bernina, and quited using the stich regulator (although the stitches weren't that regulated as I had the wrong settings).

Finished and Gifted

My lack of posts have not been due to lack of sewing activity, but the opposite; I've been sewing heaps, and am also hopeless at taking photos of stuff and photoless posts are boring!

Last night I stayed up late to finish off the second advent calendar as today is my brother's birthday and that was his birthday gift. Here are the two finished advent calendars:

They are practically identical except the order of the pockets is mirrored vertically and horizontally and they have different coloured bindings. I wanted to get them both finished so that my bro could choose which one he wanted; he chose the red one.

Finishing the second one seemed to turn into so much trouble! I had bought a second spool of thread for the quilting but it's gone missing, so I quilted until I ran out on the weekend and then had to take an unplanned dash to Tessuti on Monday. I spent some of Monday evening and then Tuesday evening sweltering over my sewing machine (we're having a mini-heatwave here in Melbourne; not that hot really but we're not used to it this early in the summer!) only to look up one square from the end to see that I was almost out of thread again!! I carefully manoeuvred my quilting so that I finished around the edge first so that when I ran out I could still finish off the binding and do the last bit of quilting after getting more thread (poor practice I know, but desperate times!). Luckily I had just enough thread, and I mean just, here's how much I had left when I finished:

One Down!

Finished!! I stitched the binding on last night, so now I just need to have the will power to keep it packed away in a box for 6 weeks until I'm allowed to get it out and fill it with chocolate for the beginning of December.

The binding is pieces of leftovers from the red pockets, mostly alternating pattern and plain. I thought it would be more interesting than a plain binding... that and i had cut all of the plain red and green up into squares. It really finishes it off, before the binding was on we were worried about putting it on a white wall and it getting lost, but there's no chance of that now!!

Stipple, Stipple, Stipple...

After a very lazy Saturday I spent this evening finally doing some more work on my advent calendar; doing the quilting in the sashing.

After practising with pencil and paper I thought I was just about ready to give the real thing a go, so replaced my pencil with my sewing machine and my paper with my advent calendar. starting in one corner and some what randomly wandering over the quilt I've been wiggling, meandering and wavering all over the sashing. There have been a couple of 'oops' moments, a few stitches slipping across from the sashing onto the pockets, but nothing too horrific.

I marginally deviated from the tutorial and decided to do a square of stitching around each pocket so that the integrity of the shape of the wall hanging once the pockets are stuffed doesn't depend entirely on my limited free motion quilting skill.

On reflection my wiggles, jiggles and meanders may be packed a little tighter than they need to be, but for a first try I don't think they're all that bad. So far I've done about two thirds of the wall hanging so I should be able to finish it off tomorrow. Then I only need to decide what to do for binding... oh, and make a second one!

Sewing Day!!

Yesterday (Sunday) two of my girlfriends from work came over for a 'sewing day'. The day was super-fun and super-productive.

I did some work on a second advent calendar using some more of the same fabric.

My friend Amelia started her advent calendar - she cut out all her squares, arranged them (which took QUITE a while of both of us pondering over them and making swap after swap), cut out and ironed on all her numbers:

And my friend Kylie started on her very own coffee date dress - and for a girl who hasn't sewn before did very well, especially since I'm probably the worst sewing teacher EVER!

Sadly nothing was finished, so more sewing days will be necessary (which isn't a bad thing!)

Major Progress.

Because I'm sad and pathetic like that, last night (Saturday night) I ended up going to the supermarket and then spending the rest of the evening sewing - exciting times! I did however, make super progress with my advent calendar. All the pockets were sewn and the layers basted together:

Borders added to two sides:

Then added to the remaining two sides:

And even managed to sew it all together and baste (with spray) into the quilt sandwich, just using calico on the back:

Now it's ready to be quilted - I just need to pluck up the courage! I'm planning on stippling it like in the tutorial, but think I need to practice with pen and paper a little more first, to make sure I am better at the line and can get it even all over.

I have no self control...

...when it comes to fabric that is.

I wasn't supposed to be starting the advent calendar until next weekend when we have our 'sewing day' but I couldn't resist starting it over the weekend... and justified it by saying to myself that I wouldn't have much time to work on it on sewing day anyway as I'll be helping Kylie with her dress.

So on Saturday I cut the fabrics into 4.5" squares and paired the plains with the patterns:

Then switched around the arrangement of the squares until I was happy:

Then traced the numbers onto the paper side of the heat n bond:

And then on Sunday I ironed the numbers onto the correct fabrics, cut them out and ironed them onto the pocket fronts:

And lastly, because I couldn't resist, I stitched around one set of numbers and sewed it up into a pocket:

I also did stuff I should have been doing this weekend, I finished my Little Bouquet, which I shall post about later.

Stop looking at me like that!

Neatly folded in a pile on the corner of the table they're just sat there whispering to me "cut me up and start making stuff with me"

This is why I have so many UFOs/WIPs.

Christmas has come early...

Last night after work I went fabric shopping with my two friends Amelia and Kylie. I finally got some fabric for my esprit dress, we got kylie some gorgeous royal blue fabric for a coffee date dress, and me and Amelia got a whole stack of Christmas fabrics to make one of these gorgeous advent calendars.

Sadly our advent calendar won't be as gorgeous as the one in the tutorial as we were limited by what christmas fabrics Spotlight had in stock, but after quite a while, and lots and lots of bolts pulled on and off the shelves and lined up against each other, we made our selections.

We were originally intending to both get the same fabrics for the advent calendars, but it conspired that we have VERY different tastes in Christmas fabrics; I liked the cartoon-y ones, and Amelia preferred the more realistic ones. The ones on the left are mine, and the ones on the right Amelia's (sort of, she has a couple the same as me too).

The fabrics have now been pre-washed and are on the line drying while I watch out the window anxiously in case it starts raining; you never know in Melbourne!