Seeya next year :o)!!

What a year it's been. One of the things I will remember 2008 for is that I started my JoyPatch website (it's been so exciting), I also started my blog just a few months ago too and have been lucky enough to "meet" some lovely fellow stitchers through both :o). I've really enjoyed getting to know a little bit about you all - and I've thoroughly enjoyed the swaps too ;o)!!!!!
I hope you all have a truly wonderful 2009 that brings you everything you could wish for :o)!!
Happy new year ....... and good health and happiness to you and yours :o).
See you in 2009!!!!!!!!

Toiletries bag tutorial

Finally I've got myself organised and here's the tutorial I promised you for the little red bag that I made for my Mum for Christmas. She loved it by the way, and I ended up making a couple more, the one in the tut' I gave to my SIL Cheryl and I did another for my gorgeous DIL to be, Alicia - both for Christmas gifts :o) ... happy to say, they loved them too. I filled Mum's with lots of nail care goodies and for my SIL and DIL to be I put in soaps etc. They would also be great as a make up bag .... sewing project bag ... you could even make one in blokey type fabrics for your favourite fella to use as a shaving kit!!

So, here's the instructions with loads of piccies to hopefully make it easier for you ..... any questions - (or if you find I've made a boo boo!!!) just email me - joy@joypatch.com and I'll do my best to help you out :o).

Firstly, you will need:-

30cm (12") zipper

Iron on pellon - One piece - 10 1/2" x 15" and two pieces - 3" x 5 1/2"

Fabric A - 4 strips 11" x 1 1/2" (to go on the zipper); 3 strips 15" x 2 1/2" (bag outer); 2 strips 5 1/2" x 1 3/4" (bag outer sides)

Fabric B - 2 strips 15" x 2 1/2" (bag outer); 2 strips 5 1/2" x 1 3/4" (bag outer sides).

Lining - 2 pieces 3" x 5 1/2" (sides); 1 piece 10 1/2" x 15".

Binding - approx 72" x 2"

All seam allowances are 1/4" unless otherwise stated.

Sew the 5 strips for the bag outer together and press all the seams in the same direction.

Do the same with the shorter strips for the sides of the bag. Press.Iron the pellon to the back of the bag outer then lay this piece onto the wrong side of the lining piece and pin the layers ready for quilting.Do the same with the smaller side pieces.Using a walking foot, quilt all three pieces "in the ditch".Press the binding strip in half lengthways, wrong sides together.Cut 2 pieces from this strip 3" long and sew to the front of the side pieces, raw edges together.Flip the folded edge over to the back of the piece and hand-stitch the binding down with a blind stitch. Match your thread to the binding. Do this with both side pieces.Mark the centre of the long side of the main bag piece with a pin. Match the centre of the side piece and pin in place.Pin the side pieces to the bag outer so that the sides are now set in. You will notice the sides pieces are slightly shorter than the bag outer. That is correct.Pin the binding in place, raw edges together on the sides of the bag and sew in place.Mitre the corners as you sew on the binding.Flip the folded edge of the binding over the raw edges and hand stitch it down.Your bag should look pretty much like this by now .... next we'll put in the zipper ... don't worry it's easy, not scary at all :o)!!!Change your sewing machine foot to a zipper foot.Open the zipper. Pin 2 of the remaining strips to the zipper as shown above,sew them on with a 1/4" seam allowance.Fold the strips back and press. Sew the strips to the other side of the zip in the same way and press. Close the zipper.

Pin the zipper piece to the top of the bag, raw edges together. You will have about 1" overhang at each end.

Almost done now :o) ...........Trim the bottom end of the zipper so that you have a nice straight edge to sew the binding onto.Sew the binding on, raw edges together, as shown in the pic above. Mitre the corners as you go around the bottom of the zipper.Sew it around both sides and the bottom end of the zipper, leave the top end of the zipper open. Flip the folded edge over the raw edges and stitch the binding down using a blind stitch.Cut a 6 1/2" strip from the leftover binding and fold the top edge over 1/4" and press.then fold this piece in half, right sides together and sew along the one side and across the top. Trim off the top 2 corner pieces, turn inside out and press. Undo the zipper a little bit and slip the little sleeve over the open ends of the zipper. Pin in place and stitch on. Your little toiletries bag is now complete!!!!

I'd really love to see any of these little bags that you might make so please send me a link if you post a piccy on your blog, I can then post a list of links on my sidebar so that others can see what you've made too :o). Please feel free to pass the link to this tutorial on to your friends too.

I'm looking forward to seeing your handiwork!!!

Hugs,

Joy :o)

Toiletries bag tutorial.

I'm not quite sure how I managed to get the tutorial in the wrong place on my blog ... but if you click here you can go straight to it :o) - or you can click on the pic on the sidebar - or you can just scroll down past the post of 26th December and you'll find it there :o).

What a lovely Christmas!!!

I hope you all had a super wonderful Christmas. Ours was just fabulous. The only thing missing was our DD1 Tahlia and her boyfriend Luke, they are still on the other side of the world. BUT, we got a phone call from them on Christmas morning - we were over the moon. It was so lovely to hear her voice on such a special day :o). I can't wait 'til they visit in February!!! DS Ross and his gorgeous fiance Alicia came over in the morning too. Within minutes it was wrapping paper and pressies everywhere ... loads of laughs, they are all still just big kids - bless ;o).I finished the bag for my MIL just in time!! I put the last stitches in on Christmas Eve afternoon ... the same with a couple of little toiletries bags that I made for Alicia and my SIL Cheryl. Phew ... I was cutting it fine ;o) LOL I always do. Here's the bag for MIL ... the stitchery on this one is by Bronwyn Hayes, it matched the fabrics perfectly (I love her stitcheries!!!) but the bag is a JoyPatch design, it's called "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and you can find the pattern with the original stitchery on it here :o). I'm pleased to say that my MIL loved the bag :o)!!!I finally got to unwrap my pressies from Dawn (my partner in Janet's Christmas swap), and Maria in UK,who was my 'mortal' in Helen's Stitcher's Angel Swap. This is what Dawn sent me, an armchair caddy and a matching pincushion ... aren't they gorgeous, the stitching is so neat - thanks so much Dawn, I love them :o)!!!! Thanks also to Janet for organising this last minute swap ... it was such fun :o)!!! And this is what Maria sent from UK ... gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabrics!!! I love them Maria ... you really are a sweety!! Can't wait til 2010 ;o)!!!!! I also got a lovely gift from Julia - she let me open it early after she read my last blog post ... so of course I didn't need to be told twice ... and this is what I got!! I just love it, it's now hanging with my Christmas quilt in the loungeroom :o). Thanks so much Julie!!!The morning was spent with my side of the family, then we went off to DHs family for lunch ... what a magnificent spread, and everything was so festive. We had great fun ... the guys all had Chrissy ties to wear and the girls all had flashing brooches!!! Here's DH and me in our finery ... lol you can see the tie well enough but the brooch is a bit harder to spot!!I ate so much I thought I'd burst!!! ...... this is just what we had AFTER dessert!!!!!!

We went home for a quick nap then it was back to my brother's for tea. Everybody loved their pressies, and we got some great stuff too :o). Today we've just stayed at home and been totally lazy!! I'm having such fun reading about everyone's Christmas Day :o) - I hope everything went well for everyone and that Santa was good to you :o).

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the tutorial ... I'm working on it and will be posting it very soon :o).

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)

2 more sleeps!!!!!

I'm so excited!! Only two more sleeps until Christmas!!! Can I really wait that long until I open some pressies??? Well, in a word ...... nope ;o). I must confess that I've already opened one ... just one, that's all. These are the gifts I received from my swap partner Dawn - it's a long story, but her little darling Jemimah (3) has already helped her open her gifties from me lol, so I have opened just the one from Jemimah to me (it's the one on the bottem left of the picture).... and this is what Jemimah sent me, isn't it lovely!!! I'm looking forward to stitching it up - Thanks Jemimah, hope you love your little Santa :o).

I also received a gift from Julie - this was totally unexpected and really made my day!! Thanks so much Julie, I can't wait to see what's inside ;o). ...... But that's not all, I've been admiring the very clever work of my friend Jeanette on her blog lately and one of the things she made arrived at my house this morning!!! You can't see them in the piccy, but this gorgeous bon bon is full of toffees!!! YUM!!! What a wonderful surprise!!!!! I'm feeling incredibly spoilt this week - thank you all so much for your kindness :o).

DD2 and I have been busy in the kitchen the past few days. We've finally got the Christmas treats all made. Do you love our little mini puddings??? Soooo easy to make :o). We do these every year.We made these yummy shortbread stars .... I have to tell you , these just melt in the mouth - YUMMY!!.... and we made some 'White Christmas' - sorry, I should've taken a piccy of them, and little cherry chocolates. I did the Ice creams today too - I love this recipe, I found it last year and it was a HUGE hit. It's vanilla ice-cream and you mix in chopped red and green licorice, chopped macadamias, shredded coconut and chopped macadamia cookies. It's so delicious :o) you should try it.

More sewing to do now ... and don't worry, the tutorial for the little red bag will be coming very soon, I promise :o). I'll post piccies of MIL's bag as soon as it's done too ..... yep, that's right, I'm still doing it LOL.

Take care,

Ho-Ho-Hugs,

Joy :o)

Snow storm!!!!

Not what you're thinking I'm sure ...... don't forget, I come from sunny Queensland, Australia!!! It's a rarity to get snow here and we definitely don't get any in Brisbane!! Nope, this is something completely different .... perhaps I should have called this post "SnowMAN storm" he he he.

I went to visit my friend Gwen (no blog) yesterday and I was blown away by all of her fabulous snowmen!!! I think I see a bit of an obsession there LOL, everywhere I turned there was another gorgeous snowman - and most of these she made herself!!! Very clever friend I have :o). Here's a few of them for you to see ... Mr and Mrs Frosty ........

The kids .....Snowman swag ...Snowball fight...... (my favourite - aren't they cute??!!?!)Frosty hanging on the back of the chair ....Another swag ... this time vertical ;o) ...

Snowman stitchery ....And last but not least this smily chap :o)!!You can imagine how festive Gwen's house looked ........ AND the Christmas tree was covered in snowmen too!!!!

On another subject, I was surprised by how many emails/comments I received about my Mum's little red bag on the last post. I've decided I might do a tutorial on it ... what do you think??

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)

Christmas pressies ... 'to' and 'from' :o).

I'm having a great December!!! Look what arrived in the mail for me from Norway!!!This was from Laila, my Secret Angel. Thanks so much Laila ........ I've never done a Tilda stitchery before, it's absolutely gorgeous, I can't wait to start it :o)!!!!!

I've been busy making some rather last minute gifts for Christmas. The first one I finished just the other night and it's a little make-up bag for my Mum ...I can't believe I've even put a zip in it!!! After all of those zipper pouches I've made I think you can see I'm no longer "zipperphobic" :o)!!! I love the fabrics in this and Mum loves red so I'm hoping she'll be pleased with it. I've filled it with nail polishes and nail care products for her for Christmas.

I've also been busy finishing the stitchery to go on the pocket of the bag for my MIL.... Now I just have to make the bag LOL. That's today's job!!! I've done all of this with the help of my little friend Olly ....... here he is overseeing my work LOL. He's so cute :o).

I'm off to make a bag ....................

Hugs,

Joy :o)