The finished product(s)

 So here's a little selection of what I worked on in the lead up to Christmas. Deciding to make the majority of Christmas presents for those on my list was easy. Coming up with the right ideas and the right amount of time to get it all done was less so! But it was so much fun and kept me from falling asleep in front of the tv night after night.

These bags are for one of my sisters. She travels quite a bit for work so the idea was to use these for packing all those small essentials of clothing and toiletries to make things a bit easier to find. I just love making these bags - hopefully she'll be able to use them.

Are men difficult to buy for, or what? This document wallet is for one of my brother-in-laws, who in fact is an AFL (Aussie Rules football) Essendon supporter, hence the black and red. My Collingwood-mad children are unlikely to forgive me for this for some time. They could not believe I would encourage support of the Bombers in any way!

The two black pockets are for keeping anything special in one place. I thought maybe upcoming event tickets, vouchers, train passes and so we added a cinema voucher tucked away inside. The pattern is from the very clever Anna Maria Horner. I'm sure I'll be making another one, one day.

This little bag was lots of fun. A great way to use up scraps (and that's always good!). It's a little sewing kit for my sewing-keen sister, set up with everything she might need for a session with needle or machine. Again, I found the pattern online at Mackville Road, a great little sewing bag tutorial. I used a few different fabrics for a bit of interest and used wool felt to make little pin and needle books stitched inside the top flap.

New cottons, tape, pack of pins, needles and embroidery scissors and it's all set to get to work. I dare say, that even my non-sewing-keen sisters could do with one of these! This year's birthday present, I wonder?

This toiletry roll was for another sister, and was based on the pencil rolls I made for my girls and their school fair a couple of years ago. It's basically just a pencil roll with dividers for tubes and lipsticks rather than pencils and textas.

As she has lots of client lunches and dinners straight from work, I thought this would be a handy little bag for her to have at work. It's got nearly all the essentials a girl could need to freshen up.

Now this one was very easy.  Two pillowcases for my grandmother, in her favourite colour, to go with her gift (my sisters and I bought her a slow cooker, which it seems she is very happy with). She has just had a bedroom makeover done, so fresh pillowcases seemed just the thing.

And this is what took the most time, but as quilts go, it was rather quick! One pack of charm squares (with two squares added from my own stash) and fresh, white borders to set it all off. It was lots of fun putting it together, and although it's not perfect, I was pleased with it. Mum loves it, which is the main thing, and the colours and prints suit her house and garden rather well.

Somehow though, in all the busy-ness that is Christmas, I've missed out on getting photos of at least 4 things I made: three different bags and pyjama bottoms for my brother in law. Never mind though, they are settled with their new owners now, hopefully earning their place!

Oh, and if you were wondering, no I didn't knit the white blankets laid out in these photos. They were made by my grandmother for Hannah and Ruby when they were born. I just love them and can't imagine not having them around and using them, no matter how old the girls are. When they're made by your great grandmother, I guess they're not your ordinary baby blanket, are they?

Northern day trip

A few days before Christmas, with gifts wrapped and loaded in the car, we headed north for a little day trip. The purpose was two fold: We were to visit one of our state's northern heritage attractions and enjoy driving along country roads, all the while showing Grandma and Grandad more hidden little pockets of Tassie. Then it was on to Launceston to have dinner with my sister and conduct the all important 'north/south gift handover'.

The Woolmers homestead

After lunch at the Old Ross Bakery we headed to the beautiful Woolmers Estate, just outside Longford, to take in heritage buildings, river frontage farmland and the National Rose Garden. You can read more about it here. It is actually where some of my early ancestors were sent to work on the farm when they first came to Tasmania from Scotland..

It's amazing how different clothes and hair styles make my gorgeous twins look so different: Hannah, left, and Ruby. I just love that Hannah is showing off her little nature treasures she'd been collecting!

Sarah and Alice loved exploring the gardens, taking the twins along winding paths into dark, secret hidey holes.

The original stables with open displays of machinery etc at the rear.

This is one of my favourite photos of the day. The way the garden bed, edging and overhanging tree frame the building is wonderful. It is a very impressive building.

Then it was through to the National Rose Garden, all part of the same site, making such a delightful outing for everyone. The girls loved getting lost amongst the roses and box hedges, zig zagging their way around beds and down pathways.

My other favourite snap of the day - my gorgeous girls taking a break from the rose-smelling and exploring - four happy, smiley, (and just a little) cheeky monkeys.

And this one, despite Sarah doing a great job of being photographer, is not a favourite of mine (!) but shows off some lovely roses and my lovely man.

Dinner in Launceston, cuddles with Aunty Katie, present opening and depositing (for the rest of the family in the NW), kids showers, pjs and a drive through the sunset back to Hobart. Lovely day. x