New to my craft room this December

I ended last month’s post by sharing my advent calendar, so let’s start with that. I was impressed with it then, and I’m even more impressed with it now. It’s the type of advent calendar that I don’t think you’d need to do every year, as many of the items were tools and gadgets that will last hopefully for many years. Actually you could easily reuse the packaging for a self-filled advent calendar (of any nature) in future years too.

And as much as I love a pouch, I really love a box that can be reused!

MORRIS WORKS QUILT SHOP ADVENT CALENDAR

MORRIS WORKS QUILT SHOP ADVENT CALENDAR DAYS 1-14

With thread, needles, needle threaders, needle storage, a seam ripper, magnetic grips and a super long tape measure as well as a kit to make a pouch (well I never!) there was plenty to unbox each day.

MORRIS WORKS QUILT SHOP ADVENT CALENDAR DAYS 15-24

And there was more thread, some embroidery scissors, an extra hand (if only!), tools for cleaning and some bejewelled mixer fabric on the 24th. There was plenty of new to me tools, and only one that I was completely baffled by (day 17) - and that’s a magnetic seam guide.

There’s things I know I will find useful, and other things I definitely want to try. There’s probably a couple of things I may not use, or maybe I will - and that’s ok. All in all it was a great advent calendar which brought an influx of aids which I most likely wouldn’t have tried without it.

But December also brings opportunities for recycling additions to my craft room, more so than normal. I mean Christmas crackers anyone? Exactly. This year I think I’ve been relatively restrained, saving the main cracker ‘bodies’ and the ribbons that were tied on each end - which are kept together with my cracker paperclip gift!

I’ve also added a lime fruit net, the first green net for my weaving with waste supplies. And there’s various ribbons too - the pink ones were out of some new pyjamas which had four ‘hanging ribbons’ - four?! I don’t even need one! The white ribbons are from an already slightly adjusted Christmas present, and I’m not sure where the multi-coloured braid came from, but it’s pretty isn’t it - and I’m sure I’ll find a use for it.

Good news - the long awaiting invisible zipper foot arrived! In fact it arrived in a few days from the new supplier, so that’s good news. It’s pictured below along with some more sewing gadgets and aids which were Christmas presents from my parents. Mum’s also sews and this year she included a pen-shaped chalk wheel, a measuring gauge, some bodkins (that’s a great word isn’t it?) for pulling elastics and ribbons through a casing, and a clapperboard and roller to help seams behave in patchwork.

Mum also knows how much I love pouches and boxes, so there were a couple of pouches and a collapsible box tied with ribbons. It’s this that I’ve adjusted, as it’s immediately in use with that pouch I mentioned the other day that’s still on my ‘to do' list. I’ve trimmed the ribbons and added black poppers in the corners so that the box/tray remains collapsible, but without long ribbons.

I’ve also been fortunate with other Christmas gifts, with some new books to read and learn from and a smaller size ruler which will be much easier to take out to craft groups, and a thread spool which I’m keen to try as I’ve several really large cotton spools that I’ve picked up from destash sales which at the moment I can only use on my overlocker, and as I try not to rethread that hardly at all, then it could be a while before the really large spools get used. I’m hoping that now I’ll be able to use the standalone thread spool with my sewing machine, that’s the theory anyway…

I love to receive a book on Christmas Day, as there’s no better way to spend the afternoon with my nose in a new book. These will be useful too, I hope - the Machine Magic book was recommended on the Bernina training day, and I think it’ll also be useful for when I actually tackle my Floral Fancy. The Modern Folk Embroidery book is for a project that’s been brewing in my mind for a while - I want to embroider a plain jacket I have, whether or not I will I’m not sure, but it’s currently at the research and examining possibilities stage!

The final book - Journey to the Centre of a Quilter - tells the story of many of Jo’s quilts I saw at the Festival of Quilts earlier this year, and looks to be a great introduction into improv quilting, which both interests and intrigues me!

So that’s another month in my craft room, check out my previous updates for earlier additions, and remember to let me know below what you’ve added to your craft supplies this month.

Other makes of 2025

I quite enjoyed recapping my Quilts of 2025, so I thought I’d do the same with my other (sewing) makes of the year. You’ll not be surprised to learn that there’s a lot of pouches - my love for them continues, and I think there’ll be plenty more this year too.

But I did make more than pouches, there’s even been a dress and a pie-carrier, and plenty of embroidery thrown in. Many of the things I’ve made have had previous lives - as t-shirts, dresses and even covering a headboard. Seriously. There’s been small fabric samples too, and I’ve even used materials cut out from the larger books, and I’ve already found a use for the sample books I picked up at the Harrogate show in November.

I’m hoping that in 2026 I’ll have even more ‘other makes’ but first let’s look back at my 2025 makes.

Here’s what I’ve made in 2025

In January I completed my mandala pouch which continues to be home for my poppers, and all the tools associated with that. I also found time to add some sparkles to my zumba pouch (I’m still missing that class which stopped in the summer - sad face!) and knocked myself up a quick felt pencil case for some of the supplies I needed to take along to a workshop.

In February there were more pouches, obviously and I made an appliquéd velvet pouch and a impromptu saucepan saver as I discovered how to use my new sewing machine. And then making use of a block left over from the Noughts and Crosses quilt, I made myself the ‘all the patterns’ project bag.

Then it seemed I had an ‘other makes’ rest for a few months, as it wasn’t until June that I completed my next make - and that was a big one for me, it was my dress.

Let’s gloss over the fact that I’d bought some material (still not used) to make this dress back in 2023 though! This was the toile, or test run of the pattern, which if it didn’t work then I’d never have to wear, and I wouldn’t have spoiled my lovely bought fabric either. But as it turned out I have worn this dress, quite a lot in fact, and it continues to bring compliments which is also nice.

Even better it still hasn’t fallen apart. But I’ve not yet made it in the original material, nor some of the other material I’ve bought since either. Maybe 2026 is the year…

In July I was making things up again and created a really useful velvet box pouch from various fabric samples I’d collected over the years. This one’s purpose is to keep the foot pedal of my ‘take to’ machine safe during journeys, and to stop it banging against my second new sewing machine of the year.

The end of the month saw me create an incremental update for dad’s birthday bunting - I hadn’t worked out how to attach it to the original banner, but then again I also reckoned that really wasn’t my problem!

In August, inspired by the workshop I attended at the Festival of Quilts I stitched two kantha inspired landscape scenes, including one with a hare for the bedside tables in our spare rooms.

Though clearly by now I was experiencing some pouch withdrawal symptoms - but don’t worry another eight were to be completed by the end of August, and I jest but they were the perfect project to get used to my ‘take to’ sewing machine, and well, pouches are always useful. I don’t know where they go, but the pile soon disappears!

Actually I made another project bag as well in August, but I haven’t shared that one here yet so when I do - I’ve another one on the go as part of the ‘set’ - I’ll add a link in here.

In September I was clearly busy finishing quilts, so it wasn’t until October that I became obsessed with and made myself a small pie carrier, and while it’s a bit smaller than I’d like it’s still useful. I still need to make myself a slightly larger, less prototype version, so that should be along this year too at some point.

In October I also had a bout of repurposing old clothes into, yes you’ve guessed it, more pouches and project bags - and this is definitely something that will continue this year.

I ended the year with some more Christmassy items - a Scandinavian folded fabric star which tested my ability to follow instructions, and several ‘sheep in Christmas jumper’ Christmas cards, as you do.

And of course, some more pouches - this time as presents, so add three pouches and a further project bag to my year’s ‘other’ makes. Not a bad year at all, and I’m hoping that 2026 is even more prolific - with maybe even a new style of pouch too, who knows?!

Quilts of 2025

Today I’m sharing the quilts I’ve finished in 2025, and I mean completely finished. There’s more that I’ve started but haven’t quite finished yet so I’m not including those. This year I’ve made a lot more quilts than I have ever done before, let alone in one year and so I’m proud of that, and you never know this could be the start of a whole new annual series here on my blog. Actually, I’d be pretty happy about that.

Twelve completed quilts, but not one a month

This year I’ve completely finished twelve quilts, all of them for charity. My most prolific month with three finished quilts was September, while I managed to complete zero in May and December! But that’s life hey?

So let’s have a quick recap of those quilts.

January started with a Noughts and Crosses quilt, the crosses were left over blocks from a previous Great Granny Quilt top (which so far has remained unfinished) and they were paired with some blocks I made to test sewing on a curve, and if I could cope with making enough for a quilt. In case you’re wondering I could, but so far I haven’t!

January’s Noughts and Crosses

In February it was the Log Cabin Log Cabin, whose name still makes me smile. The log cabin centres were test blocks for my mystery block of the month quilt - and it was this that set me onto the slightly mad ‘stretch’ project of making a quilt a month for charity from these test blocks.

February’s Log Cabin Log Cabin

In March I opted for a blue and green theme for the Mostly Repurposed Vintage Star quilt, which I think only the white/navy flowered material was new. At this point I was unsure in which direction the mystery block of the month quilt would take me.

March’s Mostly Repurposed Vintage Star

April’s finished quilt saw hearts as the centre block, and so this Four Hearts and a Hug quilt was always going to be pink, and as it turned out, riotously so!

April’s Four Hearts and a Hug

That meant my eyes needed a break, so The Friendly Bee quilt I completed in June was just the thing and used two different bee fabrics I picked up at my Sewing Group’s stash sale.

June’s Friendly Bee

The calm colours didn’t last long though, and colour broke through for the Pleated Tulips I finished in July, though the Aztec patterned border gave me a bit of headache, until I added the grey border which immediately stopped the zig zags looking too unruly.

July’s Pleated Tulips

For August’s Raspberry Plus finisher I played with the layout, opting for a plus, or cross, layout for the first but not the last time.

August’s Raspberry Plus

While September was my most prolific month for completing quilts, it didn’t stop my creativity or optimism. For this Half the Scraps quilt, which was renamed from All the Scraps while I was making it, I also decided to try quilting in a circle - it was way harder than I expected it to be, and I’ll not be trying that again for a while!

September’s Half the Scraps

In September I went along to a Project Linus charity quilt day hosted by my now Patchwork Group, and during the day I made the majority of this baby-sized Paddington quilt in a snowball pattern. I was disappointed not to get it completely finished on the day, but it didn’t take me that long to complete once I was home. I shared more about this quilt, and the ones I donated, in my September Quilty Update.

September bonus quilt - Paddington Snowball

For my third completed quilt of the month I was back raiding the Blues and Greens in my stash, clearly needing another break from the pinks. This one also used scraps leftover from previous quilts, but with the addition of some other fabrics from my stash. And by now, I was firmly entrenched in the straight line quilting - I think it works particularly well with this quilt.

September’s Blues and Greens

October’s completed quilt was one that the central block challenged me unnecessarily, though partly because I switched machines part-way through. That resulted in completely mismatched seams for one of the central test blocks, so that was binned and a new one made - I guess that’s the purpose of test blocks, and you’d never know in the resulting Marmalade Hearts quilt, would you?

October’s Marmalade Hearts

Which brings me onto the last completed quilt of 2025 - the Ohio Flower Garden - and another that I’ve played with the layout of and have used all floral fabric, and there’s a lot but I think it turned out well.

November’s Ohio Flower Garden

So it was quite a year in quilts, and I’ve learnt lots including:

• Test blocks are always a good idea, but a quilt a month is a lot to keep up with (in shocking news!)

• I’ve used a lot of my stash, but I’ve created a lot more scraps I could use too.

• I’m a fan of straight line quilting, though quite often my lines could be straighter - I’ve a plan for that though.

• I should aim to get a better final shot of the completed quilts, I much prefer those from the start of the year on the sofa or the trellis, something for me to remember for this year!

And I’ve plenty more to come this year, with at least two from my initial list hopefully completed in the first part of 2026.

Hopefully.

But I’ve a couple more charity quilts and blocks of the month to complete right now, so I’ve plenty to crack on with.