Red Brolly

We Are Family.

2012-01-14T14:48:27+11:00

Just briefly popping in to say .... Guess What?!

Australian Homespun January 2012 Issue is out!!

In stores now!

And... it has in it the first part of my three month B.O.M Quilt- We Are Family!

Here's a preview of the quilt with those gorgeous French General Fabrics.

This is a very special quilt- you can record all the details of your family- births, marriages, special occasions.......events that are unique to your family.

A family record that can be kept or handed down or given as a special gift.

In the first part you can record:

wedding dates - or places....

Who was married.....

and who made that wonderful wedding cake...

There's a Family Tree -to tell about your family History- or your family as it is today.

I chose to write in the details of the first of my family to arrive in Australia. They sailed from Ireland aboard the ship "China" in 1839.

The widow Hayes and her TEN children.

And at the bottom of the Family Tree- I've written the names of the parents of the ten children and the date they were married (William died just before they were to sail to Australia).

Imagine the My Family Quilt as a very special wedding gift...

Or Birthday present....

Or Mother's Day....or.....

Maybe... it would just be great to hang on your wall at home to record a very special "My Family".

And I've only shown you Part One.

Part Two- Vol. 13 No. 2 is on sale in February and the final part -Vol. 13 no.3 is on sale March.

I just thought I'd remind you to get your copy of Part One- before they all disappear!

Keep stitching- Back soon-

Merry Christmas! May 2012 Keep You In Stitches.

2011-12-22T05:58:48+11:00

I hope you and your families have a great Christmas.

It's been a fun year here at Red Brolly. We'll be taking a short break- and be back at the beginning of February 2012 with more competitions, stitch-a-longs and exciting ideas.

In the meantime- keep stitching! And don't forget- we'd all love to see your finished Red Brolly projects. So photos please, in Flickr and Facebook!

And May 2012 Keep You in Stitches!

Last minute inspirational Christmas wrapping ideas

2011-12-21T10:15:00+11:00

Have a lat minute gift to wrap?

Here's a few crafty wrapping ideas. Some have free downloads to go with them.

I love the look of brown paper and bakers twine.

From here and another idea from here.

What about these button embellishments? DIY button wrap accents tutorial here.

These Christmas Goodie bags are very gorgeous and handy.

Newspaper, brown paper, doilies (again, I know!) and some gorgeous red ribbon is quite effective.

image from here.

Add a pom-pom to your present.

or a wrap with a button garland.

What about using some gorgeous sticky tape?

This sticky tape is very cute.

I also love these...

and look at the washi tape here!

Home sweet home Christmas recipe round-up

2011-12-19T09:15:00+11:00

Stuck for ideas for the Christmas dessert table?

Not sure what to take to your stitching gathering?

Here's a few ideas from around the web. So adorable and scrumptious. Click on the link for tutorials and instructions for "how-to-make."

Cute Christmas tree cupcakes from here.

Christmassy Gingerbread faces from here.

I think I'm going to make these Santa Brownie Hats. They look pretty quick and easy.

There's no tutorial, but these North Pole cupcakes look fairly straightforward to make.

Something cute to Swizzle your drinks whilst stitching...these are too cute!

These mini-cupcakes are gorgeous. I'm starting to feel very hungry. These look difficult, but are all made using packet cakes and icings. Could whip them up very quickly.

AND for a laugh you could make these Snowmen cookies .

And of course my Santa Snowy Rocky Road.

Quick lace doily decoration ideas for Christmas

2011-12-16T08:18:00+11:00

Here's a few ideas to use lace/crochet doilies for decorations. I love lace doilies as I think they look like snowflakes. Now remember...I am focussing on doing things quickly as we're doing last minute decoration ideas.

For using lace doilies as decorations you need to make them stiff. There are 2 ways to do this. One really quick and one not so. The first way to make your doilies stiff is to spray them with fabric stiffener and then iron them. This is a really quick way, though I have found that they tend to lose their stiffness after a few days. The advantage of this way is that you can use them again for something else.

If you have a day up your sleeve, I've found that by ironing them, then painting them with slightly diluted PVC glue and leaving them to dry on clingfilm overnight, makes them really strong and hold really well. (If doing is this way, make sure you try and flip them over when the glue has dried on the top side so that the doilies will dry both sides).

I've even quickly embroidered a few Christmassy words onto some of the doilies.

Idea #1

Use them as decorations on your Christmas tree. I've found that they look really effective on a "Stick" tree as shown here. Tie fishing line to the doilies and hang them from the tree. I even wrapped a large doily around the jar at the bottom.

Idea #2

Hang them in your window to make a lovely display (cough, cough...please excuse the photo...the background is really awful, but I had little options...but you get the idea)

Hope you have a lovely weekend preparing for the Christmas holidays. Don't forget that as of Monday you can post your Christmas mantlepieces and sideboards to my facebook page and share with us all.

A to die for Christmas Sideboard.

2011-12-14T07:40:00+11:00

I MUST show you this stunning Christmas sideboard that belongs to my sister-in-law. Gorgeous isn't it? She's been very organised this Christmas and has had this arrangement up for weeks. She's telling me that it's because she's got all the family coming this year...30 odd people!!! I'll show you some more....

Each person has their own Christmas stocking which has been made over the years-that's 30 odd stockings hanging up!. Great eye-candy!

Here's a close-up of a child-hood photo of S.J.V.H and her sister Lou. Thanks S.J.V.H for sharing.

Would you like to see some more inspirational Christmas sideboards and mantlepieces? I 've been keeping my eye out for crafty displays. Ones with little bits and pieces that we could take and do at home.

Love the collection of Santa mugs and teapots.What about those simple felt cone Christmas trees? They look great all together. If you go to her blog, she gives you a template and instructions on how to make them.

Great colours and love the advent calander. These 2 images via Allsorts.

Love the felt garland and the button Christmas tree. These photos via here.

And I just had to share these crochet Christmas decorations with you. I don't crochet, but if you do these are a great idea. Even if you don't, you can buy some from their etsy shop.

So what's your mantlepiece/sideboard like? Would love you to show me...perhaps for all of next week, starting on Monday, you can post your display onto my facebook page for all of us to drool over. Even if it's just a little display-I would love to see it.

-Bronwyn...

Tutorial :: Quick Scandinavian Christmas garland

2011-12-13T08:41:37+11:00

Ok, Christmas is fast upon us and we need a few little extra bits and pieces to jazz up the place, but we are running out of time. Here's a quick Scandinavian inspired star garland to make in no time at all.

Materials

-Air drying Fimo- This stuff is great, a polymer clay that air dries...particularly good when the oven is overcrowded with Christmas goodies.

-Cookie cutters

-Ribbon

-Glue gun or strong glue if you don't have a glue gun

-a few little extra sequins and beads to make it more exciting

Instructions

1. Roll out the Fimo

2. Cut desired shapes, as many as you need. Leave to dry overnight, turning over at least once. This is the part that takes the longest.

3. Heat up your glue gun, take your ribbon and lay it on the table-face up. Work out where you are going to place your shapes. Remember to allow a little space at each ens to allow for attaching to tree etc.

4. Take your shapes-which are now dry and hard- and using the glue gun, attach them to your ribbon.

5. Take your beads, sequins and jazzy bits and glue onto your shapes. I chose red and white as that's my colour theme for Christmas this year.

Super quick and finished in no time.

Now all you need to do is decide where to put it.

Here ???

or here???

-Bronwyn...

Psst...look at my bare looking sideboard. Must get a wriggle on. Stay tuned for my next posting on a TO DIE FOR Christmas sideboard...drool!

Introducing my new quilt :: "The Fun Girls!"

2011-12-12T14:20:37+11:00

Girls just wanna have fun....

Here's a few images from my new quilt..."The Fun Girls." It should be out in the new year. I've been busy this week taking lots and lots of photos and frantically writing the pattern for the printer.

I know we're all focussed on Christmas at the moment, but thought I would share these photos with you. I'll tell you more about it in the New Year, but ti's based around girls having fun and laughter with friends.

So it went from THIS 6 months ago...just a few sketches at this stage...

TO THIS...

Hope you are having fun with the girls!

-Bronwyn...



A Christmas Card For Stitchers!

2011-12-10T08:45:03+11:00

I thought you might like a special Christmas card to give to your stitching friends.

So here it is. Print the image out onto A4 photo card for best results.

The colours look a bit funny onscreen- but I think your printer will translate the colours- and hopefully they'll be the colours I painted the Stitchers Christmas card in.

Download Red brolly PDF christmas card file

Download Red Brolly JPEG christmas card

   Here's a pic of what the card looks like.

You get two cards to an A4 page.

Use your rotary cutter to cut along the line to separate the two cards.

Fold in half- and Le Voila! Two yummy Christmas Cards to send to your stitching friends.

    Keep tuned in for more exciting Christmas projects!



Tutorial :: Mini-Christmas bunting

2011-12-07T12:30:41+11:00

In the lead up to Christmas, I'm going to be doing a few mini-tutorials. Little crafty ideas that can be whipped up in a flash and finished in only a few hours.



So today, I'll be showing you how to make a cute little Christmas bunting to have on top of your Christmas cake, or hang as a garland from a mini-Christmas tree.

What you'll need:-

Fabric scraps

Needle, thread and scissors

Fishing line, or some ribbon or twine to attach the pieces to

Skewers (if making the bunting)

Double sided tissue tape- This stuff is fabulous (in Australia you can get it from Officeworks and ships within the week)

A small piece of cardboard- to make a template

Fabric pen/marker for transfering patterns

HOW TO:

1.Using your cardboard make a template of the bunting pieces. I chose to make mine 4 cm long and 2 cm wide, with a scalloped edge. Remember, it has to be folded in half, so take this into consideration when making. Cut out.

2. Take your double sided tape and fabric scraps. Unroll the tape and press the sticky side onto the wrong side of the fabric.

3. Cut the tape, but still leave the plastic layer attached to the tape. Don't peel this off just yet. Make lots of different strips, as many as you think you'll need.

4. Using the template and your pen, on the right side of the fabric (you'll have to take a bit of care), trace around your template onto the fabric. Make as many as you need...one for each letter. Cut them out.

5. When ready, take your fishing line and fabric bunting pieces, fold each piece in half cross-ways. This will help you when placing the fishing line. Unfold the piece of bunting and peel the plastic layer off. Take your fishing line and place on the sticky side in the crease you made when you folded it in half. This should be in the middle. Fold over and stick. Repeat with all the pieces.

6. You should now have a pretty little bunting. You can use it just as it is, or you can embroider a special Christmas message. Mine should say "Joyeux Noel" (minus the spelling mistake...not concentrating!!) You could either use your fabric marker and carefully write your letters on each piece, or if you want a more rustic look, you could just free-hand it.

7. Thread your needle (I used 2 strands) and carefully sew each letter. I ran out of time, but I also thought you could sew around the border of each piece.

8. TA-DA! Finished! Should be completed in under 2 hours, depending on how fast a sewer you are. If using for a gorgeous cake bunting, tie the ends to some skewers and place on top of your Christmas cake.

Next mini-Christmas craft tutorial...something with lace doilies.

Bronwyn...