on the sixth day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeeee, six geese a-laying!

Better get started on the handmade gifts and ornaments! Goose a-Laying is the sixth pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments. 

All the ornaments in this series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments!

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns! This is the bundle for Goose a-Laying with coordinating floss, shown above. (Note: This is the final unique color bundle. After this the color bundles will repeat for the rest of the ornaments.)

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

on the fifth day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeeee, FIVE GO-OLD RINGS! Sing that part really loud with lots of vibrato!

Better get started on the handmade gifts and ornaments! Gold Ring is the fifth pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments. 

All the ornaments in this series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments!

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns! This is the bundle for Gold Ring with coordinating floss, shown above.

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

on the fourth day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeeee, four colly birds! (Colly bird is the old English term for blackbird, and that is what was in the song originally. But you can make them calling birds if you like!)

It's a great time of year for cozy hand making! Colly Bird is the fourth pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments. 

All the ornaments in this series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments.

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns! This is the bundle for Colly Bird with coordinating floss, shown above.

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

on the third day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeeee, three French hens!

It's a great time of year for cozy hand making! French Hen is the third pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments. It doubles as an Easter pattern if you have an Easter tree in the spring.

All the ornaments in this series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments.

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns! This is the bundle for French Hen with coordinating floss, shown above.

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

on the second day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to meeeee, two turtle doves!

It's a great time of year for cozy hand making! Turtle Dove is the second pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments.

All the ornaments in the series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments.

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns! This is the bundle for Turtle Dove with coordinating floss, shown above.

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

may I suggest handmade ornaments?

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee...a partridge in a pear treeeee!

It's a great time of year for cozy hand making. Partridge & Pear is the first pattern in my Twelve Days series of Christmas ornaments.

All the ornaments in the series are hand sewn and made from wool or wool-blend felt. And they are way easier to make than they look, thanks to a magical Sulky adhesive stabilizer.

Using the stabilizer (shown in action above) means no tedious pattern transferring or tracing. If you can do basic hand stitches and work with small pieces, you can nail these ornaments.

I have also curated wool-blend felt and floss color bundles which are sold by Benzie Design to go with the digital patterns!

All available Twelve Days ornaments are in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, sold singly and also in discounted bundles. It's an ongoing series, so stay tuned for new patterns coming!

giving my first talk

Putting together a display board for my Twelve Days series of ornaments. It's a good thing I'm only up to number 7 or I'd have to make another board. I'm thinking when the series is complete I'll need an actual white Christmas tree especially for them (instead of foam core).

The display (and these bags of samples) are for a talk I'm giving at the Madison Station Quilt Guild meeting next week and I don't mind telling you I'm a little (VERY) nervous about it. Talking. Out loud. About my stuff. In front of actual people. My sister is currently serving as guild president so she'll be there for moral support or perhaps to heckle me from the front row.

curated color collection/felt & floss color guides for Goose a-Laying

Photo courtesy of Benzie Design

Tada! It's the official Goose a-Laying color collection featuring Benzie Design's lovely wool felt! If you'd like to make ornaments like mine shown above, Benzie makes it easy by providing this bundle for you. Sorry sorry sorry this took so long for me to put together! Better late than never, right? See below for the specific colors and floss numbers.

Benzie felt colors in this collection are:
Aqua
Icicle
Blue
Cyan
Periwinkle
Coral
Fuchsia
Cotton Candy
Copper
Orange

You can also add matching floss to your felt bundle when you purchase, via the drop down menu. Matching floss comes in very handy when you sew the ornament pieces together.

This color collection is the final one in the series of six different wool felt color collections for my Twelve Days series of ornaments, curated by me and put together for you by Benzie Design! Six color collections means two ornament patterns per color collection:

1) Partridge & Pear + Swan a-Swimming

2) Turtle Dove + Maid a-Milking

3) French Hen + Drummer Drumming

4) Colly Bird + Piper Piping

5) Gold Ring + Lady Dancing

6) Goose a-Laying + Lord a-Leaping

You can go to my Twelve Days resource page if you'd like to see and read more. Now for the color guides:

Benzie Felt Color and DMC Floss Color Guide for Goose a-Laying CORAL/PINK sample:

Goose: 

Wing and body back: Cotton Candy

Body front: Coral

Beak, wing inset and nest: Copper

Neck band: Fuchsia

Straw: Orange

Flower and tail feathers: Periwinkle

Egg:

Front: Cotton Candy

Front inset: Copper

Back: Coral

DMC floss colors for the decorative embroidery: 

Goose:

DMC white

DMC black (eye)

DMC 154 very dark plum

DMC 156 periwinkle

DMC 718 fuchsia

DMC 818 very light pink

DMC 892 coral 

DMC 919 copper

Egg:

DMC 818 very light pink

DMC 154 very dark plum

DMC 947 orange

DMC 156 periwinkle

DMC 718 fuchsia

And then of course you'll need the matching flosses to sew the ornament parts together.

Benzie Felt Color and DMC Floss Color Guide for Goose a-Laying AQUA/BLUE sample:

Goose:

Wing: Icicle

Body front and back: Aqua

Beak, flower, and straw: Periwinkle

Neck band and tail feathers: Cyan

Wing inset and nest: Blue

Egg:

Front: Periwinkle

Front inset: Blue

Back: Aqua

DMC floss colors for the decorative embroidery: 

Goose:

DMC black (eye)

DMC 823 very dark blue

DMC 793 periwinkle

DMC 919 copper

DMC 946 orange

DMC 783 golden yellow

DMC 3846 light turquoise

DMC 3844 turquoise

DMC 3807 dark periwinkle

Egg:

DMC white

DMC 3846 light turquoise

DMC 946 orange

DMC 783 golden yellow

DMC 3844 turquoise (number on back)

DMC 823 very dark blue (word on back)

And then of course you'll need the matching flosses to sew the ornament parts together.

the black swan color guide

Hey, I've had some requests about the black/grey Swan a-Swimming sample I made so I thought I'd put this color guide together for you. This one actually combines felts from Benzie Design and Felt On The Fly.

Benzie Design wool felt colors:

Body and flower center: Black
Wings: Graphite
Neck band: Moss

Felt On the Fly wool felt colors:

Beak and inner flower petals: Shrimp
Outer flower petals: Orange Red
Water: Sea Green

DMC contrast decorative floss colors:

DMC white
DMC 606 orange red
DMC 943 teal
DMC 3851 lighter teal (neck band)
DMC 581 olive green (on the wing)
DMC 580 olive green (on the body)

And of course you'll also need matching thread or floss to sew the felt parts together.
Have fun sewing!

curated felt color collection/felt & floss guides for Swan a-Swimming

See below for the official color guides to make these ornaments!

(Are you looking for a color guide to the black swan? Click here.)

Palette photos courtesy of Benzie Design

Time for the official color guide for the Swan a-Swimming sample ornaments! If you are new to my Twelve Days ornament series you may not know that Benzie Design offers lovely bundles of felt and floss that coordinate perfectly with my Twelve Days ornament samples! On this palette I did sub in one new color for a color that was unused before. I took Carmine out and put in Peacock! Isn't it a pretty palette?

Benzie felt colors in the felt bundle:
1) Swan
2) Moss
3) Fern
4) Mustard
5) Ochre
6) Orange
7) Cotton Candy
8) Magenta
9) Burgundy
10) Peacock

You can add matching floss to your bundle when you purchase via the drop down menu, which comes in very handy to sew the ornaments together and will save you some time and squinting. (Or am I the only one who squints when I'm color matching?)

There are a total of SIX different curated color palettes to choose from at Benzie's Etsy shop. That means that starting with this Swan a-Swimming ornament I'll be repeating the color palettes:

1/7) Partridge & Pear + Swan a-Swimming
2/8) Turtle Dove + Maid a-Milking
3/9) French Hen + Drummer Drumming
4/10) Colly Bird + Piper Piping
5/11) Gold Ring + Lady Dancing
6/12) Goose a-Laying + Lord a-Leaping

BENZIE FELT COLOR AND DMC FLOSS GUIDE FOR THE PINK SWAN A-SWIMMING:

Cotton Candy: Body front and back

Magenta: Wings
Swan: Water, Flower Outer Ring
Orange: Beak
Burgundy: Neck Band, Flower Center
Peacock: Flower Inner Ring

Decorative embroidery floss colors for the pink one:
DMC black (eye)
DMC white (water ripple)
DMC 3609 very light pink
DMC 3845 turquoise
DMC 154 very dark plum
DMC 947 orange
DMC 3804 magenta
DMC 741 school bus orange

(NOTE: You'll also need matching floss colors, available as an add-on to the Benzie felt bundle)

BENZIE FELT COLOR AND DMC FLOSS GUIDE FOR THE YELLOW SWAN A-SWIMMING:

Ochre: Body front and back
Mustard: Wings
Peacock: Water
Moss: Beak, Flower Outer Ring
Swan: Neck Band
Fern: Flower Inner Ring
Orange: Flower Center

Decorative embroidery floss colors for the yellow one:
DMC black (eye)
DMC white
DMC 934 very dark olive
DMC 3845 turquoise
DMC 947 orange
DMC 937 olive

(NOTE: You'll also need matching floss colors, available as an add-on to the Benzie felt bundle)

And there you have it! Check my shop if you'd like to purchase the Swan a-Swimming pattern. A big thank you to Renae at Benzie Design for putting those handy felt and matching floss bundles together!

Swan a-Swimming pattern now available!

On the seventh day of Christmas

My true love gave to meeeee...

Seven swans a-swimming!

Nothing says love like seven swans. All just a-swimming. You don't have to make seven though. One would be nice! And now you can! Because the ornament sewing pattern is available for download in my Etsy shop and also my Craftsy Shop.

These ornaments are much easier to make than they look! It's all because of a magical printable stabilizer called Sulky Printable Stick 'n Stitch (formerly known as Sticky Fabri-Solvy) that adheres directly to the felt. If you can cut with precision and sew basic hand stitches like a whip stitch, running stitch, backstitch and French knots, then you can make this ornament and make it well. There is no embroidery transferring! You stitch right over the marks and cut on the outlines.

You can read more about the whole series and how the Sulky stabilizer works in the Twelve Days section of my blog.

Swan a-Swimming is the seventh in my original series of hand sewn wool felt Christmas ornaments based on the Twelve Days of Christmas song. Stay tuned for more ornament patterns releasing this year.

All the ornament patterns are available in both my shops:
Mmmcrafts on Etsy
or
Mmmcrafts on Craftsy

Swan a-Swimming sneak peek

UPDATE: This pattern is now available!

First look at a completed wool felt Swan a-Swimming ornament, no. 7 in my Twelve Days series. I'm still working on the digital pattern and life is a bit hectic at the moment with Stuff That Is Not Crafting. I have to get through the STINC and then back to the pattern. But am hoping to release it soon! Thanks for being patient!

swan sewing sailing along swimmingly

Hard at work on the Swan a-Swimming pattern for you! For those of you who like to buy the Twelve Days felt and floss bundles from Benzie Design, starting with this pattern (no. seven) I will be repeating the bundle colors. So these samples will be done in the same bundle colors as the the first pattern, Partridge & Pear.

Which leads me to my apology. I kind of dropped the ball for Goose a-Laying with the bundle colors. My samples ended up in a lot of the same colors as Partridge & Pear also because I failed to think that through. Soooo I think I will do a unique bundle for the Goose a-Laying in some different colors in the coming weeks. I'm sorry about that! I had color bundle apathy at the time. Do you ever get that?

Mistleholly stockings for National Nonwovens

I dug out my Mistleholly stocking pattern to whip up these two samples for National Nonwovens' Spring Quilt Market booth. National Nonwovens is responsible for much wool felt happiness in the world, so I am glad they are around! These stockings are made entirely of wool felt, ribbon and sequins.

In progress shot. I forgot what an easy make these are. They come together really quickly. I may have to sew myself a set in new colors...

To me, these are the perfect sized stocking to hang from the mantel (15 inches long). I don't love huge, shapeless stockings. I like them to have a nice foot shape and to look pretty! They are usually hanging up at my house for about a month before they are ever stuffed with goodies. They need to function as Christmas eye candy.

The pattern has a template so you can easily get the leaf and stem placement just right. Just one sewn line down the center of each leaf and you are done. I like them to be unsewn at the edges so there's a bit of 3D action going on. The sequins and glass beads add a bit of holiday sparkle. You have to have some sparkle at Christmas!

Two more Twelve Days pattern bundles in the shop

Hey, friends! If you have been curious about the Twelve Days ornament series and want to get started making, there are now three discounted bundles in the shop:

Bundle 1-3 contains the Partridge & Pear, Turtle Dove and French Hen patterns.

Bundle 4-6 contains the Colly Bird, Gold Ring and Goose a-Laying patterns.

And the 1-6 bundle contains all six available patterns. Number seven is coming up! Swan a-Swimming. There's a sneak peek of that on in this post.