Hello From The Hug!

(November 2007)

G’day all! Once again, I have to begin with an apology! Oh dear! How does life get so BUSY! Things at the home of Tag Along Teddies (AKA the Meares’ Madhouse!) have been even more hectic than usual in the last month. My parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year and I ended up in charge of co-ordinating the festivities to celebrate this – though I’m not sure how that happened! So, many hours have been spent emailing, phoning, making bookings and co-ordinating everyone’s comings and goings, leaving less time than usual for stitching, designing and writing newsletters! Oops! However, the celebrations held this last weekend went very smoothly and everyone had a lovely time, so I guess it was all worth it! My brother and his wife travelled from Alice Springs, NT, to be here and as a surprise for Mum and Dad, my grandmother caught the train from Bundaberg to Brisbane and travelled up with my aunt and uncle to be at the dinner, too. All in all, a timely reminder as we approach Christmas, that time spent with family is precious and everything else gets put on hold to take advantage of it. By being very patient in waiting for your newsletter, the loyal Tag Along Teddies extended family contributed to the wonderful family event – so thank you for your patience!

So what has been happening at the Tag Along Teddies Hug between emails and phone calls? I’ve been busily sewing more samples to adorn Warwick Patchwork and Quilting, with Sue ordering more samples for her eager customers to see up close before tackling a Tag Along Teddies teddy bear of their own. Almost finished – just a couple of days of solid sewing and I’ll be off to Warwick for another delivery trip! Oh dear! Did you just hear Scott groan about blown budgets and me not needing more fabric? Tee! Hee! Hee!

I’ve also completed the prototypes for “A Month Of Sundays”, so make sure you check back to see when it joins the catalogue of patterns. I’m really pleased with how these projects have turned out! For those of you looking for Christmas or other gift ideas that don’t take a lot of time or money, but look fantastic, this is the pattern for you! The pattern came about after some of my crafting friends, who work full time, lamented the fact that by the time they work five days a week, take Saturday to catch up with housework or family events, they were only left with Sunday to sew. The result is “A Month Of Sundays”. This pattern includes instructions for four projects that can each be completed in a day – a patchwork needle case, a patchwork mobile phone pouch or scissor keep, a patchwork book mark and a patchwork pin cushion. With these four projects in one pattern, you’ll have enough Sunday sewing projects to keep you busy for … a “Month of Sundays”! The other great thing about these projects, three of which feature small teddy bear stitchery panels, is that they are a great way to use up smaller pieces of fabric from your stash. You can make one of the projects for a friend, or present them with the full set – you may even decide to treat yourself, as I have, because they’re not only pretty items, they’re very practical! I had been promising myself a needle case for some time but hadn’t ‘got around to it’! Now I have! This pattern will be available from the web site in the next week, so watch for it.

Don’t forget, you’ve got a few more weeks to enter our competition, as the winner will be announced in the December “Hello From The Hug”. There have been a few wonderful entries come in so far – what clever people there are out there! Don’t forget, all you have to do is take a photo of your favourite craft project (that you have completed) and email it to me, along with a short explanation of when you made it and why it’s your favourite project. The winner of the competition will receive a Tag Along Teddies pattern of their choice, ready to treat themselves or a friend to a craft treat! The winner will be contacted by email and announced in next month’s ‘Hello From The Hug’, so get thinking, photographing and typing!!

I think this month is going to be another busy one for the Tag Along Teddies household, with a couple of workshops coming up. This coming weekend I will be teaching a class to make “Olive Bear” at a Creative Craft Retreat, which will be great. Then, on the first weekend of December I’ll head to my home town of Mundubbera to teach some of the ladies in the area there to make Olive. It will be particularly exciting to teach in my home town and I’m looking forward to it! I’m also hoping to take some photos of the clever novice bear makers and their new bearbies, so watch the site for a ‘coming soon’ feature of a brag book page.

In amongst all these comings and goings, there are some new pattern ideas bubbling away in my design cauldron, including the second variation of my buccaneer bear – no I haven’t forgotten, for all you pirate fanatics out there, just got a bit caught up and busy! I’ll keep you posted on progress for the pirates!

I think that’s brought you up-to-date with the happenings at the Tag Along Teddies hug for the last little while, so I shall sign off for this newsletter. Remember, I’m always keen to hear your feedback about the patterns or site, so feel free to email me with comments or suggestions for future patterns you’d like to see! And of course, don’t forget to get your entries into the “My Favourite Craft Project” competition to win a Tag Along Teddies pattern. Til next “Hello From The Hug”,

CHEERS!
KRIS

TIP

·        Are you struggling to find the time to exchange crafty gifts with your sewing friends? Why not all agree on a spending limit, say $20, then each buy craft supplies of some kind (fat 1/8’s, embroidery threads, needles, pretty buttons, beads, patterns) to that value, wrap it, then pop them into a lucky dip sack for each of your group of friends to draw one out. Not only do you end up with a surprise, it will be wonderful makings to help you keep up your craft habit! You may even like to set each person the challenge of making a special project with their gift supplies to be shown off at your next get-together. Why not make a party of it – meet at the home of one of your group for an afternoon tea. You can each bring a plate of yummy Christmas goodies to share, as well as the gift to go in the lucky drip. You can then admire each other’s gifts over a cuppa!
• ·        Has your family gone the way of many these days and decided to just draw one person’s name out of the hat? If so, maybe you’d like to inject a little more Christmas spirit and fun into your festive fun! Why not find a pattern for a simple Christmas ornament or two and make some for each family group or member. Often, these don’t cost much to make, but are a wonderful keepsake that will last many years. You could even incorporate the year on the ornaments somehow so that in years to come, not only will the ornaments decorate your loved one’s home, it will trigger wonderful Christmas memories of that particular year.
• ·        Do you like the idea of making/giving Christmas stockings, but aren’t confident enough to tackle making one? Buy an inexpensive pillowcase (red or green to keep the Christmas theme!) and blanket stitch appliqué a Christmas design or the child’s name onto it and attach a loop of wide ribbon to a top corner to hang the ‘stocking’. You can fill this with a mix of little things – lollies, small toys, games etc. and include some practical items like pretty underwear, hair accessories, batteries to run other gifts or even T-shirts will help fill the sack and make practical items more fun. It’s also a great place to store all Christmas gifts in one place after the unwrapping takes place!