Raise Your Glasses for 2010

4 hours and counting till ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

(no pics tonight, internet isn't co-operating ... I'm hoping for a more reliable connection early next year)

Christmas Wishes

To all my friends ...



Looking forward to a new year of friendships both continued and new.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa

While visiting blogs this morning, I came across the Jolly Jabbers who have kindly offered to pass on my quilty Christmas Wishes to you.

Here's what I found at the Fat Quarter Shop. I would like to wish for ...



I could wish for clothing or chocolates
Should I wish for some lovely rain
Or maybe some beautiful fabric
To make a start on my 'Dear Jane'.

Chocolates would be nice
But gone way too soon
Clothing may not fit me for long
When after the chocolate I balloon.

Rain could be somewhat tricky
To deliver on your sleigh
So a gorgeous bundle of fat quarters
Will really brighten my day.

Thankyou Santa

PS: Help yourself to some hay in the shed for the reindeer.

Bedtime Bears and Bugs for Billy

My newest great nephew arrived in October and is now in possession of his very own shaggy quilt.


Cuddly bears ready for bed and the large white clouds glow in the dark.

I used the remaining blue check squares for a pattern on the reversible back ...

and found some cute butterfly/bugs fabric to finish it off ... just right for a little boy.

Sleep tight sweet baby boy.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Look what I found in my mailbox yesterday ... my very own piece of White Christmas!


The lovely Shiree of kiwifruit-shiree made this adorable little quilt for the Four Seasons Holiday Swap and sent it on it's way to my house. I'd asked for some snow at Christmas ... isn't it just perfect. Hanging proudly on my lounge wall, I can't help but smile everytime a walk past.



How cute is that tree? And can you see the garland along the eves?
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Thankyou to Shiree for making my festive season 'snowy' and for the cute tree ornaments already hanging on my tree.
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Thankyou to Margaret for yet another fantastic swap. I'm excited to now own a quilt for each of the four seasons and hope to hang them all together.
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Wishing you both a loving, festive season.

There's A Bear in There

Some lovely friends have commented on Teddy in my header ...

so here he is in all his finery.

"Teddy in a Tangle" is a Liz Stanway design and my choice for my Four Seasons Holiday Swap which has safely arrived at Andrea's home in Germany. He was so much fun to make, especially the baubles. His fur will keep him warm through a white Christmas ... it was getting a little hot for him here is Aus.

Happy Holidays

Christmas Ornament Swap

First of all a big thankyou and Christmas Cheer to Claire and Robyn for organising this fun swap.
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Here is the lovely card stitched by Andrea ...


and her sweet ornament that will be hanging proudly on my tree as soon as it goes up.
Thankyou Andrea.

I love the idea of having ornaments hanging on my tree that have been made by wonderful new friends.

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This is the card I made for Andrea ...

and the ornament I made from a Marg Low Design - Simple Pleasures.

(Sorry the photo is blurry, I was in a hurry before work to get it in the post).

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Might change by blog background later to get into the Christmas mood.

Which Monday?

Each week is a blur at the moment ... hence my title ... I don't know where I'm up to.

Just to prove that I'm still here though, here's some mail that's been coming and going.

Oooo ... Royal Mail from the UK!


My Stitchers' Angel goodies from the lovely Celine. Isn't this just the cleverest? All tucked away and then ...

turns out to a lovely bag (sorry about the wrinkles, I'd had it tucked away for a little bit). Beautiful flowers!

Add a sweet flower pin cushion and embroidered book mark and I'm thrilled with my gifts.

Thankyou Celine, your parcel made my day!

This book cover was my third Stitchers' Angel gift to add to Noemia's parcel. All arrived safelty in Portugal.

Ornament Swap goodies to share next time.

To Dye For

Further to my lovely weekend away ... here are the skinny 1/4's getting ready for a rinse.




Ta da ... the end result. I'm totally thrilled with the colours.

Giveaway Alert

Would you like to help Carin celebrate 4 years of blogging?

Then visit her over at Conceived Without Regard for Reason or Reality and read all about it!
A lovely idea and some super goodies.

WOW! What a Weekend

Firstly I had to rest yesterday to get over my wonderful weekend.
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Our patchwork group had a little weekend retreat with some neighbouring girls, with the intention of learning to strip and curve. Here is my first set of strata with the second in progress. My pillow came in handy as an extra table.


Some of us also managed to throw in a little dyeing on the Saturday. There is my 24 colour wheel on the left. Yesterday I rinsed and washed and today is ironing day.



Day one I managed to dye and get all my strips stitched together ... day two I carefully began sewing some curves.

Seven blocks in all ... I have to admit I was beginning to slacken off by the afternoon.

9 more blocks and I shall have my very own strips and curves quilt top.

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Thankyou Ruth and girls for a lovely weekend of sewing and chatting. Hope to see how you are all coming along at next patchwork day.

10 Down ~ 2 to Go!

That is ... 10 months of my Calendar Quilt completed which leaves November and December to go.
All fabrics are compliments of a lovely friend who had a spring clean of her fabric bits and pieces, thanks Ruth.

Sharing Time

Seems like ages since I've been here ... what a week! Deadlines ... Mail ... Bugs

Bugs, seems once you get sick this year, it keeps returning for another bout. Everyone I talk to has been experiencing the same thing. You get sick, you just get over it and then either the same one or another bug grabs hold. DH has been fighting something for a couple of weeks and now my throat infection from a few weeks back is returning. Grrrrrrrr!

But enough of that, you don't need to share my bugs. I am going to share with you the high points of my week. A little while back, Fiona of Mothers' Cupboard had a sale and I found myself placing an order quick smart for ...

Fiona was also holding a giveaway and never did I imagine that I could be so lucky ... YIPEE!

Then this week when I was starting to feel yuk, this little pink parcel cheered me up toot sweet!

Thankyou so much Fiona for the chance to win this delicious jelly roll ... perfect colours for me ... and a charm pack to top it all off. More dreaming now of how to put them to good use.

Fiona is also one of the lovely Gum Tree Designers. If you haven't checked them out yet then you don't know what your missing. More goodness tomorrow with their next free Christmas design.

Deadlines ... yes. As usual finished this one Tuesday night to be delivered Wednesday morning for entering in the textile section of our local Art Exhibition. It's Deborah Baines' "Floral Fancy" found in 'Creating Country Threads'.

Couldn't help myself, I was enjoying this pattern so much. I also added some beads to the centres of three flowers and little yo-yo centres to three. I even did some hand quilting around each appliqued flower.

While not a winner on Friday night, it's a winner for me. Congratulations to the clever ladies who won placings with their entries and to the other ladies who entered.

Now it's on with the next deadline ... paperwork today and to finish off my Holiday Quilt Swap and Christmas Ornaments.

Is anyone else daunted by how quickly the end of the year is coming?

Happy Sewing and keep well.

Trying New Things

Having a quick hop around blogland this morning, I came across a 'new to me' widget on Kristie's blog.

If you look down my sidebar your will see 'Visits from my Friends' by the blogfrog. I'm just dipping my toe in the water here and would love to invite you to show up here.

My thought is that it's one more way of spreading the wonderful friendships that exist among bloggers. I would also appreciate your thoughts.

Boy Does Time Fly

Ummmm ... where did the last two weeks go? Anyone who finds them, please send them back to me!

Sewing deadlines .. more and more paperwork .. dust .. smoke .. dry weather. These are the things keeping me busy at the moment and it looks like October will be gone before I know it.
I've been grabbing snippets of time here and there to see what everyone else is up to.

This photo was taken by me before 6am the other morning when were expecting the second lot of dust to roll in. There has been a third time since.


There is a shining light at the end of October. I'm off for a weekend quilting and dying retreat ... hopefully I can get my fabrics etc ready in time.

I have also managed to post off two PIF gifts and my Stitchers' Angel parcel. My current deadline is for this Wednesday so hopefully I can share that next weekend.

Keep well and keep sewing.

Small Finishes

They may not be big projects but they are finished projects.

This little pin cushion didn't take long at all ... made from 5" squares.

I made an ebay purchase of these red/white squares and thought I could make a machine cover to go with my red machine mat. A simple, quick method but I'm very happy with it. The cover has ties either end to keep it in place.

After seeing the wonderful matching set of machine accessories over here, I then decided on the pincushion and yet to come will be a little scraps basket. You really must take a look at this lovely blue set.

Back in July I started this pin cushion for Mrs Martin's Cyber Stitching Day. Now that I've signed up for another day in November, I told myself that I must finish this project first. It's a very clever pin cushion on top and a needle folder on the other side. I already have some needles in residence.

Slowly but surely I am still working on Esther's Red Delicious BOM. Here is my block 3 ... I will keep working on this in between all the other projects.

Hopefully another finish for today, my third Stitchers Angel gift, but that one will stay a secret until they all go to their new home in ....?

Have you noticed a new link on my side bar? I'm taking part in Finn's New Years Eve Challange again this year. I aim to complete one large UFO by then and any more will be bonuses.

Happy Sewing

The Sweet Smell of ..... Dust?

Watching the news Wendesday morning was almost like watching a sci-fi movie ... all that red dust. We didn't have the eerie red but the dust made it here too ... (about half way up the Queensland coast).

We were driving home from town and could see it approaching. Just got home in time to grab some clothes off the line and shut all the doors and windows ... but it still got in.

This is the view across to the cattle yards from our verandah ... same time yesterday and today.

Here is the view to the South ... yesterday and again today around the same time.

Who Likes a Sale!

Me of course! If you too like a sale, then head to Fiona's at Mothers Cupboard.

Beautiful fabrics ... great books ...


If those delicious rolls don't tempt you ... then maybe a giveaway will. Take a look for yourself.

The Secret is OUT!

Yes, the secret is finally out. To hear all ... cyber hop as quick as you can to Jenny of Elefanz for the big reveal.


CONGRATULATIONS!

September Challenge

Are you up for a challenge?

Then click on over to Jenny of ELEFANTZ for more on her September Challenge. She also has a secret ... shhhhhhh!

Enjoy some Aussie Spring.

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY

Red Finish

Here it is! Yes, another sewing mat, when I like something I usually roll with it.


As I mentioned, this one is also mine and is now happily sitting under my trusty old Janome ready for some action. The red heart sticker top left of the machine has been there for several years so the red mat feels right at home.



I don't think I've ever worked with red before but the reds just jumped out at me.
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My next project will also be in reds. Our local art group hold an annual art exhibition and have included a textile section which requires 1/8th of the quilt to use blood red. Sorry, no reveal until after October.
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I really must make some progress on our log cabin quilt this weekend and that won't happen if I stay here ... so bye for now.

Woohoo! I'm Sewing

Hmmmmm! What could this be the start of?


How long will it be before I can show the finished item? And it's something for me!
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Now away from here and back to the sewing machine.

First Angel Finish

Ta-da! Here's my first project for the Stitcher's Angel Swap.


Will it be heading East, South, North or West?