More Goodies!

Here are a few more lovely goodies I received over Christmas:

A gorgeous hand-made Christmas Bon-bon that I received in our secret Santa swap at work...... It was full of chocolates which seem to have since dissappeared! I wonder who it could be from???

A great book and some lovely fat quarters from my Mum & Dad...... Mum has finally worked out i'm not so hard to buy for after all if she sticks with craft items! The cutting matt they're photographed on was my pressie from Hubby and the kids..... a generous 24" x 36" which is twice the size of my old one and so much easier to work with!

And a very cute Thankyou wallhanging from my friend Jess...... for giving her quilting lessons! Jess had to find someone other than me to give her lessons in hand stitching to make this as a surprise for me..... very sweet!

So as you can see i've been totally spoilt once again!

Take care

Not so secret stitching!

Now that i'm back from holiday and I know both my secret pressies have been opened..... I can finally show you what I was working on:

I found this pattern for a Stitchery Roll in Australian Country Threads Vol 8 No 6, ages and ages ago and have been meaning to make one ever since...... me being me, I decided to make a couple of changes.
Firstly....I changed the stitchery a little to remove the writting on one end.... I basically just reversed the pattern from the other end with minor differences. I also made my own ties with the same fabric as the roll instead of using ribbon and with the second roll, I stitched the ties into the seams which made them look neater once finished.
It irritated me that the space on the inside of the roll was wasted so I decided to make another roll that fit inside to hold all the threads and other bits and pieces.... The only problem I had then was what to do with the very unattractive red plastic ends if i wanted to be able to open it. Hubby to the rescue.... he and my wonderful father-in-law whipped up some much nicer wooden ones for me on the lathe!

The result:
Two completed stitchery rolls...... One for my Secret Santa swap partner Julie of Jewells

And one for my Aunt...... who just loves anything I make her:

Unfortunately.... I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of this one rolled up in the rush to get it finished... I was still sewing it at 10.30 at night when we were to be leaving to head to the coast for Christmas at 4am.... Whoops!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you some more of my pressies.....hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas!

Until next time

Lucky Me!

Finally!....... After much anticipation I opened my Secret Santa pressie from Julie of Jewells this morning to find i've been totally spoilt:Not only did I receive this cute-as-button Christmas quilt and pillow but I also received another parcel full of goodies for the whole family:

Thanks sooooo much Julie....... I love everything you sent!

Last Christmas Pressie

Here's a sneak peak at my last Christmas pressie in the making..... again, I can't give too much away, but i've been stitching like mad to get this one finished and absolutely have to get it together tonight before we head off on holiday:

I've also been doing a little fabric purchasing from America while the Aussie dollar has been so strong ..... as my dear friend Jo would say "it would be fiscally irresponsible not too"......needless to say, I didn't need much convincing!

The lovely Be Merry Winter fabric by Riley Blake:All Star fabric also by Riley Blake:Both lots purchased from the Fabric Shoppe on Etsy. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas....... enjoy the break!

Dear Santa

The Fat Quarter Shop is generously playing santa for some lucky bloggers.... head over here and take a look.... then get busy and write your own dear Santa letter:

Dear Santa......
While I do admit that I haven't been good 100% of the time, I have tried really, really hard to be a good girl this year! I truly believe that a fat quarter bundle of "Ginger Blossom" from the Fat Quarter Shop would keep me busy and out of mischief for quite a while in 2010! Ooooh... the things I could make with this: Crossing all my fingers and toes and hoping I haven't quite made it onto your naughty list this year!

SSCS 2009 - Received

My Secret Santa partner received her parcel yesterday...... so now I can show you the ornament's I sent:

The lovely Julie at Jewells was quite amused with my little reindeer.... thinking of all the corks she's thrown out over the years, lol (maybe she'll be keeping them now).

Until next time

Pressies 4,5,6,7,8 & 9 ........ Check!

Are you sick of seeing my journal covers yet????

I decided to make the Bloom Journal covers a tad bigger to fit a diary for both children's teachers this year..... very happy with how they turned out!

While I was at it.... I finished another three journal's for one of my friends children for Christmas as they have been such a huge hit with Miss 10's friends!

Plus one for our beautiful neighbour..... And two more just in case!I think i'm done making Journal covers for now! And I only have one more pressie to make before Christmas...... finally feel like i'm getting somewhere!

Until next time

SSCS 2009 - Posted

I was so excited about receiving my Christmas parcel last week that I forgot to show you the parcel I sent off......... to who???:This is all I can show you at the moment as it's still a big secret until Christmas day. Although I will be able to show you a photo of the ornament I sent (small parcel), once I know it's been received!

Still secret sewing happening here at the moment so not a lot else to show!

Until next time

How Excitement!

Look what arrived today from my 2009 SSCS partner!

It looks like Julie from Jewells has spoilt me....with 3 lovely parcels, one huge one just for me, one for my whole family & one containing my beautiful handmade ornaments that I couldn't get opened quick enough..... sorry Julie..... no paper saving here today!

I did notice when I took the main parcel out of the box that it had a tear in the wrapping.... but thank goodness Master 7 was around to save the day..... he had that hole taped up quick smart, so no peaking for me!

So now all I have to do is look at this enormous parcel for the next 18 days....... not that i'm counting.
Not just one gorgeous handmade ornament....... But three...... how lucky! Thanks Julie..... I love them!

And, Thanks again to Chookyblue for organising such a wonderful swap...... it must take a huge amount of work to organise it all and make sure everything goes smoothly.

Until next time....

Stitching Mad!

I can't give too much away with what i'm currently working on but thought i would share a little peak so you can see that I have actually been doing something:

I also have these little projects underway, but they may not end up finished for this Christmas as I have to finish sewing my gift list first:

These are from a Hatched and Patched Pattern called "A Little Bit of Christmas"Another Hatched and Patched pattern called "Father Christmas"

Until next time

Spoilt!

I've had a lovely day ..... even if it did start out with the usual Monday housework!

My lovely friend Trish drove over today and together with her Miss (almost) 1, took me out to lunch for my birthday, which was a little over a week ago now.
And to top off a lovely lunch, she gave me this gorgeous Charm pack of Vine Creek fabric by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda...... this pic only shows some of the squares!

I also received these lovely fat quarters from my Mum & Dad to add to my stash.... the whole buying fat quarters things is new to Mum but i think she did very well. I just love the two purple ones on the top..... will have to find a special project for them:

I also received lots of other beautiful things including jewellery! Gotta love jewellery! Spoilt, Spoilt, Spoilt!

Until next time

Two down!

I've finally managed to finish the Christmas present I started for my little 3yo niece...... I know it's only been a week but it feels like this one has taken forever! Maybe because I didn't have a pattern spelling everything out for me.... I actually had to think a little to work out my measurements.... fancy having to think!

So here it is.........

And laying out flat so you can read it...........

And the back..........

I've found a couple of lovely books to pop inside too..... I know she loves her books!

Until next time

Stashbuilding!

Just when i'm about to throw my hands in the air and scream "I GIVE UP"..... look what arrives in the mail to put the smile back on my face!

It's been a very hectic week in our household and i'm glad that my paid work is now over for the week.... it really does interfere with my creative flow!

I just couldn't resist these lovely fabrics from Honeysuckle Cottage and I'm looking forward to making myself the Leanne's House Couch Companion, but it will have to wait until after Christmas as I have too many Christmas projects that need completing first.

Until next time