On New Year's Eve

On our Australian New Year's Eve I wish you all  .....

http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/

A Christmas Collage

I'd like to share just a few gifts from lovely friends who brightened my Christmas.  Thankyou Fiona (Gingie), Cherryl (Diary) and Kerry (Stitchery and Santa).  I baked the cake back in November and iced and simply decorated for lunch at DD's. Lavendar kittie was cleverly made my very crafty mum.

Time to reveal my last 1 Xmas Item A Month ...."Tree of Christmas Cheer" from Hatched and Patched.  Kerry and I chose a 'tree' for this year's gift theme.

Happy New Year

One More Sleep

Wishing all my blogging buddies
a lovely time spent with family and friends. 

 

Merry Christmas
 and a Happy, Healthy
and Bright 2013

 

Heating Up

This is what I've been trying to do today.

Everything was heating up ... me ... the sewing machine and the weather ... 37.4 C in the dining room where I was quilting.  Best part is I'm nearly finished, just one border to ditch stitch between the squares and then I can attach the binding.

This next picture shows what the sky has been like all day. Lots of smoke haze from fires in nearby areas.

Looking forward to a slightly cooler day forcast for tomorrow.

TTS On The Wall

Last night I put the last stitch in the binding and first thing this morning I have TTS hanging on the loungeroom wall. Here's the proof!

I then took it outside for a photo...there's a few shadows from the tree branch I hung it on.

So happy to have it finished and thankyou Susan for setting the pace with this project.

Merry Christmas

A Quiet Moment At Last!

Oh what a week ... the final week of school ... busy, busy, exhausting! Throw in a couple of days of cattle work and there's been little time for sewing.  I did s.q.u.e.e.z.e in a stitch here and there so it's time to report in for '1 Xmas Item A Month' on the 15th of December and the last for the year.

My 'tree theme' Christmas Gift is so close to a finish ... just needs some padding and I'll be handing it over on Tuesday so I can reveal after then but for now here's another sneak peak.

TTS is also soooooo close. Running out of time I machine quilted 2 rows in the red/white check border and yesterday got the binding machined on. Last night I pinned the binding ready for hand stitching. I still plan to do some more hand quilting in the last border but for now it can hang on the wall once the binding is finished.

Thankyou to all my fellow elves who've been busy already posting their Christmas Goodies ... I'll be popping around for a longer visit shortly. It was wonderful to go to my gift box and take out the items I've made through the year. Some are on display and some are ready for wrapping and gifting.  I hope you've all found this time of year a little less stressful with your handmade goodies at the ready.

It's always encouraging being part of a friendly and fun group and I hope to see lots more creativity next year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Sewing

PS:  I promise a full reveal once TTS is on the wall and my 'tree' gift has been gifted :)

Productive FNWF

Hmmmm! What's missing?

Something to work on ... tick           Cool drink ... tick         Nibbles .... tick      Almonds are good for you, right?  Does the chocolate coating count?

Me :)  Busy hand quilting around each block.  With 'The Fellowship of the Ring' on TV last night I managed 3 blocks which brings me to 10 out of 12 done. The best part was knowing that all my friends were also busy sewing and enjoying a Friday night with friends. Visit Cheryll for a link to all the fun.

Happy Sewing

PS:  I didn't empty the nibbles bowl.

Friday Night With Friends

I'll be there with bells on ... I have a date with TTS and some hand quilting.

You'll find me in front of the fan with a cool drink on hand.  Hope you can make it!

Summer Welcomes December

December heralds the first day of Summer for us, however this year Summer jumped the starters pistol and got here well before December. Nothing for it but to sit in front of the fan with some stitching and a tall glass of cold water.

I'm winging it this month with no list :)  With 3 projects to finish as soon as I can manage, I'll just keep working on those and chill out (if possible).  In no particular order of priority ...

#1  Ribbon Star - needs quilting - purchased backing this morning

#2  Tis The Season - 3 of 12 blocks hand quilted so far

#3  Christmas Gift with a tree theme - over halfway there

Oooops!  That looks a little bit like a list to me.

I promised yesterday that I would have a little reveal today so without further ado and a little drumroll please  . . . . . . . . . . .

Congratulations Cheryll for making 1 Xmas Item A Month - every month!  A little gift will be on it's way to you shortly.

After checking names against months, everyone's name was placed in a hat and I asked hubby to draw out 2 tickets. So if you participated 4 months I wrote your name out 4 times for 4 chances ... 7 months, 7 chances as so on. Another little drumroll please . . . . . . . . . . .

Lucky winners are Fiona and Sheila  Congratulations and a little something will be on it's way to you both.  I thank you all for sewing along side by side, or as close as we can be in cyberspace, and sharing all the beautiful gifts and decorations made throughout the year. It's time to start bringing them out of storage if you haven't already and enjoy the season.

Not trying to rush the New Year but I've already planned my 2013 item. As I will be working more hours next year I need to organise my sewing time to get the most out of it so when I saw this Rosalie Quinlin designs pattern from here, I just had to buy it. 

My plan is one letter a month for 9 months plus 1 month to put it together. I'm sure I can come up with something else for the other 2 months.

I would love to have everyone back for '1 Xmas Item A Month 2013' so keep an eye out in early January for an official sign up. Maybe you'd prefer to break down one bigger project into monthly chunks or continue with 1 or more items each month. It's all about the friendship and sharing and no stress aloud :)

Merry Christmas Sewing