A Lovely Surprise in the Mail and Welcome to the North Pole

I have been very spoilt for the second time this week.  I was thrilled when Barb (barbs creations) emailled me to say I had won 3rd prize in her lovely giveaway recently.

This beautifully wrapped present arrived with the postie today.

And look at all the yummy things inside - and this was 3rd prize!  Three beautiful pieces of fabric and some lovely Cosmo threads to stitch with.  Will have fun deciding what to use my special fabric on. Thankyou so much Barb - just love my pressies and thankyou for your generosity. 

I have made a little progress on my QAL with Val "Welcome to the North Pole" - have my second block all prepared ready to stitch "Elves Recreation Centre".

This block goes beside Mr and Mrs Claus' house. Now on to Girls Day Out so I have a little progress to show by the end of the month. Cheryl

Lets Celebrate Swap pt 2

Am enjoying my lovely Easter parcels from Julie in the Mrs Martins "Let's Celebrate" swap I showed you yesterday, and as promised am back to show you what I sent to Julie.

This cute little rabbit is from a Rosalie Quinlan book, and had been dying to make her and perfect for Easter.

She's holding a cotton reel and I'm sorry I've missed that in this picture

And instead of real "chocolat", I included some fabric with chocolate all over it. Now I wonder what Julie will come up with to make with this.  Lots of end of the month stitchalongs to be working on, so will show you some progress (or lack of with some) soon. Cheryl

Easter Swap and 1 Xmas Item a Month

Wow what a lovely day I've had. My parcel for Easter from my swap partner Julie arrived  in the Lets Celebrate swap. Can't wait to show you.

But firstly being the 25th its time to show you what I made for this month in the One Xmas Item a month. Am joining in with Narelle at Pins and Whiskers.

This is a pattern from Michelle of Rag-Tag Stitchin "Mr Meltin' the Mitten Mender".

Don't you love this cute snowman.

Now my wonderful gifts arrived today from Julie - wow did she spoil me with not one, but several gorgeous presents

How cute are the little bunnies - they have a sticky bottom so can be stuck on anything you want. And delicious Lindt bunnies and eggs - whoops devoured one before taking a photo lol.

How gorgeous are these?  And I love the fabric they are made in. A beautiful drawstring bag - can you see the egg tag on the front with little handpainted rabbit button?  And I love these handmade eggs, so beautifully decorated - have a little glass bowl that they will sit in perfectly.

Julie also sent me this beautifully wrapped birthday gift - which I will keep for the weekend.

Can't thankyou enough for my gorgeous gifts Julie - I just loved them, and you spoilt me way too much. I will show you what I sent Julie for her Easter gift tomorrow.
Cheryl

Easter Goodie Bags

I finished off my two easter egg goodie bags ready for my two little grandies to go easter egg hunting in the backyard.

It is one of Michelle's gorgeous patterns from a recent Handmade mag.  Even found a girlie fabric that had little white rabbits on it.

And this easter parcel headed off today to my partner Julie in the Let's Celebrate swap with Mrs Martins Quilt Shop. Hope you like it Julie.

Cheryl

A UFO Finished

I started this quilt a couple of years or so ago,and was three-quarters finished apart from the border. I got it out again recently and finished the border and sent it away to be quilted with a lovely all-over pattern.

Loved the colors in it, and this was the lovely red floral  fabric that started it all.

It is big enough to top a double/queen bed but have another on there on the moment, so where to put it, as my old meat safe that houses quite a lot of my quilts is overflowing.

Then a friend of mine who manages our little local supermarket asked if I would like this cane basket. It had had an easter egg display in it and once its contents were gone they no longer needed it and were going to throw it out. Now I have a "thing" for baskets, so I couldn't say no, could I?  It is the biggest basket I have every seen, and it's taken me all afternoon to find a place in my home for it as it's so big, but have decided it will be perfect storage for some quilts.

Wonder if I'll be able to fill it by the end of the year. Have a great week. Cheryl

Some Weekend Stitching

I am running a bit late showing you the little bit of stitching I did do over the weekend.  Think two weeks of temps in the high 30s has zapped the energy levels somewhat.

Completed the stitchery for a little Gail Pan needlecase.

And managed to get it needleturned onto the front cover tonight.

And this cute little stitchery is part of the this month's SAL - a pincushion from Anni Downs' book Some Kind of Wonderful. Now to put it together.

When I saw on Michelle's blog that she had some gorgeous little Easter goodie bags in Handmade magazine I went hunting and was hoping it was in the current issue, and they were thankgoodness.  I know two little grandies that love an Easter egg hunt and will love these.

I'm adding their names - no arguments then whose bag is whose lol.  Have a great week. Cheryl

I've Been Playing Ladies Today

It has been a very hot, hot long weekend here in Victoria, and I must admit I have had the "lazies" over the weekend.  However, today we headed off nice and early to Daylesford, a favorite place of mine to have lunch at The Lakehouse restaurant. Our family had given us a voucher to use there for whatever we wanted, so we decided lunch was perfect. to say it was a bit flash was an understatement, and I did hope I didn't have to do dishes to pay the balance over and above our voucher lol.

We opted for outside on the balcony in the shade so we could look out over the lake.

My chicken and proscuitto  with Hervey Bay scallops - delicious.

And of course who could resist dessert - summer berries and peaches with a toffee flavored coulis.

We felt very spoilt, and we certainly would not normally lash out this extravagantly on lunch, but it was worth it, so thankyou dear family. Cheryl

My SAL Bag

I have been stitching bits and pieces (of quite a few different projects really), but havn't shown you my bag I finished from Natalie Bird's book "Red Home" as part of Chooky's stitchalong.

Loved the stitchery, and had to do it in red, which is one of my favorite colors, although some of the girls made it in blues and greens which were also lovely.

It is lovely and roomy. Was thinking of adding it to the gift box, but loved how it turned out.

So now I have two favorite bags. The one on the left Barb made me in last year's Santa Sack swap.  Cheryl