This and That

I did manage a little time over Easter to do some sewing. I need to have the Gail Pan bom I have been working on "Sewing Angels" finished by June. I have finished stitching all the blocks, except for a couple of borders. This is my progress -

Five blocks still need their borders - hopefully I'll get there.

Now a group of friends have an online swap going - our first swap was for a Dresden plate. I decided I would make Helen, my lovely partner, a table runner.  Helen loves French General fabrics as I do, so color selection was easy.

Love the look of the pointed Dresden inside the rounded one.

And for 1 Xmas Item a Month over at Narelle's "Pins and Whiskes" blog I have been stitching away on Michelle's "Down Reindeer Lane".

Cute aren't they? One block to stitch and then I can put it together. Woo Hoo.
Cheryl

Just a Little Buy Up

Do you get the feeling I love shopping - fabric, patterns and anything related. A bonus if it's Christmas. I have had a little buy up from Keryn's "I'm Not Moving It Sale" over at www.christmascreationsbykeryn.blogspot.com.  Though you might like to see -

How cute is this tin, which was full of bits and pieces.

including these very cute pre-printed xmas stitcheries - one of which is so beautifully painted - can't wait to do these.

Lots and lots of the most gorgeous xmas trinkets - most I have never seen before, including little white painted bells with a snowman face, snowflakes, stars and the cutest of buttons

Some gorgeous kits

And who could resist her beautiful handmade items - Keryn is such an amazing sewer. so this gorgeous wallhanging had to come to my house.

As did this amazing tree skirt

A close up of the detail - just love it.

There are lots of lovely patterns too, so will save them for next time. Keryn still has lots of lovely goodies for sale, so pop on over to her blog and take a look.

And as if I havn't been spoilt enough over the past couple of weeks, Easter Bunny came to my house with these beautiful hand-made flowers. I see she has been very busy around the place. And there was some yummy easter eggs too, but oops they wouldn't fit in the photo.  Thankyou so much my sweet Easter bunny.
Cheryl

Some Gifts I'v e Been Making

For our  "My House, My home" Swap with Mrs Martins Quilt Shop, the first room we had to make something for was for the sewing room.  This is what I made for my partner Kerrie -

A sewing set consisting of a bag, needlecase and pincushion - a cute Gail Pan pattern. Kerrie's colors were red and soft blue.

And for a "just cos" gift I made the following sewing pocket for Dagmar in Germany -

This is coincidentally also a Gail Pan pattern. I made one very similar for our Mill Rosie swap recently and Melody has that one.  Love the pretty greens and reds of French General fabrics in this one, which Dagmar tells me is also her colors.

This is the inside of the sewing folder - I did add some fabric and a couple of other bits.
Hope you like your gifts girls. Cheryl

My Yummy New Purchases and Spoilt Again

As well as all those gorgeous patterns and other bits and pieces we received in our goodie bags on Saturday at the Stitching Soiree with Lisa and Leanne, I did add a few other purchases from Karen's (Mrs Martins) lovely shop which she had there on the day -

Some yummy new fabrics - not a great photo, sorry - the colors are much deeper than this and the red one has old fashioned fob watches on it.

And of course a girl needs some new patterns - "Woodland Friends" on the left has a very cute wreath stitchery with lots of little woodland creatures added in.  And I "needed" a new xmas project.

And those that know me know I can't resist a snowman, so I had to have this cute little snowman sewing set. And Karen does such gorgeous kits, so had to have some for a few of the new projects we received in our goodie bag.

Lots of lovely raffle prizes and I was lucky enough to win one - a lovely stitchery design of Lisa's, a bag with lots of lovely DMC threads, cotton and needles.  Now I just need a couple of weeks off to work on all my lovely new projects.

While at the Soiree I received a lovely surprise - another birthday gift from a dear friend -

Shez spoilt me with the most beautiful kitchen set - a lovely handtowel and a beautifully stitched tea towel.

And a lovely Donna Hay cookbook to go it with it. So many yummy things to try out in there. Thankyou so much Shez for my most gorgeous gift.

And another dear friend, Karen from Mrs Martins sent me this lovely pattern for gorgeous handmade cards and envelopes. I havn't seen a pattern for these before - they are so cute.
Finally a lovely drop of rain here - it has missed us for weeks, so nice to be inside stitching and listening to the rain fall. Cheryl

Stitching Soiree

We spent the most fantastic day at a Stitching Soiree yesterday with two fantastic tutors - Lisa from FignBerry Creations and Leanne from Petals and Patches -

The "we" - Sandy, Shez and I.

Some of the beautiful projects that we received patterns for on the day - sewing pocket, pincushion, lovely wallhanging, journal cover, and doiley. Spoilt weren't we?

This is the project I worked on for the day - this cute little sewing pouch

Pity mine's not that far advanced yet.

 

Always love these days. Karen from Mrs Martins Quilt Shop had a wonderful shop there, so I'll be back soon to show you my purchase or three. Cheryl

Lovely Friends

I've been very spoilt this week with two beautiful swap gifts, but I also became another year older earlier in the week and two of my lovely friends spoilt me some more -

Keryn (who has a lovely blog -www.christmascreationsbykeryn.blogspot.com) sent me this most beautiful scrapbooked friends notebook/journal, and she knows how much I love choccies - but they didn't quite all make it to this photo lol. Thankyou so much dear friend for your beautiful gift. I love it.

 

This is the inside of the notebook - lots of little colored envelopes with removable pages - so cute.

And another dear friend, Karen (no blog) was my swap partner a couple of years ago and we have become firm friends ever since. She sent me the most beautiful pincushion and embroidered tea towel (perfect - I love my cuppa). And there was more -

Two lovely Lynette Anderson projects that I can't wait to stitch. Thankyou for spoiling me also Karen - I absolutely loved my parcel -  and for all the lovely birthday messages I received from all my gorgeous friends.

Well Shez and I are off to a lovely Stitching Soiree with Lisa from FignBerry Creations and Leanne from Petals and Patches on Saturday - we are both very excited, so will be back to show you what we got up to soon. Cheryl

My House, My Home Swap

I have signed up to do "My House, My Home" swap this year through Mrs Martins Quilt Shop. This year we are making something for each room of the house. The first one - my favourite room - the sewing room, and this is what my partner Kerrie sent me -

The lovliest "Mend It Kit" - absolutely love Anni's designs from Hatched and Patched, as well as a very cute "Sew" project folder kit, also a Hatched and Patched design, and how gorgeous is that pincushion - a little rusty bucket with the pincushion at the top.

And look at all those yummy goodies inside

And this lovely kit for a cute little sewing pocket - will look forward to sewing this.
I'm looking forward to the next one now. Thankyou Kerrie for my gorgeous parcel - just loved it.
Cheryl