CIJ, Natures Journey SAL and FHFS

Well I only just realised I hadn't shown you what I made for Fiona in our Friends Having Fun swap. A ruler cover/bag was the theme this time and I know most of you will have seen the lovely photos Fiona took over on her blog www.bubzrugz.blogspot.com   I know she was really happy with her ruler cover and it has already had an outing -

Loved stitching the cute little stitcheries on this.

A close up of one of these. the cottage garden threads are great for picking up the colors of the fabrics.

And the back.  This was such a fun swap and one that had me thinking for a bit until I discovered this pattern.

And while talking of swaps, I've shown the you the gorgeous gifts I received from Jo in Cheryll's Christmas in July swap, but I havn't shown you what I made.  My partner was Lyn from Queensland -

First off was this wallhanging which is a design from The Birdhouse and one I have stitched several times and I still enjoy it.

I also made Lyn some of my favourite decorations - and of course they are Michelle's designs from Ragtag Stitchin. 

 

And lastly a Christmas bag (every girl needs at least one) - a design from Gail Pan's latest Christmas book and of course you need some goodies to go in it - so choccies, cottage garden thread and a Marg Low pattern/kit for Lyn to stitch.  I had a lovely email from her to say she had opened her gifts and was happy with them. 

And lastly I have been stitching, stitching, stitching on the centre block from Natures Journey, a Hatched and Patched design which lots of us are stitching away on as a SAL over on Chooky's blog.  It has taken a while as my needleturn is very slow, but must say I'm happy with it.  And a big thankyou to Shez who sat there for ages and cut out all the templates for me (I use the template plastic method) -

Ta da.  Now to start the big process of cutting lots and lots of little squares and putting it all together.
Cheryl

Christmas in July Gifts

Well I had been eyeing off my very interesting parcel Christmas In July parcel for a week or more with no clue who it was from, so it was great to be finally able to open it on Saturday.  And it turned out my partner was Jo from ButterZ blog,  I always admire Jo's beautiful work so was excited to see what was inside -

The first one I opened was this gorgeous cushion with a lovely stitched tree and yummy buttons.

And I love this wallhanging - what a cute little blackboard elf to write your xmas list on. Can you see the little knitted stocking that holds the chalk?  I said to Jo that I am so tempted to hang him now and leave him out til xmas.

Jo obviously did her homework to find out I had a soft spot for snowmen (among other things lol).  I have never seen one like this though - it is just amazing and so very gorgeous. It is actually a wine glass painted in a frosted, textured paint (will have to ask Jo what it is) and then with a face and decorations, and I'm sorry I've cut off the stem, as it actually has a votive candle sitting on top.  Love him.

And if that wasn't enough Jo had also made me a gorgeous dishcloth (way too nice to use  for that - make a lovely doiley or candlemat) and knitted Santa decoration, yummy Lindt chocolates (long gone) and coffee sachet. 

What a wonderful partner you were Jo. So very spoilt and I just loved my amazing gifts, thankyou so very much. They will be a special part of my xmas decorating. Cheryl

Ruler Bag/Cover Swap

Our Friends Having Fun swap group had a ruler bag/cover exchange this month.  My lovely parcel was hand delivered by Carol on Saturday - whoo hoo got to open it with her there.

How gorgeous is my bag - perfect for my rulers and sewing bits and pieces, with a lovely Gail Pan stitchery on the front and lovely French General fabrics.  I just love it Carol.  And there was more -

There was also not one, but two wonderful design boards - perfect for doing applique when trying to get it to the ironing board in one piece. 

And a beautiful bowl of handmade rum balls - Tim Tam rum balls - you will have to take my word for it, they were delicious.    Love my gorgeous goodies Carol - thankyou so very much. Cheryl

Out and About (Again) and CIJ

Well this intriguing looking parcel was waiting for me when I returned home on Friday - no clue who from but it was for the Christmas in July swap run by Cheryll over at The Stitching Cubbyhole.  Roll on the 25th - not that I did too much feeling or prodding, but no clues as to what might be inside -

Yesterday we had another wonderful class - yes I know that is two weekends running, but this one was one of my favourite topics "Christmas in July" with Lisa from FignBerry Creations and  Leanne from Petals and Patches. and boy were we spoilt. It was one of the best stitching days and lots of projects to keep me going with my favourite theme -

Not a very good photo with the sun streaming through the window, but I spent the day with lovely friends Carol, Shez and Karen. Karen had flown down from Brisbane for the day, whoo hoo. We had been counting down to this day for weeks.

Our two gorgeous tutors Leanne and Lisa.

Karen and I chatting non stop

Some of our gorgeous projects from the day - a Christmas card holder and lovely table centre which had stitchery and hexagons - both these were from Lisa.

And from Leanne this super cute table runner.

These gorgeous decorations were from Lisa and was the project I started stitching yesterday. In the background is a lovely wine bottle holder that was another of Leanne's projects.

And loved this - very hard to see the stitcheries.  I'll show you the goodie bag next post and it may be a bit easier to see.    Think I'm going to be busy, busy.  I also had my FHFS had delivered from Carol - just gorgeous - but \will show you that next post as well.  Wonderful day - had the best time. 

Do you think it's the 25th tomorrow. I will have to hide that interesting looking parcel. Cheryl

A Change of Scenery

This is the view we are enjoying every day this week -

It's the view from DD2 front yard - pretty nice, isn"t it?  She lives at Port Broughton on the Yorke Peninsula in SA.  And even better I get to spend lots of time with my little grandson.

So we have been wedding planning and shopping as she gets married in October.

Whoops how did that patchwork shop photo get in there.  Well I may have just ducked into Country Hart patchwork shop just for a minute.  Cheryl

A Lovely Day Stitching

We have been awaiting the arrival of this day for some time - a winter workshop at Quilters Harvest in Warracknabeal with Gail Pan. This was not a small project, but a quilt and I talked my buddy Shez into coming along with me.

It wasn't all just work - we did have some fun as well.

This was our gorgeous project for the day.  I love applique, but I am not that good at needleturn, so I needed lots of tips from Gail.

Not a bad effort if I may say so myself.

Come on I'm trying to take serious photos here lol

And of course I had to include group/progress photo.  Fun day and Gail is such a fantastic tutor.  It is all packed ready for me to take away for a few days, so hopefully I can keep practicing on  some more blocks. Cheryl

Not Much to Report

Well it seems like I havn't been doing too much. But I promise I have, but ssshh it's all a secret for now.  I have finished and posted these off to ?

For Cheryll's "Christmas in July" swap.

What little bit of sewing I've been doing for me has seen me stitch a couple more of my "Christmas" letters -

Love this design from Viv's Creations

Onto the last three letters.

Took the grandies to Christmas in July at Sovereign Hill (at great expense) for birthday/ holiday treat. Wonderful day out with lots of activities. Busy making/decorating candles in this pic. 

Well back to secret sewing. Cheryl