New & Old

Before I forget, a quick reminder that those of you involved in the pincushion swap, your parcels need to be mailed no later than the 7th of July. So that gives you eight days left.
I'm so happy that many of you enjoyed the couple of links from the past two posts. It's always a good thing to share the fabric love, plus our credit card couldn't possibly do justice to all the wonderful bargains that were available. I'd love to see your fabric goodies when they arrive at your door, so do remember to show us all. I'll be sure to let you all know what I think about the pencil I ordered.

Right, now that I have that taken care of let me tell you what's been going on here for the past couple of days.

• I managed to get the last row onto Luke's quilt and all the hand stitching done last night. Today's plan is to get the binding on so I can sit and stitch it down in the evenings. I'm sure if it wasn't for Peg's swap this would not be at this stage. Poor thing would probably be languishing in a cupboard somewhere. Thanks for the incentive Peg.
  

• I finished my pincushion for my partner. Yes it's a black and white photo. I didn't want to give anything away by showing colours.

• I shopped for the Cup Cake Swap

• I shopped some more.

• Finally I did a little more online shopping for the Cup Cake Swap. Just waiting for it to arrive at my door step.

I wonder what all these pieces of fabric will become, maybe one item, maybe more than one. You'll have to wait and see. Sharon emailed me my partners details, how lovely I have Stina as my partner. So any progress that I show, will have to be little snippets as I know she reads my blog.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for taking the time to visit, I do enjoy reading each and every one of your comments.

It's All About The Service

I had a bit of a giggle when I read Andrea's blog this afternoon and she mentioned that it was my fault that she made a purchase (previous post)...lol.... too funny.

Well maybe you just might have to do it again Andrea. This time it's a notion/tool.

I was reading my latest copy of Country Threads and got down to reading the ads (sad isn't it?). Anyway there was an ad/article about a new pencil on the market. Now the Aussie girls have probably already heard/seen this already. Sewline fabric pencil, a mechanical pencil with ceramic leads, can be washed off, or erased with the built-in eraser. Comes in a variety of colours. So the hunt began to find one of these, I just had to have it....a bit like a chocolate addict, I'm that way when it comes to things that make my embroidery an easier more pleasant process.


So this is where the service part of the post comes in. I found a quilt store here in the US that carried them, Florida to be exact. The only one I could find mind you, all the other stores were either Australia, New Zealand or England. So a quick phone call to one of the most friendly helpful ladies I think I've had the pleasure to encounter on the phone. It's already winging it's way to my mail box. So if you're like me and just have to have one then this is the store to visit.

Happy Shopping.

Shopping Anyone?

Now who doesn't like a sale? I know I find it hard to resist, especially when the fabrics are 1/2 price. I received an email from Hancocks of Paducah, I usually don't bother, but this time I took a look and oh am I glad I did. They have alot of their pre-cuts ie: fat quarters, jelly rolls, charm packs etc at less than half price. so get your credit cards ready to do some serious shopping. Here's the link to the page.

These two have gone into my shopping cart and I'm still looking.

Happy Shopping.

Mark It Off!!!

I can't remember when I've been so focused on getting projects finished. I don't know if it has anything to do with Peg's challenge or just the fact that I know they need to be finished. Either way I'm happy to be able to cross this one off the list. The summer FSQS (Pink Daisies) is all done, just needs a label (that'll be done tonight) and washed (waiting for my order from dhrama to arrive). Then into a mailer and off to it's new home. I do hope it's new owner will be happy with it. It amazes me how when it's time to make these swap quilts I end up using colours I normally wouldn't use. It's a great way of expanding my thinking, when it comes to the use of colour.

I spent yesterday and most of last night piecing borders for the "embroidery" quilt, and this morning writing the pattern up to the point I'm at. I find it easier to write as I go. I can't imagine trying to remember what I did weeks or even months ago and getting it onto paper. I'm hoping to have it ready for the last of the embroidery by this evening and then I'll need to think about the quilting. Maybe I'll send it off to one of the local long arm quilters from the guild.

Happy Stitching.

Another Swap, Progress

No not here, but if you blog hop on over to Sharon's, she's having a Cup Cake themed swap. You'll need to be quick, as she already has 20 something signed up for it.


Last night I added the binding to the Four Season's Summer quilt and have it about half way stitched down, so I'll continue with that tonight and add a label.
Today's plan is to work on the little extra that I'm adding to the pincushion swap parcel for my partner and pulling out the Love quilt to work on the borders. I've added another two rows to Luke's quilt, so that only leaves two more to add. I'm thinking, no borders for his quilt as it's so big already.



Happy Stitching.

Watch Your Mail Box

It's so exciting to see all the lovely pincushions that are being completed and to know that they are on their way to their new owners.

These ladies can expect to receive their pincushions soon, if they haven't already.

Carin
May Kristin
Tammy
Cara
Lynda

Happy Stitching and swapping.

Aussie Magazines, Pincushion Update, Challenge

Ok so I need some advice, you Aussie girls may be able to answer this one for me. I've subscribed to Country Threads for the past year and my subscription has just run out. I want a new subscription and I can't decide between Country Threads and Homespun. I must admit I was a little disappointed with the Country Threads this past year, not as many smaller items. So my question is which one do you think is better, remembering that I just adore stitcheries/embroidery.
I decided to add another quilt to my 5 finishes challenge, the Four Season's Summer quilt, so that's three on the list.
Pincushion Update
Only 17 more days until your pincushions are due to be sent to your partners, of course you can mail sooner. I've received some gorgeous photo's of finishes already.Please remember to email me a photo of your finished pincushion and to let me know when you have it posted. This way I can add your photo to the album I've created, and I can let your partner know to expect a parcel. Once you've received your pincushion, please email me to let me know. This way I can keep track of who has and hasn't received their parcels. Hope you're all having fun creating.

Happy Stitching.

Taking The Challenge

I decided to jump on the boat with Peg and join in on the finishing up of a couple of projects. I can use all the encouragement available to get projects finished. As I told Peg I was only going to include two items, both on the top of my list.


1. Love (embroidery) quilt, still needs it's borders and the extra embroidery. I have no idea if I'll get it quilted by the end of next month, but I want to get it finished so I can complete the pattern writing.


2. Luke's quilt. I attached the 3rd row last night and finished hand sewing the back of the seam this evening. Only three more rows to be attached and hand stitched down and then I can think about borders.

Happy Stitching.

Giveaway, Pincushion Update

I'll start with the pincushion update. It's amazing what you forget to mention when you're working out a swap. So this is one of those moments. When you send your pincushion to your partner, PLEASE include your email address and you're blog address in the parcel. Once you've received your pincushion please remember to send an email and or comment on the blog and personally thank your swap partner.
Now to the giveaway, pop on over to Jackie's blog, she has a terrific giveaway going.

Happy Stitching.

Sneak Peak

Just a quick post today with a little sneak peak of the Summer Four Season's quilt.

I managed to get the background pieced yesterday afternoon, and last night I basted all the pieces in place ready for appliqueing today. Hopefully I'll have this completed in the next couple of weeks, ready to post on time.

Still trying to work out which pincushion pattern to use.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for stopping by to visit with me. I appreciate all your lovely comments.

Pincushion Swap Update

Just a quick not to those of you who have joined in on the swap. As your partner notifies me that your pincushion has been mailed, I've sent out emails to let you know. Please be polite and let me know that you received my email. This makes it so much easier for me to keep track of things.

thanks and Happy Stitching.

Gorgeous Mail - Ideas Please

Sharon had some very pretty fat quarters for sale a few days ago and I decided to grab a bundle from her. The postman rang the door bell this morning, oh darn hubby answered it..... oh a lovely gift from Sharon, how sweet of her....lol.... Partly true.

This lovely bundle is what I paid for.

Don't they look gorgeous all laid out?
And this lovely collection Sharon added into my box as an extra. What a sweetie. Thanks Sharon, that was very sweet and generous of you.
Now that you've seen these gorgeous fabrics, I need some ideas as to what design they'd look nice in. I'd prefer to use all of them in one single quilt. So if you have some ideas please let me know, if you have a link, even better.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for your suggestions and ideas.

Bits and Pieces

What a lovely day I had yesterday. Karen came over and picked me up and we headed out for lunch. We went to a lovely cafe/deli not far from home, and oh what a delicious lunch it was. Lots of chatter (I think I stopped to take a breath) and giggles. Thank you Karen for such a lovely day. Then on to Hancocks for a little shopping. I decided to join in on Amandajean's star quilt-a-long and needed more fabrics, surprise, surprise. I decided on pinks, as just about every quilt I own is done in a strong colour, so it was time for something softer and more feminine. This is what came home with me to go with the three blocks I made the day before yesterday.
(If you click on the photo, you'll get a better view) Along with these blocks I've been working on Luke's quilt. All the blocks are put together into rows and now I'm joining the rows. A little slower than I expected as it's quilt as you go.
Last night I made a start on my pincushion. I still haven't decided if it's what I'll send to my partner, today's results will determine that. I received the first photo from one of the swappers yesterday, and what a beauty it is.
Karen has a lovely pattern she's going to share with me that I'm hoping will work for the summer 4SQS, so I'll need to make a start on that as well. So plenty to keep me busy and out of mischief.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for visiting with me.

Pincushion Update

I've had a few emails asking about stuffing and posting of the pincushions. So I'll try to answer these here so everyone has the opportunity of expressing their experiences as well.

Stuffing Your Pincushion

As I stated in one of the previous posts, if the pincushion you're making calls for a weight in the bottom of it to weigh it down, please be careful what you choose to use for this. Some countries won't allow opened grains, eg: rice, lentil, beans into the country in case of pests or disease. An option here may be those bean bag beans.

Posting/Mailing

Please do not post/mail prior to the 7th of June. Your pincushion needs to be mailed no later than the 7th of July. Once it has been posted please email me to let me know it's on it's way, with Pincushion Mailed/posted in the subject line of the email. This way I can let your partner know to expect a parcel. Please also include in that email your partners details, this will save me hours of searching for your partners details.
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Photo's

If you own a digital camera please take a photo of the pincushion you've made and email it to me so that I can make a slide show of the finished pincushions once they have all been received. Please put pincushion pic in the subject line.

Customs

Depending on the weight and the country you are posting to, some may need a customs slip. Please remember to mark your pincushion as a "gift" and keep a "low" value on it. This will prevent your partner from having to pay customs or duty on the item.

If you have any question, queries, or suggestions please don't hesitate to speak up.
Happy Stitching.

I'll be back tomorrow with an update of what's been happening here in the last week.