Last of the Christmas Stitching/Shopping

Like most of you my sewing room was a hive of activity before Christmas getting gifts finished ready to mail out, and I showed evidence of that from the mess that I made in there. This little angel flew all the way to Stina to keep her company.

I had so much fun making the first one, plus I knew Stina was dealing with a few things and needed a little pick me up.
These eight napkins and coasters traveled up to Bren's. Pretty pink and brown fabrics, reversed in four of them.

A little peek at the stitching on a bag that was made for Marc as part of the SSCS.

Here it is included in the Christmas shopping bag.
Bag, coin purse and note book cover, also for Marc.
I did a little retail therapy while we were in Branson. The store was stacked with patterns galore, and samples everywhere there was a space for them to be hung or draped. I don't usually shop just for the sake of it. I like to have a plan or a list before I enter a fabric store otherwise I end up confused and walking out with nothing, or even worse, something that I probably wouldn't use later. So my plan was to find a couple of nice pieces of neutrals and perhaps a pattern and fabrics to make it up in. I didn't have any problems finding what was on my list.
Two 2 yard pieces of lovely creams, a Crap-apple Hill winter pattern and fat quarters and yardage to make it up in. I also purchased the Turning Twenty pattern, even though I have no idea what fabrics I'll use, patterns never go astray.
Our last purchase was last night. I'd spoken to Donna before we went away about cameras. My first thought was a SLR, but having looked at them, I decided that I wouldn't use all the functions that were included. Not able to find a camera store anywhere in Branson, we had to wait until we came home. So this is my new toy, that I've had so much fun playing with. Hopefully you'll see better quality photo's from now on.
I need to sit down and work out what I want to work on next year. I already have a list of Christmas items that need to be stitched for next Christmas, yes I know terribly organised, but I hate leaving things until the last minute.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for taking the time to stop and visit with me.

Home Again

There's nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed. Dh and I arrived home late last night. We had a wonderful time away.
This is the wonderful tree that greeted us as we entered our hotel lobby.

We enjoyed wonderful meals, which included a lunch at Landry's, enjoyed two shows, Pierce Arrow and the Acrobats of China. Both were amazing shows. We took in the sights and did a little retail therapy, outlet stores galore, but mostly we enjoyed just having time with one another. On our way home yesterday we stopped in at the Fantastic Caverns in Springfield Missouri.

Christmas day was a bit of a right off as I spent the majority of the day in bed nursing a raging fever, which has turned into another nasty cold. Before we left Branson we spent yesterday morning here. What a blessing it was, and so refreshing.

Thank you for all your wishes for our time away.

I'll be back tomorrow with photo's of purchases and my SSCS parcel that I sent to Australia.

Happy Stitching.

Parcels Galore - Photo Heavy

As promised, today's post is all about parcels, all the lovely things that have arrived over the last week.
These gorgeous patterns arrived yesterday from Nanette's giveaway party. Thank you Nanette, I'm going to enjoy working on these in the New Year.

Today's mail brought a little parcel from Peg, she has sent me a piece of the new Avalon stitchery plastic thingie and some stabiliser. Thank you Peg, I'm looking forward to trying this out.
A few days ago a parcel arrived from Australia, from Miss Choobyblue. Yummy Australian chocolate, (which is now in the freezer aging beautifully) and a lovely Homespun magazine. Thank you Donna, that was such a lovely surprise.

Last week I received the adorable dress that Bonnie had stitched up for a little girl in her giveaway and she was sweet and included these two lovely pieces of fabric. Thank you Bonnie, these have been put aside for a work in progress.

Now on to the Secret Santa swap parcels. Yes I opened these today, seeing as I won't be here for Christmas, and there's just no way I could have waited until we got home from our trip.I was fortunate enough to join in on Janet's Christmas swap as well as Donna's. Her lovely parcel arrived today.

Doesn't this look wonderful? Each gift had a little tag attached with a suggestion or a hint on it.

My goodness where do I start, patterns galore, gorgeous pegs with magnets on one side and cute buttons on the other side. Yummy chocolate, an Aussie notepad and pen, tape measure, empty spools, gorgeous buttons, a chenille by the inch pack, a teenie tiny quilt hanger and a lovely antique doily.

thank you so much Janet, I feel totally spoilt.Next up is my SSCS parcel from Donna that's been sitting in my laundry away from eyes...

Oh yum, Tim Tam's violet crumble and my own little supply of milk bottles (yummy candy). Stunning cards and a gorgeous 2009 calendar.

Pretty floss and ribbon, a cute tea towel, a quilt hanger and an adorable stitchery.

Thank you so much Donna, such a wonderful parcel.

Now I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed and happy Christmas day. My prayer for you all is that your day will be filled with love, laughter, joy and family. May Jesus be felt in your hearts and your homes. You have each blessed my life this past year and I look forward to another year filled with laughter and friendship.

Happy Stitching and Happy Christmas.

Linda

The Last Of The Parcels

Thank you for all your lovely comments on Jenna's picnic bag. Several of you suggested that a tutorial would be terrific. As much as I'd love to help you out, it's just not going to happen. I didn't keep any of the measurements, and just fiddled with each part until I was happy with it. Once you have the basic size of the bag worked out the rest was very simple. I'm sure you all could manage it without a step by step.
As I mentioned on Friday I managed to get all my Christmas stitching finished and into the mail on Saturday. I find it a challenge trying to come up with something I can send my mum that (1) she'll use (usually at 78 they tend to have everything), and (2) doesn't weigh too much to post. So I decided to go with Nicole's terrific napkin tutorial and four matching coasters.
I also put the last stitches in Hollie's gifts. Although we won't be spending Christmas with her I wanted to make sure everything would be finished for when we returned from our trip, and caught up with her.What do you give an almost 19 year old who has started out in her own place? Well for Hollie that was easy, as she's always asking me how to put a particular recipe together. So I put together a parcel that I hope she enjoys and finds useful.
You may remember this fabric that I bought a few weeks ago
Now turned into these.
An apron. Lob cabin hot pads.

A a couple of place mats. With such pretty fabrics I didn't think it needed a patchwork design. Just simply added the stripe to the side and quilted and bound.
And of course some coasters to go with them.

The parcel wouldn't be complete without a simple cookbook.
Now a few of you asked to see my horrible sewing room mess. Normally I wouldn't show what a piggie I can be, but keeping with the Christmas spirit, I decided I'd embarrass myself and let you see what I've been working in, for the last couple of weeks.



Tomorrow I'll be heading off to the hairdressers for a quick trim, doing the last minute washing and packing for our trip away.

I hope to be back tomorrow to show you some of the lovely parcels that have arrived in the last week and show you a clean sewing room. Now it's time for me to make a start on the housework, clean the sewing room and work out what I want to take with me in the way of hand sewing.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for stopping by to visit with me.

All Done

I've just put the last stitch in the last item to be sewn for Christmas gifts. Three parcels ready to mail tomorrow. Unfortunately they won't arrive in time for Christmas, but the receivers already know this.
Today saw me running around the sewing room like a chook with it's head chopped off, trying to get Jenna's gift finished. I think I started at 10 am and finished at 8pm, with only bathroom breaks.
You will remember this picnic quilt that I made earlier in the year.

As it's a picnic quilt, I wanted to make a picnic bag to go with it, so here's the finished item. I'll start with the inside before it was all put together so you get an idea of how I spent most of the day.

Room for plates, a chopping board, salt and pepper in their own pocket, and 4 napkins tied to the plate pocket.

I think if I had the plates mugs and chopping board placed once I must have had them placed at least a dozen times, as I worked out measurements.

Knives, forks, and two sizes of spoons, and mugs.

Everything in it's place and the quilt tucked inside, ready for a summer picnic.
I also finished off Hollie's gift and my mum's, but I'll post those either tomorrow or Monday.

Between now and Tuesday, when dh and I leave for our trip, I think I need to go into the sewing room and clean it up. It looks like I've been robbed, with stuff strewn all over the tables, bed and floor. If I'm brave I'll take a photo before I start.

Happy Stitching.

Airing The Quilts

Even though all the Christmas stitching is secret at the moment, I can show you the little wall hanging I finished yesterday. You may remember me showing you a peek at it a few months ago. Here it is finished and ready to hang on my sewing room wall.

Finished the last of my Christmas fabric shopping today, but again I'm not able to show you until the final product has reached it's destination.

Happy Stitching.

PIF,Awards and Honeymoon's

I still can't show you any of my Christmas stitching, as there are eyes watching...... but I can tell you about the next round of PIF. If you know me well, you'll know I adore anything that Stina makes, and when she said she was doing another round of the Pay It Forward, I just couldn't miss out on one of her beautiful creations. So of course that means another round of PIF for me.

The Rules

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on the blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Yes you read correctly, a honeymoon. My DH and I have been married almost five years and have still not yet had a honeymoon. That is about to change. The photo above is where we will be spending Christmas and a few extra days this year, on our honeymoon. We are both looking forward to a break away from the regular day to day commitments, and the opportunity to spend uninterrupted quality time together with one another. Of course it never hurts that it's also a wonderful shopping town...... I'm told that there are plenty of quilt stores to keep me happy for a few hours, but most of all I'm looking forward to just having us time, with no cooking or cleaning.

Lisa awarded me with the Kreativ Blogger award the other day, thank you Lisa.
Here are the rules...
1. Place the logo on your blog
2. Link back to the person who nominated you
3. Nominate 5 people and link back to their blog
4. Leave a message on the nominee's blog

You'll know I find these type of awards hard to pass on, only because I'd hate to miss someone out or hurt anyone's feeling by not including them. So if I visit your blog regularly and leave a comment, then please consider yourself nominated.

Happy Stitching.

Parcels, Christmas Stitching, Blog Party

Saturday's mail brought a lovely parcel to my mail box. I must admit I was somewhat confused, until I read the card. I nearly had this all ripped open before I remembered the camera. All beautifully wrapped using red gingham tissue.

A lovely warm flannel pillow case, chocolates (always needed) beautiful body soap and a yummy hot chocolate mix.

Thank you so much Stephanie, what a sweetie you are.

This one is prepped, ready to stitch down when dh and I have our little trip later this month (more on that later).
More secret Christmas stitching.
Now onto some fun. Nanette is having a blog party this week, to celebrate her year of blogging. Hop on over and join in on the fun.

Today is an extremely exciting day here in my home. I received a much awaited letter. I'm going to ask those of you that pray if you could lift the situation (God knows) up in prayer for a positive outcome. I'll be able to tell you all in January.

Happy Stitching.

Christmas Stitching (Photo Heavy)

December 5th already and only a couple of weeks left until that wonderful day arrives, Christmas. My SSCS parcel arrived in my mail box yesterday,all the way from Australia, from Chookyblue herself, and written on the sides of the box were "DO NOT OPEN, WAIT". Thanks Donna, I'm being good and have it in the laundry (the coldest room in the house) so none of that declared chocolate melts......
I've been busy in the sewing room, stitching up a storm, and making a huge mess. Tuesday I couldn't stand it any longer and had to get in there and clean it up. I couldn't find a thing for all the fabric and patterns that were strewn across the room. It's amazing how much more productive you can be when you work in a clean environment. Anyway onto the progress that's been happening.
A Quilting Angel. I think she speaks for herself.

She was so much fun to stitch up and I hope she'll be enjoyed by her new owner.

Do you remember this little peek I gave you a few weeks ago?

Well here it is all finished, ready to fly to it's new home.

Just in case some of you don't know what a Plum Pudding is, click on the link.


Remember Nanette showed us a few weeks ago a terrific idea for kitchen towels. Here's my result. I purchased the linen from Fabrics-Store.com. They have a lovely range of weights and colours and all at bargain prices.







I found the embroidery design for this bag while surfing the web, can't remember where, but it also included the photo of the finished bag. I thought it would be perfect for ............ for Christmas. You may recognise the fabrics in the bag from a previous shopping trip.

Added inside the bag is a mini pouch and a note book, made from the same fabrics.

Lastly a scrap book cover, had fun with all the lovely ric rac that arrived last week. All wrapped and ready to be mailed, somehow I don't think it's going to all fit into the mailing bag I bought. I think it will need a box instead.
Unfortunately I've just discovered that one of the bag swappers didn't receive her bag, so it's time to get busy in the sewing room and rectify that problem.

Happy Stitching.