Perfect Parcels!

I don't often give a lot of thought to the quilt I am to receive in the doll quilt swaps until they turn up in my letterbox. I find the most fun is in creating something that will be right for my partner and challenging my design and construction skills.

I do occasionally think about it as I check out all the lovely pictures of the quilts as they pop up in Flickr and wonder if it's 'the one'. And of course I have my favourites.

It's always a lovely, big surprise when it arrives and I get to open up the package and reveal the cleverness within.

Today's package confused me for a moment as it was mailed locally. But then I saw the name on the back and tore it open while standing at the letterbox because I knew what was inside......



I just LOVE everything about it. The size, shape, colours and wonderful simplicity. Aren't the birds just gorgeous!



It was designed and beautifully made by the fabulous Tamara who lives down the road from me (kind of).

Thanks again Tamara it will be hung somewhere special because we all love it so much. And hopefully we'll get to meet soon!



So, lucky me, I'm getting quite a collection of little works of art!



Go here and check out all the fabulousness from this swap round.

And just quickly, here's a sneak peek of my latest offering which is finally 'winging' its way to its new home! My wrist is back to normal and now that I have finished the quilt I can try and get back to some more crochet!

Full Reveal

See, time is a problem - it is again some time since I posted! During that time I have suffered a wrist injury and been unable to do much in the way of craft and I have turned 45!

So I don't have a lot to show you except a full reveal of my Four Seasons Quilt Swap 5 Monochromatic quilt which has finally arrived!



And I'll also chuck in a photo of my 45 year old self with my gorgeous new scarf crocheted by the very lovely Cathy.



It is cashmere and silk and just so soft and warm - I LOVE it! I was really spoilt last Friday by my darling family and friends - thanks everyone!

By the way I also have new glasses.



Oh and since this photo was taken at Easter I have finally had a haircut! My usual hairdresser had actually become pregnant AND had her baby since I last went!!

Anyway enough blathering about me. I'm just putting the final stitches into my quilt for the Doll Quilt swap which is now running late as I had to stop for over a week. But it's looking good now and will be off to the post office tomorrow.

And the wrist - well let's hope it wasn't the crochet that caused it!!

Time!

This is what I have been doing with my spare time.



I have had the idea to make this for my bed for a very long time.



And I have had the wool for a very long time.



Just no actual time to start it!



So how much time do you think will pass before this is finished?

Show and Tell

Just before the Stitches and Craft show I received this gorgeous quilt in the mail and have been terribly slow in sharing it with you.



It is for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap 5 Monochromatic challenge. Don't worry I was polite enough to thank Simone whose lovely work it is.



Look at the gorgeous detail in the embroidery.



The stitches are so tiny and neat as is the piecing. And it is all lovely green!



Thank you again Simone. As I said, it will definitely become part of our family's Christmas traditions!

Happy Easter!

Just chilling....

It's school holidays here and so far we haven't done much which is quite nice really. I realised on the weekend how relaxed I was feeling for a change which just goes to show how stressed out I have been. The weather is also cooler and a little wet which is just lovely. Perfect for pulling out those knitting and quilting projects.

Today was my dear friend Christina's Birthday so we had an afternoon tea to celebrate. A little champagne and cake is very nice on a Wednesday afternoon!



Especially if it's one of Helen's gorgeous passionfruit sponges!



Happy Birthday Christina - thanks for being a couple of weeks younger than me!!

Christina's daughter also celebrated a Birthday last week and we popped in for a bit of cake and a dance after school.

Sophia's present from her Mum and Dad this year was a bedroom makeover and the theme was red and white and a bit of High School Musical. So I made her a cushion and bought her a matching fleecy blanket for her bed.







I enjoyed wrapping the present - check out the ribbon!!



Chloe also made Sophia a 'Mixtape' full of their favourite songs so the kids had a ball in Sophia's room and gave us a few hilarious dance performances!!



You definitely needed long hair!



I also have some sneaky peeks of my latest creation for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap which is hopefully not far away from its new home.



This was a monochromatic challenge and one of my partner's choices was yellow. I had an idea floating around my mind for several months but was side tracked by the huge volume of work I had to complete in the last couple of months. By the time I got to make the quilt I actually didn't like it any more and even Chloe and her girlfriends told me they didn't get it! They are usually gushing in their opinions and they just looked confused.



So I pulled it all apart and made this one. I like it so very much more and hope that my partner does too. It will be a little later than expected but I have put in a few bits and bobs to soften the blow.



I now have to work on my Doll Quilt Swap 6 quilt and I have a really cool partner whose work I have always loved. I have another great idea for this one - hope it works out this time.

Hello.... anyone out there??

This won't be a long post even though it could have been incredibly long given the gap in communication. I just thought I would start by saying hello and give you a brief run down of everything I have been up to and then I will do smaller posts about each of those things. Is that good?

So when we last met, I was preparing for Chloe's Birthday party and the Stitches and Craft Show. I also had several projects to work on but I can't tell you about those or I'd have to kill you.

Kidding!! I will let you in on those as they pop up in the magazine world. I have also created another Audrey and Maude pattern but more about that later.

And my computer died on me! But I'll save all those stories for another day.

This post I will devote to a little photo run down of Chloe's 9th Birthday party and I will continue with other stuff later this week.

So...we started with a little cupcake decorating and much finger licking!



And they made a few chocolates.



Next I took out my fabric scrap boxes, some stamps and some paper and asked them to design their own placemat to use at the dinner table.



They concentrated very hard on this and came up with a heap of gorgeous ideas. They used them for dinner and then took them home.



Lots of yummy nachos and heaps of giggling.



After dinner fun with some silly string.



And of course... yummy icecream Birthday cake.



Happy 9th Birthday my gorgeous girl!!



The next day we went and had her ears pierced! Ahh so grown up already. Where did all that time go?

I promise you will hear from me again soon!!

You are invited....

Well you aren't but 8 lovely young ladies are - to Chloe's 9th Birthday party. After having no idea of what I was going to do, Chloe and I came up with a few really good ideas.



All she wanted was her friends over for a few games and nachos and tacos for dinner - easy!





We're just adding in a few extras! I will give you a full debrief after the big event!!



And here is a little something I made for my brother for his birthday - again, I find it hard to know what to make or even buy for men!



I do know his wife really liked it!!

And here's what I have been spending a lot of my spare time doing.



I'm making some bits and pieces to donate to the The Toy Society and handmadehelp.

And of course, I'm working on some special new patterns which will hopefully be ready for the Stitches and Craft Show. Now THAT you definitely are invited to!!

Can you help?

I haven't felt like posting for a bit because I'm not quite sure what to say. As I'm sure you are all aware our little state of Victoria has just suffered the most horrific bushfire disaster we have ever seen.

We are all in shock and just so incredibly sad that so many people and homes have been lost. I think this post goes some way to explaining it. But it's unimaginable really. These photos took my breath away and just made me cry.

I know many of you out there are thinking of us and it has been lovely to receive kind emails from people checking to see if we are all ok.

I am about an hour's drive away from most of the fires but know of many people who have been affected. We are all busy trying to think of ways to help and here a just a couple that you might like to consider too.

A collection of wonderful auction items are here.



Rainbow Comfort Packs for children.

The Toy Society are collecting handmade toys.

Bushfire Quilt Project

Meet Me at Mikes have a good list of all that's going on.

And of course they need money and every little bit helps. You can donate here.

A little prayer wouldn't go astray either for those who were lost, those who survived and all those who are still fighting the fires that are still burning.

Grrrrrr - boys' toys!

I don't have any boys so when it comes to buying them gifts I can get a bit stuck.

But when we received the invitation to my nephew's dinosaur themed 3rd Birthday party surprisingly I knew exactly what to make.

Ages ago I bought some fantastic fabric from Spotlight and wish I'd had the foresight to buy heaps more. It is waterproofed and absolutely brilliant for little bags.

So I made him a special dinosaur bag!



And bought a heap of little dinosaurs and trees to go inside.

This guy was the biggest and scariest.



I told him to hide!



These went too.



He loved it all! Ahh the satisfaction of getting something just right!

So I promised you news!

Well it's fun news about Cathy and me and Audrey & Maude. After reviewing Cathy's adorable Poppy and her Puppies in Issue 1 of the new UK mag Sew Hip we were asked to provide a couple of exclusive patterns as well.

In Issue 2 you will find Flirty Florence!



And in Issue 3 you will find Henrietta the Hippo!



I love all her angles!



They even put us here!



Which we had a fair old giggle about. And just so you know, that's Cathy on the right!

Now, onto the work in progress pics!

I finally finished the top of Chloe's quilt!



Yaaaaaaay!!



I know it will take another very long time to quilt but at least the design part is finished.



And it looks nice and vintagey which was what I was after. More importantly - she loves it!

And this photo is for Leslie.



I am knitting a lovely cardigan that I found via this fabulous girl. Katie is always making lots of lovely knitted stuff and inspired me to get the needles out again. She's not bad at the old quilting either - check out her latest couple of completed projects - gorgeous!!

I love this design and I already had just the right amount of wool in one of my favourite colours ready and waiting.



Hopefully it might be done in time for the cold weather.

It's our last week of school holidays and then I can get stuck into all my projects.

I have some work for another more local magazine to get done and my latest Four Seasons quilt swap to complete.

I also have all sorts of new patterns drawn up and hopefully will have some of them ready for the upcoming Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show. Cathy and I will be doing our applique canvas classes for the kids again which will be fun. And this year it has changed venue and is being put together by these fabulous people so I can't wait. Of course there will also be lots of other great crafty bloggers there so if you live anywhere near it's a great opportunity to meet them and all sorts of other fantastic retailers.

This week's weather is expected to be the hottest it has been in 100 years! 40 deg (104f) and above for four days - eeeew. Sounds like hiding inside and sewing weather to me!