1 Xmas item.....

.....a little late this month.

 I worked on the Christmas swag "R" &

"S". I finished the Merry swag

& the snowman from Gail Pan's new book

& also Bon Noel which i posted here

Happy Stitching,

What's new for me?

My bunny pin cushion/scissor holder arrived from Michelle last week. Made by Donna.

Gail's new book arrived Friday. I was lucky enough to have Gail sign it as well. :)

I was at the local Lifeline last week & purchased a punch bowl set. I put the box on the table & Bella immediately thought it was for her. I took the bowl out to as i wanted to look the cups over again & this is what happened

I don't have a cat in a hat i have a cat in a box. lol

Happy Stitching.

Friday sewing

Friday saw me at the sewing machine finishing  2 ufo's & this month's project for the Stitch-a-long.

Binding on Home Sweet Home,

Bag by Joy. Stitchery had been finished years ago then i cut all the fabrics out about 2 years ago. :) Glad another 2 ufo's have been ticked off my list.

Bon Noel for the stitch-a-long.

Happy Stitching,

Do you want to know a secret ?

Do you promise not to tell? oh, oh, oh closer, let me whisper in you ear.....More on that later.

I have to tell you about my belated FNwF. I had big plans, why do i even bother making plans? They never work out the way i want. I have the flu, then my day didn't go the way i planned but in compensation that is when i learned the secret so all can be forgiven. I started working on this late in the afternoon

had to stop thanks to osteo arthtitis & arthritis. That night i finished the wording on this

Started the last block

& finished it Sunday night. I spent all most all Sunday making these

apple & beetroot chutney, choko chutney, lemon butter & passionfruit butter. I have to show you the cake from the Clandsetine Cake Club book. I chose to make Dutch Chocolate cake first

Now about my secret & forgive me if i yell it out but it's such exciting news. I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA. YAY. Happy Dance in my house.

Happy Stitching,

Redwork Swap

My redwork swap gift arrived yesterday & i discovered my partner was Peg. I was spoilt by the lovely gifties.

gorgeous wallhanging,

& these wonderful goodies. Thanks Peg. Love them all.

Happy Stitching,

Swap gifts.

My gift from Lyn(no blog) arrived yesterday in Mrs Martins Let's Celebrate Swap.

I haven't heard from Lyn so i'm hoping my parcel arrived safe & sound. I sent her this

filled with chocolate which i didn't take a photo of. In my online group run by Maree i took part in a redwork swap. I sent Melody this

Happy Stitching,

1 Xmas Item day

Finished the little pillows that go with a Gail Pan wallhanging which i made before last Christmas. Ran out of time then to do the pillows.

Finished "H" & "R" on  Rosalie Quinlans "Christmas" bunting

& finished "E" & "R" on the "Merry" bunting also by Rosalie.

Pop on over to our host Narelle's blog to see what other Elves have been making this month.

Happy Stitching,

FNSI results

I finished Michelle's Hearts bom. All it needed was the binding & hanger sewn down & the buttons added.

Next i worked on these 3 stitcheries.

Should've taken the teatowel out of the photo but the penguin is drying after washing the tracing pen out.

Thanks Heidi for running FNSI again.

Happy Stitching,

Goodies

 My goodies i received from Joanne back in February.

Recently i'd come across a cookbook whose title intrigued me. Despite saying no more cook books i bought it. :)

I said to my kids i should do a "Julia, Julia" & make a cake a week from it. It will only take me a bit over 2 years though some of them i doubt i'd make.

Drawing also from Joanne for my daughter's birthday. Included was this drawing

Then my friend Sheila emailed me to tell me i'd won the prize in her recent giveaway.

In my prize package was a mugrug, postcard, teabags & needles. Love them.

Happy Stitching,

Creating in my kitchen

Saturday i finally got to make a batch of rhubarb chutney. My friend Miche'le mentioned making the chutney & i asked her for the recipe as i like rhubarb & chutney i was keen to try it. It is very yummy.

I filled these 4 bottles & half a small bottle. Next on my list was more soap. I'm not sure about this batch though. I've discovered that the colour of the olive oil affects the colour of the soap. This time i added dried lavender. They are all the brown spots you can see. Maybe the rainy weather is also affecting the soap as they seem to be softer than last batch. Hopefully they'll have become a little harder in 4 weeks time when i can use them.

I had planned to make lotion bars as well on Saturday but wound up in bed with a migraine for the rest of Saturday & all Sunday. I made the lotion bars yesterday using a recipe i found on Bev's blog. They are so very nice. :)

Happy Stitching,

FNWF

I started my sewing day early. First i worked on the pincushion which is March's project for the stitch a long.

No whip cracking for me from Chookyblue this month. :) Next i added the binding to "peppermint stitches" by Rosalie. I'd spent Wednesday adding the borders then hand quilting in the white triangles the next 2 nights.

  I had 2 stichery BOM's from 2011 sitting around. Last month i chose border fabrics with every intention of working on them. I was determined that not another month or year would go by without finishing them. I started off with Michelle's BOM.

Then the 2nd BOM which is by Paula who no longer blogs.

After i put together the 2nd BOM i went back & started quilting Michelle's. I machine quilted around the blocks & last night i started hand quilting hearts around the border fabric. Pop on over to visit Cheryll, our lovely host, to see who else joined in FNWF.

Happy Stitching,