Sweet Treats and Books

I've been in the sewing room cleaning up the mess I've been making in there over the last couple of weeks. Putting books back and trying to find pattern directions for projects for the Stitchers Angel swap and Donna's Christmas swap, so I can spend a little time prepping projects, ready to just sit and stitch.

It seems that these little wall hangings are popping up on quite a few blogs. It wasn't until after I had received my lovely one from Stina, that I realised that I had the book that it was taken from. I was looking for a little something to add to Jenna's birthday parcel and thought this would be perfect. Slightly different from the original design, no scallops, and that would be because... 1. I chose a different look, or 2. I botched up the scallops..... Think the latter.

Quite a few of you have asked about The Jelly Roll Quilts and the Prairie Quilts books, so I thought I'd share a few photo's from the pages of both books.

These are from the Jelly Roll Quilts

I love this book, although I haven't had a good opportunity to just sit and read it from cover to cover, but the directions are so clear, with other colour options photographed. A really well written book.

Tammy said she was in the process of making this one, if you check out her blog you'll see her progress.

I love this one, I can see it made in so many different shades.

Pioneer Braid or Friendship Braid, this pattern never seems to age.






These are from the Prairie Quilts.


Now this quilt I think would take a month of Sunday's to get done...



The ever popular Churn Dash, gorgeous in blue and white. Sorry about the blue photo my batteries were dying.



For those of you wondering if these books would suite you, I hope this has given you a little glimpse of what's inside.
Now it's time to get back to the mess.

Happy Stitching.

Bugs, Buckets and Bags

I'll start with the last, bags. Do you need to hide an elephant, or perhaps carry an elephant? Odd question I know, and you probably think I've totally lost it. Below is a photo of the finished embroidery for the front of the bag, for the bag swap all ready to be stitched down. The bag is finished and it's big enough to hide an elephant in....... It's amazing how deceptive magazine photographs can be. Now you know I can't show you the finished bag until it's mail out time, (only 5 days until you can mail your bags to your partner) but lets just say that my swap partner will not only be able to store her stitching in this but she'll also be able to carry a quilt in it, and maybe the odd elephant.

These have been popping up everywhere, usually a little smaller.
This one is to store some of my patterns in, instead of rummaging through the closet.
Now to the bugs, remember these little logs?

Now turned into a lovely folded quilt.

With a hint of legs and flowers.
Lady bugs, playing follow the leader.
Ants meeting for a chat on flower petals.
Which turned into a picnic quilt for dd Jenna and Max as part of their Christmas gift.
Thanks for all the suggestions for names. I know it must have been hard without actually seeing what you were helping with. I put a couple of the suggestions together and came up with Lazy Daze Picnic. I'm planning on designing a picnic tote to go with it so Jenna and Max will have all their cutlery, plates and glass's etc all in the one bag.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting, I love it when you do.

Happy Stitching.

Preparing for Christmas Stitching (Awesome Customer Service)

It's that time of year again, time to think about Christmas stitching. One item is already completed that I hope to share with you soon (once I work out the second half). My daughter Jenna has requested Christmas cushion covers and a wall hanging (not as Christmas gifts), so I've been thinking about what I can stitch up for her in time to get them posted before Christmas arrives. I decided on Natalie's pattern 12 Red Robins.



So the hunt was on to find a store that stocked the pattern. I know there are stores here in the US that stock many of the Australian designers patterns, but I like to shop for these items in Australia.

Darlene from Bee Sew Whimsical had a special for her newsletter subscribers so I decided to take advantage of that special. Now my thought was, if I was going to place an order from Australia I may as well make it worth while, right? Hmm what else did I want, this pattern of course. Annie Downs Angel Table Toppers, and look it's made up in pink......

A quick email to Darlene to place the order on Saturday afternoon. My response came Saturday evening that this particular pattern wasn't one that she stocked, but she'd check it out. Another email this afternoon to let me know that the pattern was ordered and on it's way to her.

Now I don't know about you, but I've found with many stores, whether they are online or bricks and mortar, if you want a pattern that isn't stocked then it's on to the next one. Customer service seems to be a thing of the past with many. It's so refreshing to find a store that's happy to go the extra mile to have and keep a satisfied customer. I'll definitely be shopping with Darlene again. If you haven't already checked out her store, then I'd suggest you have a cuppa ready, she has a terrific selection of so many of the Australian designers and you're guaranteed awesome customer service.

I've been working on the bag for the bag swap and am ready to put it alll together tomorrow. I've also made a start on my Angel blocks for the Angel Story quilt, plus the last of Jenna's birthday gifts for next month, and this evening I started a new embroidery. So lots to keep my hands and mind busy and keep me out of mischief.

Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with me.

Happy Stitching.

Thank You, Bag Swap Update

Thank you for all the lovely links to stores that stock the wire quilt hangers. Kim sent me the jackpot of links, with my favorite being Ackfeld. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for and to push that "buy now" button.
Thank you also for all the terrific suggestions for a name that I asked for. I'll print them all out and hopefully have the named item ready to show you next week.
Lastly thank you all for your very kind wishes for our new step in Ministry. . DH and I will be spending the weekend house hunting again...... yuck, my most un-favorite job would have to be packing and moving.
As there were so many comments please accept this public thank you for your comments. I seem to have fallen behind on answering them all. So today's a new day for comment answering.

I've received my partners name for Donna's Secret Santa swap and for Helen's Stitching Angel swap. I've been looking through books and magazines getting ideas for both swaps and of course for Christmas stitching.

Bag Swap

Only three weeks until the final mail out for the bag swap. You can mail from the 1st of September up until the 12th. Please remember to email me to let me know that you have your bag in the mail to your partner. There's been some lovely inspiration in the flickr pool.
Happy Stitching.

Looking For

I'm looking for an online store that sells wire quilt hangers. If you have a favorite store, would you please share it with me?

Happy Stitching.

More Lovely Mail, Names

These two books found their way into my mail box this week. That's it for book purchases for a while, I think I have enough to keep me busy and out of mischief for quite some time.

I received this lovely parcel in Monday's mail from Tammy.
Photo's a bit blurry in this one.
But not in this one, aren't these scrummy fabrics and a lovely needle pebble.
Tammy sent these as a thank you for the pincushion swap, what a sweetie she is. Thank you so much Tammy, they are simply wonderful. You'll see these sprinkled through a quilt very soon.

Now I need your help, for a name. Without giving too much away just yet can you give me ideas for a name where there are: butterflies, ants, ladybugs and picnics?

Happy Stitching.

Sweet Mail A Little Bit of Shopping and A Move!!

A lovely parcel arrived in my letter box yesterday morning from Kate . A lovely Anni Downs book and yummy Aussie chocolate. Thank you so much Kate, I can see I'll spend many hours pouring over the book and the chocolate probably won't last too long.

I did a little on-line shopping last week for a project I'm working on in the evenings. These two came from Marshall's Dry Goods.
Don't you just love the way Z&S wraps their fabric bundles ready to mail?
I almost didn't take that pretty bow off, but of course I wanted to fondle the pretties that were under the bow.
These ones came from Heart of Dixie and all on sale.

Yesterday I found myself pushing the buy now button for this lovely book.

Several of you have asked for the link for the tutorial for the little hand towel that I made for Stina that hangs over the oven door. So here it is. http://calamitykim.typepad.com/ Look in her side bar and you'll find the tutorial.

Now to the move mentioned in the title. If you're not interested in "our life" outside of quilting, now is the time to move to the next blog. Thank you for visiting. I wasn't sure whether this was the place to share this information, but after chatting with a friend and giving it thought I've decided to go ahead. Besides this blog isn't just quilting, but has life experiences thrown in as well. This is who I am. Some of you may know that my husband and I are licensed Ministers, some may not. Without going into all the background details, because I'd put you to sleep, my husband and I have been offered ministry positions in a little church about an hour away from us (the church where we were licensed), and will be formerly ordained as pastors at the beginning of September. This is something we have been praying for, and about, for a very long time. So it seems we'll be moving as soon as our lease is up here. We know this will not be a permanent position as we plan to move further North to start a church, all in His timing.

Happy Stitching.

Cupcakes For Stina

Stina has finally received the parcel I sent her for the cupcake swap, so now I can reveal what those teases were. (You'll find better quality photo's on Stina's blog). It seems we both had trouble with photo's. The day I took photo's it was too bright outside and too dark inside. Sharon can tell you I took 42, yes 42 photo's of the wall hanging, trying to get the light just right, but in the end I just gave up and hoped that Stina would have good photo's....lol.....

My first thought was an apron, pink of course, so here we have Miss Hollie doing a very quick model for me.

I had this lovely cupcake fabric and wasn't sure what to do with it, then I stumbled across a little tutorial for a hand towel that hangs over the door rail on the oven that is reversable.
Keeping the kitchen theme I then bought a couple of tea towels and did a little cupcake applique.
This is the photo that gave me the headache, you'll get a better view if you go to Stina's blog. I still had a mile of dots and spots and cupcake fabric so decided a little paper piecing might deplete it a little.
Thanks to Sharon for such a great swap, I had so much fun stitching for this, and have had the pleasure of making such a lovely new friend.

If you pop on over to Stina's blog, she's doing a wonderful job of modeling the apron, I'm just waiting to see the yummy delights that come from her kitchen now.

Happy Stitching.

Cup Cakes In My Mail

You all know that Stina was my partner for the cupcake swap. I can't tell you how happy I was when Sharon told me who my partner was, I have admired Stina's work for some time now. My mailman rang my doorbell this morning and was holding a lovely box for me. My first thought was,that it was a book that I'd ordered, then I realised that the box was far too big for a book. Oh look, stamps all the way from Sweden. I opened that box so fast, then I remembered that I needed the camera. Darn the batteries were flat. Now can I tell you that, that was the longest wait I've had in a long time, waiting for them to charge up.
So Here it is opened up with all the lovely pink parcels in a heap, yes a heap I was wanting to get into those parcels quickly, no time for pretty arrangements. If you click on each photo you'll get a bigger view, well worth the time.
Yummy Swedish candy, now sitting in the fridge getting cold and firming up again. Can you see that card? Yummy pastries decorate the front and such sweet words on the back.
Swedish tea, now how did you know that I just DON'T drink coffee Stina? Tea is a must have in my home.
Now doesn't this look too good to open? Of course not.....lol.... so let's see what's inside.


Oh my gosh isn't this pincushion just adorable? Almost too pretty to stick a pin into.
When I opened this one the tears were pouring down my face. A beautiful cake stand filled with cakes and pastries all beautifully stitched with lovely little beads as sprinkles and lovely hand quilting. I have the perfect spot for this in my kitchen.
Look at this little darling, isn't she just a sweetie with her little cupcake? She'll keep me company in my sewing room, reminding me of friends far away.
Stina also include a lovely pack of scrap book cupcakes, too cute.
Thank you so much Stina, you have not only blessed me with your beautiful handwork but you have touched my heart.

I know it's been said so many times by so many of us, but it needs to be said again, Blogging friends are the VERY BEST.



Happy Stitching.

A Little Bit Of Fabric Shopping and Bag Swap Info

We had quilt guild last night and had two guest speakers, don't ask me their names cause I've forgotten already. Terrific trunk show, but the best part was the shopping at the end. It's always so nice when my "sweetie" gives me a signed blank check and says have fun.....lol..... They had a lovely range of fabrics and these are what jumped into a shopping bag and came home with me. I have a quilt in mind for them, but I've promised myself I won't make a start on it until I've finished what I showed the little teases of in the last post.

The other day the girls at Quilt Taffy had a giveaway for a $40 gift voucher, and a few days later I discovered I was the lucky winner. Well I can tell you it only took me about 5 minutes to spend it. The parcel arrived today, with this lovely spotty fabric and a nice new rotary blade. Thanks girls.

Also in yesterday's mail was this lovely new book.

I wanted to share with you a beautiful finished "Angel Story" quilt, made by Maree. If you're not a reader of her blog, pop over and say hello, she's a real sweetie and lives in one of the most beautiful locations in Australia, my old home, of Hervey Bay.

Now on to the bag swap info, I've been reading a number of the swappers blogs, and noticed a pattern. Many of you are getting stressed over pattern choices and whether your bag will be liked once it's received. Let me assure you, what I've seen so far is just beautiful, (I know I use that word a lot, but sometimes it's the only word that describes what I'm looking at). Your fabric choices are so varied, from rich, to soft to bright and happy, and the intricate handwork that's going into them is just wonderful. Many are making bags for the first time, some are trying their hand at applique for the first time, one lady is tea dying, while others have been bag makers for quite a while. So having said all of that, please be assured that your work is terrific and I'm absolutely positive that it will be treasured by it's new owner. Please don't stress, but enjoy the process and have fun. Remember there is a photo pool, and there's some lovely eye candy that's been uploaded already. If in doubt email me, I'm more than happy to help you wherever I can.



Happy Stitching.

Dots And Spots

It's looking a little spotty and dotty in my sewing room at the moment. Remember these pretty logs I showed last week?

And these spots and butterflies?

They have turned into this.

With a little of this added.
And a little of this.
I'm waiting for my sweetie to come home so he can give me a second opinion. In the process of typing this, this little "Toad" (who would have you believe that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth) decided that she wasn't getting enough attention and just ruined about 4 hours work.

She's been chased out the back door with the broom and I'll need to redo what she very kindly spent 5 minutes chewing. That will teach me to leave applique pieces laid out with her inside.

Happy Stitching.