We Have A Winner

Thank you for all the lovely comments on The Nature Of Love quilt, it was so nice to read them all. Now without keeping you all waiting we have a winner. I used the random number generator and from the 62 comments number 36 was chosen.

Number 36 is Rachel from Australia.
Rachel if you send me your mailing details I'll get your pattern into the mail.

Happy Stitching.

Baby Love

It's always nice to go to the mail box and find packages, and not window envelopes. Today was no exception. I reached into the box and pulled out a lovely soft package, from Stephanie. I have to admit to being puzzled as I wasn't expecting anything. I needed to show a little restrain, it was about to get ripped open when I remembered I needed the camera.

A lovely parcel tied up with a flannel bow. Grandma Linda, that would be me.....
Two lovely soft and cuddly burp clothes and the most adorable card.

Thank you so much Stephanie, your thoughtfulness has touched my heart, and I'm sure Hollie will be very appreciative.

Happy Stitching.

Christmas In July Swap

The Christmas In July swap invitations have been sent out either by myself or by Stephanie. Thank you to those who have already replied to the RSVP. For those who still need to reply, please RSVP no later than the 5th of April. We've had a wonderful positive response so far. When replying to the RSVP please remember to include your: Name, Complete Mailing Address, including the country, your email address and your blog address. Once Stephanie and I have received all the names well put the list together and work on your partners. Stephanie's daughter has very kindly offered to design a swap button for us, thank you. Once we have all the swappers worked out Stephanie and I will do inspirational posts on alternating weeks.

Now you may be wondering why there are two hostesses. I've been thinking about doing another swap and thought that Christmas in July would be fun, especially for those who find that time around the holiday season is limited and are not able to participate in the Christmas swaps. From past swaps the numbers have been what I would describe as huge, and as Stephanie did such a terrific job on her Tea Swap she was the obvious choice.

Now I'd like to cover a few basics here. I know that many of you know these basics, but please continue to read on. I also know that these things have been covered on previous posts concerning swaps, but unfortunately many of them are still being ignored.

When your hostess sends you an email about the swap, please be polite and respond.

Please DO NOT mail before the due date.

Once your parcel has been mailed please make sure to email your hostess and let her know, so that she can let your partner know to expect a parcel.

Once you have received your parcel please email your hostess so she can mark it off her list.

Please email your swap partner and thank her personally. This seems to be the biggest problem we have, lack of thank you's. Manners don't cost anything other than a few moments out of your day to send an email.

Please use only quality fabrics, and construct an item that you would be happy to receive.

If you have pets, please make sure your item/items are free from pet hair.

If you smoke, please make sure your item/items have been washed before you send them.

If something happens and you know you are going to be late mailing please let your hostess know.

Finally this is a Secret Swap, so that means peeks are wonderful on your blog, but please don't reveal the entire item. Also the partner who is sending to you is not the same person who you are sending to.

Happy Swapping.

Tea Swap Parcels Given And Received

At long last I can show you what all those sneak peeks were over the past weeks, and what probably seems like months. After reading Cheryl's blog last night I see that my parcel has arrived, so now I can reveal it all. You may remember the little yo-yo that I showed a couple of weeks ago, well here it is, attached as part of the lid to a tea pot on a journal cover.

Lisa did a great little tutorial for a Loyalty Card Wallet that I thought could easily be used as a mini Tea Bag wallet. You can find the tutorial here.
Just the perfect size to hold a couple of tea bags in your handbag.

My partner who was Cheryl said she liked soft colours, which I had but not quite in the family she was fond of. So a trip to a speciality thread store and I came home loaded up with beautiful Weeks Dye Works threads ready to use. I had these patterns from Crab Apple Hill Designs, so decided to use them in a mini, and aptly named it "My China Collection".

Cheryl also stated which teas she was fond of so I included those and a few others, and stitched them around the border of the mini.
This morning my mail lady rang my doorbell and had a lovely parcel in her hands for me. All the way from Australia from Cheryl. Inside was a lovely box of Aussie tea, a tiny tea bag holder/teaspoon rest, an extremely yummy packet of Tim Tam biscuits (yes I've given them the taste test, and they pass) and a lovely stitched cover.

Inside the cover I found this little book "Cups Of Kindness" and 2 sweet coasters.

Thank you Cheryl for your lovely parcel.

Thanks also has to go to Stephanie for organising and hosting such a fun swap.

Happy Stitching.

One Of the Things My Mum Taught Me.

Was always to say please and thank you, it sort of got drummed into myself and my brother as children. I think she said something along the lines of "People will remember whether you are polite or not". Which brings me to comments and replies on my blog. I always make an effort to reply to comments left on my blog, it may be a couple of days, but I do get around to it. Unfortunately there are many that I can't reply to because the commenter doesn't have their profile set up with their email account showing. Sometimes I'll take the extra time to visit their blog and respond on their blog, but this does take time away from my stitching. Then there are those that comment that don't have a blog, but have a blogger name purely for the purpose of leaving comments. To these ladies, I just wanted you to know that I thank you for the lovely comments you leave. Each and every one is appreciated.

Happy Stitching.

Spring Swappers - PIF - And More !!

Only two weeks until the mailing date and there's been loads of peeks around the various blogs. I've received some lovely photo's of work in progress, there's going to be some extremely happy swappers.....I think it's probably a little late to be giving you more inspiration, but just in case some of you may be leaving it until the last minute (I know how that goes) here's a little more inspiration for you. Please remember to email me when you are ready to mail your package, so I can let your partner know that it's on it's way.

Now to the more, isn't it frustrating when bloggers can only show sneak peeks? Well you guessed it, I only have more peeks at the moment. Once all the swaps are over with then I can show the projects fully. So here's a few more peeks just to keep your interest.

Raw edge applique, I'm loving the play time I'm getting with my new machine.
Ready to be hand appliqued, Oh is that ears we see?

This one's ready to be sent off.

Now this one I can show you. Part of "In The Leafy Tree Tops" that I've been working on. I have all my birds put together and just need to complete the sketch stitching, which is something I've never done before. So it's a bit of a challenge for someone like me, who likes perfectly straight stitching......

I've also been working on my PIF gifts. I joined in on Peg's PIF, so that makes two, and rather than put out another request for three more players I decided I'd choose three people that I thought were deserving of a random PIF gift. So it's been fun deciding who would be the recipients and what gift needed to be made for them. More on that later.

Thanks for taking the time to stop and chat.

Happy Swapping.

A Peek Revealed - A Change

Before I show you the peek revealed I wanted to thank you all for your lovely comments regarding the Nature Of Love quilt pattern. I'm still working my way through those comments and answering those that aren't set at no reply. Now you may be wondering about this little fellow. He's the logo for my pattern which will be produced under the name of Wombat Designs. No matter which country I choose to live in, I'm still an Aussie at heart, so had to have an Aussie logo.

Ok on to the revealed peek, remember this from the other day?

Well now I can reveal it completely. A little journal cover with a blue spotted tea pot, and it's just not a tea pot without a yo yo handle on the lid, and ric rac to trim the edges.

Stephanie did such a wonderful job of organising her first swap, Time For Tea Swap 2009. I know from experience how much work is involved that the swappers just don't get to see. No hostess expects gifts for hosting a swap, but it's always such a delight to find a parcel in the mail box. So this little journal winged it's way across the country to go and live with Stephanie. Thank you Stephanie for doing an amazing job of hosting this swap.

Now to the next part of the title "A Change". This may not interest everyone as it has to do with ministry, but as this blog is about what happens in my sewing room and our home, I decided to include it.

As many of you know my DH and I are pastors in a rural church in our area. We both knew that this wasn't where we would be spending the rest of our ministry time, but knew that a move would soon be happening. So to cut a very long story into a short one. We plan on moving to Oregon around June to complete our training and to plant a Vineyard church. We are both very excited about this move, both geographically and spiritually. Is there a down side to it? The only one I can see, is not being in the same state as my grand baby, but that's what planes were invented for.

Happy Stitching.

It's That Time Again - Drum Roll Please

It seems like it's taken forever to get this quilt to the point where it was ready to package and sell, but at long last here it is. "The Nature Of Love", inspired by one of my favorite passages of Scripture. (click on photo for a larger view)

It seems I also forgot my 2 year blogaversary, so I'm going to combine the two. That's right a giveaway for all my loyal regular readers. No extra chances if you post it on your blog (in fact I'd prefer it if you didn't). One comment, one chance. I'll leave it open until the 31st, and hopefully by then my packaging for the pattern will have arrived , and I'll be able to add it to my side bar for sale. I should state that it's one copy of the pattern I'm giving away and NOT the quilt.

Happy Stitching.

P.S. Please make sure that if you have your email set at no reply that you leave your email address to be in the running for the draw.

Parcels - Peeks - Books

Another weekend has come and gone, all too quickly. Yesterday DH and I spent a lovely day together celebrating our wedding anniversary. It was so nice to just do nothing together. Yesterday also saw me at the post office with a bundle of parcels to mail. My Tea Swap parcel has been mailed to ...... in ........, sorry, you know I can't spoil the surprise. Another secret parcel was mailed to a very special lady, and I finally managed to get a parcel off to Japan to the very patient Yumi.
Today I spent the day cleaning the mess I made in the sewing room the last couple of days getting these parcels ready to be mailed.
Would you like a little peek and what was mailed?

I did say a little peek, sorry, I know a huge tease, but all will be revealed in the next week

.Some of you mentioned that perhaps by showing this book, you may need to go out and purchase it.

I wanted to get a bit more information so I could decide whether it was a book I "had" to have. If you'd like to see a little of what's in the book, although they don't give too much away then you can find it here on Amazon, and if you'd like to know a little more about the author she has a blog here.

I see there's quite a bit of chatter on some of the blogs about the Spring Swap, everyone seems to be enjoying the decision making and the process, and there's even a few sneak peeks to be seen.

Happy Stitching.

Spring Swappers - A Little Inspiration

Regarding the mailing of your parcels, unless you have health reasons or are planning on going away before the mailing due date, please don't mail your parcels prior to April.
Now for a little Spring Inspiration.

Happy Swapping.

She's Here!!!

My friend has finally arrived. She had what seems like a very long trip. First she needed to wait for suitable transport, when that was all arranged and paid for, she started her trip. She left Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Friday and stopped off in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday. Monday she went from Mississippi to Mesquite, Texas and then on to Dallas. Last night she left Texas to head to Oklahoma City, and then finally she arrived here in Guthrie today. I've been waiting for her to arrive since the 27th of last month. It's been such a long two and a half weeks.

She's been dreamed about and wished for, for several years now, and my DH decided that she would be the perfect wedding anniversary (5 years this Saturday) gift for me. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he agreed to let her come and live with us. She's such a quiet new addition to the home...
Isn't she gorgeous?

Now I'm off to play.... Happy Stitching.....

Teddy & Friends - In The Leafy Tree Tops

Last week I gave you a little peek at a teddy with a very rotund tummy. All his friends have decided to joined him.
I used Kerry Gillespie's pattern, "The Toy Shelf, Let's Party".
As it's going to be a cot quilt, I needed to remove some of the characters that sat on the shelf.
So this will be the main panel that will be in the cot quilt.
With these greens and yellows making up the blocks.
I'm just waiting on the final piece of fabric to arrive before I begin.
I've also decided to make up Nanette's gorgeous pattern "In The Leafy Tree Tops" as a wall hanging for the baby's room. Nanette was kind enough to give me a link to buy the cotton ric rac, but unfortunately they are out of stock. So if any of you know where I can buy 100% cotton brown ric rac 1/2 inch wide I'd be a very happy stitcher.

Happy Stitching.

First Finish For March

I can't remember when I was so organised before. Just another sneak peek, yes I'm sorry, that seems to be all I'm showing lately, sneak peeks. The Spring Swap item is finished and waiting to be wrapped. Pretty flowers,

and a puss with a cheeky grin. (Just ignore the pins, I was blocking it).

I've been waiting patiently for this pattern to arrive, which it did yesterday. Now all that's needed is the final piece of fabric, that's on it's way in the mail and I can make a start on it. A roomy nappy (diaper) bag for Miss Hollie.

I have a friend expected to arrive next week. Once she's settled in, I'll introduce you to her.

Happy Stitching.

Stash Enchanement

Saturday saw us head out early for our weekly shopping, which just happened to include a stop at a fabric store. I'm sure none of you are surprised, I know my DH wasn't. With a new baby on the way, this first time Gran wants to make sure that he/she is well covered with warm quilts, blankets and clothes, so some stash enhancement was on top of my list of things that needed to be done that day.
These pretty greens and yellows are what will go into a cot sized quilt (Hollie's choice of colours).

This bear, along with all his other shelf friends will be included in the quilt.

These soft flannels will make lovely swaddling blankets and burp clothes.

And this bassinet sized quilt has already been claimed by Hollie. I knew I made it for a reason....

In Fridays mail tucked in with all the junk mail was a soft envelope that had this little beauty tucked inside from Stephanie. A little tea pouch with a spot on the reverse side to hold a tea bag. Thank you Stephanie, I can't imagine making and sending out 30 of these little creations....

Hopefully later in the week I'll be able to share with you an item that should be on it's way to our home.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for visiting with me, I do enjoy it when you do.