200 Follower Giveaway

Hi everyone,
I mentioned in my last post that I was approaching 200 followers and that my next post would be a giveaway to show my appreciation of you taking the time to visit my blog and for the lovely comments that you leave.
I've made this little set before and a lot of you seemed to like it so here it is again
a tiny sewing bag, needlecase and round pincushion.



Here's a picture showing the inside of the needlecase. All of the fabrics used are by Australian designer Lynette Anderson.




I made a little coin purse to give as a second prize for the runner up
The front has a stitchery design from Lynette's Quilting Cats and Dogs book.



The back of the purse and the inside are finished using the same fabric I used on the bag set




When I told my friend Angela I was doing a giveaway she kindly offered a couple of her beautiful pinbooks to include with each of the giveaways.
These little pinbooks are printed onto good quality cardstock and gently distressed for an aged look.
The insides are finished with wool felt, a tiny bow for decoration and three marking pins.

The winners may each choose one from this selection



inside looks like this



If you're not lucky enough to win one Angela makes the pinbooks to order. She has a wonderful range of designs as you can see here. If you're interested just contact me and I'll put you in touch with her.



So if you'd like to enter the giveaway all you need to do is leave your comment on this post only. I'll draw two winners on 28th February. Good luck!

Margaret

Three little finishes and an abundance of birthday gifts.

Hi everyone,
Since the beginning of January I've been beavering away on an old UFO so I don't have any recent cross stitch to share.
However, I was in the mood for a bit of finishing so I pulled three small pieces from last year out of the box and I now have three little pillows to add to my collection.
The first is a design called Remember Me by The Cricket Collection.



It is stitched on 40 ct linen using the recommended DMC threads. The pillow is backed with the same fabric you can see in the background and trimmed with chenille yarn which I doubled to make it a bit thicker.

Next up is a design by Tralala called Duo Bouquets Anciens. I don't remember the fabric details but it is stitched with the recommended DMC threads.



I'm tired of losing my scissors. They seem to disappear even when I have a large scissor fob attached so I did a pocket finish on the pillow using Moda Essential Dots fabric trimmed with a bit of lace. I intend keeping this pillow right by me when stitching!



Finally, Fancy a Jane Day by The Sampler Girl. I'm afraid I don't remember any details about fabric or thread but I used a piece of pink silk Duponi for the finishing.
When I showed my husband this pillow he just looked puzzled and wanted to know what a Jane day is and, to be honest, I couldn't really tell him LOL.
Maybe one of you can explain :)



Friend Sheila came for the day recently and showered me with belated birthday gifts.
Sheila has just started sewing in the past couple of years and so I was blown away by this bunting she'd made for my craft room.
I have a Cath Kidston theme going on in my craft room and the bunting is all CK fabrics.
I wish I could get a better picture but the room doesn't get the sun so the light is never very good. You should be able to click on the picture to enlarge it if you wish.



But wait, there is more.........
just look at this fabulous teapot and how about this gorgeous round pincushion and tiny house tape measure both made up in Cath Kidston fabrics.


Another pincushion with a Union Jack look to it


There was more but I will save them for another time. Thank you Sheila I love my gifts!

So that's it for this time. I notice I am almost up to 200 followers so my next post will be a giveaway.
I hope you are all having a lovely weekend! As always thanks for visiting and for your kind comments.
Margaret

SSCS Exchange gifts given and received.

Hi everyone,
I took part in Chookyblue's SSCS 2011 exchange last year and wanted to show you the lovely table topper Annie sent to me



Annie is a keen gardener and photographer. She included a set of notecards made from pictures taken of the flowers in her garden.

Also in the package was a pretty scarf that Annie's 80 yr old mum made on her knitting machine. I just hope I will still be crafting away at age 80!

Thanks so much for a great exchange Annie and to Chookyblue for all your hard work co-ordinating the exchange.


My exchange package went to Sandy in Australia.
Sandy loves angels so I wanted to do something with an angel theme for her.
I found the perfect fabric and turned it into a sewing bag and accessories



The pattern I used is Nellie's Sewing Bag by Rosalie Quinlan

This is the inside of the the needlebook



I haven't had a chance to think about what projects I want to focus on in 2012 and I haven't put so much as one stitch into anything so far this year.
I know you're all listing the various challenges and SAL's you are going to be part of in 2012 so I'm sure to be inspired once I get back into the routine of visiting your blogs :)
Happy New Year to all of you!

Margaret

Last Minute Makes

Hi everyone,
I'm off to UK tomorrow to spend Christmas with the family but I just wanted to squeeze in one last blog post for 2011 to show a final round up of the last of the Christmas ornaments and a few other bits and pieces.




Top row left is Ze Rink part of the Winter Snapperland by Bent Creek. I stitched it for my 7 yr old grandson who is heavily into ice skating along with his sister.
Top right is a cute little freebie design offered by Pineberry Lane


Bottom left is a Waxing Moon gingerbread man UFO that I must have started maybe ten years ago. I have no idea what took me so long to finsh something so tiny but I decided it was time to finish it and will give it to my baby grandson Max.

Bottom right is Little House Needleworks Peace on Earth finished as a pinkeep style ornament.

Two of the ornaments are backed with the red checked homespun fabric and the others as shown



I have received some lovely surprise gifts :)
A box from Roberta containing this gorgeous Whitman's reindeer tin



Inside the tin a beautiful stitched strawberry by Blackbird Designs



other goodies inside the tin Mary Engelbright notecards and nail file and three bag patterns.
Thank you so much Roberta you really spoiled me and I love everything.



I have a bit of a thing for lovely tins and boxes and was over the moon with this one that friend Sheila gave me last week. It was filled with yummy cookies but I'm afraid to say they are just a happy memory now :)



Another lovely surprise from Valie in France. Valie had shown a set of Olde Worlde Santa's wearing national dress on her blog. I had admired the French one little knowing that he would be coming to Spain!
I just love his beret and the fact that he is carrying baguettes rather than a sack of toys :) Thank you Valie you really made my day.




I've been giving myself a few early Christmas gifts too. I think these will keep me busy for a while :)








All that remains for me now is to wish all of you a very happy Christmas, good health and happiness for 2012.
Thanks so much for your friendship over the past year. I have loved getting to know you through your blogs and from your visits to mine.

Margaret

SSCS exchange, a win and a few finishes..

Hi everyone,
December already! Where did the year go?
This year I signed up for the annual SSCS exchange on Chookyblue's blog
and my package arrived a couple of days ago. The main gift is not to be opened until Christmas but we all made an ornament which can be opened when the package is received.
My partner turned out to be Annie in Australia and here's a picture of the lovely way she wrapped my goodies


I opened my ornament package which was wrapped in a FQ of some lovely teacup fabric which I will put to good use.

My ornament turned out to be a little Matryoshka doll angel. What a cute idea. I love the pinwheel fabric she is wearing :)



Thanks Annie. I love my ornament and can't wait to see what is inside the big package.





I haven't been able to do much stitching over the past few weeks because of my arm/shoulder problem. However, I turned to my box of things that needed to be finished and I spent a few days putting things together.
The first one I stitched so many years ago I no longer remember who the designer is........
I'm guessing Lizzie Kate but I have no idea what the design is called.
I finished it into a simple pillow and it looks so pretty I had to wonder what took me so long.




Backing fabric is Moda Peace on Earth


This next ornament is another oldie. It was stitched many, many years ago and finished into a tuck pillow. All I can remember about this one is that the design is by Bent Creek. I decided it was time for a bit of a makeover so here it is brought up to date



The next ornament is a more recent finish.
Peppermint Twist by Little House Needleworks. I didn't have the special button but I think it is pretty enough without it. I backed this one with the same fabric as the Lizzie Kate ornament. It is stitched on unknown linen using the recommended threads.




I'm sure this one needs no introduction being one of the Prairie Schooler Santas




and another one



I stitched this little pillow for my 11 yr old grand daughter Amy who is crazy about ice skating. It's a JBW design stitched on 32ct linen with DMC thread. You can't see it very well in the picture but I stitched a Mill Hill glass treasure star onto the bow because to us she is a star :)



If you click the link you can see her skating in one of her competitions

I was lucky enough to win this gorgeous pincushion on Mary's blog




Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love it and was thrilled to be the winner as I doubt it is something I would have made for myself. There is a LOT of work in the Dresden Plate pattern and it would have been very fiddly to make with such small pieces.

Lastly a tiny Christmas quilt I made a couple of years ago but never showed here on the blog. It is decorated with stars and bugle beads, It was a lot of fun to make.



I think that's it for now. Welcome to my new followers and a big thank you as always for visiting and taking the time to leave your lovely comments.
Margaret

Catching Up

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the even longer than usual gap between posts. I have a very painful arm/shoulder which has caused me a lot of grief and has slowed down production.
I'll try to keep it short but here a few things that were made a while ago but not yet seen on my blog.

This bag is from Anni Down's Some Kind of Wonderful book.




The linen is a 50/50 cotton/linen from Ikea and I used Carries Thread in the colour Black Cherry.



It is lined with the Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 fabric that I also used on this zippered pouch.



This pincushion is from a Leanne Beasley pattern



a bit of fussy cutting to make the back look good



I have had this Fig Tree Quilts Sugar Pumpkin as UFO for a couple of years now. I finished it in time for October but sadly I did not post to the blog in October so missed showing it off during pumpkin season.



I had fun making this cute little purse from Lynette Anderson's book Quilting Cats
and Dogs






I made a journal cover from this tutorial using linen and a few scraps of Rounneries fabric



A little quilt from a pattern by Australian designer Val Laird



and finally a picture of some lovely fabrics that I won in a giveaway on Madame Samm's Sew We Quilt blog



They are very bright and colourful so I'm looking forwrd to making something special with them.

I don't have any cross stitch finishes that I can show this time. Hopefully there will be a couple of ornaments in my next post.
I hope you are all enjoying your festive stitching/sewing/crafting.
As always thanks for visiting my blog and for your lovely comments.

Margaret