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