Sunday, March 18, 2012

Feeling Spoiled!




Hi everyone,
A few weeks ago Stephanie at Loft Creations
was doing a sponsored giveaway on behalf of Connecting Threads
The giveaway was only open to USA/Canadian residents but not wanting to disappoint her international readers Stephanie also offered a gorgeous Dresden Plate candle mat giveaway especially for them. Of course I had to enter. Who wouldn't want their very own piece of Stephanie's beautiful work?
Well, imagine my surprise and delight when I received an email to say I was the international winner!
I waited anxiously for the package to arrive. The Spanish postal service is slow but they say good things are worth waiting for and was this package ever worth the wait!



Inside the prettily wrapped packages was the much anticipated Dresden Plate candle mat which is gorgeous. I love the fabrics and the way the quilting follows the lines of the Dresden Plate.



and just as lovely on the back as it is on the front using this neat hexagon printed fabric




When I opened the second package I was completely blown away to find a copy of every single one of the gorgeous bag patterns that Stephanie designs. There are eight in total and I have to wonder how I can ever pick the one I like best because I love them all.
Here are the first four



and here is the second set of four



Also tucked into another little package were two reels of Connecting Threads sewing thread in yummy colours of purple and lime.




I think I must have spent most of yesterday looking at my gorgeous new bag patterns and pulling out this fabric and that while I pondered which bag I might make first but of course the plan is to make them all eventually.
Thank you Stephanie for such wonderful gifts.

On to other things. I stitched a small cross stitch design called Bless my Scissors by Notforgotten Farm and finished it into a little pillow. It is stitched over one on 28ct linen using DMC threads.



finally some stitchery from a vintage 1970's design that Helen of Bustle and Sew offers on her website for free




It's called Funky Chick and uses very bright colours of DMC. As soon as I saw Helen had finished the design into a pillow using Cath Kidston fabrics I was hooked and had to make it for myself. I spent today putting the pillow top together.
I'll add some thin wadding and do some hand quilting using perle cotton.


I wish I'd had some of the darker prints including some reds or dark pink but I was using from what I had and think it is quite pretty.
As it is Mother's Day in UK today I want to wish all of my UK readers a very happy Mother's Day. I hope you are being totally spoiled and enjoying your day.
Thanks to everyone for your continued visits to my blog and for your lovely comments and a big welcome to my new followers.
Margaret

27 comments:

Margaret said...

Wow, what a great prize! And I love your stitching as usual. That embroidery with the pillow top using Cath Kidston fabrics is wonderful!

Abby and Stephanie said...

I'm so glad you like your prizes. Can't wait to see which bag you make first. :o) LOVE your embroidery and those Cath Kidston fabrics are Summery Sweet.

Apple Avenue Quilts said...

What a lovely gift from Stephanie. I love the Funky Chicken pillow you're in the process of making. Thanks for including the link.

Sheila said...

What a fabulous lot of gifts you got from Stephanie...I hope you didn´t get too much drool on them, especially the Dresden.
Love your Funky Chicken -- absolutely perfect for CK fabrics.
Looking forward to seeing all these in real life soon :)

Anonymous said...

Beautifull!!!
Françoise

Michelle said...

Oh wow what a lovely lovely gift - you like CK like me then!

staci said...

You won a really wonderful gift package, I'm sure you'll put it all to good use! LOVE the embroidered pillowcase...love, love, love it!

greenrabbitdesigns said...

What a brilliant giveaway to win!
I love your little pillow, the colours are so pretty and your '70's embroidery is beautiful.
Happy Mothers Day!
Vivienne x

Carolien said...

Hello Margaret,

How nice, these giveaways, enjoy!!!
Your finish is gorgeous, as ever.

Have a great week! Bye, Carolien

Jennifer M. said...

What lovely gifts you received. Enjoy it all. :) I love that embroidery too. I can't wait to see your finished pillow.

Jen

Ellen said...

Wonderful prizes, can't wait to see the bags that you are going to make!

Love that pincushion and your embroidery is simply gorgeous! Love CK fabrics too!

Hugs,

Karen said...

The quilted candle mat is beautiful, I'm crazy about the colors! Your embroidery is very pretty and I love the little pincushion!

marly said...

What a wonderful gift. Lots of great patterns and what fun to choose fabrics!

Lesleyanne said...

A gorgeous prize. Happy Mothers Day. The Cath Kidston fabrics are beautiful.

Daffycat said...

What an awesome prize to win ~ congratulations!

Caz said...

What a win. I like the look of the Oak Park bag,, 1st picture, top left pattern! But making all of them would be good. Love the Chick embroidery!

Lili said...

so nice prizes! congrats!!
love you pincushion! wonderful work!!
Hugs!!

Sally said...

What a fantastic prize Margaret.

Love your finish. It's lovely.

Elisa said...

Wow what a wonderful prize Margaret no wonder you are thrilled. Lovely CK fabrics too...I just adore them and regularly admire mine too...lol, a great stitchy finish too xx

Carol said...

Wow! I can see why you're feeling spoiled, Margaret--what a great gift!!

And I love your little pincushion--so sweet and beautifully finished. The Funky Chick stitching sure brings back memories for me...I used to embroider pillow cases for my mom in those bright colors in the early '70s... So fun :)

Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day weekend, Margaret!!

angelasweby said...

Wow Margaret,
What an amazing giveaway gift. The candle mat is fabulous on its own but to win all those bag patterns too, that will keep you busy and happy for months.
I love the Bless my Scissors little pillow and will catch you up with that one very soon. The Funky Chicken stitching is stunning, so bright and definitely funky. The CK fabrics really are perfect for it. No wonder you couldn't resist it.

Siobhán said...

Wow, talk about fantastic prizes! Lucky you. Great job on the embroidery--it looks so nice.

Anonymous said...

Oh Margaret another delightful post and you are such a worthy winner of Stephanies giveaway, Look forward to seeing which bag you make first.

Love the dresden plate mat that you won, it is one of my favourite patchwork designs.

The vintage embroidery is so pretty and thank you for the link.

Happy Stitching and thank you for sharing.

Hazel c (uk)

ozjane said...

You are very blessed with that gift.
I love Dresden plates and made a Christmas quilt from a swap which I added to.

Kathy Ellen said...

No wonder you were blown away by such a wonderful prize! I love your beautiful 'Funky Chick' pillow...your embroidery is gorgeous and those colours are fabulous with the fabrics. Have fun stitching one of the great bag designs!

Karoline said...

What a great prize. Your pillows are lovely

Brigitte said...

I'm late reading and commenting on your posts, as it seems to be usual these days.
Wow, Margaret, what awesome prizes you received. I'm sure we'll see some of the bags here very soon.
I really love that pillow you made, those fabrics are fantastic.