Friends in Stitching Christmas Swap

Bec was my partner in this swap, there were 5 small pressies and 1 for Christmas day.

It was great fun to open gifts each morning for 6 days in a row..... I will miss that now.

Day 5

My photography doesn't show the very pretty colours of the fabrics,

the lovely tin has nail/hand cream and nail files.

                                

Thanks for the gifts Bec.

I was sending to Christine .....

Well how dopey and I ?   No don't answer that.

I don't seem to have taken photos of the 5 small gifts...... ooooops.

I know that Christine loves Bonnie and Camille fabrics so I chose these for her and made a table runner plus 

a little plum pudding tree decoration.

I do hope Christine enjoyed her gifts.

More of the Ugly Fabric Challenge and an Outing.

I explained in my last post about this fun swap with the "Friends in Stitching"

Peg was my partner and this is the ugly fabric she sent me ...... 

at first I just looked at it thinking, holy cow what ever am I going to do with this and then an idea came

Thinking about the theme of this fabric obviously gardening came to mind, unfortunately I'm not gifted in the drawing area so my "Gardeners Journal" quilt by Annie Downs was the place to look for more ideas.

so I messed  and stressed around until I came up with this mini quilt.....

I wanted to make a garden called "Peg's Patch"

I must say that I was very pleased with the outcome and I don't think the fabric is as ugly as it was.

The pea pods are on felt so it gives a 3D look and the ones in the basket are loose.

Peg seemed to be quite happy with her mini so that made it all worth while.

Thanks for a fun swap Peg.

On Thursday I decided to go to the "Quilters's and Embroiderers Store"..... as you do.... so I rang the girls to see if anyone wanted to come with me and of course they don't take much coaxing..... that led to lunch too, surprise surprise......

Naturally there are photos to follow.

We were so surprised on entering the shop that the lovely lady there .... Megan .... turned out to be a blog stalker and knew us as soon as she saw us.

Lunch was very nice at the "Beach House" 

It doesn't matter where we go..... naughtiness is always nearby...

Sandi and Teresa had this very yummie dessert ... I was toooo full after the main meal.

Teresa is just wondering how on earth she is going to fit this in but they both did very well.

Thanks girls for another fun day.

FIS Ugly Fabric Challenge

 Our online "Friends in Stitching" group enjoyed another swap, we had to send our ugliest piece of fabric from our stash to our partner and then she was to make our ugly fabric into a beautiful 12" mini quilt.

Peg was my partner and this is the ugly I sent her.....

"Ugly Fabric Challenge"

So Peg worked her magic and turned it into this lovely mini quilt,  its now proudly displayed in my sewing room.

Of course being a funny girl she also made me a mug rug..... which I sooooo needed LOL....

Not only did I get my ugly back but she wrapped my gifts in another ugly fabric, how thoughtful was that I ask ?

you are such a naughty girl Peg..... thanks so much for my terrific mini and joining me in the fun, there were choccies  as well  but they didn't make the photo stage....... oooowa.... yummie

Now what to do with this ugly ....... hmmmmmm thinking cap on already.

Lots of catching up to do

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter...... mine was a bit up and down but generally happy.

We have been enjoying family birthdays..... 

Corinne had a lovely birthday dinner at Wagaya in Brisbane, first time at a Japanese restaurant for a few of us and it was great..... I'm sure we will visit there again.

Gavan didn't go and its probably just as well really as I don't think we would have got him out from the sunken table but it was such fun...... loved it.

My beautiful grandchildren.

Jake 17, June 16, Corinne 22 and Clayton 14.

Funny to see the tiny one is the eldest. 

Gosh I think they get their looks from me ....... hahahahahaha ......I could only hope.

Heather and Liz .... they won't be happy I put this photo on my blog.

Liz managed the chop sticks well but I didn't ..... a fork was called for as I would have starved to death.

Then it was Gav's birthday.... his choice was Pizza at home.

Obviously Gav was mucking around and put on a silly face for the camera.

On Good Friday we were so lucky to see Thomas (Robert 's son)  but sadly no-one including his Dad gets to see him very often ......... it was Easter 2 yrs ago that we saw him last so this was a real delight.

Boy the concentration on their faces, they were playing snap.

Thomas is now 12 yrs.

We also played  Disney Memory game and Thomas won that ... mind you my memory was put to the test.

The Disney game was given to my kids by my sister June when they were very young so it was great to have it out for Thomas to enjoy, the other grandchildren played with it when they were little too.

June (g/daughter)  showing Thomas  and Auntie Liz her horse.

Sadly I didn't get anymore photos but hopefully we will get to see again in the near future.

There hasn't been much crafting going on here .....since Easter Saturday I've had an awful sinus infection and it really knocked me rotten but I'm getting better as the days roll on.

Another 2 blocks from the "Christmas Belles"

Its good to be sewing them together as they are finished.

Another "Twilight Garden" block, I just have to add some silk ribbon to this block but I will leave that till all the blocks are completed.

I have had a little hold up as I ran out of thread but it should be here this week so I can get on with the last 3 blocks...... woohooooo

Our online "Friends in Stitching" group has a birthday swap and I had to make for Cathy, the theme was a black and white embellished bag with a couple of goodies inside so I chose the "Frilly Dilly Bag".

You can just see the little bag hanger, I have one so I hope Cathy likes it as much as I do mine....I hate placing  my bag on the floor when I'm out and about.

Well I think that's everything I had to report but I probably forgot something..... if I did I'm sure it will wait till another time.

FIS swap and more Twilight Garden

  

Our "Friends in Stitching" online group had a Gail Pan themed swap and this is the pressie I received from Vicki.

 

I love Christmas things so this was right up my alley and looks good on my mini quilt frame.

I nearly ate the card it looked so good....... all chocolate goodies.

There were chocolates too but I ate those very quickly.

You can just see the cute bookmark too.

Thanks heaps Vicki, I love it.

This is the gift I sent to Jenny.

I decided on doing a mini quilt as I know Jenny has a mini quilt frame and I felt sure she would like this pattern, naturally I had to add a couple of other goodies.

Yes yes another Twilight Garden block........ 6 to go......

Christmas Day and Swap pressies.

We had a lovely Christmas Day with all the family together this year.

Photos are a bit random and I'm not sure that I have a photo of everyone.

June, Rob, Kenny, Mel, Liz and Jake.

A few nibbles before lunch.

Clayton having a bit of fun with his glasses/straw.

                                                             Jake

                                             I was feeling a bit tired by this point.

                Whats a gathering without silly photos...... June and Corinne.......

and yes there is another of me......

Gavan and Heather

Robert

                                  
                      Heather with her daughters.... June and Corinne

                                            Corinne and Kenny.

 Christmas giving was a bit different for us this year as we decided to have a secret Santa and I must say it was a lot of fun, there was a $25 price limit and a couple of rules..... no chocolate or gift cards and you had to spend all the money also everyone had to buy and wrap the gift themselves (aimed at the men of course) names were drawn out of a bowl 3 weeks ago so we all had plenty of time to shop....... 

It was a lot of fun to see some very interesting gifts...... we all want to do it again next year.....
it makes buying gifts less stressful .... more fun and cheaper too..... bit more like the old days.....
                                          
                I hope Christmas Day was a good one for you all too.

Our Christmas Swap for FIS was fun too this year, 5 small gifts using the word SANTA..... and 1 for under the tree. As soon as I found out  Lynda was my secret partner I knew exactly what I would make. 

                                                S...... was Santa
                                                               

A...... Antlers

N..... Nativity

T...... Treat

A..... Angel

Then the main gift, Lynda and I both have a love for Annie Smith dolls so I chose to make 

Sugar Plum for her.

                        She is such a cutie and yes I already knew she liked her.

I pinched this photo from Lynda's facebook as it looks so cute framed.

This is the fun part of Lynda's pressie.

I also had a bit of fun making heads..... yes heads, a bit odd I hear you say but I have been friends with  Lynda for a lot of years through the internet and we have also been lucky enough to get together in person too...... this is the part of doll making that Lynda dislikes and during our trip to Melbourne this year we had been kidding around saying " make me some faces " so I did....a bag of heads... I loved doing them for her.

I had a lovely surprise on Christmas morning when Lynda rang to say how much she liked the gift.....
I so loved making these girls for you and I look forward to seeing them with bodies soon.


I felt so lucky to have received my gifts from Jo in the FIS group, they are so terrific and how did she know that I love Christmas ornies ?........ well done Jo.

                                                       S.....Santa

A.....Antler

N.....Nativity

                                                           T....Treat

                                                     A.....Angel

 Love this mini quilt Jo and to get the quilt frame too was fantastic so naturally I had to find just the right spot for it...... there was also this Stitchery pattern so that will have to go on the list for next year.

           Thanks so much for my lovely gifts Jo...... love them......

I have a few more swap photos to show but I will pop back and show them tomorrow....
                               
                                               I think I need a Nanna nap now.