Almost time for those New Years Resolutions + Block 4 a day early..

It is not long now until the 1st January 2011 arrives and with that will come some New Years Resolutions - Some we will keep - some we will not.  Last year I started out with quite a list - The main ones for me were to try to live more frugally and to pay of some debt - I have achieved both to some degree - Not to the extent that I would have liked but some progress was made so that is good. 

2011 will bring some well planned changes into our lives.  Most of which I can't share at the moment because we are still nutting them out completely but they will mean BIG changes to our lives as we currently know it - That I know for sure.  We are taking things one step at a time and once all of the steps have ben taken I will be able to tell you - Sorry for the secrecy but I am very superstitious and do not want to "put the mockers" on things.....

So whilst we are planning changes I decided to go the whole hog at the hairdresers today.  I have been gradually been going  lighter with each visit to try to get back to being blonde.  I have been dark for about 4 - 5 years but as the greys are now coming through at a much quicker rate and my touch ups needed to be more frequent I decided to go the whole way with it today and had a full headof blonde foils.  So now I defy you to find the greys amongst this - LOL.  I assure you they are still there but they just blend better.

So back to business ........  Here is Block 4 for you in my Flowers of Love Block of The Month.  

Over the Christmas Break I hope to get both quilt tops together and finished.  I will share Block 5 with you before Chrismtas.  You can download BLOCK 4 HERE.

Have fun stitching.

It's been a busy weekend......

I had planned to spend some time in the vegie patch (If you could call it that) this weekend but it has rained constantly.  Instead I have spring cleaned my stock room and spent some time drawing up some new designs for 2011 and some stitching.  I had some new Theodora Cleave buttons arrive last week so couldn't resist using one in a new design.

Last week I stitched up this little block - I am not sure what it will become yet - I decided to use country colours instead of my usual pinks and greens.

And we have started to decorate the house ready for the silly season.  This tree is a new addition - I had been looking for a white tree big enough to put pressies under but small enough so that it could sit on my table.  I found the perfect one last week.

Have a lovely week - Wednesday brings the 1st of December and for those of you that are playing with me in the advent swap it is the first day to open up a pressie - How exciting.  Also Block 4 of my Flowers of Love BOM will be released.  And as an extra special gift to you I will be releasing the 5th block sometime in December.

Getting There..... Slowly but Surely

Where is the time going?  In just a blink the 1st December will be here and then the countdown to Christmas begins.

Last night I was busy scrapping up gift tags to attach to my advent goodies.  I ended up with 2 gorgeous partners so had 50 gifts to wrap !!  Let me tell you that by 11pm I was well and truly over it.

I had lots of fun choosing gifts for my 2 buddies Peg and Teresa.  I hope they like what I have madde and chosen for them.

So off to the post office I will go this afternoon and send them on their way. How are you going with crossing gifts off your list?  The shops are just starting to get hectic and their is a buzz in the air.



Not only am I sending out mail but I am also receiving it.  Look at this lovely little set of wooden stamps I recently ordered.  My plan is for a few little designs next year that have stamped fabric in them.  I am really looking forward to the christmas break so that I can make a start on "new" things.

The weekend is almost here - What do you have planned?

A Taste of Summer & Expectant Parents

It seems like ages since I have popped in for a chat - I have been extra busy sewing christmas gifts and think that I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. I have some packed and ready to be posted off - Some others can wait until later in December thankfully.

Today I popped in and visited with Lizzie - She took us on a tour around her garden.  I loved it so much that I thought I would give you a little wander around mine.  It was 30 degrees here today and just a beautiful promise of what is to come for Summer.  The garden is bursting with colour.  We have these white roses at the front of the house that are just starting to flower.

I think I have shown you our turning circle roses before - they are just bent over with blooms this year.  This is looking right out of the front door.



This is the view to the left.

These are the steps leading from the back door to the back garden. There is a little pond under the big bush there on the left.  It has tadpoles in it at the moment and I have two very excited grand babies awaiting the arrival of "real" frogs.

Lizzie was wonderful naming all of her plants but I am afraid even though I love them I am not great on names.

As you can see we have somuch more to bloom yet - I love watching all of the different stages.

From a tight perfect bud



To the beginnings of a wonderful bloom.  The scent around here is amazing.



The garden is so inspiring - One of my favourite things to draw is flowers.

Such beauty and elegance

 And the upside down daisies (thats what the girls call them) are so cute !

We have had lots of late spring rain this year and it has been just at the right time for the roses - These roses have never bloomed this well.



They can be stunning can't they.



Last week on a wander around the garden I found that we were to be "parents" again this year.  This is an annual occurence -  A little wren's nest.  Last week we had only 3 eggs but we now have 5 so it looks like it is going to be a good year for our beautiful wrens.

This is how the expectant parents look - The pretty one is the male.  I will try to keep you updated on our expectant parents and their new family.

Christmas Stitching

How are you going with your christmas shopping and stitching.  I can't believe how quickly it has come around again.  I am busy stitching away each evening on various projects to give as gifts.  I am starting to wonder if I will be finished in time? 

I tend to do quite a bit of my shopping on-line.  The mail man has been very busy bringing parcels to my door.  I recently bought a number of items from my friend Gail .  She is just so talented I love everything that she does.  Of course with some gifts being delivered I had to buy something for myself so this gorgeous framed print arrived at my door and now lovingly hangs above my desk in my studio.



With Christmas of course comes the new year.  I have been putting quite a bit of thought into the direction I want to take my designing.  I have designs on bits of paper everywhere and I have decided that 2011 will be the year that I bring them to life.  The first big project that I want to complete is a BOM that I have been sketching.  I am going to call it "Heart of the Home". 

The main centre block is finished and traced onto fabric.  I have chosen the threads and the fabrics so now all that is left is for me to make a start.  I am always keen to see how a design will look once it is stitched.  I have told myself that I won't start it until I have finished my christmas sewing but I just know that I won't be able to resist just a few stitches.

Weekend Sewing Fun

There has been lots of sewing happening around here lately.  I am still working through my gift list for christmas.

It should be getting much shorter but it doesn't seem to be - Maybe that's because I keep setting myself more tasks - Oh well no harm in aiming as high as you can.  I will be taking a closer look at my list today as time is steadily running out until the fat man comes down the chimney.

 I am up to Block 4 of the 6 blocks for Mia's teddy bear quilt - It is starting to look like a reality.

For those of you that were asking about my studio change around, here it is.  I still have the shelves to tidy up and a bit more de-cluttering but it is slowly getting there.

The biggest problem is that I only have a very small space.  My studio is only 3 metres square so not a large area but I have it all stuffed in pretty tight.

Bolts of fabric are now stacked on the floor to give me some more creating space. 

I like storage containers and have lots of them - I just need to label them so I know what's inside.



I have to admit to my studio not being quite as tidy as the photo's show.  I set myself a task this weekend of making Sam a new quilt for baby No 3 which is due to be born in February.

After lots of cutting out and chain piecing

Pinning and seam matching

The new quilt was born.......

Chenille is so lovely and cuddly but boy is it messy to work with.  We had to vaccum most of the surfaces in the studio as they were all chenilled.......

I purchased the kit to make this quilt about 2 years ago at the Craft Fair.  So even though it is not strictly a UFO because I never started it - It is a stash finish which I am pleased with.  I only have about 7 more kits to start now - LOL

I also made Sam lots of Cotton Burp Cloths - I made her some when she had Maddie and she just loves using them. 



So after a weekend of sewing I was able to wrap up more than just one present - Can't show you any more as I know that I have spies :)

How are you going with your christmas list?