Tidy Up

Yes that’s what my studio needs a really good tidy up.

I have bits and pieces poked everywhere including lots of UFO’s that I have left out in the hope that I feel guilty and decide to finish them

Like this my “Birds of Happiness” quilt designed by Leanne Beasley, which after about 3 years is finally a finished flimsy.  I have decided to have it professionally quilted by my friend “Dawn”.  It arrived at her house today and she has threatened to keep it !!  I think she is going to make one of her own now too – It is a huge wall hanging – I can’t recall the measurements but it must be 40” wide?

And the other UFO to finally make it into a flimsy is this one – 55” square and made from Bonnie & Camille’s “Vintage Modern”.  I love it and can’t wait until it gets back from quilting.  I have the binding all ready to stitch on.

I have made some little promises to myself to try my very hardest to get some of these half finished projects off my UFO list – I think 2 is a great start.  I know that they will probably get replaced by newer UFO’s at some stage during the year – I’m a realist and I just can’t help falling in love with all of the new projects that are dreamt up by talented designers throughout the year – I have no will power when I fall in love with something.

This year I have signed up with the Fat Quarter Shop to do the “Mystery Block of the Month”, Dawn and Judy are both doing it too.

And my Tuesday night girls have all signed up to do this one together so each month we can do our blocks together for motivation – Let’s hope that neither of these two end up on the UFO pile – Fingers Crossed !!

Hugs – Fee xx

A new arrival

Look what arrived in the studio this weekend.  My new Janome Horizon – She is a long awaited dream come true.

Her and I became well acquainted over the past 2 days

 

 

I think I might call her Molly – Not sure why – I just like it…..  Quilting with her was joyful

 

And my project for Adelaide’s Let Get Stitched in March was finished.  I had 2 more finishes too which I will show you next time.

 

Hugs,

 

Fee xxx

I am a Planner – So Let’s Have a Give Away

Most of you would already know that I love lists and I like to forward plan.  So I have a wonderful product to show you today which is going to keep me very well planned indeed !

Would you like to add some colour to your day at the same time as making your planner more efficient and more personal? If so, Personal Planner has a great idea I think you’ll love!  I can’t wait to get mine !

Their planners provide you with endless design possibilities. You can change colour, text and design on front/back cover as well as inlay. There are also clever boxes for to-do list, gym session, preschool, idea of the week and weather. Friend’s and family member’s birthdays can also be added to the inlay directly from Facebook. They print and deliver the finished product directly to your doorstep.  Here are a few things that I like about these planners:

• Design the front/back cover
• Tons of ways to design the inside to suit your style & needs.
• Add friends & family members birthdays to the inlay
• Choose between 4 different sizes
• You pick the start date.
• And best of all its fun and easy :)

Click here to visit their Website and Facebook page.

So would you like to win a planner of your very own?

 

If so please visit their website and drool all over the designs they  have on offer and come back here and tell me your favourite colour and pattern.  This will give you 1 entry in the draw.  For an additional 2 entries please go to their Facebook Page and “Like” them.

 

A winner will be drawn on Friday 1st February at 9pm AEST.

 

This Give Away is open to participants world wide so good luck and happy drooling.

 

Hugs – Fee xxx

Plant A Pot of Friendship

Last year “Let’s Get Stitched” was held in Tasmania, my home state.  It was a wonderful 4 days of laughter, friendship and stitching.  This is the project that I made for the event which has been published in Australian Country Threads Magazine this month.  I really enjoyed making this quilt which was a nice mix of paper piecing, applique and quilting.  Grab a copy of the magazine this month if you would like to make one too.

This year I am working on a project made from these delicious fabrics for our upcoming “Let’s Get Stitched” event which will be held in Adelaide in March.  I am so looking forward to it.

It won’t be long now and I will be packing my bags to meet up with the girls for another fantastic 4 days.  What about you – Do you have a stitching event written onto your calendar this year?

Hugs – Fee x

Australia

I am very lucky to live in a lovely country and in a beautiful home state full of State Forests, Picturesque Mountains, Beautiful Beaches and lots of beautiful farm land but at this time of the year after an especially dry winter it can be a very dangerous place to be. 

Our state has been subject to some dreadful fires and now lots of different fires have begun in other states.  It is frightening the amount of damage, loss of property and the loss of life that occurs when we have uncontrolled fires – Stay safe and do what you can for the bushfire relief programs being run by Red Cross.  2 shops in my home state are both holding stitching days this weekend – Calico Crossroads & The Quilted Crow, sadly I have to work but I will be making donations to both.

 

Some friends were evacuated from their home because of the fires and weren’t allowed back for a number of days so we hosted them for a roast dinner – These are the flowers they brought me – That was so thoughtful and totally unnecessary but they didn’t want to come empty handed – Bless them xxxx

I have been keeping busy of an evening stitching some more blocks in my Garden Treasures Quilt.  It is coming together nicely.

 

I would have blogged before now but Blogger has been playing up for ages so finally I have resorted to Live Writer which seems much easier than I expected.

Have a lovely week.

Hugs,

Fee xx

Handmade Gifts

Every year I try to make some handmade gifts for friends and relatives.  This year I had a number of people on my list to receive handmade gifts - It is always the busiest time of the year for me at work and each year I declare that I will be more organised but as per usual I always have more on my list than I actually achieve.

And of course lots of talented bloggers put up tutorials and patterns for new things which also get added to the list like these little pyramid boxes from Shabby Art Boutique.  I made these for the Tuesday night sewing girls and filled them with embroidery cottons.

My 2 sisters and my mother and cousin have a christmas celebration on Christmas Eve.  We decided last year that this year we would give "handmade" to each other. Miss Amy and I decided to make Soy Wax Melts and Soy Candles.

We used silicon chocolate moulds to make some delightful little melts

And we used some vintage glass containers to make soy scented candles

We made a bit of mess throughout the morning but it was most enjoyable and the house smelt divine

So then we wrapped them up in little scent bundles

And then presented them with a wax tart burner and some little tea light candles for a lovely hand made gift

We also made up some little Christmas boxes for the little ones which we filled with candy cane

And some reindeer food for the children to sprinkle on the lawns on Christmas eve.

You can download the little boxes here if you want to keep the link for next year.

Before I go I wanted to show you the gift my cousin made for me - My very own button ginger bread house.

It must have taken her hours.  Isn't it adorable?

Hugs,

Fee x

Being Organised ......

I try to be organised as much as I can but during the past few months of busyness I seemed to be in quite a flap with bits and pieces in all areas of the house.  My stitching chair has a set of drawers along side and they were scattered with embrodiery threads from lots of different projects.

So over the break I decided to get everything in order so I knew which threads I needed to replace.  It makes it much easier to find a number when they are filed away in numeric order and not in a pile like this !

I found that I had lots of spares of some colours which I obviously use a lot - some of them had up to 4 cards.

But now they are all neatly filed away in boxes.  I have also filled out the DMC Checklist of the threads I need (I have highlighted them) and I keep this chart in my purse so that I can easily check what I need when I am out shopping.  Do you use the Checklist?  You can DOWNLOAD it from HERE if you would like to use one too?

Hugs,

Fee xx

Santa Sack Swap and Some Stitching

I was very lucky to be paired up with Melody in the Santa Sack Swap hosted by Chez.  I think we were a perfect match as everything Melody sent me was just perfect.  It was so much fun opening up all of my parcels.

The little stitchery is sitting patiently waiting for me to start it - It's super cute !

The grandies ate the ladybirds and I shared the Favourites with hubby

I just love this birdie wall hanging that she made from the 3 Sisters fabric - Perfect !

I was totally spoilt - Thank you so much Melody xxxxx  I received a few other lovely swap gifts which I will blog about really soon. 

Unfortunately my mennieres played up before, during and after Christmas so not everything I had planned to get done was completed but I did manage to finish off the hexagons for this month's release on the 1st - I'll show you all 3 next time - But I don't want to spoil the surprise for those that haven't received their patterns yet

And Block 2 of my "Garden Treasures" quilt was released and has been sent off to subscribers.  I am currently stitching Block 3 which is sooooo cute - I am really enjoying doing these - There are 12 in total.

Did you see the New Year in?  I only made it until 11pm and then just had to go to bed - I am feeling really OLD lately.

Hugs - Fee XX