SSCS 2014

 

Look what Martine gave me in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap!

 

 But wait...what is sticking out of the pocket in the Christmas Tree?

 

Gorgeous decorations to hang on a bigger tree!

But wait... there's more....

 

 A cute tin and some pretty delicate lace..what's in the tin?

 

 CHOCOLATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Martine has her own label that is on the back of the Christmas Tree.

I am so lucky to have had Martine as my Secret Santa...THANKS HEAPS!

Until next post...
Jewells
PS: Don't forget to sign up for my Australia Day Swap!

SWAP - 2015 Aussie Aussie Aussie - Oi!, Oi!, Oi!

G'DAY!

Australia Day is approaching (26 January) and I feel, I should again host my 2015

AUSTRALIA DAY SWAP.

I sometimes feel that us Aussies aren't as patriotic as we should be and I want to play a part in some sort of good old "mate ship" and show some kindness to a fellow person and give some lovin'.

The way I thought we could "celebrate" is the same as last year and send 9 items to a fellow swapper.  
 The way these items are to be chosen are – they have to start with each letter in "Australia".

For EXAMPLE:

A – Australian Made item (you could make it)

U – Utensil, Ugly fabric

S – Sunflower seeds, Smiley fabric

T – Tea Towel, Trims

R – Ribbon

A – Apron

L – Lilac, Lavender, Lolly

I – Ink pen

A – Apple fabric

That is just some ideas - but I am sure you all can come up with others.

   
Sign up closes on the 9th January..

"Posting date"... 16th January 



 Only open to Australian residents (sorry to overseas people!), due to there being so many items, it could be too heavy to post..

Anyone interested?   Leave a comment or email me. 

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

Oi!  Oi!  Oi!

Julie 
PS: Please spread the word about this swap on your blog!

Sale Day

The sign on the footpath for my sale.

For all those who were wondering how my Quilt & Craft Sale went last Saturday...

IT WAS GREAT!

I have held the sale around this time for the past 4 years
and this year was the best day in takings I have ever had.

I sold 9 quilts (ranging from $35 to $275) and lots of crafty things too.

Until next post...
Jewells

SSCS 2014 received

 

After anxiously waiting for my parcel to arrive from my secret Santa, my wait was finally over.

Even though Martine posted the parcel on November 20th, it took the postal system over 20 days to deliver it by air mail... would hate to imagine how long sea mail would have taken.

The above photo is how I received the parcel... looks like it has been through the wringer!

 

 It didn't take much to tear open the rest of the package to reveal the contents.

 

 Then I was allowed to open the ornament package.

Isn't the Christmas Hanging just SOOOO cute...love it to bits!

Thanks again Martine... can't wait till Christmas to see what is in the other packages!

Until next post...
Jewells

Reindeer Biscuits

 Just finished making these for my Quilt & Craft Sale this Saturday.

Ok, ok... they are "sort of" craft items aren't they?

I have made about 50 of them and will bag them up in packs of 3 for $1.

Until next post...
Jewells

Thomas the Tank Engine Quilt

My Quilt & Craft Sale is this Saturday and I want to get this quilt done for the sale.  

As usual, I cut and Mum sewed.  I didn't let onto her that there was a deadline, otherwise she would have panicked.  However she did finish sewing the top yesterday.

 

 I pinned it on this morning, then looked for an appropriate pattern and found this one called "Numbers".

Seeing all the trains have numbers on them, I thought it would look good.

 

The binding is all cut & sewn to put on when the quilting is done.

 

So, it is all sew, sew, sew today!

Until next post...

Jewells

Christmas Swing Tags

Last Wednesday, I went to my sister's place for the day and look what we made!

A couple of weeks ago, I was surfing the net and came across this picture....

 

...so, as  my sister is an avid card maker & scrap booker, I showed it to her.

She decided to "tiss" it up a bit and we ended up making 180 of them in one day!

 
I am bagging them up in lots of 10, and will be selling them for $2 a bag at my sale next Saturday (13th Dec)

Until next post...
Jewells 

Made this at the Blog Retreat

 

This was a joint effort quilt.

I cut the fabric

Mum sewed the hearts

I joined the hearts, quilted & bound it

This is the main item I worked on while I was at the Bathurst Blog Retreat a couple of  weekends ago, where we all sat around and stitched and bitched, chatting away and  generally had a good great time.

Must get off the computer, a storm is brewing.

Until next post...

Jewells

Dare I say...Star Bangled Banner???

 

Been busy since coming home from the Blog Retreat...

the commissioned quilts are coming in as fast as I get one out.....

Don't get me wrong... I am NOT complaining...I love being busy. 

 

"Just" finished this one for a customer, this afternoon...dare I call it "Star Spangled Banner?"

It is red, white & blue.... come to think of it, our Australian flag is red, white & blue too.

 This Amish style quilt is the next one to be pinned onto the machine.

While I was shopping the other day, I had to take a photo of this shop front.

It's starting to look a bit like Christmas!

Until next post...
Jewells

Bathurst Blog Meet

What a wonderful time, Mum and I had at the Bathurst Blog Meet!

 

 We travelled on unknown roads..

 

We met a whole lot of new people...everyone actually was new to us...

 and Mum even got her table runner finished.

 More later..

Until next post...
Jewells

Made from Scraps

I was cleaning out a shelf in my fabric cupboard and came across 2 pieces of border fabric that had come in a bag of bits I bought off eBay YEARS ago.

I nearly put it in a bag of pieces I have for a friend who likes all the scraps I throw away (and I am talking 1" bits!) as she uses fiddly little bits.

Instead, I decided to make a little table runner using my 60 degree ruler.  It is 24" x 7.5".

So cute!  I will be adding it to my things to sell at my quilt & craft sale... think I will put $5 on it... BARGAIN!

Until next post...
Jewells

Busy with quilting quilts

 I received this quilt on Thursday, so I decided to pin it that night, then quilt it on Friday..which I did, and the customer picked it up on Friday afternoon.... 

....just before she arrived to pick it up, another lady dropped the following quilt off, so I pinned it last night (Saturday) and quilted it this morning... navy blue thread on the top....

 

 The back was a plain navy blue fabric, so I used contrast thread on the back

 (matching the aqua blue in the fabric on the top).

I REALLY like the way this one turned out.... 2 quilts in one...front & back!
I will be dropping off this quilt tomorrow...hope she likes it, as I was given no guidelines on how she wanted it quilted!

Another lady arrived today (new client) with 2 quilts for me...
...so far I have been able to stick to "returning the quilt within a week of receiving it".

Until next post....
Jewells

Heaps of Luggage Labels made!

 

After making quilts, a smaller project of LUGGAGE LABELS were quicker items to make for my stall in December.

The blue label holder is a much thicker plastic than the clear, but I can't get it anymore, so I have had to opt for the clear, thinner one instead.

 

I ended up making 8 from the owl print...

 ...and 10 from the tractor print.

I will be selling them for $6 each or 2 for $10.

Until my next post...
Jewells

3 items from one kit

 A couple of posts back, I mentioned that I bought a kit to make this quilt:

and I made this table runner from left overs:

...well, after adding one fabric from my stash, I was able to make this quilt too:
 
 I will sending an email to the store that I bought the kit from (Busy Needles) and thank them for the excess fabric in their kit!

The colours are MUCH nicer to the eye, than what the camera has shown.

Until next post...
Jewells

10 Christmas Bon Bons all in a row

 

10 Christmas bon bons all in a row

10 Christmas bon bons all in a row

Now if one Christmas bon bon should actually be sold

There will be 9 Christmas bon bons all in a row 

 

Yes, I have made more Bon Bons for my stall.

I raided my button box and found festive... 

  

....and cute buttons

 

I also founds some ornate ones too.

 

I finished quilting the two commissioned quilts, so I was able to do some "personal" sewing.

I should have been quilting two quilts that Mum made last week...must do that before I start something else!

10 Christmas bon bons all in a row............. (got you singing it in your head now, haven't I?)

Until next post...

Jewells

Australian Quilt

 
I bought a kit at the Newcastle Craft Show and made it up, as per directions, last week.
 I quilted and bound it today.

From the kit's left overs I made this table runner and I also had enough fabric to make another quilt (cot size) by adding just one fabric from my stash... it is ready to quilt (will photograph it when it is quilted and bound), however, I have 2 commissioned quilts to quilt before I go back to personal sewing.

The kit was marked down from $90 to $72.  It was only meant to make the one quilt, but the pieces where VERY generous.  As I hate waste & storing it for a later project, which would never get done, I decided to make something up straight away, and not have to find room to store the excess fabric.

This kit was certainly VALUE FOR MONEY!

Must get onto the commissioned quilts..

Until next post...
Jewells

Spring has sprung

 

My man certainly has a green thumb...

 

 our garden is in full bloom

 

Just love Spring!

 

so beautiful

 Until next post...
Jewells

Winner & Bon Bon/Thread Catcher/Lolly Holders

 

And the winner is...(drum roll)...   Number 7..

 

...and number 7..was Tracy, from Sunny Corner Farm

Congratulations!

Please send me your snail mail address, Tracy, & I will post your prize off to you.

The other day, a friend of mine was telling me about a 

Bon-Bon - come - Thread Catcher - come - Anything Bag 

she had made with the 60 degree ruler and suggested I should try making one or two... 

so here is what I made this morning...

I thought I would fill them with all sorts of things:

buttons, ribbons, threads & lollies.

 

My favourite one is.... LOLLIES!!!

I think they would look great on the Christmas table filled with wrapped lollies...

oh hang it...why wait till Christmas?... 

fill them with lollies now & have one in every room!

Until next post...

Jewells