Chookyblue's SSCS 2016

I again was in Chookyblue's Christmas Swap this year and my lovely presents came from

 Michell in New Zealand.

When the gift arrived I was allowed to open the little wrapped present and this is what I received:

It is hanging near the front door (inside of course) as the tree this year is only decorated with gold balls.

As tonight was a special night where we are allowed to open one gift each as a preview of what is to come on Sunday, I chose to open Michell's other gift and look what she made for me!

I am VERY happy with my gift....

Thank you Michell for the gifts & thank you Chookyblue for running a wonderful swap.

Until next post...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Jewells

Getting ready for my Sale in December

Here are some of the items Mum and I have been making for my annual Christmas Sale in December:

 Zippered bag made out of unwanted framed cross stitch

 another cross stitch I picked up

 a beautiful embroidered piece that was in a broken frame

 I have also been knitting more of these gorgeous bibs

 and another one

 Plus Christmas Bon-Bons

 in all sorts of Christmas Fabrics

 and cute buttons used from my stash

 also plain buttons works well.

 As I had run out of Christmas Table Runners, I cut out quite a few

 Mum was kept busy sewing them together

But I then had to quilt & bind them all.

Now I am working on 15 "Christmas Snowmen" zippered bags.

I'm getting there!

Until next post...

Jewells

Knitted Bib

I knitted this baby's bib from 100% cotton, earlier this week, for part of a present I gave at a Baby Shower.

This is the first one I have made and I think I will be making a few more....could have sold it a couple of times before I gifted it!

It was one of the MANY free patterns from

"Down Cloverlaine".

Until next post...

Jewells

 

Time gets away!

I can't believe it is over 2 weeks since I posted on my blog!

As I keep saying, "I have been busy!".

I have "just" finished this cute Christmas quilt.  I bought the kit when I was in the States this year.

 I also bought these matching fabrics while over there and made this simple, but effective single bed quilt.

 ...and here is the back of it to show the stitch I used to quilt it all together.  

The stitch is called "bowtique".

 While I have been quilting & sewing, Mum has been tidying up my stash and I saw the teddy bear fabric in a neatly folded pile she had just done...so I fussy cut it and "sort of" followed a picture of a quilt I saw on the computer, I tweaked it a bit and Mum pieced it together.

I was showing a customer the stitch pattern I used on the teddy bear quilt ....

...... to cut a long story short....she bought the quilt! 

Until next post...

Jewells

Another bag..this time for me!

While tidying up my fabrics, I came across a block that my friend from the States sent me years ago (2005).....

 so, I found a fat quarter of American fabric I had and made up a zippered bag for myself.

 

I will be using it to store my embroidery work that I take with me while I am away from home and need something to keep my hands busy.

After seeing a picture of this, my daughter has asked me to make one for my grand daughter's best friend who just loves all things American!

Until next post...

Jewells

Zippered Bags Galore

Still sewing for my stall. 

 Made these today.

 and they will go with these:

 and these:

 and these.

Won't have time to sew tomorrow!

Until next post....

Jewells

Men's Shirts Quilt plus more

This last week I had 2 quilts made from men's shirts that I had to quilt.

The first was made up of  "challenge blocks" by a group of ladies and the winner got the lot.  She hand sewed the hexagons together and made a quilt 60" x 70".  I was in awe of quite a few of the  hexagons blocks, with them matching the stripes perfectly.

 The lady who joined the above blocks enjoyed the challenge so much, she made another quilt by cutting 4 triangles & joining them into a square, instead of 6 triangles into a hexagon.

 In the meantime, I have been getting ready for my stall at Quiltarama next weekend and have made and packaged sets of 24 of these birds (12 of each colour)

 

and made heaps of the hearts (in 3 sizes)

 Plus I have cut out kits of 12 x 8.5" squares in Christmas fabric...

 and other fabric.

Theses will go with the finished items I have made, such as table runners, zippered bags, tea-towels and many other items. (I don't think I have enough display area for all of my things!)

Until next post...

Jewells

John Deere Throws Plus More for Quiltarama

On the 17th & 18th of Septmber, it will be Quiltarama here again, held by the Dungog/Clarence Town CWA.  

I have a stall there to advertise my quilting, plus sell some of my crafts.

Here are some of the things that will be on my stall to sell.

A boy's John Deere throw: 

 A girl's John Deere throw:

 Bon-Bons for Easter:

 Bon-Bons for....whenever:

 A Spiderman Quilt (simple but effective)

 Barb Wire Stars in 3 sizes:

 Sprayed Gold Barb Wire Stars in 3 sizes:

Plus I have the usual Dish Cloths, Tea-Towels, Cot Quilts etc.

Even though I haven't been posting much on my blog, I have been busy!

Until next post...

Jewells

I'm Back!

My goodness..it's been nearly 2 months since my last post.. well I have been away for most of that time.. I have been back to the States to visit my friends..

It was coming out of Spring into Summer and while I was in Shipshawana for a Quilt Fair, I saw flower gardens in the shape of quilt blocks.

Also there were the Amish people selling their yummy "Fry Pies"

Plus, I love the red barns with quilt blocks on them for decoration.

I also went to see a real Baseball game.

The people I was with go for "Cincinnati Reds", so I had to too (they lost!)

 

While there, I loved seeing some animals & birds I don't see here.

A chipmunk

A squirrel

and also my FAVOURITE bird..the Red Cardinal

So that is a few of my photos, plenty more where they came from!

Until next post..

Jewells

 

Just Finished

Earlier this year, while I was away on "Nanna Duties", I took some embroidery to do in any spare time I had.

There were 7 patterns (one missing from this photo), so I embroidered a blue set and a pink set.

 Using fabric from my stash, I complemented the embroidered squares with a cute nursery theme.

 

As the 7th square didn't fit in with my layout, I again looked in my stash and came across a fabric that had nappy pins as the print...that made my mind up on which embroidered square to use in a third quilt.

 Using the nappy pin fabric as the light contrast, I made up this quilt yesterday afternoon, then quilted & bound it this morning.

I have become very UN-satisified with the 100% Australian cotton wadding I purchased a while ago... I bought 4 HUGE rolls, and am finding that the thickness varies considerably.... so much so, I have used TWO LAYERS of wadding in this quilt.

As I am unhappy with that wadding,  I decided to buy different wadding from a different supplier and use up the 100% cotton I have on my own quilts... or smallish customer quilts (less than 46" in width) all at double thickness.

Anyone else having problems with 100% cotton being too thin??????

This "third" quilt (yellow) measures 35" x 44"

.... as yet, I haven't finished the "first" quilt (pink one) and haven't started the "third" quilt (blue one).

Until next post...

Jewells