A new lizard..... and a plug ...

I am constantly amazed at the variety of lizards there are.... and even if you are not a lizard fan you will like this one....

... hand painted ....

... came back with me from the UK .....

.... it's my favourite lizard now!!!!! .....

... awesome... isn't it?........
... I happen to be related to the artist ...

I'm still trying to keep away from desserts and my cake display was looking decidedly empty so I filled it with yumminess....

My daughter in law has started a lovely business called Maya Kotan which is fabulous handwoven scarves from Mexico and Guatemala....... 

Go pay their site a visit and have a look at all the different colours.. .there's information about their fair trade values and the women they are supporting through the business.. and lots of lovely pictures... it's great to see the weaving happening ... for those facebookers they are HERE

I especially like the picture of the young man with the dog.... he's also related to the artist ....

I was lucky enough to be given a scarf (it pays to have family members in 'the business').  Isn't it yummy?

I am not good about looking after 'special' clothes so this is ideal for me ... in and out of the washing machine no problems ....
... softens up and hangs beautifully and no colour bleeding ...

.... anyways... she also had a box full of threads which had been samples for colours...

... and she didn't need them anymore...

... and I lllloooooovvveee stuff like that ...

... so it came home with me ...

... and now it makes a lovely 'dessert' .....

(absolutely no calories)

The thread is cotton and looks like about 2 threads of DMC in thickness - I have started trying it out....

This was a free SAL from SewHappyMe last year which I've had on my 'todo list

I'm using some of my new blue for it
.... it is not the smoothest of cottons for embroidery ....
... not surprising since it is a weaving cotton....
one thread only and I'm happy with the result



I'm also going to do one of Michelle's stitcheries in my new red

Righto, Gotto Go.... nothing like starting two new Christmas projects at the end of November?  ....

It's not too late .....

to put together an advent calender....

This one will do nicely .....

Righto, Gotto Go.... hic.......

Starting a special quilt.......

Whilst I was in UK I was given a very special bundle of fabric to make up into a quilt

These are shirts from my nephew who passed away in August....
... he was a really lovable young man so it is quite an honour to be putting something together ...

because there is no pattern and the fabrics are different and don't necessarily match it is a bit different to making a regular quilt so I thought I would share the process
and also show what I have done so far

there is T shirt, flannel, fleecy, denim and cotton 

...... so I have been slicing off collars and cuffs and seams....

(I did need a few tissues when I was doing it)

.... ironing on lightweight interfacing to stabilise the stretchy T shirt fabric....

..... cutting it into workable blocks....

(don't you love the paint splashes on this one?)

..... placing them up on my 'design wall' to get an idea of size and placement ....

.... checking it out through my peeper....

.... I have included pockets, flannel and parts of a favourite bandana....

.... applique some pockets on the pieces...

... I am making this quilt in strips... then will join them together ...
... my overlocker is being used for joining the blocks.... it does make it easier and neater with the stretchy fabric .....

... this is one strip done...

The family are visiting us in January/February and I am wanting to have this finished by the time they come

..... will not take long to sew the strips together and then I will work on a pieced back.....

Righto, Gotta Go.... I need those tissues again  ....  

1 month to go.....

... till the man in the red suit comes visiting......

I am linking up with Narelle's One Christmas Item a Month....

... and I made up some bon bons this week ....

I have put some bars of home made soap in them....

... makes up a nice little gift ....

This is the pattern I bought ....... 

and I have seen this tutorial by Cheryll....

they really don't take up too much time or fabric

and would be lovely filled with chocolates as table decorations

You can see lots of different Christmas items made through the year if you need a bit of inspiration here at Narelle's 

Righto..... Gotto Go.... I'm really not mentally ready for Christmas.....

Oddments for fun.....

An assortment of pictures I have taken on holiday .... a bit of fun

Red toadstools

White Swans and ducks

Fast Squirrel

Curious Turkeys

Hay Bales

London Bridge

Inquisitive Squirrel

Fungi

Sunset

.... Purple Toadstools..... 

...with such cute fingers pointing them out...

Scones with Jam and Cornish Clotted Cream

Righto, Gotto Go...  have an excellent weekend ..... 

Frugality????

I am one of those people who saves up things..... like fabric scraps... and off cuts.. and old jeans (the shrunk ones) 

.. and even buys things like op shop table cloths .... and old wool blankets....

.... because  I am sure one day I am going to need it .... 

I also save up the pieces of wadding (batting) from the sides of quilts ... so this week I decided to start using these up ready for some smaller projects....

... there is a fairly large bag with strips from about 3 - 5" (use the same kind of wadding together eg: cotton with cotton, polyester with polyester etc....)

.... place two strips paralled to each other with a slight overlap....

... then slice nice and straight through both layers....

.... carefully remove the little scrappy pieces ....

(no I don't keep those but maybe if someone has an idea how to use them I would???)

... this creates a stitching line with the two pieces of wadding butt together perfectly....

.... choose the 'darning' stitch .... mine is the red 4 so it stitches diagonally backwards and forwards .....

I use a larger length as it really is just to hold the pieces together...... each machine will be different ...

.... holding the butted edges together carefully stitch down the line....

.... done....

..... sew as many strips together as you like to make the size wanted....

I used these pieces for the small projects like mug rugs etc

... of course your cutting board gets full of fluff...... 

I got this tip off another blogger ... use an erasor..... 

I have most success rubbing up and down the lines..... and this takes off  all the fluff pretty quickly...

... final wipe with a damp cloth and it's good as new again......

Of course these days you can buy special tape to stick the wadding together.... same process but no stitching...

Anybody else do this???? 

Righto, Gotto Go... the frugal me is bound to find something else that needs sorting.....