Off to the North Pole....

... well it feels like that is where I am today.... no warm and sunny Queensland here... it is wet, and soggy and not gone above 12degrees today.... trackies, warm slippers and loads of coffee.... and a bit of sewing....

Today is North Pole Quilt along show off day and I spent the cold morning making my latest blocks...

3 Trees....

... and Carl' Cars & Trucks/Delilah's Doll Shop....

  

.....but I just have a Boyz side and a Girlz side ....

... and then I joined some of the blocks together....

... and the other side.... 

I haven't been conscientious about reversing my pattern and not everything fits together as it should...  can you see the crack in the snow?

.... so far this is where I am up to.... 8 more applique blocks....

Val is hosting the North Pole stitchalong ... we are hoping to have this ready this Christmas - there's quite a few being made... not too late to join in.....

Just before I left for my warm sunny trip north I won an awesome prize from Cheryl at Cheryl's Stitchings who was celebrating 100 posts...

2 lovely patterns... one of Michelle Ridgeway and one of Anni Downs... two of my favourite designers... and fabric from Lynette Anderson and cottage garden threads.... and that lovely card... - it includes the recipe for those Chocolate Creams .....  chocolate and stitching is a winning combination....

Thanks so much Cheryl, I'm delighted....  

Righto..... my phone/camera is back.... I nearly kissed Mr Postie!!! 

My butterfly.....

This has been a fun project to work on.....

A friend of mine did THIS butterfly and has been helping me with mine....  After I had done all the shapes and ironed them down HERE it was time to start sewing....

I chose to make all my 1/4" binding and sewed it with a twin needle... (which I've never done before so that was quite exciting!)

... had to go gently round the curves but it was no problem and it saved sewing two rows...

... here she is outside enjoying a bit of sunshine...

(the colours aren't quite as dull as they look in the picture ... must be that sky taking all the brightness!)

... I thought the back is quite fun too...

...rather a fun technique... I may well do this again sometime....

I want to add a bit of stitching detail onto the background... still thinking on this one.... in the mean time it is waiting with the teacups for some amazing idea.....  

Righto, Gotto Go.....  off to quilting group today.... I joined up with Toowoomba Quilters recently and they seem to do all sorts of interesting things... today is community quilts and we all use up some donated fabrics and make quilts for charity..

Anybody for tea????

It appears that smart phones are not smart enough to get on the aeroplane with the owner...

I had a wonderful time in the warm - it's always good to be home

when the phone with my pictures gets home I will post up a few pictures

.... in the meantime some stitching I finished just before I left ....

All these stitchery blocks are finished now.....

"Kelly"

I have been stitching this lovely selection of tea cups for a while...

"Audrey"

I have some blue and white fabrics... so I am thinking of using those and to put these all together into a table topper....

"Katie"

The pattern is from Crabapple Hill and is called Tea Party....

"Mary Lou"

I love that each tea cup set has a pretty name too....

"Charlotte"

I have so enjoyed doing these.. they are so pretty and I know I will do a few of them again sometime

HERE are the other 7 shown previously

These all make me think of tea.. and someone I would love to have a cup of tea with sent me a parcel the other day... is Joy - Joy is an Australian living in Arabia and recently was back in Aus, sadly down south and too far for us to get together but she so sweetly sent me a parcel of treasures.... 

thanks Joy... they are going to be great fun to play with....

Righto, Gotto Go..... lots of other stitching traced out to do.....

Mothers Day....

I helped widget put together a bunch of flowers for his mum .....

drew around his hand and then

I cut the shapes and he did the glueing

he initialled it all by himself...... too sweet

... and I got an offer I couldn't refuse ... tickets to spend a week of nana duties up north ...

... where we can go for walks in places like this....

.... and this.....

with Jack...

.... of course I have a bit of stitching to take with me.... I wonder how much will be done?

Righto, Gotto Go... need to pack my stuff....

My Mothers Day Mini....

Happy Mothers day to ALL the wonderful mothers & nana's, and those that have lost your moms may your memories lift you up, whether you have children of your own, or had a part in raising one - it makes you special 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

It was lovely to get a squishy in the mail ..... a parcel all the way from Lyn in New Zealand

I didn't waste any time getting my new mini up in the stand.....

look at all the detail... this beautiful stitching and the tiniest of tiny yo-yo flowers....

Lyn wrapped my mini in fabric.... it's a lovely cream with a white design you can see in the corner....  such a great idea...

such a beautiful sentiment.... and this will do for other times besides Mothers Day.... this will be lovely for lots of days when I think I need a bit of extra attention.....

Thanks so much Lyn.... fabulous swap parcel

.... and thanks to Cheryll for organising it ....

Righto, Gotto Go... I had a friend over to make some tea towels and I haven't finished mine....

Sweet Dreams ........

I have just finished this little baby quilt for my 'great niece' due in July....

...a charm pack of "Putting on The Ritz" by Bunnyhill designs was perfect ....

I'm a first time 'great aunt'.... I wonder if that will be changed to 'graunt'.... or 'grunt'.... and Hubz can be 'gruncle'....  hmmmmm

I used a template from Michelle's book "Briarside Lane" for the bunnies

(love, love Michelle's designs... I made her Harrington and Hannah BOM last year and can't wait for her next new book)

(the bunnies show up better in real life than they do in the picture)

and some lettering from my pattern stash (have no idea where these are from originally!!)

the bunnies were just perfect with their long ears as they bound across the quilt...

Feathers and wriggly lines for the quilting...

the backing is like a double thickness flannellette - I also used a cotton wadding so it is really cuddly and warm....

my little residential doll modelled for me....

Righto, Gotto Go... posting this off ...... safe travels baby quilt .....

Mini Swap .....

I have enjoyed participating (when I can) in mini swaps hosted by Cheryll

The mini can be hung on a stand or on a little hanger and is about 12" square....

We have just swapped "Mother's Day" mini hangers.... here in Australia Mothers Day will be celebrated on Sunday May 12th...

My 'secret swappie' was Lyn from New Zealand and I made this little one....

I found the words somewhere around on the internet and thought they were fitting for the occasion.... and added matching buttons.... and some wriggly quilting on the background....

The pattern was based on a block found in the Magazine designed by Marg Low.... I made quite  a few changes to fit the size block I wanted but her design is the base and the inspiration...

... and of course I couldn't resist another of Michelle's alphabet letters which I sewed in colours to match

If you fancy joining in with the mini swap sometime have a look over here what it's all about... 

Righto, Gotto Go...... I'm listening to Kate Morton (The Secret Keeper) on disk whilst I blanket stitch....