A change of thinking for 2010...

Two days before Christmas the family decided they wanted our billiard (pool) room back. Why should that seem like a problem? - well, that room had my sewing and ironing area in it. Pool tables are great for folding washing on, and hiding stash underneath. We won't talk about the ironing. So basically I was evicted........

My 'stuff ' was moved to another area but now I can't find anything at all. I had nothing to do with the move so I didn't have time to grab things which I use all the time. Now I am missing all my sewing machine feet except for the walking foot which just happened to be on the machine at the time, all but two reels of cotton and most of my recent stash. It's all there, the family knows better than to throw anything out but who knows which box,bag or crate everything is in. Yes, I know I could go through it all but at this stage I don't really have anywhere to put it and I still want to sew.

This is a little pincushion I made to add to my advent swap for Marina.

So this is where my change of thinking had to happen. Most of my current works in progress are misplaced so I am forced to go back even further and plan to finish some even older ones. Not really a bad thing. And I have a number of small kits which I have purchased over time and hidden in my wardrobe so I can still start something new.

And this is the final gift Marina got to open at Christmas. A table runner using the pattern from here ( I can recommend this one)

So after the initial shock and being annoyed ( that's an understatement) I decided that it was a waste of emotion to fuss about it. So I decided to be positive. 2010 is now a year to finish off things I can find (with no particular schedule) and making up things I had forgotten I had. I will of course be working on the tower of mysterious items - a bit like a lucky dip.

These are two of the mats I made for the children's teachers. I have been having so much fun working with this design.

So who knows what I will be posting about next - it might just be a surprise for me too. Now that I have come to terms with it all I am quite looking forward to the adventure of discovery.

And this is another one using the fabric I had previously used here, which was for another teacher. It is fun to see how using the stripes in different places makes a unique look.

It's school holiday time here still so progress will be slow but I have my own personal challenge to work on. I don't know where it will lead but I do plan to try to use what I have here. I didn't plan it this way but it is always good to try to turn things to a positive.

My Secret Santa is not a secret any more...

That secret present I had here is now open and I can tell everyone who my secret santa was. It was May Britt from Abyquilt . She made a lovely bag with a Christmas stichery of snowmen on it and included a Tilda stitchery design which I love and will probably start working on very soon. Here's the snowmen who have come from Norway to cool me down - don't you love their noses? I do!

And here's a better view of the decorations May Britt sent - they are on the tree and looking very festive.

Thank you so much May Britt - I love everything.

And thank you to Chookyblue who organized everything so beautifully again.

More Advent swap...

Well, all my advent presents are opened and I have to say that I had a lot of fun and surprises. There was lots of pretty things like fabrics, ribbons and lace. And special things for me like tea bags, bath items and a beautiful needlecase.( That's the heart shaped item at the bottom left. ) There were some waffle weave hand towels too. The final present was these lovely cushion covers. I had just the right sized cushions to put them on and so they decorated my couch for Christmas.

And see this little angel from one of the days - her smile matches the one I had from this swap. Thank you Marina - it was a wonderful package and so much fun to open.

Ornaments....

In the Secret Santa Christmas Swap run by Chookyblue we had to include an ornament, which was to be opened when the parcel arrived. The good news is that my parcel for Shiree finally arrived and this is the ornament I chose to make for her. I thought this little koala was just too cute and couldn't resist making him. And here's the back.......

I used to do lots of cross stitch and counted embroidery but somehow in the last few years I got more involved with fabric. So it was nice to go back to one of my early crafty loves.

And this is the ornament I made for Maria over in Western Australia in the ornament swap run by Robyn. This is the first time I have combined stitchery and felt and I really enjoyed making it up. Maria made the lovely angel I showed in a previous post for this swap.

And some good news is that Marina has received her advent parcel and hopefully is enjoying all the goodies. My next post will show you some more of the lovely things I have been opening every day. Thank you Marina.

So now it is just the countdown to Christmas. Have I finished shopping for everyone ? - no, but I've still got two days, haven't I? That should be plenty of time....... I hope.

Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

My Secret Santa Christmas Swap has arrived safely here too. This secret Santa wants to stay a secret until Christmas Day when I open my gift. The only clue is that this Santa is from Norway. You can see the special Norwegian ornaments which were included. We haven't quite finished decorating our tree yet but there will be a place for these sweeties there.

Thank you Secret Santa from Norway - this is to let you know that everything has arrived here safely.

And thank you to Chookyblue for running this swap.

Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap.

My partner for this swap was Maria in Western Australia. Look at this cute little angel she sent me with a beautiful Christmas card.

She is so tiny - I don't know how you turn seams so small. Isn't she sweet?

I won't show a photo of the ornament I sent Maria until she lets me know that it has arrived. I hope that she likes it as much as I like my little angel.

Advent swap!

I signed up for an advent swap with Fiona of Mothers Cupboard and my partner is Marina in Italy. My parcel arrived in a huge red Christmas bag. Lots of smaller parcels were inside...

and here are the first weeks gifts - lots of smelly girly things and fabrics and lace. Thank you Marina.

Here is a photo of some of the packages I sent Marina. The sad part of this story though is that she has written to me to say that they haven't arrived yet. This is really dissapointing as she hasn't had anything to open. I am hoping that they will still turn up. I have asked at the post office and they say that I probably should have registered the parcel - but they didn't tell me that at the time I posted it.

I am in the process of putting together another parcel becuase I don't want Marina to miss out but I doubt I can get it there before Christmas. And you can be sure that I will register it as well.

I am so sorry Marina - let's hope that it still arrives.

Very Quick Christmas Fabric, Button & Trim Swap 2009!

A very quick swap was run by Jenny and Vicki. We had to send two fat quarters, some ribbon and some buttons or trim. My partner was Silke in Germany. I was so excited to receive my first card like this that when I photographed it I didn't do a very good job of getting both fat quarters in. And here's what I sent.

It was a simple swap and east to do. Thanks, Silke - I love everything but the card is extra special. And thanks Jenny and Vicki.

A bit of family time needed....

Meet Ollie - he's our new grandpuppy. ( about 10 weeks old in this photo) He is a groodle - a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle. He came visiting last weekend and was just too cute.

There hasn't been much time for anything this week as my 17 year old son is in hospital. He has had to have some surgery on his jaw which has been quite major. He was operated on last Monday and won't come home until Saturday. Then we have to feed him blended food for 6 weeks. It was his choice to have the operation now - but it has meant that he has missed his very last week at high school and also his graduation and school formal. He also gave up going to 'schoolies' at the Gold Coast. ( For anyone overseas Schoolies is a time for students to let their hair down a bit(?) after finishing high school. )

My week has been spent visiting and travelling. The hospital he is in is situated in the city, and parking is a real pain. The good part is that the hospital is air conditioned and with our hot temperatures at the moment it is a good place to be.

So I have taken a bit of a break from things just to support my boy - next week we will be at home a lot so hopefully I can catch up on things.

Finally something to show....

There's been quite a bit of secret crafty Christmas stuff going on in this household but because it is for swaps and presents I can't show very much.

I made this for a friend's birthday over the weekend. I don't think she even knows about my blog so I think I can safely show this here ( she hasn't been given it yet but her birthday was two days ago). It is a runner made from border fabric, which I have had here for quite a while. I wish I had bought more than a metre because it would have been nice to make it longer - just something I'll need to remember for next time when I see a suitable fabric.

When I first made it I thought it was waaaayyy too busy but really it has turned out quite well and I certainly will do more. I have some ideas of how to adapt the pattern for two fabrics - that should be fun too and I already have something suitable in my stash.

Here is the runner on my dining room table - I hope my friend likes it, she always likes decorating her house for Christmas.


And this is outside in the garden ( I thought the light might be better.)

When I went to the craft show a week or so ago I treated myself to a new 60 degree ruler so I could have a play with one of the new Anka's Treasures patterns. Now I already own at least 2 rulers of this shape but another one (bigger) will always be useful, I'm sure. Then I realised that I could use this runner pattern as well as it is the ruler suggested in the pattern. The pattern is one that used to be on the Timeless Treasures site but it isn't any more which is sad, probably because the fabric it is written for is out of production.

Here you can see the ruler and the pattern and the leftovers from cutting out the runner. I think I can make something else out of the cut offs - that will be great to have as an extra for someone's Christmas stocking.

I really enjoyed this one.

Just a few hours left....A giveaway with a cause.

I'm always doing things at the last minute. But I figure that maybe I might catch someone with this post. Julie at Bush Baby Jag is supporting a worthy cause and this is just a little bit of support from me. There's still time to help this cause, and there's a nice giveaway too.

If you have a minute click here and read about it.