Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

Our Friday craft group had a challenge - an 'uglies' challenge. The rules were simple and started with all the participating people bringing a piece of 'ugly' fabric. There were no size requirements - just a piece. Then each piece was cut into the number of people joining in. I think we had 18 to start with so there were 18 pieces. The sizes were varied but everyone got one piece of each fabric. These scraps were to be made into something by last Friday. We didn't have to use all the fabric and we could add extra if we liked. ( I told you the rules were simple.) Here's the scraps before I decided to do anything with them. This really is a challenge...

and here are the results...



A flying geese table runner, a pincushion and a hot pad.

A bunny towel and an iris folding card.

This one isn't quite finished but is shaping up to be a collage picture - I think there are still some buttons to be added.

Some little ditty bags.

A pig and a purse. ( This reminds me of that saying about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear - seems like that's what happened here. Isn't that pig cute?)

Here's a bag - both sides shown.

Another purse.

And this was my contribution.

I used every fabric except one - it just wasn't long enough for my strips. It was a little pink and white check - I think it is what the pig's nose is made from and there is a yoyo flower on one of the ditty bags as well.

It certainly was a simple challenge and lots of fun to do, even if I did leave it to the last minute as usual. And now I have new bag - it even went on a picnic with me yesterday. It's not the prettiest bag but somehow I think it might be the one to end up in the car for quick grocery shopping trips. I think everyone rose to the challenge really well. Congratulations, girls!

More photos from Glenharrow

I just loved this window on one of the buildings.

There were beautiful flowers....

and a warm cosy atmosphere....

Lots of beautiful things to look at....

and lots of inspiration....

and new ideas....

Oops where is everyone? It must be afternoon tea time. ( and I am not responsible for all those empty chocolate wrappers on the plate - how do I know? Because I was responsible for the missing freckles ( chocolate with hundreds and thousands) which you can't see there. )

And here are Rosalie and Leanne at work. The lady in between them is Rosalie's mother Nel who is involved with things as well.

People who attended on other days have also posted about the wonderful day they had - seems it was perfect for everyone.

My day at Glenharrow....

The way to Glenharrow - or specifically Smuggler's Rest where our special day was held. It wasn't the warmest day... But seeing the projects from Rosalie Quinlan's soon to be released book soon brightened things up...

Here's our projects for the day....

and here's Cheryl, my fellow traveller from Brisbane, working hard on her stitchery.

The projects came in a lovely red bag with everything we need to finish the two projects...

And once again I seem to be showing a project which needs ironing, but I was using a hoop. And up in the left top corner you can see some lovely fat quarters of Rosie's new fabric range which just had to come home with me.

Another lovely aspect of the day is meeting new people - here's a hello to Sylvia and Fiona, who travelled back home to set up their own stitching day. Looks great, girls!

Thanks for a lovely day, Leanne and Rosalie. You can check out Leanne's blog for lovely photos of our day and the following ones.

I'm excited...and looking forward to going to...

the Spring Stitch-In at GlenHarrow Gardens. This is being hosted by Leanne Beasley and Rosalie Quinlan. Leanne has posted a sneak peak of the kits they have packed, and it all looks wonderful. I am going down with my friend Cheryl on Wednesday and we will be at GlenHarrow on Thursday! If anyone is reading this and will be there Thursday as well, please let me know. We won't be flying back until Saturday evening so if anyone has any suggestions of must visit places then I am very interested in that too. We have a car so who know where we will end up.You might remember that I went to a day with these same two wonderful ladies in March at the Nundle Girls Day out in the Country. And the photos which go with this post - well they are showing my progress of the projects from Nundle. Do they look finished? Not quite - and not ironed yet either. I had plans that if I was going to get new projects at Glenharrow I should finish the ones I already had. The stitching is done for Rosalie's - I just have to make it into a bag. Leanne's project involved stitching and applique - I am getting close but can I finish it before I go? We'll have to wait and see on that one.

Pincushion swap....

I think that with this post I will have finally caught up on all the swap news. I love being in the swaps but I find that it means that I have much less time to do things for myself. So for a little while ( until the Christmas swaps) I will be trying to catch up on some of the projects I have here which seem to have been here for a while waiting to be done.

I participated in a pincushion swap run by Sandra. Here's what Rose sent - you can see that customs decided to have a peek too - but all the contents were safe.
Here's the cute little bee and its garden (oops the wing got a bit bent) It's such a happy little bee - I hope that it likes the weather over here. Rose chose this theme because she is from Utah which I have learned is called the beehive state. And she also had two broken arms - I hope they are both healed okay now Rose. There were also some sweets to try - Bit-O-Honey, which of course would come with a bee, and some Pixi Stix which my kids enjoyed as well. Thank you so much Rose.

And here's what I sent to Nadine. This Pattern is from Melly and Me called Handbag Addiction.

One bag is the pincushion and one bag is a needle case.

I originally got a kit for these so I made mine first to work out the pattern and then made the ones for Nadine. I have to say I didn't find this the easiest pattern so I am glad that I made mine first because I certainly found it easier the second time.

Thanks for a fun swap, Sandra.

More Christmas...

I just realized that I hadn't shown what I sent to Nancy in Linda and Stephanie's Christmas Swap - shame on me.

I was really pleased with this topper - it is from one of the Anka's Treasure's books. ( I can check which one if any one is interested) The fabrics were from a charm pack I had - Maison de Noel by Moda I think. I love the extra bit of blue in the range - one of my favourite colours. This is the bag that I made to put everything in - it is quite large and I thought it might make a good Christmas Swag.

I made a needle book with a stitchery taken from the Twelve Red Robins pattern by Cinderberry Stitches but the pattern for the actual needle book was from a project by Rosalie Quinlan. I borrowed some scallop scissors to cut the felt and I just love the effect - just a bit nicer than pinking shears.

And then with a few other things I wrapped them all up and sent them on their way. ( I made a gift tag too from the same Cinderberry Stitches pattern.)

Merry Christmas in July Nancy! ( You can read what Nancy thought here - it's absolutely wonderful to see the things you send in their new house. Don't you love her table and the topper! )

Christmas comes again....

Hang on, this doesn't look very Christmassy !

But what is inside it certainly does....

It is a new fancy cow hide Christmas stocking from Texas full of goodies from Bonnie ( Calamity Jane's Cottage) Look at this Texan Christmas greeting. I don't think I'd ever be able to say it properly with my Australian accent.

The stocking was filled with lots of goodies....

But the most exciting thing of all was a Christmas checkerboard quilt ( being tested here by Colly)

The back - or is it the front - can just be a hanging or topper ...

And the other side is the checkerboard.

What a great idea! And Bonnie didn't know that I really like that range of fabric ( Cold Winter Noses) and I have some charm squares and fat quarters to match so I think I will have to make up something which goes with this wonderful quilt. Thank you so much Bonnie for everything - it is just perfect.

This was the Christmas in July swap run by Linda and Stephanie - Thanks so much girls for a wonderful swap.

For some reason this parcel took a bit longer - maybe it had to go via the North Pole to get Santa's approval, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Paper Bag Swap...

I had a wonderful swap experience with the Paper Bag Swap run by Maree. My partner was the talented Robyn from Daisy Quilts. I hadn't done one of these before so it was quite exciting trying to decide what to send to my partner and wondering what she would send for me to make something with. And just look at the wonders she produced. Aren't they just fabulous?
I sent the green fabric and this is what she made. Her name is Blossom and the first thing my children said was "Can I have her?" Can you guess what my answer was - yep, it was a big NO! This little beauty is mine - all mine.


Now Blossom came in her own matching bag which is also just perfect for me. I don't think that Blossom will get to live in her 'pouch' - I hope she is happy to share.

Now Robyn sent me a very different style of fabric - her fabric was from Moda Nell's Flower Shop line. As soon as I saw it I though of a bag pattern I have had for a while. It is called Cheryl's Bag from Leanne's House. Robyn had sent beads and covered buttons so the blank squares were just perfect for this. She had told me that this is one of her favourite fabrics so I just felt that I had to use fabric from the same line to go with it.

There was also a tassle in the things she sent so I had to make a zipper bag to attach to it, didn't I?

This was a lovely swap because we got to choose our fabirc but there was a big surprise to see what our partner did with it.

Thank you Maree, for running this swap and thank you Robyn for the wonderful Blossom and her bag. ( and the sneaky box of chocolates too)

You can see what Robyn wrote on her blog here and here. She takes much better photos than I do.

This has been so much fun.

Mrs. Martin's Quilt Shop Christmas in July...Thank you June.

Just before I went away I sent off a parcel to my swap partner, June C in Melbourne for the Christmas in July Swap run by Mrs. Martin's Quilt Shop. The plan was to open the gifts on July 1, but unfortunately I was away then and had to wait a few days. There were some specific things which we had to send. We had to include an ornament, something for the sewing kit, an unmounted stitchery, and something beginning with the letter of your partner's name and a bag to put it all in. Also included was a fat quarter, a button to go with it and a recipe. Here's what June sent me...

The "L" items for my name were labels ( quilt), some lace and a lanyard. ( June must have known that I needed one of those for work). Also there was a hand made card - mine was stitched and attached to a wonderful,very useful bag.

Look at all these wonderful examples of stitching. Aren't they great? Thank you so much June - I love them and I have been using the bag lots. A girl can never have too many pincushions either, can she?

Because I was disorganised as usual and we were going away I actually messed up and didn't take a photo of all the things I sent June in one photo. Luckily she did and sent me one. This is the stichery I did for June. It is a Leanne's House pattern which is similar to the ones she has just released. I wonder what June will make from it.

Here's the bag I made from some Winter charm squares - It is a Whistlepig Creek pattern - Charming Totes. ( It isn't numbered because it is the first in the series).

This started out to be a pincushion but I changed it to be a decoration

and then I included this pincushion which I would have loved to have keep myself. I'll just have to make another one.

I did include some other things - because June's name starts with "J" I also sent some Jaffas, and a journal.

I really enjoyed this swap, and I apologise to June for not posting about it earlier. Thank you so much, June. I loved everything and I am looking forward to making your little stitchery up in the pattern you sent.

And thank you to Karen of Mrs. Martin's Quilt Shop for organising this swap.