Christmas Goodies to share

Hope you all had a good Christmas Day with family and friends. We had a lovely quiet day at home; ate too much and opened some beautiful gifts. First I would like to share my gift from Lyndell as part of the Fat Quarter Swap ; we swapped a small gift instead of fat 1/4's. Lyndell made me the most gorgeous small pillow and some buttons (I have a thing for buttons LOL).

DD2 has been guarding my gifts from Kaye - my partner in Cheryll's Secret Santa Swap. Well yesterday I was finally allowed to open them - I can honestly say I was spoiled well and truly. An apron (worn to cook the turkey), 4 spools of ribbon (I never have enough ribbon), a beautiful Babushka doll to cross stitch; 2 cross stitch patterns; a box of my favourite chocolates; my advent calendar "Angel" (shown in an earlier post); my very own Christmas stocking; a felt purse to make and a miniature Christmas Tree - has pride of place on the fire with the carol singing mice. Those of you who follow Kaye will know 2013 has not been a good year; ending with the passing of her beloved mum in November yet Kaye continued thinking of me and sent me these beautiful gifts. Kaye has been an amazing partner and I truly feel I have made a new friend through this swap. 

Can't wait to do it all again in 2014 ♥♥

Merry Christmas Everyone

One of our family traditions is to open one gift on Christmas Eve; DD2 chooses the gifts from under the tree and for me she chose my gift from Stanislava my partner in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap.  I have been so spoilt; Stanislava has made me a gorgeous wall hanging/mini quilt. It is just divine. A big thank you

I would just like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a healthy, safe and prosperous 2014. 

Last FNSI 2013

I joined Wendy and friends over at FNSI for the last time this year (where's it gone??). I worked on some 12" blocks; they're for a swap. There are 12 of us in the swap so 12 blocks to make. We're all using black and white plus an accent and I chose red. 4 down 8 to go.........

I would like to thank Wendy for hosting this blog; part of the joy is seeing the amazing things that are happening out there in the craft world. Wishing each and everyone of you a truly blessed Christmas XXX

Confessions of an addict..... and more

Well Sharon did say they were addictive and now I believe her. It's been stifling here today 44C so we had the whole family making flowers. Very pleased with the results DD2 especially took to them like a duck to water. We upcycled some sheet music that dates from 1930's and used some coloured photocopy paper for a bit of contrast. More to make tomorrow as it's going to be a scorcher again..... Not sure we'll be breaking this habit for a while......

I also received squishy mail today. My block from Noelene in the Quilting Block Swap Australia 

and my stockings from Nichole my partner in the Quilting Galleries Stocking Swap. I'd seen the photo's of the stockings on FB but that really didn't do them justice. Nichole has also made me a beautiful Christmas Cactus out of seed beads; I can't imagine how much time went into it but it is just divine. I'm completely blown away by the amount of time and love that people put into gifts for complete strangers it really does shows the true meaning of Christmas.

Hope you're all on track with your Christmas preparations. Might see some of you tomorrow night at FNSI; it's sure to be a great night - last one of the year.

Help please - paper flower ball

I need some help please. I was reading blogs over the weekend and found a wonderful post about making a flower ball from an old book music paper and thought DD2 and I could make those. I remember the paper had to be cut into 3.5" squares but then the computer had a hissy fit and all my pages disappeared. I know I should have booked marked I but didn't. If any one knows what I'm talking about and knows the link I'd be really; really grateful if you could post it/link it (DD2 is hoping to make some today!). Thank you.