I've finished wooo hooo

 Woo Hoo all the ends have now been sewn in for the edging,I'm loving how this has turned out and so is the prospective grandma to be.....

 A close up of the edging done in treble and then a final shell stitch in the lovely dark pink to finish it of....

 All folded and showing the two diferent lighter pinks I used to a better advantage.....

All rolled up and just needing a lovely pink satin ribbon to tie it up and present it to the grandma to be to give to her daughter but first I'll be taking it to out Mill Rosie blogger meet in a couple of weeks to show it of :)
I'm really,really happy with how this has turned out and the best thing is I have enough wool  leftover to make another one and have I have to confess I've already started on some of the squares hehehe,I just can't keep my fingers from moving at the moment and I'm finding every spare moment I'm busy making things :)

Nearly finished....

 Finally put the last block together today then sat and sewed all four blocks together now to decide on how I'm going to edge it MMMmm.....

 Also sat and stitched a couple of Christmas stocking that I've had traced out for ages I had some sewing time at the machine Sunday and stitched this one up....

Also found time to stitch this one up as well,two more for the 2013 Christmas gift basket,I still have a few more of these cut out just need some more time at the machin, maybe next week/weeend :)

FNSI Results....

 I finished putting the final borders of cream around the stacked squares on the left and then sewing in all the ends as well as putting the final row on my finished block to make it 4 x 4 squares,just 1 more set of squares to work on and then I'll be putting the blocks together and seeing if I need to make it bigger or just add a nice sized border to finish this off.

This is still a work in progress,not stitching up as quickly as the first block but a little bit done is better than none in my book :) Today I'll be doing a bit of cutting up getting things ready to work on for a couple of swaps I'm in then maybe sit and stitch a bit more on this stitchery to get it closer to the finish line,I soooo want this quilt ready for this Christmas!

Playing with dolls.....

Today I'm linking up with Clare at http://clarescraftroom.blogspot.com.au/  "Playing with dolls" This is the doll I had to cut all her hair off to prove she was mine as my little sister was given an identical one (not Anne) and when she lost hers and wanted mine I solved the problem by chopping of her golden curls only to find out a few days later that Susan's doll had turned up and it still had all her curls :( But mine has survived I think Susan's got lost again many years ago and was never found.
I remember getting this doll from santa off the back of the fire truck when santa used to visit all the side streets Christmas eve in our tiny country town over 40 years ago,I still have a photo somewhere of my sister Susan and I proudly holding our dolls with matching dresses,not the one she's wearing today.....I really must look into making her a new dress :) She now proudly sits in my sewing room overseeing all my projects!
If you'd like to join in the fun click on Clares link in this post and show us your favourite doll it doesn't have to be an oldie like mine :)

I take my hat of to my sister Anne...

 My sister Anne is a fantastic quilter,she has a great eye for colour and combining colours.This is one of her quilts she's been working on and when I mentioned "Susan" (you know who you are) another blogger was interested in seeing her blocks for this quilt Anne happily placed them out for me to take photo's for my blog. Anne is working her blocks with blanket stitch not needle turn and she's enlarged the blocks a bit as some of the points were too close to the edges so she'll be working out a diferent border for her quilt to the one in the pattern as well as making it bigger by adding more blocks :)

 Here's a close up of some of the blocks.Anne has only used her scraps for this quilt and if you look closely you'll probably recognise a few fabric ranges that have been very poular over the past few years.

 Everyone thinks I'm organised but I have to say Anne is super organised and very methodical when working on any of her patchwork projects...these photos are circles of the fabrics she's using in this quilt with the relevant thread number being used with that particular fabric written under each dot....told you she was VERY organised!

 Anne then laminates each of these information sheets and has them with her quilt/patchwork supplies for this particular project .........she does this with all her quilts :) Thanks for letting me share your lovely blocks on my blog Anne and I'm sure all my bloggy friends will love seeing them too.

I've been working on getting my binding ready so I can get some quilts quilted,three done today which means I now have a total of six quilts ready to head of to the quilter to be quilted,this particular quilter will trim and sew on your binding for you for just a little extra......money well spent in my book,so all I'll have to do when they come back is to sew the binding down and add a label and they're done!

A work in progress....

I've been slowly working on this crocheted blanket,loving the soft pinks with just a hint soft brown and cream tones added to it,I've been working on this blanket over the last couple of months weather permiting in the cool of the evening with the aircon on while watching a bit of tv :)

The Pledge....have you joined

Some of the swaps last year resulted in dissapointment and sadness for swap partners with some swapees not honouring their commitment and receiving their swap items and not sending to their partner :( Cheryll is urging those who wish to join in the swaps she is organising for this year to take the pledge to commit to being a good swapper,so here is mine :)
I Barb, will try my utmost
To always swap on time.
To always email a THANK YOU to my partner.
To be considerate and thoughtful whan choosing a gift.
To give my partner the quality of gift that I would like to receive.
To communicate when it's required.
To NEVER over commit and let my partner down.
To advise the swap mama when I receive my gift.
This I sewomly pledge!

fat 1/4 swap

I've loved being part of the fat 1/4 swap and couldn't wait to start again for 2013,these are the fat 1/4's I sent to carol.Carol requested some girly fabrics and I couldn't go past these with there freshness and girly appeal :)

And these are the yummy red and white fat 1/4's I received from carol. Thanks Carol I love them and the cosmo thread in "RED" will be put to good use,I already have a few ideas running around in my head lol :) If you'd like to join in the fun just click on the fat 1/4 swap logo on the right side of my blog and let Cathy our co-ordinator know you're interested in joining in the fun :)

I've had these blocks sitting around on my ironing board for ages,I finally decided today was the day to get this flimsy put together......boy it's good to get stuff closer to the finish satge.I just need to get some backing fabric and then I can finish this of and put it in with my Christmas decorations.....yep this ones for me! :)

I couldn't resist and finally made up one of these small thread catchers I've been watching pop up on blogs everywhere and just had to join in the fun......

then I spotted this tutorial on Fiona's blog http://bubzrugz.com.au/2012/12/needlecases-and-friends.html and I just couldn't waste the scraps leftover from my thread catcher so made up two slightly diferent sized needle keeps using her tutorial.Thanks Fiona :)

These are all going into my Birthday basket,so three more for the Birthday-love stash.Hopefully blogger will sort out the posting photo's difficulty real soon as posting photo's the way I am now is such a pain! I hope to have more photo's soon :)

When you make a boo boo.....you make something new :)

Well blogger seems to have stuffed up again! I can't seem to seperate my pictures :(

Anyway the project below was meant to be a small pincushion but me being me I made the template too big and Voila.....So I had to think outside the square and work with what I had and change a few things around,I'm not sure if this will be a cushion or I'll staple it to a canvas for the wall??? decisions,decisions........

This is another project that's been hanging around trying to figure out what it will turn into and I finally decided to make it into a Christmas stocking...... I just love how both these projects have turned out maybe this year will be my year of finishing of things.....no promises though as life can and does throw a spanner in the works at any given time :)

Hopefully blogger fixes this new problem soon as it's a real pain not being able to write where I want to :( I'll be back later with a couple of other projects I've been working on.....no rest for the wicked they say so I must be really bad as I can't seem to stop!!

Let's see if this works?

Well blogger help line suggested a different way to access my photo's from my computer so fingers crossed it works? This is the second block I was working on last night for FNWF,I have another seven blocks and then I'll be able to put the top together :) P.S: I've been receiving lots of queries about this BOM I'm working on....the designer is Rosalie Quinlan and the name is " It's a redwork Christmas",Hope this helps :)

Blogger is driving me crazy!

I sat and started sewing on my second block for this BOM but do you think I can upload my photo's from my laptop......NO! so this will have to do till Blogger sorts itself out :(
 But I truely did do some sewing last night even though it was so hot and sticky :(
 I'll be working on this second block today as well :)

A new bag for.........me :)

 The one thing I really promised myself I'd make ( for myself ) before I returned to work which is tomorrow....yipes not much time left, was a new bag but not just any old bag but the exact same bag I've been using for the last two years with a little variation to accomodate my new larger sized month to a page diary.

I absolutely love my old bags design with all it's pockets makes it sooo mcuh easier to find my keys or my glasses etc.... the only thing I changed besides add the larger,inside diary pocket was to shorten the handles this time as it's a real pain to have to push your leg up to move your bag up to get to your keys if your hands are full of shopping lol not a very dignified look I must say but now no more!!!
I love,Love,LOve my new bag and can't wait to take it to work....as you can see I've already put all my stuff in it and it still has room for more.

Still deciding?

 I started working on this runner a couple of days ago but I'm stuck trying to decide if I should add some zing to the borders or just leave them plain.....what do you think? This will be going in the birthday box when I finally decide on how to finis it off.

While deciding on how to finish the runner I had a few leftover strips and decided not to waste them but make them up into journals.....another two for the birthday box. The fabric is a range called "Redwork Renaissance" by Chloe's Closet for Moda,gotta love Moda fabrics :)