Thanks Ondrea!..... I hope this works

Ok since my Windows live writer isn't co-operating I'm trying blogger again to see if I can post on my blog as I've tried and tried over the past couple of weeks with no luck and I'm missing blogging! The above photo if it appears is of the first three gifts Ondrea sent me in our 12 days of Christmas swap :) Day one: A shopping note book Day two: A tin full of various sized gingerbread men cutters Day three: A red and white spatula MMmmm me thinks Ondrea knows I love to cook, write notes and create biscuits this time of year! Thanks Ondrea I've loved all my gifts you've sent me!! If this post appears on my blog I'll post more photo's of all the lovely and thoughtful gifts Ondrea has sent since I opened day three's gift :)

Just because……

This arrived in the mail for me, totally unexpected from Helen when I checked who the sender was Hhhmmm I wasn’t expecting anything from Helen so quickly opened it to discover this gorgeous pincushion 

As Helen's note states it’s a “Just because” gift I was so surprised and couldn’t stop smiling and looking at it! Helen even personalised it with my initial in the middle of the hexie, soooo love it Helen and feeling very spoilt and loved so thank you, you made my day! Hoping we can catch up sometime next year for me to give you a great big hug!

FROM KATE…….THANK YOU!

A while ago Kate sent out an SOS requesting a particular fabric which I didn’t have in my stash but said I had another that might do from the same range, Kate later got back to me and I ended up sending her the fabric I had, anyone that knows me knows I love to help out and not expect anything in return so I didn’t give it another thought once I popped the fabric in the post to her……

Imagine my surprise when a few weeks later a parcel arrived from Kate and inside this parcel was this gorgeous wall hanging using fabrics from Bonnie & Camille….. Utterly and totally gobsmacked! Thank you so much Kate !! it will take pride of place in my sewing room.

FNWF Results….

MMmm well I have to admit I was out partying with my workmates Friday night for our Christmas party so I didn’t do any stitching in the evening but during the day I did crochet a few more of these for my African flower hexie blanket, I’m making up another 100 or so to make it a little bigger 

70 finished with another 30-40 left to add borders to then comes the lovely task of sewing in all those ends! Hopefully this will be enough to finish this blanket .

I’ve also been working on another secret squirrel project which I hope to have given to the recipient soon so I can show you what these circles in the picture above turned into so stay tuned!

I’ve been busy!

Even though I’ve been absent from my blog for the last few weeks I’ve still been keeping my hands busy working on a few projects…..

Of course I had to start something new using up all the teeny tiny bits of wool leftover from other projects…..I’m loving this tiny hexie pattern which will be turning into a cushion or two when done I love the fact that even your wool scraps can turn into something beautiful with a little imagination.

More centres made up, countless thread ends cut of…..

Then when I didn’t seem to have enough centres I made up just a few more LOL,  will do a big reveal on these when I get a bit further on with this project, it’s all hush, hush at the moment…..both wooden bowls pictured above are recent happy find from one of our local op shops, I’ve been searching for a rectangle one for years so as soon as I spotted the one above it was grabbed up and carted around while looking for more treasures!

I’ve also been working on a few rows of this beautiful “Spice of life” CAL blanket, methinks I’ll have to repeat all the rows once more to get the length I need as I decided to use my 4ply stash for this one but I’m loving just picking it up working a few rows and then putting it aside for a bit, makes the yumminess factor last longer I’ve also been working on a few secret squirrel projects which I hope to be able to share soon.

Finally I’ll leave you with a picture of all the ends I’ve been sewing in and over the last few weeks Not too many???

CAL progress shots….

It’s getting bigger, now to wait a few more hours till the next pattern instalment is available.I’m thinking to repeat these rows a second time because I’m using 4ply and not the 8ply stated in the requirements list I’ll need to add more to the length like I’ve done with the width by adding more chain at the beginning of the pattern to make it wider…….so loving how this blanket is turning out and I’m having lots of fun with all the different stitches

Friends having Fun Swaps: Felt project

My swap partner for this months swap was Shez and I was utterly spoilt by her!! Shez knows I love Christmas so my felt swap items reflected this…..two fig ’n berry Christmas patterns, I can’t wait to start working on these

 

three gorgeous felt ornaments…can’t wait to hang these beauties on my tree this year, not long to wait now! ( sorry to be reminding those who are in denial )

And last but not least a beautiful felt needle book, I must confess when I saw this on Shez’s blog I was quite envious of the recipient who would be getting this but now I don’t have to as it’s mine all mine! LOL.

OOops I nearly forgot to show you what I made and sent to Shez lol, A small felt table mat with appliqued flowers, a set of tea towels as I know how much Shez loves decorating them, a Cottage Garden thread called Rosalie and a yummy smelling candle from Dusk,  Shez and I are trying not to send nibble/choc’s to each other and I know she loves her candles as much as I do Thanks Shez for another fantastic swap and now I need to get the whip cracking on a couple of more swaps that need to be finished by November.

CAL next instalment finished…..

bring on Tuesday I say! I’ll just have to be patient and find something else to work on till the next instalment is out I’m loving the different stitch variations in this pattern.

Sneak peak…..it’s getting bigger!

I still need to do quite a few more rows, but it’s coming along nicely…..

here’s a close up of all those lovely flowers, I can’t wait to get this one finished…..does anyone know where I can buy some more down time please???

Spice of Life CAL…..

 Sandra from Cherry heart blog fame has teamed up with Black sheep wools to design a truly scrumptious blanket called “The Spice of Life” and I’ve decided to take the plunge and join in the fun with my very first CAL ( crochet a-long ) the picture above is the blanket done in two colour ways, I’ve decided to try and use up some of my extensive wool stash for my blanket and will be trying to match up with the blanket pictured on the right as close as possible.

And here’s the first 18 rows done and dusted, i just need to sew in the ends and I’ll be ready to start on the next instalment which will be coming out next Tuesday….so far I’m loving the simplicity of just going back and forth and not having a thousand ends to sew in I’ll post more photo’s as the blanket progresses.

My Sunday…..

Was spent here, relaxing with a frothy cuppa freshly made sandwich and of course my current crochet project….

Sunday was such a beautiful day to spend outside, not too hot with just a slight breeze a perfect way to spend a day after a week of stress, anxious moments and little sleep…….my parents have been tag teaming each other again on who has the most hospital stays! mum, then dad and now mum again so my blog posts may be a bit sporadic at the moment as my sister Anne and I try to sort out what to do  

I’d also like to apologise for not getting back to the lovely people who commented on my last post about my progress with the African flower hexie blanket but I’m sure you’ll be very understanding now you know what’s been going on in my corner of the world lately and to show you I have at least been keeping my fingers busy I also finished off my niece’s baby blanket for my great nephew Jaxson ( oohhh that makes me feel soooo old! )

Jaxson’s baby blanket

FNWF Results……

Friday night saw me adding a few more rows to my African flower hexie blanket. I’m up to row 10 now …..it’s looking beautiful and I can’t wait to see this one finished and on my bed and even though it’s officially spring it’s still cold enough to warrant such loveliness to grace my bed for at least a few more weeks

Thanks again to Cheryll for hosting such a fun night and if you want to see what everyone else got up to just pop over to Cheryll's blog and don’t forget to leave a comment.

I’ll be doing my blog hopping tomorrow as I’m totally shattered as I’ve only just got back from work after our big 20th year celebration  and after manning the cake stall all day and moving things back into place before leaving for the day all I can say again is I’m utterly and totally shattered and all I want to do now is go to bed and sleep the sleep of the deep so I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow after my big rest

It only took a year…….

These African flower hexagons have been waiting since last August when I made them up to be made into something….although I must admit I have enjoyed looking at this pile of gorgeousness as I strolled by it and I also must admit to giving them a little stroke in passing It’s just amazing what you can do with just scraps left over from other finished projects…..I had a basket of odd balls, half balls and bits that I just couldn’t throw away, now I’m glad I held onto them

Finally I started joining them together Friday night after work and I couldn’t stop at just one row lol, I’m now up to row five and it’s looking just beautiful! This is going to look just lovely over the end of my bed, just another 15 rows should do it??? Will show more pic’s as I progress on this one, I have funny feeling this one is going to sewn up very quickly

Journal swap…..

This is the journal I made for our August swap……

Marg was the lucky girl who got it on the day, I think she was pretty pleased with it

And this is the gorgeous and very cleverly made journal I received in our swap from Jo, look how she added the pen holder to the front of the journal….so clever! I love it Jo

Jo also included these…..

I’ve borrowed this photo from Jo’s blog as I’ve just realised I haven’t taken a photo of all the goodies she added to her swap parcel….Love them all Jo and I can’t wait to try out these new threads on a stitchery  and use my new journal and the dish cloth is already being put to good use