Christmas Cards BOM.....five years on and it's finally together!

This quilt has been laguishing as finished applique blocks for over five years now just waiting to be put together and when I recently had a clean up in my sewing room I bit the bullet and started catalogueing how many UFO's I had(Truthfully)and had to hang my head in shame.But wait!!! I had a reason....I started full-time work around that time and just couldn't seem to find the time to put them all together hence the many UFO's hiding in my many hidy spots.....out of sight out of mind is my motto but no more!!! I'm going to be slowly but surely going through this humungus pile of UFO's and either finishing them off or giving them away to new homes where they will be loved (and hopefully finished by someone else).
So without further ado here is a photo of my quilt (I'll be keeping this one)!

redwork blocks 2 & 3

I've also been very busy finishing up blocks 2 & 3 of my redwork quilt.I'm loving the simplicity of just using one colour and the crispness/contrast of the red thread on white homespun.I've just started on block 4 and I'll post a photo of it as soon as I've finished it.

Christmas Stitchery BOM......all together now!

Finally the day is bright enough for me to take a photo of Gail Pan's BOM I've been working on.I finished putting all the sashing on last Sunday but I'm still undecided on how to complete it??? I'm thinking of maybe some small stitcheries or vines winding through the sashings or maybe some suffolk puffs at strategic points?? mmmm I'll ponder on it a while before I make a final decision.What do you think would look good?

HUG SWAP FOR ROXIE......2009.

These are the mug hug amd mug mat I made for Roxie.All I had to go on was her colour preference which was for autumn tones.....not colours I've worked with very often so I was a bit worried that Roxie might not like what I finally settled on.But I just checked her blog after her emailing me she'd received her parcel and she loves them. So a big PHEW! mission acomplished.We've also decided we'd like to keep in touch which I think is the best thing to come out of this swap...new friends!

HUG SWAP......2009

I arrived home from work today to find this parcel waiting for me.Roxie my partner in this swap had sent it the same day I sent the ones I made for her (saturday) so hopefully this means that *sooon,very sooon* Roxie will be receiving her hug in her letter box.
I just wanted to let Roxie know that I absolutely LOVE the mug hug and hug mat.All I gave her to work with was my colour preference which was red and white and let me tell you she didn't dissapoint!
I love how crisp the red and white look together and Roxie's stitching is so tiny and neat and the red ribbon to tie the hug to my mug just added that little bit of bling/sparkle to the whole set!
Thank you Roxie for being my swap partner and making me such beautiful items.I hope you like what I've made for you and you receive it very soon.

Hexagon Swap....no:3

The Angel hexie is the one I made for Fayzs.Her only criteria was that it have blue and cream in it so I decided to make up one of the hexie stitchery patterns from my hexie bag I've been slowly working on over the last couple of months.I think it turned out quite well and I love the blue thread I used,it looks so effective.
The rose hexie is the one Fayzs made for me.It's beautiful,I love roses! I think it will look great with my other hexies.Thanks Fayzs for being my swap partner and making me such a lovely hexie.I'm soooo enjoying this swap!

PIF Goodness .......THANKS CLARE!

Look what arrived in my letter box late last week.A very special PIF surprise from Clare over at Clare's Craft room (on my blog roll).I couldn't wait to tear open the packaging to find this beautiful plaque and other goddies she sent me.
I've only just been able to take a photo as it was too dark when I got home to take one and then when I tried the next day during daylight hours the battery in my camera died and I had to recharge it before I could take them (always the way,isn't it?)
I love sewing (well anything crafty) but I've never attempted making something like this.Clare was a bit worried that because it wasn't something sewn I might have been a bit dissapointed.....far from it!!I appreciate the thought and time that went into the making of it and I don't have anything like it in my sewing room.
Clare also sent with this gorgeous plaque a couple of very pretty fat 1/4's and a lovely 1/2 mtr of blue background fabric with chocolate hearts all over it.I can see me using this in a hexagon stitchery bag I've been working on,maybe the framing of them.....
I just wanted to tell Clare that I LOVE everything she has sent me and to thank her for sending such gorgeous goodies my way.

The joy of sewing....

This is what I've been working on the weekend.I've started a red and white quilt,just gotta love that combination! and with this quilt are red work stitcheries by Bronwyn Hayes.I'm making her quilt called cotton country and this is the first stitchery block I've stitched so far.I'm loving the simplicity of her work and just using one colour to sew with.

I've also been putting the borders on Gail Pan's BOM.I still have the final block to finish but I hope to have that done before next weekend so I can start putting it together.I'm thinking of maybe using a 2" sash between each block in a gold toned fabric....I don't want to use another dark colour as I want the finished quilt to be light and airy looking that's why I displayed the blocks on a light coloured material.I'd like to use a white toned/gold background as all my block backgrounds are a crisp white.What do you think I should do?

1st Stitchers Angel suprise.....

Shhhh....don't tell my swap angel that I'm posting this photo of one of the finished suprises I'm making for her here on my blog!! Hehehe if she does figure it out it'll still be suprise because I've made three of them and I'm not telling which one is for her.A girl has to keep some secrets you know!
Now onto the next one.....I'll post a sneak peak when it's done.

Thanks Stefanie!

Look what arrived in my mail box! A beautifully fabric wrapped parcel.A few weeks ago I entered Stefanie's giveaway on her blog and won it!! I was certainly doing the happy dance.Stefanie also included with the gorgeous Aviary charm pack a fantastic mag all the way from America!
I was going to post about it last night but I'd been fighting a migraine all day yesterday and wasn't up to posting about it and wouldn't you know it the migraines still hanging around today!!I hate migraines!
Anyway enough about me I just wanted to say a very big thank you to Stefanie for hosting such a lovely giveaway and being so generous in sending the extras.Thank you Stefanie!!
If you want to check out Stefanie's blog just go to my blog roll on the left and click onto "Quilt buddy" and I tell you,you won't be dissapointed she has some gorgeous stuff there.