The sad thing about Christmas is that it is over way too quickly! We did have a lovely day, however, and to keep the celebration going for a little longer, here are photos of my pressies!

From the boys (with help from Elizabeth!) I got this gorgeous fat quarter pack:


Mmmmmm! Yummy! I can feel a new pattern coming up..... :)

From Elizabeth I got these dvds, and don't ask me why blogger has them on their side!!! I can't be bothered right now... you get the picture!


And from Di, my dear blog friend from across the ocean, I got a lot of goodies, but the bestest was this:


Open it up:


It is utterly gorgeous!!! I love it!! And look, my scissors fit in and match perfectly:


You know that this is coming in my suitcase! It is going to be part of my "Essential Quilter's Travelling Kit"...

So I was pretty spoiled :) Now I am busy trying to work out how many projects can fit into my suitcase without tossing out all of my clothes...... Ugh! Back to the packing grind.... catch you all later!

... and all through the house, we were all scurrying around like mice.... The presents are wrapped under the tree.... the Christmas music is on.... the kids are washing dishes... :) I love Christmas time!! It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

with my soul... and with my bowels :) Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.... I am home with a slight hangover from the "happy juice" as the doctor called it, lol! Don't think I'll be doing any sewing today!

I am glad it is over.. bring on Christmas!!!!

Well, today I go in to hospital.. again.. (Elizabeth says to me, you sure do go to hospital a lot, lol!) Yesterday I was on just fluids for the day, so don't talk to me about food! I'm having a gastroctomy and colonoscopy done - what fun! I will let everyond know how it goes tonight.. it is just a day job :)

So yesterday I thought, let me do something fun for myself! Well, it took me until.. um... yeah,.. after 6pm to get time for "myself"! I took a couple of charm packs and had a bit of a play....


I like it! It is only small, going to be another square table topper to add to my collection. I need to think what I am going to put around it now... probably a white border, and then flying geese... or just squares... or... hmmm.. this will be fun!

I went to Gail's the other day to make the most of her 20% off sale and bought a hand quilting frame. I am going to hand quilt the above. I bought one that is on a stand to put in the container, and one 14" one to take in my suitcase. I need something to do while Bernie and Nina are on the ship!! I also found the perfect hanger to hang Joy's Christmas Hearts:


Thank you to all who have ordered the above pattern so far! Jess sent me the website of the place I am going to send the donations to. I am not going to talk about the organization here on my blog because I know a few young people/children read my blog, and there is "too much information" for them in this topic! But you can go here to read more about this project which is somewhat unique in that it focuses on boys, rather than girls... Enough said, but please, if you can spare $5.99 this Christmas season, then go HERE to buy your copy. As they say on their webpage, every little bit helps! If you just want to donate, then buy the pattern and toss it in your recycle bin!! There is also still time to buy one for a friend and attach it to a Christmas email :) Just treat it as a paper pattern... and buy what you need... You can also donate on their webpage.

Again,.. enough said! Some friends are about to pick me up to take me in to hossie, so I'd better go get ready!! Hope you are all organized for Christmas....!!!! Only one sleep for us... we celebrate Christmas Eve! Yay! I'll be able to eat, lol!! Catch you all later :)

It is supposed to be summer here in the deep south of Australia... but today we had hail! Pity it wasn't snow, but I think that would have shocked everyone even more, so it's probably just as well :) I tried to take a photo, but you really couldn't see anything, just heard the clinking of the hail falling on the veranda and bouncing off the car I need to sell before I leave.....!

I worked on this today:


It is so nice to have two big tables to pin on so that I didn't have to clean the kitchen floor! Don't look at the mess around them though...:


It is a very functional room, and I will miss it! But hubby has found us a house in Saudi, and there is another big room for me to use for sewing, so I will be fine :)

Back to the quilt - it is Gail Pan's Christmas Wishes as you probably already knew and this is one of the two I am making. This one is for my sister..... supposed to be done last year, but oh well! I finished it off today, yay! And wrapped it up but forgot to take a pic of it finished!! It is going in the mail tomorrow and I will ask her to take a photo of it when it reaches its new home.

Talking about mail, I got a parcel from Di on Friday with these lovelies in it:


It brought tears to my eyes - she is such a sweet blogland friend and I hope one day we can meet in real life. See the pressies that are wrapped? I have put them under the tree so that I have some more suprises later in the week :) Thank you so much Di!

It's late and I am heading for bed.. I have a big week ahead of me... other than preparing for Christmas which I am actually pretty organized for!!! The big week includes a day in hospital because some tests came back not so good, and I have to go in for a procedure on Thursday. I see the specialist on Tuesday so I will have more news after that...

But for now..... to all a good night :)

I actually did a bit of this and a bit of that today. I bought a new diary for 2011, and thought it was rather boring:


So I made a pretty cover for it:


Do you also love the clean new pages of a new year???


I worked on a Christmas present for my Mum. Here is a very sneak peek in case she looks at my blog:


And I had some mending to do. The camera case I made earlier this year was losing its yoyos. I fixed one yoyo:


But where oh where has the other one gone????


Naughty yoyo... it is hiding somewhere.. or I put it in a "safe" place.... hmmm....

I'm also working on finishing one of my Gail Pan Christmas wishes quilts for my sister. No photos of that yet. Hopefully tomorrow, although I the next two days are full of doctors' appointments, so I may not get it done...

Anyway, that's what was on my cutting board today...

I know this because the bobbin always runs out an inch or so from the end.....

Once a week I go to a small study group associated with our church. Last week we had a visiting speaker, the daughter of the couple that lead our group. Jess had been to Thailand for a trip recently and came to share with us about that. She made this trip with World Vision with the particular purpose of finding out more about the slave trade or human trafficking. You can imagine the stories she brought back with her....

This isn't a subject that we hear a lot about... but when you do hear what is going on, it is very confrontational! By the end of the evening I think most of us wanted to hop on a plane and go punch some people on the nose! Or go and open an orphanage to save some of those little children who are stolen from their parents and made to work in factories or worse places. If I was a millionaire, that is what I would do. Snatch these children away... and care for them. How I wish I could go over there and save them from a fate worse than death... but I can't.

What I can do is ask you to join with me this Christmas in raising some money for some of the children that Jess visited who have been saved from the slave traders. I had been working on a Christmas pattern that I hoped I could sell one day..... and after the meeting felt that I should finish it by this week and put it up on the web as a fundraiser.

So I present to you Joy's Christmas Hearts:


It is a quick, simple wallhanging to make for Christmas and your purchase this month will show our LOVE for children in Thailand, give them some HOPE, and us some JOY in giving this year.

This is a pdf pattern and if you would like to buy one for yourself and as a gift for somone else, please treat it as a paper pattern and buy two copies :) It would make a great gift as an attachment to a Christmas email for a quilting friend.... or you may still have time to make one for a friend before Christmas. You can also save it to work on throughout the year for next Christmas :)

Many thanks to Yvonne and Alice for helping me proof the pattern on such short notice!

ALL the money from the patterns bought this December will go to Jess who will pass it on to the project she is working with in Thailand.

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading and I do hope you are able to help out with this special cause. You can go HERE to buy the pattern and make a small difference in the life of a child saved from slavery.

Please take the button from the top of this post and spread the word this month. We can make a difference, little by little.....

Yes finally, they are here. I should have gotten them up earlier, but I am not confident about writing up patterns yet, so it has taken a little longer. I can't say the photo is that great either. The colors are not like they are in real life :( I tried to take another one in better light, but would you believe it, I couldn't find it! LOL! I think I packed it. What was I thinking?!

Anyway, I do hope you have all enjoyed this bom as much as I have. I would like to make it in another colorway... and setting... if only I had the time!!!

So go HERE to download the instructions. They are way down the bottom of the page. If anyone out there ever finishes this quilt, please do send us a photo!!!! We would love to see it!!

I have a few belated photos to share with you. A while back I got a parcel from Fiona from BubzRugz. In it was this:


A soft, soft, SOFT face washer!!! Just for me! I'm not sharing! She sent it to me as a thank you for running Finishing Stitches, now wasn't that sweet? It was my pleasure to host that and I am hoping to do it again next year, because I don't know about you, but I still have HEAPS of projects needing finishing.... :) Thank you so much Fiona!

I also got a little pressie in the mail last week from my sis. I had made her some table runners, just simple ones, but they took a bit of time still. She sent me this cute covered notebook as a thank you:


Aren't I lucky?! It will fit nicely into my handbag :) Thank you Christie!!!

Come back tomorrow sometime for something to do with hearts, hope and Christmas!

Yes, it is me. I am back. I am still somewhat sane. I think.... I have sorted everything out in the whole house, and am almost ready for the packers to come. Good news: they are coming early Jan instead of a few days before Christmas :) So we have taken the decorations out and started putting them up. Here is Pepsi having a rest next to the Winter Lego village:



I have missed you all during this unintentional blogging break! But I have needed the time to spend on the house and getting ready for the big move. Really, the place has never been so declutterd, it is amazing!!! I have started stuffing fabric in all my empty Tupperware containers... which is a bit frustrating because now I can't find what I need for the projects I have started working on this week! Oh well... at least all my fabric will be coming with me - it gets packed in the container first! Priorities, priorities :)

It is summer here in Australia now... I think.... you wouldn't really be able to tell with the weather we have been having. It was nice and sunny this morning and I finally got the washing out. I had a little nap this afternoon and woke up to thunder.... I looked out the windows of my sewing room and what did I see??? This:


Wet washing. You can't see the rain, but it is there, trust me.


These birds didn't seem to mind the wet weather though. They seemed to be finding all sorts of yummies in the grass :) Isn't he pretty:


You know, if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine it was snowing... almost... so I put on some Christmas music and worked on a secret project:


Keep an eye out for more blog posts in the next few days. I am working on the finishing instructions for the Fruit of the Spirit block of the month - better late than never don't you think?? I am also working on a special project that I am going to need your help with... more on that on Monday whenI hope you will join me for

Until then, I shall head back into my sewing room and do a bit more stippling....

I have been so busy sorting out stuff and getting ready for the packers to come. Yesterday I was so tired I slept in till mid-day... something I have never done before in my life!!! I decided my body was telling me to slow down and take it easy, so today I spent the day in my sewing room. I think Nina was happy to see me... I haven't spent any time with her for so long!!

Here is a sneak peak of what I was working on:


You know what it is, don't you....? Yes, I finished the top for the Fruit of the Spirit Block of the Month! Yay! I now need to write it up and post it on the web for you all :) I am quite happy with how it turned out... and glad I didn't give up on it, lol!!

We have dates for when the packers are going to come - the 22nd & 23rd of Dec :) What fun! We will have a very empty house for Christmas....! Oh well.. such is life. I am trying to have everything sorted out by the end of November so that I am not stressing at the last minute. So far it is all going well....

Hope you are all well and sewing lots and lots!!! I'll be back later in the week with the finishing instructions...

Yes, we have winners for these gorgeous charm packs, and of course I expect to see two quilts done by Christmas... hee heeee :) Just kidding, but I know you will want to sew these up when you get them because they are just adorable!!!

On to the winners! For Part A we have:

She said:

It's what you have all been waiting for... the chance to be the next one to have this pattern for a month!

This is how it works:

I won this pattern from Vicki from Tozz's Corner. The deal was that I could have it for 1 month, then had to pass it along in a giveaway to someone else. They then could also have fun making these quick, easy and cute wallets, before they once again passed it on in a giveaway within a month, etc, etc, etc.....

So, the rules are as follows:

1. You must have a blog to be in it.

2. Once you receive it, you must pass it on to another blogger via a giveaway within 1 month! It will be great to see where it goes around the world......

3. Add your name and blog address to the card provided which will also be passed on with the pattern.

If you agree to have it made and to pass it on within this time frame, please comment on this post! I am happy to post anywhere in the world. Only one comment per person please!

I will randomly select a winner on the 1st of November.

I went to the doctors today and not to go into too many details, I need bed rest for a while. Nothing serious, just to do with my wound not healing from the operation. So... I need to do some business announcements before I disappear from the blog world for a while....

Firstly, Finishing Stitches Ladies, keep finishing till the end of this month!! Remember, there are two charm packs to win!!! I won't be putting up photos of your finishes, but please let me know at the end of the month how many you have and then we will find a winner :)

Secondly, Fruit of the Spirit BOM finishing instructions are NOT going to come out for another month at least. When Alice and I started the BOM at the beginning of the year, we didn't envisage major operations and moving countries... please accept my humble apologies....

Thirdly, the HOT POTATO!! I will put up a post tomorrow with the details and pick a winner on the 1st of November. I will keep that post up until then... so no one will mis my blogging because it will be a fun post to keep at the top :)

And that's it folks :) Thanks so much for your friendship and I will be back :)

It's been pretty hectic at our place.... Cameron finished work a couple of weeks ago and has been busy doing jobs around the house to get ready to go to Saudi. I've been helping out, not doing much, but hopefully being generally supportive!

And then a few days ago I got sick... ugh.... flu I think. I haven't felt this bad for a long time. So, please excuse me for being absent in blogland....

It has been lovely having Cameron home everyday. Since we will be apart for at least 3 months, we've had a few special "dates" :) A few nights ago he took me out to dinner, and one Sunday afternoon we went out for a coffee in a nearby town. There was a craft shop there where I picked up a few bargains. These magazines were a dollar each:


In one of them I really LOVE these pouches:


I think I am going to have to make some. They look very similar to the Hot Potato loyalty wallets, so I think I can manage them.

I also found these:


For a zip-a-holic you may be wondering why on earth I bought these. I couldn't help it, they were only 50c each... so my frugalness overcame my fear and I bought 20.... what was I thinking?

You will be proud of me, I already used one :) I bought this pattern online:



I don't seem to have a photo of the finished clutch - it will have to wait for another day. It was quite a good pattern with lots of pictures and step by step instructions. And I managed to put the zip in... phew!

So, that is a bit of what has been happening around here.......

Patty from Mom Loves 2 Quilt !!! Congratulations!!! I have sent you the pdf patterns and as soon as I know you have received them, I will delete them from my computer :)

Thank you to all who entered and visited my blog! It has been a fun time of meeting new friends and blog visiting, hasn't it? Many thanks to Debi for hosting this. Can we do it again for Christmas?!

In the meantime, come back in a week or so to have a chance at winning the Hot Potato from the previous post! I am just making a few more and then I will be passing it on to someone else :)

My Hot Potato arrived on Monday!! That evening I cut out the pattern and Tuesday morning I had one finished:




Now Vicki included this cute card with the pattern:


And in it she wrote this:


Do you see the bit where she says she bets I can't make JUST one?

She was right.

That afternoon I decided to brew up a pot of tea and have it in my sewing room. I put the little wallet with the teapot for inspiration:


By the time the teapot and cup were empty, the wallets (and scraps of fabric) had multiplied:


Hnmmm... if that is how quickly they sew up in one day, imagine how many I'll have done by the end of the month?! They really are cute and quick!

Don't forget that in a month I will be passing this hot potato on again! You too could have little wallets multiplying in your sewing room!

I think our little challenge went very well last month, don't you? I enjoyed the extra block challenge, since it was fun to work on existing projects in bite size pieces... and also get a few ufo's done... So, for October, we will do it all again :) I am going to give these two Christmas charm packs away :



I'll be picking a winner from both part A and part B - but I am warning you in advance, I shall rig it slightly.... ie if the winner from part B has already won part A, I will choose someone else. I want two winners this month, not one person to win both. I think that makes sense.... (it is late..)..

So, the challenge details:


Part A - Finish a UFO that has been lying around for more than a month. Really, I don't care how long it has been a UFO - whatever your definition is, is fine by me :) I just want us all to get things done that we have started. Just finish a UFO - big, small, made of paper, wool, fabric, paint, whatever.

Part B - this is only for quilters I'm afraid. It is to finish a BLOCK for ANY quilt (UFO or just started). The idea is to finish the bigger projects, we divide them into smaller goals. You can work out what your definition of a block is. Small block, big block, stitched block, applieque... Again, just as long as you are finishing....

Please let me know when you finish something for either Part A or B, by leaving a comment on any post or sending me an email, and either send me a pic or point me to a pic on your blog that I can pinch.

You can join in on one, both, ... um... er... of course none if you so choose :)

Leave a comment on this blog post if you want to join in or email me. If you've already finished something (Yvonne!), just let me know :)

Here's to another productive month!!!

Today is the big day! Over 140 blogs are joining in around the world to bring you this fun giveaway! If you have come here from the Fall into Fall blog, welcome! I hope you will look around while you are here :)

I am giving away two fall pdf patterns:




I will be giving both of these pdf patterns to ONE lucky winner :) To enter my giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. You don't need to become a follower, or jump through hoops :) You must however have an email address where I can contact you, so if you are set to "no reply", please leave your email address in the comment with (at) instead of @ and (dot) instead of . , if that makes any sense!

I will be randomly drawing a winner on the 15th of October. Now go check out the other blogs for their giveaways!!! I suggest you grab a cuppa... :)

Ok, here are some last finishes for this month.

Shelley finished this sweet fairy:

She is blue, so of course I love her :)

I finished the chookies and tea wallets, (picture in previous post), so that makes 5 more for me - yay!

Alice has finished her turkey wall hanging:

Yay! Love the autumn colors!

Di joined us this month and finished this gorgeous quilt for her library:

Fiona finished this Aussie Christmas table runner:

Isn't it pretty?

You know, I think we all did really well this month. I love the block challenge because without it I probably wouldn't have gotten those 6 blocks done. It was just the nudge I needed.

Now I won't be posting the winner of this month until sometime next week, because, tomorrow is the Fall into Fall Giveaway!! I keep forgetting to tell you about it... even though I have had this little guy in my sidebar for a while:

Come back tomorrow and see what I will be giving away! There are LOTS of blogs particpating in this giveaway, over a hundred I think, so we shall be doing lots of blog hopping over the next few days!

No more posts for today... I think I have overblogged, but even if I bored you all to death, I did have fun blogging my day :)

See you all tomorrow!!!!