Forgotten works!!!

I have shared before about the 'Sewing Essentials' items I made for a Project of the Month club The Country Yard ran last year...some of the items I have shown photos of but in the rush to get each item finished and into the shop as a sample (I made them all at home) some quickly left my brain and missed out on blogland while I moved onto another project.
And, in my end of year 'cleanup', I've come across them again! So that they can be recorded for OPAM I will share them today, at the 11th hour of 2013!
We did two colour/fabric ways; most of the samples I made were in one as that was the most popular.

Armchair hussif

Rotary cutter sheath and clamshell 'thimblecase'

Sewing tidy

Tote

***

Also in my camera waiting to be shared are these photos of some honey our beekeeper dropped off just before Christmas. A great big honey comb.... the MOML scooped all the honey out into one of his honey buckets and is now enjoying it on his toast each day. It's from the hives and trees I showed here and is as rich and pure as can be!

The MOML doesn't mind the little bits of honey wax, saying it adds to the experience but I prefer to spit them out later, as you would pips from a fruit! (Sorry that doesn't make me sound very ladylike does it!!)

***

And one last photo for the year, showing relaxing with friends and family. A Kiwi Christmas!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2014 bring you joy and happiness, health and wisdom, with a whole lot of stitching thrown in as well :-)
Thank you for your visits, comments, feedback and friendship. Thank you for enriching my blogging and creating experiences. I look forward to doing it all over again next year,
Hugs to you all,

More gifts...

Gosh with the last OPAM deadline of the year rapidly approaching it's time to do a quick post of the things I couldn't share earlier on —

~swap gifts~

Christmas hanging for Noela

Desk tidy and needle case for Noela
(filled with all sorts of goodies!)

Bet you cant guess who this was for!!

A pouch for Michell

Christmas hanging for Michell

Kitchen towel for Michell

~other gifts~

YD started making herself this nightie 2 years ago.
I thought it would be nice to finish it for her!

I made another little pouch so that's 5 of these -
important to get the numbers right for OPAM!!!

I made some more gift-tags!!

Hopefully I have got everything - it is easy to lose track at this time of the year!!
Happy stitching everyone, have a great day,

Handmade gifts

A few more homemade goodies in our house this Christmas....

Mum made little sewing sets for her Grand-daughters (6 sets!!)

YD made this bear for Mum.
Isn't he a sweetie?

After swinging in the Christmas tree....

...it was time for a nap.

Great sentiment on this clever hanger made by Leeanne!

Cute bookmarks made by my mother in law.

Yesterday I got the urge to make Gingerbread men.

Nice to use these cutters - my Grandmother had the ginger-
bread man one and Mum had the little bear when we were
kids. They don't make them like this anymore!

Happy stitching everyone,
Have a great day,

Swap gifts

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas!

We have had a nice few days, enjoying each other's company and enjoying being in slow-down, holiday mode. The food's been fabulous and the weather perfect .... lovely summery days without the humidity... even some Christmas rain for the farm! Mum is still here which is nice, ED is enjoying being out of the city and is making the most of the beaches and enjoying some watersports. YD and her fiance were up for 24 hours only (the crazy hours you have to work in retail are not always sociable..... hopefully they had enough Christmas ham and pavlova to keep their energy levels up for the Boxing Day sales!)
Missing was our son and dil but they will be in NZ in February so we will enjoy having them here then.
We have some more family visiting again today so that will be great too. I'm sure we can find some leftovers to feed them with!!

***

I thought I would quickly share the gifts I received in the two swaps I took part in this year.
Michell, another kiwi, was my partner for Cheryll's Santa Swap.
Earlier on, I posted a picture of the gorgeous sack she sent me —

We were allowed to open it on the 18th but I chose to wait until Christmas Day. Here are the gifties that were inside it —

Lots of yumminess. Plenty of fabrics for my stash, hangings, soap and a
cute perpetual calendar (how did you guess Michell that I had been thinking
one of those would be a good idea!)
And can you see the Christmas runner it is all sitting on...?

...here it is again. Perfect, Michell, thank you again!

(And to step sideways for a moment; I was delighted to win a $25 gift voucher from the Fat Quarter Shop from the SewCalGal FMQ challenge I took part in this year. I've been trying to decide on which jelly roll to choose.... one of the 2.5"square packs Michell gifted me was a range I'd been looking at... Vin du Jour by 3 Sisters.....and I love it so will order that one!! Thanks Michell!!) 

And thank you to Cheryll for organising this fun swap!

***

The second swap I took part in was a Secret Santa Christmas Swap run by Chookyblue and GoogyGirl. This was fun as the person we sent to and recieved from were competely different, and many of us managed to keep our identities secret until the last minute.
My secret Santa sent me two very cute tree decorations —

From Lynette Anderson's Stitch it for Christmas book

Then this table topper to be opened before Christmas —

Her own design! Around the World Christmas style

 And on Christmas Day, she revealed herself to me when I opened this gorgeous bag —

(Gail Pan design.)

And it was Anthea, of Hibiscus Stitches - thank you so much Anthea! Your stitching is beautiful and I love the generous gifts you have made.
And again., thank you to Chookyblue and Googy Girl for organising this swap!

Time now to prepare for visitors!
Have fun everyone and happy stitching if you get a chance!

Merry Christmas!!

I'm just grabbing a few quiet moments to send out a Christmas post.......

The tree is up and decorated, and all the shoppings been done (don't ask me about the supermarket this morning!), there are still a few gifts to wrap but right now I'm feeling a little bit relaxed and looking forward to a few nice days of family and festivity.

I'm not the only one feeling relaxed - the dog has found a cool spot to sleep....

...and Nigel has found a breeze to cool off with.

Mum is on her way up for a visit, and I know she wont be on a computer before Christmas, so I can safely show you what I made for her. You may (or may not!) remember I made her a block roll for her birthday. Well, I've made her another one. This one is a lot wider, for bigger blocks, and I experimented with including a bit of fancy work on it.
I was inspired by Michelle's fabulous stitchery pattern and had fun with a little quilting too.

My Secret Swap partner from the Chookyblue SSCS gave me instructions to open one gift on the 18th...how could I not?!...and aren't I spoilt?... isn't the table topper gorgeous!
So purely Christmassy - I love it, Thank You again, whoever You are!!!

 On that very happy note, I will finish!
I wish you and your loved ones all the very best for a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all keep safe and well and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Happy Days,

Able to share......

Today I am able to share a picture of the stocking I sent to Michell for our Santa Sack Swap- and it's just in time for One Christmas Item a Month (well I am a couple of days late, thank you Narelle for putting up with my tardiness).

I had fun making this with the foundation pieced bauble around the top - adapted from a mantelpiece runner pattern I found.
In a day or so we are allowed to open our pressies, if we wish, I'm still undecided and wondering if I might like to save mine for Christmas Day....

*****

I can also share these little cuties that I have made this week - they are Pyramid Purses, a bit of a novelty really but I think they could be handy for something. Once I got the hang of the pattern they were fun to stitch up.

*****

The other day while I was in town I had a bit of time to pop into The Bach. The last time I was there was in May and I shared photos of a large weaving being made for the community (see this post here). Visitors are welcome to sit down and join in, something I have wanted to do, but you know how it is, sometimes life gets in the way.
I was interested to see how it was shaping up....they are making progress but the woman I spoke to said there is still about 18months worth of work to go before it is finished!

They were on the blackand white checkerboard when I first visited.
You can see the design drawn onto the sheet behind the warp yarn, to use
as a guide.

*****

It's been a while since I wandered and just took photos for the sake of it; this morning everything was looking fresh after an unexpected downpour yesterday afternoon. (63 mls of rain just came out of nowhere - that's well over 2 inches and is most welcome at this time of the year). So I took my camera with me when I went out to collect the mail and took these photos.

Looking down the driveway towards the road.

The Flax flowers are open and the bees were busy.

Cute wee Cherry Guava flowers.

Red Hot Poker. You can almost see the raindrops still on it!

Ahh, Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Thanks for visiting and reading along. I hope all your festive preparations are going well :->
And, if you get a chance, Happy Stitching,