Sewing and stitching again

Since my last post, when I wrote about being a bit of a ditherer, there's been no time for slacking... Mum was here for a week and she kept the whip cracking as we got stuck into some secret Christmas sewing. Of course, I have nothing to share with you... because it's Secret Sewing(!) but I can share that it involves hours of me sitting tied to the machine with Mum standing over me cracking that whip :-) Actually she was a dab hand with the iron and a pile of pins, together we made a mean team and were the ultimate in efficiency!

But I did get a chance to do a little stitching in the evenings, when Mum decided it was time to put her feet up and rest the whip.
Here is where I am at with the Country at Heart Alphabet. These are a RagTag Stitchin' design by Michelle Ridgeway - I'm continuing to LOVE these :-)

 I've also made a little more progress on the Christmas Sewalong blocks by Wendy of Sugarlane Designs.
These will make a delightful wall hanging for a special friend - I'm looking forward to getting them finished and sewn up for her. (Wendy has a Craftsy store if you are interested in stitching these).

While going through my photos recently, I came across my Spring mini hanging (below) which I had forgotten to share.....I made this as part of a seasonal series for my favourite quiltshop. It's on a 12" stand.

And this was a little belated gift for Mum; she commented once that she had made many scissor keeps as gifts over the years but didn't actually have one herself! (Isn't that the way?) I've remedied that!

Popped some Ric-rac in the seam for a bit of extra charm.

There are a few other things to share with you also.
First up a big Thank You to Carrie of A Passion for Applique. I was one of her giveaway winners after she received and shared a prize after donating a quilt. Carrie is a talented quilter who is currently showing sneak peeks of a King George III coverlet re-creation  - I'm enjoying watching her progress on it.

And I have two new thimbles for my (so far) small collection. The pretty one on the right is a Yoko Saito thimble. Fellow blogger Raewyn wrote about Yoko and her thimbles *here*. I haven't actually got the hang of using a thimble but if I did, it sounds like this one would be an ideal one to use!

 The one on the left is one Mum bought me in Dubai, on her way to Italy recently for a holiday of a lifetime with her 3 sisters. This thimble brings back memories of a photo of the four of them clowning around at the top of  the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa :-)

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my Red and White quilt. Did you get a chance to go to SewCalGal's site to what others had designed and made? And did you know that you can vote for your favourite quilt? And that you can be entered into a draw for a prize just by leaving a comment after you vote? This has been a fun year of challenges. SewCalGal works hard to get sponsors and prizes so if you get a chance, please head over *there*, enjoy the eye candy and vote for your favourite :-)

And speaking of eye candy, on Saturday our local quilt shop, The Country Yard, has its annual exhibition. Quilts, a beautiful garden, a band, yummy morning tea and a sale; where else would one want to be?! It's always a pleasant day :-) When I was there at work yesterday the quilts were busy arriving so I'm looking forward to seeing them all displayed in the house. (Hanging them is tomorrow's job!).
I think that's all for now.... I need to sort exactly what I am doing for some more of my Christmas sewing (don't you hate it when people say how many days until Christmas? It always makes me feel panicky!) so I really must sign off.
As always, thank you for visiting, Happy creating,