Charms, plates and a little stitching

I was thrilled to receive a few more charms for my Pandora charm  bracelet this Christmas. I wasn't buying any myself so have had to wait for Christmas to get some more. Hubby bought me the blue one, the gift and the basket (It is a picnic basket but he said it was a stitching one!) and the kids gave me the suitcase. They look lovely on my bracelet.

I packed away all the Christmas decorations and had to reorganise the dresser too. I really enjoyed having the Christmas plates etc on show here and they were useful too.

Over the last few weeks I have been slowly stitching the next block of Anni Downes'  "Gardener's Journal" quilt. This is the potting shed.

I have also decided to try and do one block of Lynette Anderson's Crazy Christmas BOM each month. Here is block 3 started.

I do need to attack my UFOs, especially the stitchery quilts which haven't been pieced yet. I keep waiting for a free day at home but they don't seem to happen very often! I should just get started one day and then may get motivated! Last year I promised not to start any more large projects and I failed. Can't promise that this year as I already have several BOMs started and a few more waiting in the stash. Still, it is such fun to start something new!

Class samples continued

I had a busy weekend redecorating my house as I put away all the Christmas decorations. It takes such a long time! I think that Christmas went very quickly this year!
Here are the other projects that we are doing this term. Here are the felt needlecase, pin cushion and scissor fob from the pattern "Bluebirds in the Hedgerow" by Diane Leftwich. I hadn't quite finished the scissor keeper when I took this picture.

This is the stitching journal.

This is the needlecase.

All the samples are at the shop now.

Class projects for term 1

I took the class projects into Hobbysew on Tuesday to display them ready for the coming term. We are having a stitching theme this term as there are so many lovely bits and pieces to make to help us stitch. Here is the stitching bag.

This is a very useful pin cushion. It is one of Fiona's patterns from one of our stitching days.

This is the canvas scissor keeper.

These little dolls can be scissor keepers too or can just be ornaments.

Circles & Stars, Needles and Pins

I have had the pleasure of creating these lovely felt stitching aids over the last week. They are a new pattern, soon to be released, by Diane Leftwich. They were fun to make though there were many small pieces but I think the results make the effort worthwhile. Thanks Diane, for letting me have a go at your lovely new pattern. Her previous pattern, Birds in the Hedgerow, is gorgeous too and we are making it in my classes in Term 1. This is the scissor fob.

This is the needlecase.

Here is the pin cushion. Seems a shame to use them!

We headed up to Sydney today for the funeral of my husband's wonderful Aunty Dorothy. She was almost 93 and had lived a wonderful full life. She did so much for others and the church (where she and her husband had been a member for about 60 years) was full and the stories shared were so special. We will miss her very much but know she is in a far better place.

Little stamped stitchery

Just a quick post this morning to share this little finished stitchery. Linda lent me her stamp to stitch and this is the result. It was fun to stitch though now I have to make it into something. Best head off to get ready to go to work!

Great idea and a little finish

I have always made templates by gluing things to cardboard and cutting out or tracing designs onto template plastic but I have discovered a better way. I've been using my laminator! It is so easy. I just print the design page of templates and then put it through the laminator.

Here it goes.

Then you just cut them out and you have very accurate templates. Great for patchwork templates and for making dolls or bears.

I went to Friday night stitching last night and finally finished the second of these lovely Christmas table toppers from the pattern by Anni of Hatched and Patched.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my lovely blog readers. Hope you had a happy celebration last night and that 2010 will hold much joy! I have just had a look over the year's photos and made a couple of collages of some of the special family times, stitching, outings and celebrations that have occurred during 2009. Other than just a few difficult times, 2009 was a really happy year and this blog has made it special too. I have so enjoyed sharing the good times and lots of stitching with all of you. Thank you for reading this blog.

Last year was full of special events such as Amy and Gavin's wedding, good times with dear friends and family, stitching excursions to Bathurst, Melbourne and Sydney and a cruise. It was a lovely year of stitching at our stitching days and at classes and social groups at the shop.