CHRISTMAS SEWING

 Hayley and Chloe sewing their angels. Chloe was a bit concerned when the thread almost came out of the needle.

 Chloe, Brooke and Hayley showing off their angels.

 A close up of the angels.

Hayley and Chloe hard at work sewing the hearts to the angels dress.

I haven`t been blogging much lately and plan to do more often in the new year.

Three of my grand daughters were visiting at the same time and we decided to do some sewing.

we looked through some books and decided to make some angels, it was a lot of fun and many rethreading of needles when the little arms pulled it to far but worth it in the end when they all went home with a new angel for the Christmas tree.

Bye for now Jude

CUTE LITTLE BAGS AND BALLET DANCERS

I just loved making these little bags and have plans to make more. The two together were gifts for Chloe and Hayley,{my twin granddaughters} as a gift after we watched them dance at their ballet concert. The little kids were precious, they were just watching each other and all out of step but we loved it anyway. The other bag is my newest sewing hold all for when I go to craft. I have another to make using teddy bear fabric for my next door neighbours daughters birthday and as the pattern is so good I will probably be making more.

 My bag and it is also fully lined and has a needle case to go with it and I will show you that later.

The twins bags.

Here they are all dressed for the ballet concert.

Bye for now jude.

THE TWINS BIRTHDAY GIFTS

 Here I am with my beautiful granddaughters Hayley on the left and Chloe on the right(I think). They are now 5 years old and due to start school next term. DH and I are going to Victor harbor for their ballet concert and I will be staying on for the kindy graduation.

 This is one of the dolly carry cots I have made for  their birthday gift and a Barbie doll as well. They have little dolls and toy bunnies and bears just waiting to sleep in these cots and they were quite easy to make.

 This is the second dolly bed and I know the girls are going to love them. I am sure they will also be used to carry baby bunny and guinea pig around in if we let them. Lucky they are washable.

These cute bags are for the girls after we have been to their concert. I saw the ballet fabric and had to buy it and now it has come in very useful. I have put a hair brush, lip gloss and nail polish in the bags and the girls are going to be excited when they get them. Bye for now as I have to put the tea on the table as DH is complaining he is hungry, poor dear. Jude

JUNE STITCH-A-LONG FINISHED EARLY

Dont you just love this cute pincushion. It was easy to do even with all those little hexies and it came together very quickly. It is out of the RED HOME book by Natalie Bird and is full of great projects to do. Looking forward to completing even more projects from this book.
cheers for now Jude.

A LITTLE GIRLS QUILT

Love this quilt pattern, its quick and easy to do and the little girls seem to love it.

 It is called Butterflies & Daisies 2 by Kids Quilts and I daresay it will be made again.

The little pillow is from the Worry Dolls pattern from Dont Look Now.

I have made it slightly bigger than the pattern and prefer this size and will continue to make them this big.

The backing and binding is the same as the quilt and it ties them together and makes a lovely gift.

Hi everyone, I have been very busy making quilts and other little stitching and sewing projects. The quilt and pillow pictured here are a gift for my next door neighbours 1st grandchild. DH and I attended the parents wedding last year and I said I would make their daughter, Isla a quilt. The colours that were chosen were blue and purple and I was a bit worried that it was not going to look very nice. But I shopped around for fabrics and used others from my stash and was pleased with how the quilt has turned out. With the leftovers I have made a little pillow to go with it and I am sure they are going to like it.
 I cant show the other quilt as yet as I was doing a test run on a pattern for my  friend Dawn and as it is to published in a magazine later this year the design is a secret, but I will show you after the publication comes out. Hope the waiting wont be too bad and it will be worth the wait.
Just have to put the finishing touches to a couple of smaller projects and will be posting them.
Bye for now Jude

MY NEW BAG AND A SHORT BREAK

 This is my latest bag it is from the SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL book from Anni Downs. I am doing a project a month on a Stitch-a-long organised by Chookyblue and I am really enjoying it.

DH and I have just spent a few days at Port Willunga on the Fleurieu Peninsular in good old South Australia. We took the dog Andy, who is having a snooze here and our van and enjoyed some rest and relaxation. Long walks on the beach and exploring the local towns. Here I am putting the final stitches of the embroidery onto the bag in the photo above and I finished it this afternoon at home. The weather was unseasonably warm for this time of the year so it was lovely to spend time at the seaside. I was even propositioned by a lovely local lady to go skinny dipping (or should that be chunky dunkin as I am not a slim Jane at all), because I did not have my swimming suit, I kindly declined as it was too cold and windy. Had a lovely drive to Victor Harbor on Friday to pick Chloe and Hayley my 4 year old Grandaughters up from kindy and spend the afternoon with them, after dinner back to the beach, then back home on Saturday as we had other commitments to tend to.
Bye for now Jude

APRIL STITCH-A-LONG

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and stitching and sewing up a frenzy. I have just spent 5 days at Victor Harbor visiting my DD and S in L and my twin grand daughters Chloe and Hayley, had a great time but for got to take my camera so no photos. Came home and got to work on my April stitch-a-long project and today I sewed it together. It was a fun project and it adds another gift to my Christmas basket. I chose traditional colours to do mine with and have also decided that all the projects we are doing will use fabric from my stash, so far I have stuck to that rule. Bye for now Jude

A BIT OF A MIX

 I was one of the guest designers at this years Lets-Get-Stitched held at Adelaide Shores Resort. It was a great weekend with lots of fun, games and laughter. This is the pattern I supplied and it is a child`s treasure box made with template plastic and layers of fabric sewn together.

 These were the first two I made and my Grandkids have laid claim to them already.

 Here I have made my doily/coaster pattern in wonderful apple fabric as a gift for my sister. There are 4 placemats and 4 drink coasters and I am sure you are going to love them.

 Hubby and I will be taking Chloe and Hayley our twin granddaughters to the wedding ceremony that their parents are a part of so I have made them a horseshoe each to give to the bride. They are made from real horseshoes so she will get a shock when the girls put them on her arm. LOL

This table runner is also for my sister and it is made from Dawn`s pattern that she presented at the Lets-Get-Stitched weekend.
After all this sewing and writing the blog I am in need of a cuppa and a rest, so bye for now Jude.

A MIXED BAG

 Hi all, I have been busy helping Dawn with the last minute tasks for the LETS-GET STITCHED retreat at Adelaide Shores Resort and now it is over for this year. I haven`t done the projects yet but I will get to them and then I will put them up for you to see. but I did go shopping on our quilt shop bus tour. 

 Some fat quarters I needed to finish my Life is Beautiful quilt. Very Yummy.

 The charm pack on the left is the one I won at our games night and it is my kind of colours and I love it, just need to find the right project to make. The one on the right came in our goody bag and by golly there was lots of treasures in there as well as a bottle of South Australian wine. Cant wait till next year to do it again.

 This the fabric I have purchased to do one of the projects and I am eager to start it.

And last but not least is my cute little pin cushion that i finished this afternoon for chookeyblues Stitch-a-long and I just love it so much I am going to make another( can never have too many pin cushions now can you). Must be off now as DH is taking me out for dinner and a movie after a meeting with the council.

Cheers Jude

FEBRUARY STITCH-A-LONG BAG AND OUR LUNCH

 Just finished the bag for the February STITCH-A-LONG, I really am pleased with how it has turned out and will probably use this pattern again. Thanks for a doing this chookyblue.

Do you like my lunch? This is just some of the yummy homemade tomato soup I have made this season from the fruit that my husband has grown in our back garden.

Bye for now Jude.

JADE`S FIRST QUILT

This is Jade`s first quilt. She is 7 years old and loves to do crafty things especially with Nan. So while her sister Brooke and Jade had a holiday with Nan and Pa after Christmas we decided it was time to make a quilt. Jade chose her fabrics and pattern and I cut it out as I didnt want her to go home minus a finger or two.Jade was confident using the machine but at times forgot to guide the fabric so Nan had to help a little bit. She also had to undo seams that had gone astray but did so without complaint. Jade thought it was good to tape the fabrics to the table to make her quilt sandwich but got a sore finger putting in all those pins. Getting the binding ironed was a trauma for for me as I didnt want any burnt fingers, but she did it very well. Sewing the binding on was fine until she got to the corners, so help here from me to get the mitred corners right. Last was the sewing down of the binding, a complete disaster as Jade is left handed and I am not. I tried several ways to show her how to hand sew but she could not master the step so I sewed the binding down. I now need some help in teaching a left hander how to hand sew, any suggestions would be helpful. 

 I then flew back to Sydney with the girls and stayed for a week and enjoyed lovely walks in the country side and breakfast on the verandah watching and listening to the abundant bird life. There were magpies, eagles, galahs, parrots, kookaburras and many more I didnt know. The valley was very green and populated with cows and horses, very nice way to start the day. Back home now and lots of sewing to catch up on. 

Bye for now Jude

JANUARY STITCH-A-LONG

This year in the Stitch- a -long we are doing smaller projects each month.They are more achievable and will make lovely gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Some are also projects I had put on my to do list and now they will all get done this year, what a bonus.Thanks to chooky blue for coming up with this idea. 

 My thread catcher, and it was very quick and easy to sew, will probably do some more soon.

My shoe bag. I needed a couple of these for when I visit my DDs. I have added a lining, so no seams are showing, looks much neater on the inside as well.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER... NOW BACK TO NORMAL

I have had a great Christmas and New Year and it is now time to work out my sewing plan for 2013. My 2 eldest GDs Jade and Brooke are with us for another week and then we fly them back to Sydney and I will stay with them for another week. Lots of lovely presents were exchanged, much food eaten and a drink or two downed over the hot weather. Below are the photos of the tepee I made for my youngest GS Henry for Christmas, it definitely was a hit on the day. Have to go now as the girls need to get to bed after another fun filled day of activities and then a lovely dinner at the local hotel. Also we are off to the park tomorrow for a picnic and a paddle in the wading pool. Be back soon with more photos of our trip to Victor Harbor.