Bye Bye 2012

The end of the year has come! The sewing room is looking worse for wear and demands a tidy up.
To make me feel better, I’ve snuck in a few finishes for the year…
Emma your block is finally on it’s way.

The demo pouch from SIT 2012 finally has it’s strap

…and I get to start the new year with a walking foot that will do the job properly..

I managed to break off the plastic hook from overuse…that’s a good sign right?

Now the new one runs like a dream and maybe those quilts I’ve put off finishing will get done!
Well I’m off to the best fireworks party for New Years Eve - Sydney Harbour - I’ll be watching from Vaucluse, from my sister place.

photo credit here

so Farewell  2012,

and Welcome 2013

Happy New Year to all and

 thanks for a year of taking a peek over the fence…

HOORAY….

Hope you all had a very Happy Christmas. Our Christmas lasts two days -on Christmas Day we spent the day with my side of the family at my brothers place, and on Boxing Day we hosted the MaTH's side of the family - I've been in a Christmas induced "coma" since!

I am slowly awakening, and what better reason than for some

Celebration and Jubilation

The MISSING POST ITEM finally arrived at Leona’s.

Leona's Blog header

When Leona put up her new blog header I thought it would make a great modern quilt block. It was a bit of fun to make – it just involved a few rectangles and sewing on side strips that were then trimmed at an angle before the next one was added.

It was supposed to arrive in time for her birthday on 23 October – oh well 2 months late….hmmm that reminds me of something that I blogged about halfway through the year.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

merci de prendre un coup d'oeil par dessus la clôture…

Before the neglect....

there were a lot of swap comings and goings...

MODERN SHE MADE SWAP
This was the progress photo and I mailed it off without getting a photo of the mutlicoloured binding…

It was received in 6 DAYS going to SWEDEN (take note Australia Post and USA post…you both took 16 days to get one item to Nevada…18 days to get one to Florida and there is still a parcel missing from October 13 going to Philadelphia!)
Here is the link for the picture that Karin too of finished tablerunner Modern She Made Swap.

This is what arrived for me from Kayla  - an amazing sewing machine mat -that went with me to the GWSMQG sewing Sunday...I didn't misplace any of my sewing implements that day, must have saved me from wasting at least half an hour that is usually spent searching for snips ,pins, cottons, bobbins etc.

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I made two of these sewing caddys for the winners of my Blogtoberfest giveaway:

 

This green colour way went off to Irene, and a pink version went off to Jill…but I don't have a photo - that's the second item in as many weeks that I've sent and not photographed.

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The Scrappy Bits Swap had to be posted by 17 November and this is what I sent off to my partner:


I was really happy with the way it turned out...especially that gorgeous hexagon flower.

This is what came for me from Leona, one of my longest "bloggy" friendships

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A lovely scrappy cotton reel ornament came from Sarah at Happiness Stuff and Nonsense

It is so beautifully made and I love the old wooden cotton reel an lovely embroidery. This will be a real treasure from 2012 to bring out each Christmas.

The ornaments I made, and blogged here, were sent of to Cyndy of Wombat's Picnic

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We are spending Christmas Day at my brothers place and 3 of my siblings will be there with all their families, so we will have a lovely, loud and happy celebration together.

On Boxing Day we will be hosting "Christmas" for my husbands side of the family...there will only be 8 of his 11 siblings - plus families -  there so it will be a louder, but equally happy and lovely celebration together.

I'm off to finish the desserts and crack the whip to get the kids help finish tiding/cleaning the house. Wish me luck!

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

Neglected…

Poor neglected blog!
It is so mad at me, I even had to retype the URL into the search bar…
Just  a tad busy at this time of year.
Sorted scraps ready for GWSMQG Sewalong Sunday – December  9

Scrappy Circle of Geese is Emma’s block for Sew & Bee Happy – it will get finished now that I’ve made the Christmas presents I needed to finish.

Soaking fruit and Christmas cake making –started on December 8

It tipped the scales at a whopping 4.9kg

Luckily the recipe will make a 23cm cake and a boiled pudding and about 50 fruit mince pies. Rather than a cooked pudding, I'm going to make  an ice cream pudding…a nice treat for a hot summers Christmas Day.

This is just before it went into the oven, and I can tick off ”Cake cooked and ready to let the flavour develop” – December 18

Christmas presents made and handed over on December 19 and 20

This was bound and quilted before going to it's new owner

They all had hanging corners and I got the MaTH to buy dowel and cut it to size, so they were all ready to hang too!

3 commissions to make sewing caddys – the best feeling in the world!

From neglected to exhausted!

Linked to Richard's LAFF

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

Handmade Ornament Swap

I signed up for this swap over at Christina's blog.
I've been a bit quiet on the updates, but I've had a blinder of a sewing day today and have my little parcel well and truly ready to be posted on time.
The basket of  Christmas fabric and theses buttons have been lying around to get a bit of Christmas mood going.


I used this tutorial for inspiration and had a bit of scrappy fun.

Scrappy Tree Ornament

While going through my scraps I found two tumbler shapes – they look a bit like trees – so I turned them into an ornament too.
After a fair bit of wrangling (and perhaps some unladylike language),
I ended up with this sweet little tree.

Then I remembered that I had this fabric left over from another project.
At the time I thought that they’d make an interesting sort of ornament…rather than waste such a great idea, I set to work…

I like!

So here are the finished ornaments that will be making there way off to my partner.

Thanks Christina for organising the swap. I still have a few other ornament bloggers to visit and see what they’ve made…you might like some inspiration for your Christmas crafting too.

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

Improvisation…

I had a doctors appointment today and packed a little hand sewing – I knew I’d be in for a bit of a wait.

I packed a few supplies that have been collected over time – the red and white zip pouch from Leona’s birthday club (head on over to join up if you’d like to receive a nice surprise in the mail on your birthday!)
The lovely large zip pouch from the SewItTogether Canberra Swap and the Kate Spain hexagons bought from Joanne from PossumBlossomPatch at her shop at SIT Canberra.

Oh no!  one ingredient missing… the papers!
Time for a bit of improvisation -

dodgy waiting room photo 

I just found the best use for all those supermarket receipts and ATM balances! The centre one is a “post-it” note – they are rather more stable than receipts…just in case you ever find yourself in the same situation…

It looks pretty good – just a little bit wonky in the middle – but not too bad at all.

It certainly better than the news that I have osetoarthritis in my knee  :(

thanks for taking a limp peek over the fence…

Charming Village…

I joined the Modern She Made Swap …and have made this table runner based on the Moda Bake Shop pattern - Neighbourhood Charm quilt.
But I have a little problem.
The international posting date is 15 November - I’m fine with that – I only have to do the binding.

No - my problem is…

that I am so in love

with this project

   – that I don’t think

I can bear to part with it

I’m sure I’m not the first person this has happened to…

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…