Grassy Christmas to you...

Guess what Annette brought to quilting last night for me? A child's wooden coat hanger! Thanks Annette! She reckons it must be leftover from her childhood. (How precious!!).

We don't have our Christmas tree up yet.... but... I can't wait!! We will put it up on the weekend.

We have to get all our grass mowed and whipper-snipped before Friday or the council will send someone to do it and make us pay for the service. It's a fire prevention thing, but it's such a big job! (2.5 acres of "garden"). It looks like our Tree will go up after that.

Here is a start to our decorations. This isn't going to stay here - I just have a book and camera weighting it down at the ends. LOL!!

This decoration is made from raffle blocks I won a couple of years ago at our local group. I turned each one into a mini-quilt with ribbon sticking out of the binding, and joined them into a swag. I think I will hang it in the hallway.

Consumption of fabric

No eating quilt fabric! At least not on your own. That's what it says on the selvedge of this fabric!! I am definitely going to start saving selvedges for a natty project sometime.

I stitched this picture for a peg bag. It's a pattern from Willow Valley Store. Cathy is an Australian designer.


This is the first time I have used ric-rac as an edging. Can you see it along the top of the pocket?

The stitchery is the front pocket, then there is an oval opening I have edged with ric-rac too.

The pegs are accessed through the oval opening.
How cute is this ric-rac?

Next I need put a child-sized wooden coat hanger across the top and shape the bag to the curve before I add a binding to hold the layers together.

I don't have any child-sized wooden hangers that aren't already decorated. Isn't this bananas in pyjamas one cute? Mum gave it to me about 5 years ago.

Where am I going to find these coat hangers in my town???

A little bird told me...

It's Summer!! YAY!!

Time to put up the Christmas tree tonight! Last year I was soo busy preparing the garden for our outdoor wedding reception at home in January - I didn't even get a Christmas tree up. That was sad. Even when I lived on campus I had some sort of decorations up -I would put up Christmas lights on the wall, even though I didn't have a tree. LOL!!

Here are the bird stitcheries I have been working on. They are designed by fellow Australian Barb Smith (she goes under the name Woodcutter's Daughter).

These will become cushions very soon.

I can't put everything I am working on at the moment - it will have to wait until the recipients receive their presents!!

Have a great day. I've got my Christmas tree hair clip on and a Santa brooch.

Power down! It's the wrong trousers!

Well, no power at home this morning means no picture of the little bird stitchery destined to become a cushion.

It also meant no coffee, no hairdryer and the wrong trousers.

I couldn't iron the lightweight pants and top I wanted to wear for the 30C day today... so I am wearing 3/4 jeans. Definitely the wrong trousers Grommet!!

It's okay. I have had a coffee at work, and I will share the bird stichery tomorrow.

Until then, let's be grateful for power, computers, digital cameras and coffee makers. VBG

Where are the quilts?

I know, I know. This is my quilting diary. Where are they? The last week's posts are all soft toys, bags and stitcheries.

Here is another post not about a quilt. LOL!!

My quilting group had a workshop 2 weeks ago to make a button necklace. Members used different colours, and their necklaces were of varied lengths. Looking good! I forgot to take my buttons that night. Last week we started the Christmas cookie bag, so I didn't make it then either. I made it last night. Just the other day, I was wearing my thread cutter from a piece of ribbon around my neck, when a friend from work said "Your necklace needs turning" - the knot in the ribbon was on the side. I just took it off, I wasn't wearing it as jewellery.

Look what I did!!

I knew I wanted my thread cutter to look nice when I wear it. I love the colours!!

Monkey Magic!

Do you remember that TV show? "Monkey Magic?". It was funny, badly dubbed and lots of play-acting with the Monkey floating along on a cloud quite a lot.

I don't remember that much of it (I was only about 6 or 7 at the time it was in telly), but perhaps it is closer to the Hindu stories than I ever knew.

Anyway, this monkey is working really well. It's really not that difficult (maybe I got lucky, it went together okay). The monkey has no tail! He is wearing shorts, so that's okay.

Even though mine has no arms yet, he feels like a great size to pick up and carry around. I am thinking of making one for a friend's 3 year old daughter. I am going to her Hi-5 birthday party in December. Hmm... We'll see how we go for time.

My DH says, you don't have time to make all the Christmas presents you plan to, but he's happy for me to make her the monkey!! LOL!!

frogs, monkeys, what next?

I don't really like the way my Cookie bag is turning out. I might have to add some braid along the seams where the gusset joins... or... (and I dont really want to do this), I might have to frog it all (frog as in frog-stitch as in rippit rippit).

I am up to a tricky part on the monkey - I hope the back and front pieces I have made will match up!! The monkey is definitely more difficult to make than Mrs Perkins.

I've got so many things going on at work and business that I am not sewing as much as I would like at the moment. I am working and planning for the future, now.