And one in blue too!!!!!

I finished this one today ... I made it in the gorgeous "Legacy" range from Moda's 'Collection for a Cause'. Don't you just love the colours ..... now I don't know which one I like the best lol???!!!!?! Here's the back .......And open .......

And here's a closer look at the pretty stitchery on the padlock, and the cute keys of course. I've ordered a whole heap of those keys so I'll be able to supply those if you need them - with the pattern when it's written up too ... just in case you can't get them at your local patchwork store ;o).........Ok, now I'll be a good girl and write up the pattern .........

Before I go though ..... time is running out to get some bargains over at Paula's Patterns blog so hurry on over as she has her patterns at special low prices for just a few more hours!!!!

And don't forget to visit Among The Gumtrees tomorrow for another wonderful Christmas Freebie pattern!!! This week it's designed by the gorgeous Dawn from Dawn Hay Designs I've seen it already and I just know you're going to love it ...... I do!!!! :o)

Until next time ...............

"Under Lock and Key"

You've been very patient .... and finally I can reveal to you all what I was making using that cute little bunch of keys!!

Here's my new pattern ..... a block keeper called "Under Lock & Key" ...... do you like it???a cute little embroidered padlock................and the keys to open it [not really, but you get the picture :o)!!!]. Around the heart it says ... "My blocks are under lock and key to keep them clean and wrinkle free" ................. Here's the back ..... Hey, you could even embroider your initials on that little heart :o)!!!!........And this is what it looks like opened out. Ties on the top and sides ... it measures 15 1/2" square.
Gotta write the pattern up now ..... then you know what's coming don't you????? Yep ... a GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!!

Stay tuned :o)!!
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A little clue!!!

I see I've peaked your curiosity with my little bunch of keys LOL. Well here are a couple of sneaky peeks so that you can see that I'm working hard on this little project .... I'm loving how it's turning out so far, the fabrics I'm using are simply delish - 'Sweet Love' by Maywood!!! Do you think you know what it might be??????

Hmmmm, a bit of stitchery, a bit of applique' .... but where are the keys???? Oh I'll be using them ... I just haven't got that far yet ;o). I have a full day of stitching ahead of me today so I'm hoping to get it finished - fingers crossed :o).

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Here's a little gadget that I treated myself to last week. Isn't it sweet!!?!? I love anything wood ;o). This is perfect for me in my small sewing area ... it's got a little 'peeper hole' in the end - you know, the sort you have in the door to see who's on the other side. That way I can hold it up to my eye and see my quilt layout from a distance without having to stand far away from it!!!

Now, how clever is that!!!! One of my friends at quilting brought some along last week as her husband had made them and she was selling them ... so I pounced on this one :o).

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DD2 is getting much better after her awful fall ... as you can see she's still got the brace on, she has another 3 weeks of wearing that (day and night - yuk), but it hasn't stopped her doing the things she likes. Here she is cooking dinner for us, the hand is up because the bacon (apparently) "bit" her LOL. Suspecting it spat a little - he he ... ya get that ;o).

Dinner was delicious by the way, we had Fettucini Carbonara with chicken ...... Mmmmmm, YUM!!!!!!!! ................ Thanks Bear :o)!!!

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Hope you're all having a fabulous week - I'm off to do some stitching :o).

Happy Halloween!!!! .... and my spoils from the show :o)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!

We don't tend to go 'all out' here in Oz celebrating Halloween but I'm sure to get some cute as a button trick or treaters at the door tonight ... and I'm going to be ready!!! I love to see the little darlings all dressed up in their scary outfits ... sooooo cute!!! :o)

Well it's been a week since the Craft and Quilt Show and I realised I haven't shown you what I bought!!! I had such fun - ended up going for 2 days instead of one, so much to see :o). I've started the Ella and Skysie stitchery that I bought ... I ALWAYS buy an Ella and Skysie stitchery when I go ... ALWAYS :o). ............. And scissors, I can't resist scissors he he he .....................

As you can see there's a couple of pairs in that piccy above he he he. I also found 'Fortunes and Fairies' there ... I haven't seen them at the shows before and they had a fabulous range of fabrics and they were in 30cm strips (which I prefer) rather than fatties so I got myself a nice selection ..... don't you just LOVE the rosy one at the back ..... I got half a metre of that one and now I'm wishing I'd bought more he he he!!! No problem though, they have a website I can always pop in there.I couldn't sleep last night ... I tossed and turned for what seemed like ages!!! Then I had an 'epiphany' as my friend Persephone would call it ......... now I can't tell you too much more as I'm going to do my best to get this design made up this weekend - but I can tell you that these .......... have something to do with it :o)!!!!!!!!!!

Have you got your latest issue of Creating Country Threads yet!!!!! Oh you just have to buy this one ............ it's got a gorgeous pattern in it by the beautiful Cheryl Goss from Willowberry Designs - one of my darling Gumnut Sisters!!!!!
That's her wonderful cushion on the right hand side above "lend a helping hand" ..... and you can also read all about her as they've done a profile story about Cheryl too!!!!

That's it from me, I've got some designing to do - but before I go if you're after a bargain - pop on over to Jenny's Elefantz Etsy shop!!! She's having a FABULOUS SALE and there isn't much longer before it finishes ... be quick!!!!!

............... Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!!!!

3rd Freebie "Christmas Trio" Stitchery - "Dec 26th"

Well you've been so patient ... I do apologise for not getting this posted sooner - but here it is now. I do hope you like it!!!! Here's poor exhausted Santa - full of milk and plum pudding - having a well earned kip with his favourite little helper Elf - the morning after the night before ;o) lol. The link for the stitchery pattern is HERE. If you have trouble downloading the PDF it could be that you need to update your Adobe reader ... you can do that HERE for free :o).

Have fun and I'd just LOVE to see your completed stitcheries and projects when they're done so be sure to send me a link :o)!!!

Don't forget we have another Christmas freebie for you to see at the Among the Gumtrees Blog - this week it's made by the gorgeous Vicki from Tozz's Corner - isn't it gorgeous!!!!! Go on over and get yours now!!!

Christmas Mat Striped Border tutorial.

I thought I might take you through the method I use for making half square triangles the quick and easy way :o). This is how I did the borders on my Christmas mat - (your freebie pattern from Among The Gumtrees blog last week) - so I'll use the measurements from that pattern for this demonstration....

1. Take 2 strips, (1 of light and 1 of dark) 1 and 7/8" wide and rule them up as shown below. The vertical lines are 1 and 7/8" apart and the diagonals run from corner to corner.
2. I've used a dark thread for easier visibility for you so that you can see that I've sewn 1/4" each side of the drawn diagonal lines.

3. Cut the squares apart on the drawn line .........

....then cut the triangles apart.

4. Press the little blocks open pressing toward the dark triangle.

5. These little squares will now measure 1and a 1/2" x 1and a 1/2".

6. Lay the squares out in the pattern you'd like to sew them then sew them all together with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance.

7. Press the strip with all the seams pressed in the same direction.

8. Trim off the little 'bunny ears' .......... and your strip is now complete and ready to sew onto your stitchery :o).

This is my favourite way of making lots of 1/2 square triangles, and I hope you found this little tutorial useful ................ :o)

FOOTNOTE:- I should have put this in with the instructions, oops, sorry ;o). You can make these half square triangles to suit any project you're working on. The general rule is to add 3/8" to the desired block size you're needing. So if you want a finished block (including seam allowances) of 4" for example - then you would make your strips 4 and 3/8" wide - this would give you a half-square triangle block 4" x 4" -[ so that when it's sewn into your project it would be a finished size of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"].

2nd Free Christmas Stitchery (take 2)

My apologies to all of you that tried to download the PDF for the 2nd Christmas stitchery in the previous post. I've deleted the old link in the last post and I've been working on it and I think it's right now .... well, I hope it is LOL!!! Here's the piccy all stitched up in redwork - Sweet little darling fast asleep, and can you see Santa and his reindeer through the window whizzing away after leaving all the goodies under the tree downstairs???? And the link to the PDF file is HERE :o) -

I hope you like it .... happy stitching ..........