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 ..........

Oh no!! Not the dishwasher!!!

Things are in a bit of a mess in our JoyPatch!! DH decided to fix the dishwasher last Monday after work ... so now we're waiting for parts and we can't stand the dishwasher up or put it back in it's hole cos it's half full of water :o/. It's been like this for 5 days and it's probably gonna be like this for another 5 while we wait for the parts {{{sigh}}}}}.

We took DD2 (Bear) to the physio yesterday about her poor knee. Good news and not so great news ... the good news is that she doesn't have to use the crutches anymore (yay), which is actually fabulous cos she really wasn't very confident on them!!! The not so great news is she has to wear the brace for 6 weeks. No bending of the knee for 6 whole weeks!! The physio' said the time will fly by but I'm thinking a 16 year old is probably looking at it all a little differently ;o).

I got some declicious mail the other day ...... I couldn't resist a sale at Hancocks and my parcel is finally here .... YAY .......Here's what was inside ............ yummy pretty Moda Aviary goodness, with a little bit of Aster Manor on top ;o).Mmmmm, I think I'll just look at these for a while before I cut them up ... just too pretty :o).

Not Fair!!!!

The weekend started out wonderful!!! Poor DD2 has been fighting the dreaded Glandular Fever virus for the past couple of weeks so, seeing as she had missed out on the last week of her school hols (and worked for the first week!) we decided she needed a break. So we took her camping to Brunswick Heads on the Northern NSW coast. We went with another family (her bestie, bestie's brother & girlfriend and bestie's Dad Gary) and even though it was a bit chilly we had a most wonderful relaxing 3 days :o). Here she is fishing the Brunswick River with her friend Lisa ....... BUT ............. unfortunately when she was getting ready for school yesterday morning ... feeling all refreshed and raring to go I might add ...... she slipped while making her bed and dislocated her kneecap!!!!

Now THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!! She's spent the past 2 weeks on the couch hardly able to even speak because of her sore throat and ears, then when she's finally better this happens!!!!

Looking quite forlorn after finding out she'd have to wear this brace (and use crutches) for the next 2 weeks............... And finally with all the lovely pressies she got for being such a brave soldier ;o).........
Gosh, is there anything worse than seeing one of your precious children in such agony ... :o(. God Bless you my darling Bear ... mwah!!!

Here's another little reminder that you can get a freebie Christmas pattern from here!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your lovely comments about my design, I'm blown away by all your kind words :o). I'd love to answer you all individually but I fear I'd be here all day to do that LOL ... please know though that I'm chuffed to bits that you like it and I can't wait to share the other two stitcheries with you :o)!!! I'll be giving you the other 2 stitchery patterns that go with this one FREE over the next couple of weeks, but only for a limited time :o)!!!!! Here's a sneaky peek of a sleepy little elf for you ;o) ............. Keep a watch on our Among The Gumtrees Blog as there are still lots of freebie Christmas patterns coming your way over the coming weeks!!! We're having such FUN sharing these with you :o)!!!!

My Turn!!!

It's my turn this week dear bloggy friends to bring you a freebie pattern .... I do hope you like it!!! I have 2 other drawings of Christmas Eve and Boxing day that go with this cute placemat and I'll be giving you those as freebies on this blog over the next couple of weeks too ... but only for a limited time so don't miss out ;o).
This one is December 25th ........ I think this little mouse has had waaaaay too much Christmas pudding, I do the same thing each year with my MIL's delicious Chrissy pud - can't get enough ... I always want seconds lol ... it's just so YUUMMMY :o)!!!! I hope you enjoy stitching this ..... you can find the free pattern here!!!!!

New Blogger!!!

Now that I know that my partner has received her gifties I can show you what I sent to Narelle, the lovely lady I was paired up with in the fabulously fun Mug Hug Swap run by Jenny and Vicki. Huge big thanks by the way to Jenny and Vicki for running this terrific swap :o). I can't find the piccies I took before I sent them ... they're probably on the old 'puter - so I hope Narelle doesn't mind that I've 'borrowed' the one from her blog ;o).........
Narelle has now started her own blog!!! Please pop on over and visit her and say hi from me too ;o)!!!!
Thanks Narelle, I'm so pleased we got to be partners in the swap!!!

Don't forget to check out our first Christmas Freebie pattern - this one is by Judith from Creative Studio ...... just click on the "Gumtrees" piccy on my sidebar to find it :o)!!!

Angel Love

How cute is this little Angel!!!??? I've just finished stitching her and if you'd like to do one too you can find the FREE Pdf pattern called "Angel Dreams" at gorgeous Vikki's blog "Sew Useful Designs". I'm going to make mine into something for my Stitcher's Angel partner ... isn't it just perfect for that??!!
Thanks Vikki - she's adorable ... I just love it :o)!!!

Mmmmm ... Honey Buns!!!

No ... not the yummy sugary sweet variety ..... but the yummy sweet fabricky variety!!!! I got these in the mail today ...... Kansas Winter on the left ...... and Aster manor on the right.
Now ..... I wonder what I'll make from these ;o)????

We have a WINNER!!!!!

VERY late last night I drew the winner of the "Among The Gumtrees" launch giveaway and I'm not going to keep you in suspense any longer. We all had soooo many entries and sooooo many wonderful bloggers sending very kind and encouraging messages to us for our success. So before I tell you the winner I'd just like to tell you all a very heartfelt THANK YOU for your support :o)!!!!

and the winner is ...........

KATHY

http://kathyscrazymoments.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Kathy - please email me with your snail-mail address and I'll get these goodies in the mail to you post haste ;o)!!!!

Again, thank you all for your entries and your kind words, I've really enjoyed visiting some new blogs ... and some familiar ones too :o)!! Don't forget we'll have the first of our 9 Christmas Freebies on October 5th !!!!!!