Christmas Stocking Swap

This year, I participated in a Christmas Stocking/Bag/Sack Swap through Southern Cross Quilters (an online Aus//NZ quilting group). My lovely swap partner, and now dear friend, was Melody, whose blog I had been following for a while. Our partners were known to  us, so that we could get to know each other better.
Each month, for the entire year, we sent each other a gift to put in the bag that we had made for each other. No peeking allowed! It was easier than I thought it would be, to not be tempted. :) I did have a leeetle feel, though. lol

Anyway, the lovely and very generous Melody, sent me all these goodies! I am sooo spoilt. :)

My gorgeous sack...

A mug bag (I didn't own one before) a mug mat (ditto), a lovely mug that's too cute just for Christmas, a set of really lovely egg cups - again, not just for Christmas use - a delightful little book "Merry Christmas Tea" with snippets, recipes, and quotes, and a cake ribbon and badge. And there was also a cat Christmas cracker with a toy mouse which I forgot to photograph.

Plus, all these lovelies! Beautiful Mimosa soap in a cute little metal holder, an embroidered Lingerie bag, a Crinoline Lady thread/ribbon holder, Lindt choccies, scissor and tape set, a Gail Pan pattern " little tweets pouch" with fabric and threads, another little sewing/embroidery set "Home sweet home" by Leanne Knell,  and a lovely little notebook with an original drawing on the cover "Sweet Songbird" by Michelle L Palmer.

Thank you so much, Melody! I love everything you sent.

Melody is posting pics of what I sent her, sometime later today. Unfortunately, the things I was making her got left to be finished at the end of the year, and I took ill before they were complete, and couldn't finish them. Once I have a sewing hand back, I'll be finishing them, and thety will be little surprises for her another time. :)
If you aren't familiar with Melody's blog, check it out. She posts regularly and does the most beautiful work, as well as having things you can participate in and share.



Hugs,
Lindi

Lucky lucky me!

Why am I so Lucky and so Happy?

Because I have a wonderful swap partner in Melody! Look at what she has made me for my Christmas Santa Stocking Swap.....



 I love it! The colours are so fresh and yummy (I have eyed this range off on other blogs but could not justify buying them so that is an extra bonus!) and the Angel is so perfect!

Inside are 4 beautifully wrapped pressies that have to remain there until Christmas.........  so exciting!

Thank you Melody! It's the perfect Santa sack for me! :)))

                    

Finished bag

Remember this little sneek peek I blogged about here - where I shared the origins of the things I used to make the little brooch?

Well, it was part of a bag for my Christmas Swap partner, Melody. Melody loves French General fabrics, so of course, I had to make the bag using this gorgeous range. It is nice and roomy - designed for her to go Christmas shopping, or to carry gifts to friends homes, or to cart a heap of things to quilting days.
And no, I can't tell you what pattern I used, because there isn't one. The bag just grew the way it wanted to, as I made it. :)

Melody has received it and posted about it on her blog, with much better photos. :)

Brooch made with a crocheted medallion of my Mum's and a button from her button box

One side of the bag -

And the other side of the bag....

Detail of stitched trees with button stars. The little bird was added for interest but also because Melody like s little birds

Detail of the top row, with button flowers - they were also from Mum's collection - I remember similar ones on my jumpers in the '60s- embroidered leaves, and silk cord for the bow



Closer look at the buttons

 

In the pockets that I made on the Other side, I included a notebook with the French General fabric pattern on it, and a pen to match.

 I am going to have fun sending Melody little gifts to pop in her bag during the year. The idea of the swap is to send a little gift each month and we get to open them at Christmas. I sent 4 little gifts off with the bag, but I have a couple more all ready to go. Then I get to do some more shopping and wrapping! Such fun. :)


cheers,

Christmas Wishes

Wishing you all a very, very Happy Christmas. May Peace, Love and Joy surround you, and Angels watch over you as you and your loved ones travel to share the festivities.

Hugs,

Y

Welcome to My Home!

Come in, and have a look around at some of the decorations...

Have a beautiful Christmas, Everyone. May You and Yours be blessed with the magic of Christmas -

x

A Bag for D ...

Just before Christmas, I made this tote bag for DSs Fiance, D. Despite having lots of (unused) bag patterns, D wanted a simple tote in black and red.
Now, one bag pattern I don't have, is a simple tote pattern, but how hard can they be?
Thanks to various blogs over the last 6 months, I have read quite a bit about easy ways to shape the bottom without having to sew in extra panels or gussets, and easy ways to do the lining, so I sat down and designed what I wanted to do.
A quick rummage through my stash produced the vital ingredients. 4 fabrics, some pellon, a bit of cutting, pressing, sewing and 3 cool buttons later: Vióla!

A funky new tote in red and black, lined with plain red - and a pocket inside, too!

The buttons don't show up very well here. They are concave with a little pointy rise in the centre and have concentric circles of black. Really cool! I wish I had more of them for other projects!

Back view:

D loves it and has asked for more!

I also enjoyed making this cushion for my Mortal in last years SCQ Angel/Mortal swap. I spoke on the phone to A yesterday, and she said it sits on her bed, and at night time, she likes to cuddle up with it, it is so lovely and squishy - not too sloppy and not too firm. Seems I did it just right!

I had made a point of ringing her rather than emailing, because she sent me these beautiful native and protea flowers as a thank you for being her "wonderful Angel". It was easy being A's Angel. She loves just about everything to do with quilting and crafts.

Finally, here is a little teaser for Jackie. This is a tiny tiny part of something I am doing for your prize for the Decorate Your Blog for Christmas Comp. [smiles]

*YYY*

A post for Pennie

Pennie has started a new blog to display all her Matroushkas. Her aim is to post a set each day this year. In the unlikely event that she runs out of sets to post, she will buy more!

Pennie may have the largest collection of Russian dolls out of any of us - maybe even the largest in the world. (Have you ever investigated that possibility, Pennie?)

But does she have these? I received them the other day as a Christmas present from a very good friend!

They are made out of a beautiful glazed fine china. Definitely not for the Kinder to play with!

Sorry, Pennie, they can't come to stay with you, but you can have one of the gnomes, if you like.

N N

v

New Award

I have just been given this new award by Jane. Thank you, Jane!

On accepting this award, I am to name 5 reasons why I love Christmas.
Well, finding reasons to love Christmas is easy. The hard part is limiting it to 5 - which I shan't do!

I love Christmas because of the magic and excitement in the air.
I love the smells of cinnamon, baking, puddings and shortbread;
I love the secrecy and teasing about what people have bought as gifts;
I love the extra thoughtfulness and generosity that seems to abound at this time of year;
I love the sparkle and fun of all the decorations;
I love the music, the carols and the Christmas songs;
I love the wonder on the faces of the young ones, as they absorb it all;
I love the feelings of connectedness that most people share;
I love the getting together of family: sharing the joy, sharing the love, and sharing the contentedness of Christmas.

But most of all, I love the wonder and feelings of peace that settle in my heart and soul at this special time.

And now I pass this award on to others, sending with it, all of those wonderful things.

To Di, who not only feels the spirit of Christmas, but shares it so well, and finds so many wonderful things to glitz up our blogs;
To Sooziii, whi runs such a fun decorate your blog for Christmas comp;
To Susan , who spreads the Christmas fun not only through her blog, but by sharing her fabulously decorated home with visitors.

Thank you ladies, for adding to the Christmas Spirit!

Y

Merry Christmas!

Thank you to all my readers. I value your friendships and your support. Thanks especially for all the wonderful caring comments and emails when I posted about Dad and Minka. You all made the journey that much easier. It was as if you were physically by my side giving me hugs and love.

I wish you all a very Joyous Christmas, filled with Peace and Love.

Travel safely, hug your loved ones, and spread the joy.

Blessings to you all.

Love and hugs,

YYYYY

Christmas in Our House

Welcome to our house. Come in and see our decorations. The dining room isn't finished yet, but feel free to explore the loungeroom.

As you come in the door, the first thing you notice is our tree. It is a beautiful 6' tree and the decorations have been collected over the last 28 years.

Let me turn the lights on for you.

Isn't it beautiful? Would you like to look closer at some of the decorations?

Most of our decorations have memories attached. Some were lovingly made by friends ~ some of whom are no longer with us. Others were bought to remind us of some particular event or person.

Some were made by my son and daughter when they were in Primary school.

Some were bought while shopping with friends.

This one on the right is made from a seed. I never found out from which tree. You wouldn't happen to know would you?

The one above was a special gift from a cyber friend. Di bought it for me in Israel and it is made from olive tree wood.

The little angel on the left is really a flower fairy, wearing her lovely skirt of Australian Christmas Bells, a beautiful native Australian flower that used to gow en masse when I was a kid.

And of course, we have a Star on top of our tree.

To the right of the front door, we have my GreatGrandMother's old sideboard. Originally polished, it was eventually painted (with lead paint) and used for storage in my Grandmother's laundry (!) until I rescued it. One day, I will get it professionally restored. Until then, the shabby chic style will do!

This lovely stitchery wall hanging was part of my December gift from my Angel (Pat Q) in this years SCQuilters (online group of Aus/NZ quilters) Angel/Mortal swap. Wasn't I spoilt?

And this was part of my November gift from the lovely Pat. She was a wonderful and very supportive Angel, sharing so much of herself and her experience as I struggled with all that was happening in my year. Amazing how things are meant to be. She herself had gone through similar a few years ago.


And here is our Nativity, occupying a central position on my Grandfathers bedside cupboard, (glimpsed above) between lounge room and dining room.

Sadly, our beloved Minka is no longer with us. She loved Christmas. Well, she loved the tree!

My beautiful Minka in the tree when she was young. She would crawl out along the branches and play with the ornaments.

She did this every year until she got too big to push her way through the branches.

After that, she contented herself with playing with the ornaments that hung too low, and sleeping under the tree at night. She loved it when the lights were on.

*******