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

Tuesday's Treasures

This week, I want to share these little cups and the normal size Fortune Telling Cup. My Mother gave me these many years ago, when she was culling her china ready to move north.

The little white and floral cup is Salisbury Fine Bone China (made in England) and is called "Bill Heather" - the flowers are sprigs of Heather.
The little blue one at the back is a thicker china in a lovely warm blue glaze with gold rim. It only has a gold stamp on the bottom that says Italy.
The little oriental set in the front has no stamp or markings but is a very fine, delicate porcelain. It has a rippled edge which would make it difficult to drink out of.
The remaining two are my favourites....



 This one is a tiny pottery coffee cup made by Martin Boyd (potter) of the famous Boyd family of potters and artists. I have been told that Arthur Boyd, the painter, often painted pottery in Martin's workshop, but they were always signed as Martin's works. I wonder who really did paint my little piece? :)

This one has been a favourite of mine since my Dad brought it back from his Mother's place when I was a teenager. It is a Fortune Telling cup, complete with interpretative book. I have never seen one of these anywhere in real life ,although I have occasionally found one or two on England's ebay with Australian regd numbers. Mine does not have Australian regd so it was probably sold in England and brought out here. I have never seen them sold as a cup and saucer set with booklet. :)

 The stamp says Ye Olde English, Grosvenor China, Jackson & Gosling, England, Made in England and a number.

I think perhaps this cup came from a friend of my Grandmother's, as apparently, when my Dad was single and in the Air Force, based many miles away, my Grandmother always had tea with a friend who told her her fortune from the tea leaves. She always knew when Dad would be home on leave, and would have his favourite meal ready.  It's a lovely story, and I was always assured it was perfectly true. :)

If you want to play Tuesday Treasures, or see what else is being shared, hop over to Melody's Blog.

Tuesday's Treasures

Once again, I have joined in Melody's Tuesday Treasures. :)

This week, my treasure is this lovely old sideboard that belonged to my Great Grandmother Jobling. She died before my first birthday, so I don't have any memories of her, but I do remember this sideboard being used in my Grandmother's laundry. (She had no room for it anywhere else.)
At some stage during its laundry days, it was painted over with a lead based paint. I did try to remove it when my Grandmother gave it to me, many years ago, but it was a very difficult task with all that carving, so I gave up and learnt to live with the shabby look. :) One day, I will pay to get it done professionally. You can see the lovely old stain and varnish on the drawers, where I have done some paint removal.
The mirror isn't part of the sideboard, but is one my Dad was given and I snapped it up as the perfect addition. Mum can remember there being a big mirror and little drawers on the top piece, but they never came to live in the laundry. Perhaps one of Nana's sisters took those for a bedroom.
Inside, I keep the best china as well as those lovely treasured pieces of crockery handed down through the family.

The doors and drawers are all hand carved. They look symmetrical, but when you examine them closely, you can see small discrepencies in sizes or curves. These flaws make it even more endearing to me.
I have many things to link me to the past and to some of my ancestors and this is one of those extra special things.

     

Happy Easter!



Courtesy of Graphics Fairy

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful Easter, doing whatever you choose to do. :)
Safe travelling if you are going anywhere. Remember to take lots of rest stops if you are going long distances.

We aren't going away. We rarely do over Easter, preferring to relax and do things around the home and with family and friends.

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Today, I am finishing off a project for a swap I am involved in. I can't show you much, in case she sees it, :) but here's a little peep at part of it.





I used a medallion my mother crocheted many years ago. It was going to be part of a bedspread, but she had surgery for RSI and wasn't able to crochet after that. Surgery back then was not as good as it is these days. I have a few of these medallions and thought it perfect with this fabric. The suffolk puff is one of the fabrics I have used, and the button is one from Mum's button tin. I have stitched them together and mounted them onto a brooch pin, to form a brooch. It can be detached and worn on a jumper if one chose to.

                             

Abbie's Giveaway...

Abbie is having a giveaway for 4 original hand coloured prints of French Couture from a women's magazine. They would be ideal framed on a wall, or whatever else you want to do with them. :) I would love them, but some of you would also like them, I'm sure, so I'm being generous and letting you know about them.

And while you are over there, check out all the lovely pics Abbie has for you to copy and use in your crafts!

Click here for the entry blog

Be Be Bold Japanese

Last visit up north, I drove across to Lismore to see the lovely Jane at Be Be Bold, and I purchased these goodies.

A metre each of the red and blue, probably for bags or maybe for clothes for Grandson when he is a little older;

This lovely 14" panel with a repeat design. I'll make a very simple hanging from this. Maybe just hem and hang from a bamboo rod.

This really cool skirt - Jane wears one frequently and it looks great!

A pre-printed sashiko piece. I have already started it and am loving doing it!

This lovely border panel (the background is a rich teal - it doesn't show up very well here)

Finally, this oliver +s pattern (for my Grandson, of course!) and a cute tortoise print to use when I eventually make it for him.

Jane has lots of goodies on her web site -  I have ordered more! - so check it out. I also follow Jane's Blog. She's a very lovely person, and interesting and clever as well. She has put a followers link on the side bar at my urging, so add her to the blogs you follow. :)

Cheers,
Lindi

Time keeps March ing along....

I can hardly believe it has been over a month since my last post! Where did February go? Where has most of March disappeared to?

Lots has happened here to keep us very busy. I have been shopping with DD for baby things, sorting through fabrics with her to choose what I'll use for baby quilts, working on a couple of UFOs - one nearly finished! - and driving north to stay with my DSister and bringing a car load of Mum and Dad's things back with me.

DH has been spending long hours working on a new contract. We were quite enjoying the fact that he was home each day, even though we had no income, and we were living off savings. We have decided we are ready for a retirement of sorts, so we are now looking for alternatives to the long day, work slog.

So, here is a "snapshot" of my time away from the blog.

DD (and my Grandson) at approx 26 weeks pregnancy

Front view of a Take-along-tabbie that I made for DGS

I got the idea from Linda, who got the instructions from Arlette

Back view: I used flannel for a different texture

A cute little ring I treated myself to. Just couldn't resist! :)
I bought it on Etsy

And of course, I hit the plastic when the craft show came to town!

Some lovely silk "hankies" and some beautiful cords for fibre art. I bought these and some Jacquard Lumiere paints from Unique Stitching.

This you-bewt multi-use ruler from Aussie Patches. Great for using with jelly rolls and strips. I probably would have passed it by, only I arrived at their booth just as they were demonstrating it to another shopper. It's fabulous! I know I'm going to have fun with it. :)

Then, of course, I had to stop by BeBeBoldJapanese and check out all the lovelies that Jane stocks!

I bought this cute little owl pattern, some fat quarters (already 'absorbed' in my sewing room, a bag kit (I'll show you when I make it) and some cord.

Jane is located in Lismore, so when I headed up to my Sister's, I drove across to visit her - and of course, bought more lovelies! I'll show them off later. :)

Finished

Last night, I finished my first UFO for the year. This little stitchery was done sitting next to Dad's bed when he was in palliative care, back in 2008. I finished the stitching back then, but after Dad died, I put it away. Last weekend, out it came, and I felt I was ready to make a border and quilt it. Finished, it measures 11 1/2" x 13".

I am very happy with how it turned out. After I had stitched the roses, leaves and hearts, I selectively coloured them in, using my Derwent pencils. The border is pieced from squares of pinks and greens left over from another UFO I have in the cupboard. The quilting is simple - straight rows, with a machine embroidery row as the first row from the stitchery.

It has nice memories of lovely conversations with Mum and Dad at Dad's bedside. I'm going to buy one of those metal hangers with hearts, and hang it on my sewing room wall. :)

Y

Just a peek

Hurrah! I am finally getting time to spend mucking around in my sewing room. :)

I pulled out this fabric: an Australian Aboriginal print fabric called "Men Hunting", and combining it with a blue/purple homespun fabric. I'm not telling what I am making. :)

MarieMadelineStudio Giveaway

mariemadelinestudio is having a giveaway! This gorgeous quilt is the prize. Di and I would both love to win this, but we are sharing the opportunity with you! :)

Go and enter and please tell them I sent you!

Hugs,

I sort of won something!

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!

Look at what I won here!

Someone (with the initials DJ) is going to be smiling too, very soon! You see, in my comments, I said that if I won, I wanted it sent to this particular person.

happy happy joy joy!



Y

!My first draw takes place tonight!

Beautiful quilts blog

I don't do a blog of the week post, but if I did, Mary's blog would certainly appear at some point. Mary is a prolific quilter and makes the most gorgeous quilts. Check out her blog and join me in drooling!
Mary, if you read this, how about putting a 'followers' box in your sidebar? I'd love to be notified everytime you do a new post.


Y

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

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.

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