My next Aussie Hero Quilt plan...

A while back I received a lovely fabric parcel from Mari. Have a look at her blog. She makes some wonderful projects.
http://academicquilter.blogspot.com.au
This is one piece of fabric that was put aside for an Aussie Hero Quilt. The requisite I have chosen this time was for WINE & FOOD. What a great starting point.

I have the idea in my head. Now to get it into a quilt. The difference with this one is I am leaving the main fabric in one piece.

The Grandies and AUSTRALIA DAY SWAP SIGN UP TIME

We got to see the little grand daughters when we were in Melbourne. It was a very busy weekend with catch ups with many people. Didn't get photos. Was too busy.
Any way, here are the sweet little girls..

Look at this smile...

 Here is the Little Letters quilt I will be sharing next year with my quilt group.

Thanks to Sheryl for letting me share it.

It is such a great design.

If you want to make one go have a look here.

http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com.au/search?q=Little+letters&updated-max=2014-09-17T08:00:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=25&by-date=false

And here is my movie challenge quilt being used by the girls.

'Australia Day Swap' for 2018.

Head on over to Anthea's blog if you want to join in some fun. 

Sign-ups are open for the Australia Day Swap!

'Australia Day Swap' for 2018... Sign Up Here!

FIVE items are chosen & sent to your partner. They each must start with one letter from the word AUSTRALIA & at least one item must bear the Australian flag.

 Here's some ideas - have fun being as creative as you like: 

*A - Australian flag item such as serviettes, paper bunting, little cocktail glass flags/umbrellas

*U - utensil, utterly gorgeous lace

*S - seeds for flowers/herbs, stripey fabric, small sunscreen, sewing thread

*T - craft trims, tea towel (patriotic?), tape measure, tealight candle

*R - rubber bands, ribbon, red buttons, recipe

*A - aqua fabric, apple-print fabric, Australian Tea 

*L - lovely hand cream, lollies, liquorice

*I - infuser for tea leaves, ice cube tray, re-usable ice cubes, gel ice pack

*A - Australian fabric, apron, aloe gel

(for example, you might send items starting with A, I, L, R & T)

Label each item with the letter they represent & your own description of that - wrapping of individual items is senders choice.

All items may be purchased - no requirement to make anything. 

Please only send FIVE items - strictly no extras - this hopefully gives you enough scope to make this a fun swap, but keep postal costs reasonable.

Sign up will close on the 5th of January

Partner info will be sent out by the 8th 

Posting MUST be made on or before 15th January

You can open your parcel when you receive it, no need to wait until Australia Day.

(open to Australian participants only)


So Aussies if you want to join in some go sign up here.

https://hibiscus-stitches.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/australia-day-swap-for-2018-sign-up-here.html

A catch up on winnings

I have been to a few Xmas break ups and dinners..

First up was my local quilt group... My Kris Kringle game was a hit... Even better is that it worked and no one got the same parcel..
Here is the KK bag I won...

I was lucky enough to win a door prize. Here is a beautiful quilt kit to make..

Another night out and my tickets / name were drawn out 3 times. We kept 2 prizes but the third time we said to draw again. Sharing is good.

I chose this little pamper pack, just for me..... Just look at the home grown flowers my friend cut for me. 

And one for the family. A perfect hamper.

Sunday night I sat down and made these for my work colleagues.
Candy Cane Reindeers....

And the giving continues.

Clue 4 is done...cut, sewn & ironed...

The link up for Clue 4 is here
http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html

IM JOINING IN..

And on Sunday I sewed

 And sewed and ironed

 And sewed and ironed

 And sewed and ironed some more...

At least all the other clues are cut. I just need to sew them...

Sunraysia Patchwork Friends Christmas break up..

We had 30 lovely ladies for dinner and 25 of these joined in for our KK fun..

The display..

What I was doing on Saturday...

I spent the morning doing the usual. Haircut, groceries, post office, Xmas shopping, lunch, cleaning then. SEWING, SEWING, SEWING......
I sewed some more little letters...

Then I printed Clue 4 of Bonnies mystery....
The rest of the night I was cutting, cutting and cutting some more. I got all the clues cut out. What a job.

 After all the trimming this is what mess I made...

http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/on-ringo-lake-part-4.html

A Country Care Christmas & more Little Letters.

We had our work Xmas party at the beginning of December. 

They are a great family orientated business. 

They have supported me with my Aussie Hero quilts and put on a great night.

If you need mobility aids we are the company to go to. We also support out Veterans too.

http://www.countrycaregroup.com.au

This was our Christmas gift..

Thanks Rob & Rebecca

Next on to some sewing

I have the green blocks laid out so I can plan the cutting of the left over letters.

They are all cut out and ready for sewing. 

I am enjoying making these again..

I have been sewing them together. They are getting there..

Thanks Sheryl for this amazing cot quilt pattern. This will be my 5th quilt I have made using her pattern. Please take a look and give it a go...
http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com.au/search?q=Little+letters&updated-max=2014-09-17T08:00:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=25&by-date=false

Garage sale Fabric shopping...

Oh wow... The other Saturday I got a call from a fellow quilter, Karen....
There's a garage sale with cheap quilting fabric. Only 15 minutes from home.
I quickly shower, make a few calls, pick up another friend, grab a coffee and set off.
We get to the sale... WOW...
Call another friend... By the time she tirns up here is my shopping pile...

 I have measured, folded & sorted into lengths for easy finding.. 

All measured, folded and sorted. Ready to pack away...

$150 later, 160 metres, 1 polyester quilt, 2 cushion inserts, 1 plastic storage tub and a pile of magazines to flick through... It was amazing. Thanks for thinking of me Karen. I am sure to get a lot of charity and Aussie Hero quilts made from this win...
My other 2 friends also scored a bit too.

Chookyblues SSCS Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2017

I have been doing a lot of secret sewing to participate in
Chookyblues SSCS Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2017
http://chookyblue.blogspot.com.au/2017/10/sscs-2017.html

We were to make an ornament/decoration and a lovely gift. We are sending overseas so it couldn't be too big or heavy.
I loved what I made and hope my partner does too. Here is Martine's blog....
http://bizzymartine.blogspot.com.au
Here is what I have sent and I know she has received it too. The parcel can't be opened until Xmas day..  http://bizzymartine.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/afgelopen-dagen.html

 The decorations can be hung now and the card can be opened...

I do hope you like what I have sent.

You will have to wait until Xmas to see what I sent. It will be a long wait..

Well, we are in a heat wave at the moment...  It was 43 deg Celsius on my way from work. This is on my car temperature gauge.

Here is the conversion.

Thankfully we have good air conditioning....

My movie challenge is quilted, bound and completed with label..

How cool is this. My quilt is done. I love the backing too.
Mickey Mouse.. Fitting for classic movies... Oops I haven't got a photo of the back...
I have already given it to the granddaughters... I'll get their mum to take a photo and send it to me...
I stipples it in the white areas. Cross hatched in the checker board row, in the ditch with an extra row in the braid row.

Here are some other entries...

Unfortunately these were the only ones that were finished and on show.

Well, I was lucky enough to win 1st prize. It was worth all my troubles.. Here is my prize.

The thing is, last week I nearly ordered a new rotary but I thought it could wait until after Christmas. Lucky me doesn't have to buy one now...

We also had to supply a gift for Kris Kringle to the value of $10.. Not made but bought. I didn't get a photo but my gift was a 1/2" ruler, self threading needles and some u pins for piecing.
In return I got a magnetic pin bowl. I have always wanted one but never got around to buying one.

We also had pass the parcel and I won another gift.  Some wonder clips and a  3 metre Quilters tape measure. I have also wanted these clips but not something I wanted to buy.

Now for the decorations and table layout. There were 40 of us and it was a great catch up day for me. I hadn't seen these women for 16 months. We also enjoyed a fantastic Christmas roast lunch with a yummy dessert or two or three. (Mmmmmm)

Thank you Kilmore Quilters for a great day.

See you all next year..

Kris Kringle booklets

I have had fun making these little booklets for our Kris Kringle night.
The booklets, tags, numbers and story is all ready. We just have to wait for the night next week...

Here they all are laid out ready to be paired up with their numbers.

The front cover was decorated with either a poinsettia or a folded doily Xmas tree.

Here we have a page for a welcome greeting.

And the little pocket where the tree tag sits. Showing you your lucky number

Our little message

The back cover

And all this is made from just one piece of A4 paper.

Thanks to Asami for showing me this many years ago. 

Bonnies Mystery part 2--- ON RINGO LAKE..

Another week has passed and another clue has started... I have convinced my friend to sew along too.
She has changed the colours up and they look great.. She hasn't done too much small piecing so it's a great learning curve for her.

 I'm doing the no waste technique. 

4 at a time works for me. As there are so many to make this week.

Happily sewing away...

 Lots of flying geese.

These are all finished..

Week 2 link up are here.....
http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/mystery-sunday-link-up-part-2.html