One Panel Complete!

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it and now I have mislaid the insert with templates of smaller elephants - oh well, now I will have to play the artist and draw smaller elephants or try to downsize on my printer!I must say, I am really enjoying playing with these little fellows and using the great fabrics.
I think a lot more applique will happen this year - very relaxing! This one will be hand quilted in Perle thread, so I am really looking forward to that too. We are experiencing a heatwave here in Perth, so nice to be indoors in the cool - Australia is having extremes in weather, so let's hope we all stay safe.
Happy Stitching Girls and Guys!

Back to the Elephants!

I've missed a lovely lunch with my Girlfriends! - now I feel free to indulge myself in preparing more applique for my Elephant Quilt - hope to get a lot done this weekend!I ordered some gorgeous fabric from Kelani this week - see my Sidebar - lovely folks to deal with. The fabric is 'Happy Sweet Collection' by Kei Fabric Japan - it is a glorious texture, not quite as light as Liberty. I would have preferred it to have been a bit whiter background, but I think if I can stick to a whiteish batting it will be nice - oh, I don't have any plans for it, we'll see! Maybe another Liberty quilt!
Just look at this pavlova made by Sue-Ann of Buddy & Me - amazing! This one surely 'takes the cake' - hey, don't be so sad you Kiwis, lol!

Yummo! Is it afternoon tea time?

A Scrappy Week!

This has been fun - at last I am ready to announce a winner and I will post her parcel on Monday - hopefully, because I need some details. Congratulations Sandie from crazy'boutquilts, would love to hear from you soon and a big thank you to Jodi from A Pleasant Home, this has been a really nice experience for me and I do love your blue Dresden! I will continue to follow you to check out what is happening in your part of the world.Two little stacks of scraps - one repro and one modern - the top scraps my precious Keiko Goke.
And the little scrappy Whirlygig - hope you find a nice little spot for this Sandie.
I hope I will make Dianne of Sewmanmaniac Quilter happy - her little quilt above is all packed up and ready to post, so I hope DH will do so this afternoon. I must apologize to you and Mary from My Needle and Thread for being so late getting the parcel to you. DH has just gone out with parcel in hand so let's hope all goes well from here on in!

More big tidy-ups this afternoon - the weekend que sera, sera! Hope you all have a lovely one!

One Last Little Thing!

One last little thing to my Giveaway! I've decided to give this scrappy little quilt as a gift instead of rushing applique - this quilt is 17" square and the blocks just over 3". Cute as and I will machine quilt today or tomorrow. Notice the Dresden Plate quilt I have on my dining table, there for all to see and enjoy - this one was an award winner too!The little quilt above is part of a BOM I never did finish - must get accurate measurements before it is posted.
Here are some repros I have sorted out and the big tidy-up is on this afternoon - while doing this I will pull out my very favourite, bright scraps. You have until tomorrow evening to join in the Giveaway - please leave any Comments on previous Post.

Pop over to Jodi's Pleasant Home - she has some very nice things going on there and she would love to hear from you.

An Invitation - 2012 Sew Scraps Along!

I'm thrilled to be able to welcome you to join in Jodi's 2012 Sew Scraps Along - please click on her button just to the left here! Thank you for choosing me to participate by selecting my Tutorial Dresden Plate, Jodi and it is a wonderful to see any newbies who drop in, thank you too! I'm happy to show you my scraps - well, partly my stash because I do tend to work with the smaller cuts of fabrics.

The Dresden Plate was made with Kaffe fabrics, just love his creations and now I am working on my current unnamed project using some gorgeous Keiko Goke fabrics and a few plains.

Here's a few more - I love whimsy too!

My kinda scraps put to use below!

I'm thinking, as Nanette of Freda's Hive has done previously (dam! I just cannot set up links at the moment! Please check Nanette's blog on my Sidebar!) I'll have a lovely Giveaway ending Sunday 15 January and let you know who's lucky next Tuesday the 17th. I do have lots of lovely reproduction fabrics - if these are the fabrics of your choice, please mention.

I'm flying on a wing and a prayer here - have not been known to be faint-hearted! - my intention is to make a nice, small wall hanging for a winner - if it isn't finished by close-off, it will be soon after and those dear Posties keep delivering. I love applique and also Kim McLean's gorgeous designs.

So looking forward to your visits to Jodi's Pleasant Home and to My Place too! I may post again on this subject soon to tie up any loose ends - to join in for the Givaways, please Comment on this post!

Happy Thoughts!

This gorgeous bag goes back quite a long time and I have received so many comments over the years. It has a lovely little story to it! In my very early days of blogging I was in a swap and Stephanie of Loft Creations was my partner. When this gorgeous bag arrived I was shocked - was this the sort of style and quality we used in Blogger Swaps? Wasn't I the Lucky Girl to enter into this world of quilt blogging! Thank you so very much Stephanie - love you♥ I'm sorry, my linky thingo is not working, I'm sure so many of you know of Stephanie, though!

Dear son, David who is bobbing around in the Indian Ocean on a gas platform at the moment, is our gardener, Good Boy, and has grown these delightful Kangaroo Paws, the floral emblem of the state of Western Australia - the yellow ones are not quite so common though just lovely, I think!

It is nice to be almost back to normal after the Festival Season, here I sit trying to decide if I will take myself shopping hoping the sale crowds have settled. Happy stitching Girls!

No Name Yet!

A new day, a new year, a new project! Oh, I've made lots of resolutions and have decided to acccept que sera, sera! Lets hope it is a good year for all of us! Project 1 - a baby quilt, inspired by a quilt by Jenny Kingwell and feautured in the latest Australian Quilters Companion. I love elephants, I love whimsy and I really need a smallish project for what might lay ahead. This year I am going to try to improve my Perle thread quilting, maybe making it a bit smaller - I dont know!

I have started to use a few Keiko fabrics - oh, nice! And they don't crush so much either, nice. That tiny little perfect tail - after a bit of frustrating fiddling, I used a method I came across in my early days of applique - thanks Robin Ginn, some nice tricks!

This little chap has been hiding!

A sort of an idea about where I am heading - look, I loved doing the little bit of applique I did yesterday - still have the strips to stitch down, then more elephants and strips to prepare. It is sad there's no wee babies in sight, maybe one day! I hope those of you who aren't resting or frolicking are getting a bit of stitching done - 'they' say what you do on the first day of the year you will continue for the rest of the year!

Keiko Goke!

The mailman came yesterday - I have been waiting patiently. These gorgeous fabrics are by Keiko Goke - a nice little collection - enjoy!

Maybe the scissors will start into them tomorrow - too gorgeous to touch!

Laughing All the Way!

Isn't it just a beautiful time of year - I'm here really enjoying myself - giggling all the while! Carols have been softly playing, how come? My desk is a mess and lo and behold under that mess there is a musical Christmas card and the last bit of mess must have just laid enough weight to trigger the music - oh, maybe the medication is starting to affect me and do you know what? - I am just going to enjoy it!

Now isn't this the most gorgeous bag you have ever seen? From my SSCS partner Maria of Momaquilt in Denmark - damn! my highlighter won't work! - I'll keep trying. Anyhow I just think this is the dinkiest bag I have ever received, and see the two littlies, I think this girl is just so talented - wow! perfection! Love it - thank you so much, Maria.

Yesterday was just so lovely and I'm sure we all receive special little presents - well, I am an avid reader, as are we all in this house, and I just cannot wait to find out what this little gem is all about - so I hope you are all enjoying a great Festive Season and resting up today, I'm off to play!

"Just Relax - It Will Be Christmas Anyway!"

I've had this parcel of happiness for a few days now - today, such fun to open - a gorgeous heart for the tree, a pressie for Sunday and a Danish chocolate to enjoy now ... like one? ... oh, you would, mine is nougat and sea salt, a wonderful combination. Bless you and thank you,Maria!

The words above are just so appropriate - just wait until I tell you! And the Perle stitching I love so much - my goodness, so even too - fabric by our own Lynette Anderson. I must now wait until Sunday to open the biggie, I just know it will be gorgeous. What can one say - thank you for sharing your happiness with me Maria. Thank you, too, Donna for all your organization, just wonderful!

I have had so many wonderful friends who have helped and comforted me for a couple of years now, and it thrilled me to give this special piece of artwork to a special friend. It is an art form called pyrography, woodburning done by Spencer James from the small town of Toodyay, north/east of us - I wish you could all enjoy the beauty of this blue wren in her home!

I've been meaning to tell you about this erasable pen, available just about everywhere, newsagents and food stores too - wonderful for marking fabric and iron away - I've tested it and am very happy and feeling and confident with it, but I'll be pleased to hear stories to the contrary if there are any. Now, the soap - just fabulous I was happily drawing away on fabric with what I thought was the pen above - oh, no, it was ordinary Biro. Panic, panic try everything, and this little beauty got me out of trouble - over here, I bought it at Howard's Storage, the best little saviour one could have - please have it on hand if you can.Now, I'll try to be brief - thank you all the prayers and good wishes since my car accident early November - no relief from pain has been forthcoming after over 7 weeks - the outcome is the sternal fracture is overlapping the fractured fragments and bony union, so I am now on morphine patches and waiting to see a cardio thoracic surgeon 8 January- until then I'll try to be good and try not to whinge too much, says she with gritted teeth and real tears, not crocodile tears as we say here!

I have lots of stitching to prepare to keep me in handwork if and when the time comes - meanwhile I'll raise a glass of champagne to absent friends, now that will make me feel a whole lot better - 'til next time