lunchbag

A couple of our very close friends are living in Tokyo at the moment and the good thing is, we can visit them (we popped over last April) and they stay with us when they are in Sydney. Carol knows about my weakness for Japanese fabrics and craft magazines and always brings over some treats, so when she asked me to make a lunchbag for her daughter, I jumped at the chance! Her daughter is in daycare and apparently all the little children bring their lunches in fabric drawstring bags made in cute fabrics. I made one with a matching placemat with a yellow polka dot trim. The picture doesn't show much, which could be a good thing because I haven't sent it yet!

I did manage to send my quilt for the 4SQS but only took this picture of one of it's corners in the hope that I would take more on a sunnier day (but I forgot!). It's on it's way now to it's new owner....I hope she likes it.

it's a wrap!

There are so many great tutorials out there at the moment, one of which is this gratitude wrap which I managed to put together last night. It's nice and simple and perfect for keeping cards and stationery in!

The trickiest part was getting the binding on straight. I used some ready made binding but it was still fiddly around the corners!

Some other tutorials that I'm hoping to try are these pinwheel quilted coasters and some button top brads . If you have some time, make sure you have a peek at free design goodies too as they have some wonderful freebies to keep you busy!

mail

This arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon.....a swell summer quilt from Lisa. It is so perfect, the fabric, the colours....the stitching!

a peek at the back, I love this line of fabrics......

and it arrived with goodies!

A close up of the corner which had some giant ric-rac added on. I think I've been lucky to receive this quilt, thank-you so much Lisa, I love it!

another block

Another block is done on the ginger grove quilt. I started this quilt while taking quilting classes and the shop is now closing down so I'll be finishing this up on my own. It's a slow process, all those berries to stitch on......

a little escape

We spent a few days in Hunter Valley last week where we were surrounded by vineyards. We used to go there often before we had children and haven't been back there for years so it was like a nice trip down memory lane for us. A little different this time though....instead of sleep-ins, wine-tasting and dining out, we were up early visiting playgrounds, playing tennis and keeping busy with other kiddies activities! (poppies from Hunter Valley Gardens)

We did manage to pop into a couple of vineyards to stock up on some wine.....

and now we're back home again and Josh is back at school today....three weeks has flown!

pin pillows

I've been trying a little embroidery....something I haven't done much of before. The stitching is a bit wonky but it's relaxing and I like the idea of finishing a project in a couple of days.

......balls of yarn (just in case you were wondering)

....and some circles which were chain stitched in different colours.

......made into pin pillows and on their way to new homes!

anneliese

I fell in love with this picture as soon as I saw it here and just had to have one of my very own. It is sitting beside my sewing machine now and makes me just want to quilt all afternoon!

summer

Yesterday we spent the morning swimming and then we grabbed a quick lunch (good old happy meals!). We stayed home in the afternoon so I managed to do some sewing. I seem to get a lot more sewing done during the holidays, not sure if that's good or bad! I finished off the top for the summer quilt swap which I've just joined. I've had a peek at other little creations and it's a bit daunting to see all the beautiful work out there. Mine is very simple but I tried to use some summery fabrics to brighten it up!

Tonight I'm planning on starting the quilting!