A lovely felt bird from Frances, as part of the holiday ornament swap. It's so cute, beautiful stitching and beads and a wonderful card to go with it. Thank-you so much, it's going straight onto our tree!
This wonderful swap surprise arrived from Ali yesterday, full of goodness! Thanks Ali for your thoughtful package, especially the buttoned up gingerbread man, cute fabrics, great magazine, groovy gloves and Christmas goodies! 
The lights have already found themselves a home........thank-you! 
Christmas trees for the ornament swap! They are backed with felt and stuffed a little for shape, the only thing is I forgot to add some ribbon so that they can be hung up on the tree! I managed to find an eyelet thingy that will hopefully solve the problem.....just waiting for hubby to get home so that he can help me work out how it is done.
Hopefully I can package them up and send them off before the fast approaching deadline. Then get a speedy start on the postcard swap!
This swap package of fabric, buttons and yummy chocolate arrived yesterday from Laura. Thank-you so much! I love red and love chocolate! 
See how perfectly they are folded? Can't wait to use these red fabrics!
I started on some Christmas bits and pieces last night while watching tv and came up with some shapes for decorations. Not sure what to do next but at least it's a start!
We also had Josh's orientation day for school yesterday. He is starting next year and I can't believe it. I have been counting down the days for him to start school and now that it is just a few months away, I think I will be one of those mums fighting back the tears on the first day! Now there are new things to worry about.....will he be happy at school or will he make good friends? I have a feeling it is harder on the mums and dads than it is for the kids!
I think it has been a few months now since I started on my first quilt (baby size of course!). Little did I know then, that I would still be working on it now, with no end in sight. Patchwork class was last night and it took me an hour to sandwich the quilt together. I then started on the actual hand quilting and managed a total of about 10cms. Can you see it?
It was tough, a lot harder than my practice piece. So I decided to pack it up and try again over the weekend.
Some new spring clothes for Ashley.....
A pretty t-shirt from one of my favourite places where I can always find something nice!
Next on the list is a boy quilt. I think I will try something different to squares, not sure what though.
I have started on some Christmas stockings. It's my favourite holiday season, especially since we had two little ones that look forward to visits from Santa! I used a canvas lining to try and give it more shape as I wasn't too keen on using batting in case it turned into an oven mit kind of stocking. 
We've had a busy week! We had some close friends stay with us and they brought along their new little bub Megan who is only a few months old. Josh and Ash adored having her stay with us and so did we, it's so funny how quickly we forget how small babies are and how nice it is to hold them! We spent a perfect spring day at the Wharf where we caught up and ate a yummy lunch. 
I made this nappy bag over the weekend for a friend who has recently had a little bub. I've always found it difficult to find a nappy bag that isn't too "mumsy" so when I saw this pattern, I thought it would come to good use, and it has! 
There is a little pocket on the outside and lots of pockets on the inside for all those extra bits and pieces.
Playschool celebrated it's 40th birthday with a concert at the Opera House over the weekend and we took Josh and Ash along to see it. I remember growing up with Playschool (a long long time ago) and it was great to see that they still sing the same nursery rhymes and songs. It was also quite funny to see the concert hall filled with kiddies, mums and dads all singing along to "humpty dumpty" instead of listening to an opera or watching a ballet!?
We also spent some time in the garden. We are so excited about our lime tree that is bearing fruit - lots of green curries, yummy salad dressings and cool summer drinks ahead of us!
I even had a chance to do a bit of sewing and get started on a small surprise......can't reveal too much yet!
I found this fabric a while ago and it has been sitting on my table waiting to be sewn up into a wintery little bag. Now it's spring (time flies!) so I added some yellow lining to brighten it up a bit! 
Our warm sunny days have been keeping us busy with trips to the park, BBQ's and spending more time outdoors. I can't believe it is October......only a few months until Christmas, which is why I'm looking forward to this little swap. It's like a reminder that Christmas is on it's way and hopefully I will get a start on those Chrissie projects!
.......waratahs too
......and a pretty tree that I would like to plant in my backyard one day.
Receiving mail is always nice, but when you receive a surprise package from a dear friend who is living overseas, it really does make your day!!! After a whirlwind of a day at work, dropping off and picking up kids from kindy and a quick grocery shop, I checked the letterbox and found some of the sweetest little buttons from Japan (thank-you so much Carol!). 
They are such pretty buttons, especially the ones with little bears on them! 
I also popped into prints charming over the weekend in the search for some fabric and ended up with bias binding in fun colours.........which are perfect for making more bibs!
(these ones are on their way to baby Megan!)
I feel a bit guilty because I think there has been a bit more shopping than actual crafting around here lately. I've also felt a bit yuck with the flu this week so not much has been done. I did manage to visit this little shop and couldn't resist the sweet bunny in the forest fabric! It arrived in just a few days (super efficient!) and there were also some extra goodies that the kids grabbed straight away.........
I have all these ideas swimming around in my head and sometimes I use up more energy thinking about projects rather than actually doing something about it. I have started a list (love a good list) so I am planning to get more organised and hopefully sew up some goodies!
I had a few spare minutes while the kids were having a nap and didn't really feeling like tidying up toys or doing a load of laundry so I sat and tried out a bit of stitching. I love the cute designs from this japanese stamp book below and since I don't have any "make your own stamp" materials, I thought I'd try sewing them on. A lot trickier than I thought (hence the very small picture of it!) but I like the idea of ribbons stitched with little designs - will definitely try again!
ISBN 4391129914
These lovely ribbons from les' bon ribbon arrived in the mail today. I have been admiring them on lots of blogs and now have a few to hopefully make some pretty gifts (an apron or little bag?). I've tried to order some before but they didn't ship to Australia at the time....now they do, hooray!
I've also managed to finish the top of the baby quilt that I have been working on. It's a bit busier than I would have liked and I wanted it to be a softer combination of colours. I guess I will have to wait and see how it turns out. Luckily the patchwork class is on tomorrow night as I have no idea what to do next!
