New stuff

This is what I finished yesterday; it's the Spring Blossom stitchery from Leanne Beasley's  Vignette magazine (Issue 4). I love her designs; so fresh and pretty.  It's wrapped around a canvas and stapled at the back. You'll be pleased to know it looks much better hanging on my sewing room wall than it does in the photo.

And the little number below is a triangular log cabin pincushion  I made this afternoon. I found it on the Riley Blake blog; it's designed by Jeni from In Color Order who  designs and makes lovely stuff. I had fun picking which scraps to use; not so much fun filling it (I kept losing control of the bag of crushed walnut shells, which is my favourite filler, but boy does it travel  when you spill it...)

Two finishes in two days; I'm quite impressed with myself. Is it immodest to pat myself on the back? Probably, but I'm doing it anyway.

Absent

What a lazy blogger - I haven't posted since Boxing Day. Just as well I didn't make a New Year resolution to blog more in 2012, although that was my intention. Ah well.

There's been some crafting, some gardening and lots of reading (which is the main reason why there hasn't been much crafting - once I get my nose stuck into a book I'm in my own little world). A few little jaunts, including the annual pilgrimage to Port Fairy in March for the always-fabulous folk festival. It was such a treat to see and hear the legendary Judy Collins and we LOVED Abigail Washbourne and Kai Welch .

There's also been lots of lurking on blogs - so many lovely people and so much good stuff out there - and the usual boring-but-necessary stuff (like going to work). The PayPal account has had a bit of a work-out - lovely strokeable Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy (SUCH good quality) and Rouenneries Deux. One of these days I will have to stop admiring them (and all the other stuff in my stash) and actually do something with them...

Crafty Christmas goodies

Look at the lovely gifts I received in Christmas swaps - lucky me!

This gorgeous quilt was looking so great on the back of my couch yesterday (it's stretched out for the photo) and was lovely to snuggle under earlier this afternoon on a much cooler daythan yesterday while I was reading and watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

The top is cotton and the colours are fresh and summery; the back is minky, I think, in lime green. It looks so nice against the green walls in this room.

The quilt is my gift in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas swap and was made for me by Melinda in Marietta, Georgia. She knows I love it.

  For the past I-don't-know-how-many years, I've been a member of an online group of lovely women from various Australian states, who love crafting and make beautiful things. I won't be rejoining the group next year, but plan to make more things for my home (new cushions are urgently needed!) so this year's Christmas swap is doubly special.

Dawnie made me these lovely things  - the sweet little Christmas pudding needlecase, the pretty journal cover with lovely Barb Smith buttons, the handy zipped pouch, the sweet little pincushion and that gorgeous "Love to sew" bag.

Thank you again, Dawnie - I appreciate every stitch.

 I wasn't idle, I promise - I won't show what I made for one swap partner, who hasn't posted yet, but these are the gifts I sent to May Kristin in Norway, my partner in the SSCS - the Christmas ornament, which she was allowed to open as soon as she received the parcel, and this table runner, in summery colours to send a bit of sunshine her way.

We swapped Christmas email messages this morning; it's so nice to know that these gifts are a link between strangers across the world, and to learn a little about each other's lives.

I've had a very happy crafty Christmas! (and it was nice in lots of other ways, too - helping prepare for a big community Christmas lunch at my DH's church, a barbecue lunch  in our sunny backyard, a lovely chat on the phone with our daughter in China, gorgeous gifts from family and friends and just relaxing - so special.)

Going west

The Mister and I are flying to WA on Thursday morning for a wee holiday; can't wait.  We will be travelling between Perth and Albany - any suggestions on what to see and do will be appreciated! I've not been to WA before and Mr LRH hasn't been there for years.
It's been quite a week here, with storms, some work-related issues, the nail-biting, nerve-wracking Rugby World Cup win by my favourite team, the All Blacks (despite so many years in Australia I am still a Kiwi at heart) and showing off Ballarat to our lovely young visitors from France. It was cold and wet again today, so most of our sightseeing was from the car, but we managed a walk through the Botanical Gardens without being blown off our feet and they were so impressed by all the beautiful buildings in the city and with our visit to the Art Gallery.

Gorgeous giveaway

My lovely friend Jo in Tassie is having a gorgeous giveaway. It closes today, so get your skates on and rush over to her blog to find out all about it. Anything involving Lynette Anderson's fabrics, Marg Low's patterns and Theodora Cleave's buttons has to be good, right?

Purse swap

The online group I belong to had a framed purse as our latest swap challenge.

And it proved to be more of a challenge than I had bargained for. I ordered a purse frame kit from the wonderful Nikki   in Melbourne and set to work.

The instructions were impeccable and all went well until it came to crimping the frame after the glue had set.

I got a little carried away with the hammer and the frame wouldn't shut - oops. I emailed Nikki for advice and she was so encouraging - she even offered to try and fix it if I couldn't. Wasn't that lovely - thanks so much, Nikki.

Normally if I stuff up I give up, but because I had committed to the swap that wasn't an option, so I ordered another frame and had another go - and this time everything was fine (maybe because this time I used pliers to crimp the frame, with cardboard in between to prevent scratches. )

The purse was for Kerry in Nundle, and the one she received (pictured bottom left) is in the same fabric as the bag I made her for Christmas.

And she made me the one at the top - it's in soft green wool with a pretty bowl of roses on the front - so gorgeous. Kerry's much smarter than I am - she chose a sew-in frame. She also sent a cute tape measure and little scissors and wrapped everything in pretty pink fabric.

Thanks heaps, Kerry. And thanks, Sarah, for organising another fun swap.

And speaking of swaps - I've signed up for Fiona-Marie's Great Global Christmas Swap and have a partner in the US, and for Chookyblue's Christmas swap (not telling you where my partner is from). Which means I will have to make more stuff, but before I do, I will have to clear up my sewing room. I started a tidy last week and just made a worse mess. At least I found some stuff I was glad to see again... Better get to it. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Machines

This afternoon I have  had the chance of using two new machines.

One is a steam mop, which I had at home to try out. The other was Accuquilt's Go Baby  cutter.

No prizes for guessing which one I most enjoyed using.

The steam mop gave me clean floors and a sore back; my adventures with the  cutter (ever so kindly lent to me by my friend Jeni, who bought it on Wednesday) has resulted in a pile of tumblers in '30s fabric; sets of circles in three sizes and four-inch squares for a potholder.

Now to start putting them together...