A Return to Simplicity.

Nature is giving us a taste of winter here with a chill southerly breeze. It must be coming from real deep south as it is quite chilly and makes me want to sit in the sun without my hat! We have a beautiful tea-tree in flower at the moment and the rainbow lorrikets are loving it. It was so hard to get a bird in the picture as they kept coming and going and doing a lot of chattering !  LOL ! This is as close as we get to snow ! Well. . . . . . . I can pretend it's snow !  On the stitching front I have completed a very easy set of place mats and matching mug rugs. Not much stitching in these at all ! These are going into the Birthday Love Stash Box, but not for too long.  Four place mats. Four mug rugs to match. Nice stash all together. Still stitching the next set of place mats.  Cup done - tick.  Tea-pot done - tick. Watering can done - tick. Creamer  . . . . . . still going....

I am linking up with  Celtic Thistle  and playing " New to Me" Check out the links or inspiration if you are looking to try out something new to you. Link ups open on the 25th of each month and stay open till the end of the month.                I am linking my new skill in woodcraft with the lace and ribbon cards. I have made a few now and just need to finish decorating the unfinished ones.            They aren't perfect but I am loving them. Just the best place to keep my lace. I have a few different ideas for the next lot. Maybe some vintage ladies.

Well ! I was confused about whether or not it was Friday Night Sew In . . . . . . . . so . . . . . . . . .I had a couple of Nights Sew In . . . . . . . . .one last night and one Friday night. LOL ! What's better than one night of sewing with friends, than two nights ! Friday night saw me trace out a few designs to make a set of place mats. I found the pattern in Patchwork and Stitching Vol. 14 No. 1 It has a few lovely projects that I am going to have to make in this volume, but the one I chose to start with is" Flowers For Tea " by the lovely Jennifer Reynolds of   Elefantz . It  is for a tea-cosy, trivet and two placemats. Now I don't use a tea-cosy, although I do own a few tea-pots, so I have decided to use the four embroideries to make 4 placemats instead.  I also added a border to the last stitchery I finished . . . . . . . . . . and I hate it, so will be unpicking it sometime today.  I really don't know what I was thin...

I have returned to work after a wonderful week off. Only a week I hear you say ! Yes ! but I did enjoy myself. No meetings, no deadlines, no reports, no traffic. Instead I got a few secret swaps completed and completed the little stitchery that I found in  an old magazine. I think it was Country Threads. I didn't like the border fabrics used in the original so have decided to use something bright and cheerful. Now to find some fabric from my stash and make up the rest of the mini. Of course I didn't chose the fabric and then the threads !  I always stitch first and look later, which comes with its own headaches ! AND....  I need to get back into the work routine. LOL! I have been to bed early every night ! Tired ! Tired ! Tired !

I have had a really lovely few days ....movie watching (it's raining/overcast here) stitching and being productive. I have completed one of the Christmas in July items and can only give you a quick peek! I have finished a few more of the lace boards with different papers . I went to Bunnings yesterday to buy more MDF!  I walked around buying blades, sanding blocks and board! That's novel for me.....no fabric just hardware. I am loving this vintage style even more than usual and have decided to make some small tags for swaps and gifts.  I want to find a stiffer backing for these as I don't like them on Card Stock. I have just cut out another 9 large boards and 8 small boards and once they are finished I think I will have a give-away to share some lace and ribbon boards with my followers.  Back soon.

The FQ swap for May has now been completed for myself and Helen from  Sunny Corduroy Corner  . The swap this month was receivers choice and here is what we gifted each other. This is what I sent Helen, her request was for low volume fabric and I had to ask what this meant as I had not hear of this term before. Now I know I see it everywhere! LOL! This is what Helen sent to me. I love the fabric and the vintage postcard. I have a couple of projects in mind already, including the postcard! Thanks Helen and Cathy our  FQ Co-ordinator .

I played along in Cheryll's  Colour Swap  at Gone Stitchin` and the colour I chose was RED. Yesterday the postman left me a wonderful surprise from Annie of   Annie's Dreaming . I took my time opening the parcel, savoring each special treat. Look at this lovely collection. A couple of flat fats, a note book and pencil and yummy chocolates.....some of which have since disappeared! How did Annie know I needed another note book, good choice Annie! A pack of three beautifully fragrant sachets as something smelly. Can't wait to hang these up! And last but not least a beautiful runner for my table. I love the colours used and have already have it in use. Thanks Cheryll for hosting the swap and thanks to Annie for making and sending me this lovely selection of red items.

I decided to buy a pattern by Kerryanne from  Shabby Art Boutique  after seeing a post about her from Jenny of  Elefantz . I just wanted to make a pin cushion angel so I went over and looked..........4 patterns latter I have made these. Started out as a sheet of MDF from Bunnings. Had a quick lesson by hubby in how to use a jig saw (let me tell you I was a bit nervous about electricity, blades and fingers etc., but determined to do it myself) and here are the initial pieces cut out. Mr B cut out the first one to show me how it's done and I did the rest. He did tell me to slow down as I couldn't take the corners too well! A good sand on the rough parts and a coat of paint on the edges and backs and they ready to be made into something beautiful. Cover with lovely paper, apply a little colour around the edges.  They are still a bit wobbly around the edges but that's my first attempt..........just try and take that jig-saw off me now!...

I love coming home from work and finding surprises in the post box. It just brightens up my day! This is what I received from the lovely  Melody  for playing along with Tuesday's Treasure. I love to play and this was such a wonderful surprise to be sent. This lovely book has already been read from cover to cover. It's almost like Melody knew we love our birds! It makes me want to transfer some of the pictures into stitchery's! We certainly love our bird books here. This is just one selection. The other items in the parcel included a great bird button (Handmade in Tasmania), a lovely scissor keep and a gorgeous fat quarter of fabric. How spoiled am I!! The gift was wrapped in this bird fabric and tied with a beautiful blue ribbon! How spoilt am I? Thanks again Melody for sending me this lovely parcel.

Thanks to  Cheryll  at Gone Stitchin' I have again stitched alongside the other 60 ladies who signed up for the stitch-in last night.  I had started to stitch this little mini early in the week. It is the first one I've made and I think I love doing these mini's as they are quick and easy to complete. Last night I only had the binding to put on and I prepared it when I came home from work yesterday afternoon. The design comes from  Jenny of elefantz . For the rest of the night I traced out this pattern and started to stitch the design. I have had the threads bagged and ready for quite a while now and while I don't have any fabric picked out yet I am sure I will find something in my stash..............otherwise I will just have to go and look in the craft stores. I think this one will be a mini also! Go over to Cheryll's place and check out what others have done for the night.

I came home from work last week and found the postie had left a package from the lovely  Sharon  . The theme this month was "Lucky dip" ! Sharon and I had a bit of a chat via email and decided to wing it with each other. Here is what she sent me. Lovely colours and fabulous thread and don't you just love the flowers! I can think of a couple of projects I can use these on. Thanks Sharon. Here is what I sent to Sharon. Don't you think the green threads that I sent Sharon are almost the same colour as the ones she sent me? Wish I could remember what number I sent Sharon! I am now looking forward to the May swap.