Important Letters

I've had to post some extremely important letters this week.

Miss 8 knows 'only if she is good' will perhaps one of these things be delivered by Santa

And with the help of her big sister, Miss 4 wrote hers too

Can't believe its almost Christmas for 2012.

Happy Stitching

Susie

Friends in Stitches - I'm so excited....

I'm so excited -The talented Leanne Beasley, Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches and Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs are hosting a stitching day next July - and I'm going!

Its titled 'Friends in Stitches' and is a day for of stitching designs from these wonderful ladies, shopping and sharing time with friends.

I attended Urban Stitches this year (Friends in Stitches will be similar) and it was loads of fun. Looking forward to July next year now.

Happy Stitching
Susie

Getting There

With all five of us sick in the last two weeks and hubby in India for most of that, I haven't really had a chance to stitch a great deal. But there has been something done......

Block two and three of the applique in my SKoW quilt.......so I'm getting there.......
These blocks are really fun to do. The curves are still getting to me and I'm dreading the rainbow block.

Off to finish another one now.

Happy Stitching
Susie

Block One - Almost Done

 My first block of the SKoW Stitch-a-long is almost complete. This is my first attempt at needle turn applique. I am finding the curves quite difficult. My stitching needs improvement but looked alot better once I used thread to match the applique fabric.

I'll work on my placement for the next blocks. This one is a bit skewed. You may see a blue line around the applique - its a water based marker and will come out once complete.

I am having fun with it though. Now on to the next one.

Happy Stitching
Susie

Scrapbooking Party and cake (again)

My eldest daughter turned 8 on Sat, such a cliche but really, where has the time gone since she was a bub in my arms? With a new renovation to pay for, any party was going to be low key (and relatively cheap), so we both decided on having a couple of friends over for a scrapbooking party.

The table was set for six friends and a little sister! There were dramas initially about how many people could come, she wanted to invite all of her friend and I know she had everyone's feeling's in mind but sometimes it just isn't possible to invite everyone.

We had a 'bits and bob's table' which housed some scrapbooking magazines for inspiration, a layout example, cardstock, papers, embellishments and other 'bits and bobs'.

Each child received a 'kit' which included their own cardstock (colour customized by the birthday girl), glue stick, scissors, rhinestones (each person had their favourite colour rhinestones) and speciality papers.

Photos were taken and printed as soon as the guests arrived - had to take one with brother and sister.

Loads of concentration........

Little Lily getting a little tired of scrapping after a while.......

Entertaining two yrs olds with chocolate was the only way to keep him away from the scissors and glue......

The final product from the birthday girl!

 And to top it all off - lollies and cake!

After making 52 cupcakes for school on Friday, a dozen cupcakes and the birthday cake for Sat (and another cake for the relatives on Sunday), I'm all caked out!

And the best part of the day? The birthday girl had a great time!

Party season is over for another year in our house. Happy Birthday for all of those to come.

xo

Crazy squares and cake

The Anni Downs SKoW is to be completed by October. I've only just started. I must be crazy to have decided to hand piece my 1 1/2" squares together......totally crazy........I know

I did a couple of squares the other day at Urban Stitches - which was so much fun!! Thanks to Sam and her friends I had an awesome day out (photos to follow in next post). I think I have to piece together 129 of these little 1 1/2" squares and that is only the start of it.....

Surprisingly, they really don't take that long, I love completing them in front of the TV at night when the kids are in bed. Very relaxing.

My Thomas-the-Train obsessed son turned 2 on the weekend. Can't believe its been two yrs since this little 4.5kg bub entered this world......here is a photo of his cake.

Still not feeling very adventurous in the cake dept, need to build up some skills.

Another birthday next week - Miss soon-to-be 8 wanted the sewing basket out of the Women's weekly cake book, I can barely manage a round cake, so she has settled for a nice simple floral decoration on her (simple round).  My oven is getting a good workout. Aren't these candles cute?

Susie xo

Better late than never

 Well its been a long time in the 'stash' planning, but finally I pulled out these fabrics today to get going on my Stitch-a-long organised by the wonderful Chookyblue.

We are following the above-shown pattern in the book by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched.

 I feel bad that some people have finished but, you know...life gets in the way, I have been following the blog and the work some people are doing is amazing.

 I feel I need some more smoky blue/grey colours? or a duck egg blue?

I do like these though........

OK, wish me luck as I embark on my first foray into needleturn applique......

Happy Stitching, Susie