Meet Eleanor!!!!

My dear Hubby took me out for a lovely drive last Sunday … we went out to Fernvale, a dear little country town west of Brisbane. Went to the Markets ~ bought loads of yummy produce and a sweet old enamel pot which is looking quite at home in my sewing room at the moment ;o).

And some yummy jams found their way home with us too ~ Apricot & Ginger … both our Mum’s are gonna love these :o)!!

Then he took me for a delish “Brunch” at the Fernvale Bakery … what a treat that was …. GAWJUS place!!! Here’s Darryl trying to decide what he’ll have ….. too much to choose from he he he ;o)…….

….. and here’s what I had….. don’t they look delish??!!! Well, let me tell you … they WERE!!! Even though one lady that was in the cafe’ thought they looked like ‘boobies’ LOL!!!!

After gorging ourselves a yummy brunch we strolled down the road to a lovely Antique shop/Tea room. And look what my wonderful hubby found on a very bottom shelf all dusty and lonely ……….

This is ELEANOR!!!

She’s a dear old lady … a Singer model 28K hand crank sewing machine born 1914 in Kilbowie, Scotland ….. Isn’t she just beautiful!!!!??!!

Oh that’s a silly question, of course she is LOL. And look, she’s like Barbie, she even comes with her own house………

[[[[[Sigh]]]]]]] I love her!!!!

I’d better be off and do some stitching …… have a great day!!!

Pretty Mail!!!

Look what came in the mail last week!!! There was a little bit of a mix up when i joined up for the Stitcher's Angel swap ~ lucky me, I got 2 Angels he he he. Well it was eventually all sorted and Helen rearranged things ... but Cory (my original Angel) wrote me an email saying she'd like to send me a gift anyway (how sweet is that!!!??) .... so we decided to do a little 'secret swap' of our own :o)!! Of course, when I was opening my gawjus goodies there was Sophie with a ringside seat ~ didn't want to miss a thing LOL!!! And look what I found when I opened the packages...........

How absolutely DELIGHTFUL is this!!!???!! This looks good enough to eat!!! My very own Cherry Pie pincushion ..... I LOVE it!!! Cory also sent me some sweet "Pin~cesses - dear little pins with sparkly beads on top to put in it .... too pretty :o)!!!

And equally adorable is this wonderful bed pocket ... I absolutely adore these colours and let me tell you .... Cory's stitching is just divine :o)!!

Cory I can't thank you enough, these gifts are so beautiful and I just LOVE them!!! Thank you SO much :o)!!! I can't show you what I sent to Cory cos I don't think she's received them yet ... ;o).

Now that my Secret Angel has received her gifties ... I can show you what I sent to her ... all the way to Spain!!! Some cute rosy cupcake patty cases, Country calendar and some sweet rosy tissues........... I also made a mug hug and coaster the same as the set I made in the mug hug swap recently~ because they were such fun to do ........

A rosy pouch to take along her stitching projects when she goes to class :o) ..........

and last of all this sewing bag made from a pattern by Lynette Anderson. I've been wanting to make this for a while and I'm so pleased with how it turned out, such a cute little bag with stitcheries front and back!!!

So glad Isi in Spain enjoyed her gifties :o)!!

A huge big thank you also to you Helen for all the hard work you put into making this swap such fun for us all!!!!!

I'll be back soon to show you what I bought on the weekend {{{Oh she's soooooo bee-yoo-tiful :o)}}}!! In the meantime don't forget to pop into our Among the Gumtrees Blog and checkout the new freebie, this week it's from the gawjus (and very clever) Fiona from Mother's Cupboard!!!

Yummy lunch, delicious fabrics and great company :o)!!

Before I tell you about all that .... look at this!!!!! It's my very first Dear Jane block!! We had a workshop at my quilting group last Monday, this is B-2 Sweet Tater Pie. I really enjoyed making it but I'm not going to make any rash promises as to how many of these little darlings I'm going to make ... I'll just keep going until it's not fun any more ;o).

Because of this post ... I had to go shopping!!! I simply couldn't resist these gorgeous coloured Osnabergs that Peg had on her blog!! Aren't they gorgeous???!!! Peg's blogpost sent me here to Sheri's website and before I knew it, these were on my doorstep. Great service :o). Thanks for the 'heads up' Peg ... I love them ;o). It seems all I've done lately is buy fabric LOL ... well, not quite all I've done he he he.

These wool felts are for a certain little Christmas ornie designed by the gawjus Vikki!!! It's the beautiful freebie pattern for week 7 on the Among the Gumtrees blog so don't miss out!!
These are my 'spoils' from todays shopping trip!! Aren't they fabulous???!!! Can you tell I just LOVE spots LOL ..... ;o). Jeanette and I had a wonderful time shopping at Rose Patchwork Cottage, lots of bargains :o).

Both of us bought some of this scrummy pink sandcastle fabric .... mmmmm!!!

We had a lovely lunch together too .... thanks Jeanette for a terrific afternoon, I really enjoyed catching up with you :o)!!!!!

Before I go ... I've had a great response to the "Under Lock and Key" pattern special (on my sidebar) ... I'll leave it at that price for a few days longer . I've been busy writing up patterns lately so I'll have another one very soon for you at a special introductory price so keep an eye out for that :o)!!!

Hope you all had a great day too!!!!

Rewards Cards Wallet ... tutorial

Well here it is ... you'll love this cos it's so easy to make, just the thing to pop in with a loved one's Chrissy Gift as a special little something made with love from you!!!! You can whip one of these up in less than an hour ... and that's counting the time it takes to pick out the fabrics :o)!!! So lets get started ...........

YOU WILL NEED:-
2 pieces of fabric 6" x 9" - one for the outer and one for the lining 3 pieces of fabric 4 1/2" x 9" for the pockets ...

2 pieces of "Fast2Fuse" 3 7/8" x 5 1/4" [Fast2Fuse is a fairly rigid interfacing that is fusible on both sides - a bit like thick felt]
INSTRUCTIONS:

Take the 3 pocket pieces and fold them in half lengthways. Press.

Sew a line 1/4" from the folded edge....

Lay the first pocket on the lining piece with the raw edges 2" from the bottom of the lining piece and pin in place, sew the pocket on 1/4" from the raw edges .....then lay the top pocket 3 1/4" from the bottom of the lining piece, pin it in place, then sew it onto the lining piece in the same way .... Press both of the pockets up towards the top of the lining piece...... Position the bottom pocket so that the raw edges are aligned with the bottom edge of the lining piece. Pin in place.

Lay the piece for the outer on top of the piece with the pockets, right sides facing each other, and pin them together.....

Sew along both sides and the top with a 1/4" seam allowance, then trim the corners (take care not to nick the seam) ......

Turn the piece right sides out and press ........

Slip the first piece of Fast2Fuse inbetween the lining and the outer and push it up to the corner and as close as you can to the top and side. Press on both sides BUT ONLY HALF WAY DOWN, FROM THE TOP TO THE MIDDLE ........ Repeat with the other side again pressing ONLY HALF WAY DOWN FROM THE TOP TO THE MIDDLE......

Tuck the inside bottom edges around the Fast2Fuse and pin in place.

Tuck the raw edge for the wallet outer under 1/4" and pin. You can now press the wallet front and back, taking care not to melt your pins!!!!!!

Sew all the way around the perimeter of the wallet about 1/8" from the edge.....

Fold the wallet in half and put a pin in the centre .......

Open it out and draw a line down the middle .........Sew along this line, remove the pin and your wallet is finished!!! YAY!!! You can now fill it with all your favourite rewards cards!!! OR Gift wrap it and give it to a friend :o).

I'd love to see your wallets when you've made them ... :o)!!!

All parts of this pattern and instructions are copyright to Joy Coey, JoyPatch 2009. This pattern is for your personal use only and should not be used for profit without prior permission from Joy Coey.

Here's the winners :o)!!!!

What a fabulous response to the giveaway, gosh, I was just gobsmacked!!!! Thank you all so, so much for your very kind comments ... I wish I could send you all a prize!!!!
Okay .... so here are the winners!!! Each of you has won a Under Lock & Key pattern with the set of keys to go with it, I'll be in touch with each of you by email to get your snail mail addies :o) ....
Drumroll ......................................................................................
The first winner is MELINDA .... from Creations by Melinda
The next winner is ..................................................... MICKI from Irish Muses
The third winner is .........................................................

BETH - from Highland Hen

And here's another winner just cos I felt like it ;o) .......................................GLORIA JW from Airdmillan, ayring the Quilts and things

CONGRATULATIONS to each of the winners!!!

**************

To those of you who missed out ... don't worry cos I've decided to do a special price on the PDF pattern for "Under Lock & Key" - but only for a limited time ... just click the "Buy Now" button on my sidebar under the piccy of the block keeper and you can buy the PDF pattern for just $7.50AUS ... normally $10.50AUS on my website. And you don't pay postage because I'll email the pattern to you straight away!!!

Necessity is the Mother of invention :o).

Have you ever stood at the counter of a shop and hunted through your wallet for your "rewards card" ... you know, the card that they stamp ... then once you have the required amount of stamps you get a free coffee or doughnut etc. Well, I did that the other day and I decided I needed to keep them all in the one place. Now, you can see that in one of two ways ... I either shop too much, or I drink waaaaay too much coffee (and doughnuts). Okay ... I give in, it's definitely the latter LOL. I just LOVE my skinny latte' from Michel's Patisserie he he.
So ........... this is what I made to keep all my 'rewards' cards in ...... isn't it cute!!!??! ....... Open it up and here's all the cards - so much easier to find now. I've got my 'free coffee' cards all in the one pocket and the others are distributed among the rest of the little pockets!!

This little darling took me less than an hour to make ... and that was with designing it as well, so I reckon you could whip one up in much less time!!! If you're interested in making one ... let me know by leaving a comment ~ and if there's enough interest I might do a tutorial for it if you like :o).

I also went shopping last week for a new toy!!! Isn't she pretty!!! DH needed a little camera to take with him when he goes out on the motorbike ... just one that would fit in his pocket as his is one of those fancy shmancy ones with lots of buttons and stuff. Soooo, since he only wanted his as a 'second' camera we decided I should have the new one and he could have my old one .... which by the way is still very good :o).

Course ..... she had to have a new "coat" ..... didn't want to scratch the new screen he he he.....

Bear finished her art project this week and has handed it in for assessment - thought you might like a squizz ;o) ... do I sound like a proud Mum LOL??? She had to have an "Australian" theme and it had to be a bit abstract ... so she came up with this which I think is rather clever .... good old Hills hoist with the gorgeous sunset behind it. That little scroll has the words to "Among the Gumtrees" on it ;o)!!!!! You can't see it very well in this pic but she actually wove some wire through the canvas for the clotheslines ;o).

Speaking of "Hills Hoists" ... I'd better go and get my washing done too he he he.

Don't forget you still have time to enter my giveaway!!! Just leave a comment on the previous post to be in it and I'll be drawing the winners tomorrow night (Brissy time).

Time for a GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Woohoo!!!!!!!
The pattern for my new block-keeper "Under Lock and Key" is written up and it's time for a GIVEAWAY ------ YAY!!! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post before Sunday night, let's say 8.30pm Brisbane (Australia) time and you'll be in the draw - I'll pick 3 random winners using the trusty number generator thingo.
I'll be giving away 3 "Under Lock and Key" patterns - WITH the cute little bunch of keys that goes with it!!!
So come on ..... leave a comment and say hi - you could be one of the winners :o)!!!