SSCS 2013 What I sent away...

This is what I sent to Melinda.

The leafy sea dragon is native to the waters of the

south west of Western Australia.

 detail

For some of the quilting I repeated shapes of the

elements of the pattern. I used freezer paper templates.

I enjoyed making this art quilt for Melinda.

I also made this little owl ornament for her.

And That was Christmas...

We survived the heat and a wonderful time was had by all.
May we all remember Jesus and the great love he has for us all year round.
 

This is the quilt I sent to Michelle in the SSCS.

Here are the yellow/orange/brown HST's I've made for the swap.
 

May the stars shine bright for you in 2013.
 

Yellow HST and Christmas Ornament

My groups' HST swap continues with the colour for January being yellow, which also encompasses shades of gold, brown and orange. I've pulled these fabrics from my stash. Not too sure about some of them, but I will cut my charms and proceed. I'm sure it will all work out. Gotta love scrap quilts!

This is the ornament I made for my SSCS lady, Michelle. She adores gingerbread men. 

If you visit her she is currently doing a tour of all her amazing Christmas decorations. 

Here the gingerbread man is modelling next to a broken iPad.
Mr Fixit is putting on a new glass screen for DD #1.

I've got a turkey to get in to the oven, I think. Gotta check if it's thawed.
My days have been pretty tightly scheduled to fit it* all in.
Still, all good here.

* The day job. The housework. The shopping. The wrapping. The laundry. More day job. More housework. More shopping. Bout of gastro. More day job. More wrapping. More shopping. More laundry. And so on and so forth. Still, gotta' love Christmas! - and catching up with all the rellies is definitely worth it!

Santa's Holiday

We all know where Santa goes on Boxing Day.

SSCS 2011 Received

Once again we've had a lovely swap organised by Chookyblue.

Thank you Chookyblue!!

The lovely lady who made these items is

Cheryl at Polka Dots & Rick Rack.

These gorgeous snowmen holding their Christmas treats... just too cute.

This is as close to a snowman as I'm ever likely to be here in Oz.

This darling notebook is a perfect size for my handbag, sewing bag or next to the computer. Lots of options here! And I love writing things down. The lovely feel of pen on paper... am I the only one?

Look at this tea towel!! Red plaid!! My favourite! And a snowman snow globe. And of course, rick rack trim!!

Thanks Cheryl! This is just too cute.

This gorgeous wool ornament I showed you before, but here he is again.

This is my third year in participating in this swap,

and each time I've had such lovely lovely gifts.

Thanks again Cheryl!!

In other Christmas news, this year I did not set up a big tree.

Here is my Christmas vignette.

Of course every tree needs a star, so I sewed on this delightful ceramic button.

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas!

Season's Greetings

May your home be a peaceful haven this Christmas.

Potholders (Again)

So I made two smaller potholders to go with the bigger one.

The 'front' is the red Cat in the Hat and the 'back' is the all-over white print.

For daughter Number One, by special request.

Jesus Came for Everyone

Chinese Nativity by Yu Jia-de found here.

Navajo Nativity found here.

African Nativity found here.

Aboriginal Nativity by Mathew Gill found here.

Australian Nativity by Rachael Flynn found here.

Isaiah 9

6For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
***
Matthew 1

18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
***

May you find time to set aside all thoughts of trees and turkeys and santa to ponder the wonder of it all - that Jesus became a baby to live and die for us - that His very life was the greatest gift of all.

***

John 3

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,f that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Christmas Blocks

I'm off to guild tomorrow and these are my blocks for the block raffle.

They measure 12 1/2 inches square. My group is on hostess duty so we are in for a very busy day.

Quilty Ladies need a lot of hot water!!!

This is our last day meeting for the year.

Christmas Block

I'm organising a block raffle for the guild meeting in November. Participants are to bring in a 12 inch block that is pieced or appliqued using traditional Christmas colours. The blocks are sorted into groups of 3 to 5 blocks (depending on numbers and styles) and then one of those blockmakers wins the group. So it's not a swap where everyone wins, it's a raffle with about 20% odds (which is pretty good).
This is my contribution. You may remember this pattern from a few years ago. Nanette at Freda's Hive designed it and her tutorial can be found here.
I made a few of these houses and the pattern is smaller than 12 inches. I've added fabrics on three sides and the block will need trimmed back. I'm debating whether I should trim it or leave that to the winner. It really is hard to get the same size block off different quilters and she may appreciate the extra fabric for tweaking. What do you think?
I'm making up another block as well if time permits. I sure love the Christmas fabrics.
Better go. Got the day job tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends!

I hope you have a lovely, lovely time with family and friends!

Embrace what went right, laugh off what went wrong and

remember the God who loves you through it all!

Australian Jingle Bells

Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden Ute,

Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot,

Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs,

It's Summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs!
.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day,

Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,

Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
.

Engine's getting hot; we dodge the kangaroos,

The swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too.

All the family's there, sitting by the pool,

Christmas Day the Aussie way, by the barbecue.
.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day,

Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,

Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
.

Come the afternoon, Grandpa has a doze,

The kids and Uncle Bruce, are swimming in their clothes.

The time comes 'round to go, we take the family snap,

Pack the car and all shoot through, before the washing up.

.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day,

Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,

Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

.

More Aussie Christmas stuff here.

SSCS Received

I participated in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap and Tuesday I received my gift. We are allowed to open the ornament right away and I received two hand made ornaments! These are received from Laura of 3 Doodles and a Dog.

.

The heart is made of hand-painted paper and is just wonderfully charming.

Laura did a tutorial on how to make it here.

This little angel is just too perfect. Regular readers of my blog know I just love angels on my tree and I try to get an angel ornament every year. Nothing special enough has come my way this year but now I have this most wonderful angel to add. Thank you so much Laura. It is just right.
Same angel with flash.
My present is safely tucked under my tree until Christmas.
And no peeking!

Christmas Tree

A lovely evening, a successful venture.

A family tradition continues.

Ornaments

Bird

Bird and Bells

Bird and Bells and Penguin

One week to Christmas Tree Day...

Quilter's Night Before Christmas

A.K.A. The Dream of the Mad Quilter's Ball...

Forget cupcakes.

You have got to read Mary's latest post at The Curious Quilter.

It is just too perfect and you will so enjoy it.

Come back and tell me what's on your 'to finish before Christmas' list.

SSCS 2009 OPENED!

These are the lovely parcels I received from Brigitte in chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2009. I have been a good girl and have waited patiently to open them. They have been sitting under my pretty Christmas Tree all this time.

But all waiting eventually comes to an end. Here is the cutest wall hanging. I simply adore it. When I am done with this post I am going to go and touch it again and look at all the lovely little details.

A little closer look for you...
This very charming and very tiny coffee pot from Poland. A lovely memory of Brigitte's time there while her husband was stationed there. Brigitte has just informed us that she is moving back to Bavaria in Germany. The lid of the coffee pot lifts up... just too cute...

A little pair of Stork scissors - I have never had a pair and have always wanted one - thank you so much Brigitte!

Delicious marzipan covered in bitter dark chocolate - so yummy! I can attest that they travelled just fine... and oh the joy of finding another layer underneath! Six very special chocolate hearts... which I will really enjoy with a cup of tea while looking at...

this amazing German patchwork magazine! What a great thing to send! And I am not going to let a little language difference slow me down one bit!

Just look at what is in here. I've just put the kettle on... won't be long now! A little break between family chaos...

Thank you again, Brigitte, for these very lovely gifts. I so appreciate the time and thought you have put in to this Christmas swap.

Well, that's Christmas for another year! A little sad and a little relieved! Now on to the hot, dry summer...

Once again we are off to Albany for a little break. I'll be out of the blogging world until the middle of January.

I sincerely hope your Christmases were bright and the New Year celebrations grand...

Cheers!

Shari