Xmas Break, Initial Heart Swap, Xmas Stitching, Tassie Trip.

For someone who was going to post more often in 2014, it has not been a good start so far but I have some good excuses, I promise.
My hubby had some holidays so after the rush of Xmas, we spent much of our time cooling down in here.

Although just before New Year, we did get some large trees cut down in the back yard so spent a couple of days, Chris cutting up the branches,(as I am not allowed near the chain saw) and me helping load the Ute and trailer with all of this.

After 2 days and 9 trailer and Ute loads to the tip, our yard now looks tidy again. Sorry, forgot the after photo. All this was done in high temperatures so no worries about our extra Christmas kilos disappearing.
I also spent 2 days searching the sales for a dress to wear to a wedding but just couldn't find one that I liked. In desperation I looked in our local boutique only 6 minutes away from home, and found something I was happy with....amazing. Last week I went looking for shoes and a bag so now I am all set. We are flying off to Tasmania at the end of this week, to stay with Chris's Dad and to attend our niece's wedding on the 25th January at Peppermint Bay, then back on the 26th in time for Grandma duties and the start of a new school year.
I have managed to get into my sewing room and have a tidy up before commencing on some secret sewing for my Initial Heart Swap gift. I hope to have it finished before we leave on Sunday so it will be ready for posting when I get home. The stitcheries are completed, just getting the fabrics sewn together today.

Above is a sneak peek.
I have also completed the last two stitcheries of a  Michelle Ridgway Xmas design. I am a bit behind as most of the other girls who were stitching along, including Michelle, have theirs finished. I'm getting there Michelle.

For my thread, I used a Cottage Garden one called Mistletoe and am using Nancy Halvorsen fabrics to frame them. The stitcheries are very pretty so am looking forward to having this finished soon.  
Before I go, I want to show you a couple of gifts I received in the post.
I won this gift from Narelle for being part of 1 Xmas Item a Month. Thank you to Narelle for giving us the incentive to get some Xmas items done early. I can't believe I actually posted about a finish every month for the year.You can join again in 2014 so just head over to Pins and Whiskers blog to read all about it and sign up.

A diary, tea, coffee, a beautiful handmade card and a jotter pad that states 'I'm a Quilter I can always use more fabric' all wrapped in  fabric and tied with ric rac. Will have to show this to Chris when he next says "Do you really need more fabric?"
I also won a gift from Cath from Bits'nBobs for being a commenter on her blog for November. Cath also was my partner for the Santa Sack Swap so when I  got another parcel from her it was a big surprise. Luckily she had my address as I was a bit lax in checking out blogs at that time. This will be a good one for my next Xmas item so it is prepared and will journey with me to Tassie. The kit included the stitching fabric, all the threads and beads, just need to work out how to display it when finished. Thank you Cath.

Well must go and give my sewing machine a workout. Till next time ......Happy Stitching.