Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Christmas Day is over again for another year and so are Chris and my birthdays. The strawberry cheesecake birthday cake my eldest GS Josh made us was delicious (sorry no photo as it disappeared too quickly).  I hope everyone else had a great day and received lots of goodies from Santa.
We had our big family get together on Sunday as some of the family needed to be elsewhere on the 25 th. Yesterday was quiet but we still had a lovely day shared with my eldest son Scott, his 2 boys and my daughter Kym. Thomas and Jake enjoyed lots of swim time with some new pool toys. Below are some of the photos I took of the day. Tom had his eyes shut in most of the photos. These are the best I could find.

Tom has had long hair for the past few years but as he heads to high school next year, he decided he wanted it short. I am so glad as it will be much easier to look after now.
In closing I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Let's hope 2015 doesn't go as fast as this year has.

FNSI, Santa Sack Swap.......

Friday night I joined Wendy of Sugarlane Quilts and many other ladies for Friday Night Sew In. I didn't get started until about seven pm so decided I would stay inside and stitch instead of going to my sewing room in the garage. I still have lots of Xmas things prepared so decided to finish off a couple of Michelle Ridgway's Xmas ornaments which were about half done.
Once they were complete, I began stitching a Bronwyn Hayes one, which is a free download from her blog. Unfortunately I didn't get very far with this as I fell asleep in my chair and woke up about 11.30 pm with the needle still in my hand.

Christmas by Bronwyn Hayes and Reindeer and Snowman by Michelle Ridgway

Thank you Wendy for hosting our last FNSI for the year. I have really enjoyed being part of them this year.

Also this week I got to open my Santa Sack Swap parcel from my partner, Lyn (no blog) hosted by Cheryll from Gone Stitchin. THANK YOU Cheryll for another great swap.

Lyn and I decided to meet in person to exchange our gifts as we didn't live too far from each other. I'm so glad we did as it was lovely to share a cup of tea while learning a bit about each other, our families and where we are in our quilting journey.
On Thursday night, I got to open my parcel from Lyn. I was very spoilt with all my beautiful gifts.
Thank you so much Lyn, I love all of them. Below are some photos of what I received.

My beautiful tote which contained the parcels below.

They contained a Xmas apron, an ornament mug rug and gorgeous mug, a Rudolph stitchery in a frame, a beautifully stitched wall hanging, a Christmas Goose bag complete with handle and filled with chocolates. 

2 bird tree ornaments and a stitched and painted star Santa.

I have one small parcel left to open(the one with the purple ribbon on it) which I will do on the 25th. The wrapping said do not open until Christmas. Now I wonder what is in it, one more surprise.
A big THANK YOU to Lyn. You have made me very very happy as these gifts are so me.
Lyn has opened my parcel also and here is what I sent to her.

Lyn wanted a stocking so here is Santa beside some parcels.

The stocking had a couple of small parcels inside (above and below this photo)

A Gail Pan wall hanging.

Scrap bin, pin cushion and a scissor holder with small scissors.

Xmas ornaments and a 2014 cushion to remember our swap year.

A Jenny of Elefantz table runner

A small bag & post it notes

Some nibblies.

Sorry for the photo overload and if you have stayed with me till now, that is great.
Some of my family can't be here on Wednesday so today we are getting together for our first Xmas Day. Then we will celebrate our second Christmas Day on the 25th so as well as that, Chris and I can celebrate our birthdays twice too. Only adding 1 year to our age though.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. 

Santa Sack Swap, FNSI.....

Last week by partner Lyn, in Cheryll's Santa Sack Swap, and I met to exchange our gifts. It was lovely to meet in person, have a cuppa and a chat to learn a bit more about each other.
We swapped the gifts below. Mine are sitting under my tree waiting to be opened. Have been advised by Cheryll today that Thursday the 18th is the day to open them. I will be at Movie World with my son and grandsons that day so will have to wait until I get home to see what is inside.
My parcel from Lyn (no blog).....

My parcel to Lyn .........

Also sign-ups on are on for Wendy's FNSI

It is the last for the year so why don't you go over and sign in, it should be a great night.
Well that's all for me tonight, till next time..........Happy Stitching.........

FNwF .

Didn't end up getting much done as I spent a bit of time with my son and grandson who had a small accident at school on Friday. Jake's class had their Rewards Day which included a swim in the school pool. One of the other children in his class, accidentally tripped and fell in the pool landing on top of Jake who under the water. The boys teeth cut a gash in Jake's head. Beside lots of blood, the ambulance man said the cut didn't need stitches just cleaning and a bandage. Fortunately the boys teeth were okay as well.

Not so good for his Dad who had to rush to the school thinking it was much worse than it was.
Anyway getting back to Friday night, I did a bit of work on a Xmas table runner which I can't show yet. Then I worked on this stitchery to finish the night.

Thank you so much Cheryll for again hosting this night. You can check out what others got up too by going  here.
I am off to my quilting group's Xmas lunch today so I had better get going or I will be late.
Till next time.............. Happy Stitching...........

Friday Night with Friends

Tonight I am joining up  with other ladies for FNwF. You can still join in if you wish by going over to Cheryll's, our host, and signing up via the link,  here.

Not sure what I will work on but I can imagine it will have something to do with Christmas. Only 20 days to go..........
Hope to see you there.

Sunday Stitchers Xmas Party 2014.

Last Sunday I attended our final Sunday Stitches for the year. We had a wonderful Xmas Party with lots of good company and fantastic food.

Here we all are  ready for our party.

I only managed to do about half a dozen stitches to the stitchery I was working on as there far too much laughing and frivolity going on. Then it was time for the birthday fat quarters. This month three of us had our birthdays.  I was really looking forward to it. It was exciting to open all the parcels and see the fabrics the others girls had chosen for us.

Myself, Helen in the middle and Susan

Here are my fabrics. I love them all. Maree put her fabric and some thread in a mason jar and Teresa made the fabric into a cupcake. I don't think I will undo it even though I want to use the fabric. Thank you to everyone for my beautiful fabrics.

We also had Secret Santa and I received mine from De. It came in this little port.

A little Xmas cushion, some chocolates and this beautiful girl, made with the tiniest of stitches and looking too cute for words. De was making one of these a while ago and I said to her jokingly she could make me one in blue, then she pulled my name out for Secret Santa. How lucky was I? Thank you so much De, I love all the gifts you gave me but my little elephant will always be extra special.
My gift was made for my friend Susan.

A strippy table runner, a Xmas ornament and  a reindeer sweet dish filled with chocolates. Glad you liked them Susan.
We all exchanged beautiful gifts and I did take a few photos, along with some show and tell of the projects worked on through the year but I will leave that for another day .
Till next time Happy Stitching.............