OPAM, 12 UFO's in 2014

I have finished my July UFO for 12 UFO's in 2014. This is my Wine table runner. I've decided to give it to my sister for her birthday. Thank you to Marti for hosting. You can check out the July finishes over here.

I have 5  finishes for OPAM this month :  Table Runner (above)

3 Xmas in July gifts

1 Xmas ornament

Thanks to Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM again this month.
I did one more finish this month, my mini quilt swap, but haven't shown a photo as yet because my recipient, O'faigh has been unable to open it as yet, so will wait until she does to post a picture.
Happy Stitching until next time...........

Xmas in July-my sent gifts....

My gifts have been opened by Marc at Daisy Jayne so I can now post photos of them.

We had to choose gifts from a list using the letters from Christmas.

C is for  CANDLE ornament

I is for INSPIRATIONAL WORDS on a Xmas bag

T is for TREE in a wall hanging

Thank you Marc for your lovely email. So very happy you love your gifts.
Thanks must also go to Cheryll who hosted this wonderful swap. You are one fabulous Swap Mumma.

Xmas in July Swap.

I had to pop out this morning so on returning home, I was able to unwrap my Xmas in July gifts. They are from Cheryl from 'Cheryl's Stitchings'.
I love Xmas so was very excited to be opening them.  

A very pretty pinwheel table runner decorated with Snowmen

A jolly stitched Santa complete with tree button

and a  very cute Reindeer mat

Thank you Cheryl for my beautiful handmade presents. I love each one and can't wait to display them at Xmas.
Thank you also to our Swap Mumma Cheryll for hosting another successful swap.
Now to go and check out some blogs to see what everyone else received.

A Special Night Out......

My grand-daughter Kiah has been attending the Australian Institute of Creative Design for the last 18 months. She graduated last week with a runway showing of all the graduates designs being held at Royal Pines at the Gold Coast.
Here are some photos of her collection. The brief was to design her own textile prints and use them to create a 21 piece ensemble of mix and match clothing adding other fabrics including cotton drills, imitation leather, sheer organza and cotton jersey to add textural features in her designs.

Me, Kiah and Deb my DIL.

Deb, me and Josh my GD.

I am really proud of what she has achieved, she had deferred her graphic design degree to do this but is now back at uni to finish that off before making a decision on where she wants to go from there.
I am feeling like one proud grandma at the moment.
Till next time...    Hugs........

A very long post.......

Boonah Retreat :
Had a lovely time at my retreat a couple of weekends ago despite my disappointment at not finishing my chenille bag.The pattern needed a bit more explanation as to the direction of the fabric as the vases were lying across the fabric and not up as I expected they would and I didn't like it that way. My friend Jan's was the same so after spending most of the day on it, we packed them up to look at another time.

Other things I worked on was another Xmas ornament for the Xmas box and the start of a Xmas topper.

I still have to cut this out with my Twister ruler and hopefully, it will look like a Xmas Wreath when I finish putting it back together.
I also worked on some hexies for a mystery row along quilt I am doing with 7 other ladies from my Sunday Stitches group but can't show any photos of this until the quilts are revealed in a few months time.
Here are a couple of candid photos from the weekend.

Relaxing over a bit of lunch.

Jan and I working on her other bag . At least success with this one.

Lorraine almost finished her grandsons Car Quilt.

Now these girls were suppose to be sewing but Candy Crush got the better of them.

Of course it was lovely to see our usual friends were still there.

Christmas in July Swap hosted by Cheryll :

These are the parcels I received in the post yesterday from my Secret Santa.

 And these are the parcels I sent to my swap recipient last week. Hopefully they have arrived as well.

Not long to go now until we can open them. Have been good, with no touching happening until the 25th.

Sunday Stitchers :
Last Sunday, it was time to catch up with all my blog friends at our monthly get together. We always have a great time, lots of food, fun and laughter was the order of the day. I was lucky enough to win the lucky door prize, a lovely bag pattern by Rosalie Quinlan supplied by Maree. A big thank you  from me to you Maree.

Alison with her  Pillow Shams.

Susan with her Quilt Diva Wall hanging. If you look closely you can see her collection of badges and buttons.

Inca with her butterfly quilt.

I didn't get a photo of our Gossip in the Garden quilt but will borrow one from one of the other girls when they post about it. I didn't get much done on mine this month as I was waiting for the Dresden papers Maree had kindly offered to order for me. No excuses now to cut out and stitch those 64 Dresden blades into 4 blocks.
Will be back soon to post about my grand-daughter Kiah who had a showing of her first clothing collection along with 12 other girls last Friday night at the Royal Pines on the Gold Coast. They have all just finished their 18 month design course.
Until then.......Happy stitching.............

Boonah Retreat.

Today I am heading to my quilting groups weekend retreat at Boonah. We are going much later this year and the last few days have been very cold. I've packed lots of winter woollies and am hoping I will be warm enough as temperatures are predicted to be minus 2 in the mornings.
I have my bags packed and just have to finish putting my sewing gear in the car. This time I am trying not to take too much with me as I only ever get to work on a few things in the two days we are there.  Am picking up my friends Jan and Nancy at 11.00 and in less than an hour , we will be there. About 12 of our group will be attending this time.
This week I worked on stitching my chenille fabric to take to camp. Jan and I are going to make a bag. It took ages to stitch all those lines and to cut the fabric between them. A quick wash and then in the dryer and the fabric looks like this.

Am hoping it will not be too difficult to sew when it is cut up. Only time will tell I guess.
I've not shown a picture of my 12" Mini as yet because the recipient is away for a few weeks and I'm not sure if I should wait until she gets back.
Well must go as time is slipping by. Be back soon to report on what I managed to get done at retreat.
Happy Stitching till then.............

Friday Night with Friends

Last night I joined many other quilters for FNWF hosted by Cheryll from Gone Stitchin. Thank you so much Cheryll  for hosting again this month.
I started the night by getting a bit of prep work done for some Xmas stitching but can't show a photo of this as yet as it is for the Xmas in July Swap also hosted by Cheryll and is the last of my three gifts to be made.

I then worked on the prep for a chenille bag I am taking to my retreat at Boonah next weekend. My friend Jan and I bought the pattern, fabrics and handle at the October quilt show last year. The bag pieces needed to be cut out, layered together, then stitched before cutting the layers between the stitching with a special chenille cutter. This is how far I got before calling it a night.

Above are the four layers I used, then in the bottom photo, the printed fabric has been added to the top. I cut the bottom one (green) an inch bigger so the top four layers will be easier to cut. I basted the layers together and marked the first stitching line with tape before doing the same on the second piece. This is my first job for tomorrow, lots of stitching on both of these.
Also this week I received my 12"Mini Quilt  from Kim.
I really love this mini and the verse on it is just beautiful. Thank you so much Kim for my mini and the choccies you also added to the parcel.

Thank you to Cheryll as well for hosting and making the little coaster with both Kim's name and mine on it as a wonderful reminder of the swap.
Well must go, will be back soon...... Happy Stitching till then ............