Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone who visits my blog A Happy New Year-whether you are just looking or leaving a comment and please know that I really do appreciate the fact that you take the time to read what I have to say.

I hope that 2009 is good to you and that you are able to do what your heart desires------that you always have friends and loved ones who appreciate what you do but most of all you create what makes you happy.

Happy New Year everyone.

TIF book

I have finished putting together the book that I made from my TIF crazy patchwork squares.
I put a border around each square to make them all a uniform size because somehow in the making the squares did not all finish up the same size.
Each set of pages has a piece of pellon between them to give them support.
When the pages were all finished I laced them together at the spine and then added silk ribbon and fibers to the lacing.
The stitching on the cover says " TIF 2008"-- if you click on the image it is easier to read.
The pages are in order of the months that they were done.

The photos are very bright because I took them outside in the sunshine .

I am really pleased with how the book has come together and I have enjoyed this years challenge very much.

This is the second year that I have completed Sharon's challenge and I am looking forward to the new challenge next year.

Thank you Sharon.

All done and dusted

Well Christmas is over --I ate too much---I slept a lot---I had a great time with family and friends--life sure is good.
We have had the wettest Christmas in Canberra that I can remember since we have been here.
We had several big storms which left tree bark and leaves all over the place.
When I went out this morning to put the washing on the line I noticed this gum leaf on the outdoor table and the beautiful echo pattern that had formed around it.
I raced in and got the camera ---this looks like a good design for a project in the future.

I have finished putting the TIF book of crazy patchwork squares together and all I need to do now is take the photos.

Keep watching this space.

Christmas Greetings

To all my blogging friends I would like to wish you a wonderful Christmas and thank you for your friendship which has enriched my life far more than you will ever realise.

Thank you for the comments that you have left they are always appreciated.

May you have a happy and safe Christmas with the ones that you love and please come back and visit in 2009 I will be watching out for you.

ATC's for Christmas

I received this ATC from Christine today and it is so beautiful.
The image of the child framed in a circle of lace is adorable



Christine also included one for Ebony which I will give to her when I next see her.
It has a tiny Christmas stocking charm on it.

This is the ATC that I sent to Christine --it is made from snippets of green fabric covered with a piece of red net and embellished with inbuilt machine stitches and a gold musical instrument.

Thank you Christine for 2 wonderful ATC's.

The Story of The Christmas Pig

Several weeks ago Paula mentioned here about a Christmas Story she had jokingly had said to her children about.
This story was about the Christmas Pig.
She meant it as a joke but her children thought that she meant it for real so she told them that she would write about it closer to Christmas on her blog.
Now a lot of us have been waiting for the mysterious story to appear.
Well today on her blog The Beauty of Life the story has evolved written and illustrated by Paula for her Children (and us).
Please drop by and read it- you won't be dissappointed and while you are at it put her blog on your Bloglines or google reader because it is one blog worth reading regularly.

ATC's from France

These two lovely cross stitched ATC's are from Anne in France who does the most beautiful and delicate cross stitched ATC's that you could ever see.
I have received several of these cards from her each one is beautiful and a treasure to add to my collection.
The one on the left is mine and the one with Santa is Ebony's.
Anne doesn't have a blog which is a pity.



These are the ATC's that we sent Anne------
The one on the left is Ebony's it is mainly stickers with some braid along the bottom.
The red one is mine---it is made from Tyvek and scrim and machine stitched.

It is always a pleasure to swap with Anne--thank you Anne.

Mail from New Zealand

I received this ATC from Carole in New Zealand after I saw it on her blog and we arranged a swap---it is beautifully felted.





This is the ATC that I sent her in return it is a wetfelted one with hand stitching around the outside.





Also included in the envelope from Carole was this beautiful serviette.
I have folded it in half but it is the same on the other side.
I love it -love it -love it.

and also this floral one which would have been handy when making the postcards for the Calendar Girl swaps.

Thank you Carole it was indeed a pleasure to swap with you

Cards from Val

I received this unexpected postcard from Val--this week and what a surprise it was.
My photo is a bit crooked but what the heck it is still a beautiful postcard.





She also included an ATC for Ebony -isn't this just fantastic and Ebony loves it.
Thank you Val for your generosity.

Postcard and stuff from Debbi

This week I received my December Calender Girls postcard from Debbi and wow I wish that you all could feel it.
Debbi has used the wax technique to make this card(at my request I must add) and I am amazed at how wonderful it looks.
She has also used a serviette as part of the base.
Truly beautiful Debbi.
But wait there's more ------------




Again Debbi has added more serviettes and I am amazed at how many different serviettes this girl has.
She has sent me over 50 different serviettes in the last month so I should be ready for Dale's Ratty Tatty Papers workshop next month.
There were these 2 to start with aren't they great-----------

Then there's this bunch----------

And this bunch------------------

And lastly these.

I am having trouble finding somewhere to store them all---I wonder what Debbi does with hers because I only have one of each - she has a full pack --well almost .

Thanks again Debbi you are a treasure.
And also just to let everyone know that we are going to continue on next year with the Calendar Girls but with a slightly different format ---stay tuned-----------------

December TIF Crazy Quilt block

Well here it is my final Crazy Quilt block for the TIF challenge this year.
I can't believe that I have made 12 blocks.
If someone had asked me this time last year if I could make 12 Crazy blocks in a year I would have laughed in their face.
I have enjoyed this years challenge very much--I haven't always liked the colours in the beginning but by the end of each block I was always happy with the result.
I am now going to try to get the blocks made into a book before the end of the year because if I don't then it will never get done.
I would like to thank Sharon for creating this challenge which has given me the chance to create something different to what I normally do.
I am pleased that I have seen another year through to the very end and I am looking forward to the new challenge next year. To see all 12 blocks together click on the Flickr tag on the left side bar that says what is this and then click on the TIF challenge words that are hilited.

I would like to take this advantage to wish Sharon and all the TIF challengers a Merry Christmas and a creative stitching New Year

A Calendar for 2009

This year I participated in a calendar project at my local card and scrapbooking shop.
The idea was that there were 12 people in the group and we were allocated a month and then we had to make a calendar page for that month depicting an event that represents that month (well actually we did 12 pages for the same month)
We had to have them done by mid October and handed in to the shop so that they could bind them together-I page from each person representing the 12 months.
At the Christmas party for the shop we each received our calendars.
I have only chosen some of the pages to show you otherwise I would be here on the computer all day loading them.
These pages may seem strange to people from other countries but this is how things are "Downunder"
The January one is obviously for Summer---in the bottom right hand side corner the lady has used sandpaper to represent the sand--very clever.




February is obvious--Valentines Day---done by my friend Anne

June is the official start day of winter in Australia.

August was done as a quick fill in because the person who was responsible for this month did not return her pages so the lady who owns the shop had to make 12 of these pages the day before the party.

September is my page and it represents Spring--I could have done Father's Day but I chose Spring because it was prettier.

I also did November because again someone hadn't done their pages which I think is very mean of them to make a commitment and then not follow through with it.

The shop owners ended up having to make 3 different pages altogether to substitute for the thoughtless people who hadn't returned their pages and they just ran out of time and inserted a blank page into the book.

I decided to do the page in my book myself.

It represents the Melbourne Cup--which is a really big horse racing event in Australia.

Nearly all of Australia stops whatever they are doing on the first Tuesday in November at 2.30pm and either watches on TV or listens on the radio to the Melbourne Cup.

I did have a stamp of horses but the other thing about Cup day is the fashions that the ladies wear and the huge hats that adorn their heads.

I love this stamp and it says it all I think.

And finally December --which is obvious.

I am glad that I entered because I now have a beautiful calendar ready for next year.

They Have Arrived

UPDATE---- I can now relax because our pieces for the CYBER FYBER Exhibition have arrived safely at Susan's place.
Everytime I tried to track them with the tracking number that I was issued with it kept saying that they had not yet left Australia and I posted them early last week.
But Susan e-mailed me this morning to say that she had them -- phew-- what a relief.
Now I can sit back and enjoy myself.

Postcard from Kay

This is the postcard that I received from Kay in the US in exchange for my very green postcard that I posted about earlier this week.
This was part of the Stitchin Fingers Postcard group Green swap.
I love the stitched flowers that Kay has worked on this card.
Thank you Kay it is beautiful.

Christmas Postcard

I received this postcard today from Ati as part of the Fiber-Fever group Christmas swap.
Ati does such beautiful Crazy postcards and I just love the stitching in this one.
I had to send to Margreet and if you scroll down a few posts you can see the card that I sent to her.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

The tree is up and decorated (Anorexia is out of her box once again).
Ebony insisted on helping.

The engredients are prepared --------------

The pots are ready-------------

The cook is in full swing---the only problem is that I have to stand on a little foot stool to reach the bench top so that I can mix everything comfortably.

The cooks assistant got to lick the bowl---------------

The end result------can't wait to try them.

Yep it's beginning to look like Christmas.

Lots of Postcards

I have been so busy finishing off my CYBER FYBER stuff that I haven't had time to post about all these postcards etc.
The first one is my postcard for Margreet who lives in The Netherlands.
Margeet is a member of the Fiber_Fever group I belong to and we are doing a fabric page swap next year run by Ati in Norway.

The next postcard is for Kay in the USA and it is a one on one swap as part of the stitchinfingers postcard group.
The theme was green and you can't get much greener that this one.

This in my November postcard from Debbi as part of the Calendar girls group.

Thank you Debbi it is beautiful.

Debbi also sent me 29 beautiful serviettes --and I can't wait to start using them in my mixed media work.

She also sent Ebony an ATC which I think is brilliant---"Are we there yet"-- how often have we heard this when we are off on a journey.

Thank you Debbi for your generosity I can assure you the serviettes will be put to good use and I don't mean at the dinner table.

Lastly my October postcard from Carol T in the Calendar Girls group swap.

This card looks great in the photo but in the flesh it is amazing.

Thank you Carol it is a wonderful addition to my ever growing postcard collection

Cyber Fyber

CYBER FYBER EXHIBITION AT GALLERY 80808 January 8 - 20, 2009



CYBER FYBER, an international exhibition of fiber arts created by Internet connected textile artists, opens at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios on Thursday, January 8, 2009 and runs through January 20th.

An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 9 from 5 - 9 PM.
The art exhibit will feature hundreds of fiber cards from over twenty-six countries and 46 states.

The work of nineteen internationally known fiber artists will also be on display.
These invited artists include:Dijanne Cevaal, Sharon Boggon, Dale Rollerson, and Doreen Grey and her granddaughter Ebony of Australia; Beate Knappe and Wanda Lenz of Germany; Emmy Schoonbeek and Jacqueline de Jong of the Netherlands; Arlee Barr of Canada; Lynda Monk and Maggie Grey of Great Britain; Annica Lindsten of Sweden; Nikki Wheeler of Washington; Veleta Staffney and Corinne Stubson of Oregon; Penny Sisto of Indiana; Jill Rumoshosky Werner of Kansas; and Susan Sorrell and Susan Lenz of South Carolina.


Gallery80808/Vista Studios808 Lady StreetColumbia, South Carolina 29201(803) 252-6134
Visit CYBER FYBER on-line!Please also visit Susan Lenz's blog!

A Sneak Peak

-------of my piece for the Cyber Fyber exhibition.

As with Ebony's quilt a lot of my fabrics and threads and beads etc have come from many of you wonderful generous people out there in Blogland.

I wanted to keep the things that I was using to either gifts from bloggers or recycled fabrics that I had in my stash.

I am happy with the finished piece which is a product of the cyber friendships that I have made since I started blogging.

I must thank Susan for inviting Ebony and I to participate in Cyber Fyber it is truly an honour to be amongst such talented people.

Ebony's Quilt---Cyber Fyber here I come

Well where does this story begin?

Back in April I posted a story about Ebony receiving a parcel from Paula for her birthday which included a pile of patchwork squares for her to use when she was making ATC's.

But Ebony decided that she wanted to make a small quilt- so we set upon a journey which was interesting to say the least.

Ebony is a strong willed person who knows what she wants especially when she is being creative and I can offer her all the advice in the world but if she has her mind set on what she wants to do then there is no stopping her.

First I allowed her to arrange the blocks on the floor in the order that she wanted them and I explaind to her about light and dark fabrics etc and finally she had them the way she wanted them.

I pinned them together and she sewed them on my sewing machine in rows of five by five--(they were reduced to four by four at a later stage)

When this was done I allowed her to choose from my stash the other colours that she wanted to use.

She wanted the lime green for the sashings and the border around the blocks so I cut them out and pinned them onto the blocks and off she went stitching again.

We had a few terse moments when I unpicked some seams because they were a bit wonky but we survived it.

Next she chose the black fabric with hearts all over it in bright colours--by this time she was getting a bit excited about the outcome of the whole project.

I decided that it would be too hard for her to quilt it so we decided to choose buttons to tie it all together.

The selection process was hilarious with the conversation going something like this---" what do you think of this button Ebony?"----"no I don't like that one Nanny it doesn't suit the ambience of the quilt" -----"you can't put that one there Ebony"----"Why not it's my quilt"----"Why have you got this one here Ebony"---"because of the texture"----by this time I am just about falling off the chair laughing.

I asked her where she had gotten all her ideas from and she said "oh I have seen the people on the How to Channel on Foxtel do this type of stuff".

Anyway the buttons were selected and the position as to where they would go was decided (this took her an hour ) and I took a close up photo so we would remember the exact position of each one.

I had to hold the button in place so she could sew the thread through the holes and tie them off.

Next came the binding--a lovely raspberry colour.

She sewed the bindings on but again the hand stitching was a problem so I vliesofixed them down and when she gets a bit more comfortable at the hand stitching she can do them.

She did stitch the corners by hand --which was funny because the first two corners had a few donkey stitches but by the third one it was perfect.

I kept wanting to take over and do some but I had to hold back because after all it was her quilt.

She does look quite pleased with the finished quilt doesn't she---and I am very proud of what she has achieved in doing this project--it has taken her 7 months to complete but hey I have several quilts that have been waiting 8 years to be finished.
I know to the purists it is not a perfect quilt but it is her first quilt and it has been her own decisions all along as to how and where things were done and she also paid me a wonderful compliment----I told her that I thought it was the most beautiful quilt I had seen and she replied--"I am lucky because I learnt from the best" (sniff sniff)


Now for the Cyber Fyber bit----
Susan had asked me to enter something in her exhibition and I was honoured to be invited to do so---and when she saw that Ebony was making a quilt out of fabrics sent to her by a cyber friend she asked my permission for Ebony to enter her quilt also.
Ebony was happy about this once I confirmed that it would come back to her after the exhibition.
Susan had wanted the two of us to enter because--
1--it would show the handing down of stitching from grandmother to grand daughter and--
2--how the internet plays a big part in our lives these days what with swapping things be it ATC's -postcards or fabrics and threads.
We are indeed a small world of Cyber friends united in our one love of textiles.
Below are photos of the blocks laid out on the floor for selection-------





Ebony sewing the blocks------

The buttons on the quilt-------------

Congratulations Ebony on a wonderful quilt.