Thank you Rachael

Last time I told you I'd received a beautiful gift from a blogging friend, would you like to see what Rachael sent to me as the winner of her blogoversary drawing.

 

I was amazed when I opened the brown paper wrapping on the beautiful box that the postie delivered.  

 

 

Inside the pretty box, was another box .....

 

 

with a cute kitty on the top....

 

and what a box it is too, the lid was padded .....

 

and as I took it off ...WOW!!!

An etui sewing basket filled with goodies, handmade by Rachael herself.  It's gorgeous.

I took the contents out, such a lot of lovely things for me to play with, just look at the beautiful felt dolly, she's so cute.

 

and I marvelled at the workmanship that had gone into this wonderful basket ...

 

Oh look.... a pair of angel scissors tucked into one of the little pockets.....

 

and some beads inside one of the bands....

two sides are padded to use as a pincushion....

 

the bottom is padded too...

 

and the fabric the whole box is covered in is just so pretty, here's the bottom and sides ....

 

It is absolutely a work or art, thank you so much Rachael, I am so thrilled with it and love it!

 

There was one of these etui boxes at the very first meet up I attended about 4 years ago with other stitchers where one lady was using it as her workbox, that one was yellow flowered.  I thought to myself at the time, I would love to have one of those, perhaps one day i'll find a pattern and be able to try and make one.... and here I am, the owner of this gorgeousness.   Just goes to show, things do come to those who wait patiently.

 

 

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Talking of talented people who can make nice things, Saturday DH and I went off to a small quilt exhibition a few miles from home in a church hall.   The ladies were giving demonstrations and you could have a little go if you wanted to. 

 

Some wonderful quilts they had on show.....

 

 

and other quilted items ....

 

A stall selling their fabulous makes at quite reasonable prices too to raise funds for the church hall and a local charity.

 

Patchwork was something I had never tried before.  But....at the Craftshare group on Thursday I'd had a little go at it, just a little 4 square pincushion... the red button does add a little touch (*whispering* and it hides the fact that my join was a millimetre or two off centre) 

 

 

This larger pincushion will be very useful seeing as I am now the proud owner of this beauty, an early birthday gift from DH.    Better swat up on the instructions and have a go with it, now what to make first ..........

 

 

There are so many talented people whose blogs I read, thank you for your inspiration and guidance as I travel along my crafting pathway, which at present is taking a little detour from the cross stitching that I have been happily content with for the past few years into pastures new.

 

A little crochet has been happening in the garden here this weekend and a project that is so close to a finish there is really no point showing it to you till its all done.

 

Till the next time ... happy crafting!

 

Simple things pleasing me...

A thief in the garden.....

 

A naughty little squirrel with attitude!  He looks at you lifts his head nods and then continues to eat the birds food, the little rascal.

and a pair of jackdaws that have found a tasty treat this week too.  So much for enticing more of the little birds into the garden....

 

Produce is growing and we've had the first harvest..... the first cucumbers from the greenhouse.

 

 

Broad beans from the allotment....

 

and lovely juicy strawberries, they were perfect with some icecream.

 

 

Lots more lovely sweet peas, the smell is wonderful.

 

 

 

I've been baking .... a little tea loaf to enjoy with a cuppa.

 

 

and someone else has been baking too.  The Book Borrowers celebrated their 2nd birthday this week and we had a little party.  A gentleman who comes along asked his wife to kindly make us a cake.  she did a wonderful job and it was delicious.

 

 

Some crafting at the Craftshare group the last two Thursdays....

 

a notepad and pen holder in the shape of a little apron

 

 

and a felt corsage .....

 

 

Just a little stitching....

 

Y for yarrow and Z for Zinnia added to Elizabeth Designs Nature's Alphabet, my SAL with Gillie. 

 

 

and two more filled in borders on Irish Garden

 

 

Postie came today and brought me a wonderful gift from a blogging friend, that deserves a post all of its own, so i'll take some snaps and show you that next time. 

 

Hope all is well in your part of the world. 

 

{{big hugs}} to friends who are going through some tough times at the moment.

 

 

Busy doing nothing ... if only!

A little while since I was here posting updates, lots of stuff going on.

Hubby's still undergoing further tests, yes and we are now 7 months down the line...... amazing what they find when they are looking for something else and then that needs attention too!  DD had a health scare (every womans nightmare type) and after quick tests etc there was relief for us all that all would be fine and it was something that could be sorted.

Isabelle, my grandaughter had a birthday, she turned 3.  Brave the Disney film is one of her favourites, unfortunately we have no room for a horse, so she had to make do with riding her new bike wearing her Merida costume.

A reveal of the big crafting project at the local Community Centre was organised, tea and homemade cakes and a visit from the deputy mayor and all went well in the end. 

After a lot of heartache and problems since last summer, it is finally on the hall wall and looking really nice.

 

Oh dear... that's not the picture, that's before the Deputy Mayor and our local councillor pulled off the cover.....  

 

Here you are... the finished piece.....

a few close ups ....

 

 

 

Lots of talented people took part showing their wonderful skills.  We had, lacemaking cross stitching, knitting, crochet, applique, silk printing, decoupage, quilting, hardanger and beadwork.  The darker blue squares down the sides were created by the gardening club using leaves and sunlight, the pictures were then copied onto fabric to be added to the finished design.  The long blue bottom border has the names of all those that took part, names were signed onto paper then transferred to the cotton fabric and backstitched into place.  It was decided to call the finished piece 'Community Threads' as that was what the whole project was about, bringing the community together and of course we had used threads in our finished works. 

I've also been spending quite a bit of time with a man from the library services and the council as they plan to bring a new self service library to the centre which means changes for our Book Borrowers group, some good changes and some not so good, progress they call it.  The whole community has had a say with surveys being filled in as to what they would like from it, that's taken up quite a bit of time speaking to lots of people at the centre.  With all the council cuts there will be no actual library staff, they hope volunteers will run the service.

Stitching has not been so productive, but I've tried hard to keep up with my SAL's.

Irish Garden had 3 speciality stitched borders added ...

 

 

Gingerbread men have arrived at CCN Gingerbread Emporium ....

 

 

and 3 more letters added to Nature Alphabet ....

 

 

 

 

Ooops forgot to take a pic of the full design.  Only the bottom row left, the final 2 letters and name/date etc.

 

Finally, a little gift I stitched a couple of weeks ago, I can share now its been received and opened.  A little notebook and pen, a useful gift and a quick stitch iris design for a spring birthday.

 

 

The first sweet peas of the year are in bloom, DH gave me a tiny bunch last weekend, the smell was heavenly as you walked into the room.  He always sows a few seeds January 1st to get an early crop.

 

It's been lovely to read what you have all been up to on your blogs, I'm all caught up with blog reading again after getting way behind.  Lots of wonderful craftwork being created out there, well done to all.

 

There are some friends who are going through some stressful times themselves and with their families, {big hug} to you and a special {{{great big hug}}} to a very dear friend of mine who is not quite herself at the moment.

 

Thanks for popping in....