Presents

Hi everyone,

Friday morning I checked the mail on my way to visit dear De.  There was a parcel from USA, from Karen at Quilting, Losing, and Tea .  Back in December, there was a blog hop and I was her international winner.  She sent some pretty fabrics and a pincushion.

There are ready to sew squares,  and the blue/grey/white on the right is a fat quarter.  The sewing on the pincushion is just perfect.  Thank you so much, Karen.

De took me into her lovely sewing space and totally surprised me with another present.

I think I might have let out a real squeal!! I absolutely love this fabric collection.  Super cute!!
I've already made a quilt from one of Aneela's previous lines "Sherbet Pips", but this will be another quilt soon.

Since my swap pressie has been received, I can now reveal the "secret" dots I showed on my last post.

The dots are the lining fabric for the bag I made for Melody.

This is my second time making this bag.  The first time  was as a handbag for me. I have used it for more years than I care to add up and it has been washed so many times it is wearing thin.  My bag has been from Australia to USA at least 3 times.  I still use it as my everyday handbag.  Here are the two bags together.  Mine is made in my fave Shabby Chic type fabrics.

The pattern came from Handmade Volume 23 No. 2 and the author is Colleen Archbold.

When I go to the Library, I always get 5 books. This way, I don't have to remember how many there are when it is time to return them, haha.  This time, two books really moved me.

This is a true story about a woman who died in 1951 from cervical cancer.  The amazing part is that no matter your age, gender, race, or country of origin, YOUR  life has been impacted in some way by her death.  It is a story that won't soon be forgotten.

I am about halfway through this book, the last of my five this time.  I am very much a dog lover and always have been.  Knowing how this one ends, (the cover says it is a memoir),  I am pretty sure it is going to make me cry.  I am ok with that.  This book is SO  beautifully written .  I keep finding passages that I want to write down and save.

debbie

Initial Heart Swap

Hi everyone,

I have been admiring the beautiful gifts received  so far for the swap.

I received my gift this week from the lovely Maria .  The parcel  smelled fantastic LOL.

Maria sent a red knitted heart, a pretty pink  soap that smells beautiful, and a cute little wax tart with a heart.  Everything was wrapped in pretty paper and tied  with ribbon with little hearts on it.  Thank you so much, Maria, for the lovely gifts.

I posted my swap parcel on  Monday.  The post bag had a tracking # which I checked this morning for the first time.  I entered the # on the tracking page, and there it is.....the date I mailed it, the name of the post office  and the time of day I gave it to them. That's it.  No record of the journey it should be on...   I am trusting it should be nearly to the destination by now, but who can tell by that tracking page? *sigh*

I joined in FNWF too, and I did a little secret sewing.  I just love dots, they always seem happy!
Thanks for stopping by.....debbie

Sunday Morning Eye Candy

What a gorgeous day!!  It was 23C in the kitchen this morning, no humidity, birds were chirping, and then it got even better :)   Breakfast was coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and cookies on a sweet little Laura Ashley plate:        (cookies are chickpea chocolate chip, mentioned last week)

I had a look out on the deck and found these:

Some storm battered tomato plants and some very happy spring onions.

Capsicums in dappled sunlight.

A perfect strawberry.   Bliss.  Growing things makes me happy.  So, I wandered back in, to this:
My much loved sewing machine to do some quilting.  Her name is PINK.  She rocks!!

 

 

See that window there? I looked out and saw a really cool spider, so I made a mental note to go out and take a picture soon.  (And drive my car a bit more often!!)

 

  So, I went back to quilting...and that's when I heard him. Him?  That would be "THE HUNK ACROSS THE STREET".  He decided to mow today.  I watched him through the window, then I remembered I still HAD to go take a picture of that really cool spider.

  First, I took a picture looking out the window :

 

See him right there in the middle of the pic?!

 

Squinting....I think I see those movie star glasses, definitely no shirt, those shorts.  Um ok...this is about a cool spider:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh look, not far from the spider, some hot peppers. Might as well take a pic of them while I am loitering out here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really is a very cool spider....such long legs, and tanned...LOL..

 

 

 

 

Ok.  Deep breaths. Right, I was quilting today :)

 

 

How's your Sunday going?!   debbie