Christmas Runner...

Another gift finished....
I do this every year, all the time...leave everything to the last minute, trying to get everything finished in time, and amazingly so I manage to get things done....seems like I work better under a bit of pressure!.
This runner was so easy to run up, just 2.5 inch squares in Christmas fabrics ....
here's a close up, the prairie points are the just perfect finish...
Off to see what else I need to do..on a roll, must keep going while I still have time to whip up something else!
Have a lovely day...♥

More Gift Making...

Still finding I need to make a couple more little gifts ...... I knew I should have started my gift making earlier!

This Crinoline lady is my design and I think will be another calendar holder....I think a few hollyhocks and little violets along the garden path will finish this off beautifully....
I already had quite a few of these packets of seed beads, a ball of the #8 crochet thread and the purse frame, so I thought an elegant little coin purse would be a nice gift for someone....... a little fiddly to knit up but I think well worth the effort.

I like to line the purse in taffeta for a nice finish...here's the bead knitting instructions for you, if you'd like to make one...there's still time for this last minute gift idea!

A hello and wave to dear friends Caroline and Don....♥

Knitted Beaded Purse
1 Hank Beads or 70 grams of #11 seed beads
No. 16 Needles ....very fine needles
1 Ball No. 8 DMC Crochet Cotton to match beads

Both side of knitting looks the same...

First you need to transfer all the beads onto the crochet thread
Cast on 24 stitches
Knit 4 rows in Garter stitch
Knit 4 stitches (slide 1bead along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4sts
Repeat 5 rows (making 6 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 2 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 3 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 4 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 5 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 6 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 7 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 3 rows (making 4 rows)
Knit 4 stitches (slide 8 beads along knit 2 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts
Repeat 31 rows (making 32 rows with 8 beads)

Reverse in opposite way on the other side decreasing by 1 bead every 4 rows until you get down to 1 bead.

Knit 4 stitches (slide 1bead along knit 4 sts) repeat to last 4 sts, knit the 4 sts.
Repeat 5 rows (making 6 rows).
Knit 4 rows in Garter stitch.
Cast off

Until next time...take care....♥

Santa's Been !

Santa's been....

I received my SSCS parcel this morning, all the way from CJ Calgary, Canada...isn't this exciting when a parcel arrives, it's like being a little girl again, I guess we all have that little child deep inside when it comes to presents especially at Christmas time...
I just had enough battery power left in my camera to take these photos...

I think it was posted on the 20th of last month..... look what's inside, yummy treats like chips in Ketchup and Dill Pickle flavours, and a box of Peanut Butter Candy...I know these won't last long!..

See the cute little birdie ornament, he will look right at home on my tree....and last but not least is the beautifully wrapped gift to open on Christmas day...that's going to be so hard.
Thank you so much CJ...you can come out of lurkdom now...and I can come and visit you.....♥

Calendar Holder...

How's everyone doing with their Christmas gift making?....
I'm still finding I need to make another gift and then another...

Yesterday I put together this Calendar Holder, real easy to do and makes a great gift especially at this time of the year....somewhere nice to hang the calendar, I have a silk ribbon embroidered one in my sewing room and one like this in the kitchen...

This is the finished holder...I just want to add a few novelty buttons like maybe a watering can , flower pot etc...

So easy, it's just long enough and wide enough to take your chosen calendar, with room for the applique on the top half and a pocket on the bottom half to hold the calendar.

This one measures 22" x 15" finished...the pocket is 11" x 15"

So easy to quilt, I just meander quilted around the cottage and trees, then over the smoke and back stitched words...the yo-yo tree tops were appliqued on after the quilting was done.

Here the pieces are ready to be fused onto the fabric with Wonder Under

Normally I would hand blanket stitch the pieces on, but just so I could finish it quickly I machine stitched the applique on...

I would really love to share this Country Cottage applique design with you, I can send a PDF file in an email, but I don't know how to add the PDF link on my blog........can anyone help me please!

EDIT...Robyn has kindly helped me with the PDF file sharing thingie...here goes I hope it works..

You need to get the Cottage design in two PDF files and join them together ..

PDF one..PDF two ....I'm not sure but you may be able to download the two halves from just one PDF file.....Please let me know if the link does not work.

Happy Stitching...♥

Christmas Lunch Gathering...

Another lunch, another gathering...it's that time of year, it's starting to feel a lot more like Christmas now!
My Tuesday patchwork group, The Pelican Quilters met in a cafe for our wind up lunch.
How lovely it is to sit and get waited on with a lovely smoked salmon, pear, rocket, and cheese salad with a yummy Berry Cheesecake dessert to finish off...a few girls could not make it due to family commitments...we missed you girls!

I'm sure the girls are tired of me taking their photos, and must think..." Oh no!'...and as you can see I'm not in the photo...cheeky smile...next time I'll get someone else to take the photo..

Melanie sitting there with her arm in a sling only just made it...last Thursday she had an op on her shoulder to reattach the torn muscle, also had an op on her lower arm, her Dh husband drove her up and sat at another table on his own reading the paper while we enjoyed our lunch...how lovely was that of him to do that!

Here's Diane with her present, look at the sweet little knitted bells that Mem made to decorate the parcel...

That's Mem standing, Marie is holding up a gorgeous waffle tea towel appliqued with cupcakes that Kerry made...and below a lovely pink tea towel appliqued with ice creams.

Oh, and this is my lovely gift...a beautiful bolster cushion...how lucky was I, and in my colours too, could not be more perfect for me.....Thank you Glynis, I love it!

It was a lovely lunch and great to meet up with friends for lunch...thank you girls!

I hope your day was lovely and perhaps an even better one today...♥

Street Christmas Party...Apricot Danish!

I think I have the BEST neighbours ever!...
We live in a little Cul-D-Sac, with great neighbours who watch out for each other...every year one of our neighbours hosts a Christmas street party.
Some of us have been here since day one...14 years now, we built and moved in almost all at the same time
This year it's neighbours Patrick and Julie hosting...we all take a plate of food, and a few drinks.
We sit and chat for most of the afternoon, enjoying each other company, taking time to reflect on the past year...
Every one's so busy these days, it's great to meet, relax and do this at the end of the year...I made Apricot Danish to take, also a Zucchini slice, which we won't talk about...I forgot to put in the bacon! Here we are sitting under our neighbours beautiful Tusan style outdoor entertaining area, waiting for the rest of the neighbours to arrive.
Beautiful grape vines over head shaded us as we sit and chat...
A big thank you to Patrick and Julie, who made us so welcome...and to darling sweet Julia, Julie's Mum, who had some wonderful stories about her life experiences to tell..
Can you believe that we have two Julie's and two Julia's ( me included ) living in our little street..
Anyway here's the recipe for the Danish...

You need....
Sheets of puff pastry thawed out
Almond meal
Drained tinned Apricots
Ginger marmalade.
Cut pastry sheets into four, fold edges over to form a border and prick all over with fork to prevent rising too much

Add a couple of pinches of almond meal on pastry, this will absorb any moisture from the apricots,
Place half an apricot on top of meal, and press down with a fork to flatten a bit.
Soften some of the ginger marmalade in the microwave oven, and spoon about a teaspoon full over the apricot..brush edges of pastry with a beaten egg and bake in a moderate /hot oven until golden ...
When cool, dust with icing sugar...great as is or serve with fresh whipped cream


How easy is that...enjoy....♥

Apple Core Runner ...all finished

The runner is all finished, ready to be loved and used...
I had some perfect red gingham that I used for the backing and the bias binding around the apple cores...I think it's very vintage and sets it off beautifully!

Here is a close up to show how I just meandered over the flower embroidery and around the lady and parasol.

I'm so happy with this runner, I might just make another one with different embroidery...

Until next time..happy stitching...♥