Kitties placemat and mug rug.

I had two last minute gifts to make on Xmas Eve - two ladies that sometimes attend xmas dinner when it is at SIL's place, are both serious cat fans, so I decided to make a place mat for one woman and a mug rug for the other.
Cute?

Happy Christmas!

Wishing all my followers a safe and happy Christmas, no matter what religion you are.

Half eaten gingerbread man.

I've seen a few of these felt chewed gingerbread men made up, and decided I would like my own to add to my felt donuts and cupcake. Cute!

Christmas gifts and a cupcake.

I've added a cup cake to my collection of felt cakes.  I put them on the kitchen table when I'm expecting friends to drop in, and their eyes light up with anticipation - "Ooooh, donuts and cupcakes!"  Then they take a closer look and realise they aren't edible.  I used alternative patterns for the donuts so I could decide which one was quicker and easier to make, hence the different sizes.

These are two of the mug rugs that I have completed for friends.  I gave one away yesterday before I had a chance to photograph it for my files, but as the recipient only lives around the corner, it won't be hard to get a picture.  The first photo is the back of the rugs...

And these are the fronts.  I guess it doesn't really matter, they can be used either side up of course, but the side with the ric rac on has a bit more work on it than the reverse, which is just one piece of fabric.

Productive weekend!

It was soooo hot on Saturday, we just sat around and ate cold fruit to keep cool,


 drank cups of tea, and wasted time on our computers.  But today it was much cooler, and we felt more like doing things.  Ken went out and bought a new cordless phone to replace the one in our entrance hall.  He also spent some time in the aviaries with the chooks and finches, cleaning out nest boxes and stuff like that.  As for me, I had my list of to-do projects ready to make a start!
First of all I made another felt donut pincushion, with chocolate sprinkles this time ;-)

Next, I made a placemat for my hairdresser for Christmas.  I've known her for years, and we always exchange some little item at Christmas.  She isn't a craft person, but she loves the bits and pieces I make for her.

Then I messed around some more with these lovely Xmas fabric charm squares, matching some of them with cream fabric and making half square triangles, which I then joined up in various configurations.   By the end of the day I'd completed three mug rugs (not what you see here) which will make nice little gifts.

I still have a few Christmas projects that I would like to do, but gosh it is coming up so fast, I don't know if I'll get time to do them, so they might have to wait until next year. I do it every year - wait until December before I start making gifts, then run out of time! I used to think it was crazy when I saw craft magazines in July with ideas for Christmas, but now I know why they publish those patterns so early!

Photos of recent craft shows.

I have finally got around to posting photos of quilts and other needlecraft entries at this year's Lilydale and Whittlesea Shows. You can find them on my Needlecraft Shows blog here.

Cute pincushion donut!

I saw the pattern for this felt donut in a book at the Guild a few months ago, and J - one of my colleagues there agreed with me that it was too cute to ignore! So we took copies of the pattern (I know, naughty) and joked about who was going to make it first. A few weeks ago I saw a similar pattern in Handmade Magazine, and remembered the photocopy I'd filed away. I compared them and decided to make the Handmade pattern first. There is a matching cupcake, but I didn't have enough felt to do that last night when I made the donut. I wanted to show J today but she wasn't on duty, so it will have to wait until next year. By then I plan to have made a few more donuts as well as cupcakes, as I bought enough felt today to make a whole tray of them!

Hand made Christmas cards.

I've had a stack of Christmas themed fabric on the floor for a month, determined to make some mug rugs, place-mats, runners and other things for gifts this year.  But, you all know how it is; life gets in the way and nothing gets done.   I usually buy my cards well in advance from catalogues that I receive from various charities, but for some reason this year I only ordered one pack from the Red Cross.  I like to write all my cards out on the first weekend in December and post them immediately, so they are all out of the way and I can get on with my day to day stuff.  So tonight I pulled out the box where I keep my stash of cards and address list, opened it up to find ONE pack of cards from the Red Cross, and no others!  What was I thinking of last month??   Well it was no use writing out just a dozen cards, so I thought I'd make some to go on with.  In my stash of paper products that I've played with over the years when I wanted a break from sewing, I found the makings of hand made cards.  I used to cross stitch little pictures and insert them into the card frames, but I didn't have time for that tonight.  Instead, I used fabric scraps to make the inserts - sewing strips together and cutting them into a square, and fusing little Xmas icons to other fabric.  In an hour I'd made a dozen cards!  Now I only have to buy another 2 dozen cards, then I can start writing...

Supposed to be on De stashing page!

What is the point of setting up a special sub-site for selling stash if Blogger won't post the write up to the right site?  Oh well, you'd probably never find it anyway....

Cross Stitch and embroidery kits going cheap!

I will send these anywhere in Australia in a prepaid satchel which I think is about $5, but if it works out cheaper in another envelope, I'll do that instead.  Postage overseas will have to be calculated individually.  The prices I have put on all these kits is negotiable.  Please make me an offer if you want to buy more than one, or if you think I've over priced any of them!
You can leave a comment here, or email me direct at gandkwil@hotmail.com if you have any questions, or want to purchase anything. I will accept Paypal or direct deposit, or pick up in person if you are in Melbourne.

Anchor stamped linen table runner kit.  Second picture shows one section of the design.  Threads included.  $10

Four Seasons cats, click on the picture for a closeup.  I'd love to do this, but I know I never will now..
Originally cost over $40, I'm selling it for $15.  Threads included as shown.

I thought I'd do this one day too, but time is running out for me!  $15.

This Jubilee kit is for the previous jubilee, not the current year Diamond one.  I took one look at all those threads and thought no way!  $15.

Bought this kit years ago, and still think it is cute, but I don't like cross stitching on printed linen.  Prefer counted thread cross stitch.   As you can see in the second picture, the printing on the linen (cotton?) is very faded, but still visible enough to stitch on.  Cottons included as shown.  $6.

The phot on the front of the packet shows four frogs in frames, but the pattern and threads are for only one frog (with green sticker on packet to indicate).  $8.

Two book mark kits complete with threads.   $2 each.

Old stamped linen sampler which has been glued on to a wooden frame.  No threads.  $8.

Anchor embroidery cushion cover kit, threads included.  $15.

Beautiful example of Tatting.

I saw some exquisite tatting on Jane's blog a while ago, and left a comment saying how lucky she was to have someone do that for her.  About a week later I received an email from Nancy in the USA  -  she was the person who sent Jane her Tatting.  She offered to do some for me as I'd sounded so enthusiastic about it in my post to Jane's blog.  So we agreed on an exchange -her tatting for one of my mug rugs.
A parcel arrived today from Nancy, and typical of so many bloggers, not only did she send the design I requested (teapot and teacup), she'd added extra goodies! A dear little heart, and some tiny hooks to hang the tattings on.
Aren't these just darling??  I'm not sure if I'd hang them up; I'm thinking of mounting the tatting on to a piece of fabric and framing them.  I don't want them to collect dust!

Two note pads with an American flavor, and a gorgeous card, which she has embellished with tatting - how clever is that!  Thank you so much, dear Nancy :-)

Coffee with another Blog Friend!

I've been reading Lyn's blog Moore Patchwork and Quilting for a while now, and as happens so often with bloggers, we have become good friends. Lyn was down in Melbourne for a conference this past weekend, and as she had Monday morning free before she flew back to Brisbane, we arranged to meet up for a quick coffee and chat. We met at one of the many delightful cafes in The Block Arcade in Melbourne CBD.   Lyn is at the table looking at my album of fabric postcards.

A friendly waiter was happy to take our photo outside his cafe.

Lyn had visited L'ucellos during her stay, and bought me a little gift of notepad and vintage buttons - lovely!

In return I gave her a fabric postcard that I'd bought at our Guild on Saturday.

Lyn loves fabric postcards, and is currently involved in exchanging them on a forum. She makes some beautiful cards herself - check them out on her blog!

Paddy's Market at the Embroiderers Guild.

I should have posted a reminder here for my Melbourne readers;  our Guild's Paddy's Market just gets better and better!  It is usually once a year, but sometimes they skip a year.  Today I took a lot of my stash to sell, and did well, selling nearly all the vintage unworked or partly worked linens to one lady who came down from Bendigo to look for me, after buying some of my linens two years ago!  We share a love of vintage linens, so I have invited her to view my collection next time she is in Melbourne.  Ken said I have to be more careful about who I invite into our home.  I said that I didn't think middle aged ladies were going to make off with the proverbial family silver.
I know what he means though; people might quite innocently talk about where they saw all this fabulous linen, and it only takes one person with evil intent to ask where I live....But I trust all the ladies I invite here and I doubt very much if any of them are going to give out our address!

Once I'd sold enough of my own stash to have a bit of spending money, I wandered around everybody else's tables.  We all do the same thing every year, and have a laugh over it.  Often heard during the morning is "How much have you sold, and how much have you bought?!"  Here is what I brought home:
A small quilt hanger for $10, which is a bit more than what I would expect to pay at Paddy's, but I really loved this hanger with the rooster.

 Another rooster - this one cross stitched by someone who obviously didn't know what to do with it once they'd completed it.  I've got plans for it!

The ladies at the table next to me had stacks of upholstery offcuts, and I bought these pieces to use in my Christmas table runner patchworks.  $8 was better than $27 a metre over at Lincraft, and once it is made up, I don't think anyone will know it is upholstery fabric.

 I know, I know, I KNOW!  I've just sold a heap of vintage UFO doilies, and I go and buy another one??  Well, I really love the design on this  (and only $3), and I didn't like the design on the ones I sold, so there.

 Couldn't resist this dear little Christmassy doiley for $5.

 Very cute kit for a computer mousemat - cat asking  "Have you seen my mouse?"

 Christmas fabric postcards, $5 each.

Rare vintage table cloth.

First off, thank you to everyone who has left such lovely comments on my blog about my Lilydale Show wins, and the mug rug - your words are greatly appreciated as always!

My new friend N. allowed me to take photos of the cloth she brought over to show me this week. Some friends of hers also have this cloth, but unworked, and they brought theirs in to show me at my exhibition at Bundoora. N. said at the time she also had one, but hadn't looked at it for ages, and thought hers was also unworked. But when she unearthed it from a bag of cloths, she found it was completely finished. It was produced by Womens Weekly magazine at the time when decimal currency was introduced into Australia (1966). I have never seen this design before - on eBay or any other source online or otherwise, so I don't think there will be many around. I would almost cut off my arm to get one of these cloths for my collection! So if anyone reading this knows where I can find one, please let me know!

I omitted to photograph one corner of the cloth, with the one cent piece. What makes this cloth even more historically interesting is that the one and two cent coins are no longer in circulation. And the 50c coin has changed it's face many many times since 1966.

Another mug rug.

I whipped this little rug up tonight for a friend who is coming to lunch tomorrow, to see my linen collection. She has promised to bring a very rare cloth to show me, and I am quite excited about it, as I didn't even know such a design existed.