SSCS 2014

Wow! The last day of 2014. I know I am not the only one to say this year has flown by. I have just amended my 2014 list of finishes. It was not a long list this year, but next year's list should look a bit healthier, if my current 2015 to do list is achieved. Whether it is achievable is yet to be seen.

One final thing I need to do for 2014 is show the presents sent and received in Chookyblue's 2014 Secret Santa Christmas Swap. I may have said this before, but I'll say it again anyway. This is a fun swap. Chooky matches us Aussie girls with an overseas partner, and therefore all the overseas girls send back to Australia. I think the secret stalking is the best part; learning about another blogger, their likes and dislikes and their lives; planning just the right thing to make and send; waiting for the parcels to arrive.

Thank you, Chookyblue for organising it again!

 

Well my secret Santa this year was Christin from Switzerland! How cool, is that?

I got a felt house as my hanging ornament and several machine embroidered red snowflakes/stars that I have been using in different ways,  a container I can use to hold lollies or threads, delicious chocolates and  a Santa table runner.

 The chocolates were in the fridge when I took the photo, not eaten already! LOL (But they are well and truly gone now.)

Thank you very much, Christin!

I had the pleasure to send to Raewyn in New Zealand. My stalking showed a blogger with a lot of talent, so I made personal things.

 This coat hanger was a Mum's Moment pattern.

 The jewellery roll is by Liisa Dawson of The Quilter's Corner.

 The ornament is an Anni Downs pattern that I showed in a previous pattern.
I have heard from Raewyn and I think she likes them.  :-)


One thing I realise I have not shown is the pillow I made for our Sunday Stitchers Christmas swap. It is an adaption of a Kookaburra Cottage pattern. I made it using Paris Flea Market fabric. Again some snooping was in order to make the right thing. I will say Maureen nearly didn't get it. Two reasons, it took longer to make than I thought and, of course, it is exactly my colours, after all I have been collected that fabric range for years.

 Which brings me to the end of 2014. No resolutions for next year, just some hopes and dreams.

I would like to wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR. 

May 2015 bring you your wishes and dreams.

Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

to Everyone.

I wish you and the world peace and happiness at this time.

Heaven only knows the Earth could do with it.

Cheryl

Last Minute Sewing

Well I had a bit of a last minute flurry of crafty activity.
I finished a very late bed quilt for my 3 year old grandniece's birthday. When I saw her recently, I quizzed her about her favourite colours. She is a very definite little girl: a bit of an old head on young shoulders. She informed me her favourite colours were orange, blue and pink in that order and she liked elephants!

I couldn't believe my luck. Ages ago I made a baby quilt top that was too big at the time, so it has been sitting in the cupboard. It's got blue, yellow (nearly orange) and pink and elephants! I even had the fabric for the borders and back. The fabric range was Animal Crazee.

I made three of these for friends in our small patchwork group. Can't believe I gave them away without a photo.  We had a lovely lunch to end the year.

Today, very last minute, I made 2 zippered pouches to hold hair things as Christmas presents for my eldest grand nieces.

 Yes orange elephants! Definitely lucky sometimes.

Off to wrap them now.

Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Chookyblue's SSCS

My SSCS has landed. I won't know who it is from until I open the main present and card on Christmas Day, but in the meantime THANK YOU to my Secret Santa.
Thank you also to our organiser Chookyblue.

 Well packaged!

 The ornament (one of the requirements for the swap) is a very cute little house that is now on my tree, as is the embroidered one on the right. The chocolates are in the fridge, being nibbled at.
I've been snooping and I know that the presents I made have landed, but I won't show my ornament yet as it would spoil the surprise.

 And BTW...look Robyn....there is a floor under the mess you saw in my sewing room!

Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Bathurst Bloggers Meet

In a nut shell, I had a great time.
A very early plane flight saw me in Sydney in enough time for a quick side trip to the Homy Ped Shoe Clearance shop. It was not far from the airport and I managed to get 2 pairs of shoes at greatly reduced prices. I was back to the airport in time to meet up with Jannimary and her lovely husband M. They flew back from an interstate event and I was able to hitch a ride to Bathurst with them.
Jannimary's family came from the area we drove through and it was interesting to hear the history of the area and her family.
I could have sworn I took photos of the outside of The Vale where we stayed, but obviously didn't. Check out Fiona's blog Dragonfly-Crafts...she took great photos....even if all the cameras weren't hers.... ;-)
The Vale has a wonderful set-up, suitable for all sorts of groups. Vicki looked after us and let's just say we didn't starve!
I knew some of the ladies and enjoyed meeting the others. They came from all over New South Wales. I believe, one car load drove for over 6 hours to get there. Many are from the land or from towns heavily associated with land based industries. It was interesting and very informative to listen to what they are going through at the moment.
They are all talented, but some make things to sell. A corner of the room was set up with their creations. Note to Show and Tell - the lemon butter did not last long once I got home. It was delicious!

 There was lots of chatting while fingers sewed and machines hummed.

 Heaps of show and tell.

Saturday morning saw us shopping in town. Anni Downs' store, The Home Patch, is a delight for the eyes. Lots of serious shopping here.
We did a 'Make It, Bake It or Fake It' swap.  Georgina got my swap present. Again no photo! Shame on me. I made 2 crocheted hankies and added some lovely smelly body care products. I got a great weighted pin cushion and bin. It has been installed on my sewing machine and has seen action already. Photo next post. (I have put one up on the even darker side - Instagram. Sorry Chooky!)
It was all over too quickly. Plans have been made for next year.
Thank you to everyone for making it a wonderful relaxing weekend away.
 Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Going Off....

Not like a pound of cheese in the Darwin sun!

Santa picked up my SSCS present this morning... so it will be winging its way to.....secret...can't tell. Hope she likes it. Thanks to Chookyblue for organising it again this year. I know she has been very busy this year and organising it is not a quick job.

Also going off are some of my eBay and Gumtree sales. Glad to see some of my stuff going off to new homes and not the bin.

And I'm nearly packed to fly off to Bathurst tomorrow for a bloggers meet. I'm so looking forward to a little break. I have my contribution to the nibbles and my plastic wine glass.  Didn't want to take the crystal one or the bottle to go with it because, just my luck, would see my suitcase tumble off the conveyor belt. I'll have to get the liquid to go into it when I arrive. Hope the pub does take outs.

I have been crafting this month. There have been no progress photos because it is all secret stuff. I'll be able to start showing some soon.
Instead here are some of the blooms in my garden. I don't like to complain about our lack of rain because I know people in worse off conditions who rely on good weather for their livelihoods, but we have only had about 15% of our normal rainfall this winter and spring. This spring though has bought out very spectacular flowerings on trees, shrubs and plants. Maybe they thought it might be their last hurrah. Last night's thunderstorm was well received here. My very nearly empty tanks are very nearly full again.

I have had this brom for years and got several pups off it. No flowers until now. This flower spike started growing a couple of months ago. It's nearly a meter long. Great anticipation on my part and although the actual flowers are these insignificant bumps on the very ends, I love it, but maybe, it is just as well that the foliage is its best feature. 

This is a small part of my Dancing Lady orchid.

 The day lily is a garden star, as well as my Cascade lilypilly.

 Ah well, I'd better be off. I have to hunt out the bigger suitcase from the storeroom, and here was I thinking I'll only need the little one for a few days away. Cue hubby in the background - I knew she couldn't fit in the little one.

Take care,
Cheryl
(aka Kayly)

G20 in Brisbane

Next weekend, Brisbane will host the G20 meeting. I don't think we won the right to host it, more like we lost the raffle not to host it.
For some time now we have been told about all the potential protests, the damage, the street closures and lockdowns, so Brisbanites have been planning their escapes. Now the authorities are worried we will become a ghost town while the circus is in town. It's their own fault for using all the scare tactics.
Still there are some benefits. As part of welcoming the world, we are having the G20 Cultural Event.

DH and I went last week and I would have/should have posted about it then. I have only now worked out how to get a too-big-to-email video off my phone. They say we should learn something new everyday. Well this is mine for today. (Edit:- I have also learnt to import and use Windows Movie Maker to rotate my just discovered upside down videos.)

DH and I went to the light show. I know Sydney has had Vivid for several years and it is brilliant. I saw it a couple of years ago and would happily go again. I am hoping Brisbanites have supported this enough that it will come back. It was great to be able to walk the trail to see light shows projected on to several buildings in the inner city area. The only part we missed was whatever was on at Southbank.

Here is some of what we saw.

 The above ones were projected onto one of the  Law Court buildings.

One of our hotels.

 Even a bit of yarn bombing on trees and sculptures.

 We had a play on the equipment in the tent and changed the lights on the Storey Bridge.

 The above is the old State Library building.

 This is the old Treasury Building, now a hotel.

 I hope this one is working. It is Parliament House. I particularly love the outstretched hands going for the money. How appropriate! If it has not worked I'll post it separately.

Well I should have set off the security services nicely with this post. I've mentioned all the right things to get them excited in their search of mega data - yarn 'bombing', and landmarks.

I do hope next weekend goes off with little of the mess previous G20 meetings have experienced.

Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

eBay Seller Newbie

Now I've been an eBayer for years, but always the buyer, never a seller. Well I've just changed that. With our major clean out, I have found items I no longer use....craft things of course. I have given away yarn and fabric and other bits and pieces, but I would like have a go at selling a few items.
I'm testing the waters with a cross stitch pattern. If I still feel comfortable selling, I've got books and lace making bobbins and....let's just say several other items.
Wish me luck.
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Busy Month

It's nearly a month since I posted but it has flown by.
We are still preparing for our son's return, evicting a possum, finding out why we have lost power in our extension, buying a new fridge because we thought that was the problem (wasn't...oops) and general life stuff.

I continue to work on 'Gossip in the Garden'...slowly...the others in our group have streaked ahead....ahh well, I'm telling myself  to enjoy the journey.

The Craft and Quilt Show was on in Brisbane. I did white glove duty at the Queensland Quilters Show which was on within the show. I also helped with set-up and pull-down. It was a lot of work but fun and I meet a number of new people.

 My purchases were modest. The sample bags from Vilene were really great value.

 I joined Chookyblue's 2014 Secret Santa Christmas Swap. I have stalked checked out my recipient. Talk about a challenge, this lady does beautiful work. I had to put my thinking cap on.
 

 This is about all I can show you.

 We had Sunday Stitchers this last Sunday. Here are this month's birthday girls and their loot.

I really enjoy these days. We sit, work on hand work, eat and chat about all sorts of topics.  This month we collected wrapped lollies to help one member supply them for Christmas stockings for the homeless. It's that kind of group.

Well I better get back to those swap gifts I am working on. I am determined not to have a last minute panic this year.
Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)

Friends Found in Blogland

Going to Nundle for GDITC  in 2010, I met many new people who were connected by blogs. A bit of persuasion later, I started my own. Through Blogland I have met and enjoyed, in real life and cyberspace, some wonderful people.
Last month, I met up with Fairy Floss while she was having a stopover in Caboolture. She and Mr Fairy Floss were taking part in the Starlight Foundation's bash. Now that sounds like a fun thing to do one day!

 One of the Brisbane girls, Deb from Sweet Little Cottage received her Australian Citizenship. It was fun to be able to be part of the night along with other bloggers.

 Here are some of the Sunday Stitchers group playing ladies. We thoroughly enjoyed High Tea and shopping at a nearby quilt shop.

These are all people I would never have met without blogging and life would have poorer without them.

Take care,
Cheryl (aka Kayly)