Merry Christmas to You All !!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry and Safe Christmas.  As usual I am running out of time with my family arriving to-morrow.  Still got heaps to do.  It has been a couple of years since we have had Christmas together, so I am really excited.  The video is of my five grandsons.  They love these videos and I think they are cute too. 

                             

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Christmas Lights !!!!

It's that time of the year again and I have been decorating my yard and house with  Christmas Lights.  This is my favourite time of the year.  I love hearing the excited little voices of the children when thay pull up to see the lights.  On Christmas Eve we will hand out lollies to the children.   My grandsons have Santa Suits so they will be helping as well.  Having my family home for Christmas is going to make my Christmas very special this year.

                                                                                  


                                                                 

Secret Santa Gift !!!

A quick and easy project.  I needed a secret santa gift for a male, so I embroidered a towel with his name and a car in one colour.   This type of embroidery is known as redwork,  I decided to do it in a dark brown. It turned out really well.  When I first started machine embroidery I wouldn't even look at redwork but now I find this type of embroidery very interesting, seeing how a design can be made from just one colour.  The other advantage is that there are very few jump stitches.

    

Embroidered T- Shirts

A couple of more Christmas t-shirts for my grandsons.  I stitched these out on my new machine, it stitches so beautifully and is so quiet, which is a bonus when I am stitching in the wee hours of the morning. The Nice/Naughty design is from Urban Threads.  If you are looking for something a bit different, Urban Threads is the place to go.  The other t-shirt is made up of 2 designs, but I can't remember where they came from.  I hope the boys will like them.   They are getting older now and I find it hard to find designs that they will like.

                                                                                

Santa came Early !!!

After the safety switch activated in my Embroidery Machine, I had to travel 2 hours to see the Brother mechanic.  I was told that they wouldn't even get to look at it till December 22nd.  So, whats a girl to do without her machine.  She buys a new one doesn't she ...  This one is a brother 1250D and is a sewing machine as well as an embroidery machine.  I had a lot of embroidery to finish before Christmas and this machine was on special and I got it for a good price.    I love Christmas!!!!
   

                                                                             

Christmas T- Shirts for the Grandkids!!!!

I love Christmas and every year I make T- Shirts for the grandkids.  It was easy when they were smaller but now they are reaching their teenage years finding suitable designs is getting harder.  The two Merry Christmas Designs came from Embroidery Library and the Kangaroo came fom Rickys Embroidery.  As two of the older boys live at the beach I thought that these designs where perfect for them and the Santa Kangaroo for Cooper who is four.  These designs stitched out beautifully and look great.
                                                                                 

                                                                                  

FNSI

For FNSI I decided to catch up on some Christmas Embroidering.  I am going to give my work mates some embroidered christmas tea towels for an exchange gift.   Last week when I was doing the T- Shirts for my grandsons my Brother 750D decided to throw a bit of a tantrum and activiated the safety device.  It will probadly be another week before I can get to town to get it fixed.   Luckly I still have my Brother Snoopy which I bought in 1998, but it only embroiders a 4x4 field so I had a change of plans and had to look for smaller designs. It still stitches out beautifully.  I would like to thank Bobbi and Heidi for making FNSI such a productive night.



Baby Singlets!!!!!

I was asked to embroider some baby singlets for a friend.   I needed  a very small design.  So after going through my designs on the computer and coming up empty, I remembered the Brother Card I had with small designs.  I haven't used these cards in such a long time, so now I am going to pull out all the brother cards and use them.  The designs were made for the Brother machine and they stitch perfectly.  I used the smallest  hoop and hooped the tearaway and sprayed the tearaway with embroidery spray and then placed the singlet on the sprayed tearaway.  I smoothed the singlet out stretching it slightly ( because when the baby has the singlet on the singlet stretches). I used some pins to make sure the singlet didn't move.  I placed some water soluble topping on top of the singlet and did the embroidery.  I was very happy with the result.

I've been Tagged

I've been tagged by Sylvia from Sylvia Stitches. I will do my best as I have never played Tag-Blog before.
Here are the Rules.
* every tagged person has to tell 11 things about themselves.
*the person who has tagged you asked 11 questions, amswer them.
*ask 11 questions for the 11 blogs you are going to tag. (the people you tag should have less than 200 followers).

*mention the blog that tagged you, but don't tag them back.

Here are 11 things about me.
1.  I live in a small town in Central Queensland, Australia.
2.  I love chocolate.
3 . I have 2 children and 5 grandsons.
4.  I hate the cold winter but love the summer
5.  I am a Capricorn.
6.  I have always loved sewing.
7.  I love Christmas and always decorate the house and the yard.
8.  I am the middle child of 3 girls.
9.  I love gardening.
10. I wish I had  been into crafts a long time ago.
11. I love machine embroidery, it is truly amazing.

Here are the 11 questions I got asked.
1.   What time of the day or evening do you do most of your crafting
      When ever I get time.
2.   If money was not a concern what would be next machine or toy you would buy for your craft.
      I would buy a top of the range embroidery machine with a big hoop.
3.   How lon have you lived in your current city.
      40 years.
4.   How many statesand/ or countries have you resided in ?
     One.
5.   Do you have any pets?What kind
      I have a very spoilt  cat called Joey.
6.   What is your favourite TV show?
     Dancing with the Stars.
7.    Do you prefer to read a physical book or use an e-reader like a kindle.
      I like to read a book.
8.   Where is your favourite place to vacation?
      At the beach.
9.   Do you prefer to dine-in or go out to eat?
      Dine- in.
10. What is your favourite recipe you like to  prepare?
       Chicken Ceasar Salad.
11.  What did you eat for breakfast?
       Cereal.

Here are the questions I want to ask the blogs I tag.

1.  What is your favourite craft?
2.   Do you have a special room  for craft?
3.   Do you live in a large city or a small town?
4.   What are your favourite colours?
5.   Do you have any animals?
6.   Do you like to cook?
7.   Do you use recycle goods or do you always buy new ones for your craft?
8.   Do you have a craft group or do you just do your own thing?
8.   Do you grow your own veges?
9.   How many craft books do you have?
10. What is your favourite TV show.
11.  Do you check emails and blogs as soon as you get up in the morning?

Blogs I Tagged

*  13 Insane Penquins and Squirrels
*  All Things Pretty: Machine Embroidery.
*  Creations by Jodie.
*  Rag Tag Stitchin' with Michelle Ridgway.
*  Snail Patches.
*  Stitches from the Bush.
*  Sapphire Stitches.
*  My Carnival of Colours.
*  Lovelove.
*  The 4Bushel Farm.
*  Hibiscus Stitches

I am looking foward to reading the responses and learning something new about my blogging friends.

                                                                      

Thank You Aust Post

                                                                  

Last year I joined a pincushion swap at the Crafty Bits Swap Blog.  My partner was Ruth and she received the pincushion that I sent her but I never received the one from her until today. It was a lovely surprise and the pear pincushion is beautiful and I really love the runner pattern.  The other pattern has a money bag, wallet, pincushion and needle case. I would like to thank Ruth for these wonderful gifts.

All good things come to those who wait.

                             This parcel has been in the Postal System since 19th November 2011.

                                                                                                    

Poinsettia Basket !!!

This little basket was a challenge in our sewing group. We had to make the basket and decorate it.  I decided to make a 3D Poinsettia. This was another machine embroidery design I had bought and never used.  All the leaves were stitched out on water solouble stabilizer.  After all the leaves where washed and dry, I put it together as a free standing flower and stitched it onto the basket.  I was really happy the way the poinsettia turned out.

                                         The finished leaves before the flower was put together
.
                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                

Hexagons For FNSI

FNSI so I have decided to do something for myself.  I have had these hexagons cut out for quite a while now and didn't know what to make with them.  My hammock chair needs new cushions so that what I am making with the hexagons.  I am going to need 2 cushions fronts about 24 inches square. I am then going to quilt accross the hexagons with a stipple design (in black) that I bought for my embroidery machine ( which I haven't used yet).  The stipple designs is continuous, so that means that I will have to keep shifting the hoop.  I think that it might be a bit of a challenge the first time I try it.  I just have to use some of the designs that I have bought over the years.  To finish the cushion off I am going to bind it in Black.  Thanks to Bobbi and Heidi for hosting FNSI and for getting me into sewing mode again.

                                                                                  

Pretty Towels!!!

These towels are for my friend Desley, who had 3 granddaughters.  As I only have grandsons I love doing something pretty for a change.   The other towel was for Jacie.   I forgot to take a photo as her Birthday was just before we went on holidays.  Desley looks after my cat Joey and waters the yard for me when we are away and I do the embroidery for her.   I decided to use the Hibicus Font which is really pretty for little girls.

                                                                              

It's been a While

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  Nearly 2 months !!!!!.   First of all I got the dreaded flu, so that put me out of action for a while.  Just couldn't get rid of it  every time I did something, it came right back.  I was also studying doing my Pharmacy Course (which I passed, so that is out of the way now.)  We then went on holidays.   We took the caravan and went up North to Bowen to visit my daughter's family, then to Cairns for a couple of days.  We spent a few days at Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands.  It was absolutely beautiful there. We visited all the little towns in the area and went to the markets at Kuranda.  We also spent quite a few hours at the museum at Herberton.  A fantastic place to visit.  On the way home we spent a couple of days at Charters Towers, another lovely town with lots of old buildings.  The photo above is the Burdekin River just outside of Charters Towers.  We then moved on to Emerald to visit my son and his family.  We spent the day at Motorcross and watched my grandsons racing.  The next day we were back home again.  I am feeling well again, so now I have a lot of Blogs to read and see what you all have been up to.  I can't wait to get into it again.

                                                                              

Embroidery for Me!!!

The flower design was a freebie from Urban Threads.  Their designs are always stitch out great and you can always find something unique at their site.  The other design is from Stitch on Time and they also stitch out wonderfully.  Claire will also ditigize any design  for you at a very reasonable price.  Trying to find blank tops suitable for embroidery is not easy so I bought a few when I found these.
            

                                                                           

A Surprise in the Mail!!

Today I received a surprise in the mail.   I joined "The Little French Swap" that Cheryl Goss organized from Willowberry Designs.  Jamie from Beach House Quilts was my swap partner and she sent me a beautiful large white bag with a drawstring top.  It was beautifully embroidered with some  lavander flowers.  I am sure that this bag is going to get a lot of use.  I would like to thank Cheryl for organizing the swap and Jamie for the great swap gift and I hope you are feeling a lot better.

                                                                               

Help Please !!!!

I would like to make Personalised Christmas Baubles for my family.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this.  Freehand writting is not an option,  I cut the letters out with my Big Shot Machine and stuck them on with glue and then went over the letters with gold glitter glue.  I used white paper and it shows through in some places and around the edges. Does anyone have a better way of doing this.

                                                                                 

FNSI

I finished the Christmas placemats I started on the FNSI in June.  I used the idea I found on The Crafty Quilter.  I like to get my mitered corners as perfect as I can and found the tutorial using the mitered corner tool really a great way to achieve this.  Thanks to Bobbi and Heidi for arranging FNSI so I can get some of my UFO'S finished. I have already cut another six placemats from the same fabric and will probadly have enough fabric left to make a table runner.  I might have to put my sewing on hold for a while as I have to do a Pharmacy Course over the next couple of months.

                                                                              

Felt Flowers!!

Using my Big Shot Machine I cut out a lot of Felt Flowers in different colours.   The cutting die I have has one large, one medium and one small flower shape and also a daisy shape.  Using a hot glue gun I joined the  three flower shapes together to form a flower and while the glue was hot I cupped the flower  in my hand  to give the flower some shape.  I cut the shank off some buttons and glued them to the centre of the flower and glued the flowers to a Macro bag I purchased from Woolworths for $2.00.  Thes bags have a design stenciled on the front and you can still see the trunk on my bag. I just cut out random leaves and glued them on also. I think I am going to enjoy this machine.

                                                           

It Has Arrived !!!

Wow!!  My big shot machine has arrived.   After a lot of homework I decided that I would buy the Big Shot

Cutting and Embossing Machine.  I liked this one because it will cut fabric and felt as well as paper.  I am doing an online course called Everything Embossed at My Creative Classroom. I am hoping to pick up some great tips to help me get the most out of the Big Shot.

                                                                          

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I decided that I was going to use my Slow Cooker a lot more ( and this gives me more time for Crafty Things).   I made this Beef Stroganoff yesterday and got the thumbs up so I am going to share it with you.
Ingredients-
1/3 cup flour
1tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
1kg of round steak cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 large onion chopped
1/4tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2tsp beef stock powder
400ml can of diced tomatoes
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup light sour cream

Combine flour,salt,pepper in a plastic bag   Place a few strips of steak in at a time.  Shake to coat.   Place in Slow Cooker.  Combine the next 6 ingredients in a bowl and pour over steak.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.. Stir in sour cream in the last 30 minutes and serve with rice.  Enjoy.
              

                                                                        

Place Mats for FNSI

Still trying to use up some of my stash, I found this Christmas Fabric and decided to make some placemats for Christmas Gifts.  On friday night I got the top part together so now I am going to quilt the three layers, the top, wadding and the backing ( cream with red writting )  together  and then bring the backing over the top layer to make the binding.  Thanks to Bobbi and Heidi for organizing the FNSI.
                                                                        

                                                                                

Microwave Pot Holders

This is a great idea from the Quilting Board.   Microwave pot holders can be used for reheating food in the microwave. The pot holder and the bowl are placed in the microwave and  when heated through
you can remove the bowl  with the pot holder without burning your fingers.  Great for the kids.   Because the pot holders are USED in the MICROWAVE the MATERIAL and BATTING used MUST BE 100% COTTON.

                                                                           

                                                                             
                                                                               

Gifts going to Perth

I have been making some gifts to sent to Perth for my sisters grandchildren.   I put their names on  hand towel and their initial on a face washer.  Bella loves My Pony, so I am sure she will love her towel. ( I loved making something in pink for a change)   Kostya is four and I am sure he will love the red car.  Jhett is only 3 months and he gets the baby tiger.   I also added lots of other bits and pieces for a surprise as they don't  know they are about to receive a box of goodies.

A New Way to use Yo Yos

A Wonderful Idea from Nancy Notions.

Watch this great Video from Nancy Notions. It shows you how to use yo yos for smocking. This is just a quick piece that I did because I was so eager to try it out.  I will be making the cushions they are georgeous. You can even make 3D flowers, really easy too.

Cards for Family & Friends

Birthday Cards for my Grandsons, Thomas who was 8 on the 20th May and Matthew will be 15 on the 3rd June. We are going for a visit this weekend with presents and a cake, I am looking foward to seeing them again.  The other two cards are for a very good friend and my Daughter-in- Law. I found this little paper dress pattern here at   MeiJo'sJoy Blog and thought how nice it would be on a card so I just had to make one.