FEBRUARY CHRISTMAS CLUB

Allie  is encouraging us to make one gift a month. She has great links to gift ideas and tutorials and you might even win a prize :) 

I didn't finish January's project on time so this month I have two finishes. I made little wall hangings and instead of french knots I used red seed beads and on the green one I used bright multi coloured seed beads.
These lovely stitchery designs are free from Gail Pan Designs


There is still time to join Allie's " Christmas through the year", just click on the button in my sidebar!


                                 double click on pic for closer view

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I used this fabric

DEADLY TWIG

Around 5pm last night there was a lovely cool gentle breeze, so I decided to walk around the garden. My gardenia shrub had a few dried flower heads, I started pulling off a few when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye - it was a snake. I turned and ran inside grabbed my camera and shouted to my husband to come see, and to identify it.
We hadn't seen one like it before, it looked like one of the dried branches. He went off to google it and came back quietly telling me to "get inside".
It is a deadly, highly venomous snake, and there is no anti venom if bitten. We phoned the snake removal guy in our area. He arrived with two snake catching gadgets. That's all. So we asked where he was going to put the snake once he had caught it. Oh, he said - he hadn't thought of that and asked for an old pillow case.
He was amazing to watch. He said he had a few calls in our area for spitting cobra's, black and green mambas and now this Twig snake.
He was so pleased with it saying it was a beautiful specimen. It was getting fat on all the birds in our garden and come to think of it my lizard family has disappeared. I was enjoying watching the baby grow. He used to run along the wall eating the ants.

 

       The Lords Prayer - printed on the snake catchers T-shirt 


                      I finally figured how to add text to my photos
 

baby lizard

A visitor left his skin behind!

I ended up dreaming of snakes.  My husband was killing a red snake with a bush knife, and when it was dead he sliced it up with a machete! ugh.

Hi and welcome to my newest followers :) 

Wishing for cooler weather

 I have finished the quilting on my Friendship quilt and NYB and can finally put them away. I have two more  tops to quilt. I have also stitched 5 blocks of " take time to " BOM - 4 more blocks to go and still have to       complete # 6 of  Raggedy.  It is so hot here, unbearable, humid and sticky. I just don't have the energy to do anything so I am off to cool down under a tree with my foot spa, filled with ice cold water and ice cubes, a tall cool drink and a good book! :)

   

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2011.
All my plans to finish a few quilts before Christmas fell by the wayside. December was hectic, moving my son to Cape Town.  The rain hasn't let up and we have floods in most parts of SA. All our dams are full. Driving to Cape Town in heavy rain and thick mist was nerve wracking, we saw a horrific accident.

I love the Garden Route, the scenery is simply stunning!  Famous holiday hot spots are along this route. Noted for the best beach parties and excellent surfing conditions, its always crowded.

Wonderful 3 weeks in Cape Town, perfect sunny weather.Today however, everything is back to normal. My husband  is back at work, my gardener is back from holiday and has a lot of gardening to keep him busy.  After all the rain we have had, the garden looks like a jungle, so overgrown.

Here are some things I made in November;

 Inspired by Blossom's design at Among the Gum Trees 

 Using my scraps, I made a few mug rugs

and block # 5 of Raggedy

PS: I'm so happy, I have new followers. Hi and welcome!

Busy quilting...

trying to get some quilts finished before the year is over, so nothing to show except for these photos taken in my garden.

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a female lizard above, and below is the colourful male

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Spring Rains

Its been raining a lot lately, much needed after a very dry Winter. Spring, but its hellish hot during the day, by 3pm, heavy thunder storms, they don't last long and its much cooler after a storm. Last night was like a war zone here, Diwali and Guy Fawkes on the same day! can you imagine. I had to tranquilise my dogs. I'm not against celebrations and fireworks    
(the pretty ones) just want the big loud bangs to be banned. Every year fireworks cause hundreds of terrified dogs and cats to become injured, lost or killed as they try to escape the noise. We don't buy fireworks and neither does my neighbour, thank God, but my other neighbour owns a blasting company and I am very sure they weren't fireworks he was letting off. No respect or consideration for animals, I was very angry last night - and I am so glad it is pouring with rain tonight.;)  
I made two coin purses from this lovely tutorial at Timotei very easy. Finished the stitching on #4 Raggedy and made 3D flowers. Busy working on this quilt that I started in 2007!!
For me, the most difficult part of making a quilt is the quilting.

ITS A START..

Seeing all the beautiful gifts Jenny made, Jenny of Elefantz - has made me want to start making some too. She made lovely tissue holders and she had a link to the pattern - Polka Dot Pineapple
The first one was so quick and easy to make,  I decided to make more. Then I saw a lovely pattern for a cell phone pouch at Blue Moon River and made one to match my tissue holder :-)

                                                   Click on pic's for close-up!

  

Finished the pin pillow,  really enjoyed making it. Also block 3 of  Raggedy done.

Bought some fabric for the Raggedy quilt - 1 metre/ 39 inches of each.

Hi and welcome to my newest follower, Cathy.

Two more Raggedy blocks finished.

and I am nearly finished with the stitching for this pin pillow-  a complimentary PDF pattern from  Cheryl of Willowberry Designs.

 I am enjoying reading this book - 645 pages!



                                  

PS; Hi and welcome to my newest follower Mimi. 

Lovely surprise!

September was a stressful month, with a teacher strike forcing schools to shut just weeks before exams - after three and a half weeks the union agreed to suspend the strike. My son, Matthew is in matric/grade 12 and thankfully has now written his prelims/trials. Last week, school holidays, I had an opportunity to visit my daughter in Cape Town as Matthew had an audition at UCT. Had a lovely time, beautiful weather and all too soon it was time to leave. After a bumpy flight, lots of turbulence, arrived  home Sunday night with a whopping headache which immediately disappeared when I saw a package with my name on it.:-)

Have you heard of TILDA!

I hadn't until I received an email from Jenny of Elefantz saying I had won on her blog and that she was sending me a Tilda book. I hadn't entered any competitions so was curious. I always read her blog, I love her designs and love seeing what she's up to, but  I don't always leave a comment. She had a tutorial for some lovely gifts, she made two beautiful soap sachets and a diary cover out of a vintage embroidered doily which I just loved so I left a comment. In her post Jenny said she had taken all the names of who had left comments on her previous 4 post and my name was drawn - the surprise giveaway was to celebrate her 900 followers!

An even bigger surprise, she sent me 2, two Tilda books!! I was speechless! and also so very grateful. I just love everything about these books. Thank you so much Jenny, I am now a great Tilda fan!

Visit Jenny and enjoy all her amazing designs and delicious recipes  HERE