Back online, temporarily....so let me share ~Daisy-do~, Block 2!!

The phone line drops in, and it drops out. When there are 3 lights shining green on our modem we all run for our laptops! LOL!!

While I have internet connection I am going to share with you the next block in my ~Daisy-do~ BOM a day early! 

Block 2 ~ Daisy-a-day

You can download the pattern HERE.

Have fun!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Offline

We have major issues with our phone lines and I have no phone or internet for the next few days. I'm typing this at McDonalds using their free WiFi this morning.

I won't have the next Daisy-do block up until the problem is fixed, so please forgive me for making you wait a few more days. 

Hugs

Jenny

xx

4th Friday Show and Tell

I have some gorgeous projects from wonderful blogging friends to show you this week! My July "Little Bird Challenge" has borne so many wonderful projects from you!

Let's start with Anita, who made this sweet placemat, with the stichery framed in ric rac...

...and Pat who used the stitchery to to embellish both ends of a table runner!

Di used her stitchery as a redwork display for a bag....

...and she also finished one of my Shabby Roses blocks from last's years BOM!

Have you made my Shabby Roses quilt yet? Heleen has finished hers and it is *beautiful*! She did all the machine quilting herself, too...

 You can see more photos of Heleen's quilt HERE.

My first BOM for this year was ~Bouquet~, and Teresa decided at the last minute to enter her completed quilt in the Mt Gravatt Show. She won 2nd place!! Congratulations Teresa!! \o/

Teresa also won 2nd place for another quilt! What a successful showing she had. :-) You can see more photos HERE.

Now to something very close to my heart. My Lord and Saviour. My dear friend Allie used both of my Little Bird stitcheries to make a wallhanging - but she added something else. The words from a favourite old hymn...

Isn't that precious?

Another sweet friend, Carrie, also used two of my designs in a cushion I *love*! She used Little Bird in Tree for the centre stitchery, but she added the verse from my Hopes and Dreams bag around the edges!

Those fabrics are perfect, Carrie - framed so beautifully. :-) You can see more photos HERE.

Last but not least this week, look at the pretty cushion that Dot made using Little Bird!

 Dot and Carrie both used muted colours in their cushions, and they work so well...think I'll need to make one for me! :-)

All of you are so inspiring!! Thank you for letting me share the work of your hands.

~~~~~

If you would like the patterns to the Shabby Roses Quilt, the Bouquet Quilt, or the Hopes and Wishes bag and Journal set, they are all available HERE in my Etsy Shop.

~~~~~

I saw the surgeon yesterday, and I am booked in for surgery on my hand next Friday, August 6th. Prayers are most appreciated. 

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back soon with the next block in Daisy-do, AND a new challenge for August! No hints...(zippedy doo-dah, zippedy-ay....)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Remembering their childhood...

There are some projects that I love more than others, and some that just tug at my heart strings and don't let go. It's the latter ones that I can be quite sentimental and protective of.

This year I designed and stitched a quilt that had so many 'motherly' attachments to it. As a homeschooling family I had the pleasure and privilege of teaching my children many things that some children either never have access to or are taught within a school scenario. 

Poetry is something we began very young, along with Shakespeare's plays - by age 6 and 7 the children were wrapped in the English prose and drama of the 16th Century, and happily reciting 19th Century verse. With dress-ups and puppets, paint and paper, we explored the world of the great writers and made memories that will not tarnish with time, but grow more wonderful as the childhood years pass further into yesterday.

The very first book of poetry we owned was Robert Louis Stevenson's 'A Child's Garden of Verse', a gift from Mr Elefantz. It had so many poems of observation by a young and bed-bound Master Stevenson, poems that proved joyous to take in and make our own.

It was always my intention once I had learned to sew, that I would begin a series of children's quilts to celebrate that first book of children's verse, and this year I began with Robert Louis Stevenson's ~The Cow~. Oh how I love this quilt! It represents so much joy as a parent, and so many memories of my young children.

This month it appeared on the cover of Creating Country Threads magazine...

...and my friend Vicki snapped a photo of it hanging on the CCT stand at the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair last weekend.

I had no idea it would be hanging on display there, but I can tell you I am as proud as punch! The only downside was realising she wouldn't be home again as soon as I'd hoped. :-)

The pattern is available this month in the magazine for Aussie subscribers. If you are not Australian and cannot purchase a copy of the magazine, I am offering the pdf pattern for $4 US until the end of July only. 

After that Miss Molly Moo is all my own and the pattern will not be available.

~~~~~

I am also thrilled to be sharing the inside of the magazine with fellow Gum Tree Designer, Vikki! Her sweet stitchery is beautiful!

Do you remember when I stitched it myself and made it a door hanger? It looks perfect in my new home! She had it on her blog last year as a free project for a while. Did you make it too?

~~~~~

I also have my 'Save The Trees' bag in the current Handmade magazine. It has a pocket at the front to fit a small cutting board, and a huge interior for all your sewing essentials for a trip to the quilting group.

~~~~~

We're still settling in the new home, but each day it becomes more relaxed, more 'ours'.

I feel like Dorothy of Oz.

There's no place like home....

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

PS: Don't forget to go and look over all those wonderful Rouenneries pincushions we Gum Tree Designers made for each other. Photos are on our blog HERE!

Mango trees, and sneak peeks...

What a wonderfully relaxing weekend it has been so far. No rushing, just calm collected thoughts to share, and a good deal of pottering round the house, the garden, and the sewing room. Mr Elefantz and I certainly would like to repeat this weekend regularly.

Can you see the tree through our bedroom window...

...it's a mango tree. We have two huge mango trees in our yard, and they are both blushing with flowers, the first steps to our summer fruiting. Our town is one huge mango nursery, with most homes having their own, or sharing, a mango tree. We also have bananas growing, so we expect a few bunches in the months ahead.

As I've shared recently, I am working on new designs to fill the shelves of my rapidly emptying Etsy Shop in August. Thought you'd like a few sneak peeks...

I love new designs. Don't you?

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

PS: Gerda asked how many sides to the pin cushion Blossom made HERE. There are 3 sides, Gerda. I'll see if we can find a moment to do a tutorial next month.

3rd Friday Show and Tell

Are you as excited as me to see all the lovely things others have made from Elefantz designs?

Sit back and enjoy this week's photos! :-)

From Pam at Creative Dawn, a notebook using Blossom's tutorial and my Little Bird stitchery...how clever!

Carla Louise had been very busy! She made a little purse using my Little Bird in Tree design...

...plus a scissor fob...

...AND she finished Block 1 of my Daisy-do BOM!

Jill made a pair of exquisite pillowcases using Little Bird in Tree, and added the prettiest crochet edging!

And to round off the week, let me show you a set of greeting cards that Karen sent me. The photos are her originals, and really are fabulous! I especially loved the owl. Thank you, Karen! 

You can see more of Karen's nature photography on her blog HERE.

~~~~~

I've finally gotten some moments to sew this week, and I'll show you some snippets tomorrow, but today Blossom and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen and after all these years I heard the words I have longed to hear from her lips, "I can see why you get so excited about cooking, Mum! I love it!" \o/\o/ 

Now she's only talking about food. 

Amazing what a few weeks of watching Masterchef can do. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

July's ~A Christmas Story~ blocks : Noel and Bethlehem

I'm so sorry for being a day late with the release of July's double blocks for my ~A Christmas Story~ quilt!

Of course, you're all so lovely, I know you forgive me. These past few weeks have been hustle and bustle and a few things almost slipped my mind. 

This month the two blocks are...

...and...

I think of all the blocks in this quilt, Bethlehem has become my favourite. All those little houses with lights twinkling in their windows, and the tiny sheep on the hillside, fluffy with french knots...yep, it's my fave. :-)

The pattern for both blocks can be purchased in my Etsy Shop HERE today for $4.95.

Have a look HERE at all the blocks in the quilt, and tell me which one is your favourite. :-)

~~~~~

I think I can say the house is ready. All the boxes are gone, everything has a home, and I'm cooking wonderful meals once more. :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Welcome

The door is open...welcome in.

Our first meal in the new home was Thursday night, and we had an extra guest - a friend of Slicer's. Freshly made lasagne, salad and garlic bread on the back verandah, surrounded by the trees....beautiful. 

Having that verandah, and being blessed with trees on all sides, brings a soothing calm to the house...

We're still putting things in their right place. When Mr Elefantz and Slicer go back to work tomorrow Blossom and I will begin the real indoor transformation - laying out quilts, runners, and generally adding that feminine touch.

The sewing room was the last room to be unpacked and is almost finished...it leads into the main bedroom through one set of double French doors, and on to the front verandah through another set of French doors. If you look at the front of the house my sewing room is on the right.

This is the view from my bed...pressed tin ceilings all through the house, with gorgeous ceiling roses under vintage styled fans...

Above the doors are fretwork inserts...

...and on top of the bedroom walls are more fretwork, much simpler though. This means there is virtually no sound-proofing throughout the house, but the purpose is to allow cool air flow all through the house during the very hot tropical summers.

I'll share more internal photos tomorrow, or the day after...so I'll close today with Blossom's door. She is safe behind it resting from all the hard work of the last week. 

Hugs,

Jenny

xxx