March Challenge Winner, 4 for 4 in April, and Tilda fabrics....

Thanks to everyone who made a charm square item for the March Challenge! 

I gave all the entrants a number and Mr Random Generator was employed to choose the winning number - 6!

And number 6 was JOY from JoyPatch!!!

Congratulations sweetheart!!!

As soon as the Post Office opens after Easter I will have this lovely parcel on its way to you...

...some beautiful goodies from *that* shop!

Joy is a fellow Gum Tree Designer and made the prettiest Baseco Bag with her charms (from our fellow designer Dawn's pattern). 

Dawn has raised $780 so far in her fundraising for the poor of Baseco, Manila, by selling patterns for this bag. If you haven't purchased a pattern yet, please consider it. Your $4 may be a cappuccino you forgo, but it will be so much more for the people of Baseco.

Purchase your pattern HERE from Dawn's blog for just $4 - there is a photo and link in her sidebar. :-)

~~~~~

 "4 for 4 in April!"

I'm not going to have an actual Challenge in April, but I am going to ask you to spend April finishing some UFOs with me. I thought we might aim for one UFO finish per week...will you join me?

4 UFOs completed in 4 weeks - now won't that be great!!?

I know some people are verrrrry good and do not accumulate UFOs, so perhaps if you are one of those you might consider offering to finish a friend's UFO for her? Friendship, UFOs and fun...sounds good to me. :-)

I have a few UFOs, but Blossom has many, so I am going to finish mine and help her with her pile. 

There won't be a giveaway for this because clearing a UFO pile means we all win. 

~~~~~

Whilst I cannot show you any more sneaks of my new designs just yet, I can show you these lovely 10" squares of Tilda fabric that arrived from France yesterday. I am going to play with some Tilda things over the April school break as a reward for all my own design hours. 

This is the first time I have seen Tilda fabrics up close and they are prettier than you can imagine!

I have tried to track down a store in the US that sells Tilda yardage but no success, and there is only one I know of in Australia. If you know of a US store where I can purchase Tilda fabrics would you let me know please?

Back to my secret sewing...

God bless you all!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Charm squares & pin cushions, playing house, and a new design...

Thanks for all the prayers for Mr Elefantz on his trip away. He arrived home last night after two turbulent flights, all safe and sound!

What are you like when your beloved is away and the weather is not the best for travelling? I tend to do housework. LOTS of housework. And when I get into those moods I tend to move a lot of furniture around and try to do a bit of redecorating. Naturally, this is how I spent yesterday! 

As I scanned my home I had a good think about what style *really* reflects me, and whether or not that reflects my husband. Verdict? He is functional, like me, but I like to add atmosphere with soft furnishings. I now have a list if things to make over the cooler months of autumn and winter, but for yesterday I mostly played in the kitchen. 

Here is one area that had a revamp - the shelf that Mr Elefantz built me over Christmas.

I found a red teapot  in the op-shop the other day, with matching sugar bowl and creamer, and as I have a mix of red, eggshell blue, and mustard in the kitchen I handed over my $5 and brought the set home to dwell on my shelf. 

I also balanced on a chair and hammered picture hooks into the wall so that I could *finally* display my 'Wonky Houses' wallhanging! This was my very first original design, and my first published project (Country Threads Sep 09) - the pattern is available HERE.

~~~~~

Need ideas for the March 5" Charm Square Challenge?

Did you know that a CD or DVD fits inside a 5" charm?

 I used a 5" charm last month to make this pincushion. You can find my tutorial HERE...

...and today I made this pincushion using a 5" charm as a small gift for a friend.

 You can find a tutorial for a slightly larger pincushion HERE on Stephanie's blog.

If you had time you could embroider little flowers in each section, or applique something small and sweet. I used vintage buttons in the middle of mine for that something special. 

Remember, no more than 20, 5" charm squares, and you can cut them up if you need to!

~~~~~

Here's a little sneak peek of something gorgeous I've designed and stitched. It's part of a set I'm working on...

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It's such a thrill to see finished Shabby Roses quilts!!

Steffi finished hers recently and emailed me a photo. I fell in love with my quilt all over again!

She beautifully added a fabric rose to the top corner and some prairie points in the final border!

It's gorgeous, Steffi!

Complete pattern sets for my Shabby Roses Quilt can be found HERE.

~~~~~

My gorgeous friend, and fellow Gum Tree Designer Vikki has shared her favourite wedding photos on her blog today - what a fairytale bride she was!! Be sure to go visit her blog and enjoy the celebrating with her.

Now, I'm off to make dinner - crumbed chicken breasts with guacamole and salad. I cannot get enough of avocadoes!!

 Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Feasting

There has been a cool breeze blowing our way the last couple of days and after so many months of stifling heat in the kitchen preventing me from frantic baking 'sessions' (have I told you how much I LOVE to cook?), this morning's low temperatures lured me back to my wooden spoons without any hesitation!

I began with Buttermilk Scones,  Lemon Coconut Slice, and Chocolate Cake...

....then baked the first of two loaves of Blossom's favourite bread, "Carrot & Sultana". (I forgot to add yeast to the first loaf so the birds were crowded around my back garden this afternoon picking over the heavy brick!) Fortunately the second loaf was perfect for human consumption.

To balance all this sweetness I cooked up a batch of my Spicy Chick Pea Patties, all ready to shallow fry for tomorrow's dinner. 

 ~~~~~

 Hubby is off to Cairns tomorrow for a one day conference to hear Steve Biddulph speak on teaching boys, and that means he'll be leaving home at 4am and not arriving back till after 10pm. He'll drive to Townsville before catching the flight to Cairns, then do the return trip. 

With a Category 5 cyclone heading our way and due to hit on Wednesday I'm more than a little nervous about his travelling to and from this conference. Can't wait till he gets home!

While he is away I'll continue in the autumn cleaning of the house. I love the autumn clean, don't you? I like changing over the bright summer colours to things more calming and nurturing to the soul as it winds down after a hot summer. Even though it's still hot here in the tropics there is definitely a drop in the nighttime temperature as last night we were able to sleep with the windows open and no air-conditioning - it was really revitalising! 

On the sewing front I have finished my gorgeous quilt,  one that I have had in my head for ages and finally drew up and then stitched. All those French General fabrics whispered 'autumn' as I sat and stitched down the final binding at 4am this morning. It was very special to sit in the cool quiet of the pre-dawn and finish my quilt as I spoke to God of my cares.

~~~~~

What are you making for the March 5" Charm Square Challenge?

Have you considered entering your Baseco Bag in the draw?? It takes 65 x 2 1/2" charm squares to make one Baseco Bag - the challenge this month is to use no more than 20 x 5" squares, but remember, one 5" square can but cut into four 2 1/2" squares!!

If you have made something for the challenge please put your photo onto our Challenge Flick Group HERE instead of emailing it to me. This blesses me as it allows me to spend less time at the computer and more time where I need to be. :-)

Every item you make for the Challenge gives you 1 entry into the giveaway draw on April 1st. Make 4 items and you have 4 entries!

This is what the winner will receive...

 ...some lovelies from *that* shop!

God bless you all!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Vintage beauty, and a new Shabby Roses design...

Have you ever come across a bargain and had to pinch yourself because it was too good to be true? You have!? Oh, good, then you'll know how I felt with when I came across a vintage treasure at the local church charity store yesterday.

It was $2 ...

It was completely hand pieced and quilted...

It made me think about every piece of fabric used. Was that from a mother's favourite dress? Did the quilter use pieces of worn summer skirts and dresses that her little girls once twirled in? What memories are hidden amongst the pastel and white of the carefully pieced heirloom? 

I wondered how long ago the last stitch was fastened off.

Sadly, someone had decided to cut this quilt in half, remove some, then sew the two remaining pieces together...

It had many stains scattered across the top, but today I soaked them before gently washing and drying in the hot summer sun. Whether it was stain remover or the bleaching of the sun's rays, I do not know, but most of the stains are gone and as I held it close to my cheek tonight I fell in love.

Now to decide how best to treat my new best friend and whether she is best left 'as is' or should I try and do something to make her whole once more.

~~~~~

While my vintage quilt was drying on the line I finished off one of the many UFO's that Blossom gave me when she decluttered her room last week. She had stitched about 80% of this Bronwyn Hayes design (a gift from our sewing group back in Esperance for Christmas 2008)...

...so I completed the embroidery, added backing and binding,  and hung it on a mini hanger my dear friend Dawn sent me for my birthday! 

One of Blossom's UFO's done, only 132 left! LOL!

~~~~~

In this month's 'Patchwork & Stitching ' magazine I have a new Shabby Roses project published.

"Pretty In Pink"

I used a lot of scrap fabrics from previous projects to make this bedside table runner for my room...

Now that it has arrived home from the publisher's I can finally display it where it was designed to be - next to my bed!

For those who are unable to acquire this Australian magazine, but would like the pattern for 'Pretty In Pink', you can purchase the PDF pattern HERE in my Etsy Shop for $5 US - and for the month of March only, if you purchase 'Pretty In Pink' I will also email you the pattern for 'Family'...

(Family is available also as a single purchase in my Etsy Shop for $4 US)

~~~~~

Our March 5" charm square challenge is now underway, and the first entrant is last month's winner, Jeannie!

She made this lovely wallet to kick start the month.

Due to the great popularity of my monthly challenges, I have now set up a Flickr group HERE for you to join and upload all your photos of challenge entries!

This will be a great resource for everyone as you can go the one place to see ALL the challenge items instead of scrolling endlessly through my blog looking for a particular challenge project or idea. Having the Flickr group will be like a visual library of quick and fun sewing projects that can be made for home or gifts in the future.

Please join if you have already made a project in a previous challenge and upload your photos, and for those who are making projects for the March 5" charm square challenge I hope you also will join and share photos of your challenge entries. I'll have fun checking each day to see what has been made! :-)

~~~~~

May your day be blessed with the wonderful presence of God, and be filled with peace.

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

(off to see what project of Blossom's I'll finish next!)

Challenge Winner ~ and a new design!

Congratulations to ......

Jeannie, you put in such an effort with 5 entries in February's Challenge, so I wasn't surprised when Slicer pulled out the winning name from Blossom's tea cup this morning! Congratulations!! Email me with your address and I'll be posting this parcel off to you tomorrow!

Some lovely fabric from French General's "Rural Jardin' and a gift I made for the winner - this sweet rainbird lavender sachet!

Congratulations to everyone who entered the Challenge - how amazing you all are with your ideas!!

~~~~~

In January I had a new design published in Creating Country Threads...

 ' JUST NESTING' is the perfect design for the Northern Hemisphere's return of Spring! 

I can happily report that I now have this made up as a PDF pattern pack for you to purchase HERE through my Etsy shop, or just click on the photo in my left hand side-bar. 

The PDF pattern contains a full list of materials, threads and notions required, complete instructions for making 'Just Nesting', PLUS colour photographs to guide you, design templates for tracing, and reverse templates for the applique pieces!

I will email the pattern pack to you within 24 hours of purchase, worldwide. 

My sweet friend Allie has already made her own, simpler version, and I love it!! It's a great example of how you take a design and tweak it to become your very own signature piece. :-)

Isn't her background fabric perfect!

~~~~~

Now...the Challenge for March!

What could it be??

The 5" Charm Square Challenge!!

I know a number of my fellow Gum Tree Designers have burgeoning piles of charm square packs adoring their fabric stashes, and I personally found them fun to work with last month, so I thought perhaps you've got some at home to play with as well.

~The Rules~

You can use only 5 inch charm squares, and you can use no more than 20 in your Challenge project.

The winner will be drawn on April 1st, and as I hear envious longing in many of your comments after I've shown you what I bought at *that* shop, I'm going to send the winner a ceramic bird (the same as the two I bought myself the other day), and one of those gorgeous shabby pink and white tea towels I bought a while back.

Now, what are you going to make?

Be sure to leave a comment on my blog during the month with a link to a photo on your blog - you can make as many challenge projects as you like. Every different project made will be one entry. 

(If you make 5 of the same tea towels that will only count as 1 entry)

Autumny hugs

Jenny

xxx