Money raised - auction winner and giveaway winner announced!

Thank you everybody who helped in the Worlds Biggest Mothers Day Package fundraiser! 

Many of you bought patterns for ~Beauty Is Timeless~, and I know many more donated directly to the relief fund yourselves. Thank you!!

The winner of the kit to make a ~Beauty Is Timeless~ cushion was chosen by the random generator, and it is one of Dawn's Tuesday ladies!!

 

Dawn bought 4 patterns on behalf of her Tuesday ladies sewing group, so they may have to have their own 'mini-draw' tomorrow! :-) 

The silent auction for my cushion was won by Fiona, from Peaceful Threads blog.  She bid $100! I'll be posting the cushion off to her this week. Thank you so much, Fiona!!

The total raised was $286!! This bought us 11 bundles of Clean Delivery Kits - in total 110 pregnant women in Somalia will be given a Clean Delivery Kit, ensuring their babies a healthier start in life, and themselves a greatly reduced risk of infection after delivery.

 May God bless those mothers and their infants.

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

The week ahead

Is it just me or has this year been speeding by faster than Superman?

It felt like I'd just had my birthday (February) but now my beautiful family were spoiling me all over again for Mothers Day!

Look at the paper Blossom wrapped my presents in...

....it seems Dorothy and I both have a penchant for roses. Blossom couldn't resist. 

This is the HUGE mug she bought me for my first cup of tea for the day...

...actually, you can pour the entire contents of my fat bellied red teapot into this mug! I love it.

Blossom also chipped in with her big brother, Slicer, to buy me this -

I have said for a couple of years now, "I never want an iPod! There is no way I'll be walking around with ear phones in my ears listening to music..." Ha! Famous last words! 

I *love* my iPod! Mr Eelfantz sent me off to buy some music to download, and there I was that afternoon walking around with my iPod singing away. 

(I won't tell the Elefantz family this, but it's been fantastic motivation for doing the housework with a huge smile and some crazy dance moves when they're all out of the house! I'm dazzled by how clean my kitchen sink is right now!)

I hope your Mothers Day was special too. {{{hugs}}}

We didn't do much, but that was what I wanted - just a lazy day of pottering about. They took me to the local Chinese resturant for dinner and the food was dreadful - we laughed so hard as we tried to figure out what we were eating. Then we drove up to the World - the hill above our town - and watched the twinkling lights of the houses below as a cool autumn breeze stirred around us. It was perfect. 

~~~~~

Not much sewing has been done because I've been writing the final instructions to my ~Christmas Story~ quilt, tracing the block designs, and printing it all up...

The first parcel of patterns was sent on its way today, all the way to Andrea of The Christmas Goose Quilt Shop in Las Vegas! She should have them by the middle of next week.

I'm also finishing the final pieces to my new *Morning Glory* Breakfast Set. I'm making a number of items in this set, and in two different colourways. One is very bright and cheery...

The other is  more refined...

 ~~~~~

On Saturday Mr Elefantz is taking Blossom and I off to Ingham for the weekend. It's the Italian Festival, and being that he and Blossom are of Italian heritage it will be wonderful to join in the celebrations. We've never been to Ingham before, so hoped Slicer would come too, but he has to work. Our lovely lad will play babysitter to Lily Rose and Bob-the-dog while we're gone - on the condition I leave behind a huge tray of Lasagne for him. His Italian blood insists on having pasta 6 out of 7 days per week! 

We'll have about 7 hours of driving all up, so I'm going to sketch some designs to stitch in the car. I thought I'd work with these lovely Glace honey buns and turnovers that I bought last year. 

Maybe a new quilt will be birthed? I'll let you know when we get back next week. 

If my hands need a break from stitching during the drive I have a new book to absorb...

I loved the idea behind this book! As a recycling *nut* I am excited to see the projects Kelly has made as she takes you through a seasonal year of ideas. I just have to hide it from myself until Saturday!

In anticipation of what I'll be making from her examples I rescued these lovely linens from the op-shop today. $3 was all it cost to bring them home with me. 

 ~~~~~

Before we leave I'm hoping to finish another of my Ului table runners, but this time with a mix of Rural Jardin and Rouenneries. I've done the blocks, just need to cut the fabrics for piecing...

I can honestly say that French General fabrics are the most exquisite I have even handled. There is a silkiness to them that makes you want to hold them to your cheek and sigh. Sublime.

 ~~~~~

News! Blossom has swapped from Chemistry to Home Ec!! \o/  She has finally given in to her God given  talent and will join me in the Grade 11 sewing classes. She's designing her first major project right now - something for her Glory Box (Hope Chest). 

 ~~~~~

Guess what?

It's only taken me 8 months. 

I have hung my Shabby Roses Quilt in our bedroom.

She's in her rightful place and all is well in my world. 

Another Shabby Roses has been hung this week too! Susan from Kingston in Canada sent me this photo of her completed Shabby Roses quilt...

Gorgeous, Susan! Thanks for showing us. :-)

~~~~~

Dear friends, don't forget that you can enter the giveaway for a kit to make my 'Beauty Is Timeless' cushion by simply buying the $4 pattern (all proceeds to raise funds for the UN Refugee Agency's drive to supply Clean Delivery Kits to the women of Somalia) HERE.

If you blog about it you will gain a 2nd entry. The winner will be drawn on Monday May 17th.

~~~~~

Tuesday is also the day I will be launching my ~Christmas Story~ quilt pattern, and with that will be another great giveaway!! 

~~~~~

Time to have my nightly cuppa with Mr Elefantz.

Have a lovely evening (or day if your upside of me!),

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

~Beauty Is Timeless~ cushion auction, and a giveaway!!

Thank you to all the lovely people who purchased one of my *Beauty Is Timeless* patterns over the last 10 days! We together have raised $160 so far, which will pay for 50 Clean Delivery Kits for mothers in Somalia! \o/\o/

But we're not finished yet - there is still $15 left over, which I will add to the amount I receive from the sale of the actual cushion, to purchase as many Clean Delivery Kits as possible!

~AUCTION~

From today, I am beginning a silent auction for the purchase of my *Beauty Is Timeless* cushion.

If you would like to own this cushion, handmade and designed by me, and sewn using the lovely Aster Manor fabrics from 3 Sisters, then all you need do is email me with your bid.

The bidding will be open until Monday, 17th May (Australian time), so go to my profile page HERE and click on the 'email me' link to send me your highest bid. 

If you are the winning bidder you will need to pay me by Paypal (or direct bank deposit if you live in Australia) on Tuesday 18th May, and I will pay the postage to you anywhere in the world!

Would you spread the word on your blogs, please!?

I have decided to keep the BUY NOW link open HERE for the $4 pdf pattern purchase, until the bidding for the cushion is closed. The more funds we raise, the more mothers in Somalia will be given basic health and medical necessities with which to deliver their babies, thus increasing the survival rate for both mother and child. 

(The pattern will no longer be available to purchase after Monday 17th.)

~GIVEAWAY~

Everyone who has purchased a pattern already, and those who purchase before the close of the silent auction on May 17th, will be given 1 entry in the draw for a kit to make the cushion, and if you blog about it (with a link to this post) leave a comment here to tell me and you will have 2 entries! I will be checking your blogs so please tell your readers about this before you leave your comment. :-)

The kit contains all the fabrics, threads, and pearl beeds to make the cushion!

I will draw the winner of the kit on Monday 17th May. 

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

A Mother is a Mother anywhere in the world....

In Australia, and other developed countries we expect to deliver our babies in a clean, safe, supportive environment. We are blessed to be able to do so.

When we deliver our baby we rejoice in that fragile life - only moments old, but loved beyond measure, and almost certainly assured of a healthy start to the rest of their lives. If a health problem arises we have doctors and nurses on hand to walk us through medical attention and procedures...we have help. We have knowledge, we are not alone. But there are mothers just like you and I elsewhere in the world who have no such safety net.

From the UN Refugee Agency we learn this:

A woman in Somalia today is 155 times more likely to die in childbirth than a woman in Australia. In fact, over the course of her childbearing years, a Somali mother has a staggering one in 12 chance of dying of complications during pregnancy and birth. Read more HERE...

 (Photo taken from the UNHCR website)

This information was confronting...my heart ached for those mothers who would lose their babies, and the babies who would lose their mothers. I wanted to help - we all do, it's part of the nurturing heart God has given all mothers - but how? If only we were rich and could give a huge amount of money, if only we had skills to go help in Somalia, if only we had power to change the political system and protect these people, if only enough people could do something to give these Somalian mothers and children the basic necessities of a safe and sanitary pregnancy and delivery, if only...

The I read this on a perpetual calendar my friend, Joy, sent me last year.

In those words I realised that God was speaking to my heart, and His answer was - use the gifts you have to help. Many small gifts make a difference.

The UNHCR's Safe Mother and Baby Program has some practical solutions. They have put together a Clean Delivery Kit – a small sealed bag containing a plastic sheet for the mother to lie on during labour, a clean blade, string to tie the cord, a swaddling cloth, soap and clear pictorial instructions.

Right now the UNHCR is running this program -

....and for $29 you can purchase 10 of these life saving kits for Somalian mothers and babies. Read about this event HERE.

So how can I (we) help?

Between now and May 9th (Mothers Day) I am going to donate 100% of all sales from my latest Shabby Roses pattern.

This is my gorgeous new 15 inch square Shabby Roses cushion cover, 

~Beauty Is Timeless~.

It has lovely draping ties on top, pearl seed beads, applique and embroidery. 

I will not list the pattern in my Etsy Shop, as fees are attached to that, and that means less money raised. By only selling using the Paypal button below we can give 100% of the money raised to buying as many Clean Delivery Kits as possible!

The pattern is $4 US ($4.14 Australia). 

As soon as your payment is received through Paypal I will email the complete pattern to you within 24 hours.

Will you join with me in doing our little bit to help these mothers and babies this Mothers Day?

(Pattern no longer available for purchase - total amount raised for the UN Refugee Agency's appeal was $286! :-)

I will not be selling this pattern after May 9th, but the cushion itself will be put up for sale in my Etsy Shop on May 10th and the proceeds from that sale will be added to the total amount raised for purchasing the Clean Delivery Kits.

If you are able to donate more, or would like to purchase a $29 bundle of 10 Clean Delivery Kits yourself for the women of Somalia go HERE to the UNHCR Mothers Day Relief Package site.

From tomorrow I will keep a running tally on my sidebar each day of total sales and money raised so you can see how many lives we together can help.

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

My new Shabby Roses Quilt - a sneak peek...

Have you been taking advantage of the free Mothers Day Mania designs we Gum Tree Designers are sharing with you this week on our Gum Trees blog?

Yesterday it was my day for the freebies, and I shared patterns for these simple but pretty Mothers Day gifts...

Just visit our Gum Trees blog HERE to download all the designs shared this week. Today Joy has the sweetest coathanger covers!

~~~~~

Yesterday I had no Home Ec sewing classes so I spent the entire day working on a couple of very special projects. 

It seems you have loved my two Shabby Roses themed quilts, ~Shabby Roses~ and ~Bouquet~, but did you know I was working on a third? Over the past month I have been stitching the blocks and piecing the quilt top, but yesterday it was time to baste and quilt! It's so exciting to see your 'baby' progress and I admit I got very emotional when the time came to quilt her. I'll share a sneak peek from the basting table...

~Shabby Roses - A Christmas Story~

The fabrics are Robyn Pandolph's 'Roses de Noel'.

This will not be a free BOM - sorry! I will have the paper patterns printed in a couple of weeks for purchase, but to help those on limited budgets I will also be sharing this as a 6 month pay-as-you go BOM (Pattern only) - more on that next month. 

I've finished the machine quilting now, just some hand quilting to do, then the binding and label...

~~~~~

Another finish yesterday was this tea cosy!

It is part of a Breakfast set I've designed, but not quite finished yet. ~Morning Glory~ has the tea cosy, a french press wrap, table mat, and 'something else' yet to be completed. I'm making the pieces of this set in two different fabric ways so you can see how colours and fabric design change the finished appearance. For the tea cosy above (and the 'something else') I'm using fabrics from Rosalie Quinlan's 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' range (Lecien). This is the beginning of the 'something else'...

For the French Press (coffee plunger) cover and the table mat I have used a mix of Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom (for Michael Miller) and Roses de Noel (RJR) fabrics ....

Can you see how different fabrics can completely change the presentation of a design?

The tea cosy is fun, bright and homely, whereas the French Press cover has a more elegant touch.

When I first began to sew in 2005 I always made a project in the same colourways as the designer's original. I simply could not *see* it in any other colours! It took me a year or two to have the confidence to step outside that box and use colours of my own choosing. I was surprised at how liberating that decision was, and since then I have never looked at a design the same way. I see something I like and in my mind's eye I imagine it in my favourite fabrics or colours - and away I go! :-)

How about you? Are you confident to make something in your own colourway or do you tend to stick with a copy of the original as best you can?

~~~~~

I have my sweet Grade 12 girls for sewing today, so I'd best pack my sewing kit and have a last coffee before class begins!

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

More SHABBY ROSES, sneak peek, Tilda, and Mothers Day Mania!

I feel quite humbled when a fellow quilter likes one of my designs so much that they want to make it.

Last year's BOM, (and my first original quilt design HERE) - Shabby Roses - is still very popular. I will confess to you today that this quilt will always hold a very special place in my heart because every block represents an emotion connected with a time, place, or person in my life thus far. It was me allowing my 'voice' to flow through my designs.

Since then I have seen a number of completed Shabby Roses quilts and each one excites me! Seeing *my* Shabby Roses, made by hands other than my own, and transformed from the original with different fabrics or embellishments is amazing. 

Recently Anna Rosa posted her completed Shabby Roses quilt on her blog, and she has kindly allowed me to share the photo with you.

I have to say that I *LOVE* the 'smile' block, standing forthright in the bottom row! It MADE me smile as soon as I saw it! Anna, you have done yourself proud...your quilt is gorgeous. :-)

Anna Rosa is a wonderful painter, too. Go visit her blog HERE and drool over her amazing talent!

~~~~~

My final Tilda fabric purchases arrived last week, all the way from Denmark. 

A lovely blogger, LONE, responded to my question about purchasing Tilda fabrics with news of a sale on these lovely fabrics at a store in Denmark HERE. Converted to Australian dollars they became a real bargain at less than $10 per metre, so LONE arranged for me to purchase some as I cannot understand any language other than English. LOL! 

Anyhow, the fabrics have arrived (thank you LONE!!), and I now have my own little Tilda corner of the sewing room! I have stored the fabrics in those lovely rose boxes I bought a couple of weeks ago. 

As soon as I clear my sewing table of UFOs and some secret new designs I'll begin my Tilda sewing.

~~~~~

Here is a sneak peek of something secret...

...some lovely VERNA fabrics are going to play with my design and bring it to life. I'm hoping to finish this over the next week or so as what started as something small has grown in my mind and will be much larger and more interesting than I originally imagined. 

~~~~~

Thank you to everyone who responded about their favourite threads! I'm now interested in trying Prescencia as a number of you mentioned them. I'll see what I can track down!  :-)

Don't forget, this week on our Gum Tree Designers blog we are having a Mothers Day Mania!! Free designs, recipes, poems and ideas to bless your mother this Mothers Day, May 9th! Be sure to visit HERE!

Vikki shared a gorgeous fabric envelope on Monday, and Fiona shared the sweetest stitchery today.

Tomorrow it's my turn to share something - wonder what it will be?

God bless all of you!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx