Blogging Buddies Are The Best...

A couple of months ago I was invited to join a private online group 

and of course I said yes...

they have a "birthday fat quarter swap" and a ''mortals and angels swap''...

The first swap was Easter and my partner was Shez... which I didn't know until the parcel arrived...

and what a parcel it was...

 I was so blown away from the pressies and Shez' big big big gift giving heart...

 inside the brown paper wrapping was this box

 and look at the bounty with in

 first to be opened was this gorgeous dilly bag

  with in was this yummy Easter egg which is still in its whole form

 looky look what I also got this wonderful little mat all wool felt... 

I saw this on Shez' blog and thought it just gorgeous and now it's mine

 not one but two very cute hand towels

 and how cute is this Easter runner

 and did you notice that they are all in my fav colour??????

thank you thank you thank you Shez for being a wonderful partner 

and so generous and for all my wonderful pressies...

also in the mail was this parcel all the way from the Fat Quarter Shop

 while the Aussie dollar is still high 

I thought I'd stock up on some more Amy Butler from her Lark range...

I Can't Believe...

that I entered a quilt in an online competition hahahah

I don't usually do things like this as I make most of my things just for friends and family...

 but

I entered this

here

mine is titled ''hugs and kisses''
just click the picture above and that will take you to the voting page...
 only vote if you wish too...
thank you...

Bits and Pieces...

Sewing is happening a but a lot of it is ''secret sewing'' so everyone will just have to wait...

hubby did spend a couple of days away again so I once again took over the lounge room with the fold out table and decided that I was going to sort out my scrap boxes

and started with the blue one...

for months/years I haven't been able to close the lid and I have been so good using my scraps in scrap buster blocks and quilts but.................. still they are full...

 so I sorted into 3 piles

dyed

strips

squares

the dyed fabric was put into its own box... the strips have gone into the ice cream container for strips blocks (now that is over flowing hahaha) and I cut a heap of 3.5... 3... 2.5 inch squares...

 these squares are going to be used for the ''granny blocks pattern'' that is being seen all over blogland... and look the lid is now shut... next time it will be the green scrap box that gets sorted...

also... 

I discovered these to left over blocks from a quilt I made for my sister many years ago hidden behind ''stuff or crap'' pinned on my sewing room wall... 

they have been made into hot mats which will go into a box ready for my new home when we sell and move (which looks like happening mid-year woohoo)

Playing...

I finished playing with my swoon block yesterday 

and

 I must say I do like that swoon pattern...

 lots of pebble quilting in the grey area...

 all ditches stitched...

doesn't it look nice as a table topper...

I think this pattern has so much potential...

Swooning....

I have the ''swoon'' bug... yep I do and I love it hahaha

I have seen all around blogland these wonderful ''swoon alongs'' and they are just gorgeous...

go here to see what I see... 

loving the fabrics that have been chosen so many different combinations

and 

because I couldn't wait for a pattern in the mail as I was itchin' to join in...

I purchased a PDF from the Fat Quarter Shop

 the blocks are a huge 24 inches

this is  practice block so I could see how big and how long they took to make...

 I placed a 12 inch block in the middle so you can see how big they actually are...

so easy to make up and love the size... 

four  of these woulds make a table topper or you could do big floor cushions... 

this one is going to be a table centre...

I have some Amy Butler Soul Blossom "Joy, Passion and Bliss'' that I am going to use 

and 

I think a dark background in either a gunmetal grey or deep denim blue...

 I am thinking 4 blocks across and 3 down so that it hangs down either side of a queen size bed...

getting excited I am

Hugs and Kisses...

The baby is here so it was time to finish the quilt...

 as you can see her name...

 once she was born I could do the name row then the last row of hugs and kisses...

 then the quilting...

 I stitched in the ditch of all the rows and squares 

then free motioned around all the appliques...

and lastly a label... 

it could have had borders but I just wanted it for a floor quilt for little India Mae to play on..

I am very happy with the finished quilt

 and you can find the pattern here

Oh My Stars Quilt A Long...

And

A Couple Of Other Things...

Earlier this week while hubby was away and I had the house to myself I took over the lounge room and sewed some of my stars from the quilt a long that I decided to join at the end of last year... I am using my Amy Butler stash (finally)...

 trying to find a spot out of the wind yesterday afternoon was quite a feat

 so my photo's were done in a rush...

 this star I really love and it was easy to follow the instructions
 and I am thinking that I might do my March swap partner this one...

 this one I followed the instructions to the letter but some how my star points sections weren't quite right... lots of steam and pressing helped it sit right though...

 same with this star so I must be doing something a little wrong in the middle area...

but hey they look great and I am so happy with the background chocolate colour...

 these three were my very first...

I still have many more stars to make and there are loads of 4 inch stars to make as well to fill in around the 12 and 8 inch stars... so not looking forward to making those and I have decided that I will make the easiest stars for those as some of the cut pieces are so tiny...see this is the planned quilt and see all those weeny stars OMG hahahahaha

yesterday while blog surfing I came across this Chicken Pie recipe... and I made it for dinner last night and seeing that retromummy family especially the kids loved it well it had to be good...

 mind you I did change it a little... I didn't cook my meat separately I actually browned it up in a little oil and butter then added the onion and mushroom as I wanted all the chicken juices and flavour in the one pan... very yummy and very filling...

I have been invited to join an online group and they have a couple of different events happening and one is a birthday fattie swap and you can add anything else you like into the parcel if you wish to do so... there is about six in my group and  Jenny of Elefantz was the first birthday we had...

this was the little gift parcel I put together for her...