My early gift....

You can tell there is something very exciting in this little box.....perhaps something for a dog to eat??

Or maybe its something for the dogs mum to wear.....in any case I think you will agree the packaging is just gorgeous, something I need to tell you is that the whole package has a heavenly aroma..a delicate perfume. So are you ready to see whats inside? 

Wrapped safely inside a page from an old book is my new necklace, I have a couple of necklaces made by this particular designer, each one unique and I never tire of wearing them. 

Here it is, freshwater pearls, a rather interesting way of using a very small salt shaker, an acorn made using a lampwork glass with a silver cap and the sweetest silver bird at the bottom.

The salt shaker opens and I could keep a secret something inside? Money...hmmm....diamonds.....or perhaps Hugos baby teeth!

 

Oh and by the way Emma and I have been working on a new Christmas blog header, if you cant see it then you need to refresh page then tell us what you think?

It's a downloadable Christmas...

I have been doing some Spring cleaning, I know its summer here and winter in the rest of the world….but I’m Spring cleaning. Emma and I have found some of my early Christmas designs which are just adorable. Emma has been busy preparing four of the Christmas patterns we rediscovered, making them into downloadable pdf patterns for you that can be delivered to your inbox ready for you to print and maybe get stitched just in time for Christmas!

How much will they cost? Just $22 for all four or you can buy them individually for $8.50 its up to you.

What are the patterns….hmm should I keep them a secret?? No……..Ok here’s what they are:-

1) Three different designs (two applique and one stitchery) to embellish some ready made tea towels.

2) A very cute snowman winter stitchery which I have put in a rustic old fence post frame.

3) An appliqué design for a ready made apron

4) Some very sweet applique Robins in a frame (this is my favourite design and lives permanently in my sitting room).

For more information and to buy please visit my little online store.

5am yesterday....

Yes, thats right by 5am yesterday we were stood in a field ready for a very exciting adventure. We watched as what seemed like and was a very tiny basket was pulled from the back of a trailer....

The top was rolled out onto the dewy wet field.... have you guessed what we are about to do???

We held the sides of the balloon open as first cold air went in to inflate it....well Ok the men held the balloon open as it looked like dirty work, the girls supervised!

Then hot air...stand back a bit Vince or you may get a bit cooked!

Almost ready for take off! This is the exciting part.....

This is what I could see looking up once I was in the basket... a basket for 6 people, it was very cosy.

Breathtaking views of the Glasshouse Mountains which if you remember was where we went hiking  a few weekends ago.

 I love the patterns the forestry trees are planted in.

 Then I gasped with delight as we flew low over some rainforest and suddenly I spotted the reflection of our balloon in some water beneath the canopy and was quick thinking enough to go click with my camera and yes...I got the picture, lick on the picture to take a closer look.

We flew close to Australia Zoo but not over it as the animals particularly the birds of prey get frightened by the hot air balloon. You can clearly see the famous Crocoseum peeking amongst the trees and of course the huge car park!

We landed very gently in a field near some houses much to the home owners surprise and delight....the fun part came we had to get all the air out of the balloon so it could be packed back into its bag, Vince seemed to have a good technique!

By 8am were having a wonderful champagne breakfast...thanks to Andy our pilot of Skydrifter Balloons for a wonderful experience.....and a huge thank you to my kids who gave me this very special experience for my birthday earlier in the year, I loved every moment of it :)

Busy stitching...

I am busy stitching, I am absolutely loving working with my own fabrics, mixing my fabrics other peoples and adding some wool for texture...mmmmm...pretty.... 

I cant show you any more as this project is destined to be in a magazine next year. Its going to be cute though isnt it!

Beautiful...

Imagine my excitement when these arrived today....lilies, tiny old fashioned roses, orchids, gerberas, irises and a wonderful array of leafy things.....

They have come to celebrate my fabric launch 'Summertime Friends' last weekend at the Australian Quilt Market from my wonderful Australian fabric distributors, Charles Parsons. If you want to take a closer look at the fabric swatches you can see them here on Leciens website.

Christmas is coming....

Yikes, its almost Christmas and I for one have not done any christmas shopping yet....I did get a few more of these gorgeous handpainted brooches from my friend Yvonne to sell in my little store.

Mum and Dad put their Christmas tree up yesterday and it looks gorgeous. I wonder if they will use these special plates again this year, I hope so because I love them they are so bright and cheerful.

We are planning to get our tree from the loft this weekend and start decorating the house in readiness. First thing on Saturday we have to collect our youngest from the Gold Coast where he has been all this week celebrating with all his fellow graduating from school friends.

Have you got your decorations out yet?

Christmas is coming...

Its exciting as I am getting some pictures of completed Scandinavian Christmas quilts, this one is from Nicole in Belguim. I like the addition of the wording in the centre, great work Nicole.

This one was made by Made by May-Britt and is on show at Quiltefryd in Tonsberg, Norway where you can buy lots of my patterns.

Many ladies were finding it hard to trace the stitchery design onto the darker background fabric and so we developed an iron on transfer for the stitchery which is available as an extra. If your local quilt shop doesnt stock my patterns then both the 5 part BOM patterns and the iron on transfer packs are available here.

 

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing these two quilts, thanks to the ladies who sent the pictures in. 

Beach walk...

Mum, Aunty Florence and I decided that despite the wind and threatening rain clouds a walk on the beach was needed....so we headed into the wind between the sand dunes.

The sun did appear from a very brief period....

then we lost Aunty Florence....just her shoes were left....

its Ok she was just paddling in the surf! Back to my studio now to play with some fabrics and some rather lovely hand dyed Ric Rac that I bought.......

This weekend...

In case you were wondering where I was this weekend, which you probably weren't but I'm going to tell you anyway! I was in the gorgeous city of Melbourne for Australian Quilt market. Vince and I flew down on friday morning and set up the booth ready for trade over the weekend. Almost ready for business, here is my little corner.....

Having recently been cooked an amazing 5 course dinner by my brother whilst visiting him last month from this book.

Here is my brother and his daughter busy preparing the food in their Bahamian home.

The dinner table is ready for eleven guests all of whom have experienced my brothers amazing cooking before.

So to continue with our weekend adventures......How could Vince and I resist going to the actual 'Maze' restaurant while we were in Melbourne. On Friday night we treated ourselves to a simply wonderful evening out, great company (just us), splendid food and wonderful wine! Needless to say we didnt want to get up on saturday morning and go to work!

We did eventually drag ourselves out of bed and this was the view of Melbourne from our hotel bathroom.....floor to ceiling window and yes I know the other buildings are a long way away and probably no one could see in but I had to put the blind down!

We are safe back home now and have no more travelling planned until the new year. Hopefully I can find some time in between getting ready for Christmas to play/draw and stitch some wonderful new things ready for workshops and new patterns next year. Keep an eye on my 'workshop locations' page, maybe you would like to join me for a day somewhere? Maybe in France, maybe The Netherlands or perhaps in New Zealand.

 

Look what Lynette has found...

When Lynette was in Houston for Fall Market recently she found these gorgeous sewing accessories. They are made out of copper, brass and nickel and come in the shape of cute cats and dogs... a very appropriate theme for sewing accessories as they always seem to be helping us stitch around here!

This cute one is a Magnetic Scissor sitter, it is strong enough to hold your scissors, needles and pins. You will never misplace your scissors as you can attach them to the handy cord. It also has a spot for you to hang your glasses from. We have cute puppy dog themed ones as well.

This brilliant little one is a needle nanny (we of course have puppy ones too), you will always know where your needle is, it has two magnets on the back so you can easily pop it on your work or wear it if you prefer.

This handy contraption means you will never be a tangle of threads again, phew!  With the Craft thread separator you will be able to separate your threads with ease (it also looks super cute).  

 If you feel like you "NEED" one for you sewing box then they are available in our online store.