18 blocks ready to mail off for AHQ

Late last night, ok, you got me, it was more than likely the early hours of this morning, I started cutting into some of my birthday fabric to make some quick and easy 9 patch blocks for Aussie Hero Quilts as the deadline to get them in for the first mail off for the year is 29th Feb. I ended up with enough cut out to make 18 blocks.

I couldn't put them all up on my mobile design wall (thanks for the idea for one Diana) so had to take pics in two lots. Don't inspect them too closely....I got told the other day, that the Quilt Police are an urban myth started by pedantic picky particular (!) people to annoy those less fussy, like me...SO, I overlooked any boo boos as they're only slight and wont be so bad unless you line all the 'bad' ones up together in a quilt (Please note that Jan-Maree!)


If you'd like to get involved with helping Jan-Maree and her AHQ Angels, then please click here to find out what you can do to help.....remember our Soldiers are overseas doing their job for us...doesn't hurt to do a little to let them know we appreciate what they're doing and that people back home care.

Some birthday pressies, Valentines Swap & winnings

Look at all the uber cute pressies I got in one of the Valentines Swaps I went into. You're not supposed to notice that it's an empty chocolate bar wrapper, but OMG that was soooooooo good....it was made in Finland, and I made sure it's "Finnish-ed" lol Did you however notice the owl in the knitted cloth? Below I've put a close up of the owl....cute huh?
Then, along with all of the above, Carin also had snuck in a little something for my birthday....wasn't that sweet of her? Thanks heaps Carin.
Being that it arrived a few days before my birthday, I was a good girl, and put it to one side to wait until 22nd February to open it.
And above is what it contained.....how hooty cute is it? I've made keyrings with this size owl before, but never had I thought of putting them onto a pincushion......thank you so much Carin xx
My friend from Adelaide, Yvonne (no blog), sent me a pressie too....when I opened the box, I was met by Annie Have-A-Chat owl in the above pic....oh and a bag of assorted buttons, which I forgot to take a pic of before I put them in their respective coloured button jars! Thanks heaps Yvonne.
Then, Sharina, who from now on will just be referred to on my blog as Polly! got me the above haul of goodliness for my birthday. Her daughter Kaitlyn, found the owl fabrics, so thanks Kaitlyn. But don't check out the close up of the fabric below just yet, make sure you check out the uber cute owl Polly made just for me....hoot hoot hooray, another owl to add to my collection!
Ok, you can check out the fabric now!
In addition to all the above goodies, Polly also got me the plastic container and the owl statue...how cute are the faces on those owlets??? Thanks Polly (and how rude of me, thanks Mr B too)....I love it all.

I'm sure that I have other stuff to share....but at the moment, I can't for the life of me find any new pics, so I'll post as I find stuff.

Oh wait, I do have something else to share with you. I got a package today, and initially I couldn't think why I was getting such a bit stash of pressies in a swap....but then idiot me, remembered I'd won a giveaway from Ida, see here for pics of what I got today. Thanks so much Ida, and even though it took me a moment, I did remember where the goodies were from!

Now whilst you go check out what I won, check out her post here, which is her latest giveaway....dare I be cheeky and enter it too? You know I'm going to already don't you? lol Y'all know me so well! You have until March 1st to enter it.

I also got a $30 Spotlight gift card....another owl one, so that's two in my collection now....maybe I'll use them for props whenever I make business card holders or wallets! (Thanks to Marion & Grant for that)

Valentines Initial Heart Swap

Above shows the goodies I sent to Lyn for the swap. The heart shape is actually a needlecase/pincushion. I was a wee bit late sending the swap off, so made a zippered pouch as well. I borrowed Lyns' pic as the one I took isn't as nice, and doesn't show the couple of extra's I popped in. If you have some spare time, hop over to Lyns blog by clicking on her name...she's got lots of quilting eye candy to feast your eyes on.

Chris W has a FREEBIE bag pattern for you

Click on the pic above to head on over and get your free copy of Chris W's first free pattern, the Coco bag. Wouldn't this be a great everyday handbag? I think so.

What you can expect from Chris's patterns, is plenty of instructions to help you at each step of the process, masses of pics which are really handy if you're a visual person and more importantly, prompt email support from Chris herself....what more can you ask? I myself, along with several other pattern testers, work with Chris to ensure that you get to make bags that come out looking like the pattern! (I also get to help pick the names for the bags which is a real honour to me - thanks Chris)

Missing blog entry ***Long Post***

I received an email earlier today, asking if I'd received my swap gift from this swap...yes I have and yes I'd blogged about it, yet when I came over here to check, it was gone...not even in my drafts.....I'd love to find the internet "black hole" and retrieve all my lost in cyber space info one day....lol

Anyhow, that email in turn reminded me that I have a few other 'reveals' that I hadn't yet blogged about, so go grab yourself a cuppa and come back and have a squizz at what I've been making and receiving (via swaps)....see you back right here once you have your cuppa....no it's ok, go make it, I'll wait!

Whilst I wait for you to come back, I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell you about another swap that Cheryll is hosting here . It's for a journal cover & writing implement (such as a pen!) She has some example pics so you can see what you might be making for your partner, and links (I do loves links!) for some tutorials too. You still have until 25th Feb to decide if you want to sign up, at which point, sign ups will end, and partners will be allocated.

Ok, you're back? Sorry, I was just talking to myself about a swap happening here while you were away!

Getting back to the Initial Heart swap, here's a pic of what I received from my partner (Help, not only have I lost the original post, I've also disposed of the envelope that the swap gift came in so don't remember who sent it....please leave a comment partner so you can get the credit you so rightly deserve) I got the heart, and CHOCCIES!

I've also taken a close up of the heart for you, so you can see the great stitching. You might need to click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see it better.

A short while ago, weeks in fact, I came across a blog called Fat Quarter Swap, which at this stage, is for us Aussies, but there's talk of it ending up International (which is fine too!) so being that I don't have much fabric (ducking lightening bolts as I type!) I managed to make it in time to sign up for the February swap and here's what I got from Narelle. Nice hey? Thanks heaps Narelle.

Talking of Narelle, I don't know if y'all noticed, but on my sidebar I had a link for an Accessory Bag swap, which of course I participated in, and my partner was Narelle! Here's a pic of what she sent me....hoot hoot alert!

On opening the pretty parcel, here's what it revealed:

AND, wait, there's more...look what was inside it, even more goodliness!


I'm still waiting on a couple of other swap gifts, and when they come in I'll post pics of them. I have some more things to share with you, but not all have been received by my swap partners yet...coz I mailed them late...bad me, but I honestly thought I had longer for some reason or another....anyhoo, they're on their way so sorry for my tardiness to my partners.

I've got a blog button....YAY

I'm quite chuffed with myself...and whilst I'll more than likely change the pic in the button eventually....I used a tutorial from here to create and put the button together (I used Picasa to edit my chosen pic, and I have hosted it at Flickr, just so you know) and Voila....over there on the right, you can see my new blog button in all it's glory.....now to see what else I can come up with for the image on the button.....because that's going to be whatever I use as my blog button for a little online business venture I'm planning! Please feel free to grab the code and pop my button on your blog. If you do, please come and leave a comment so I can get excited all over again!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you so much for the tutorial Heidi, the only thing I had a few issues with, was getting the box of html below the button...but once I got over my laziness, and typed it in (you can't copy and paste one line from an image....who knew? lol) it worked.

Aussie Hero Quilts (and laundry bags): Time to get going!

Yesterday in Facebook, I saw a post by Jan-Maree about a whole bunch of quilts that she'd pinned and were awaiting quilting...for OUR Aussie soldiers who are o/s.....being that I'm a HUGE believer that charity begins at home....I left her a message asking her for the blog address and this morning I checked and below is the link to the site.

Aussie Hero Quilts (and laundry bags): Time to get going!: Thanks for visiting and I hope you will spread the word and come back often. This blog is dedicated to all our Aussie serving members in ...

Yes, it may be a long read, BUT, it's a very worthwhile read if you are looking for a way to 'do something'.

Hugs
Naomi

Hooty Keyrings & Pollys' Towel

I was looking around on the internet earlier today (shock horror I know....I hardly spend anytime on the internet.....*ducking from lightening bolts here!*) and came across a tutorial on Ravelry for a crocheted owl and a knitted one all in the same tutorial....but I made a slight change to it, and added a strap/loop so I could turn it into a keyring. Pretty hoot hoot cute aren't they? I printed off the tutorial, but do you think I can now find the tutorial link again? I'll add the link when I find it again, in case anyone would like to make one of their own.

My next door neighbour, Sharina a.k.a Polly (as in Polly put the kettle on!) went shopping in my stash fabric collection and found some offcuts so she could applique a tea towel. The above is what she came up with, pretty good huh?

Woo Hoo, or should I say Whoo Hoot! I found the link for the owls on Ravelry, click here to grab the pdf for yourself.

Folded Fabric Flowers | Angie's Bits 'n Pieces

Folded Fabric Flowers | Angie's Bits 'n Pieces

Some time ago, I posted a link for a video to make origami hexies...today a friend (thanks Sue) sent me the link I'm sharing with you.....that has no dog barking in the background and is in English.

Hugs
Naomi

The Duchess Bag

Front View

Back view

Just recently I took part in a Doll swap over on Vicki's Craft Forum. My partner was Duchess, aka Glenys, who told me she wasn't fussed what she received...as we could make whatever, as long as it had a doll on it, or was a doll.....as she mentioned a bag, I remembered seeing some Raggedy fabric in my friend Khristina's stash...and before she moved back to Queensland, I bought it off her. As you can see, even though the fabric was quite big, I managed to get it to work with the pattern.

I drew up the pattern pieces myself and in honour of the person the first bag was made for using them, I've named it The Duchess Bag....and if you'd like a copy of the pattern pieces, please email me and I'll send you the pdf (3 pages). I'll try and get a full tutorial done soon though.

The bag arrived at Duchesses house today, so I no longer have to sneak around and show people! She'd been having one of 'those' days, so it cheered her up when she got the parcel in the post.

Surprise package in the mail from over the ditch & Blogger update

Oh my gosh, look at all the lovely goodies that came in the mail to me yesterday. Purple fabric and something hooty, be still my beating heart! My friend Cat, from NZ, (according to the card) had been going through her sewing room and found some purple fabrics which she thought I could put to use.....you betcha I can *smiles* Thank you so much hun, I love it all....and out of all of them, I only had one of them....which is quite surprising really....but stay tuned to see what I make with them!

On a completely different note, have any other Aussie Blogspot bloggers' noticed that the address has changed on your blog???? We now seem to have .au at the end....go on, tell me it happened months ago, and I'm only just noticing it now! lol However, I just went to Cats' blog to get the correct address to put in the link above, and even though I know where she's at, it also says .au at the end....maybe Blogspot doesn't recognise that NZ isn't part of AU perhaps???