Late February TUSAL, plus a big thank you..

Well, here is my February, TUSAL jar - I took this photo on my desk at work.  In the top left hand corner is my new Dell laptop - it is a little beauty.

 Below is a close up of my jar, all of the white and purply coloured threads are from Cinderella.

I would like to offer a big thank you to everyone who has been giving me all the great packing advice for our big trip to the U.S in March.  I am running this as a competition - if you comment on this post  and offer me some advice as to what I should pack, you get a chance to win a Mystery Prize.   I would be happy with any and all suggestions, so please join in.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone.

 Now, here is my darling DD with her cat, Milo - gorgeous, aren't they?

 ... and here is Furio sleeping in yet another strange sleeping position -  I will have to send it to Nicola of Stitching by a Cornish Seashore for her strange sleeping position competition.

 Now, last week I was in Sydney for work and I stayed at this great serviced apartment, the Meriton on Kent. It was huge for just one person, with a kitchenette, a separate bedroom and bathroom and really centrally located with a gym and a lap pool.  I can recommend it if you ever need to stay in Sydney. Here are some pics which I took on my phone.

Happy stitching everyone,

hugs, 

Some advice please....

Hello lovely bloggers,
As most of you probably know by now, DH and I are heading off on the 10th March for our very exciting U.S. trip.  We are having 8 nights in New York, 3 in Washington, then it is down to Nashville to visit some friends for a week and lastly 5 or 6 days in San Francisco before heading home to Melbourne.  We will be gone four weeks.  My dilemma is this:  What to pack to wear? (I will warn you, I am a hopeless packer - I dither around and always end up taking way too much stuff.)

I always have this problem when I am going to a different country.  It is summer here in Oz, so I find it hard to imagine needing clothes for a colder clime.  My friend from Nashville has suggested lots of layered pieces.  What is your advice for the different places we are going to?  I would love to hear from all of you.

Now, I haven't had a giveaway for a while now (and I have decided that I am a giveaway rather than an exchange or SAL girl).  So, if you comment on this post with a packing tip, you will go into the competition to win...... Well, I haven't decided yet.... but I will think of something good... so another mystery prize from me.

I will keep this Giveaway open until the 10th March (the day I leave) but I will not be able to post the winner their prize until after I get back home from my trip (which will be after Easter),  so, I hope that will be okay.

So, please, please, enter and please spread the words as I need lots of good advice and suggestions.

hugs,

IHSW update plus lots else

I am so pleased with my progress on Cinderella, here is my photo from Saturday morning (after FNSI progress)

and here she is after IHSW:

I also mentioned in my last post that I had been lucky enough to win a giveaway but I have more good fortune to share with you.  First, here is the lovely surprise which I received tonight when I got home from work.  It is from my Love and Friendship Exchange partner, now she is a secret partner.  So, thank you, whoever you are.  See all my wonderful goodies.  My favourite is the beautiful little pink and green cushion - two of my favourite colours.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Oh, secret friend.

Then I have won these wonderful patterns from Joyce of Random Ramblings. Now, I thought that I had only won Blueberries but no, generous Joyce sent me four lovely Amish quilting patterns - I just love them.

Blueberry Homecoming, Raspberry Homecoming, Blackberry Jam, and I am not sure what the last pattern is called (as I am sitting typing this with Furio on my knee and I don't want to disturb him). Thank you so much, Joyce, you are so lovely and generous.

Then Nicola of Stitching by a Cornish Seashore was kind enough to gift me the pattern of And they sinned (Sorry, I couldn't get a big photo but if you click on the link you can see a bigger image)

She was also generous enough to send me some lovely Gentle Arts threads to start me off.  Now, as Nicola stitched on this I had been lusting after it, so I am so excited to have the pattern.  But I am going to have to wait until I get back from my U.S. trip before I start it. But I think that it will be a lovely piece to look forward to starting when I have those post holiday blues.  Thank you so much, Nicola, I am so excited to have this pattern to stitch in my future.

Nicola, is also having a fun competition about the weird positions pets and family sleep in.  Now, here are my two entries.  The first one is Milo who loves to sleep in my large white china bowl (which I can now never use again).  For some reason he finds this comfortable - go figure!

 The other photo is Furio the other day, as you can see, he is sleeping twisted right around - how funny is that?
Wish me luck for Nicola's competition - isn't it fun?

love to you all,

Oh, to be so totally relaxed!

Wouldn't it be nice to be a pussy cat and spend a hot afternoon on your human's nice soft bed under the airconditioner?  Lucky Furio!

Now, I am also lucky as I have won Victoria Motto Sampler Shoppe's hand-dyed lace giveaway.  Thank you, Nancy.

Now, back to IHSW.

hugs,

FNSI update

Just a quickie tonight as I want to get back to my stitching - I am just loving Cinderella!

Here is a pic of her pre-FNSI:

and this is Cinderella this morning after FNSI:

and just as a reminder, here is a picture of what she will look like once completed - still a bit of a way to go but I am so enjoying the stitching.  The fabric is so nice to work with and the colours are so gorgeous.

lots of stitching hugs to all you FNSI and IHSW stitchers out there.

Love and Friendship Exchange

Last blog I showed you all the lovely Initial heart which I received from Shez from Enjoying Life.  My other partner in the swap is still to receive her initial heart from me (it should arrive tomorrow) so I cannot show you any photos yet.  However, I was also in a Love and Friendship Exchange and my partner in that swap, Pam from Confessions of a Southern Stitcher has received her gift - Here is a pic of what I sent her.  I made a  small cushion which I stitched using my Cottage Garden variegated threads (I really love these Aussie threads), in the package I also included a scissor and measuring tape pack, a lucky Chinese mobile phone charm (which I had bought in Hong Kong), some of that fabulous Australian made Udder Cream which I keep raving about, I cute nail file and a little circular fabric box for keeping little bibs and bobs in.

Now, you might have noticed that I have put a hazy border and slightly angled the photo.  I actually did this in Word.  We have just moved to Office 2010 at work and we have been able to buy a very cheap version for our home computers.  Then on Friday I went to a PD on all things Word 2010 and how to manipulate images was one of the things we were taught.  Cool, isn't it?

I have been promising some photos of Cinderella for a week or so now.  So, here are two pics in order of progress:

Isn't it funny, that depending on how you take the photo and the light,  the fabric looks a different colour?  (Sorry, I should have ironed the fabric for the second photo - me just being lazy as my ironing board is downstairs)

Yesterday, I baked the birthday cake for my DF Cathy's 50th Birthday party for our Mother's Group - over 23 years and we still meet regularly.  Isn't Cathy a youthful 50 year old?  The Cake is a White Chocolate Mudcake.

One last thing to show you today - one of my Older Finished Works.  This is a quilt I made for DS2 about 8 or 9 years ago.  It is all hand quilted.  There is also a pic of a flannel cushion which I made around the same time and DS2 appropriated for his own use.  DS2 is now 19 but still sleeps with both of these items made by his mummy! lol!

 Well, off to stitch and watch something light on TV - it is a lazy Sunday afternoon.  I am off to Sydney very early (the taxi is coming at 6, which means that I will be up at 5) for work.  Back on Tuesday night.  So, probably no blogging until then.  Have a good start to the week everyone.

hugs,