I hit the jackpot, the Mouthy Stitches jackpot

Recently I joined in the Mouthy Stitches swap. It was the second time for me in this swap, and I loved it. It's full of really nice, positive people. I love the rules for these swaps, as it stops people trying to outdo each other. You don't feel bad because you've sent what was stipulated, when others make a bigger, better item or number of items and add a couple of hundred dollars worth of extras for their partner. This swap was for a tote and a key fob.

I tried to find as much time as possible to comment on all the photos appearing on flickr, although sometimes it was difficult as I was in the middle of moving. There were lots and lots of amazing totes showing up.  I had a couple of favourites that I was secretly hoping would come my way.  I didn't want to get my hopes up too much but imagine my absolute delight and surprise when I opened the parcel and found this absolutely gorgeous tote inside. I was so excited.  It's for me. All for me.

Kelly from Jelliquilts did an amazing job, it's perfect. I love every bit of it. The text fabric, the rainbow wonky stars and stripe on the back,  the hand stitching, and the gorgeous lining fabric, that will just have to be reversed so I can parade that side too.

I love the key fob, it's hot pink and has text fabric to match the tote, fabulous.

A big thank you to the swap mamas for pairing me with two very lovely partners.

I really did hit the jackpot with this one, thank you so much Kelly for being the best stalker ever.

I'm back...at least I hope I am

Yay, finally unpacked (sort of, I still have eleventy hundred boxes in the garage that need to be opened and places found for everything that is in them), but at least the rest of the house is pretty much unpacked, except...............

My sewing room is a total disaster zone.  I'm trying to bribe people with a holiday in paradise so that they can come and organise my sewing room for me.

The day we officially moved in I was greeted by this-

Furry cute cuddly (well kind of cuddly, at least they look cuddly even if they don't particularly like being cuddled) wildlife for a change, instead of great big huge scary spiders, humungous pythons, bats, ticks, and all the other icky creatures that used to be found in and around the old Chez Sunshine.  Contrary to what some people think, yes Shay, I did not cut and paste the koala on to the palm tree.
I lived at the last house out in the country for 13 years and never saw a koala, ever. I move to suburbia, and on the first day, lo and behold, a koala in a palm tree in my garden. I think that must be a very auspicious sign.


Even though my sewing room is a total disaster, I've set up the sewing machine and searched through boxes to find some of my stash so that I could work on the Mouthy Stitches Swap. I've really enjoyed stalking my partner and I hope this reflects both her mosaic and her brief. If not, I'm in trouble.

I still have to embroider the centre and cut out the pieces for the tote but at least I'm on my way to getting it finished.  I spent today trying to find some hardware to make the key fob that is to go with it.  This evening I'm hoping to work on the embroidery or the key fob. Unfortunately this house has no power points in the living area, so all my lamps that I had in the last house are useless. It also makes it difficult to sit and watch tv and hand sew.  I'm crossing my fingers that somehow there will be a solution.

Hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging now that I have the computer set up, internet, and about 5 mins a day where I'm not unpacking or cleaning so that I can take photos and start blogging regularly again. It would be nice too, to be able to sit and enjoy the new view.

PS  I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to catch up on blog posts and leave comments. I tried to at least read a few in between the mayhem of moving but I still have over 1000 posts in google reader. I think it may be time to hit delete, but  yikes, what am I going to miss though?

Mouthy Stitches Swap

I've been stalking the post office for a couple of weeks now, but finally my persistence paid off and my Mouthy Stitches pouch from Karen at Listen To The Birds Sing  arrived, after taking a very leisurely trip to Chez Sunshine. 

Sometimes the post to paradise is very very slow.  It was worth every minute of waiting for it though, I absolutely love it.

Check out the paper piecing. Karen's insane, she really went out of her comfort zone with this, I would have been happy with a couple of squares sewn together. The work that has gone into it is amazing, and I'm very grateful to Karen for putting all that effort in to a pressie for me!  I am so very lucky and am now the proud owner of this most gorgeous pouch.  Both sides are fantastic, and the details, wow. 

Like the buttons in the corners.

The ribbon tag.

The interior lining and pocket.

I love it!

Look at the cute card that came with it, isn't it adorable.

And to top it off, Karen sent me these gorgeous scraps.

I'm one very lucky and very very happy swapper.

WIP Wednesday

I think I've missed at least two if not three WIP Wednesdays. The last couple of weeks at Chez Sunshine, I've been concentrating on the two swaps I'm in.

I've been working away at the Mouthy Stitches zippered pouch. I love English paper piecing, it's relaxing but it's slow. You can see some more close ups of it here.


The back

It's finished and today it has been sent off to it's new home with fabric scraps tucked neatly inside.

I finished the Name Game Swap mini quilt, sorry, the big smudge in the middle is where I've blurred the name, I can't reveal that part yet as I still haven't sent it to my partner.

I made the label yesterday and was in the process of sewing it on when we had a massive thunderstorm and the power was out for almost 6 hours.  I'm hoping to finish it this afternoon, that's if we don't have another storm.



I've also been hand quilting Tiggly Winks. It has been a real struggle to try and summon up the enthusiasm to work on it. It's about 3/4 finished and I've made the decision I just don't like it. Life is short and I'd rather spend my valuable time working on something else.
It is now officially being put in a bag and stuffed in the back of the cupboard.  Maybe one day I'll bring it out again and maybe I might like it enough to finish it. Then again........I doubt it!

Over the weekend I had a very strong urge to make something new, that would be quick to finish and not make me think too much.  I had to think way too much making that pouch!

I whipped up a baby quilt, you can read more about it here.

Worked On This Week The Last Three Weeks
Mouthy Stitches Swap
Name Game Swap
Baby Quilt
Tiggly Winks

Sitting On The Sidelines (I'm not ignoring them, I want to work on these but I needed to get these swaps finished, arghhhh)
Lily Quilt
McFlurry
Material Obsession BOM
Starflowers

I Really Am Ignoring
Amitie BOM

Given Up
Tiggly Winks


Statistics
Finished - 2
Worked On - 4
Sitting On The Sidelines - 5
New - 1


Linking up with Lee over at Freshly Pieced, so pop on over and look at all the lovelies worked on this week.

Third time's the charm

Yay I finished the zippered pouch for the Mouthy Stitches swap, and no swearing at all during it's construction today. Well not until I though about making a zipper pull. That involved lots of swearing, during two failed attempts trying to make something interesting and a bit different. If I can bear to try again, it might have a zipper pull on it before I send it to it's new home.

Front

The English paper pieced pieces on the front and back are 1 inch elongated hexagons. The front was made in one piece and I used 1 inch squares covered in the linen to join the X shapes together. This was then appliqued on to Essex linen which I used for the front and back. The back was made using one X shape, appliqued on an angle, and hand stitching in orange perle thread to add interest. It was a spur of the moment decision to make the back like that after being inspired by this on flickr, and I'm so pleased I did.

Back

Pink zip and LouLouthi lining

As I gave an option to my partner to choose either a pink or yellow zip, I'm sorry this reveal of the lining and pink zip is going to disappoint anyone who asked for the yellow zip.

I think I'm capable of making more zippered pouches now, I'm just not sure whether I'll be making them any time soon, although BP (Bitchypoo) has asked me to make her one. In fact she asked me if she could have this one and I make something else for my partner, lol.

I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to do much commenting on blogs the last week. I always try to find the time to read new posts and keep up with what has been happening, so please accept my apologies if I didn't comment on posts this week.

A domestic goddess : sewing and cooking

The Mouthy Stitches swap is producing some absolutely beautiful pouches and ideas. I just hope my partner likes mine.
I've sewn all the paper pieced bits together, next step, to sew it to the front of the pouch.


I ordered zips from Zipit, they haven't arrived yet, but they're not going to be any help as I didn't order zips that are long enough for this one.    *#@!


I've had a look at my local store but they have a limited range of colours, and not really anything that I want to use with this, so it looks like I'll be trekking to Spotlight for a zip hunt.

In the meantime, I've finished the Name Game Swap mini quilt. I'm really happy with it, despite having very little idea of what my partner would like as she has been very very quiet. I've blurred the name just in case, as I want it to be a surprise. I hope it's not too much of a surprise.




It's inspired by an Orla Kiely design, and has my partner's blog name on the front, well part of her blog name. The bit that matters. The blog name is long and it would have taken up most of the quilt space if I had used the full blog name. I hope she likes it.

A close up of the leaves and quilting, I echo quilted around the applique letters and leaves.  Argh there's a bit of fluff below the orange leaf. Why is it that you never see things like that until after you've taken the photo and loaded it to the computer, oh well. that dark speck is a bit of fluff not a mark on the quilt.

I still have to make a label for the back but otherwise it's all ready to go.

Yesterday afternoon, Shay and I had a cooking session a few thousand kilometres apart. Shay found the recipe and suggested we both try it.  We made Peppermint Patties.
Let's just say they were good, but I'm not sure whether I'd bother making them again. Especially in the middle of a Queensland summer! High humidity and heat are not great for confectionery making.  They had to go in the freezer after each step, but that still didn't help much. As you can see from the following photos it's lucky I don't aspire to be a food blogger!

After kneading the fondant

Cutting the fondant rounds, aren't they pretty

Not so pretty afterwards. These were the best looking. The dipping them in chocolate part didn't go very well, they either started melting and stuck to the fork or they drooped over the edge. It wasn't that the chocolate was too hot, it was the temperature of the house and the humidity.  As soon as I took them out of the fridge to take the final photo, they started sweating.  They taste great though.


BP was home for the weekend, hmmm, let me just say, I'm quite very happy that she is living in Brisbane.             Teenagers!

Favourite Things Friday

I love finding parcels in my letter box or PO Box, and today I wasn't disappointed. I found two parcels that I wasn't expecting.
Ooh the excitement.

The first was from Tanya, a fellow Queenslander. It was the mini quilt she made for me for the Name Game Swap. Wow, I hadn't even started sewing mine together for my partner. Tanya was so quick.

How happy and cheerful is this?  I love the bright colours, the applique, the letters, and Tanya has used buttons for the dot's on the i's and on the question marks too, very clever.

Lovely quilting. You can see some better close ups on Tanya's flickr account. The lighting wasn't the best here today.

Thank you so much Tanya.



The second parcel contained these.

I'm in love. I have always loved these from afar and was hoping to find some to add to my stash, but never had any luck. I jumped up and down and may have squealed a tiny bit when I opened the package.  Susan from Canadian Abroad very kindly sent me these when I sent her the H R  and bird fabrics. I'm so lucky. Now I have to think of the perfect project for them. In the meantime, you may find me stroking them and drooling.

Susan also sent me a needle case.  I think she must have been reading my mind, as I have been thinking that I really need one and was going to get around to making one, one  day, ahem, cough cough.  It's not a surprise is it that I hadn't made it yet, procrastinating once again.

So today's favourite is my fabulous surprise packages.  Join in with Shay and see lots of other favourites this week.