Fiona Marie's Thread

The Christmas Rush...

If you are wondering where I have been the last couple of weeks...so am I. No wait, here I am...

Gosh, it happens every year...just when I think I am organised and on top of everything...WHAM! In your face...Ho, ho, ho - it's Christmas! I thought I had cleverly managed to get most of my Christmas shopping done in a calm, enjoyable manner over the past few months, but now I see jolly big giving gaps that need filling and time is running out. Soon I will have to join in the Christmas shopping frenzy, and label myself as just another disorganised person, something I promised myself would never happen again after last years experience...

I know it sounds bad but in actual fact I have been working very hard this year on spending LESS money across the board. It's a recession thing...so this year the push is very much on the 'thought' behind the gift, 'intangible' gifts as opposed to material ones, and drawing on my creative resources rather than my financial ones. I'm just not sure how the family are going to take it!

Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree. We always get it up and decorated before Jessica's birthday which is tomorrow, the 4th December...this year she will be nine and considers herself incredibly lucky because the School disco just happens to fall on her birthday. It's like having a cool party that everyone's invited to...what more could you want?

I have managed to get the update put onto the fionamarie.com website but have yet to write up the newsletter - something I will start work on when I finish here. This update I have added 10 new Leanne's House patterns that I am sure all her fans will appreciate. There is also a sprinkling of patterns added from a number of other Australian designers. To find out exactly what has been added go to the What's New page and have a flick through the pattern pages.

I have also been updating the Christmas Swap page now that registrations have closed. I have added a 'remind me' email link so if you think you might be interested in participating in next years Swap use this and I will send out an email closer to the time to remind you to register. There is also a flyer you can print off advertising the 2010 Swap. 137 stitchers took part in the 2009 Great Global Christmas Swap and $137.00 was raised for the Camp Quality charity. A cheque will be presented to them in the New Year. Many swap gifts will now have been sent out and in some cases received and I would love for participants to start using both the Swap Guestbook and the GGCS flickr page to share their experiences and post photos of their gifts for everyone to see.

On the stitching front...I haven't had as much time as I would like to sit at the machine and work on assembling my Gingham Girls quilt. However, at night I am getting the chance to steadily work away on the Life is Beautiful stitcheries. (If not showing on the page yet please check back later). I bought a cheap little box that I have decorated to hold my pattern pack/journal and I have also bought some scrap booking bits and pieces to design my journal cover. I am going to be making this quilt for my daughter Ruby and I thought once I had finished I will give her the box to keep with the pattern, journal, fabric scraps, and other memorabilia relating to the time when I stitched the quilt for her.

 

Finishing Touches...

I absolutely love the way this bag has turned out - it's such a shame I didn't make it for myself! There is only one solution, I shall have to make another one. To have a look at The Fat Quarter Bag pattern go to the Melly & Me pattern pages. This bag is made using four coordinating fat quarters. One for the main bag, one each for the top and straps, and the last one for the lining. It has two magnetic clasps inside the top piece to keep it closed and the main piece has been machine quilted prior to sewing together.

Before I go on here is a look at the beautifully plated up Strawberries and Cream cupcakes the children made yesterday. Guess what we had for dessert!

The Gingham Girls Block 3 is one of my favourites and looks gorgeous pieced together. It is amazing how fast the quilt is coming together now I have completed all the stitcheries.

The other really exciting event was the arrival of the Life is Beautiful pattern packs in the post this morning. Here is another small preview.

When you purchase the pattern set you will be sent 40 colour pages and 32 black and white design pages to compile your very own journal containing the pattern instructions, and pictures of the stitcheries and quotes. You are also able to purchase a set of iron on transfers if you prefer this method to tracing. One of the first things you need to do is design your journal a cover and above is a page with some design ideas to get you inspired. There is also a blog dedicated to the quilt offering tutorials on the techiques used and it will have pages to download to add to your journal in the future. To find out more and to view the quilt visit the Life is Beautiful blog. 

The price of the journal pattern pack will be $NZ80.00 for NZ and Australian customers and $NZ89.00 for overseas customers. The pattern pack with a complete set of 32 iron on transfers will be around $NZ95.00 and $NZ104.00 respectively. I will have it available on the fionamarie.com website next week but if you want to purchase one now send me an email and we will sort it out.

For all my Christmas Swap participants I have set up the flickr group for you to start loading photos and posting on the discussion board if you choose. I have yet to put up any photos myself but will do so over the next week or so. Please feel free to add one yourselves. Here is the GGCS flickr group page.

Orders, updates, and cupcakes...

It went a little mad over the weekend with orders coming in thick and fast. I think lots of overseas stitchers are stocking up on creative inspiration to sustain their stitching urges over the cold Winter months. I have just got myself all up to date and will be heading out to the Post Office shortly to get the packages sent.

I had a great day on Saturday stitching and here is the result of some of my work. Firstly I got another stitchery finished for the Hugs n Kisses new BOM quilt 'A beautiful Life' that is on it's way here and will be in store next week.

Next I pieced a couple more blocks from my Gingham Girls quilt, here is block 4.

 

I have made great progress on Ruby's Fat Quarter Bag designed by Melly & Me and hope to have this completed very soon now. I know I am making it for Ruby but it has ME written all over it...what a dilemma!

I am now starting to think about an update and newsletter to go out before the end of the month. I have started to scan pictures of new patterns to be loaded onto the website. I have also scanned Melly & Me's updated pattern photos to replace the old ones. Here is the newest picture of the Sherbert bag which is the most popular of all the Melly and Me bags. It is the perfect size, not too big and not too small, you could take this one anywhere.

 

As for cup cakes...I have three teenagers in my kitchen, Ruby, Ellie and Christian baking three variations of cupcakes for a School project. The first one 'Cookies and Cream' was absolutely delicious and I am waiting for the next batch - 'Strawberries and Cream' to come out of the oven shortly - yummy!

The Owl and the Pussycat...

I just got an order from a supplier in the post and noticed that Melly & Me has been updating the photos on some of their patterns. This one, The Owl and the Pussycat, is one of my favourites.

My children are probably a little old for this now but wouldn't they make a gorgeous Christmas present for a little girl around 5! Melly has started giving tutorials and sewing tips on her blog so if you are like me and have stitched a few of her patterns, or would like to, then this is a great resource.

It's great to see Leanne's House has a number of new patterns that I will have in store for you shortly. Stitchery and needleturn applique seem to be the predominant techniques in Leannes work these days and I know she has a loyal following of fans who adore her designs. This pattern is called Butterflies and Blossom and will be available soon.

There is an old world charm to Leanne's designs that is so pretty and appealing.

Today is a public holiday in Canterbury and while it started off beautifully the weather has just closed in and deteriorated, just as hubby was about to get out and mow the lawns so we could put up the badminton and volleyball net we bought yesterday. I hope the masses at the races have taken a cardy or two to keep warm, and that the fascinators are well and truly pinned down - could be a safety issue!

It was another good week in my household- Jessica got the all clear from her doctor; the great little touch team of 12 year olds I coach won again and are leading the competition; I got to take a tour of the Mortuary at Christchurch Hospital through Victim Support that was very interesting; had a beautiful dinner last night with my husband to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary - and it was the first time we had left our eldest daughter in charge as she is now old enough to babysit, we were giggling like little children when we left...overwhelmed by our new found freedom. On Sunday we are looking forward to celebrating my father-in-law's 75th birthday...and as I look out the window and see the dark clouds lurking I can't help smiling to myself because inside weather means... 
 
  

It's raining, it's pouring...

I had a great day yesterday sewing, and managed to spread myself around a few of the projects I am working on. First off I made some progress on Ruby's bag. I am making the Melly & Me pattern The Fat Quarter Bag.

I also managed to piece together block 2 of The Gingham Girls quilt designed by Bronwyn Hayes.

Today I am off to the Hospital with Jessica for a routine check-up with her oncologist so won't get a lot more done but will hopefully find time to pop in and say 'Hello' to Lesley at her lovely little patchwork shop in the Christchurch Arts Centre called Forget Me Knots.

The other thing I did yesterday was set up a flickr group for the participants of The Great Global Christmas Swap. I still have a bit of work left to do on this and then I will be inviting everyone to join and hopefully post photos of the gifts they receive at Christmas for everyone to see. Registrations are open until the end of November.

Thanks to the Gingham Girls who commented on my block yesterday!

Gingham Girls come alive...

Well here it is - Block number one! I did tell you I was going to stitch the entire Gingham Girls quilt by hand but after some persuasion from my daughter I have decided to use the machine to piece the blocks. It makes more sense with all the little pieces to be stitched and my daughter liked the idea that I would have time to work on other projects at night if I wasn't hand stitching the blocks. There, confession over!