Christmas Traditions & Greetings

It's that busy time of the year....Some of us are well prepared - some of excel under pressure!  (that would be me???...LOL)

Tradition 1 - Each year, I make these snow globe ornaments for my daughters for their children. 

Tradition 2 - I make angels.  I started this tradition in 2002.  You can see them all here.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
I hope you can share it with the people who mean a lot to you, family or friends.

Thanks for reading my blog this year.

My apologies to those whose blogs I usually read...

Life has been busy!!! And I will catch up over Christmas.

Christmas Celebrations

Now that the Birthday Celebrations are over, the Christmas ones are happening.

This is a ridiculously long post - it is really for me so I can look back ..so skip over it if you like.........

Definitely a First World Problem!!!

Loose Threads

We meet the first Saturday of the month - this month was changed to Sunday, so I could go to Helen's 80 Birthday party.

We agreed to do a Secret Santa Swap to about $15 value.

My present was a small dish, loaded with a small Christmas cake, chocolates, a Christmas tree decoration, a Scratchie, a puzzle book and some tea bags - it went to Rachel.
I forgot to take a picture.

I received Maureen's gift - a lovely tray, a string bag, and a crochet tree decoration - it's a granny square made into a tree....very clever!

We went out for lunch to a local Thai restaurant.

Queensland Quilters Night Group

Our present swap was a placemat.  I made this one...It IS a repeat of one I've made twice before - but it's a different group, so all good.

I received this one - just love the tiny trees!

We had a few games - including Pass the Parcel and I scored this orange fat quarter - a great present as my orange stash is quite small.

Machine Embroidery Group

I meet with a group of ladies each month who mostly do machine embroidery.  I don't do much of it - but I have been able to pick up a few tips & tricks and they are all very generous with their time answering any questions I have.  Ocassionally people bring in stuff to offload and I have collected threads and organza during the year.

This year I made some decorations on the embroidery machine - for example, the stocking below - and discovered how much easier it is to stitch on organza and use a soldering iron to clean up the edges...I get a MUCH better result than using WSS.

We met for a Christmas lunch - we don't do any Secret Santa stuff - but we have a destash table - so you can take along things you no longer want and you are free to take as much of anything as you like - the only stipulation being that you must take home anything that no one else wants.

Needle Girls

Always OTT and a lot of fun!

We had decided that our gift to each person was to be 5 things - based on the words in "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

I gave:

Stocking decoration
Image of creatures on PVC and a Panda Pencil...(a panda is a creature  . . .)
Cherries (I really wanted Sugar Plums, but I was told the stone fruit season was a bit late this year, so not a lot of plums about)
"Little House" - a small container of pins
"And to All a Good Night.." liquid soap...a very lucky find!

Forgot a photo - but here is the stocking 

I received:
From De

Fabric with mouse images
Cherry  notepad and note book
Packet of Jelly and a bowl

Sleigh with a sack full of toys

Sugar Plum Passion hand cream

From Helen

House container
Plum jam
wooden creature  - a dinosaur
Stocking of chocolates
Saint Nicholas Cherry scented hand sanitiser

From Lynda

Bowl with Fruit Jelly/s
an Elf in a small box
Cherry liqueur chocolates
Plate with a House - the plate is called Night Before
Sewing machine with a lustre
"And to all a Good Night" cross stitch pattern

From Sandi

Fly swatter
Plate with Saint Nicholas
Mouse pincushion kit (to be finished by our November retreat)
Reindeer coaster (and I have a mug that matches)

Jar of Oregano - full of dry leaves

Sunday Stitchers

We had our normal bonbon swap.  5 items.  Fat Quarter, Decoration, Personal Pamper item, Edible Treat and a Surprise - I included a Scratchie.

It went to Hilda...I hope she won some money . . . 

I received a bonbon from Chris

We also had to gift one person a Christmas box with 5 items in it - to match the word SANTA.
I bought for De and included:

Sweetheart Sprinkles
Apple hand sanitiser
NotePad - from Anni Downs
Treats - Random lollies...(De understood the "random" concept)
Aquelle paints - and a pad of black paper for her to paint on...maybe a bit of an odd selection...but two A's was challenging.....LOL ...and I like to be a bit random too.

I received my box from Deb and it included:

Shoe/Slipper case with some quilty tools
Beeswax Soap bag  - including the soap
Artificial plant
Nougat
Tree  decoration
Apple  magnet
Licquorce All sorts

I was very spoilt!!!

There was the usual array of small gifts from each person.

Alison - fabric star

Chris - home-made cookie - and tree decoration

De - glass ornament with bell

Deb - personalised notebook

Helen - rocking horse and chocolate

Hilda - Santa Claus ornament

Lynda - House decoration and Merry Christmas peg

Maria - Ferrer Rocher chocolates and a $1 scratchie

Michelle - Santa hat with chocolate and chuppa chup

Sandi - handmade cards

Sue - Fabric ornament

We each bring food:- morning tea & nibbles

Lunch - cold meat, salads and bread

Dessert - our traditional Coles Luxury pudding & Pauls custard

And some Clodhoppers (White chocolate, Crispex, Almonds, Cranberries & cinnamon)

Scattered Arts Sunday Social Group

We met at Pera Palace at Wynnum - a lovely place to visit - beautiful decor and lovely food.
We had coffee (and maybe some cake) and some of us stayed for lunch.

We had decided to swap a Christmas decoration.
I made a small machine embroidery tree ornament.

I received an angel 

Very appropriate for me!

SHLIMS

The last sewing group Christmas get-together

We all bought food to share.

Last year we had made bags for each person, and this year we needed to fill that persons bag with a decoration and a decorated face washer and any other gift.

I bought these cute little plates 

and an angel decoration,

I added a small flower motif to white face washers

Trying to fit a nice thick and fluffy face washer and other gifts in a bag that only just measures 5 x 7 is a challenge!!!

Gifts I received. . .

From Hilda

a knitted face cloth, a couple of tea towels, one made into a hanging towel,
a mini fan, a teddy and a Santa bag,
a round Santa container with wonder clips, & some chocolates

From Louise

beige face cloth with fabric decoration, some handmade gift tags,
a mini jar of tomato sauce,
a diary, a candy cane pen and a kit kat

From Maureen

a soft pink face cloth with crochet edge, two house coasters, a sewing machine pin,
a blue bird decoration, a mini note pad, and a cross-stitched mini hanging (with SEW)

From Sue

a brown face cloth with hand stitching of my name, a Cotaage Garden Thread,
a gingerbread house decoration, a coffee mug with S,
purple fabric, small scissors and a needle minder.

Oh My Gosh...it's been a fun filled, busy time in December...still family Christmas stuff to go!

It's been a great year with all my sewing groups and I am very glad that I have so many groups with such varied skills.

Merry Christmas to you...and thanks for reading & sometimes commenting on my blog.

Birthday Celebrations

I am not a big "Oh it's my Birthday" person, but my groups seem to enjoy birthdays so there are celebrations and I get presents.....

Sunday Stitchers

This year we gifted presents that are:

Bubbles
Impulsive

Rusty

Transport
Hot

ie BIRTH

My presents are from Sandi - it is a random draw

Bubble fabric and a Bubble Tea key ring

Impulsive - Daisy with Yes/No petals
Rusty birds (Sandi's note says they identify as Rusty....I think they need to live outside for a bit)
Hot Flush Formula candy
Kombi Van pin cushion - it is so sweet.

Thanks Sandi - that was a lot of fun.

NEEDLE GIRLS

This one happened on my actual birthday - the girls arrived at my place, complete with Pineapple, Coconut & Cheese log, Bacon & Zucchini slice & salads for lunch and a lovely Black Forest Cake.  Not to mention bags of chocolates and lollies!

This year we were able to list a few things that the girls could include as presents...they all did well, and I have added to my collection of beach houses, houses, hot air balloons - not to mention novelty fabrics, sewing threads and a few bits & pieces.

From De 
A mug with houses, two small houses, thread, fabric with trees and houses and a staple gun.

I had previously borrowed a staple gun from De - she mentioned she had two - so I soggested she gift me the second one.

From Helen
A door stop - it has a shack on it - looks like a beach house to me...LOL...a coaster, a ceramic house and fabric with Tasmanian Devils....so cute!

From Lynda
A Hot Air balloon decoration, sewing thread, a small house, a plate with hot air balloons and fabric with hot air balloons.   Got to love the selvedge on this one.

From Sandi
A row of beach houses, House Salt & Pepper shakers, Hot Air balloon fabric and two enamel pins of hot air balloons.

and the cake - it was very yummy!

We had a great day - a lot of laughs, a bit lot of sugar, a few plans for next year, a few serious discussions.   The usual stuff.

FAMILY

My youngest daughter and family arrived Sunday morning with food for brunch.  A lovely selection - like a mini buffet.  Sausages, eggs, croissants, cheese, fruit, yoghurt...something for all tastes.

and cake! of course!!

My girls gave me a bottle of Baileys Cinnamon Scroll - can't wait to try it - and two jars of gourmet jam (and of course the food...)

My husband had this drawing done from a photo we took late October.

If you'd like a similar thing done - contact Line & Tide.

The grandgirls were here, of course.  They knew it was a "Birthday Party", so Peyton insisted on wearing a party dress and wondered why there were no party bags at the end....LOL

Bestie - Maureen

We had a road trip planned for the day before my birthday - but the weather forecast predicted storms, thunder, hail etc, so we deferred for a week.
On 4th December, I met Maureen at her place for coffee and gifts.

Pattern from Tied With a Ribbon, sewing-themed fabric, a gorgeous dish and a cute magnet to add to the beach house collection, I think.

Then we headed off on our road trip to The Sewing Stables - where a few goodies may have jumped into my hand . . .

Here is some of it - the rest is SWB.

I plan to use the diagonal print where the spots are and the text print in the strips above the hearts...or something like that ...LOL

and lunch at The Nash Gallery

A lovely day - thanks, Maureen

SHLIMS

This should have happened mid-November - but 2 out of 5 girls were sick, so December it is or will be.  I'll update my post later.

I'm very grateful to have these frineds who make birthdays and life in general a lot of fun!