Another June Finish

Just in time for another finish for the month.  Mum sent me the panel and some lining fabric to be turned into a bag for her....and it went back to her in Sydney when my two daughters went to visit her in the middle of the month.

Look at this...

When I looked at Helen's blog and saw the mini quilt that she had made for the Mini Quilt Swap..what went through my mind was that some lucky person was going to be thrilled to open her parcel.  Well guess what, it was me! Here is the  gorgeous little quilt that is now on display in my house..

There are lots of lazy daisy stitches to make the flowers and little french knots make up the topiary trees.  Helen has done such beautiful work... 

..and it looks so good on the quilt stand that I bought to hang my mini quilts on..

Thank you so much Helen, you're quilt is a treasure...

Friends With Benefit..what I received..

I recently shared what I sent to Janet for the Friends With Benefit swap..and now here is what Janet sent to me..

a beautiful little friendship sampler in blue and gold...the colours of Otago..which is the province I live in, here in the South Island.  Janet sent me a questionnaire that she had also given answers for and in it I expressed the desire to one day make a blue and gold quilt...when ?? I don't know, but now that I have my special little one maybe I don't need to now!!!!  Janet also included a little pattern book from Fig Tree quilts because it had an article on using silk thread, which is just what Janet used to quilt my gift.  Needless to say I was over the moon when I opened the parcel.

One thing I learned about postage is that even though I sent mine Fastpost, it took a lot longer to get to Canada than Janet's parcel took to arrive from there..nearly twice as long!  it made for an anxious wait..

12 inch mini quilt

I joined Cheryll's Mini Quilt Swap group and the theme for the first little quilt was 'Welcome'.  Here is what I made for my partner...I found the pattern for the stitchery when I was looking through some older magazines..it is by Natalie Bird.  I then added some borders in a French General fabric.  I hope that _______ enjoys using it.

If you want to see the lovely little quilts that others in the swap made then go to Cheryll's blog and read the post for June 15.  If you want to find out more about the swap or if you want  to join the group scroll down to find the Mini Quilt Swap button on the left side of my blog and click on it,  or follow the link in the first line of this post.  Then email Cheryll if you want to join in.  The theme for the next little quilt is Fathers Day.

Friends with Benefits....what I sent....

I was in Kathy's swap, Friends with Benefits, recently, and this is what I made to send to Janet in Canada.  I also included the latest copy of the New Zealand Quilter magazine.   I used Gail Pan's pattern, Forget-me not stitching pocket.
You may remember seeing the beginning of the stitchery panel that I showed in progress...

This is what it turned into... the outside of the stitching pocket..

Here is the outside in its unfolded state...

And the inside with the pockets in green opening at each end.

Normal Transmission Resumes...

Our wireless modem has always been a little temperamental, and every so often it can go offline, which is what happened the other day after the power went off for a very short time (while the electrician wired in a heatpump for us)...we had to go back to the old plug in modem which limited us to one computer on at a time, as it just didn't want to reconnect.
  So now it is back online, normal transmission has resumed again.
I missed getting in my finish for the month..I have decided that the crochet rug I have been working on is big enough now....

It has been good to drape over my knees while I crochet..but I have another one in need of rescue and finishing...so it should keep me cosy on the cold nights ahead..