Santa Sack Swap

In the Santa Sack Swap organised by Cheryll, my partner was Nanette who's blog is Stitch and Sow...........the handwork of home and garden.  Over the last few months we have got to know a little more about each other and yesterday was the day we opened our gifts to each other..a good day to do it as I was having 'Christmas Dinner' with family as I am flying off to Sydney on Christmas Day to spend a few weeks with my Mum.  So I will have breakfast here at home before it is off to the airport..sadly the direct flights from our airport to Sydney were discontinued this year..so my flight goes via Wellington this time and I will be spending my Christmas lunch in the airport before boarding a flight to Sydney and being able to enjoy a late Christmas dinner with my Mum. 

So what was in my parcels from Nanette..well they were beautifully wrapped in fabric but I was so excited to be opening them that I forgot to take a photo..so here is what was inside...

a tote bag made with an Aussie fabric line

a fabulous table runner with appliqued ends and a gorgeous backing fabric..

this lovely stocking in crazy patch

a needlecase..made of hand felted wool which Nanette makes herself
and them embroidered.it's.really gorgeous and Nanette is so clever..

some skeins of thread and Nanette included the pamphlet so I could read a little more about them

a little hanging with my initial so beautifully embroidered..and blue is one of my colours
(amongst others)

fabulous tea towels with the cutest little Santa Koala borders 

very special handmade paper

and oh look these are the fabric wrappings I was in such a hurry to unwrap

wow..what a wonderful parcel of goodies, how lucky was I..

Thank you so much Nanette, it has been wonderful getting to know you through this swap.  Your gifts are fabulous and so very much appreciated for the thought you have taken in making them.  In one of our emails we were both thinking that here we were planning and stitching away while our partner is doing the same , in our case on one side of the Tasman to the other.  And I agree it is also about meeting new bloggers and finding friendships online.

Magdolia...

Magdolia is the name of the fabulous doll exhibition I went to today ..One of the teachers I work with makes the most wonderful dolls.  She made her first doll 3 years ago at a class and since then she has made over 50 dolls.  She wanted to share her dolls with others so with school finished on Friday she  had arranged to hire the Community Gallery in town for the weekend and set up her exhibition.  It was fabulous to see them all displayed..all the details and some were crafted on well known personalities.
DH drove me into town and he even went in to look at them when he came to pick me up.
I asked if I could take some photos..of course, she said, and it was then I discovered the battery was flat on my camera..so I took some shots on my phone.. wasn't sure  how they would turn out..so here are some of the dolls that were on display..
Some of the dolls heads she has made..

The props and accessories really added to the display..

Each doll had her own name as well..

This was made for her Dad..dressed in the family tartan..

and Shirley's wig came from the US

The fabric used for the outfits looked just like fish scales ..

Jill is one talented lady..

FNWF

Well last night came at the end of a very busy week.  School's out for Summer!!  Yes the last day of the school year was yesterday and so no answering to bells till next year.  We had Junior Prizegiving in the morning followed by a shared lunch and farewells for staff who are leaving school-there were some retirements and a few who are moving to other places-the most for quite a while.

I went on to meet up with my stitching friends for a special afternoon tea and was pleased to get there earlier than usual.  Then after a trip to the airport and tea afterwards I finally sat down and worked on something that wasn't too strenuous on my eyes...and something that is for me..

Some bobbin winding for a small lace project..

                  

And then a little bit more stitching on one of my yet to be finished projects..there are certainly a few that I have to choose from!!

               

SSCS

The gift I made was wrapped and sent on its way over the seas to....??

                         

And my gift has just arrived from Lisa..

                         

with a gorgeous decoration inside which I was able to open straight away..

                     

the other package has been put away for Christmas Day..thank you Lisa, it's just lovely..

Well it's hard to believe it will be Summer tomorrow..today's temperature was a chilly 9 degrees..but the wind made it feel so much colder..still this is the last week of school for the year so that is something to be excited about!!

FNSI

Well FNSI saw me take some time, for myself, to do some more secret sewing  so I can't show too much but....I may or may not have been using some fabrics from this selection...

                       

It was a change to have a break from this 2.5 inch high stack of papers.. 

                     

yes, it's been end of year report writing time and in this stack are the subject reports for my class..all printed ..1 page per subject and there are 9 pages per student at the moment..I have been proofreading all the pages-some I have written and some have been done by other subject teachers ... then  writing a final comment  for each front page..and now they will be off to our Year 7 dean tomorrow for her to sign.. then on to the principal...whew..am I going to be glad to pass them on..

..now I can get back to sewing at night...just for a change..

It's out with the old...

My poor old lamp has finally had it...it fell apart the other night as I was sewing at night.  The lights on my sewing machine just don't do it at night so an extra light is a must..

                                     

I already knew that  'white' light suited me better than the yellowish glow of this old halogen lamp ...so when it fell apart it was the perfect time to say goodbye to it and go shopping for a new one...there was not a lot of choice in town but this is the one I came home with..it will get a good trial this week as I work on finishing a few things...well that is the plan after I finish writing some school reports ..

               

Im back.... with FNWF

After a few weeks of blogging silence, I'm back to share what I worked on Friday night.  I had the writing stitched before Friday and did all of the rest on Friday night and did my fingers notice all that stitching!!  I had a bit of trouble focusing at one stage so a little closing of the eyes and I was back into it.  Saturday saw me putting on the borders and then starting to do a little quilting.....this one is for me...unlike the other secret sewing that I have been doing....

                                 

..no pear tree in the garden so I looked for something else and chose this one..