Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day!!! January 26th is the day the First Fleet arrived in 1788.

The photo above is some euclyptus ficifolia (flowering gum) blossom in our garden.

I went out for a walk this morning and watched the Roulettes doing a flying display not far from our home.
We had a barbeque for lunch and I made pavlova for dessert. yum!!

The Australian Open tennis is on here in Melbourne at the moment. I have done some sewing in the evenings while watching some matches on TV. Here is my progress on the quilt for my sister. Just one more border to go.




Recently my sister gave me a hoya and it has its first flower.

Waterloo progress

Here is a progress photo of the Waterloo quilt. The next round will be appliqued orange peel and slightly larger baskets in each corner. For the baskets I plan to make them a little differently and fussy cut some birds from the Rouenneries linen/cotton fabric Ranette sent to me. I have stitched everything by hand so far. The original quilt is slightly different in the centre medallion and I may add more to mine.



I have started a small quilt for my sister. The red print on the right hand side is the only other fabric in this quilt top. This is again all hand stitched. Lots of large pieces coming up, so it will be quick to put together. I plan to hand quilt this one.

I have all the pieces cut for another small quilt that will be machine pieced. Lots of fabrics in this one! Up until now almost all of my quilts have had lots of different fabrics in them.

I have another small top ready to be quilted.

Its been really hot here today. At one point this afternoon our backyard thermometer read 47 C (about 116 F)!!! It was still 40 C after dinner. All my rose blooms are dried to a crisp! Its been too hot do anything but sit in a cool place and hand piece. Tomorrow we are expecting a cool change, then a week of much cooler weather.........thank goodness!!!

Have a great week, everyone!

SSCS gift has arrived!!!

My SSCS gift arrived today. It was sent by Odette, who lives in Chile!
The parcel took a little longer on its journey, but it was well worth the wait. My Christmas has lasted an extra few days! :)


Inside the envelope were some sparkly wrapped parcels.

Below is the note Odette wrote on the back of the Santa.


Inside the parcels were lots of goodies! The stitchery on that bag is amazing! The cosmetic purse held even more treats!!



The choccies are yummy! I love tea. I drink lots of tea everyday, so everytime I make a cup of tea I will remember Odette. :) The buttons are wooden.....look at that cute teapot!




Aren't the Santas cute!!
The stitchery is sooo amazing here is a closer look!



The bird is beautiful....

Thank you Odette for your thoughtfulness and all the skill, effort and time that has gone into creating these gifts for me!

Thank you Elf Chookyblue for all your time and energy in organising such a successful swap!