February FNWF Finish and a reminder

Last night was our Friday Night get-together with our ‘virtual’ friends over at Cheryll’s place and I must admit, I started pretty early.  My plan this week was to finish the Christmas Blessings quilt so I could post it away and I was doing well, until I had to practice some ‘reverse stitching’ due to some hasty and somewhat cocky progress. (happens to all of us, doesn’t it?)

So Friday morning was sandwiching, pinning and quilting and I got to sewing the binding on just after lunch.

It’s always so satisfying sewing that last bit of binding down, don’t you think?  Always gives me a real sense of achievement (now why then, can’t I apply this ‘knowledge’ to my huge long list of UFOs I wonder?)

This was also my January challenge on my list for the APQ 2015 UFO Challenge I mentioned in this post  so I can tick this one off  …. even if it was a week overdue, AND add it to my OPAM list for Jan/Feb!  Double whammy!

It is now in the safe hands of Australia Post, winging its way to  Natalie at The Birdhouse to live its life out as a shop sample.  I’ve had a few people interested in purchasing the pattern.  I suggest you Google ‘Christmas Blessings by Natalie Bird’, and you will get a few stores who stock them, then you can choose where you’d like to purchase it from. The ones I have seen are all really reputable and wonderful to purchase from (and yes, I have had experience with them all – shhhhh,  don’t tell hubby!)

I then went on to stitching up some more of this gorgeous design of Jenny’s for her Stitchery Club Swap. 

A little more to go and then I can make it into something I hope someone will love!

So that’s what I got up to…..come with me and visit all my friends and see what they got up to last night.  Thanks Cheryll….it’s always terrific fun spending Friday nights with you. *mwah*

And before I forget, drop back here and leave me a comment and you’ll be entered into the draw to win two of my patterns in the Grow Your Blog 2015 Blog Hop.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Big sugary hugs xox   :o)

 

GROW your blog 2015 and a giveaway

I’m so pleased to be a part of Vicki’s Blog Party over at 2 Bags  Full, which happens to be the third one….don’t know how I missed the first two!

Anyway, for those of you who are new to my blog…..I’m Wendy, the owner and creator of Sugarlane Designs.

I am married to this wonderful man

and these are our kids….

Charlie -

 

Ralph -

and not to be forgotten, Nick -

They usually appear in my blog, somewhere along the line, so I thought I’d better introduce them.  I love stitching and quilting so you’ll see a fair bit of that, sometimes you’ll see a recipe or two and I feel absolutely blessed to have such gorgeous surroundings so sometimes you’ll see photos of my garden, the clouds, nature, animals and plenty of other stuff that the good Lord has shared with us.

I’ve been blogging for around 5 years now, and can’t remember life B.B. (before blogging).  I’ve been crafting a lot longer though, sewing since I can remember, but I started quilting about 15 years ago and I was instantly hooked!

I was a primary school teacher for 23 years and I got to use lots of crafty skills there, but there was never enough time for ‘me’ stitching….. nearly 4 years ago I had to have a knee replacement, which left me unable to keep up with the necessary daily requirements of a teacher (it’s a fairly physical job!), so I had to retire. 

Since then, I’ve had plenty of time for my passion and I’ve become a stitchery and quilt designer (something that’s been on my bucket list), designing lots of various patterns which have appeared in Australian Patchwork and Stitching Magazines and can also be found on Craftsy.

I also enjoy a bit of cross stitch now and then

but I love to connect with my bloggy buddies.  I hold monthly Friday Night Sew Ins on the third Friday of each month which I’d love for you to join in to…..just check out the tab at the top of my page for more info.  I have some free designs (see the tab above) and I’ve got a free BOM starting up on March 1 (so watch this space). 

via Google images

I’m going to start a Double Wedding Ring-a-Long in the second half of the year too….I know this one’s on my ‘Must Complete One Day’ list, so what better way to do it than to do it with blogging buddies where we can support one another along the way.  But more of that later.

I hope you enjoyed your visit…..I’m going to be popping along to others who have joined into the Grow Your Blog Party 2015 and take in some of the fun too.  Vicki’s been a real champ having the blog links up and ready to make it easy to visit everyone.

Oh, and by the way, if you’ve got this far….congratulations!  You’ve done well…….and make sure you leave me a comment with your name and contact email (none of this no-reply stuff….I can’t contact you then!) and you’ll go into the draw to win 2 of my PDF patterns –

the Love Life bag….

and the Give Thanks wall hanging…

My Grow your Blog Giveaway is open to everyone, overseas included, so be sure to share it with your friends (it IS the nice thing to do, isn’t it?!).   Remember, all you have to do is comment on this post and be sure to leave me an email address to contact you if you win. The contest closes on February 15 when the winner will be announced.

Thanks for visiting Sugarlane…I hope to see you back here often.

xox Sugary hugs :o)

FNWF

Tonight is the first FNWF for they year…..sooooo excited!

Dont forget to pop on over to Cheryll’s place to sign up….I’ve got LOADS to choose from so we’ll see how much I get done after a full day at work.   But it’s ALWAYS so much fun stitching with the girls on a Friday night……reeeeeeeeee-laxing, that’s for sure!

You may have also noticed I’d posted this button on my sidebar….

Starting the new year with new resolutions such as making new friends, increasing your blog readership and just ‘growing your blog’ in general sounded pretty good to me.  Visiting new blogs and following those that interest you is much easier when it’s all in the same spot, so why not join me?  The official sign-up is over on Vicki’s page at 2 Bags Full. 

Just post the button on your sidebar and encourage your friends to do the same.  The more blogs that participate - the more chances we all have of growing our blogs.  SPREAD THE WORD! Perhaps even consider doing a post about this on your own blog. The more people who participate -- the more chances you have to meet new friends and  "Grow Your BLOG!!"

xox Sugary hugs :o)