Yesterday I had some lovely surprises.
I have a tendency to plant the tops of pineapples in my garden….in my tropical garden, out the front….after all, pineapples are a member of the bromeliad family, right?…… so they fit right in!
See my surprise little baby growing right there in the middle! I wonder how long it will take for it to grow into a pineapple??
A beeping mobile phone at 10am revealed a text message, asking me to lunch with a friend, whom I haven’t seen for AGES, and it was wonderful. It was sooo nice to catch up, and although we live only about 15 minutes away from one another, her work schedules and life, in general, kept getting in the way. So yesterday, we lazed away, spending time having an impromptu lunch at a local cafe and a long-awaited catch up.
Just before we both left to do our grocery shopping (ho hum!!), she presented me with a little birthday package that she has been carrying around in her bag for ages (well…..about 4 months!!!!)
Look at the gorgeous little key ring she picked out for me…..
I love it, and it sits so well beside the one Peg made for me. We had a huge laugh though, because I have a bit of a ‘fetish’ for keyrings…..you’ll notice I’ve only shown you the two and not the rest of the bunch???? I’m almost embarrassed to admit the weight in my handbag is probably made up mostly of my keyrings!!!! Well, my logic tells me, in case I ever get attacked or mugged, let me just say, I could do quite a bit of harm with my bundle of keyrings!!!! LOL
After shopping, I headed to the post office where I got this surprise parcel from Narelle…..
I thought, “Hang on a minute…..my birthday was ages ago??!!!!” It left me feeling terrible that Narelle had gone to all that trouble to package something up for me and it wasn’t even my birthday!!!
And then I opened the card……..
What a gorgeous girl she is!!!!……As part of our Fat Quarter Swap group, we send birthday gifts to each member when it’s their birthday…..and I love the fact that birthdays can come anytime of the year!!!!!
Look at the lovelies Narelle sent me……a lavender sachet to hang somewhere special (it’s ‘fragrancing’ my sewing room right now!), a couple of fat quarters and some ricrac, threads and buttons all in blue…..just beautiful….Thank you sooo much Narelle, I love it all!
Mmmmmm…now what to make with it….I have something in mind that I might start designing soon!!!!….secret squirrel stuff!
I have been plodding away with my NPNT quilt. I’ve tried to organise myself a lot better so I’m cutting my fabric out first…..see???…
This was the beginning of the week….
This is where I’m at now….
…and this is what I’ve got left to cut up from the “Love Is” range by Nancy Halvorsen….(an oldie but I just love it)
So I’m nearly there……and I even got a second row stitched together last night…..
all while Charlie slept blissfully unaware of my “great things come in threes” surprise package!!!
Back to the sewing room today to finish that cutting out….(I’m sure I really should fit in some vacuuming …and a bit of cleaning too, somewhere during the day!!!)
Sugary hugs :O)
Isn’t it adorable??? I’ve also given you the finishing instructions if you wanted to create the quilt that we did, however, each block can be stitched independently of each other and used however you’d like. We’d love to see how you’ve used them, so if you have stitched them into any items or gifts, drop us an email and we’ll share them on the blog. You can download the latest block and finishing instructions from the sidebar to your right! Enjoy!!!! And whilst I’m talking sharing……. I just want to show you what Miss H from NZ made her grandma
Hasn’t she done an amazing job??? I’m sure her Grandma would have loved it…..her stitching is awesome don’t you think??? 
Makes me all warm and snuggly inside!!!! Thanks for sharing Baa…..and I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long! More warm and snugglies…… a gorgeous thank you gift from Fiona of BubzRugz for hosting SIF and spreading some Birthday Love! Thanks so much Fiona…you are a clever chicky and I love it….it’s gorgeous and has pride of place in my home!!!! 
another Christmas surprise, this time from Maryanne in our Fat Quarter Swap 
along with our fat quarter swap……..Maryanne must know I’m a sucker for RED!!!…..(and Nikki Tervo buttons!) Thanks so much Maryanne…..they’re just perfect! 
And we had a ‘Non-Fat Quarter Swap” for December, and I have Diana as my partner….. this is what she’s sent me…..I’m being good and haven’t opened it as yet…..keeping the Christmas surprise alive in my house for as long as I can!!!! 
Diana’s surprise will be posted off tomorrow……like I said, I’m a bit slow this month! And I’ve been coveting my precious Santa Sack Swap gifts from Shez since November!!!! They’re staying in that bag so temptation doesn’t hit hard!!!!!! 
Shez’s a real early bird…..I need to take a leaf out of her book that’s for sure!!!! My goodies only left last week for her……(but they ARE on their way, if they haven’t already arrived!!!!) 
The one thing I can show you is the Santa Sack I made for her….. 
I used one of Michelle Ridgeway’s ‘Alphabet Noel’ stitchery designs to personalise it for Shez……..(oooh hope her hubby’s name's not Noel…..it COULD get confusing!!!!! ) 
next week will be our last FNWF virtual stitch in…..so if you’ve got some last minute stitching to catch up on, join with me and lots of other wonderful crafters and we’ll craft to our heart’s content! Sign ups will be early next week! Tomorrow I’m going to share some photos of our sewing day break up……for a sneak preview, you can read Jen’s blog post HERE. Until tomorrow, Sugary hugs xox :o) 
