Sew have you finished it!

 How is your Sewing projects from this year going...

 Are they gone?

Have you finished all those items that you wanted to do

Well I can answer that for me NO NO NO NO

 I had big plans but I saw another item..LOL

that I just had to make and I almost made it and.....

 I put all my other UFO's on the back burner again...

 Are you like that????

Always trying to finish but 

something else catches your eye that you have to make,

 and the cycle starts again... 

almost finish it then another one... so on and so on

 Wendy and I had been chatting about trying to finish our UFO's

 and having a challenge...

 Well here's the challenge

 Make a list and Prioritise the items...

 Easy!

 Umm... maybe?

 But we thought as a way of encouraging one another 

we would start a BLOG for those who want to join us.

We have called it

'Sew its Finished'

 2011 UFO Challenge.

 and if you leave a comment here or on Wendy's blog

 and we'll email you with the details.
 You will need to be able to do blog posts
 so an idea of blogging would be good!

 The blog is open to the first 100 people.
 More can join in, but you will only go on to a blog roll
 and  not be able to do posts on our new blog of your finishes.
 Sorry this is a blogger rule not ours...

 Have a think??? Do you want to finish some UFO's

and have some help and encouragment along the way.

 Start writing that list.

 Then come join us in this challenge!

 Happy New Year

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs

 Dawn x x x

Pretty Pinny's....

As you may have read in Blogland we Gum Tree girls had an Apron swap...

 It was so much fun...  I made one for Judith...

It is a half pinny, which tied in a bow up front...

 In romantic roses with some frills,

 and a little ric- rac too..

And Joy made one for me...

Its adorable with a vintage button on the pocket...

 and its in my favorite colors pink and green...

 I love to wear a pinny as it reminds me of me Granny...

 Oh how I loved the times with Granny cooking....

 Speaking of Granny's....

Photo from google images.

 I have some sweet NEWS... such wonderful news really....

 I am going to be a granny.. twice next year..LOL

 My sons and their wives are expecting babies...

 If anyone can think of a granny name

thats sounds young I need it... desperately...he he

 Cos it makes me feel old thinking of being one...LOL

 And I am really young.. he he

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs

 Dawn x x x

SSCS surprise!

I was so blessed by my SSCS swap partner Sharon
who had sent me these wonderful gifts.

 I was allowed to open the ornie when it came..

 She is hanging on my tree.

 No peeking for me in the one for the 25th though,

 even if I was tempted with the

bright yellow fabric that Sharon wapped my pressie in.

 I still waited and waited... not to long though.

 BUT I wanted the surprise to be on the day

 as I don't get many surprises.

 I opened  my parcel like we were told on Christmas day.. he he

And a lovely surprise it was.

It was this gorgeous bag filled with little presents.

 Look at this amazing bag with loads of pockets for stuff...LOL

 Goodies of all kinds were inside...
a notebook with notecards and envelopes to match,

 a packet of Thangles....can't wait to use these.

 a pack of cards with quilt patterns on them, a beautiful brooch,

and a pack of needles...(I always need these)...
 Thanks Sharon for my gorgeous bag filled with goodies
and my angel decoration hanging on my tree.
 And Thanks Chookyblue for all the organizing you have done.
 What special gifts did you receive this Christmas???

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs
Dawn x x x x

Merry Christmas All!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

May you be blessed this season...

Stay safe, have fun, relax and enjoy yourselves.

Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs 

Dawn x x x

Christmas Blessings to You!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all my blogging friends

 I have had a busy year and having all your 

comments and words of encouragment

have been a blessing to me.

 

May you be blessed this Season

 with Friends, Family and Love.

 Celebrate Jesus by sharing His love

with those you meet. 

Do you have a moment to listen to this????

http://worriersanonymous.org/Share/Christmas/Holynite.htm

You'll enjoy the experience of these beautiful voices..

Christmas Hugs

 Dawn x x x x

Christmas baking.... SSCS = Presents.

Have you been busy this week????

We have done the usual baking

that I love to do at Christmas.

 As well as some new recipes too.

 The girls and I made gingerbread men...

  A great packet mix that I discovered in the supermarket.

 No fuss to make. and the girls had fun baking them.

eating lots of them too.

 We also made Rocky road Christmas trees, 

and reindeer biscuits. These I saw on here

 Thanks Leanne for sharing your family fun.

 We too had lots of fun making these biscuits to eat.

My SSCS that was organized by Chookyblue arrived this week.

I was so excited and opened the big box and 

inside were two parcels with notes on them

One said 'Open Now'... I did!

Oh a gorgeous handmade angel ornie for my tree...

 and the main gift is for Christmas day...

 Can't wait to see what is in the brightly packaged parcel.

 Thank you Sharon for being my Secret Santa!

 Have you been busy this week????

 Only two more sleeps to go till Christmas day

 and my girls are getting excited.

 So am I!

 Are you????
On the sewing front I have only one gift to finish
doing the binding on and then I am done.
 Maybe over the Christmas break
I can do some stitching on a few UFO's
 before the New Year.
 I said only 'Maybe'..LOL

Sweet Christmas Hugs 

Dawn x x x x

 

Partying with Sew Prim Khris....and My Little Angels

Friday was Khris's Christmas party....

I had an absolute ball. Have you met Khris???...

She is such a sweetheart...

 A wonderful person who makes you

feel like your special and important.

 I am so glad we have become friends,

 and all because of Blogging.

 There were 8 ladies who all share the love of sewing.

 We all do different crafts but unite to chat and

enjoy each others company but especially Khris's.

 We played some funny games and ate lots of yummy food.

Here are some of the pressies.

 I came home blessed with some amazing Christmas gifts...

 Below is a bag kit I won.... Khris's sling bag.

 I can't wait to make this... so fresh and chic...

 Khris and I are going to make it together

 I may make a couple of them for my gift box too.

It's a wonderful bag and is so simple to make

  Purchase a pattern from Khris HERE

This is also a covered Phone book for all my address'

 that Khris also made and gave to me... so cute and Pink.

I love it and have it next to my telephone

waiting for some spare time to fill it out.

 Now today is Sunday and we had our Christmas Service at Church

 My girls were two little Angels in the Christmas play and

I think they looked adorable. So cute and Angelic...

UNTIL they had to wait for 30 minutes on stage with nothing to do

only look like Angels...while we all sang Carols..

Well they poked out there tongues

 waved profusely to Nana and a few of them

decided to pull the tinsel of their wings.

 Then they decided the songs were a bit boppy and

then they swayed to the music..and danced a bit....

 It was so funny.

 We all were trying not to laugh... but it was so so funny...

 Aren't Kids so cute even when they

 don't do what they are supposed too....

My two Angels.... LOL

 Sweet Christmas Hugs

Dawn x x x

Frosty Flakes PARADE.

My Frosty Flakes Parade....

 Here are the ones  below that I have been sent so far
and I am sure you'll agree they all look fabulous...
 First up are the ones completed so far by Truus...

Shirley sent these to me to show
 what her 79yo Mum Truus had made...
 amazing and I am so glad she liked them.

Doris in Germany made this one above... Love the red and green.

 

And this above is from Natitxu

isn't it lovely and with it's blue borders
 and colorful snowflake blocks

Malen made this beautiful version above...

 

Veronica in Argentina made this
gorgeous icy blue Frosty Flakes..( above)

 And here's what Cyndi has made from my patterns and some..
added a bit of her own creative licence and Wow..
 Have a visit of Cyndi's blog HERE she has loads of
 free designs to download for Christmas and lots of inspiration.

 I have been visiting Flckr this morning perusing all the
 Frosty Flakes BOM's & Blocks
They look fabulous have a visit HERE.

Hope you have enjoyed all the
Frosty Flakes completed so far.
 How is yours coming along???

You can still download it above if you want to make it.

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs
 Dawn x x x

Candy Cane Cookies!

Yum Yum.... I just love Candy canes... that subtle peppermint taste.

 I decided to make some Cookies and 

decorated them with icing and Candy Canes...

 They turned out yummy.

 Here's the recipe so you can try too...
Makes about 30 cookies.

Candy Cane Cookies!
Preheat oven to 180C or (160C - fan forced)
Ingredients:
 250grams of softened butter.
 3/4 cup of castor sugar
1 egg
2 1/2cups plain flour (sifted)
Icing sugar for decoration
 Crushed candy canes for decoration.
 Method:
 Line baking trays with baking paper.
Beat butter, castor sugar and egg together.
Stir in flour with a wooden spoon.
 Knead mixture on a floured board gently
Pop in the fridge for 15 mins
( no longer or mixture will set to hard)
 Take tablespoons full and roll into little balls.
 place on tray as you do each one...
 Press gently each ball with the base of a floured glass
( this flattens them nicely)
 Bake in  the oven for 12 -15mins
until they start to look a little browned
( do not overcook as it spoils the look)
Cool cookies on trays then transfer to rack.
 Mix a water with the icing sugar
( 1 TBSP water to 6 TBSP icing)
add more water if not runny enough
 Drizzle icing over cooled cookies and then sprinkle
 with crushed Candy canes.
 Then let icing set...
Unless you can't wait and need to try them out...

or use your favorite cookie recipe and add the topping...

makes Cookies look Christmassy.
 Enjoy
 Hugs Dawn x x x

12 days of Christmas!

Yesterday we had Our Sewing Group's Christmas Luncheon...

 And lunch on we did....yum yum..so many yummy foods to eat.
Also we exchanged secret santa gifts... wow

BUT As part of our Christmas gifts to each

other this year it was decided the we would use the
'Twelve days of Christmas' as the theme for our gift giving,
 throughout the year
 We each pulled a name from the basket each month
and bought a gift for that person

based on whichever month it was.
Eg:...'On the first day of Christmas

my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree'.

 the gifts that were given ranged from a Pear pincushion, 

a stitchery of a bird in a tree, and a one stack of Lavender sachets.

 We had so much fun, laughing and enjoying each others company.
 and all had wonderful gifts. We were truly spoilt by each other.

These 5 adorable Angels had 5 golden ringed buttons on them.

wall hanging, stencils, trivet and tin of sewing items.

Coasters, trim, Sketch pad, 2011 calender

Christmas tin (with ribbons and a lace bell - not shown)

 and my Secret Santa gift was

an adorable Christmas cake slice and cheese knife set.

 Thank you Judy, Khris, Lucky, Heather, Veronica, Joy and J..

our times together are simply wonderful!

I so look forward to you all coming over to sew and chat,

my life is fulfilled because of you all.

 We had an absolute Ball... the bestest day.. he he

 Have you had your Christmas break up too???

 Hope you also had the bestest time too.....

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs

Dawn x x x

P.S. Tomorrow I want to share with you a yummy recipe or two!

 AND I am doing a 'Frosty Flakes' Parade on Saturday

showing all the completed 'Frosty Flakes wall ahngings'

so if you want me to parade it

 email me the photo so I can.

 I already have a few, thanks ladies.

More goodies in the mail!

Like I said yesterday lots

came in the mail this last few weeks.

 Firstly was a gorgoeous Little Encouragment Gift

( an embroidered door hanger/book mark)

with a card from my dear friend Jenny

then came a Layer Cake of PURE

 Just gorgeous for making a belated Wedding Quilt

 It is for my Son who recently got married.

 I was so unsure of what fabric to use until I saw this... just perfect

 And what design?????

 I think I will do another Schnibbles quilt..

they come together so quickly.

 And the fabric colors are perfect for a couple

 who wanted browns, beige and blues...

In their new home.

I then received this box of threads....

 Have you heard of Wonderfil????

 I discovered them at the Machine Quilters extravaganza...

 Barrie ( NZ distributer)was there with these amazing threads.

 They are called 'Fruiti' and are a 12ply variegated thread.

 just prefect for machine blanket stitch

 and other decorative stitches.

 I can't wait to start using them...

I have the perfect quilt to use them on

 But first I must quilt a friends quilt for her today!..LOL

 Happy Stitching

 Sweet Cinnamon-y Hugs

Dawn x x x

Christmas Surprises in the Mail!

This week in the mail came my swap 

Christmas Pressie from Anita.

 I was so surprised when I opened it to find in there

 a gorgeous table runner in my Favorite Fig Tree fabrics.

 Its just so lovely... Love the stars.

Love the fabrics... (have I said that)..LOL

 Love everything about it.....

  Also there was some other goodies.

 Cookie Cutters, decoration for my tree. Red Ric Rac..

 Four fat quarters of Rural Jardin fabric ( fabulous)

 Rudolph nose tags, keyring, chocolate candles.

 I was truly spoilt.

 Thanks Anita for being my swap partner.

 Back tomorrow with some more goodies

 that came this last week... Posty was super busy.. he he

 Happy Sewing

Sweet Hugs

 Dawn x x x

Get your bits and bobs ready!

Do you have lots of favorite buttons and charms?

 Lace and ric rac? Ribbons and bows? All waiting to be used

 Do you have a lovely Honey Bun sitting on a shelf?
 I know we had some gorgeous trims, ect and wanted to use them.
Now you can join both Vicki and myself and use them too.

 

We have been secretly making a new BOM
for you to download FREE next year

 We have called it 

'Out of The Box' BOM -2011

And all you need is a Honey Bun

(at least half of one) with 25cm (10") background fabric,

 some of those favorite buttons, ribbons ect 

and a few stitchery threads,
all from out of your sewing box, tin ect..

 We will be giving Free each month

 4 stitchery designs each
( 4 from me and 4 from Vicki) 

for you to download and use
in your own personally arranged BOM.

You can use this button on your blog.

 Where you place the designs

and how many you use on your mini quilt is up to you.
 Vicki and I are so excited to be sharing these designs with you.
 There are 9 blocks each with 4 stitchery designs, in the completed pattern
 You get the choice of 8 designs each month to use.
 Thats 72 stitchery designs to use.

 Just download the first 8 designs on the 5th January

 and then the every 1st of the month after that.
 NOW is the time to 'gather your goodies'
 and start collecting, ready for start on the 5th January.
 We also will be having little Givaways throughout the BOM
so make sure you join the Flckr group in January and
also post about it on your blog...

Happy Gathering.
 Sweet Cinnamony Hugs
Dawn x x x