It has been so long since I have entered anything on my blog. I was diagnosed with bowel cancer last September and Operated on in October. After a few hic-ups I am not clear of cancer but still have ongoing hernia problems and enlarged lymph nodes.

Hopefully I will start putting photos up shortly. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me during this traumatic time.

Tumbaweeds Theme Swaps

Funny how everything hits you all at once. You are just moving slowly along and then lift comes and pow hits you in the belly.

I have been busy sewing my thems swaps and as there are so many I will just upload photos

Tumbaweeds Embroidery Swap

It sure looks like I haven't been doing any work lately. Unfortunately I got some poor health results so have been busy with doctors but there is always time in the waiting room to do some hand sewing. I am doing my very first embroidery swap. My own swap is Japanese Girls. I just love these Girls and as each one will be done in a different colour I think the whole quilt will look wonderful when it comes home. As Purple was my favourite colour I used that.



My girlfriend did my second block in A lovely Azure Blue. I bought these patterns thinking they were hand embroidery patterns but they were sent to me as Machine Embroidery Files so I learnt a good lesson there....lol

QNF Sunshine Blocks

A friend sent me some beautiful fabric this week and I wanted to send her a thank you in return so I searched and searched and found my old sunshine blocks. I looked through them and found a set I had forgotten about so I joined them together and made a small table cloth. I was very excited about the finished results. No I have to make another as I really want to keep this one myself.

Tumbaweeds Round Robin

This is Betty's round robin I did before I did Stephanie's... it is out of order but that doesn't matter. I am glad to say this month they all go home. I will be posting Stephanie's on Thursday

More Theme blocks

So as you can see I have been very busy making blocks...

Tumbaweeds Theme swaps

Our group has come along in leaps and bounds. We have 40 members now and so many swaps going it is a little hard to keep up with them.. I feel as owner I need to join in on all of them to see the work coming through. So here are the blocks I have done since my last posting.

Tumbaweeds Row x Row

I have been busy doing my row x row flowers.. never again will I applique in a row x row. I don't wear a thimble so my fingers have holes in them and why does the needle always find that sore spot.

I finished Mellie's Irises and Rayleen's Pansies. I am now busy working on Ann's Tulips and Irises.

Mellie's Rows are Trees. She used Hand Dyed Fabric... really nice.

Rayleen's Rows are Houses. She has used mainly Greens and Browns.


I really love how these rows grow as you add more rows to them.

Tumbaweeds Round Robin

Well, it doesn't look like I have been doing any sewing lately but that is not correct... I have finally finished Stephanie's Round Robin. She started with a folk art centre and I did the final round of picket fence. I really hope she likes the final results. This quilt finally came to measure 78" x 84". It was really hard to take a photo. The wind blew at exactly the correct time...

Tumbaweeds - Row x Row

We are doing a Row x Row in Tumbaweeds now and we have signed up with 10 ladies doing 9 x 9" blocks. I feel that this is too big a quilt but it appears the USA ladies prefer bigger quilts.

Lori is doing Mountains and Moons
Stepahnie is doing Maple Leaves
Carol is doing Applique Cats
Cheryl is doing Pieced Hearts
Betty is doing Houses
Lesley is doing Friendship Star
Margaret is doing Sun Bonnet Sue
Ann is doing Frogs
Marell is doing Trees
and I am doing Flowers.

I have chosen 9 different flowers and each lady can have the 9 or 1 whichever they prefer

Tumbaweeds - Calico cuties

I am doing a picture swap with SCQIS where I am doing 'An Egyptian Market Place' so I have decided to put that as the centre of a quilt and add Egyptian Gods around it to make a quilt. for my block I chose "Maat" . I got the fabric for a Christmas Present and just fell in love with it.

Tumbaweeds - Theme swaps

Well, I have been busy with Bounty Belles finishing 2 swaps Ann's Blue Wrens and Cheryl's Autumn.

Busy Hands make light work

My group has acquired so many new ladies that it is becoming overwhelming with all the extra swaps I have to run to keep everyone interested.

We now have 3 Theme swaps, the Round Robin coming to an end, a Row x Row starting up, a Picture Fabric Challenge and now an Advent Wallhanging and gifts.

My fingers have been so busy making blocks and getting them all sorted out ready for posting.

After a nice relaxing Christmas and New Year I am slowly catching up to date. Today I finished Bettys Round Robin and my Fabric Challenge Swap from an old swap in 2008.

The Quilting Sisters - Carol's Round Robin

Oh my this Round Robin has been sitting at my home for quite some time. Usually I have them out the door as soon as they arrive. I cannot believe I have held this for so long. I did the final 2 rounds. After my first round I just couldn't decide on what I was going to do and I wouldn't or couldn't send it home unfinished. After asking for help from many other quilters I finally worked out what I wanted to do. The black border was an idea from many other quilters and I can see how it has pulled the quilt together.... Thank you to all who helped me work this out.

I am so scared Carol won't like it but I am now happy to send her home. I will add a packet of Tim Tams as an 'Sorry'... that might bribe her....haha

Picture Swap

I have been very busy this month. I have taken my trip around the region to check that we are all stocked up should a disaster occur. Mellie and I took heaps of sewing to do along the way but were so tired each night that we didn't get anything done. This months Guild Block is a 'Crinoline Lady' on point. Mellie realised that hers wasn't so she cut it out into an oval shape and attached it to a soft pink background making it look like a cameo. Clever idea, hers is now on point.



I have mainly been busy sewing Ruth's Picture Swap. 'Snow covered Church with stained Glass windows at Christmas Time'. What a theme...lol. Well I finally got her Church finished, and handed on to the next lady in the swap. I am very happy with the end result.

SCQIS Advent swap

oops .. the bag

SCQIS Advent swap

As I have mentioned before I am in an Advent swap with SCQIS where you parcel up 25 gifts for your Advent Angel and in return you receive 25 gifts. You get to open 1 present a day and the value of this swap is $2-3 with a $15 final gift. I have participated in this swap for several years now and have really enjoyed myself so this year I decided to give one to my girlfriend for christmas. Needless to say I have been very busy making things as 10 items must be handmade. Well I finished my 10th handmade item and my final gift. These mice are suppose to have 'grub roses' along the side but I am not good at making these so I opted for Lazy daisys...
My final gift is the easiest bag I have ever made. I saw a friend with it and really liked it. She put an extra button on hers as she didn't want anyone being able to get into her bag so I did it as well. I am very pleased with it and will now make another to put in my own Advent swap

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Tumbaweeds - Christi's Round Robin

When I received Chrisit's Round robin, I just loved it. It was in my colours and ones I like working with. I then sat and read what she expected to see on her quilt and who the quilt was for and their likes and dislikes. She said the quilt was for her mother and yellow roses were her favourite flowers. After looking at the quilt I felt the yellow in the centre represented a yellow rose so that was the main focus of my round. I wanted to do pieced roses but I spent 7 hours and ended up with 1 rose so I gave that a miss and went back to my applique. I used fairy frost given to me in a Secret Santa last year and currently my favourite fabric and after rummaging through my stash I can up with the small amount of Japanese Kimino fabric. How excited I was as Christi's mum is Japanese. I still have a brown paw to put in the corner but after that it is finished.

Drink Coasters

Well I have been so busy lately making these 92 drink coasters for Christmas presents that I was sick of making them. I had to push myself for the last 2 sets. I hope the effort is appreciated. Add with the 2 bars of soap we normally get... should make a nice gift...

SCQIS Picture Swap

Today I have been busy, still making the 26 sets of coasters needed for the Christmas Present I stupidly offered to do. I still have 2 more sets to do so I took a break to make my backing for the Picture Swap. I have decided to do Egyptian and Arabian Nights. I will use this block as the centre of a quilt. Might go as a Round robin or do an Egyptian gods theme swap and put them around it... see what happens when it comes home. The backing turned out completely different to what I envisaged.