OPAM (One Project A Month) for January...Charm Party Tote!!!

What a busy time I am having at the moment...January quickly slipping by...quite a few swims and beachwalks being done at our local beach, especially in the heat we have been having!!!

One day whilst at my local patchwork shop Steph's I saw this bag...thought how cool is this...and immediately signed up for the class for this Charm Party Tote bag...

After all a gal can never have enough bags...and as one lady in the class said...

she is till searching for the right one!!!

This pic should be much further down...

one of the bags made in the class in the Rounnerie range of fabric by French General for Moda...inspired by old French reds and naturals...a peek into rural life in 19th century France...

Having admired this fabric for a while now I also signed myself up to do a workshop for a tablerunner made out of this gorgeous fabric...

Bolts of the Au-th-entic range of fabric by Sweetwater for Moda on the shelves...

Jelly Rolls...Charm Packs...

I am really into fabric with writing on it...

My Charm Pack bought a little while back...had to have it when I laid eyes on it...but not really knowing what I was going to make with it...
the black fabric is for the handles...

This being my first workshop at Steph's I started to get organized during the week...
and what fun this was...I used these oh-so-cute pins that I received from Carol as part of the Advent Swap...

Pincushion made and sent to me by Janey...

the fabric I chose for the lining of the bag...

all in the basket ready to go on Friday morning...
even the little white bag received by me from Sigrid for the Angel Swap

Sorting the squares for the front and bag of the bag...

the 2 lighter squares are the pockets for the inner lining...
the darker square is for the outside pocket...

inside of the bag...

Vintage buttons received by me from Carol...I thought I would use one of these...

Playing around with different buttons...

and finally chose the large buckle like one...by Beutron and priced at 1/6 which now would equal to .15c!!!

here's the back of the label for the button/buckle...

back of the bag...

and the front...and I'm over the moon with my new bag!!!
I think it looks pretty cool!!!
Now I'm all set for a day of shopping tomorrow with JoJo!!!

And while I'm at it...Happy Australia Day!!!

Friday Night Sew-In...January 2010, my first one!!!

What a lovely time I have had participating in my first Friday night Sew-In hosted by Heidi and Bobbi ...

First of all for a couple of hours I trimmed and added borders to what I will call my Bonjour Eiffel Tower Quilt...
I was keen to do more sewing so after dinner I prepared myself a bowl of chocolates...

and watched the movie Chocolat ...but I have to admit as some friends suggested in the last post that Johnny Depp was indeed a distraction!!!

I did a little stitching on my Bareroots table runner...

I thought I would do some of the little floral blocks in the runner...
just about to cut more thread now and thought this made a pretty pic!!!

and I'm all pleased that this block was done by the end of the movie!!!

And here it is under one of the blocks...how cool is that!!!

Not a very clear pic...but this is how it all fits in!!!
Thank you so much Heidi and Bobbi for hosting this wonderful Friday night Sew-In...I have had so much fun doing this...and looking forward to the next one!!!

What a motivator it is...Have a great weekend everyone...Dzintra

Friday Night Sew-in!!!

After seeing this logo around the blogs...I kept going back and back to it...

and finally decided...Just Do It!!!

A Friday Night Sew-in hosted by Heidi...

the idea being that you get comfortable...put on your pj's if you like...

put on a cuppa...

settle in and do some sewing or craftwork...knitting...scrapbooking...

whatever you wish to do...and then blog about it on Saturday!!!

I think I'll either do this one above...


or this one...a Table Runner by Barrie Sue Gaudet at Bareroots...

this has become a WISP (Work In Slow Progress)...

my New Year's Project for 2009 LOL!!!

But have only come this far due to my TAFE course (which I have put on my other blog My Dolce Vita) amongst other distractions...including starting new projects!!!



Whichever one I decide upon...I'll be sure to be armed with plenty of chocolate...

and maybe even be tempted to watch that fabulous movie Chocolat with the gorgeous Johnny Depp and the delightful Juliette Binoche (I love her shoes in that movie)!!!

I think I'm going to have fun!!!

One Stitch At A Time

"Take your needle, my child,

and work at your pattern--

it will come out a rose by and by.

Life is like that...

One stitch at a time,

Taken patiently."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes~

Christmas in the Snowy Mountains of Australia...and some Wildflowers!!!

Christmas is all over...the New Year has begun...I love this time of year...

Endless sunny warm days all rolling into one another...lots of them spent at the beach!!!

And one of my favourite sayings...I love a salty blue day!!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year...bring on 2010!!!

Over Christmas we went down to the Snowy Mountains of Australia (in New South Wales)...

and saw abundant wildflowers...above are lupin...amongst others...






Just before dinner time I thought I would take a walk...Hubby said 'have you got your camera'...and I raced back to get it...whilst walking I saw a spectacular sunset...and have shown many pics from my little walk...I was just mesmerized!!!


Australia is prone to bushfires...above are tree trunks left from about 4 years ago when part of the Mountains was on fire...


These pics speak for themselves...
No 40c heat here...more like 8c...and nearly time to put gloves on...but oh so refreshing!!!

Truly a stunning sky!!!

The perfect quote for all this beauty I found today...

"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon,

my soul expands in worship of the Creator."

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

On the way home now...and a pic of the Monaro Plains...

this is country leading up to the Mountains...
often known as the Treeless Plains

Here is a quilt received by one of the family...such beautiful warm colours, perfect for the Mountain weather...

and look at these placemats...looks like Charm Squares stitched together...backed and bound!!!

Fantastic...I think I need to make some too...

And here's a little challenge I have taken up and been accepted into...

the OPAM...one project a month...

One craft project a month to be made...

and put on my sidebar...

My first Challenge and I am so excited...

hopefully this will spur me on!!!

And by co-incidence (but they reckon there are no co-incidences)...

I went to a workshop yesterday and put together a bag made of Charm Squares...

this bag was completed today...

only the button has to be stitched on...

and I already have my first completed article...and I can't stop smiling!!!