Shivering, Sketching & Stitching!!

That's what's been happening here on top of the hill this weekend. BRRRRRR!! It has been nasty cold!! And although the sun is out and we have blue, blue skies ... there is a south-westerly wind blowing that is so icy that it takes your breath away ... well ... I ASSUME it would, cos there's no way I'm going out there to test that theory! Tee! Hee! Hee! I've only ventured out long enough to hang a couple of loads of washing and hope that I can remember to get them in again before they snap-freeze when the sun goes down! :0) Did I mention I HATE winter?! Oh ... I did?!? Well ... forget I mentioned it then! :0)

So ... when it's icky OUTSIDE, what's a gal to do but stay INSIDE and occupy herself. Now, like most of you, I have about six or seven projects on the go at the moment (OK ... lots more than that, but they're the current ones!!), so I should be finishing those, right? (Did you just hear Chookyblue crack the Gardeners Journal whip?! Tee! Hee! Hee!) So of course I ... DIDN'T do that! :0) My designing imagination seems to be working overtime at the moment, so instead of writing instructions or scratching my head over block piecing ...

... out came the trusty sketch book! Oops! Do you see a couple of sneaky peeks there?!?! One little critter is just peeking out from under the cover of my sketch book and the other (which I didn't realise when I took the photo!!) is showing through the sketch book page. Do you see it?? Can you guess what I'm brewing up in my overactive imagination at the moment?!?!? :0) I'll give you a little clue ... they're from two different designs ... told you my imagination was working overtime! :0)

So ... after some sketching, came some stitching ...

A little bit more of a clue about what I'm working on. Yes ... there is a whiff of Christmas there ... I'm finally getting to play with some of these ...

The yummy fabrics in Lynette Anderson's new range, "Scandinvian Christmas" ... which should soon be appearing in quilting shops everywhere. That's all the clues you get ... And now my lips are ZIPPED!! I'm going to keep you in suspenders until these projects are finalised. I CAN tell you that I'm pretty excited about where they're heading and that one of them is a first for me!! Aren't I a big tease?!?! :0)

Now ... the other sewing that has happened recently was actually last weekend, when Mum and I hit her sewing room together. Some of you (those with young children or grandkids) may have seen some of the pics in blogland of Bandana Bibs. Well ... only having dogs and bears in our household, I was at a bit of a loss when my SIL asked me to make a few for my sweet nephew for his birthday.  I had sudden mental pictures of Wild West cowboys with bibs over their shirts so they didn't spill their beans down their front! Tee! Hee! Hee! So the answer of course was to GOOGLE it! What on earth did we do before Google?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee! Problem solvered, free downloadable pattern ... can't remember where I found it though - sorry!! ... and the result is ...

 ... four bandana bibs ready to be sent off to my nephew! They were really simple (PHEW!!) and pretty quick to whip up. The back two are out flat and the front two are velcroed into the shape they will be when worn. I love the fabric I found at my Home-Away-From-Home ...

... especially those kooky dinosaurs! :0) They just made me smile every time I looked at them, so hopefully my nephew will think their pretty cool, too. Four finishes for the OPAM list! :0)

Right now, though, I'm going to go make myself a cuppa, pop a "Midsomer Murders" DVD into the player and work on converting some more of those sketches into stitches. Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend and finding the best way to enjoy your weather today. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS