Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child

Well, I spent an enjoyable time this morning gathering together the little gifts I have bought or hand made ready to put in my Shoebox for my contribution to my Church's donations to the
Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.

Here's a photo of the small presents:

 

My box is for a little girl, aged between 2 and 4 years old.  Hence a lot of pink!

 

Then I covered a shoebox with Christmas paper and wondered if I would fit everything in!

 

Amazingly I fitted all the gifts in and there is room for more!

Look how easily I put the lid on the box!

So now I will be able to look for a few little extras to fill in the gaps! This is the sort of shopping I enjoy.  Perhaps a little purse, a bracelet, a pack of stickers? And a few more sweeties?

 

Scrap Vomit squares have arrived!

I enjoyed taking part in the Swap-bot Scrap Vomit Squares swap organised by Angie gnomeangel.com who lives in Canberra.

Angie also ran a Giveaway of a set of 49 SV Squares which I was lucky enough to win.
Here they are:

All three of my packages from my three swap-bot partners have arrived, from different parts of the globe. Always exciting to receive goodies in the mail!

From Dhia Peach:

From Barbara Walsh:

 And some really quirky ones from Dorte Petersen  ( Not yet the Dodo! ):

They are all great, a good mixture of colours, fabrics and shades.  No two alike!
I'm really hooked into this Swapping and hope Angie organises another one as she had promised. She was thrilled with how popular this one was and everyone taking part in the International Swap honoured their promise and sent their 49 x 2.5" squares.
Well done to everyone!
And VERY well to done to Angie who did all the hard work organising the Swap.  Much appreciated! Thank you!

Another NEEDLEBOOK & SCRAP VOMIT SWAP posted

A busy couple of days, some sewing and a little knitting and I parcelled up my 3 sets of Scrap Vomit squares for the Swap. 

The SV Swap was organised through Gnome Angel (gnomeangel.com ) but managed via swap-bot which worked like clockwork!  As soon as the deadline for registering as a participant expired I received an email linking me to their website and discovered the names and addresses of the three people I had to send my sets of squares to.  This was the International Swap and 80 people had signed up for it.  My three partners were from three different continents........ Europe (Germany), Australia and North America (Canada).  All very exciting. You can keep track of who has sent their packages via swap-bot and I know my Canadian partner has sent her packages out.  What I am not sure about it whether the folk I send to actually send their sets to me.  We shall find out when our Postlady, Julie, starts popping packages through our letterbox!
This swap reminded me of when I was about 11 years old........ a very long time ago!...... when I registered with the girls' comic School Friend for a penfriend living in another country.  I was really disappointed when I ws given the name of a girl living in Yorkshire! However, we happily corresponded for about fifteen years and then, sadly, lost touch.

I have had quite a productive few days, managing to finish another little Crumb Quilt and I am ready to bind another one.  I have also sandwiched the Siblings Together Project quilt, a job I heartily dislike.  Difficult to do as I don't have a large table or a hard floor so I crawl around the bedroom floor trying to pin the layers together without getting loads of creases.  Very tiring and time consuming!  Anyway, it is now ready for me to start the hand quilting. 

My church is again taking part in the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Scheme.  You pack a Christmas paper-wrapped shoebox with gifts for a child in parts of the world where they wouldn't receive any Christmas gifts.  You decide whether to make up a box of little gifts suitable for a boy or girl and the age range you have aimed the parcel for.  Gifts can be little toys, toiletries, warm hats, scarves, gloves, etc. We were provided with a knitting pattern for a simple Beanie and I have enjoyed making two so far. They look very pretty in the variagated white/pink/mauve wool I chose. I'll make a few more which can be popped into other Shoeboxes.  I now need to shop for some little gifts, hair slides, crayons, soft toy etc.  Good fun, the sort of shopping I enjoy.

 

We are going to a family wedding on Saturday which should be great, a lovely chance for a family get-together.  One of the bride's cousins is Helen who has been so kind and supportive during the past year since my cancer diagnosis. She loves knitting and sewing so as another little "Thank You" I have made one of my Strawberry Needlebooks to give her on Saturday. I'll pop some pins and needles inside too.

And another photo showing back and front.

 

Off now to get ready to go to a friend's for coffee. Haven't seen her since she returned from holiday so lots to catch up on!

SCRAP VOMIT SWAP, ready to go

As I have a busy couple of weeks coming up, including attending 2 weddings!, I decided to get ahead with my Scrap Vomit Swap squares. Yesterday I cut all three sets of 49 x 2.5" squares.  Each set contains basically the same fabrics, with a few differences in each set.  Hope they are the sort of Vomit squares folks will be looking for!

A few photos:

One set, fanned out to show the variety of prints.

 

All 3 sets, neatly piled up.

 

And finally ........................

 

 

All packed up in clingfilm, ready to pop into envelopes!

 

If you want to take part in this swap, there is still loads of time to sign up.  Go to gnomeangel.com where you can find all the details about this swap.

 

Cut off date for registering is 22nd September and the sets of squares have to be posted by 5th October.  The last time I looked at the International Swap there were 48 taking part.  I'm sure that figure will get higher!

 

Happy 2.5" square cutting!

 

Exciting Giveaway on Bearpaw

Giving you the heads up on a really great Giveaway currently running on Bearpaw's blog. Some fabulous Liberty prints that you can win!
Here's the link:
myBearpaw.com
Liberty fabrics are so beautifully soft and the colours are fabulous.
Go on, enter the Giveaway!

Scrap Vomit Swap

If you are a follower of Imagingermonkey's blog then you will know all about her fabulously colourful Scrap Vomit Quilts. And, if like me, you have been intending to make one yourself, then perhaps The Scrap Vomit Squares Swap that Angie has set up is just what you need to get you going on that quilt. She is organising a swap of 2.5" squares of fabric, all the details are on her blog Gnome Angel.
GnomeAngel.com
There are two versions to join, either for Australians or the International one.
I've just signed up for the International Swap, easy to do and it will be exciting waiting to see what great Swap Squares will be coming my way.
Happy swapping!

Help required

I recently saw a gorgeous example of a Plus Quilt, in a Scrap style but with each scrap Plus separated by a Kona Ash solid. It looked fabulous and I think the maker had done at least one in the same design previously. Unfortunately I didn't make a note of it and now can't remember where I saw it. Infuriating! So, of you recognize this as your blogpost or if you have spotted it too,  please  leave a Comment on my blog. Thank you!