Headless Chicken Fever!

Hello there!
I'm just taking a wee break from last minute packing to say a quick hello! I'm so sorry I haven't had the opportunity to blog for a day or two, but on Sunday & Monday I was here:

Cardiff was so beautiful!
On Tuesday I flew home from here:

On Wednesday & Thursday I was here:

 Glasgow was friendly but wet!
And this evening we are off to Dublin here:

 The next time you here from me I will be here:

No wonder I am running around like a headless chicken!!
Thank you to every one of you who have made blocks for Kind Stitches Quilts.. I am off now to pack them in my suitcase...
Thanks for stopping by & apologies if this seemed like a geography lesson!
Take care
Karen

Creative Christmas Tea Wallet Fun

Hello there!

It is another beautiful, sunny crisp Autumn day on the Causeway Coast...the frost was sparkling this morning & everything was still as I walked over the frosty grass....

and took a photo of this tree which seemed to be lit up in the early morning sunshine

Inside the house, chaos reigned as per usual!! But rather than dwell on the frantic goings-on in our home as we prepare for Thailand, I thought I'd introduce the next Creative Christmas project....

 These tea wallets are great fun to make & highly addictive (as Judith recently discovered!)

I made the one on the left a couple of years ago as a mothers day present for my lovely mummy who doesn't drink regular tea. Then I made these a couple of weeks ago for Judith & Sarah

They are a quick & fun way to make a lovely gift for someone...

For this one I used some antique lace & an ancient snap fastener (costing 2D according to the packaging!)

For these I added some fun applique

If you would like to make one I've added a tutorial to the Creative Christmas page

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you all have a wonderfully creative day!
Karen

All things bright & beautiful....

Hello there!

How was your day? It was a beautiful day here on the Causeway Coast. I woke up to a crisp Autumn sunshine with the early morning mist still hovering over the grass... this is the view from our bedroom at about 8am....

As I write this, I can see the moon rising in a star-studded sky...not a cloud in the sky...so hopefully we'll have another lovely day tomorrow.

Before I go I thought I'd share with you some photos of some curved pouches I've been experimenting with for my pretty {little} pouch swap partner....

I designed the pattern myself with curved & straight bottoms (that sounds quite rude, sorry) & I'm really hoping my partner will like one of them, but now I'm wondering which one? 

Singing in the rain?

Or flower power?

They are both made of linen & are the same size.
I'd love for you help me out here please & tell me if you were my partner, which one would you prefer? I'll await your suggestions (nervously!)...
Thanks for stopping by
Karen

Fresh Sewing Day

{october}

A month of swappy fun:

A month of Christmas creativity

A month of amazing kindness

1. Not available, 2. From-Terri, 3. Cindy's blocks, 4. McGinty Trying To Help!, 5. Some loveliness from Ros, 6. Boys Quilt Top, 7. Not available, 8. Kind Stitches Blocks From Cindy, 9. Not available, 10. Pastel Bloom Quilt, 11. Not available, 12. Dino Quilt13. Not available

A month of lovely walks (in between the showers)

So how was your October?
If you get a moment, drop by Lyne's Fresh Sewing Day to see some of the lovely stuff other folk have made...
Hope you have a lovely day
Karen

Creative Christmas Scrappy Tutorial

Hello There!

I hope you've all had a great weekend &, if you're living in the UK, that you've enjoyed your extra hour in bed this morning!

I'm so pleased to bring to you the next Creative Christmas project....

This is a lovely, quick wee project which you can whip up from scraps with your children on a misty Autumn night, sitting round the fire, watching an old movie....

I've posted the tut in the Creative Christmas page... so to get to it just click here
The great thing about these is that you can be as creative as you like..

I hope you get a chance to make a couple of these lovelies!
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Karen

Another Sunny Day (almost!)

To-day has been another sunny day... apart from about half an hour ago when it suddenly started to pour down & all my washing got soaked! But not to worry.. at least the tumble dryer works!

Anyway, it was bright enough for me to take photos of the latest two finished quilts for Kind Stitches.

Thank you again to those of you who have sent me blocks for these lovely quilts for Kind Stitches. Thank you also to Terri who sent me this wonderful package to-day... I can't wait to put these gorgeous blocks together!

In case you aren't too sure what Kind Stitches is - in 3 weeks time my husband & I will be going out to Thailand to provide some medical care in some shelters & orphanages who rescue children from sex trafficking. I will be taking out with me non-wadded quilts for the shelters which many of you have helped to make. If you would like to be part of Kind Stitches, you can make any type of blocks either 6.5" or 12.5"... they just need to have a white border... If you click here you will see some of the lovely blocks which have been sent in so far.

If you have sent me some blocks I've made a new Kind Stitches Button for you to post on your blog:

If you like, just copy & paste the code over there on the right....

I'm off now to finish the next fun Creative Christmas project which I'll post for you tomorrow.... Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Karen
PS If you live in the UK don't forget to put your clocks back tonight... we've all got an extra hour in bed, WONDERFUL!

It isn't always raining....

Surprise, surprise! To-day it actually stopped raining long enough for me to get lots of washing dried outside & walk McGinty without us both getting soaked... and I even took some photos as proof!
The river was so peaceful

 And McGinty explored all the wee paths

The autumn colours were wonderful

Especially the sunlight on the ferns

Even McGinty enjoyed it!

When we got back home this was waiting for me

These travelled safely all the way across the Atlantic

And so did this lot of loveliness:

They are from Karen (nybird) & Leanne (shecanquilt).... Thanks very, very much. Hopefully by the end of the week you will see them featured in the new Kind Stitches quilts
Hope you have enjoyed a wee glimpse of life here in the North of Northern Ireland &, if its sunny with you, enjoy your sunshine!!
Take care
Karen

Creative Christmas Printables Part Two

Hello There!
Its been a wild, wet & windy day here on the North Coast... perfect weather for sitting by the fire , laptop on my knee looking for more Christmas printables for you. This time I've come up with some great gift tags...
Some are whimsical:

Some are elegant & refined:

Some are just cute, cute, cute!

If you would like to download & print these, or any of the other Christmas Printables, just pop over to Creative Christmas & click on the link which will take you to any of the goodies there. If you like what you see, I'd love for you to grab the Creative Christmas button over on the right there.
Hope you all have a wonderfully creative week ahead & take care.
Karen

Gifts & giving from the 4 corners of the UK

Hello There!

Hope you have had a great Saturday. Despite the incessant rain, things over here on the North Coast of Northern Ireland were great! I guess that had something to do with this lot of lovelies which arrived from the North, the South, the East & the West:

First up are these wonderful blocks which came all the way from Glasgow:

Thanks very, very much Katy (thelittlestthistle) 

But it doesn't stop there.... Another parcel came from the west from Cindy (fluffysheepquilting) in Galway... Thanks very, very much Cindy! [Check out her hilarious adventures in free motion quilting!] 

The very lovely & very funny Hadley (flyingblindonarocketcycle) sent these wee wonders:

Aren't those wee squirrels gorgeous!
But it didn't stop there! McGinty's (our tibetian terrier) best bloggy friend Archie (archiethewonderdog) sent a wonderful package which contained all these goodies:

Helen & I decided to make 12.5" blocks so that those cute wee dinos will be seen - they look great!

If you get a moment, stop by & say hello to Archie... he's feeling a wee bit under the weather at the moment...
Thank you so much to you ladies & the rest of you who have/ are in the process of making blocks. If you are interested in the Kind Stiches Bee, do please check us out on flickr here or email me.... I'd love to hear from you! I'm off to Thailand on 18th November, so we've still got time to make some more quilts!
With all these gifts being sent to me, I decided to make a few gifts for friends myself. Here's some of the notebook covers I finished:

I also found loads of lovely FREE gift tag printables... so if you have a moment tomorrow, do stop by & I'll show you what I've found....
Hope you have a great evening!
Karen