~OPAM...One Project A Month

OPAM here once again

This time I have a little Pin Cushion

Stitchery designed by Bonnie Sullivan for Girls Day In The Country 

We were each given a pattern and could make anything we like out of it for a Swap and this was my contribution

My poor old Heat Bag had developed a hole so a new Parisian inspired cover was made for it

3 little handy bags

One of which came in handy for the Pin Cushion

And finally a little Needlebook which was part of a Kit for GDITC

I decided to put a cross on the thread part of the bobbin

page in 'Needlebook'

and a little signature and date on the back of the Needlebook

Thank to Sweet Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM again this month!!!

~Nundle.......Girls Just Want To Have Fun~

Back in March we made our Annual Trek to Nundle for Girls Day in the Country hosted by Kerry Swain from Cottage on the Hill

Here's JoJo Guitar and all when we pulled up at the Motel at Hunter Valley

Cattle Grazing on the way

After lunching and shopping we all gather and have a Swap

This time it was agreed that we make an Anni Downs pattern seeing she was the Designer this weekend

JoJo received the red book at the back left made by Dale

I received the shoe bag to the right of the book made by Sweet Peg

I made the bright pin cushion on the bottom right with a little bag to the left of it which was received by Alison

~A   F U N   S W A P~

Fabulous Project Roll designed by Anni Downs

A Roll for storing Blocks in Progress

The side of the Roll

Needle book opened out to show the outside covers

Inside the Needlebook

and a sweet little Pin Cushion

Oh behold I looked down and saw Dawnie's shoes at one stage

Couldn't rush out and buy a pair seeing they were from Japan
but aren't they just fabulous!!!

The Swap I received during the afternoon was from Christine at Cowra
A little fabric covered notebook and a piece of Anni's fabric from the collection
'Button Tree Lane'



This was my contribution to the Swap
We had to include a little stitchery on it
'Friends are Never Far Away'

Catching up with Chez

Anni showcasing one of her quilts 'Nature's Journey'



This one is 'In My Garden'

With Anni showing off my 'Gardener's Journal' Quilt

Spotted.......this fabulous bag on a chair

Our Annual Group Photo

Show and Tell in the evening

This one is my 20 year project

'From Blackheath to Bathurst to Bungendore'

Started off as Blocks......turned into a Wall Hanging and then eventually it was suggested I make a Quilt
Blocks were cut before the advent of Rotary Cutters where you pulled a piece of thread through the fabric, hoped it wouldn't break and then cut very carefully along that line......phew!!!
And sandpaper was used to hold fabric in place!!!

Above and below 2 more fabulous Show and Tells!!!

Above and below Girls Just Having Fun together with Shez and Deb after Breakfast

And here's a little preview of next year's Tutor's work.......Bonnie Sullivan

A fabulous time as always with The Girlfriends as JoJo has christened this wonderful group!!!

~OPAM (One Project A Month)......January

After umming and wondering if I would join OPAM again for another year I finally decided yes I will

I still have a few projects left that have been stitched and need finishing

Why oh why does it take so long to get 'round to it

I think I know the answer to that

In my case I love to start projects

We had our little Grandie here along with her brother for a week

She is keen on being a Designer of Fashion for Pop.........and she has been backstage she tells me!!!

I bought her some fabric pens and she chose the colours above for a pouch for her Pens

While she was here she designed a bag and a skirt!!!

Finished little case with her name on it

Here she is getting out a tape measure and chalk that her Mum popped into my Christmas stocking

So nice that these were used on a project for her

Looking at felts......her favourite colour is pink

Next up she chose a Pin Cushion for me to make

Here we drew out the flower so I could see what colours she wanted to use

Yep, you guessed it......pink had to be in it

And here is Lidija presenting her little Pin Cushion

Pattern by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

Ane here they are together

While I was at it I thought I would make up another 3 in her chosen colours

I call them Lidi's Pin Cushions

A litte Needlecase here and another Pin Cushion

This pattern by Marg Low purchase in Sydney and started back in 2012 at my First Blog Meet

It's only been sitting there for about 3 years waiting for a finish

And while the going was good I added 3 little bags

Fabric by Anni Downs

So total for the month is 5 Pin Cushions

        1 Needlebook and 1 Pen Pouch

3 Little Bags making a total of 10

Boy, that's a record for me!!!

Thank you so much Sweet Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM again for another year

Lets see what I can do next month!!!

Have a great week......Dzintra

~Friday at Nundle (Girls Day in the Country)~

This is the view outside our cabin

Lovely rolling hills with a creek out the front

JoJo on the verandah

Of course we had to go shopping

My purchases were beaded wooden bracelet and hat from Sac's on Jenkins

Thank you Teresa.......you make us feel very welcome!!!

And next was a wicker basket........'real' shoe brushes and not plastic

some bouquet garni bags and even a little cotton bag to put leftover soap into and use again

Some enamel plates........and the most divine smelling Lavender soap

All from Odgers & McCLelland Exchange Stores

JoJo's choice......a tea towel.....we pay her to wipe the dishes from the dishwasher lol

she then puts it in a purse and saves up for a big shopping trip

some little Cup Cake bases and soap

We went up to The Cottage on the Hill and were greeted by these brightly coloured table and chairs

The Cottage on the Hill is a Patchwork Shop at Nundle which Kerry runs

Kerry also hosts GDITC every year and does an amazing job

Thank you so much Kerry!!!

Every year the gorgeous Chooky aka Donna organizes a Swap with Drinks and Nibbles on the lawn

Chooky and JoJo have a little private swap going on between them

which JoJo just loves being a part of

Thank You Donna for doing this with JoJo!!!

(Love this pic)

JoJo's swap gift from Chooky

 JoJo gave Chooky a jar of her favourite Strawberry Jam which I didn't take a picture of

All Swap gifts together

complete with Shez checking them out lol

I received this Primitive Pear pin cushion from Jan along with a pear fat 1/4......a pattern and a little peg holder 

JoJo was double lucky along with Chooky as they both received 2 gifts

JoJo's gift here

mmmmm might have to snaffle that fat 1/4

Peg and Dale posing away

The papparazzi were out in full force lol

Now they're checking it all!!!

The food at Mt Misery for dinner that evening

Sea Scallops Mornay (unfortunately I couldn't eat them but they looked good)

A Salad

Prawns

A Tomato and Olive Salad

As part of the dinner we were able to go down into the Gold Mine Museum

This has been build over the years but there were some double metal heavy duty doors inside that blocked off the original gold mine which has caved in

Totally awesome

I'm a bit of a sucker for a bit of gold and fell in love with the Golden Horse Shoes so I purchased the bottom ones!!!

So sparkly!!!

I'll be back with Saturday's pics and our day with Lynette Anderson!!!