It's so encouraging to read comments, and receive emails, from all of you! Having that feedback inspires me more than you realise. I thought today you might like to see some things from other craft people that inspire me!? ~~~~~ Let's begin with Jessica from Twin Fibers. She took a plain Wonky Star block and dazzled it!! I literally drooled when I saw this on the blog she shares with her friend, Jennifer. Because I make myself at least one thing just for pleasure each month, I have this near the top of the list. Jessica made hers a mini quilt, and I'm thinking I may do the same. GAWJUS!! See more pics, a step by step tutorial, and Jessica's blog post HERE. ~~~~~ Another pretty thing I'd like to make is one of these, from The Haby Goddess... I have PLENTY of old doilies, but have never thought to dye them! Visit The Haby Goddess HERE and see her step by step tutorial. (Just remembered I have a few fabric dyes packed away....mmmm....) ~~~~~ About four years ago Blossom learned to crochet, and she made me lots of teeny tiny crocheted granny squares and circles in vibrant yellows, blues and reds. I did use some as a 'window' in small soap sachets for the linen cupboard and for Lavender bags, but I never thought to use them as pin cushions like Namolio! Aren't they gorgeous!? You'll find plenty more in her Etsy Shop HERE. ~~~~~ It's been a while since I did some straight piecing. I get so caught up in stitchery designing that I lose time for some basic quilting - until now. I saw this quilt on the Blue Elephant Stitches blog... ...and noticed she had a tutorial too, so guess what is on my list as well?? I just love quilt blocks surrounded by white. You can see her tutorial HERE. ~~~~~ I have been playing with something new myself today. I love affirmations and inspirations, especially the one word kind, so thought I'd draw up some words and stitch them onto sweet little lavender scented pillows... I dug out some of my vintage buttons for a little bit of embellishment. They'll look really cute in a basket, I think. ~~~~~ Finally I want to announce the winner of the "Someday Roses" challenge! I shared this design with you earlier in the month... Apparently the pattern has been downloaded almost 700 times in the last three weeks, but only one lovely lady has sent me a photo of it on a re-purposed project, so guess who wins this book? SISBABESTITCHES used fabrics from an old shirt, skirt and other scraps to stitch 'Someday Roses' into and apron! Before... After! Congratulations SisBabeStitches! I'll be contacting you for your address and this book will be winging its way to your door. ~~~~~ I'm wondering if you need an easier Re-Purposing challenge for March? Do you have some ideas? If so please leave a comment and I'll see which one grabs my fancy. I want to mention the new Blogger 'double word' verification on comments. I hate it. Time consuming, hard on the eyes, and a nuisance for everyone. What was wrong with the single word, Blogger?? I opted for no verification to make life easier for you, but ended up making life harder for me. Hackers were leaving rude links and ads on comments as far back as 2009 - and in two days I spent a good couple of hours working my way through them and deleting them. Not nice. So I have the word verification back on. Sorry, but it just has to be. ~~~~~ Before I go let me share with you pics of my final birthday gifties from dear friends. My besty, Fee, spoiled me by printing up the first 8 issues of my Elefantz HOME Magazine (cause she knew I couldn't afford the ink), and sending me other beautiful goodies!! Michelle sent me a sweet parcel of elephant fabrics, and 'real' Shabby Chic stationary all the way from the US...I haven't stopped writing myself notes in that book since it arrived! Kathleen (Cottonreel) sent me these lovelies all the way from the UK, with a picture of her garden in May. I often dream of visiting her and Bluebell one day. And my final gift was from my dear friend, Dawn! It arrived in a huge box and I had no idea what on earth she would be sending me that big. It's a white elephant!! I have white floors and white walls so I had to put it up against the fence for the photo. This is so me! Dawn also sent another parcel the day before. That one had two of my quilt tops which she had machine quilted for me, and they are GAWJUS! I'll show some pics once I've sewn on the bindings. If you're in Australia and need a quilt top machine-quilted then visit Dawn's blog for details. She's wonderful! Thank you to all my friends - you made this a very special birthday indeed! ~~~~~ Goodness, I should have told you to make a cuppa before you started reading this blog post. It kind of got longer and longer...maybe we all need a coffee now. ;-) Have a wonderful March. First day of autumn!!! \o/\o/\o/ (excited? Who, me?) Hugs Jenny xxx