Keeping the postman busy!

There have been some lovely things arriving in the post again recently. First of all I received this lovely bundle of fabrics from Wendy at Sugarlane Designs. It was my prize for taking part in the September FNSI (post from Australia takes a while!)

They are Heart of the Garden by Kim Schaefer and I think they are gorgeous! They will be used for a special project in the new year. many thanks to Wendy who does such a great job organising FNSI.

I love joining in with Sheila's postcard swaps and this Autumn I have swapped with Maria from Life on the Block. 
Here is the lovely sunny postcard she sent me to warm me up!

It is so beautifully made and the finishing is so neat! Thank you very much Maria, I love it and thank you very much Sheila for organising our swaps.

This is the card that I sent Maria - somehow I forgot to photograph it so with apologies to Maria I have lifted this from her blog!


I went with an Autumn theme for my card.

A little while ago I lost the little wooden stiletto that I use to make holes and push threads through in my embroidery and although it is not a tool I use every day it was a useful little item.
I do have this little one which I think is quite old but unfortunately the point is bent and so it lives on the shelf with my collection of tools.

I have been scouring the brocantes and vide greniers all summer in hope of finding a replacement but with no luck so while at the Knitting and Stitching show I thought I would buy myself a new one. Not so easy though - very difficult to find but eventually I discovered Golden Hinde a small company specialising in supplies for goldwork. They had some lovely samples of pewter stilletos and I was able to order one to be sent to me (no sharp objects on the plane). I also could not resist ordering a pretty stitch ripper too - well if you need to do it you might as well do it with something more attractive than a piece of plastic!
My purchases arrived yesterday and here they are, I am so pleased with them.

As you can see my October crazy block is progressing and I think a couple of evenings work this week will see it finished. I have a few other projects to show you but will keep those for another post.
Hope you are having a good week.