Unexpected visitors

 
To set the scene:We have a garden shed that has been adapted for use as a cattery when we're away over night ,or we have visitors that the cats are uncomfortable with(read little kids!)
I went out this morning to clean up the cattery and prepare for the Christmas weekend:
went to reposition one carton and found it surprisingly heavy!
Glancing down,my immediate reaction was
"I don't recognise that fabric"
(Now remember that I'm an obsessive CQer,patch-worker and home dress-maker----)
Closer scrutiny showed me it wasn't fabric but a Carpet snake/python.

Grabbing Jesse,our feline foreman I made a hasty retreat and returned with my trusty digital camera............the cats will be sleeping some-where else this christmas! 

Secret Santa

 
In one of the online crafting groups I belong to, I put my name down for a secret santa swap...I duly assembled and posted away to my swappee and then forgot about it.Yesterday a parcel arrived from Oklahoma,from a lady I don't think I've met before....Helen who organised the swap certainly matched us well.i got a fellow cat-lover!!
Included in the parcel was a selection of FQs,including one I'd receieved a six inch square of in an Ast/USA CQ swap some three years ago,and been never able to acquire more of....stylised cats in bright colours .I was so happy,........I'm gonna have Fun!!
And this pic shows all that I received in the parcel.Thanks Jan,I loved it all 

Christmas booty

 
Wednesday morning our little "Stitchin 'n bitchin" group met for apre Christmas lunch.
Unfortunately,because Ken needed to have a CT scan and I was designated driver,I could only manage to be there for morning coffee and a chin wag!
Peter,our fifth and only male member had to work so he missed out to!
We had a Secret santa and I received the FQ and serviette ring from Sue and the temari ball and angel came from Shaz and Lisa her daughter.Thanks to all! 

Kamikaze Rainbow

 
Just as I clicked the shutter to capture thetwo sulphur crested cockatoos having a drink,one of the many Rainbow Lorikeets that visit our yard flashed by!
I'd gone out with the camera to try and get a pic of an adult Lori feeding a juvenile,but this is what resulted! 

CQ Crazy: Back to the drawing board

CQ Crazy: Back to the drawing board

Completed!

 

Well, here's another swing purse ready for its new owner.
The cord is plaited bunka cords to tone in with the autumn shades of the kimono fabrics.I've done a little SRE and added a few beads and some knitting yarn.I didn't want too much embellishment to distract from the fabrics used. 

That kimono fabric...again

 

Earlier in the year I took up the Challenge of a Very Tiny Block;It was to be shown in the ( sadly, now defunct) CQNewsletter and I have no idea what has happened to it,so I feel free to show it!
That said,the completed block is 2 inches by 2.5 inches and the fabrics used are all silk: from kimono off cuts.
To keep weight and seam allowances to a minimum,I also used a silk as the foundation fabric!!
(Talk about slip-sliding away!)
Anyway I had in mind,red hills recovering after a bushfire.......the location of the first Australian CQ Retreat outside Canberra might have had something to do with that!
The black frame around the landscape is a template I use to check how my layout is going............I guess I'll just have to attempt to make me another one!