Happy Easter and a winner

First of all let me wish you all a Happy Easter. I hope you are having a lovely weekend surrounded by friends and family.

 I haven't done any sewing at all this weekend but instead have been busy sorting out the home as one of our chickens is back in the nest.

I did get a chance this morning to pick a winner for the giveaway.  The random number generator got warmed up by picking a post from this month.  Appropriately, it was "Easter is coming together". There were 8 comments and the random number generator picked #3



Who is it?

The winner is Anita who said:
"How dainty is the decorated egg!! It is simply beautiful. Well done. Cheers, Anita." 

Congratulations Anita! If you could email me your snail mail address I will send off a gift to you.

Thank you to everyone for ALL your wonderful comments throughout this month and a BIG welcome to the new followers.



  

Craft Show 2013

When I listed my goals for this month, there was one extra goal......a visit to the Craft Show. Don't say I didn't warn you!!

It was a little adventure for me.  I took the day off work and caught the train into the city.

There were a couple of exhibits to view.  I wish I had taken more photos of these amazing dresses which were made by young textile designers.

Then I went off to stroll among the Quilt exhibition.  The Qld Quilters Guild have a challenge for their members every year.  They are given a piece of fabric and, with a few rules, create a quilt which has to include a bit or a lot of the fabric.  It amazes me how very different they all are.  These are some of my favourites.

 This is the fabric that was the inspiration for these quilters

I did of course spend some money but not on my quilting machine.....I will have to wait a little longer for my belated birthday present.

Well I tried to keep this short and sweet and not bombard you with too many photos.  I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into this years Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show.

Don't forget to see how you can take part in my GIVEAWAY which is happening all year. Click on the GIVEAWAY button on the sidebar or go to the page by clicking on the tab up top.
 

Little Babushka Dolls

Friday was the last day I got to work with a fabulous young lady. I "poached" Tash from one of the departments downstairs because I recognised her excellent work ethic and knew she would be an asset to our little area.  That was 18 months ago and she recently decided to find a permanent full time job more in line with her university degree.  I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to snap her up but fortunately she very generously gave us two weeks notice which gave me plenty of time to make her something special as a going away gift.

I hinted a few times about my "secret sewing" and at last I can reveal what I made

Firstly, these were the fabrics that I chose.......some of them.....I did change my mind over a couple.

Getting them all dressed up and ready to sew

some secret sewing

Sewing the binding on at midnight on thursday.....ready to give to Tash on Friday. ps....those red Clover Wonder Clips are my new very favourite gadget(s)

The finished Babushka cushion. If the photo is a bit blurred, it is probably because I was half asleep by this time!

and the back.

Tash was delighted with her cushion.  She loves babushka dolls (and if my brother is reading this.....yes, yes, ...MATRYOSHKA...I know!) and so I also bought her this one. It is a salt and pepper nesting doll dressed in Houndstooth....our company logo!

Don't forget to see how you can take part in my GIVEAWAY which is happening all year. Click on the GIVEAWAY button on the sidebar.

 

Blooming Beauty

I didn't get around to doing this last week but how about seeing some of the gorgeous plants that I spotted at the Botanical Gardens last weekend. I won't overload you with pics.....just a few.

 Sorry, the names all evade me right now although I think the first yellow one is known as a Roman Candle......maybe!
 

Staking my Claim

With all the talk about Google Reader being discontinued, I am now using Bloglovin. I have moved all my favourite blogs that I follow over there and if you still want to follow me then please click
 Follow my blog with Bloglovin
 

A Birthday Treat

Don't forget to see how you can take part in my GIVEAWAY which is happening all year. Click on the GIVEAWAY button on the sidebar.


Today was my Birthday and I have had a really lovely day. 

my manager bought me a lovely bunch of pink roses

I started my relaxing day doing a bit of sewing on a secret project so this is all you will see of it for a bit.  It has to be finished next Friday and when I have given it to the recipient, then I will show you more.

In the afternoon, I was driven to the Botanical Gardens at Mt Coot-tha for Devonshire Tea (or Coffee) with my hubby and the three kiddos which made me very happy. Afterwards we went for a stroll through the gardens and took some family photos. 

I haven't got my BIG birthday present yet but will be ordering it next week....Can you guess what it is? Miss M bought me a lovely soap in a tin (I love tins!) and the most beautiful card with even more beautiful words written in it from her. All in all I received lots of TLC!

happy me!

 

 Don't forget you can connect with me on FB now, see the side bar or click on the pic below.  I am just getting the page up and running and would love you to join me over there aswell.

Wonderful Wednesday

Don't forget to see how you can take part in my GIVEAWAY which is happening all year. Click on the GIVEAWAY button on the sidebar.


The second wednesday of the month means that I get to spend the day sewing with Marilyn, Lorraine and Zita.......better not leave out the company of  "Bobby"

 Isn't he gorgeous? Actually, it hasn't been confirmed whether he is male or female yet. Marylin tells me it has to be done surgically by a vet and he/she is still too young. Three months old already and he has sprouted so many new feathers.  I got quite a bit of patting time with him and he loves to be scratched under his wings.

Apart from getting all gagga about this fella, I also got some sewing (and reverse sewing) done.

 I didn't get ALL the reverse sewing done on my Teddybear Tea Party but made a good start.  I am feeling a little better that I got started on taking it apart and I found some lovely pink to replace the one that I made a mess of. Might have been a blessing in disguise.

There were other things I wanted to get started on and one task was to start a little project for a special young lady that I work with.  I began with a little fabric audition and cut out the applique pieces.....sorry you can't have a better look just yet but I will show you soon.

After our lunch, I started working on my Edwardian House stitchery.  This is block 8b, the Rose Garden.

And that, my friends, was my Wednesday!

 

Join me for a Chat on the Porch

Patrice has had some help this week with the questions.  If you visit her blog, you will find that Wendell has taken part too.  Wendell is a rather gorgeous horse!


QUESTIONS  and ANSWERS
Beth asks:What's your favorite movie of all times? The one you've seen multiple times.
Mama Mia. I saw the movie and sang along to all the songs, saw the musical in London and then bought the DVD and have watched that multiple times.

Clairity says: Name three things that are permanent residents in your handbag.
Purse, of course, mobile phone, and there is always a pen hiding in there somewhere. I wish I could be more organised but no matter how hard I try, I always end up with a bag full of shopping lists, receipts but no lipstick, glasses, headache tablets etc.

Red asks: What's the best way to your heart?
Oh definitely flowers! Last year for my birthday, my boys had a bunch of tulips delivered to me at work.  I was lost for words! Err.....Diamonds work a treat too!

Mamaw wants to know: Do you like going to yard sales?
I'm guessing that is the same as a "garage sale" so no. Around here, it is mostly rubbish and I  worry I will bring stuff home that I don't really need and I already have more "stuff" than I need.

Cathy says: If you could slide down a rainbow, what do you think you'd find on the other side?
Well a pot of gold of course! I remember as kids we used to really believe that and would often plan on finding the end of the next one we saw.

 

 

Quilting for Trudy

I belong to a group of quilters and stitchers over in Clayfield, Brisbane. The shop belongs to Kaye and is called Apatchy Quilting. When I first started going there on a Tuesday morning, one of the first to make me feel at home was a woman called Trudy. Trudy was always interested in what you were working on and she herself was always busy with some gorgeous applique or other.

A couple of years ago, Trudy became sick and had to undergo treatment for Cancer. We didn't see her for a bit and then she started joining us again, looking very different with no hair. She found it difficult to stitch having lost the feeling in her fingers but was determined to keep stitching. She participated in the end of year Challenge that Kaye hosts, not just at the end of 2011 but the end of 2012 as well, when she clearly wasn't feeling well.  She won the viewers choice for that and her modesty brought tears to my eyes.  No one could have deserved it more.

Sadly, Trudy passed away a few weeks ago and she may be gone but we will remember her always.  Kaye has organised a charity quilt with proceeds to go to the Blue Nurses who looked after Trudy at home, where she wanted to be.

I have spent the day looking at fabrics and patterns to "fit the bill" and have decided on this

The pattern is a freebie from One Piece at a Time and the colour scheme is in line with the orange/red chosen as Trudy's favourite colours.
 

Sunday's Blooming Beauty

The sun has come out at last (for a bit anyway). After two weeks of constant rain, the doggies were able to stretch their legs on a long overdue walk. They had a severe case of cabin fever and were a bit hard to control, what with their excitement etc.

Because we haven't been out for a bit, I decided to pop my phone in my pocket....you never know what you will find and need a photo of!

Lucky for me you that I did or we would have missed this gorgeous little blossom. It fell out of a tree onto the footpath right in front of me.  I am not even sure what it is. It was only the size of a 10c piece and this a close up of it in Miss M's hand.

I think this is the best photo I have taken with my phone camera to date.

Just a quick word about my blog.  I have made a facebook page and linked it into here.  You are welcome to pop over and "like" my page (link in on the sidebar or HERE) to get updates on fb, chat with me or follow me here. I hope it is all working properly.  Apologies if you experience difficulties. Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!
 

Saturday is Prep Day

During the week, I finished off block 4 of Bric a Brac so decided that it was definitely time for a Prep Day.

 I have a backlog of bric-a-brac blocks and Tail Feather blocks so needed to get them all traced and ready to stitch.

Here they are all lined up on my cutting table and ready for me to get at 'em.

Block 2 of Tail Feather, ready to stitch

Block 8b of Edwardian House

and block 5 of Bric-a-brac.