About Me

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Australia
Wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, great-aunt and friend....and fur-kid mum I love Quilting, stitching, photography, cooking, baking, gardening, blogging and making new friends...stop by and say hi!

Friday 28 August 2015

To Market, to Market...

...to buy a few threads!This meant coming home with quite a bit more than threads.

I had plans to head into Hobart town today (Friday) but a couple of factors had me change my mind and  drive in yesterday instead.  One reason was the predicted rain for Friday...not that I have a problem driving in the rain...it's just that the puppies don't seek shelter when it rains and prefer to sit in the driveway waiting for me to come home.....poor soggy doggies! Reason two was I had spied some new fabric that had arrived at Frangipani Fabrics and it was said to be racing out the door.

Just a few days ago I had seen a quilt block using different text fabric as a background and I resolved to make text fabric my next must have collection. Rather freaky that these suddenly appeared in my fb feed. They weren't wrong about it running out the door....the one on the left only had 45cm left on the bolt.....and I bought that.


Since I was planning a trip to Frangipani Fabrics, I also took a piece of fabric along to match up. I bought the little birds fabric on my recent trip to Brisbane and, after searching for what seems like forever, I found a pattern that I am hoping will work perfectly but I needed two co-ordinating fabrics. Luckily, I found just the thing.


And then it was on to find the threads to finish my Stitchery BOM - A Country Tea Party.  Spotlight, in Hobart, is right in the heart of the city and it is the one sure place I know I can find DMC threads.  They had most of them but there were three that I couldn't find.  I find it odd, because they were not just empty pegs on the stand....the numbers were not there at all. I did spend some time yesterday afternoon winding all those threads (14 skeins) onto cards.


 I am starting to feel a bit guilty about all the purchases I have been making and just to prove that I am being productive with all the bits 'n pieces purchased lately, here are some parts of Block one that I have finished.




I am really looking forward to finishing this block over the weekend and then I can start on Flowerville.  I better not forget to make something with those little birdie fabrics though.  I only have one month to get that one finished.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

I am a Glutton for Stitcheries!

I just can't help myself, I think it might be a disease but I am definitely a glutton....why? because, even though I have up to 8 BOM's in various stages of completion, even though I have, just this week, started on block one of one new BOM, I have gone and signed up again.


I was scrolling through the homepage on my Cathquilts at Bits 'n Bobs facebook page and there it was, as pretty as can be. I am talking about Flowerville by Rosalie Dekker.   I immediately went in search of where I could sign up for this lovely BOM and found a really good, that settles it, price at 'Under the Mulberry Tree'


Once again, the pattern calls for Cottage Garden Threads and Tilda fabrics. I will have quite a collection of these very soon.  I received the Threads and Block 1 yesterday, which also has the Dresden Plate template.


The best part about this BOM is that it doesn't need tracing because the design is already printed onto the background......and there are no other threads required which means right after I have ironed on the Whisperweft, I can start stitching straight away.


So what do you think? Am I a glutton for stitcheries? Please tell me I am not alone with this incurable disease! To make matters worse, I have another secret that I have not been sharing with you.......can you guess what it is?


Well, I might as well tell you.......I have yet another BOM, which I signed up for back in early July and I haven't shared with you yet.  Block one has arrived for that but I will fill you in on another day! In the meantime, I have made a promise to myself that I will have all the blocks from all three BOMs finished before the next blocks arrives. Which is why I am going into Hobart on Friday to stock up on DMC threads I will need. 

Right....gotta go stitch now!


On another topic.....tomorrow is the last day to enter and vote in the greatest show around.....Lily Pad Quilting: Pets on Quilts.  THIS is our entry and there is also a link to the rest of the entries.

Saturday 22 August 2015

Just the Basics - FNSI

A few posts ago, I shared my new BOM with you and ended with how eager I was to get started....that was wishful thinking. Before I could transfer the design onto my fabric, I needed to find a marking pen. Pigma pens are my favourite way of transferring designs....the finer, the better.


No problems, I thought, I am sure there is one somewhere in my sewing room..........only to discover, there was not one to be found...Zip, Zero, Zilch! Initially, I thought it would just be easier to get one at the quilt shop in town when I did my grocery shopping but she had no idea what I meant and said to try the art shop over in the bigger town......I didn't really want to drive 20kms for a pen and since we don't have a newsagent in town anymore, my only solution was to search out the box that I packed the pens into.

So, I had to check my list of remaining packed boxes and I found one that vaguely listed "general stationery".  Lucky for me, it was the very box I was looking for.  As soon as I opened it, I saw all my different kinds of fabric markers in a ziplock bag.


 Before I did anything else, I popped them in this little bucket and onto the shelf in my sewing room so I know exactly where they are when I need them again.


 Just have a look at how many pigma pens I actually have!

This has taken me all week and I thought that FNSI would be a good opportunity to get the basic preparation of my block done......HA!

How am I supposed to do anything when these two want cuddle time with mum?


Eventually, I got the resolve to say.....enough is enough Girls! I've got stuff to do! My light box was one of the first things that was unpacked so I knew where that was....and the electrical cord....


Hubby was watching AFL on the Telly so it was the perfect time to trace.....because it isn't something you can do while watching a show......lines tend to get omitted....or is that just me?

Unfortunately the Hawks lost their match but I at least had a success and  managed to get my first block traced onto the fabric and then backed it with Whisperweft.



And that my friends, is what I achieved for FNSI.....just the basics, no stitching.  I am hoping to start stitching today and I can start with the Cottage Garden Threads which came with the BOM but I do need my boxes of DMC threads as well....I have three thread boxes and even though I know they are in the box numbered 11, I haven't located that box yet!  Wish me luck!

I hope you all enjoyed FNSI or at least enjoy visiting all those who took part.  You can find the list HERE and thank you to Wendy for hosting.





Wednesday 19 August 2015

Are you Ready to say Awwww?

It's hard to believe and I would have let it completely slip if a lovely little bird by the name of Lara B didn't whisper in my ear that the Lily Pad Quilting Pets on Quilts 2015 is currently taking place for another year. Say...What!?
Quilts and Pets......two things that are close to my heart but non more so than my two gorgeous puppy girls, Lila and Callie. Here they are cuddling up close on our coldest snow day this year.

So much has changed in a year......last year I had to sneakily get Lila inside for a photo shoot before hubby came home (and thank you so much for keeping my secret!)..... I couldn't let Callie in because she just created chaos once inside.



Yes....so much has changed.  We have moved to the other end of the country and ..... guess what? the girls live indoors!!!!! I know, I know! I can see all of you with your jaws nearly touching the ground! It was born out of necessity as we don't have a decent dog fence to keep them safe and also it is much colder where we are. They have adapted so well to the change and I am in my element to have my two babies with me all day.....my little shadows that follow every step I take! Now, this next photo collage is very important because it shows just how MUCH they do everything together.
Having a drink.. together, sitting patiently looking at the view..together, stood watching me cook..together, getting up to no good..together


Zoom forward to today and not so much togetherness going on.  I have put two of my quilts out......the blue quilt I made (over 15 years ago) was laid on the floor because it has been used to death by my growing kids and I am happy for the dogs to lie on it. The quilt should have been big enough for a single bed but I made a rookie mistake of sewing the complicated blocks (Hidden Wells) on two different sewing machines and the blocks were completely different sizes so it ended up as a lap quilt.


together with my most recent finish....draped on the chair nearby which was made for a challenge late last year......click HERE if you would like to see more about that. Go ahead, I will still be here when you get back.


It was easy to get Callie to come over for a look and she happily made her self at home but Lila was getting her diva on......no how, no way was she going to sit on that quilt to get her photo taken! So here is my favourite one of Callie sharing the blanket with her favourite teddy instead.


 I tried everything to get Lila to sit or lie there as well.....even Callie asked her by giving her that 'get over here and join me" look... but she was having none of it and just photobombed us.
So I took some more shots of Callie.....and some more, and some more.
and ended up with another favourite of my beautiful 9 yo Golden Labrador...isn't she adorable?


So be sure to head over and either link your own Pet on a Quilt or just enjoy the show. If you would be so kind and vote for my darling Callie in the Category of Dog on a Quilt how happy we would be. HERE is the link. You have got until the 27th August.

Update: After holding off posting for hours, my little princess Diva, aka Lila, decided to give that quilt a try afterall.......not committing though and only half lying on it.


If you want to see more of these two, then listen up.....This year also sees me blogging about our new life here in the very south of Australia...really down under. You can see what I get up to in my kitchen, in the garden and see what it is like to live on my little slice of Eden...and in Tasmania. So please come over for a look....new friends are always welcome to Cath@Home and invited to have a chat anytime.

 

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Snow and a new BOM

This is my second attempt at this post so lets hope the computer doesn't crash again. It's been quite a week.   Well you already know the computer is being cantankerous again, I had to have a routine check up with a new doctor at a new medical clinic, resulting in a change of medication and a blood test.......and then a cold front blasting directly from the Arctic resulted in us waking up to this scene

I will be sharing some more of these at Cath@Home very soon
As beautiful and exciting as this was, I was rather keen for a visit from the postman and it wasn't happening anytime soon as the roads were cut from the Hobart to our valley.



Why am I waiting for the postman?  Well even though I am not getting much sewing and stitching done, last week I bit the bullet and ordered a new BOM. I have been thinking about it since March when I first saw it in the Homespun magazine.


Initially I faltered when I saw the on line pictures of the fabrics used and the patterns on their own couldn't be bought monthly which would be a bit expensive for me all up but just recently I started to think about it again. Doing a bit more research, I found two sites which showed a slightly different selection of fabrics which I liked. One shop was offering the BOM for a much better price than the others and the threads were also cheaper.  I was in After a few emails to and fro, I gave the Quilter's Angel at Highfields near Toowoomba a call and they put it in the mail that afternoon.  And that is why I was eagerly awaiting the postman.
Tilda Fabrics for Libby Richardson's BOM "A Country Tea Party"
I sporadically checked the TasAlert and Tasmanian Police website all day as to the conditions of the road but I still wasn't hopeful for a delivery on Tuesday.........so.... I was pleasantly suprised to find my little parcel there later in the day. 


A squishy with the pattern for block 1


and the gorgeous  Cottage Garden Threads
 

 Now I am off the trace the pattern onto the supplied backing.

Looking forward to threading my needle!




 
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