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.


 

Easter is coming together

Yesterday I showed you what was needed to make a decorative Easter Egg.  I finished punching out my little flowers last night and today I gathered my patience and put it all together.

 

Now this wasn't my idea and I would love to share the web site that it comes from but trying to link there from Pinterest wasn't very successful so I had to wing it.

It looks pretty, doesn't it?  Because I used vellum paper, there seems to be some gaps so I will be adding a few more flowers to fill in the gaps.

I am also going to use this technique to do an Easter wreath and I have some other Easter Egg decorating ideas to try. Can I tick this off my March Goal list, do you think? Once I have filled in a few gaps.



 

Getting my craft on

With Easter getting closer and closer, I thought it was about time to get my supplies together to do some Easter crafting.

Some Flower Punches

A Sheet or two of Vellum

Some teeny tiny beads

an egg form or two

I have spent tonight punching out all the little flowers. Look in again to see the finished decorative eggs.
 

February Wrap Up....

I still think this is the best way for me to get motivated even if I don't fully complete my goals for the month. Here's a recap of February goals and what I have achieved/not achieved.

FEBRUARY GOALS

 Quilty 
1. cut out Spaghetti Junction quilt . TICK I cut out half of the quilt as I had to wait for some more fabric to arrive from America.  I also finished piecing half of the block A's. It is such a fun quilt and despite all the setbacks from not planning properly, I am enjoying this one.

 

  2. stitch 8a & 8b of Edwardian House .  This block is in two pieces (a & b) and I hoped to get both stitched but I only managed to do most of 8a.  It has just been too hot to sit under my daylight lamp at night. With February over, I should achieve a lot more at night while I relax and watch tv.

 3. piece together Teddlywinks Tea Party. I can't give myself a tick for this one as, although I pieced it together, it is is coming apart asap!

  4, make a small gift for the gift drawer. I might have got this done if I hadn't got hooked on crochet.  I got as far as picking a project. Not a hard one either....could easily have made it in a day.

 non Quilty 
1. read at least 4 chapters every week this month of new book. Well, no reading my novel, but I read plenty of quilting mags and "how to crochet" blogs. Thats not going to get my book finished though.

2. lose 2kg this month. I really thought I was going to write 2.3kgs here and get a huge "Whoop Whoop" from everyone but my weight consultant had made an error in her calculations and written down that I had lost weight when I didn't so I have lost 1.3kgs this month.  I am still happy with that!
 
3. choose a paint for the spare room. TICK. I have decided on a colour (imagine the colour below with red accents) but to paint or not to paint just yet, that is the question.  Ted is giving up his rental agreement in August and needs to come home to stay until he decides whether to continue his study here or move to Melbourne to study. That means he will be staying anywhere between 3weeks to 6 months.
4. see a movie with miss M. Well, we picked a date which was last week but everything we wanted to watch was either finished or not yet viewing so neither of us felt in the mood.  Miss M has started back at uni this week so we have made arrangments to go tomorrow.

I have been taking notes for my March Goals, but will post that separately.
 

Who is a Winner?

Here we are at my 2nd draw of the Giveaway that lasts all year!

So without further ado, lets draw a winner.

First to draw out a post......and....it....is...."A Little Weekend Sewing" posted on 11 February. This was actually one of my favourite posts.  Nine of you left me a comment on this post and I have used the random number generator to pick a winner.

The sixth person to comment was DEBBIE from Our Old Homestead. I am so pleased that Debbie has won this month.  She has been a follower of my blog for quite some time and nearly ALWAYS leaves me a comment. Thank you Debbie and Congratulations.  I will email you and get your snail mail address.

I now have 111 followers and I am just so thrilled to read all your comments everytime I post.  I really am trying to get replies back to you so if you haven't heard from me, please know that I do appreciate that you are visiting my blog and that you are leaving me such lovely words of encouragement.

Miss M Quilts

In a previous post, I mentioned that Miss M was making a quilt! *very excited mama here*

Well, I was excited and then........ I wasn't.....WHY? She wanted to make a LONE STAR quilt.  Ehhhhh, not my favourite quilt design and I have never made one (even though my quilting group all made one years ago).  I don't know what it is about the LONE STAR, but it has NEVER appealed to me.

Anyway, I personally thought an easier design would be better for a first quilt. Miss M scoured the internet again and the CHEVRON idea was born.*excited again*

As most Aussie quilters will agree, quilting fabrics are very dear over here.  Quilt Shops charge $22 to $25/m. Alright for me as I love the choice I get from LQSs but a bit much for a student who only earns enough for food and a few essentials.  Luckily we have a shop called East Coast Fabrics which isn't very far away from where we live. Most fabrics are $7.95 and some special fabrics are $9.95/m.  You can see the difference that running your shop from an industrial warehouse with no AC can do for your customers even though it makes for a very unpleasant shopping experience in the heat of Summer.  I buy all my wide, backing fabric here at $15/m.  Even Spotlight can't match these prices.

With no pattern (who needs one for a Chevron really) she bought 2 contrast colours and began to put her quilt together.

   It is interesting to note that I spotted the pink fabric at the FQS, last time I was there browsing.

 

She was really busy yesterday and pieced together 5 rows.  I think she is doing a fabulous job! What do you reckon?

Grab a Cuppa, it's that time of the week...Again!

I just love Tuesdays. I love to chat. I love to read what others have  answered to the questions. So what questions has Patrice asked this week.

Is there a room in your home that you'd like to redecorate or remodel?
Can I pick more than one....please! I would actually like to paint the whole house.  I really wanted to put more windows in our living room and hubby was on board....until we decided we were only going to be in this house for another 3 years and then he changed his mind.  I still think a paint job would lift the whole place.

 
Did you watch the Oscars? No, I was at work when it was on and I missed the highlights later. I'm not fussed although I do like to see the dresses.

   How many pair of blue jeans do you own? About 5 or 6, they are my standard outfit for Winter. I might have to buy a few new pairs this year as I have lost about 10kg since last winter and doubt  mine will fit anymore. *insert big smiley face here*       What was your favorite toy as a child?
I always loved dolls. Baby dolls, barbie dolls, paper dolls....you name it. I got a baby doll for Christmas when I was five and she was my favourite.  She was a Tiny Tears doll and you could feed her a bottle of water and she magically cried "real" tears.....oh and wet her nappy!  She still lives here somewhere (in a box.) 


 
If you could visit a country in Europe, which would you choose? I travel to the UK (almost) every year because my mum lives there and I can't pass up an opportunity to visit with her. I am really missing her at the moment and can't wait to go again.  Hopefully some time this year. I visited Paris two years ago and LOVED it there so France would be on the list too.  

 
 Thanks Patrice, loved chatting on the porch this week.  If you want to Chat on the Farmhouse Porch, visit Patrice at Everyday Ruralty. Say hello to Wendell while you are there.