Friday Night with Friends

This was my first Friday Night with Friends sew in. Excited much! And then on friday I remembered why it is not such a good idea to sew on Friday nights. After two full days of work, I was exhausted when I came home.  Infact, I had been yawning loudly all day and barely had the energy to drive home.  By the time I sat down to sew, I felt a dreaded headache settling in but I still persisted.

A little hand stitching on Bric-a-Brac to fulfill my obligation and then off to bed for an early night.

Did you do any sewing last night......I hope you were much more productive than I was at Friday night with Friends.  Click on the pic to head over to Cheryls to see who else took part.

 

The Parcel

Out of the blue, I heard a voice yell "Parcel". Who said that? I wasn't home alone but Miss M was sat in the same room and she didn't say anything. Maybe I misheard. Best go and investigate.

I opened the front door and found a rather large envelope at the front door. Oh, Parcel! all the way from the USA.

Did you follow Blog Hop trail last month? I did and I was lucky enough to win a Snuggle Quilts Pattern book. Deanne from Snuggle Quilts sent me an email to let me know I had won and as it happened, it was my birthday when I got the email.  I have been waiting for this parcel since then so I was really excited that it had arrived.

A quick browse through the book and I knew I would enjoy this one.

But wait,,,,,,there is more. Deanne also included another of her Snuggle Quilt Patterns.

But I got the biggest thrill from the fact that Deanne personally signed the book just for me. How exciting is that??

LOVE IT! Thank you so much Deanne.



 

Drop in for a chat on the Porch

I haven't participated in Patrices chats for a couple of weeks. Not sure why but since it is a glorious day outside and the currawongs are singing a sweet song, why not grab a cuppa and join me for a Chat on the Porch.

Patrice has asked these questions:

What did you do for Easter?
Easter was a quiet one spent at home. We saw each of the three kiddos at certain times throughout the weekend and one even took the long weekend opportunity to move back into the spare room. I don't mind spending the long weekend at home.....most people take the weekend to travel which makes the roads trecherous and forms crowded hot spots.  Not my cuppa tea

 
How bad were you with candy or treats? (On a scale of 1-10. 1 being good, 10 being sugared up)
I consider myself really good this year.....lets say, oh....a 5.  Most years, I would have not been able to stay away from all the chocolate. This year I made a deal with myself....no more than 5 mini easter eggs and only on the Sunday and I stuck to it.

I thought of Wendell when I had one of these chocolate Easter carrots!

What's one of the first things you'd like to do when you have consistent spring temperatures?
Get outside and either read a book or go for a really long walk with the two furbabies.
 

How are you at gift buying?
I love buying gifts for people and hope I make good choices.  I do listen and buy with their wishes in mind but sometimes they don't say anything and I make choices according to their interests and/or needs.

Do you have any projects in mind for the month of April?
I always have project goals for every month.  I list them on my blog every month and there are some quilty goals and some non-quilty goals.  I don't always achieve what I set out to do but I don't berate myself for not doing so

 

Hello April

With March and Easter out of the way and April breezing in, time for me to take stock of what goals to achieve this month.

 I think it might be a good thing to revisit some of the goals I haven't  had a chance to complete yet.

Quilty:
1.  Finish piecing "My Garden". Its now or never!
2.  Cut out Spaghetti Junction quilt. This is very achievable.
3.  Complete block for Trudy's Charity quilt. Once the "vine" is made, this should be quick.
4.  Finish unpicking Teddy Tea Party.........Ugh, might have to set the timer to get this done.

Non-Quilty
1.  Lose 2kg this month. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. YES, I CAN!
2.  See a movie. I see the ads on tv and keep saying "oooo, I want to see that" so I SHOULD
3. Finish organising pantry. Not a big job.....just need to attach labels and stack everything neatly.
4. De-clutter bedroom drawer.....purge, purge, purge!

The photos are from our Easter weekend.

March Wrap Up

Did I achieve many of my goals for March?......Not really, but lets see how I went.

MARCH GOALS

Quilty 
1. Start and complete block for Trudy's Charity quilt. I picked out fabric and a pattern and cut out all the pieces.  The complete date for this project is May 31st so still time to get it finished.

 
2. Accept and make a start on Sally's Millamac Challenge.  The only progress I have made here is to think about what I will make and brainstorm some ideas.  I think I know what I want to do but I missed the first sewing group. Better get a move on ..... due date is end of April. Look out for some wombats, some stacked chickens and Mmmmmm, cake and coffee!

   
 3. Cut out fabric for Chevron Quilt. DONE

4. Finish cutting out fabric for Spagetti Junction (now that the fabric has arrived from FQS) I haven't returned to this project.  The Babushka dolls got all my attention this month.

5.  Make plans to visit the Craft Show with a couple of friends. DONE.  I enjoyed this very much.

Non Quilty
1. De-clutter both handbags (I use separate handbags for work and everyday use) Having a look at my "everyday" handbag, I decided it wasn't worth keeping.....cracked, worn handles....so I bought a new handbag and ditched the old one.  The work handbag is still a mess but I found several old handbags in the closet clean up and cleaned them out to find $40. Might buy a new work handbag instead and ditch the old one.

2. Make Easter decorations - I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas. DONE

  3. Start a "Words with Friends" marathon with two neglected  WWF buddies. DONE. I actually started 3 games and introduced another friend to WWF. She and I are on our second game.

4. Set aside a ME day to do an at home pedicure. ME time always gets put aside for another day.

 

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

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