Design Board Monday #24 - Link Up Giveaway

Before I go any further, I have to thank everyone who continued to Link Up while I was away on holidays....you are all so AWESOME for continuing to support my Linky while I was off having a fabulous time visiting family and....my other favourite past time....exploring castles.

I haven't done any sewing in the last 2 Weeks but I did do some quilt swooning.  We were delayed at Waterloo Train Station one evening and I popped into W.H.Smith to pick up a drink.....do you know what else they sell at W.H.Smith? Magazines....Quilt Magazines.

some projects that caught my eye!

I have to say, the UK has come of age in the Quilting Magazine World! I picked up 2 UK publications and was so inspired by the content that the next time I went near a W.H.Smith shop, I went for another look and came away with another 2 mags!

I would definitely buy this one again!

This one happened to include the pattern for a quilt I have long admired!

 So I now know what I want to add to my Design Board.....but how about what is on it? Two more BOM patterns arrived while I  was gone....I haven't had a chance to open them yet but I still have a few to finish off....I will be working on Flowerville this week.

On top of that.....believe it or not...the 100 Day challenge is at it's second check-in for 40 days so I will be getting out my mystery quilt and sorting myself out for that. (I will post a 100 Day Challenge report tomorrow)

While I was in England, I popped into a (few) Cath Kidston shop.....I just love her bags!....and happened to come across some cute little buttons....just the thing for a "Thanks to YOU" Giveaway! As well as that, I am including a little kit for a zippered pouch that was a freebie on one of the mags that I brought home. To enter the Giveaway, ALL you have to do is:

1. Link up any post from the week involving NEEDLE & THREAD 
2. Make sure you LINK BACK to this post....or use the button on MY side bar....somewhere in your Link Up (If my button is on Your Side Bar or 'Linky Page Tab', please point that out in your post)

  

The Giveaway is open from Monday 7/3/16 till Sunday 13/3/16 and I will announce the winner next Monday for Design Board Monday.....Good Luck!

What will you be Linking up today?

•  Link will be open until Sunday 13.3.2016.

• link anything that you are working on this week or over the past week....needle and thread is all it takes.
• Please add a link back to Bits 'n Bobs as part of your post (why not get the button code from the side bar to paste into your post)
• Please make the effort to visit other link users and leave them a comment to make their day! Don't forget me! I like comments too!

 

Travelbug - Brighton [Royal Pavilion]

Following on from yesterdays post where I ended off with a cuppa tea.....well,  since it was right next door....it seemed logical to look around the Royal Pavilion.

Initially, we walked through the Pavilion Gardens....at this time of year, there really isn't much growing apart from, even more, Daffodils, Crocuses & Snow Bells.....I love them but have so many photo of them already. I tried to take some snaps of a Magpie but it was scurrying around chasing things to eat making it very hard indeed. (you can view that snap and some other birds, I found on my travels, HERE).

I gave Miss M the option of looking around inside but she declined so we decided to walk around to the Road frontage side for some more photo's. To get to the road meant walking past the North Gate which is also built in the same style of the Pavilion. That style is known as Indo-Islamic which is probably why looking at it always reminds me of the Taj Mahal.

On the other side of the North Gate is a statue of King George IV, for whom the Pavilion was built.

When George IV first took up residence in the Pavilion, it was quite a modest home but around 1815, he started to have it redesigned and extended into the building that stands today.  While the outside is Indo-Islamic, the inside is said to have a Chinese influence.  I have been inside....a long time ago, can't remember what it was like so cannot confirm how it is decorated.

There was a temporary wire fence across the front of the Pavilion, just beyond the boundary wall.  I seem to remember it being there last time too.  It meant I had to get a bit creative and take photo's from a higher perspective or partly shielded by bushes. I was really happy with the results though.

The lattice stone work is fascinating....I can't imagine how they built it....and having it last for such a long time is a credit to the workmanship.

I did find some lovely Magnolias growing around the Palace and couldn't resist getting a close-up of one of the buds.

 I will dedicate one more post to Brighton before moving on to explore some castles....btw, how did you go matching up those castles?

Travelbug - Brighton [Pier]

I did the lead up to this post yesterday but if you missed that....Miss M and I recently returned from a trip to the UK and as usual we got to do a few little excursions.

Our first day out was to the seaside town of Brighton.

Many decades ago, when I was a young teen, my eldest brother took up residence in Brighton for a few years.  We had the good fortune to visit him there and stayed for a week or so of which I have fabulous memories.

I returned a few years ago with my mum to find that although it was generally the same, some things had changed but I enjoyed it all the same and thought that Miss M would enjoy seeing Brighton too. 

a sneak peek of the Royal Pavilion

Once we got off the train, I knew it was not a really long walk down to the 'front' and I directed our route so we would walk past the Royal Pavilion. Once we reached the Pavilion, the sun had come out so we decided to walk on down to the Brighton Pier first.

First of all we walked on the pebble beach towards the Pier since I wanted to photograph it from underneath as well.

Looking at it from underneath, you can see just how rusty the pier pylons are.....I hope they check them often for structural integrity! The structure is also covered in rags washed in by the tide. Miss M found them quite photogenic while I found them to be a bit of an untidy mess....I am looking forward to seeing her view on them through the camera.

The one thing I definitely remember about the beach at Brighton, is the pebbles. You would think this would make it easy to walk on but it is really tough going in shoes and can NOT be done in bare feet at all. My dad never seemed to like sandy beaches, so visiting Brighton was the only time I remember having a deck chair and sitting on the [pebble] beach just like other families.

Finally, we found our way onto the Pier, I remember, from the 80's, it being cramped with souvenir stalls, ice-cream vendors, fish & chip kiosks, fair ground rides and a theater (where I saw a couple of concerts back then).

The dozens of souvenier stalls have been replaced by one or two places that sell 'rock' and postcards, the ice-cream stalls and fish and chip kiosks are mostly replaced by Cafe's, Bars and Restaurants.

The window display of the Victoria Lounge & Bar Terrace

 The Theater has been turned into an Arcade with video games and slot machines but the fair rides are still there and most importantly.....the Helter Skelter. Oh, how I loved to grab a hessian mat and slide around and down the Helter Skelter!

It says 'closed' but people were definitely enjoying this fairground attraction....just not me this time!

By the time we had walked to the end of the pier and back, we were getting quite cold and decided it was time to go and look for a nice hot cup of tea to warm ourselves before continuing on our excursion.

Before I go and write the next post about Brighton.....because I just know you are dying to see the Royal Pavilion, here is a note for Dasha who thought one of my castles was at Portsmouth.....alas not, Dasha! Here is a little game to help you guess correctly.....Can you match the Castle to its correct Name?

1. Hastings Castle, 2. Bodiam Castle, 3. Windsor Castle, 4. Pevensey Castle, 5. Leeds Castle, 6. Ypres Tower (Rye)

Thank you for reading....I hope you enjoyed this post.

I'm Back Home

What a crazy week! Some of it is lost without even being seen! Miss M and I left my SIL's flat on Monday at 4:15pm (London time) to catch an 8:35pm flight. 23 or so hours later, Tuesday had disappeared in a blink of an eye and we landed in Sydney at 6:30am (Aus-EST) on Wednesday. Miss M and I parted ways in Sydney and my connecting flight to Hobart had an extra stop in Melbourne which meant I didn't get home till 2pm on Wednesday afternoon.....that is some serious travelling time!

The Thames River seen from our Qantas A380

 My recent fear of flying has been dealt with though....thanks mostly to Qantas....still my favourite carrier!  The plane was mostly empty both going and returning so we were able to spread out a little. The food was good (I love that mid-flight "Weis Bar" snack!), the plane was very clean and the service was, as always, exceptional! even in economy.

Miss M and I had some great excursions which I would love to share with you. We visited a total of 6 Castles and one Royal Palace, the 1066 battlefield and various quaint little villages. I did not get into London....travelled 'under' it and 'through' it but only miss M spent some time in the city. I stayed firmly on the South side of the river with a few journeys to the east.

Do you recognise any?

Our first excursion was to the East Sussex town of Brighton....a place with such wonderful memories for me. I will be writing the blog post today and publish tomorrow....so I do hope you will come back for another visit.

 I have a surprise for you on Monday as well.....so don't miss "Design Board Monday"!

Design Board Monday #23 - Home Again

I am heading home today and will have to say goodbye to the rest of my family soon.  I will miss my mum especially. Now that she is getting older, each time gets worse.

I won't make it home in time to write a post for Design Board Monday so, one more time, it will be pre-written.

I made another gift for the lil' man....a cute bib.

I bought the fabric from Frangipani Fabrics some time ago and backed it with some micro towel cloths I found at the bargain shop. I am planning to make a few more for him after I come home...mainly because I needed my box of sewing supplies but I didn't have time to dig around for them before I left.  I also wanted to make sure the sizing is right for him. It won't take much to post them on.

The microfibre towel cloths worked a treat for the back of the bib and they were just the right size.  4 of them only cost me $3...I call that a bargain. I also found a microfibre pet towel in light pink and light blue....they were about $5 each. A good find since I searched Spotlight for a similar fabric in meterage but only found a very thick terry toweling.

I really wanted to use velcro as a fastener and I know I have tons of it but couldn't find it in my sewing room. I had to resort to using a snap button.  It does look cute though!

Does the fox I appliqued on the front look familiar? It is from the cover of this month's Homespun and is a teaser for the new BOM from  Natalie Bird....are you going to take part?  In the meantime, it was perfect for my bib.

I can't wait for my lil' man to model his new bib for me.....

You can find the pattern for this baby bib with a tutorial on Sew She Sews.

What have you been up to while I have been away?

• Link will be open until Sunday 6.3.2016.
• link anything that you are working on this week or over the past week....needle and thread is all it takes.
• Please add a link back to Bits 'n Bobs as part of your post (why not get the button code from the side bar to paste into your post)
• Please make the effort to visit other link users and leave them a comment to make their day! Don't forget me! I like comments too!

Design Board Monday #22 - While I'm Away

I have been away a week now and I will be back sometime next week Although by now I am most likely missing my farmer, my cows and my fur-babies, Callie & Lila.

Now, I am not promising but I am pretty sure that miss M and I will visit one of our very favourite shops while we are in London.....can you guess which shop that is??

I make it my mission to visit Liberty of London, because it is just so fascinating. The building itself is worth going in and looking at....and then there are the different levels of absolutely-to-die-for goodies....not just haberdashery....although, that is where we usually end up.

Have you visited this iconic store? Did you buy anything?

I once went in with the absolute intention to buy some Liberty Fabrics.....and I did....and they cost me an arm and a leg! Yikes....now I am terrified of cutting into them as I may decide later that it was actually something else I wanted to use them for.

So, I can't promise that we will buy anything this time around....but I am definitely going under the clock and through the archway to the pub next door for a slice of Key Lime Pie....the best I have ever tasted!

I have had to cheat a little to get this post pre-written and used some photo's from a previous post....if you would like to return to that post and read about Liberty, some history and indoor pics included - Click HERE

For now, it is time to share your Design Board:

• Link will be open until Sunday 28.2.2016.
• link anything that you are working on this week or over the past week....needle and thread is all it takes.
• Please add a link back to Bits 'n Bobs as part of your post (why not get the button code from the side bar to paste into your post)
• Please make the effort to visit other link users and leave them a comment to make their day! Don't forget me! I like comments too!