All ready for the postie

It is all done....... wrapped, ribboned and ready to put in a post pack tomorrow to be posted off to their new home.

The contents of this tube has something that starts with the letter "T" and was so much fun to make.

 The one with the silver ribbon has something that starts with "S" and......oh, so does the other one at the back!

I added another couple of pressies into the mix for some more surprises.....

 and a little Christmas chocolate to sweeten things up

So if you see this choccie in your mail box and this label on the back of your pressies, then you are my secret swap partner.

Stop peeking

Oh ok, just one more little look before they are wrapped up! This one has a fair bit of hand quilting.

Just a peek

I have been finishing up my secret sewing. It is now ready to post on the 15th

Photoaday Snaps

This is my Photoaday roundup for June 24th to 30th. I missed a few days between my quilters trail bus trip. Yet to figure out how to fit everything into a week,

Day 24 - Negative Space....... Photoaday creater, Chantelle did a post on Negative Space and I am glad she did otherwise I would have been totally stumped.   I played around abit and here is my NEGATIVE SPACE shot. Normally, I would have deleted this shot as being a dud, never to have realised it was creative license! Does your eye get drawn to the eye in the peacock feather? If so then I have used negative space effectively.

Day 25 - Sharp.......These are just one pair of scissors that I own. Very sharp embroidery scissors.  Oops, the fabric is from some secret sewing!

Day 26 - Empty......My favourite coffee cup is empty.....can remedy that very quickly!

Day 27 - Into the sun.  No sun here for the last few days so here is a shot from a little while ago.  Looking up into the sun at Sky City in Auckland, NZ.

Day 28 - Red.............Delicious red, red cherries found at a farmers market on our first day in Paris (2011) We bought a paperbag full and ate them in a nearby park. Bliss!

Day 29 - In my bag...............The view in my bag after my shopping yesterday.  The strawberries were the best I have ever eaten......EVER! Infact, I am going to eat some more now.

Day 30 - Handwriting..............I think I have the worst handwriting. It is never the same. Mostly I print but sometimes I print in capitals, sometimes I cursive and sometimes I combine them all. This list of To-Do's from my cork board is one on my neater versions.

I will not be partaking in Photoaday for July and probably not August either as I will have a very busy time in August which I have not told you about yet.  How did I go? Any favourites from this week?



. 

Winners are Grinners

Is it your turn to grin? It is July 1st today which means I have to pick a winner for my Monthly Giveaway!

I cannot figure out how to cut and paste Random Number Selector (I have done it before but just cannot make it work) so you will have to trust in me.....so let's get to it.  Yet again, RNS picked out my favourite post for the month and one that many of you left comments about......

"SPREADING A LITTLE SUNSHINE"

Infact, 13 of you left a comment for me and RNS picked out the number................. 4!   Who is it................?

ROSE from THREE SHEEP STUDIO

Rose, I will be contacting you for snail mail details and will get the parcel off to you asap.

Quilters Trail Final Chapter

Last stop for this years Quilters Trail was Pleasure Sew at Capalaba (say it like this: Ca-pal-a-bah)

This was another first time shop for me and as you can see in the photo above there were lots of lovely fabrics. The shelves were bursting with bolts to the point where the floor was also covered in plastic crates filled with fabrics.....in every shade imaginable.  I picked up a couple of bolts of fabric but decided not to get anymore fabric and instead I picked up a "much talked about" quick unpick, a new water soluble blue pen and some pretty buttons (will show these items on my fb page - see link in side bar).  If you read my post yesterday, you are possibly feeling a little let down about now because I promised you something BIG!!! and let's face it, a much-talked-about quick unpick is not BIG.

The colour at this shop was green and they had a free pattern for a sweet tea cosy partly seen in photo on left

While I was waiting to pay for my minimal purchases, I saw a man just within my peripheral vision but took no notice of him until the lady next to me asked him a question. When I heard his voice, I suddenly realised who it was.  I have spoken to Greg on numerous occassions over the last year about  quilting machines.  Oh, it suddenly became quite clear which shop I was in.  I have been meaning to visit for quite awhile as I am really interested in buying a HQ Sweet 16 Quilting Machine.  Hubby has given me the money to buy one but I have just not found the courage to go out and buy it (such a lot of money to buy something without proper research). Greg showed me around the show room next to the fabric shop and made an offer that I just couldn't refuse.  Before I knew it I was swiping my credit card and I am now the VERY PROUD owner of a HQ18 with quilting frame (thats right, I upgraded) which he will be installing for me a week on Tuesday.  

Now is that BIG or what! If there was a prize for spending the most money on a Quilters Trail, I would definitely have won that.  I was certainly the talk of the bus and everyone was very excited for me. Before I got off the bus at the end of the trip, Claudia, from Quiltessentials, already knew of my purchase!!

So that was the 10th Anniversary of the Quilters Trail.  All that is left to do is fill in my contact details on my stamped passport at put it in the raffle box.  At the end of the month there will be several passports drawn out of the raffle boxes (from all the shops) and great prizes to be won. It has been tremendous fun and I have met some lovely like minded people along the way.

PS....We had some raffles on the bus too and I won a little packet of  5x10in batik squares and also scored a little stitchery that one of my friends initially won but she doesn't stitch so she gave it to me.  Lucky much??!

Can't wait for NEXT YEAR!!

Thank you for taking this journey with me by following my blog. It has been so much fun reliving the experience when posting.
Other chapters in this story:
Quilters Trail (North)
Quilters Trail (North) 2
Quilters Trail (North) 3
Quilters Trail (North) 4
Go West (QT)
Go West 2 (QT)
Go West 3 (QT)


 

Go West 3 (QT)

(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do

"Go West dada-da-dada....go west" Yep, still singing it!!

With lunch over, we were back on the road again and after a short trip back to the western suburbs of Brisbane and Patches in Indooroopilly.  Indooroopilly is an Aboriginal name and possible meanings are either "gully of leeches" UGH! or "Gully of Running Water". Surely, it must mean the 2nd one!

This is another of my favourite shops in the region.  It is really tricky to get here unless you are familiar with the roads in this area as it is on a little service road which is easy to miss. I remember once going there with friends and we missed the turn off, not once, but twice! By this time we were laughing so much, I am suprised we didn't miss it again.

We walked into the shop decorated in aqua blues with lanterns hanging here and there from the ceiling and the smell of new fabrics was just delicous.  I wonder if that comes in a spray bottle or scent sticks? 'cos I love that smell.

There are lots of fabrics in this store that are just my cup of tea but what excited me most was finding a copy of the latest Vignette Magazine.  You may have seen this magazine, possibly even be doing the mystery quilt that is being published.  That is my interest and I purchased issue 10 and put my name down to purchase the next 3 that will be published for this year.  Who knows, I may become totally addicted and never stop wanting them.

I also caved and bought a little quilt kit.  Very easy but I just loved the fabrics and the pattern. AND, who can resist fabric with writing on it.....well I can't so I got myself whatever was left on the bolt (not much left)

A terrible photo, but you get the idea of the kit I bought.

 The free pattern here was for an iPad cover but the girls had a super idea for all the little charm squares we have been given along the way and did a demo on how to make a little twister quilt.  Theirs looks super and since I have a little twister tool, I think I will someday get around to doing just that.

Ready for the last stop on the Quilters Trail?  You won't believe what I bought there!! Really, make sure you drop by tomorrow.  I am so excited!
 

Go West 2 (QT)

Gatton is out West in the Lockyer Valley where all our local fruit & veggies are grown. We drove past fields and fields of veggie crops and played a guessing game as to what they might be. I spotted green and coral oakleaf lettuce, cabbages and carrots. I only wish we could have stopped for a photo but as we were keeping a tight schedule and there were plenty of roadworks to delay our trip, I dare not ask for a photo op!

Even with the roadworks, we arrived at our next destination in Ipswich with plenty of time to have a good look around which was just as well as I had never been to this shop before.

What a sweet little shop located in an old little house.  It was like making your way from one Aladdins cave to the next as you came across yet another little room filled with yummy fabric, threads, haberdashery and even everything Christmas.  And Patterns? My word, there were certainly plenty of them.

The colour theme was light green at this shop but I was way tooooooo busy drooling to take much notice of the balloons around the ceiling.  I purchased  a metre of some very interesting fabric, 4 Christmas fat 1/4s, a stitchery pattern and a book of mini quilts as I fell in love with one on display, from the book, which took pride of place near the cash register

If you have been taking notice of my blog, it is remotely possible that you know that I have wanted to make a schoolhouse quilt forever.....this is my chance to do it! Isn't it absolutely gorgeous!!

Leaving this shop, I was relieved to know we were heading for an early lunch at the local League's club.  To say I was starving was an understatement and the reason I was so hungry was because I had to skip breakfast. Here's why..........The bus was leaving Quiltessentials at 7:30 so I set my alarm (on my smart phone) for 6:30 and another alarm for 7:10 (to remind me it was time to get to the shop).  I checked and re-checked (3 times infact) and I went to sleep happy that I would wake up in time.  Imagine my panic when the alarm went off AT 7:00..........WHAT THE!  I dashed around like Flash Gordon.....showered, washed and dried my hair, slapped on some make-up, got dressed in unironed jeans, grabbed essentials like purse, phone, shopping bag.  Believe me, I have never moved so fast in my whole life and I got to the shop at 7:25, just in time to not get left behind, but I didn't have time for breakfast.  It was only when I was on the bus and had a moment to take a breath that I started to think why my alarm, that I checked 3 times, had failed me.  DUH moment! I had set it to go off on Wednesday when it was in actual fact a Thursday. Well I gave everyone a good laugh with that story.

Lunch was delicious even though the service was not as good as we would of expected since we had booked a table and only had an hour to order and eat.

Next stop..........Indooroopilly..... (say it like this:  "In-doo-roo-pilly" try it slow and then speed it up. Does is sound like you originally read it?). I love this next shop!

Oh...Oh...Oh, by the way before I go, Kaye from Kitten Stitching is having a giveaway to celebrate her Blogoversary.  Gorgeous little prizes (don't know why I am telling you all this as now there is less chance for me to win) so head on over and visit Kaye, say hi and tell her I sent you (gotta earn brownie points)

As for my own giveaway, I will be doing the draw on Monday so keep your comments coming in. No idea what I am on about......check it out HERE!

 

Go West (QT)

Now tell the truth.....who of you started singing the Village People song "Go West" when you read my post title? I can't get that damn song outta my head now!

As you may realise my Quilters Trail Shop Hop continued on Thursday and this time we headed west out of Brisbane.  First Stop....Gatton.

 What a friendly atmosphere in this shop.  It is always a joy to visit as it is such a lovely space filled with natural light and plenty of shop quilts to look at. A nice touch was being greeted as we got off the bus by the shop owner and all handed a lollipop.

Sew Creative is the home of the longest hexigon quilt. I was honoured to see it (rolled up) a couple of years ago and there is a collage of photos in the shop as a reminder.

So many people contributed to this quilt by making hexigon flower blocks and sending them in to the shop and then the whole thing was quilted in stages and joined together to form

Isn't that an incredible achievement? I would have loved to have made a block for this quilt but it was all over and done with by the time I found out about it. Here are a couple of photos (of photos) of the quilt to get an idea of its size

After the Quilters Trail gathering it was cut up again into regular quilt size quilts and the individual quilts were donated to people who needed them most.  What a terrific idea.

Anyway, back to my shopping trip.  The ladies had dressed up the shop with purple balloons, swags and lanterns. I love purple so I bought some purple fabric on the "purple table" and some very cute buttons, a "quilt diva" Amy Bradley pattern and some special embroidery needles. I am posting photos of what I bought on my fb page.....link on sidebar.

There was also a quick tutorial of the snappy bag which the girls had made up as the free pattern.  They came up with a very clever idea on this one and when I eventually make this gem I will let you in on this secret.

Lots of fabrics and patterns and other goodies to drool over but before long it was time to make our way back onto the bus and make our way to the next stop.
 

FQSwap - June

It doesn't seem that long since I was posting about the May FQSwap but June is here and I do like to at least organise myself early although I won't be able to post this until after the two birthdays mid June.  The theme this month is Travel/Destination.  My swap partner is Barb at barbscreations. I contacted Barb and found out that she is collecting red/white fabrics and would prefer something on these lines. 

I found these fabrics for Barb that fit her preference (I guess the Starfish could show - Destination: Beach) but to keep with the theme, I included some London buttons together with some red embroidery thread and a sachet of White Chocolate Mocha Coffee for her to enjoy.

Barb sent me these very unusual fabrics and some embroidery threads.  Great choice Barb. The fabrics are terrific and I love them.

I also got to send FQs to two other members who celebrate their birthdays this month. Firstly Helen who's likes include modern designers and modern colours so I hope she liked my choice for her.

I also included a reel of sewing thread, one of my Needle Nanny designs and a white choc mocha coffee sachet.

*Update* - Helen sent me a message to my facebook page to say she loved her birthday parcel!


Next comes Sharon.  One of Sharon's "likes" is Japanese fabrics and I found these two japanese inspired designs.

I sent these to her along with a reel of sewing thread, white choc mocha coffee sachet and I also sent Sharon a Needle Nanny.

I made Sharon's Needle Nanny with a wooden button. I made a slight change to my original design by adding a button to the top and an extra magnet underneath means they can attach the Needle Nanny to whatever top they are wearing and the Needle Nanny can travel to the ironing board etc!

This photo is me testing out the magnetic action on my t-shirt. Yep.....Needle Nanny secure on my top and needle secure on Needle Nanny.

Ladies, I have had an enjoyable time shopping for your FQs and putting all the little extras together, I hope you enjoy!