Waiting (very patiently) for love :)

It's just not happening...that wonderful feeling of love that usually overwhelms me when I get partway into a project. That feeling of pride, and the love of the texture, and the coming-together-of-the-colours -thing that keeps me stitching.

It's just not happening.

And try as I might, I can't seem to make it happen.


It's my "A Family Gathering" quilt project that I'm referring to :) So far, it just hasn't grabbed me. Yesterday, on a visit to a quilt shop (to buy some border fabric...very innocent!) ) I even contemplated abandoning my stitching thus far, and starting all over again with a new fat quarter bundle...which I bought...and then felt the guilt before I even got to the car!

Surely the original version deserves another try? Surely one day soon, the love seed will sprout and I will start to regard this project with a little more...fondness? Surely a whole fat quarter bundle should not be abandoned, in favour of another, so...recklessly?

With these thoughts swirling around in my head (as well as the fact that my May deadline for this block is just 2 days away) I once again put needle to fabric.

Now... to keep the momentum going...and hope that the love finds me soon LOL!

TTFN xxx

Remembering you....

...today and every day.

TTFN xxx

Lucky lucky!

You have to admit...it's pretty exciting when you open your emails, or click onto a favourite blog, and realize that you've won something! I've had that lovely feeling not once, but twice recently...how lucky is that?

I'm not really into entering giveaways...but I have been making a bit more of an effort to leave comments on the blogs I read lately. If you have your own blog, you know how lovely it is to receive a comment...and it can often lead to new friendships too :)

So...thank you so much to Julie, who was so clever as to be published in the Cards magazine above and so generous as to give away a spare copy of the magazine. And thank you to Chookyblue, for hosting the Stitch-A-Long blog and randomly choosing my name to win the free set of patterns.

And the only thing better than discovering that you are a winner? That lovely parcel in the postbox! Thanks girls!

TTFN xxx

Florals and polkadots

It's been on my mind ...that the month of May is ticking over, and that my Sweetwater Label Crew project for this month has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks, and that the new Label Crew project has also arrived and is sitting on my desk, and that I really really don't want these Label Crew projects to start building up! Phew...that's a lot on my mind!

So I decided to take the plunge...cut some fabric...make a start.

And wouldn't you know it? My old friend momentum kicked in, and all of a sudden my project was finished!

The original fabrics that I had chosen were a lot more...ummm...understated than these, but my polkadot obsession sorta kicked in too (as it often does) and it turned out quite bright (as it often does). Think I might have to keep this apron for myself :)

Thanks for all your comments and encourage for my sweet Lydia, and her charm pack purchase at the Craft Fair. She really couldn't wait to make a start, so before breakfast, and before getting out of her pyjamas this morning, she started playing around with the layout of her squares.

And then she started some stitching of those squares...

...and before she knew it, she had a quilt top! Now she is pestering for a trip into the shops to buy some backing and batting and border fabrics...I may have created a monster :)

The fabric she has used is Girlie Girl by Cheri L Strole for Moda, and she is now thinking, rather than a quilt for her dolls, that she may have to add some wide borders and keep it for her own use...fair enough, I think!

Happy Sunday

TTFN xxx

A day at the Fair.

The Craft and Quilt Fair is in town again this week...and it just wouldn't seem right if I missed it :)

The Fair has such good memories for me. I remember the first time I went...I was so excited to see a familiar face from my favourite NSW quilt shop...Just Patchwork at Tuncurry...displaying her wares here in the West. Love catching up with Gai each year :)

The Fair is where I first met Janellybelly...a fellow blogger, fabric addict, and now good friend.

A visit to the Fair never fails to inspire me...to patchwork, to embroider, to papercraft...to create.

These days the Fair is also a girlie day out for my daughter and I. She takes the day off school (a very rare treat!), we catch the train into the city and have a beautiful day browsing and buying, eating and chatting. Yesterday she bought her first charm pack, and can't wait to start piecing it together on her new sewing machine...and that makes me smile.

And what's a day at the fair without adding to the fabric stash? The swirls of fabric loveliness that is a jelly roll...totally irresistable! If only it was limited to just one... :)

TTFN xxx

I take it back :)

Now, it could be said that Pinterest is a bit of time-waster...heaven knows, I've even said those words out loud myself :) A very fun time-waster, but a time-waster none-the-less.

However, now that I've actually made something that is totally inspired by my pinning, I take it all back!

I'm gradually adding touches of red to my house...slowly, slowly...and now the laundry has it's little-bit-of-red, thanks to a print that can be found here. Of course I changed it a bit, and used my scrapping supplies rather than the printing process to achieve the look, and added the word iron because that's what I spend an awful lot of time doing in my laundry!

The frame is just a cheapie from Spotlight, the background is a piece of Bazzill cardstock cut to size, and I used some American Crafts Thickers to spell out the words...too easy.

Speaking of laundry...there goes the buzzer on my washing machine again :)

Happy Sunday...whatever you're up to!

TTFN xxx

Mothers Day 2011

First of all, a huge Happy Mothers Day to all of the beautiful Mums I know...I hope that your hard work, love and dedication was rewarded today with many hugs, kisses and special surprises!

Often on Mothers Day, it is the thoughtful gifts that bring the most pleasure, not necessarily the most expensive :) I was lucky enough to have some white pansies planted in my honour this Mothers Day, and I know that every time I walk past them, they will make me smile :)

The children decided, after having much success with making my breakfast, that they would do some baking for me too. Each child popped on an apron, and got busy in the kitchen...sifting, kneading, chopping and melting...it was very cute to listen to the conversations coming from my kitchen :)

They were so proud of what they created...butter cookies with icing sugar, and triple chocolate fudge brownies served with fresh cream...YUUUUUUMMMMM!

While they were busy, I supervised from a distance :) with my head in my new Mothers Day cookbook...

Lots of quite basic recipes in this book, but that is exactly what I was after...new ideas for family dinners and afternoon teas, and a good read too!

In between washing and ironing and cleaning and organising, I managed to sneak in some crafting time too...but what to work on?

I started with the May block of A Family Gathering....

...wow, there is some stitching involved in this one! It's called Festive Table, and has lots and lots of tiny pieces, and lots and lots of stitching too...sorta glad I started early in the month!

Then I played with some borders (yes, borders!!!!!) for my Little Bluebirds quilt...

....wow, cutting into those long strips of hand embroidery was nerve-wracking! One false move, and a whole lot of stitching would be ruined. Thankfully, it didn't come to that :) I'm soooooo close to completing the top of this quilt...watch this space!

Then came a little hand embroidery....

...for my Tis The Season Stitch-a-long quilt. Second block for the month completed...YAY!

And finally, I dived into that huge pile of photos I showed you earlier...

...and created a layout! As the baby of our family, Merryn will never have the chance to be a big sister, and I really think she would've been awesome...she loves babies, and loves it when she has the chance to snuggle one!

I used some Echo Park paper from their Little Girl collection, a doily, AC Thickers, twine and some rather old Prima flowers :)

Hope you've had a lovely Mothers Day...and thanks for popping in to visit!

TTFN xxx

Prepared...

Photos are printed.

Scrapping desk is cleared.


Tools are assembled.

And it's Mother's Day here in Australia, so surely that means a couple of hours off housework?

Let the papercrafting begin!

TTFN xxx

A stitch here and a stitch there...

...sometimes, that's all it takes :) A stitch here, a stitch there...and a new block for my Tis the Season Stitch-a-long quilt is completed!

This block is called Chilly Penguins...a bit cute, aren't they?

Finding time to craft lately has been a bit of a challenge, but I'm learning to use minutes rather than hours of time to fit in a bit of stitching :) Would you believe that some girls who are stitching along have already finished their quilt tops? Wow. I'm quite a long way off that yet!

Hope you are finding some minutes to fit in a little of what you love :)

TTFN xxx

Bags, bags, bags...

...are very useful things!

Seems like I've been making a few bags recently...well, they are very useful things, especially made in laminated fabric like the one I made this morning.

I've had this Rosalie Quinlan Grandmothers Flower Garden laminate in my stash for a while, with great plans for a swim bag for Lydia. I used a pattern from Roslaie's book A Stitch In Time, with a few minor adjustments, and voila! Finished before breakfast this morning!

Isn't it amazing what a bit of momentum can do? hee hee...bet you thought I'd forgotten all about my one little word for this year :)

Have a fan-tabulous Monday!

TTFN xxx

A pinch and a punch...

...it's the first day of the month! (here in Western Australia it still is, anyway LOL) And you know what that means...a new To-Do List...eeek! Considering how very far I'm behind, I figure I'll hold off posting my new list for now...it may just overwhelm me :)

So today, with a bit of time for crafting, I set to work on one of my previous To-Do List projects...another Sweetwater birthday bag.

You may recall I made my first one with Christmas fabrics while I was waiting for labels to arrive from the U.S. The kit for these has been sitting on my craft desk for a while now, so I set to work and finished it today.

This fabric is Sunkissed by Sweetwater...such beautiful shades of pink, grey, orange and green! I'm thinking I should make a matching tablerunner for my lovely Mother-in-laws' birthday to pop inside...she has a special birthday coming up later in the year, and it would be great to be organised for once!

Here's to a productive May!

TTFN xxx

Brilliant.

Awesome. Breathtaking. Exciting.

It was our first time...but hopefully not our last.

I knew it would be brilliant...but had no idea that we would have our mouths wide open in amazement for virtually the whole show (and aerial acrobatics are certainly not a new thing for us!)

I have a feeling that Cirque du Soleil will be the subject of conversation and play for a very long time around here :)

TTFN xxx