Karen's Korner

Oh dear

2012-01-03T17:42:00.008+11:00

As I said in my previous post 2012 is going to be the year of using up my scraps as well as trying to master paper piecing. After watching numerous you-tube clips and reading books and magazines I felt that I was ready to tackle this head on today.

Take one

Somehow this does not look like anything that I saw on you-tube or in the books.

Take two

This is definitely nothing like what I saw on you-tube or in the books. I think I had best go and have another look to see why I have something back to front and a side missing. How hard can it be to sew fabric in numerical order I ask you. Obviously very hard for me.

Take three

Looking a little better but certainly room for improvement.

Take four

Now that is looking a whole lot better. By the time I work my way through that pile of scraps I may have worked out what all this paper piecing is about - hopefully.

Hang on - where have all these new scraps come from - I am supposed to be reducing the pile not adding to it.

New Year's Resolution (s)

2012-01-02T15:22:00.004+11:00

I like most people at the beginning of a new year make one or two resolutions and in time break them but this year I am going to make 2012 the year of using only what I have in my stash and adding a piece should I not have it for a particular project that I am working on.

Now I know that there are going to be lots of "tempters" out there but I am going to try and be strong and ignore them - see how I go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have also given myself a couple of challenges and one is to use up most of the scraps that I have hoarded over the years - some quite sizeable pieces and others could only be described as "crumbs" . As you can see by the piccy below I have collected quite a few and

after an hour I have gotten some sort of order into them - plains, black and whites, novelty, greens, blues etc. I have also decided that it is time that I learnt a new technique and paper piecing is something that I tried in the past and not had any success so 2012 is the year to master this - well at least give it a go. I think that I have enough scraps to try my hand at paper piecing and also have some left over to actually make a small quilt with them. I will keep you posted on my efforts.

I was a very lucky girl on Christmas Day and was given 8 gorgeous embroidered blocks from my DS and DDIL and they just screamed out cushions to me so on Boxing Day I trimmed them up to 7 1/2 " blocks and joined them together put a contrasting border around them and now I am the owner of these two lovely cushions which sit proudly on our bed.

A New Year also calls for a new bag and I was lucky enough to win 9 fq's at my quilt groups Christmas party and I used three of them to make the bag below. I had bought the handles sometime ago and I feel that they go so well with the gorgeous bird fabric.

Lastly I wish you a happy and healthy 2012 and may it bring good things for us all.

Happy sewing.

Secret squirrel sewing

2011-12-26T09:22:00.004+11:00

My blog has been severely neglected over the last couple of months and not because of lack of interest but due to the fact that what I have been sewing was for Christmas gifts and those on the receiving end are readers of my blog.

The first quilt that I was working on was for my son and daughter in law. With this quilt I wanted something that was modern and not florally so I went with a red, black and white theme with a few greys in the mix to add some more interest with the lights and darks.

The second quilt that I was working on was for DH who has a habit on a chilly night while watching TV of trying to tug on a corner of my snuggle quilt and me being me do not like to share my snuggle quilt as I need all the help that I can get to keep warm so the thought processes kicked in on what sort of quilt I could make for a man who has many varied hobbies and interests and this is what I came up with for someone who likes to read, listen to music, travel to the Hawaiian Islands, old trains and sailing ships, cheese being one of his favourite foods being washed down with a drop of either red or white, cats, basketball and something to represent his profession - he is now a retired headmaster.

All three recipients were both surprised and thrilled with their quilts and I was much relieved.

Santa Claus is coming to town

2011-11-20T16:51:00.004+11:00

Time for a bit of Christmas sewing and experimenting with the feed dogs down. I have been doing some practice, practice and more practice with FMQ and whilst I am feeling more confident I only feel comfortable using this method on smaller items as I have more control and no weight pulling the sewing down and causing puckers.

I found this Christmas panel and cut in into 4 table toppers - I have already given two away that I forgot to photograph. The first one I did a meandering pattern for the quilting and with the second one I kept the feed dogs down, the open toe foot on and using a variegated metalic thread I "drew" around the border, circle just inside the wreath, Santa, his sack and staff for something different. I must say that I was pleased with the result.

Next to come off the Christmas sewing list is a set of placemats and matching coasters for my SIL. Hopefully I will have some piccies soon to show you.

Happy sewing all.

Our Holiday

2011-09-17T18:04:00.012+10:00

Hubby and I have just enjoyed a lovely spring break over the last two weeks which included a visit to our nation's capital city - Canberra.

A visit to the Australian War Memorial shows soliders on parade at the Pool of Reflection

Looking across Lake Burley Griffin to Old Parliament House in the foreground with New Parliament House behind. On the LHS is the High Court of Australia and on the RHS is the National Library.

A closer look at those blossom trees along the promenade of the lake with the Carillion off to the left.

A visit to the Botanical Gardens felt more like a walk in the rainforest in Far North Queensland. The vegetation for a cold climate area was a real surprise.

On the way home we detoured via Bowral for a quick tip toe through the tulips.

After a day a or two at home catching up on the "domestics" we took ourselves off to the city to enjoy the annual spring flower display at David Jones Elizabeth store

The next day found us wandering around the Blue Mountains enjoying the spring blossoms in country lanes

And on a clear day you can see forever.

Only an hour across the Harbour Bridge heading south we found ourselves heading for a day at Botany Bay. Looking at the colour of the sand and the water we could have been on a tropical island.

I did manage to do a bit of stash building.

I also found time to get some sewing in but more on that later as it is "secret squirrel" stuff.

Well all good things must come to an end and it is back to work for me next week.

A finish at last

2011-09-09T15:39:00.002+10:00

I cannot believe that I have not blogged for such a long time. Where does the time go to??????? What have I been doing - I always seem to be on the run but not much to show for it.

At last I can share with you a "finish". Several months ago my quilting group was given a mystery quilt to complete and I decided that I would be strong and use only fabric that I had in my stash in case I was disappointed in the mystery pattern chosen. And am I glad that I stuck to my decision as I am not a fan of the pattern called Turning 20 and of course as luck would have it that was what the mystery turned out to be.

I finished the quilt last week and even though I am disappointed in the pattern - I think that the blocks are too big for my liking - it will come in handy as a throw on a cold night as I snuggle up to watch some TV.

A Man Bag

2011-07-31T06:56:00.005+10:00

For years hubby has had a thing about using a man bag but now that he is retired and doing day trips with the "boys" circumstances have changed - like I am not there to put items in my bag - he now finds it necessary to have something to take with him to put all those relevant bits and pieces in so hence he relented and came to the decision that a bag might not be such a bad thing after all.

However it did come with strict instructions that it was not to be a backpack - too hard to get on and off especially with a coat on - it had to be big enough to hold a fold up umbrella, bottle of water, camera, small items of clothing that may need to be removed or added depending on the weather and other bits and pieces. Not heavy, washable, with a good size pocket and easy to access.

With all the above information I spent a bit of time "googling" and found a few ideas. From those ideas I took what I considered to be there best features from each and came up with the following.

I must say that I am pleased with the result and so hubby.

Outside of the bag

This photo shows the inside of the bag with the flap up and the good size pocket.

And here is the "made to measure" bag being modelled by hubby.

I must write up my directions and measurements as I like the look of this bag and will make something like it for myself.

Hexed by hexies

2011-04-29T17:48:00.003+10:00

I along with most of the lovely ladies from our craft forum have been bitten by the bug- the hexie bug that is!! Once you have been introduced to this acitivity of sewing small bits of fabric to paper you cannot stop and this is what I do in my lunch break at work each day. I have joined up either 6 dark flowers with a light centre or 6 light flowers with a dark centre and now I have to decide how these bigger flowers will be joined - either with a white surround or just butt them up together????

I am thinking that it will make a runner for the end of the bed once I have made a few decisions and made a few more hexies.

Storybook land......

2011-04-24T18:13:00.004+10:00

Hubby and I always make sure that we fit in a drive to the mountains each autumn to see the changing colour in the leaves and this year was no exception. Driving up to Mt Wilson we stopped along the way to explore this wooded area and I felt just like Alice in Wonderland as I wandered around amongst the trees and found a field of mushrooms.

Magic mushrooms or could this be where the fairies call home?

Further into the wood we found a pile of gorgeous red and gold leaves - maybe fairy blankets lying on the ground!

As we meandered along the many picturesque laneways we stumled across what could be described as the cottage belonging to the three bears.

Upon opening the door we saw a "picture perfect window" facing out onto a beautiful garden.

After all this discovering it was time to sample the fare on offer and we both opted for the homemade blueberry scones fresh out of the oven - and they were just right.

After sitting a while enjoying the log fire and sipping our coffee it was time to put on our coats, collect our brollies and head off down one of the lovely lanes back to our chariot.

A most enjoyable way to spend a misty autumn day.

Three bags full.............

2011-04-09T17:45:00.004+10:00

I just love making bags, bags and more bags so to fulfil this passion of sewing and buying fabric I made the three bags shown in the piccie below. Three of my friends known affectionately as "the girls" will be recipients when we meet for our girls night out next month. Each has their favourite colour so I tried to match the bags accordingly. After knowing them for over 25 years I hope that I got their colours right! My next project is a mystery quilt which I am doing alongside the other ladies in my sewing group. Instructions for cutting have been issued and next month we get the sewing instructions for the first block. Doing a mystery quilt is harder than I thought as I agonise over fabric choice for far too long but now I have a timeframe to work within I just have "to do it" and hope for the best. Progress shots to follow soon. Happy sewing to all

FNSI

2011-03-19T13:58:00.003+11:00

Why stop at one when you can have three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After making an octagonal tabletopper a couple of weeks ago using a gorgeous fabric featuring robins I knew that I would have to make more. This time I bound the outside with the same fabric that I used in the first then border and used white for the wider border. I am pleased with the result although the photo is a little on the dark side as it is a wet day and I had to do the photo shot inside.

This is such a simple yet effective pattern and I am sure that I will be making quite a few more to add to my giftie box.

Our craft forum blog hop weekend

2011-02-24T20:48:00.012+11:00

Thank you for joining Our Craft Forum’s blog hop. So what is “Our Craft Forum” a craft forum for like minded people who love crafts. Mostly patchwork, stitching, quilting and the like. It’s a safe place to make new friends who share a love of craft & to have some fun and a little bit of laughter along the way & to join in on swaps of all types.

This week end is designed to tell our blogging friends about our wonderful forum and to invite you to be a part of our forum.

Several of our members will be offering tutorials, giveaways and some tips of the trade.

The blog hop starts at miss~nances blog so if you want to join us on the whole journey please go to http://missnance.blogspot.com/ and follow the links at the bottom of each post to find the next blog along the way.

Each person who joins our forum from this bloghop will go in the draw for a craft pack. So to join our forum please go to http://ourcraftforum.freeforums.org/ and register.

So join in on the fun and maybe find a new forum, new blog and new friends along the way. You never now you may even learn something new or win a great prize. Entries close at MIDNIGHT EDST (Sydney time) Sunday 27 February.

Thank you for calling by my blog and I would like to share with you a quick and accurate way to cut out the octagon shape as used in the tabletopper in my post below.

I used a sheet of newspaper - because it was big enough - and used a pizza baking tray to get the size that I wanted. Trace around the outside of the tray and cut so you have a circle as shown below

Secondly fold the circle in half so you have what it looks like

And then fold that half circle in half again so that you end up with what looks like a wedge of pie.

Take your ruler and pen and draw a line from the narrowest point out to the curved edge then draw a line from the outside edges into the centre line as shown in the photo below

Now take your scissors and cut along the line across the top so you end up with the curves as straight lines as shown below - it now looks like a kite.

Now open up the paper and you should have the perfect octagon. You can vary the size of the octagon by using a smaller or larger plate to draw around.

I hope you found this tutorial useful and if you make a tabletopper I would love to know.

Now for the next blog on this tour please hop over to http://raimareesworld.blogspot.com/and enjoy the rest of your journey. I look forward to catching up with you all on our craft forum.

Aloha

2011-02-22T05:38:00.002+11:00

This weekend Our Craft Forum is hosting a blog hop, from Noon Friday 25 to Midnight Sunday 27 February EDST . So what is “Our Craft Forum” a craft forum for like minded people who love crafts. Mostly patchwork, stitching, quilting and the like. It’s a safe place to make new friends who share a love of craft & to have some fun and a little bit of laughter along the way & to join in on swaps of all types.

This weekend is designed to tell our blogging friends about our wonderful forum and to invite you to be a part of our forum.

Several of our members will be offering tutorials, giveaways and some tips of the trade.

The blog hop starts at miss~nances blog so if you want to join us on the whole journey please go to http://missnance.blogspot.com/ and follow the links at the bottom of each post to find the next blog along the way.

Each person who joins our forum from this bloghop will go in the draw for a craft pack. So join in on the fun and maybe find a new forum, new blog and new friends along the way. You never now you may even learn something new or win a great prize.

Friday night sew-in

2011-02-19T13:04:00.002+11:00

Friday night sew-in turned into Saturday morning finish off as the night just got away and I did not have time to finish off the binding on my table topper.

I saw this idea on the internet and knew that I just had to have one like it. I kept my eye open when shopping for fabric and saw the robins which I thought would be perfect for the middle of the tabletopper and then matched the fabric for the borders. This is a good size to practice FMQ on and I am very happy with the results. My FMQ is getting better but more practice is still needed. Some of the stitches especailly on the curves are a bit big or small but I guess that comes with time and practice.

I can see a couple more of these tabletoppers coming up very soon.

Batik quilt

2011-02-13T18:59:00.002+11:00

This is the second quilt that I was working on during 2010 and finished off during my Christmas break. It was a gift for our DIL and I wanted a simple design with bright colours but not florals so I went with the batiks in her favourite colours. Again I made what I call a "snuggle quilt" which is approximately 60" wide and 72" long which I think it is good size to snuggle under in the cool weather while watching tv, reading or having a snooze.

I quilted around the smaller squares, then around the larger squares and did FMQ in the pink border. I really enjoyed making this quilt and loved working with the batik prints and colours.

A man's quilt

2011-01-30T16:37:00.002+11:00

Last year I made mum a snuggle quilt for mothers day and I have since found out that dad was in the habit of stealing a corner or two on a cool night - now as you know a snuggle quilt is for one to snuggle into and not meant to be shared - so with dad having a birthday today I set to a couple of months ago to rectify this situation for the cooler nights ahead and in the piccie below you can see what I came up with.

My biggest challenge doing this quilt was working with the colour brown as it is not my favoutire colour and finding fabrics that were not floral and girly. I am pleased with the end result as was the recipient.

Guess who came to dinner

2011-01-23T09:23:00.003+11:00

One of the best things about summer and daylight saving is to be able to sit outside of a night, enjoy the light nights and have dinner in the cool of the evening which is what we try to do most nights and sometimes we are have an extra guest.

I am not sure if he was eyeing off the food on my plate or the wine in my glass! He - in saying that it could be a she - now comes and joins us most nights just sitting about the same distance away and just looks from plate to glass, stays a while and flies off.

We are so lucky to have such a tame and well-mannered dinner guest.

Day tripping

2010-12-27T19:12:00.006+11:00

Boxing Day in Sydney is always hot and sticky with a brisk southerly hitting late in the night to cool things down and true to form this year was no exception. Today we woke up to a cool, grey, drizzly sky and thought it was a good day to drive to the Southern Highlands. Equipped with coats and brollies off we set and as you can see from the photo below those coats and brollies were definitely needed.

Time to head off for lunch and this sign caught my attention as we entered a quaint pub.

Now I have to tell you that this pub is situated right opposite one of my favourite patchwork shops and judging by how busy it normally is - however it was closed today - I think that this sign is meant for all those poor husbands who are abandoned in Berrima.

If there are any keen gardeners out there in blogland could you let me know what the name of this gorgeous and unusual tree is please. It is right outside the patchwork shop and being closed I could not ask the name of it. Many ladies who were peaking through the locked door were also admiring the tree but could not name it.

.

Happy Christmas and bon appetite

2010-12-26T08:57:00.005+11:00

This is what my kitchen started out like at 7 am on Christmas Day morning.

And by 1 pm this is how those veggies ended up.

After the family made their way through the first course - with all coming back for seconds and one or two for thirds - it was time for the christmas pudding and for those who do not eat pudding a cheesecake or two and some yummy chocolate fudge.

Somehow the afternoon just got away and it had rolled around to after 4 when it was time for tea or coffee along with some Christmas cake and mince pies for those you had room.

Needless to say the kitchen was closed in our house for dinner last night. Around about 8 oclock hubby and I enjoyed a nice cold glass of sauvignon blanc on the patio and watched the sun set. Tonight's dinner will be leftovers from yesterday and so will tomorrow's dinner.

Christmas day is a time to spend with family and friends enjoying their company along with fun, laughter and sharing a meal which is what our family did yesterday. Lots of lovely presents were received and given.

Happy christmas to all and best wishes for a happy and safe 2011.

All things bright and !!!!

2010-12-18T10:34:00.003+11:00

Last night was FNSI and I took the opportunity to finish off a Christmas gift for hubby.

Several weeks ago I decided that his summer weight dressing gown had seen better days and it needed replacing. Now hubby is a person who likes big, bright bold prints so when I was fabric shopping I kept this in mind and I recently found the perfect fabric to fit the "bill".

Warning - time to put on those sunnies

Ta dah what do you think - big, bright and bold.

Should he venture outside in it to collect the paper I am sure he will be bright splash in the neighbourhood.

FNSI

2010-11-21T07:02:00.002+11:00

I had good intentions of joining in again this month however after a week of feeling "blah" with a stomach bug that is doing the rounds I did not feel up to sewing on Friday night however it was a lovely day yesterday (Saturday) so I spent the afternoon being very productive - cutting out a very bright summer gown for hubby - more on that when it is together, cutting out borders for a quilt that I am currently working on and finishing off two more bags for my giftie box.

The first photo shows the bag for my sister-in-law and the black, white and red one is for my mother.

As well as the above I also managed to do some magazine research for one or two future projects. So all in all whilst I was not able to accomplish anything on Friday night I was pleased with my effort yesterday and I will be ready for next month's FNSI. I look forward to checking out everyone's blogs to see what they achieved.

All done

2010-10-23T08:46:00.003+11:00

Well I am pleased to report that I have finally finished my scrap quilt and I am pleased with the result. After spending last weekend trying to overcome my fear of FMQ which I did on the blue outside border the binding was finished off last night. It is a true scrap quilt in every sense of the word and I even scrapped the back with left over backings from other quilts. All the fabric used on the backing and the binding can also be found in the quilt top.

And here is a close up of my FMQ although I did use a colour to blend in so all mistakes will be hard to see.

It is another gorgeous day here so me and my sewing machine are going to go outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while I make another bag for my giftie box.

Friday night sew-in

2010-10-16T16:05:00.005+11:00

Now that the weather is warmer and the nights brighter I thought it was time that I resumed my Friday night sew-ins and last night being the 3rd Friday in the month I was ready to go.

I have been working on a scrappy quilt and up to the point where the borders needing to be quilted and as I have been practice, practice and practicing my free motion quilting (FMQ) I was feeling confident enough to give it a go on the real deal. It was my half day of work and as hubby and I had treated ourselves to a lovely lunch neither of us wanted any dinner so I sat down about 5 to make a start. I did my warm up practice piece and all was going well - feeling relaxed, mind in a gentle meandering mood, cotton and tension all checked.

Off I go and after about 6" of meandering the top stitches look great I do a quick check of the back - WHAT POODLES - and not miniatures. Quick stop the machine and unpick. During the half hour that it took to unpick the mess I was thinking what could have gone wrong. Then I think that the practice piece was a different thickness to the quilt so I do the necessary tension adjustments and get ready for take two.

By this time I am feeling rather tense in the neck, shoulders, arms and my hands are beginning to sweat and itch in my little quilt gloves. Take a deep breath and make a start and after about 6" I do a quick check on the back and all is good. I then go along about another 6" and do another back check and it is looking rather good so then I start to relax. As I edge my way along I begin to notice a "drag" on the quilt. Quick check the back - no problem. Stop the machine and pull another chair over to rest the quilt on to stop the drag and off I go only to being to feel the "drag" again.

Now by this time I have somehow positioned my knees up around my armpits to try and lift the quilt and eliminate the weight from pulling it down and me fighting against it. A check of the back now reveals another problem - not poodles but big stitches that are about to unravel before my eyes.

By this time it is now 7 oclock and I am feeling very discouraged. I have now decided that in the morning the feed dogs will be returned to their upright position with the walking foot firmly clamped on so I can do a zig zag pattern on the border which will fit in nicely with the scrappy quilt.

I spend the next two hours sitting in front of the TV unpicking the take two mess.

In the photo below you can see what I did in four hours for my Friday night sew-in

I went to bed feeling very unhappy and disappointed with my effort. I woke about 4 and began to think about my problem, Others can do FMQ why can't I. Then I remembered reading on the internet about someone else having the same drag problem and she turned her machine side on which solved her dilema. Up I get a day break and turn the machine on it side position books and magazines on either side of the quilt table to give me a large even surface, put my little quilt gloves on and off I go.

What a difference it made by turning the machine - I found that I was not fighting against the weight of the quilt and I could guide it much easier. Now my stitiching is not going to win any prizes and practice, practice is still needed but all in all I am happy with my first effort.

There were a couple of lessons learnt last night. Firstly the "sandwich practice pieces" do not prepare you for the weight of the quilt. I had been doing these for a couple of weeks and whizzing around them with no problem never giving a thought to the quilt pulling against me and causing stitch problems on the back. Secondly quilting should perhaps be done early in day so when you encounter a problem you can think it through and do some research while you are fresh and thirdly where there is a will there is a way. FMQ is something that I have been aiming to try for sometime and I am glad that I left the feed dogs down and gave it another bash.

Mum's oldest friend

2010-09-21T18:05:00.006+10:00

I would like to introduce you all to mum's oldest friend. They have known each other since mid 1951 and have spent many hours together "singing" along and enjoying each other's company.

This was the sewing machine that I learnt to sew on when I was about 8 years old and used up to when I got married in 1973. Mum made all my clothes - including my wedding dress, some of my brothers clothes and still makes all her own clothes today using her "faithful" friend. She would not trade her for all the tea in China.

The only maintenance needed is the occasional drop of oil and dad replaces the belt from time to time and she is ready to go again. I would love to know just how far these two have treadled over the last 59 years. I always think that sewing machines should be able to register just how far is sewn on them like a car is driven. I am sure there would be some interesting figures out there in sewing land.

They certainly do not make machines as sturdy as this one as I am onto my third machine which this one still "hums" away and even though it has no fancy stitches it does a nice even stitch and never "skips".

Happy sewing "girls".

How does your garden grow?

2010-09-18T16:56:00.006+10:00

During the last week whilst on holiday I found time to do quite a bit of sewing. I am enjoying all stages of making hexie flowers from cutting the fabric, to making the petals and then forming the flowers. I have not done much hand sewing in the past always preferring the machine for speed and neatness however I am really hooked on these hexies and am happy with the look and speed with which they are going together.

I am happy to present to you my "hexie garden" which you can see in its various stages from papers, squares of cut fabric, individual petals and full flowers

With all this gorgeous spring weather and lovely flowers surrounding me I thought I would celebrate the season and create a bag to match the lovely soft colours. I have made this pattern many times and this time around I have used a variation on a theme and I am pleased with the end result. I will add this bag to my giftie box and hope to add a couple more before Christmas for gifts.

And lastly I have made good progress with my "planned" scrap quilt. All the blocks are now sewn together and the next step is the borders. Back into the stash I delve in order to find suitable fabric. I am going with a narrow white border then a wider blue border to keep in with the theme. Now that I look at it from a distance I could have balanced some of the yellow a bit more evenly but I have to remember that it is a scrappy quilt and I will have to learn to live with it.

The week that was....

2010-09-17T17:10:00.017+10:00

My holiday - I have taken the last week off work to have some "me time" and enjoy the lovely Spring weather that Sydney is experiencing at the moment.

Just a couple hours drive north of us is the historic township of Morpeth. A step back in time and a lovely way to spend a Sunday meandering around the quaint shops. Of course the first thing on arrival is to check out the coffee shops and order a devonshire tea complete with freshly baked scones, jam and cream.

A wander down the street uncovers all sorts of wonders starting with this lovely old clydesdale.

And of course Morpeth is famous for its unique collection of teapots of all shapes and sizes. Tea anyone!!

The next day saw us on the bus into the City. This was the business end of the holiday - an appointment with our accountant. We thought why not make a day of it and make our way down to the area of Sydney known as "The Rocks". One of my favourite parts of the city. I love the juxtaposition of the old buildings in the front of the photo and the modern looming up behind them.

And of course an outing to Sydney would not be complete without a photo of the Opera House.

I have lived in Sydney all my life and until a couple of weeks ago I had not heard of Fagan Park at Galston. What a hidden treasure and only 1 hours drive from our doorstep. This park was donated by the Fagan family to the community for all the enjoy and enjoy we did. Lovely wide open spaces and beautifully maintained as you can see by the photos below.

Of course all this fresh air and driving around certainly works up an appetite. We stumbled across this lovely restaurant in a quaint garden setting which seemed to fit the bill admirably.

Today is the last offical day of my week off - where has that gone - and being the lovely day that it was we headed off to Balmoral Beach about 30 mins drive from us. This photo was taken as we drove down one of the very steep streets around the Mosman area

On arriving at the bottom of the hill - and paying the inevitable parking fee - we took ourselves off for a walk along the beachfront enjoying the view across the harbour

Of course it was getting close to lunchtime and what did we spot but the local fish and chip shop aptly called "Bottom of the Harbour"

So the decision was made - fish and chips it would be for lunch - and they were delicious.

All goods things must come to an end and after my week of holidaying and eating it is back to work on Monday with my packed lunch. I know when I open my lunch on Monday I will be thinking of my fish and chips by the beach.

I have been bitten by the bug.....

2010-09-05T17:02:00.005+10:00

Well it was inevitable I suppose that this was going to happen. I have been bitten by the "hexie" bug. For sometime now on the Craft Forum the ladies have been doing a framed hexie swap and a flower hexie swap and I have been drooling over these gorgeous creations for weeks. I was awake in the early hours of the morning...which I believe is the time when we are at our weakest point... and it hit me hard. When I woke the next morning it was still with me and I knew that I could not ignore this and had to act straight away.

I had signs all around me pointing me in this direction. Yesterday Google featured a picture of the buckyball - hexagon shapes - and one of the patchwork books given to me as a birthday present had hexies on the front.

Off I went to my sewing room knowing that I had to follow a few rules (my rules)

1. I was going only to use what I have in my stash
2. All the centres are to be white
3. Only using small/medium floral prints
4. Backgrounds with not too much white as I wanted the centres to stand out and be a contrast.
5. Equal number of light, medium and dark hexies flowers

Bearing all of the above in mind after couple of hours I had cut out quite a few flowers and centres and sorted out the dark prints which need to be washed before cutting here is my progress to date.

At this point I have to give an honourable mention to my dear hubby - a very patient man - who I have seconded into cutting up hexie shapes for me. As you can see he has made a good start with only a few thousand left - but I won't tell him that at this point! I will just keep adding a couple of sheets to his pile each day. I don't think he will notice - do you?

Thunder and lightning and

2010-08-15T17:47:00.005+10:00

What started out as a lovely sunny morning with a line full of washing swinging around in the wind suddenly changed to banks of large black clouds chasing the sun away, a mad dash to grab the washing off the line and a sudden clap of thunder followed by hail lots of hail

I am glad I closed the glass door on my sewing room as I dashed between the raindrops to grab the camera. Could have been a very wet mess to return to.

This picture was taken from our bedroom window looking out to the road

Not sure who owns the car out the front..I am only glad it was not ours..as there could be quite a bit of hail damage. Mother Nature doing her work again.

Quilting retreat

2010-08-06T17:55:00.008+10:00

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the annual quilting retreat of the Eastwood Patchwork Quilters which was held at "The Hermitage" Mittagong. Setting off on Friday morning after breakfast we headed south across the Harbour Bridge which as you can see is hidden in all the fog which shrouded Sydney until mid morning.

After arriving in the Southern Highlands and fortifying ourselves with some lunch and of course some retail therapy in all those lovely patchwork shops we arrived at the Hermitage mid afternoon.

After setting myself up - or should I say spreading myself out - as you can see I have claimed a couple of chairs I made a start on my weekend project which involves using up my ever increasing scraps.

I cut up 6 and 3/4" squares of flannel (80 of them) on which to stitch and flip 1 and half inch strips. Each block has a medium blue in the middle and it goes out dark to black on one side and light to white on the other.

And looks something like this when pressed, squared and cut in 6 and 12" squares

I surprised myself just how quickly these sewed up and I managed to get just on 30 all sewn up and cut into neat squares.

After a day of sitting, sewing, eating and talking I took myself off for a walk just on dawn to have a look at the surrounding countryside and catch up with a few of the locals.

I know that I had a great weekend away and I am sure that all the other ladies that attended do so as well. I was even lucky enough to get some expert advice and tips on free motion quilting which I will have to put into practice sometime this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing to you all

Lucky me

2010-08-02T18:24:00.002+10:00

My next door neighbour was doing the mail collection duty while I was away for the weekend and has just handed me a parcel. On opening it this is what I found

All these lovely goodies were sent to me by Barb of http://barbscreations.blogspot.com/ when I left a comment on her lovely blog. I will have to get my thinking cap on and come up with a project to do justice to all these gorgeous goodies. I am sure I will find something to fit the bill inside that delightful book.

Thank you once again Barb I feel very spoilt indeed.

Time flys

2010-07-17T07:18:00.007+10:00

I have just noticed that is is over 2 months since I have posted on my blog. That begs the question what have I been doing in that time. Not much when I look back. The office where I work has moved location same suburb but different direction from my house. A piccie of my work station and view that I have from my window is below

One of the townhouses that I can see has two lovely big cats that love to sun themselves all day in the window. Lucky cats I say...I wish I could join them sometimes.

Onto the business of sewing...lots of ideas and I did finish off a dresden plate cushion cover. Looking back on it now I should have bought the next size up cushion in order for the plate to sit better however I was pleased with how the method turned out.

Believe it or not there is a plan in that mess on my work table. I have been invited to attend a quilting weekend away at the end of the month held at Mittagong and I thought it was about time that I started using up my ever increasing pile of scraps. A scrappy quilt I thought was the way to go however my personality does not allow me to do "scrappy scrappy" so I got out the coloured pencils, workbook and ruler last weekend and designed a scrappy quilt. Hence the pile is being sorted into lights, medium lights, medium, medium dark and dark.

The last photo shows a quilt that I am working on using batik fabrics using the square in the square method. I love the colours and designs in the batik fabrics. There is still a long way to go on this quilt but I have put it on hold so I can prepare my scrappy for my weekend away.

I hope that I am able to get back here before another 2 months goes by with piccies of my scrappy and batik quilt progress.

Autumn Days

2010-05-15T18:01:00.008+10:00

Today was one of those lovely autumn days that Sydney is known for - cold nights, crisp mornings and clear blue skies - just the day to go for a drive to the Blue Mountains. Off we set and along the way I found some of Percy and Petunia's relatives on the side of the Great Western highway. As you can see in the first photo a couple of uncles are busy supervising the roadworks taking place whilst in the second photo an aunt and two cousins are eagerly watching with interest.

After taking some photos of Percy's "family" we set off to Katoomba and you can see why they are called the Blue Mountains from the following photo.

I would call this "survival of the fitest". While walking one of the tracks along to the Threee Sisters I spotted this tree growing out of the sandstone rock face and I wonder what lives in this "house". I was not going to put my hand in to find out!!!

And of course the highlight of going to the mountains in autumn has to be seeing the beautiful range of colour in the trees.

Starry Starry Night

2010-05-07T17:21:00.003+10:00

I seem to have been working on this quilt for quite sometime and I was hoping to have it finished for Mothers Day as a gift for mum which I achieved as I did the last of the "tidying up" at 9.30 last night and I must say that I am pleased with the way it has turned out. I was having doubts about it along the way as I was working on it from a picture I saw and only knew that it was made using 5" squares.

I like the way the stars seem to "pop out". The quilt appears to have a three dimensional effect.

And for those who are interested here is a piccie of the flipside

I have taken the last week off work and whilst out and about I took the opportunity to do a bit more stash building as can be seen below.

I am toying up with doing another quilt the same as the one above only this time using batik fabrics. I will have to do more thinking and magazine research on this before making my final decision. Then again I really enjoyed doing the "tube" method. Decisions, decisions.

Not happy .....

2010-04-17T13:08:00.003+10:00

And in this instance I cannot blame "Jan" or anyone else only ME!!

Last night was Friday night sew-in and I had aimed to finish off a tablerunner that I have been working on using the "tube" method and all was going well until I got up to the binding - what no colour thread to match the binding - how could this be???
Off I went rustling through all my colour threads - every colour of the rainbow and grades of every shade but alas not the green I wanted. So for me Friday night sew-in turned into Saturday morning finish off after I called into the local sewing centre to get the thread which I might add took two of us to find just the right shade.

Anyway without any further ado here is my autumn tablerunner using the "tube" method which I enjoyed doing.

I can see more seasonal tablerunners - winter, spring and summer - being done using this method and a couple of cushion covers as well.

Baby business and other things

2010-04-05T17:17:00.004+10:00

One of the girls where I work is having a baby boy early June with the theme for the nursery being baby african animals. I saw this adorable fabric and put together a couple of items for her including baby burp cloths (thanks Gail for the idea), singlets, face washers and made one of those cute baskets from Pink Penguin.

I have also made a couple of hot pads to match the hand towels for my "giftie"
box.

Who do you see?

2010-03-28T07:56:00.003+11:00

This is amazing. Stare at the 4 dots in the middle of the face for 30 seconds then look at a plain wall for a couple of seconds and you will see a circle appear. Blink your eyes a couple of times and tell me what you see!!!!!!!!

Stars in my eyes

2010-03-20T16:00:00.002+11:00

Last night was Friday night sew-in for me again and I have been working on a couple of items over the last few weeks however I decided to work on my Star Quilt. It is great being able to set aside some designated sewing time without any interruptions.

I have now finished the blocks - a total of 12 - which you can see in the photo below.

I have just placed a few together to see how they look.

I am still deciding if I will put a plain border next followed by a border of blocks in the fabric used in the blocks or vice versa. Once I have the blocks sewn together I will make that decision then. I might be lucky enough to get that far over the Easter break.

All the best dressed ....

2010-03-15T18:13:00.003+11:00

bottles are wearing outfits in my house from now on !!!

The reason being that I am sick of the drops and rings being left behind on placemats and other surfaces. I saw this fabric a couple of months ago and knew that it would have a purpose one day and the day was yesterday. I did a quick google to search for a pattern but only came up with ones that had ties and I knew that the cellar master is not into tying up bibs on bottles so I drew up a pattern and I am pleased with the result. The covers just slip over the top of the bottle and catch any drips and spills before they reach the tablecloth or placemats.

Necessity is the mother of invention and I have to agree.

Here's cheers girls!!

Come in and welcome

2010-03-02T18:17:00.005+11:00

The challenge was put out there to put pictures of our sewing rooms on our blogs so the following are photos of mine - overflowing rubbish bin and all. Firstly let me explain my room to you.

I was lucky enough about 18 years ago to have this area purposely built for me and when my son was about 15 he asked if he could move out of the main house and into the cabin and in a weak moment I said yes thinking that the novelty would last about a month or two and he would move out - not so - I gained my room back 8 years later when he married and left home. So here we go

Sewing machine table with overflowing rubbish bin close by

Bits and pieces cupboard which holds patterns, old sewing machine, magazines, laces, buttons, rulers, buttons and all other oddities. You can see the ironing board just on the side.

No lounging around here you cannot even get close to sit down and even if you did you have to share with fabric.

Half finished top for me.

You can see my star shaped quilt starting to happen

Crates of fabric stacked up and under the cutting table. If you look carefully you can also see some more pot holders in progress.

Thank you for taking the time to join me in my sewing room. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed having you here.

Stash building

2010-03-01T17:42:00.003+11:00

When I was looking through my stash a couple of weeks ago I found that there was a lack of "blenders" so I went off to Aussie Patches sale on the weekend and bought the fabrics below as well as cutting blades which I use quite a few of.

Finally to make it to the cutting table is fabric that I have had for quite a while. It is a pattern that I am more or less winging it as I go. I saw a picture of something similar on the internet and tried to work it out. Hopefully it will end up like what I envisage! By the way that is my new cutting mat that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

The final photo is a couple of towel toppers with matching pot holders. I thought I would go back and make matching pot holders for the towel toppers that I have already made for my "giftie box".

I am taking up the challenge to post piccies of my sewing room on my blog. I will do that within a day or two when I get some spare time after work. Stay tuned.

...To this

2010-02-20T06:59:00.002+11:00

Well I did it. Here is the bag I was working on last night during Friday night sew-in. I had another order for a baby bag for a girl and I found it was just the right thing to do for night sewing - even though my sewing room is well lit I find it hard to sew dark colours of a night.

It was very peaceful sewing late into the night - no phones ringing, no stopping to get meals or coffee - just me and my machine. I am hoping that will be on again next month.

I am looking forward to seeing what others have achieved during their Friday night sew-in.

From this .....

2010-02-19T17:33:00.003+11:00

Tonight is my first Friday night sew-in and I will be ready in about 2 hours to start. I see that about 180 have put their name down to take part tonight and I have been doing some blog hopping over the past couple of days and I think that most of those involved are in the northern hemisphere which makes me being a "downunder" one of the first to make a start.

After dinner, which is a "heat & eat" in other words left-overs and the kitchen is tidy, I will get into something more comfy and cool as it is another warm night here - not like what I have been seeing on many blogs - SNOW - and lots of it!!!

Anyway the photo of the fabric above is what I am using tonight. I have already made a start - the cutting out - so I will see how far I go getting it finished.
Pop back sometime tomorrow and I will have a piccie of the result - hopefully.

I had better go and get organised and to all those taking part tonight enjoy and have fun. You will most probably be sewing when I am sleeping. I look forward to seeing what everyone is doing. There is some lovely work on those blogs.

Friday sew in

2010-01-24T17:29:00.001+11:00

I have just joined in "Friday sew-in" on 19th February which entails getting everything organised and me in my "jammies" sewing along with other like minded people in their "jammies" each in our own sewing rooms.

What a great way to keep on top of projects and at some point on Saturday we put up piccies on our blogs of our effort/s. I do not belong to a quilting group but this will feel like I do. Now all I have to do is forget the "braindead" Friday night feeling I usually suffer from after working all week and get stuck straight into it after dinner. Note to self - no wine on Friday night - it can be my AFD or perhaps I should and I would be game to try stippling when I am feeling relaxed. The mere mention of the word I break into a "sweat".

I am looking forward to my first Friday night sew-in and have just the project in mind. I have another order for a baby bag. I will post piccies on Saturday 20th.

What's in the box?

2010-01-01T06:46:00.000+11:00

Firstly let me wish you all a very happy, safe and creative 2010.

I usually do not make New Year's resolutions simply because I break each and every one of them by the end of the first week but I did read a good suggestion on the craft forum about getting ahead with some "gifties" and thought that this is a goer. I think I can uphold this resolution for more than a week - hopefully. Hence the box.

Ready to peak inside

Let me give you a closer look

I find that these items make great "extra" gifts to add in, they are quick to make up and use some of those ever increasing scraps lying around my sewing room.

I know that the box is looking rather empty but if I can keep up this new resolution I hope to have it full by Christmas 2010 provided I do not raid it too much during the year.

I will let you know when the next lot of "gifties" is ready for public display.

In the meantime happy sewing.

2009-12-19T11:16:00.000+11:00

I am feeling very proud of myself with 7 days to go before Christmas Day and I seeing as I am working up to the 23rd December I thought I should get the tables set for Christmas lunch today and avoid the last minute rush on the big day.

For those who have been reading my earlier posts you can see the end result of the BOM placemats.

I most probably won't get time to do another update on my blog before Christmas so I will wish everyone a very happy and safe Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

2009-12-06T18:13:00.000+11:00

I have been "playing" alongside the ladies of the Craft forum and making the mystery block of the month. I decided to use Christmas fabrics and make some new placemats for Christmas Day and this is the result.

I had to call for help on doing the binding and again the lovely ladies of the forum came to my rescue. It makes a difference when you are given the right advice and I am happy the way they turned out.

2009-11-29T12:54:00.000+11:00

If you want to know how to waste 2 hours on a Saturday morning just look below.

The annual ritual of putting up the Christmas tree always seems to involve the lights that were taken down last year and put away oh so carefully somehow becoming a tangled mess. One of lifes mysteries - up there with lost socks, keys and faxes!!

Anyway this job of putting the lights on the Christmas tree always falls to the male of the house (and the putting away of them - may account for the tangles!!!!) and after much sweat, a few expletives during a 2 hour period and getting into an even bigger mess - which now lives in the garbage bin - we are now the proud owners of 150coloured flashing lights.

Stay tuned for next year's Christmas tree light report!!!!!

2009-11-29T10:33:00.000+11:00

Santa came early to my house as you can see by the photo below.

I just mentioned to dh a couple of weeks ago that my current sewing machine is not performing as well as it should be and I will just start having a "look see" what is around. I do not need to buy one just yet but will have a look to see what is available and how much they are.

Whilst driving between A and B we happened to pass the local sewing centre and I asked dh to stop the car while I just had a quick look. It must have been my lucky day as Janome were having a Christmas special apparently usually $1,200 down to $599 complete with sewing table, walking and 1/4" foot and $20 cashback.

Well want could I do but order one. The whole process took 10 minutes from walking in the door, having a demo and departing with my deposit.

Well I have had a steep learning curve over the last week. Everything is completely different from my old Elna but I love it even though I am still reaching around the back to lift the lever and going to the side to reverse. Old habits die hard!!

Must go and have a play with my new toy.

2009-11-15T17:06:00.000+11:00

I am not long home from a lovely day meeting up with two ladies from the Craft forum of which I have been a member of for the last few years.

Ronnie has been travelling around in her caravan with her "girls" - two lovely poodles. She left Victoria several months ago and hopes to be back home just before Christmas and has been calling in to catch up with as many of the forum members as her travels have permitted and today was one the days she was in Sydney.

Jo the other member of the forum kindly offered Ronnie a bed at her house for the last two nights and we all meet up in the City today.

As you can see by the photo below we found our way into the Botanical gardens for morning tea.

On our way back to the Rocks we wandered through the Gardens via Government House where a kind person offered to take a photo of the 3 of us together. Little did he know that he would have 3 cameras thrust at him! Poor man he did not complain.

Jo on the left, me in the middle and Ronnie on the right.

Ronnie leaves Sydney tomorrow on her way South to meet up Gail and hopefully other members of the forum.

Safe travelling Ronnie and enjoy the rest of your journey.

2009-10-18T16:20:00.000+11:00

I found my way to the Spotty sale last week and feel in love with the fabrics above. I especially love the can can dancers but then again the domestic goddess print is cute as well. They were all marked down and with 20% off on top of that what could a girl do - make a choice - I do not think so!!!

I was told there is another co-ordinating fabric that goes with the can can dancers so I will keep a look out for it.

I also grabbed machine needles, threads and a new blade for my rotary cutter and having a gift voucher to spend I was in 7th heaven even though it took 50 minutes to be served!

I finished off the "sea theme" quilt today and quite pleased with the result. I hope the quilt police do not look too closely at it as I machined the binding down instead of hand sewing. Naughty naughty!!!

Next project to finish off is my Christmas placemats. So far I have 6 blocks finished and I am aiming to have them quilted and bound by the middle of next month. I need a total of 9 altogether - I should have them all finished by Christmas. I also have a cushion cover to make but I will use the fabric as the feature so that will go together quickly.

2009-10-11T17:50:00.000+11:00

There I was getting ready for work on Friday morning and happened to look out the bedroom window and the two below were happily making their way around the back of the house. I saw them wandering around the park the day before however they obviously needed to explore further afield. After a couple of pecks in the garden they about turned and marched off again. They must reside in the wetlands across the road.

Yesterday was back to winter again, cold wet and miserable so what better than to catch up on the September BOM which I had fallen behind with. I had run out of the green fabric that I was using but found a similar fabric which is a close match.

Now onto the October BOM. I will need to do a little adjusting on this one as I am using 3 colours as my theme.

2009-10-07T06:56:00.000+11:00

I have been at it again - making another bag. A friend saw my tote bag and asked if I could make one for her with the "specs" of blue and green and pretty fabric. Here is the end result. She loved it and I was pleased - so we were both happy.

I just love this mug that I was given as part of my birthday present from DS and DIL. Most appropriate as I sit and knit squares for Wrap with Love and sip my coffee. It even works well when I am sewing and sipping!

2009-10-05T10:10:00.000+11:00

DH and I have just returned from a weekend away at Blackheath with 15 others. We all knew each other over 30 years ago and for some over 40 years ago. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the weather - well what can I say - it was typical winter weather. Funny thing this weekend was chosen as we thought the weather would be "spring like". Anyway what can you do and really it did not stop us doing a great deal. Everyone had waterproof coats and brollies. So off we set. A couple of the photos below show just how foggy it was.

I hope this cable knows where it is going!!!

Getting closer to the valley floor.

At the other end of that cable is a boardwalk which passes by the old Katoomba coal mine. Real rainforest vegetation and the rain to go with it. However vision was good at this level.

This lovely old tree was in the grounds of the resort where we stayed and the second photo is taken from the dining room of the birdlife being fed at breakfast time.

One of the guys insisted that we go and see the view from his favourite lookout

By this time the wind was whipping the rain up and blowing it everywhere however it did not stop him and his partner from undertaking one of the mountain walks around the cliff edge with a duration of approx 1 hour. They may never been seen again!!

The rest of us piled into our cars and headed off to Leura for some retail therapy and a meal to finish off the day with.

2009-09-23T17:50:00.000+10:00

The photos above were taken at 6 am on Wednesday morning as Sydneysiders woke up to the worst duststorm in 70 years with the highest recording of pollution ever. The sky was a horrible orangy-red colour with fine grit getting into everything, stinging eyes and causing everyone to choke and splutter. The air has now cleared but everything is coated in red grit.

2009-09-13T17:32:00.000+10:00

I have taken the last week off work and had just the best weather and time and I still have 1 more day to go before returning on Tuesday. We are planning a day at Manly tomorrow then followed by a trip to "Spotty" - DS and DIL gave me a gift voucher for my birthday and with the $10 voucher I received from Spotty last week I will have a spend up.

Talking of Spotty brings me to thinking about sewing which in turn reminds me of flying geese. I just had to take this photo the other day when we were at Bobbin Head. Isn't this the best flying geese you have ever seen!!! I know - a toilet but this must be the best one around.

Once we had attended to the coffee and call of nature DH and I set off on a boardwalk along the waters edge which would have ended up at Wahroongah 2 hours later. Not feeling that energetic we enjoyed the sights on offer and managed to see some of the wildlife as we took our time and "drank" in the peace and quiet.

This cute rock wallaby allowed me to get quite close to him whilst he was having his lunch.

On our way home we turned into McCarrs Creek Road and ended up at West Head. After driving through what seemed endless scrub the view is something else. If you look closely you can see a rather large "lizard" sunning himself on a rock. What a view he has every morning.

Well the champagne cork popped the other night as I finished my oriental quilt. I had given myself a challenge to finish it sometime in September and I did. It is very hard to photograph on the bed so I borrowed 2 tall people today and had them hold it up. The photo does not do justice to the colours but you can at least see the pattern and effect in the photo below.

The next photo is on the bed and the one underneath is of the backing fabric which I feels goes in well with the oriental theme.

Today was the first morning DH and I started back our morning regime at the beach. Now that the mornings are getting brighter and warmer it is not too difficult to get out of bed at 5.30am. It is the best time of the day for the beach before the seabreeze gets up and too many people around. It is a lovely way to start the day. I was very brave and put my toe in and DH was completely mad and took the plunge! It needs to warm up a whole lot more before I venture in.

My next quilt is well underway with another one on the drawing board. More on those later.

2009-08-24T06:25:00.000+10:00

DH and Iwere in Berrima last Sunday and saw these lovely blossoms trees while meandering around the lovely quaint shopping village - via the patchwork shop of course!

It really does feel like Spring has Sprung with the smell of jasmine in the air, the azaleas just about to break into flower, the air warming up and shedding some of the layers of winter clothing!

The following is a photo of the current BOM and in keeping with my theme of using 3Christmas fabrics I am pleased with the result. I am looking forward to the annoucement of next month's block. Before too much time gets away I am going to start putting each placemat together as I do not want to have a great rush the week before Christmas trying to finish them off.

I found this fabric a while ago which should be perfect for the backing of the sea theme quilt- also come to a standstill like the oriental quilt. Maybe next weekend I will find some time to sew.

I did however find time over the weekend to pre-wash the next lot of fabric for a quilt using muted autumn tones. It is done with 5" blocks and has 9 white blocks with the block adjoining each of the four sides of the white block forming a star. It looks very effective in the photo I have of it.

I am looking forward to finishing off the other two before I start on this one. Then of course there are the Christmas placemats somewhere in that mix and during the week one the lovely ladies from the Craft forum very kindly sent me a pattern to make the cutest mice and I can see them looking good in the scraps left over from the placemats.

2009-08-09T16:32:00.000+10:00

DS celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday with a party themed on "come dressed as someone you wanted to be when you grew up"

DH always wanted to be a teacher, and did, hence his outfit in the photo below and I went dressed as "I wanna be teachers pet". As you can see I am standing on my tiptoes to give "teach" a peck on the cheek and then give him an apple.

Some of the other outfits were quite amazing and fun - a transformer complete with laser gun, wrestler, Audrey Hepburn with her breakfast at Tiffanys outfit, horseriders, mad scientist, gymnasist, magician, airline pilot (birthday boy) and doctor to name but a few. A fun night was had by all.

After seeing that photo I have made a mental note to myself not to ever wear a gathered skirt again. Not very flattering around the hip area.

Sadly I have to say that not much progress was made on the sewing front again this weekend. I only managed to sew the backing together for my oriental quilt. I did put a deadline of September for completion and hopefully I will still be on track - well maybe if I extend it out to the end of September!

2009-07-26T17:20:00.000+10:00

The weather over the weekend was very conducive to sewing. Whilst it was lovely and sunny yesterday the air was cool and today was just one of those grey, cold, bleak winter days - what better than to lock myself in my sewing room and sew after hubby and I treated ourselves to breakfast at Manly then did a bit of retail therapy on the way home.

I managed to get the top sewn together on the "sea theme quilt". These fabrics remind me of seashells and sand, ripples in the water, white caped waves and clumping seaweed with the border bringing all those themes & colours together.

I also finished off my third mystery BOM and looking forward to the next one. I found this one went together much easier than the last one.

I am tossing around some ideas for another quilt. I have a few fabrics that go together well however I am off to Aussie Patches and the Craft Depot on Saturday and will take those fabrics with me just in case I see something else.

More on that as time goes by.

My son is having his 30th birthday party in a couple of weeks time and the theme is dress up as someone you wanted to be when you grew up. Well what I wanted to be was to work in an office, which is what I do, however that is very boring when it comes to fancy dress. I also found the time to whip up my "costume" today. Cannot say too much on that as my dil sometimes pops in here. All will be revealed after the party.

2009-07-22T19:34:00.000+10:00

I cannot believe that it has been soooooooooo long since I updated my blog! What have I been doing.

I have managed to sew all the blocks together for my oriental quilt and sewn the boarder on. All I have left to do now is the backing (which is cut) and waiting to be ironed, sewn together and then the mammoth job of pinning all three layers together, the quilting and the binding. Here is a photo of my progress. I am a little disappointed in the colours as it was a very sunny day when I took photo.

I have also finished making my second mystery BOM - which caused me some grief - however I am pleased with the end result. I have cut out the third BOM but it is still waiting to be put together. Maybe this weekend.

I also have another quilt on the go at the moment using the colours of the sea - shades of blues and greens. If it turns out as I expect this maybe my first Christmas present. Time will tell or perhaps will make a nice comfy bed for the cat if it does not turn out as I expect. It is cut out and waiting to be sewn up. I hope to make a start this weekend. I need a long weekend by the sound of all I have lined up!

2009-06-07T08:48:00.000+10:00

I have taken this week off work for a break. I cannot believe that I have been at this job for 12 months! Where has the year gone? We have covered quite a variety of areas during the week including the Southern Highlands which is a favourite area of ours and only 2 hours from our front door.

This is a lovely old pub and a great spot for lunch - it is very conveniently located right across the road from one of the prettiest patchwork shops around. A good place to spend sometime especially when it is cold and drizzly outside as it was when we were there. Typical Southern Highland winter weather.

We also became "tourists" in our own city and caught the rivercat to Abbotsford for lunch at the Sydney Rowing Club. A must to put on the "to do list" again.

Some much photographed icons of Sydney but I never tire of looking at them.

We then set off the the Blue Mountains rugged up with coats, scarves and gloves. A must especially up towards Blackheath where there always seems to be a cold wind blowing. The air is definitely much clearer and crisper than in Sydney especially along the coast where we have very high humidity for most of the year. This photo is taken looking across one of the many valleys that make up the Blue Mountains.

I also had to do some stash building whilst popping in and out of all these delightful patchwork shops found in country areas. The bottom row of fabric is for my next quilt that I am planning with a sea theme. I love these blues and greens and with the white they should make a good contrast. I managed to also find some backing fabric (not pictured) which will fit in nicely with the other fabrics.

The top row of fabric is because I liked them - especially the end one with blue sheep. What better thing than to have sheep on a quilt!

I have also found time to work on the oriental quilt and pleased with the progess. I now have all the rows stitched together with the next step being to cut and stitch the borders. I hope to get this done tomorrow.

I have set myself a challenge to have this quilt completed before September which is when I take another week off work. I will keep you posted on my progress. I also have to do my second block for the mystery BOM which I am working alongside other craft forum members.

2009-05-10T15:27:00.000+10:00

I am feeling very spoilt indeed - as you can see below I was given a gorgeous bundle of fat quarters from my ds and dil for Mothers Day and the card just fits in with the theme. I think I will just have to savour them for a bit before cutting into them.

2009-05-09T18:07:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday morning I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at the Eastwood Patchwork Quilters exhibition held at Brush Farm House Ryde. As you can see from the photo below this lovely old house certainly lends itself to a quilt exhibition. There were over 100 quilts to look at and be inspired by.

The ladies on the craft forum are doing a mystery BOM and have been paired up to swap blocks for a period of 9 or 12 months depending on the size of the quilt they chose to go with. I decided to just "plod" along at my own pace and join in each month challenging myself. For my theme and fabric I decided that I needed new Christmas placemats hence the choice of Christmas fabric seen below.

This month's block is the pinwheel. Below is a photo of my block which I worked on today. I am looking forward to the announcement of next month's block.

I think I need another 24 hours in each day just to get through my reading pile that is piling up in the spare bedroom. I am currently reading "Dear Fatty" by Dawn French and I think that my next book will have to be James Herriott but then again? Underneath that pile of books lurks a pile of quilting magazines that are just waiting to be studied for inspiration!

I hope all mothers enjoy their special day tomorrow.

2009-04-19T14:17:00.000+10:00

Of a night time in front of TV instead of sitting there and dozing off as I have done in the past I now keep myself awake by knitting and crocheting squares to be sewn up as blankets for Wrap with Love. The fabric wraps are made from leftover fabric given to me mainly by my mother and a friend. I usually use either fleecy or flannette as backing fabric. They are made to the same dimensions of the knitted rugs - 7 squares down and 4 squares across.

Of course I just had to do a bit of stash building again this weekend. I remembered during the week that there were a few pieces that I did not get last weekend and just "had" to go back for them and of course spotted one or two more and at $1 and $2per metre how could I leave them behind! I like the end one for its novelty value of cocktail glasses, cheese and crackers and olives - placemats perhaps.

This kookaburra is a frequent visitor to our garden and takes advantage of the clothesline to sit on and survey the backgarden for "edibles". I just caught him about the have his lunch. He is not at all shy and was quite happy allowing me to take his photo.

2009-04-13T14:20:00.000+10:00

I hope everyone has had a safe and happy Easter as we did. Whilst we opted to stay home (as we always do at Easter and any other short break) we took ourselves off to the Blue Mountains on Saturday (and so did everyone else!) The main reason for visiting was to enjoy autumn in the Mountains - which has not arrived as yet - however we did see some lovely autumn colour at Mt Wilson.

Mt Wilson is a pretty little place full of lovely country meandering lanes and quaint cottages. I just love this little church.

What is beyond the gate?

On most weekends - especially autumn and spring the property owners open up their spectacular gardens to the public. As you can see the leaves have not "changed" much this year so far however whatever season you visit Mt Wilson there is always a lovely serene country charm about it.

Of course I had to do a bit of stash building over the Easter break - not that I needed anything in particular but you never know when you just need "that" piece.

I particularly like the end piece with the grapes, bottles and glasses of wine. I have been looking for something like this for sometime and snapped it up in one of the lovely little patchwork shops in the Mountains. The rest I was lucky enough to grab at the "Spotty" sale for $3/$5 per metre.

And this lot just because I liked them.

2009-04-05T10:48:00.000+10:00

I managed to find a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to spend on the oriental quilt. I managed to sew two rows of blocks (5 in each row) together which now gives me a total of 3 rows. I am thinking of doing a part "quilt as you go" . I come up with these ideas in the early hours of the morning and my thoughts are to join up the blocks as I have done in the rows already below and then do the "quilt as you go" in rows instead of individual blocks. I will have to give this some serious thought before I get too much further along.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has tackled something similar and if it was a success or failure. As I think the process through I cannot see a great problem but then again!!!!!!!

The photo below is taken looking across the bed

A close-up of the rows

This photo gives a better idea of the pattern and fabrics.

2009-03-29T15:19:00.000+11:00

During the week I decided that this weekend would be "an at home" weekend to catch up on a few things that needed to be done like baking a couple of batches of cookies, sewing, planting some herbs and just enjoying our local area. All of which I am pleased to say happened!!

It is not often that I take my camera to the beach but seeing as it was such a glorious morning and lowtide off I set. Not only did I get some lovely photos of the sunrise but I was also lucky to catch a pod of dolphins playing just off shore.

A hopeful pelican waiting patiently for breakfast from a fisherman

Sun shining through clouds just on the horizen

If you look to the middle of the screen just behind the line of breakers you can see three dolphin dorsel fins just out of the water. I counted aproximately 12 or so dolphins gracefully swimming along and playing for quite sometime.

Lucky for me the tide was very low today and I was able to walk around the headland to the next beach and found this cave.

My footprints in the sand and ripples in the water

We are lucky enough to live in an area where we have wetlands virtually at our front door. This is a favourite walk of ours especially either early in the morning or just on dusk.

After giving the garden a hose the other day I noticed this spider web. I reminded me of the delicate crocheting that a great aunt of mine did many years ago.

This maidenhair fern is my pride and joy. I have learnt over many years and much expense that there is no such thing as an indoor plant. I have a few maidenhair ferns that I alternate - I give them a week in and then a week or two out in a part of the garden that has filtered sunlight but able to benefit from any rain. The other ferns are pretty but this one I am very proud of.

Today is National Neighbours Day and our lovely neighbour next door has invited us in for "drinks and nibbles" around 6 tonight. So all in all I have had a great weekend and hope you all have to.

2009-03-15T15:47:00.000+11:00

Hello again. I have sadly neglected my blog over the last few weeks - not due to lack of interest but the usual excuse - lack of time. A very good friend of mine knows my obsession with fabric and last week this piece arrived in my letterbox. I will have to come up with a very special project for this one however in the meantime I will just enjoy looking at it and handling it.

I have had a few trips to "Spottie" over the last couple of weeks and of course you just cannot come out emptyhanded. Just as well I picked up these couple of pieces as I had a phone call from a friend a couple of weeks ago for two more "boy" baby bags.

Below you can see a photo of the two bags which I finished off this weekend. I just love the nursery rhyme fabric.

Unfortunately I have not had time to spend on my oriental quilt. Hopefully I can spend a day or two over Easter on it and make some headway.

2009-02-21T16:42:00.000+11:00

Around to the weekend again. The weeks just seem to be flying by - almost the second month of the year has gone.

Now that I have finished my "mini projects" which are shown in previous posts I have picked up my oriental quilt again. Today I have made some progress and sewn the blocks for the first row together. Tomorrow I need to cut some more of the black sashings that go between the blocks before I can proceed with anymore sewing. If I can get the rest of the sashing cut tomorrow hopefully I can get another row or two sewn together next weekend.

I went shopping this morning and bought a couple of 55 litre storage bins. Added to the other storage bins I can now get some sort of order into my stash and I even have a little room left to add to few more pieces of fabric when I next go shopping.

Whilst I was sorting out my fabric I thought I might as well photograph it.

Food for thought

Fantasy

Tea for Two

Fun fabrics

Oriental flavours

Florals

Sewing Notions

Country cousins

Christmas

FQ'S

I was feeling a bit lazy by the time I got to photographing my collection of fq's and so I just pulled out the drawer holding them and clicked once instead of doing the sorting bit.

Now that I have had a look at the fabrics in "categories" I can see some areas that need to be improved in such as fantasy, country, sewing and Christmas. I will work on these when I next go shopping and report in!

2009-02-18T07:13:00.000+11:00

Here is another example of fabric waving to me as I walk by. Very good friends of ours have just bought a caravan and are planning on doing quite a bit of travelling around Australia over the coming years. The fabric just screamed their name out and now these placemats have pride of place in their caravan.

We wish them many happy trips around Australia following the "maps".

2009-02-15T11:24:00.000+11:00

I love fabric of all sorts and can be easily entertained by just walking around fabric shops however each time I am indulging in my entertainment pieces just start to wave to me and say here I am just what you have been looking for. As was the case with these cute chickens and their knitting needles. Now this had to be bought for my DIL who until about 18 months ago had not knitted and now she cannot put her needles down. Just what we needed in the family another "addict". I have my stash of fabric, hubby his CDs and books, DS with his DVD's, comics and other collectables and now wool and needles. I suppose it could be worse!!!!!!!!

Anyway these chickens just had to be made up into a knitting roll of which I did not have a pattern for but by "googling" in knitting roll I found what I thought would be a suitable pattern with various size spaces for needles of varying lengths, circular needles and a tape measure.

2009-02-08T13:14:00.000+11:00

I have been very neglectful of my blog lately not due to lack of interest but a lack of time.

I have come to a standstill on the oriental quilt for the time being as I have stopped off to do a couple of smaller projects. The following is a photo of a tablerunner and matching placemats I made for a friend. She likes a things bright so I hope these fit the "bill"

Very bright - but I just love this fabric and hope my friend does as well.

When I am not sewing I do knitting of a night in front of TV. I knit squares for Wrap with Love and I then pass them onto a friend who sews them together. I do not like the sewing up process so we have a good arrangement going. Looking at this basket of wool - which is about half of the wool I have - I will be knitting for quite a few nights to come!

While the rest of the country is sweltering our garden is certainly enjoying the heat especially the hibiscus.

2009-01-25T07:02:00.000+11:00

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY

This week-end we are celebrating Australia Day and in true Australian fashion we are celebrating in the heat surrounded by bushfires. We will be having our traditional Australia Day BBQ as an inside/outside BBQ - cooked inside and eaten outside - due to a total fire ban on wood/coal using BBQ's. Sydney reached a maximum of just over 40 degrees yesterday and everyone - including us - went to the airconditioned shopping centres.

I am making good progress with the new quilt. I have now a total of 30 blocks all at some point of construction and I spent last weekend playing with them and getting them in the right position. Now that I am back at work sewing time is limited to the weekends. If time permits today I will get more of the black sashing cut and then perhaps I will get a chance to lay the blocks out again for a final fiddling. Once I am happy with the "look" I will then number them in readiness for sewing together.

I stopped work on the quilt last weekend to make a "mini" project but more about that later.

2009-01-16T06:20:00.000+11:00

Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his
grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said,
"My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion
and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied,
"The one you feed."

A friend of ours sent the above as an email to us and after reading it a couple of times I thought how true it is.

This is not a picture of a wolf but of my parent's very spoilt and much loved dog. He is 10 years old and goes everywhere with them. I think he is dad's shadow at times.

As you can see he has a very happy disposition but he can also be very "stubborn" at times when he wants his own way - which is quite often.

2009-01-14T18:31:00.001+11:00

I am thrilled that Clare from Clarescraftroom has nominated me as a recipient of an award.

Thank you so much Clare. Now all I have to do is find 5 other bloggers to nominate. Hmmmmmm I check into quite a few blogs daily - I know - so I will have to put my thinking cap on for nominations.

2009-01-13T17:50:00.000+11:00

I am making good progress with the new quilt however it will slow down considerably now that I am back at work with only the weekends to work on it as I do not like sewing of a night and besides there is no time frame to finish it so I will take my time and just "enjoy the journey". The next few photos show some of the fabrics that I am using and the various stages. Some of the ladies from the Craft forum may recognise a few of the fabrics as we have been involved in various fabric swaps over the years.

Stage 1 - cutting the fabrics

Stage 2 - putting the black sashing between the three blocks

Stage 3 - shows the black border around a completed block

Stage 4 - on the "wall". I have just put them onto "my wall" - the bed - in whatever stage they happened to be in and not in any order - as you can see I have only "completed" 1 - but I was anxious to see how they were coming together.

I think once I have put the borders around the blocks I will have enough. The fabric that I am using for the outside border - 6" border - is cream with a small allover gold pattern which will pick up the gold in the blocks. I will then put another 2" black border around that to pull it altogether.

2009-01-11T18:03:00.000+11:00

Now my blog would not be complete without a picture of these little baskets. One of the ladies from the Craft forum posted the link for these and most of the members made them. I ended up making three for Christmas - the first two to the pattern and the third one I made bigger all round proportionately. Some of the ladies made quite a few of them. They looked lovely when filled with the bits and pieces I put in them and the recipients loved them.

Well all good things must come to an end - so they say - and so it is back to work for me tomorrow. I have really enjoyed the time off and it has given me some "me time", time to catch up on reading and shopping. We also did a couple of day trips to the Southern Highlands and the Blue Mountains.

I have also made a good start on a new quilt. I was given a couple of quilting magazines for Christmas and found a quilt pattern that I just had to have. I have been wanting to make a quilt using oriental fabrics for sometime and here was the perfect one. I will be taking some progress photos and put them up soon.

2009-01-10T10:15:00.000+11:00

When our chiropractor was having a baby I wanted to give her something different from the usual jumpsuits, singlets and socks so it got me thinking about the nappy bags that I had over 25 years ago which were small, hard to access and no pockets. I put my "thinking cap" on and hopefully came up with a bag that would be pretty and practical. I did this one in yellow and white co-ordinating bug fabric which could be used for either a boy or girl.

I have since made 4 others using this pattern. Another yellow and white one for a work colleague and a friend of mine ordered a pink one for her niece. My mother also ordered a pink one and blue one for a couple of girls that she knows that are having babies.

As you can see from the photos they are a good size, easy to access and they have 2 pockets on the inside, 2 pockets on the outside and a pocket on each of the sides.

I love all of the prints but I think my favourite is the blue animal one but then again the pink is so sweet.

2009-01-09T06:42:00.000+11:00

I was going through some photos the other day and found these photos of my azaleas. Now these azaleas are all "wrong" according to the gardening experts - the wrong care - no care at all - and the wrong aspect however they have survived for over 30 years and just keeping on blooming and giving us and our neighbour a lovely show each year.

2009-01-08T06:17:00.000+11:00

With all this gorgeous fabric around me everywhere I go and wanting a break from doing quilts I decided that placemats would just fill that "need" to be doing something yet they can be done quickly and effectively.

I really enjoyed making these placemats which I made for a friend who loves the "shabby chic" colours. She is an older lady and has a couple of friends around for morning tea - I thought the theme would be most fitting for her. These placemats were machine appliqued.

The coffee theme ones are a "housewarming" gift for a friend. I relied on the fabric to be the focus for these ones.

I could not resist the fried egg fabric when I saw it and just had to have it. I teamed it with the chicken fabric and made these placemats for my DIL. I think of them as fun placemats - which came first the chicken or the egg?

My SIL likes all things tropical and "fishy" and these placemats were a big hit with her. Because her and BIL like to eat most of their meals on their patio I used thermal lining for the back of these. They were machine appliqued.

The next set I made for my next door neighbour as a Christmas gift. She loves to spend many hours in her kitchen baking and we often having the delicious fragrances from her kitchen wafting over the fence. Again I relied on the fabric to be the focus.

The next lot of placemats were for my mother. I machine appliqued the chickens and used the chicken fabric for the borders.

This lot is waiting for an owner.

Instead of having bon bons on the Christmas table I decided to make everyone - you guessed it - a placemat. I rolled them up like a bon bon, tied them with ribbon and put a nametag on each of them. I used the cat fabric for cat lovers and the cup of kindness fabric for the others.

2009-01-07T18:59:00.000+11:00

I think it is time for me to return to work. I have been on holidays since Christmas Eve and it has been a bit of an eat-a-thon ever since. Whilst we did not go away the last 2 weeks have just flown by. It has been nice not having to be anywhere at anytime although we have been out most days either sightseeing, shopping or meeting friends for lunch and the weather has been fairly good. Each morning we have been going to the beach very early. The photo below was taken at sunrise at our local beach and the second photo is the rock pool where we swim although most days I just go for a brisk walk along the beach for about 35-40 mins.

The weather just has to be "right" for me to get into the water!

2009-01-07T09:36:00.000+11:00

I love the bag pattern that I drew up at the quilting weekend and I use the bag all the time when I go shopping. It is a good size and holds my wallet, keys, bottle of water, sunnies, reading glasses, mobile phone and all the other bits and pieces. Best of all it is lightweight - before all the above has been added - and it is easy to find everything as it has 2 inside pockets and a smaller one on the outside.

I decided to make a couple for family and friends for Christmas gifts. The funky cat 1 was for my DIL.

The green fruit and floral was for a friend

The aqua and brown one for my SIL

And the red one was for my mother. I tried to pick fabrics that reflected their tastes and interests and they all told me they loved their personalised bags.

2009-01-06T13:46:00.000+11:00

Last June I was privileged to attend a quilting weekend as a guest of one of the ladies from the Craft forum. We arrived on the Friday afternoon and departed midday Sunday. It was an excellent venue and we had a great weekend of sewing, friendship, shopping and lots of eating - which we did not have to prepare.

The lodge is in the Blue Mountains and as you can see there was a very heavy fog that day which did not lift around that area.

Most of the ladies were working on beautiful quilts however I decided to go for something small and portable and drafted up and cut out a bag - the first of many using that pattern.

2009-01-06T13:32:00.000+11:00

This is the spoilt cat that shares my life and knee whenever I sit down outside - he is also a great "helper" when I am pottering in the garden as he likes to dig alongside me. He is sitting in the clothes dryer - of all places - I had finished drying off a load and just about to put the next lot in and this is what I found. He is now 14 years old and has a very timid nature. He is a handsome cat and he knows "it".

2009-01-05T08:54:00.000+11:00

I made this quilt for my mother for Mothers Day a couple of years ago and it is based on the cottage garden theme. Mum and dad have a lovely garden where they spend most of their waking hours either working in it or enjoying it with their dog. Again I appliqued this quilt as with the little hawaiian shirts. I love doing machine applique - I have not tackled hand applique as yet - something else to add to the "to do" list - maybe one day.

When I was making this quilt our very grand old cat of nearly 21 years died so I decided that he should be immortalised in the quilt - and of course you cannot have a cottage garden without a cat - so you can see him in the second block from the bottom on the lefthand side sitting ontop of the wheelbarrow.

I have added an actual photo of him and as you can see he sits very regally.

2009-01-05T06:27:00.000+11:00

This quilt came about by accident. I was making a shirt for hubby which went horribly wrong and as I hate wasting fabric I thought instead of having 1 hawaiian shirt he could have 42 little hawaiian shirts and so the quilt was "born". It is a good in between season quilt - not as heavy as our winter one and not as light as our summer one.

The first photo shows the back of the quilt which has a tropical flowers and birds on it which I think fits in very well with the hawaiian shirt theme.

2009-01-05T05:59:00.000+11:00

Good morning.

Firstly I should tell you a bit about myself. I am a "baby boomer" coming up for my 36th wedding anniversary later this month. I have lived in the Sydney region all my life - with no intention of ever moving. I have 2 adult children, 1 daughter in law and 1 very spoilt cat.

My interests are reading, pottering in my garden, knitting, retail therapy, eating out, movies, spending time with family and friends and of course sewing - which is my main hobby. I sew just about anything and everything - from quilts to my cat's beds and everything in between.

My next challenge is to put up photos of some of the things I have "created"

Aloha Karen

2009-01-04T16:25:00.000+11:00

Well I have finally joined the rest of the world and created a "blog".

All I have to do now is to keep it up to date and interesting.