Gorgeous flowering gum trees

I am not a fan of gum trees especially when they are in my yard as can be seen below.    We have a very old gum tree which attracts many major mitchell cockatoos.    Now if you live in Australia you will understand what I am saying.     Whilst they are an attractive bird to look at they are very destructive.   Some days we can have as many as 20 or so feeding in the tree.    I only caught one in the act yesterday

 And this is the mess that is made at ground level - we clean up around the same amount  like this most days.

Now comes the gorgeous flowering gum trees that my post is about.   On my way to work of a morning I walk pass these two trees and they are now in full flower.   I just had to take my camera with me yesterday and take a photo.   My favourite is the first one.

But then again the red in the one below is gorgeous also

I hope those pesky cockatoos do not find these lovely trees and end up stripping them.

I had to have one

I saw this cover for a cushion here http://www.quiltingboard.com/pictures-f5/folded-fabric-cushion-pillow-t153832.html  and I knew that I had to make one.   Having spent the last two weeks off work I found an afternoon to go to the website, work out what I needed to do, gather the fabrics and start cutting and sewing and this is my version.

I just love the look of the pleats and I know that I will be making a couple more to go into my "giftie box".  I have already picked out the fabrics for the next one.

Next time I blog I hope to have one or two more to show you.

In the meantime happy sewing.

Hello my name is....

Dolly and for the past 25 years I have lived in the very back of a cupboard in the owner of this blog's garage.       I was given to her when she was about  5 years old as a beautiful bride doll.  We can be seen in the picture below together.

She has been on holidays over the Christmas break and decided that it was time to do a big clean up of the garage.   Two piles were created - the keep pile and the throw away pile and I ended up on the top of the throw away pile.    I stayed there for a couple of days and then I was picked up and looked over.  It was decided that even though I was very dirty and my clothes had fallen off me I was to be taken and given a second chance.   I was not allowed into the bathroom because I was just too dirty as can be seen below.
 

So I was taken to the laundry and plunged into a bucket of lovely warm soapy water and given a good cleanup with up a facewasher - whilst I was soaking in the bucket along came another dolly and she was given the same treatment.   After we had both been scrubbed  we were taken out and wrapped up in a nice fluffy towel to dry off.   Here we are all nice and squeaky clean ready for some new clothes.  

After a couple of days we were both presented with a new dress each and underwear - don't we look pretty.

P.S We are both over 50 years old but I think that we have aged quite well.

2012 the year that was......

Kind to me.    On the work front I was able to successfully negotiate a 4 day working week.   This is a real bonus as I enjoy my three day weekends.   It gives me time to do what I need to do, what I want to do and other things as well.

On the personal side I celebrated   an "0" birthday this year with strict instructions to DH that under no circumstances was he to  give me a surprise party.   All that I wanted was a lunch with my family and he organised this splendidly.  

On the sewing/ quilting front I was elected to the position of secretary for my quilt group.    This entails producing a monthly newsletter which I enjoy gathering information for.   I  sometimes think that I spend far too much time trawling the internet and looking at other peoples blogs for ideas and articles.  Now what have I achieved in the sewing arena this year.    Perhaps not as much as I would have liked however having said that I did conquer my fear of foundation piecing earlier in the year but I still have two WIP's that need to be finished off using this method.   I did finish off a couple of snuggle quilts, tablerunners, tabletoppers, placemats and a few articles of clothing.  

Now it is around this time that everyone makes New Year's resolutions - in the past I usually find that I have made them only to break them  but there is one that I made a couple of years ago and that was to save all $5 notes that came my way and I am pleased to say that I am still doing that.    This year again I hope to mainly sew from my stash and only buy a piece or 2 or 3 or????  if I cannot match it from what I have and also to finish off the two WIP's spoken about earlier.    See how I go.  

This brings me to our very exclusive New Year's eve party which hubby and I host each year.    It is attended by us only - LOL - we treat ourselves to a nice "bottle of bubbles" along with some yummy cheeses, nibbles, choccies and fruit while we sit back and watch the fireworks in the comfort of our loungeroom.  

I hope that 2012 was a kind year to you also and that 2013 is a good one for us all.

Happy sewing and I hope to be back soon.

Our Three Christmases

We were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas 3 times in our family this year.      Firstly we celebrated with our extended family - a group of cousins of mine try to get together a couple of times each year at the Grand Hotel at Wentworth Falls and this year was no exception.    We have been meeting at the "Grand" for well over twenty years now.     It is a good meeting place as we come from all over the State - Sydney, Bathurst, Central Coast and south coast.    

 

Our second celebration was our family Christmas which was held early due to our son and daughter-in-law travelling  to Tamworth over the Christmas period.   As you can see Santa was very generous again  this year.   

We were lucky enough to score one of those boxes holding the most delectable truffles made by our DDIL.

And our third Christmas was on the real Christmas day celebrated at mum and dad's house.    I was lucky enough to be seated next to the prawns - what a pity that it is only mum and I that eat prawns. 

I was given some lovely gifts and amongst them were these quilting books and magazines.  Lots and lots of gorgeous quilts to add to my growing list.    

Next celebration is New Year's Eve.    We have the champers in the fridge chilling along with some yummy cheeses and nibbles to help bring in the new year.   

Happy sewing and see you all next year.  

Christmas in Sydney 2012

Hubby and I took ourselves into the city to see it all "dolled up" for  Christmas and we were not disappointed.    After getting off the bus  at Wynard and walking into the main part of the city we came across the tree in Martin  Place

Further on in the Pitt Street mall we saw lots of trees and bright lights as can be seen below

A walk through the Strand Arcade is always delightful  - to look at  the lovely shops and smell the aromas from all the coffee and chocolate shops.

                                                  

A must to visit when in Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building.  Santa sitting in his Crystal Cave

If you look  very closely at this photo below you can see "snow" falling around the magnificent tree.  

Wishing you and your families a happy and safe Christmas.   Happy sewing until next time.

Bits and pieces

It seems a long time since I have blogged and looking at the date of the last post it certainly is. What have I been doing in the interim? Firstly a tabletopper for Halloween. While Halloween is not celebrated much in Australia I did see this fabric with bats on it and thought that it would make a cute tabletopper.

Secondly a tablerunner for DS and DDIL for their new dining table. I like the fact that no matter which side of the table you sit on you see Christmas trees.  I found the tutorial to make the runner at the Missouri quilt company.   

Next were the tabletoppers below for 3 very good friends. I chose bright cute fabric as they all have grandchildren.

And last but not least is the set below which I made for my BIL and SIL. They both like the “beachy” look so I thought that the shell fabric would be appropriate for them.     I made a tabletopper along with hexagon shaped placemats for dinner plates, entrée plates and coasters.

I do have another tablerunner and matching placemats as a WIP but more on that later on.

Now that I am on holidays for the next couple of weeks I hope to get some more time to blog and sew.

Until next time happy sewing and I look forward to blog hopping and seeing what everyone has been up to.