Tuesday, March 31, 2009

No finish for March :o(

Ok, what's wrong with this picture??? If you said there's a border missing - then you'd be right.
What about this piccy, what's wrong here?? If you said that these pretty little hexies aren't stitched together ... you'd be right too.
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That's Ross and Alicia's quilt at the top, and I really wanted to be able to post it on my sidebar as my March finish. Alas, I've been messing around with other projects (like the hexies above), got totally off track, and as a result ... I have NO finishes for March!!!
I'm hanging my head ................................ [[[sigh]]]
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Next month that quilt will be on my OPAM list :o)!!!!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Need a "Quilter's Clock"

I can't remember whose blog I saw it on but I remember seeing a "Quilter's Clock" not so long ago. It tickled me at the time, but now I think I really need one LOL!!! For those of you who haven't seen it, the numbers aroud the clock don't just go up to 12 ... they go to 13 (or is it 14?? I don't remember!!). He he he, that's just what I need lately, an extra hour (or two) in the day - JUST for stitching ;o)!!!
This is all I've managed to get done in the last few days - it's almost finished ;o) ... It's a cute "Candlelight Creations" stitchery. It's actually meant to be for a writing folder, but I'm not sure what I'll actually use it for yet. I like to have some pretty stitcheries on hand that I can make into gifts for special friends, so it might just go into my "stitchery stash" :o).
Before I go I must share a pic of this fellow that I almost came face to face with when I went outside the other night. The web was absolutely enormous ... between my washing line and the fence ....... and the spider would have been about 7cm (nearly 3") from 'toe' to 'toe', and his body was about the size of the top half of my DHs thumb!!!!! Bear in mind that I wasn't going to get close enough to measure him, LOL, that's as close a guess as I can make hehehe. Let's just say he was HUGE!!!!! Now I'm not scared of snakes, I show them a healthy respect and get well out of their way. Rodents don't usually bother me too much either. But, this guy ....... yep, he definitely made me shriek!!! I'm NOT a fan of spiders!!!! So glad I put the light on before I ventured out, can you imagine having him crawling on you ........ eeeeeyooooo, [[shudder]].
Have a great Sunday!!!!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Big day out

I had such a fun day yesterday!! Who wouldn't love visiting a whole bunch of patchwork shops!!??!! I left at about 9am (to miss the traffic) and didn't get home until about 5pm!!! I headed straight up to the north coast to Mooloolaba and popped in to see the girls at the Sewing Basket on Brisbane Road. My timing was pretty good because when I arrived I walked in on a group of ladies doing a class for my '4x4 Tablerunner'!!! It was lovely to meet the them all :o). I also popped in to see Danielle and the girls at Caboolture Sewing Machine and Patchwork - I always have a laugh when I go in there :o). Danielle talked me into leaving my "Pandamonium" quilt for them to put on show in their store for a while.
Altogether I visited 9 patchwork stores ... and I was very well behaved (that's not to say I wasn't tempted to buy though ....) all I came home with was this super little book - It lists all the patchwork shops in Australia and I know it's going to come in very handy when we travel too, I don't have to miss one single shop along the way he he he. If you'd like one, I bought mine at Kimz Patchwork at Main Road, Warana Qld ... but there's also a website on the back where you can buy it direct. It's http://www.austpatchdir.netfirms.com/ - you can also get updates there too :o).
I think Sophie must have missed me while I was out all day ... this is what she did last night when I wasn't looking!!! I thought it was just quilts that she liked to hide under, but here she is under my (not yet finished) rag rug!!! I didn't have the heart to move her so I didn't get any more done on it at all last night.
Talk soon ...

Monday, March 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Son!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Ross' 24th birthday!!!
I find myself wondering where all the years went (??).
Happy Birthday Son ... love you to bits!!!!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

A little bit of this and a little bit of that ...

Well how excited was I to come home from our little holiday to find I'd won not 1, but 2 giveaways!!!! I was jumping about all over the place he he he. I won some gorgeous flannels from Jennifer at Sweet Liberty Grace I can't wait for those to arrive :o), I'll be sure to show you when they do :o). AND, I also won a gorgeous Moonshine Bow Bag pattern from Carole at Madness and Mess!!! It must have been my lucky weekend!!!


Okay, well nothing's actually finished so I won't be updating my OPAM list on the sidebar just yet ... but I'm working on it, I have been getting a bit of stitching (and other stuff) done since we got home from Sydney :o).

I've finally got the borders on this cute wallhanging that I started AGES ago. I love it - and all I need to do now is sandwich it and quilt it. Those little hexies are 3/4" sides - the pattern is "Rebel" by Angels in Disguise.
I've also been working hard on my other project that must only be shown in snippets just in case the recipients are reading this blog ;o) ... [[if so ... Hi Fleeshy and Flossy LOL!!!]]the more I work on this one the more I like it. The colours - aqua and brown - are just gorgeous together!!!!!
And lastly I'm still plodding away on this rag rug while watching tv at night ...it's about 30" in diameter now and I still have no idea where I'll put it when it's done LOL. But it's fun to make he he he.
Talk soon .....

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sydney Fun and Darryl's 50th!!!!

We had the best fun!!! We really did!!!

We spent the whole 5 days doing very touristy type things and it was fabulous ... see how excited we were to be on the plane :o) .......even though we had to get up at 4.15 a.m to catch an early flight!!Of course, by the time we finally reached our lovely hotel room I think the early wake-up call had caught up with at least one of us he he he!! We did manage to get out and do a bit of shopping as I needed new shoes for our most important adventure ... Unfortunately, due to me being a little excited (hmmm ... or should that read 'nervous'???) about our bridge climb I accidentally spilt a bit of coffee on my beloved ....such a tiny spot, you should've heard the fuss!!!!! This is how he thought he'd get me back!!! I'm too quick for him though tee hee!!!It was all worth it though ... here we are "on the top of the world" :o)!!! Well, it felt like that LOL. It was a truly fantastic experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who's visiting Sydney ... you really should do it :o). It was a most memorable way to celebrate Darryl's 50th birthday, and in fact, we've decided that for my 50th (in about 18 months time) we'll hopefully fly down again and do the climb at night!!! How fun!!!
We also found a great Italian Restaurant while we were down there - a very family friendly place to eat ... it's called Soprano's at Surrey Hills if you're ever in the area .... the food was to die for and the service was superb!! Darryl was quite chuffed to be given No. 1 buzzer for our meal - since it was his very important day ........ I might mention though that he was even more pleased with his dessert when it arrived ...... mmmmmm Tiramisu!!! I had one too ...... I won't even begin to guess how many Weight Watcher points were in them Sharon LOLOL - let's just say I'm paying for it now!!!!
Talk soon ....................


I almost forgot ........ I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all you lovely bloggers for the very positive comments you left on my last post about my new "do"!!! I was feeling a little bit insecure about it but after reading all of your kind words ... my confidence has soared!!! Thank you :o).

Thursday, March 12, 2009

My New "Do"

Ok, here it is ...... what do you think??????..................... it's VERY short!!!!!

Having a break.

This is where I hope my DH and I are on Monday - atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge!!! We're flying to Sydney tomorrow for a few days to celebrate DH turning the big 5-0 ... WOO HOO!!!!! For my last birthday in October last year we climbed the Story Bridge in Brisbane, but since this is such a big milestone in a person's life (... goodness, half a century!!!!) we thought we'd go for the 'big one' and climb one of our great nation's landmarks. I'm so excited!!! This is the first time in 20 years that Darryl and I have managed to escape alone for more than one night - and we'll have 5 whole days to do just as we please ...... bliss ;o)!!!

We did manage to get away on Sunday for a day out ... we took a lovely drive to Canungra where Darryl bought me these adorable salt and pepper shakers .... combining two things I just love - patchwork and chooks he he, aren't they cute??!!! Then up to Beechmont and Binna Burra. We hadn't intended to, but we went for a little walk in the bush at Binna Burra - it was just too pretty not to :o). Here's my DH being arty farty with his photography of this huge Strangler Fig. We'd have like to walk further but unfortunately I wasn't really dressed for hiking LOL!!!
I'm off to get a haircut this morning. I've decided it's time for a change, I've been wearing my hair pretty much the same way for about 10 years and I'm sick of it. Good or bad I'll post a piccy of it when I get home (eeek!).
Wish me luck ...................

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Stitching madly!!

I know I've been a bit 'absent' this past couple of weeks, I have been busy though. I'm still working on a project that I don't want to say too much about in case the recipients are reading this, but here's a little peak at the pretty fabrics .... I'm about half way done and I'm (desperately) hoping to get it finished next week. I'm going to be burning the midnight oil I'm sure LOL. It's quilt-as-you-go and one of my favourites to make - hopefully I can show you more very soon :o).

I've also been having a bit of a play with a new project ..... not a quilt this time ...... it's an old fashioned 'rag rug'. I love anything "oldy worldy" - I've often said I was born about 100 years too late LOL!!! I've been tearing up old sheets to make this and I'm quite enjoying it - there's something really therapeutic about the sound of ripping the sheets ...... it's a good anger buster LOLOL. It's a bit messy with all the loose threads, but I'm thinking once it's trimmed up it will look good :o). I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but I've always liked them (in fact anything from 'days gone by') and wanted to do one - so I'll worry about that out later LOL. Now I need to hunt through my linen cupboard for some contrasting colours. Unfortunately it's not that long since we painted the house so most of my old ones went as 'drop sheets' - grrr!!! Oh well, a trip to the local 'thrift shop' should fix my need. Once you get started it's easy to do and it's a good way to recycle old sheets and doonah covers. The ones I used were originally on my DD1's bed when she was tiny - she's 26 now!!! I knew they'd come in handy one day tee hee :o).
Here's one last pic, it's of my dear Sophie, doesn't she look cute??!!?! I couldn't resist her sleeping on my ironing board using my pin cushion as a pillow..... adorable :o) . Lucky she didn't poke herself in the eye - those pins look lethal!!!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The big day!!!

I would have had these piccies posted for you sooner but I've been having trouble downloading them onto my 'puter from the various places they came from!! I even had to get Luke to download them onto his Ipod to take back to UK cos I still can't get them onto a CD. Grrr!! Nevermind, it all seems to be working now so here's the big day.
I can't believe how perfect it all was ... my gorgeous, handsome, wonderful Son marrying his equally gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful bride. The sun shone down on them like a blessing from above. I don't think I've ever been so proud and happy in my life ....

Here are the happy couple exchanging vows - isn't that dress divine!!??! .....
and exchanging rings .....
And here's my brood all beaming. From the left that's Tahlia my DD1, Alicia's Brother Ben, Alicia DIL ;o), Ross DS, and Jess DD2 ...
And here I am with the newlyweds!!!
It truly was a fabulous day, lots of smiles and happy tears. The happy couple have flown off for their honeymoon at Port Douglas and Tahlia and Luke have flown back to UK so everything is getting pretty much back to normal already.
Me, well I'm stitching madly with a project I'd like to finish within the next couple of weeks .... more on that later ;o).
Talk soon ..............