What a lovely wedding!!

Well it's taken me a while to be able to write about it ... but Brooke's and Lewis' wedding was just beautiful!!! The boys looked very handsome in their kilts and I'm sure you'll agree Brooke was a gorgeous bride!! Tahlia (DD1) and the other bridesmaids were also a picture in blue :o) - here are Tahlia and Brooke at the reception - they've been friends for about 17 years, isn't that lovely :o). ... and I rather like this one of the two of us :o). I think Darryl and I scrubbed up pretty well for the occasion too ;o).

We had a lovely weekend and tomorrow will be Ross (DS) and Alicia's (DIL2b) wedding so I'm super-excited about that!!!

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday!!

The gorgeous Kris from Tagalong Teddies sent me a parcel of goodies!!! What a treat!!! Kris and I have shared some fun emails since 'meeting' in blogland and we did a little 'mini-swap' between ourselves since Kris didn't receive her parcel from the Secret Angel Swap.

Look at all the fabulous goodies she sent me!!!

The little bag is gorgeous, the stitching is so neat and even and the little cup and saucer on the stitchery has my name on it!!! Don't you also love my cute little heartshaped pocket - hmmm could they be Bronwyn Hayes stitcheries (???) yes, I think they are!! Kris knows I love her designs :o)!! I have different sorts of tea (mmm cinnamon, sounds yummy!!) and coffee (always a welcome pressy) and some Sharpie pens (Sharpies write on EVERYTHING I'm told!!) a lollipop (DD2 has her eye on that!!) a very pretty notebook and an adorable Chrissy Decoration with my name on it!!! Cool!!! Thank you so much Kris, you made my day!!!

As I mentioned before, we've got another big weekend ahead of us as my wonderful Son Ross' wedding is tomorrow!!!! I'm so looking forward to his and Alicia's big day I'll probably get no sleep at all tonight!!! They really are a perfect couple and I know they are going to be so happy together :o).

I'll be back real soon with piccies .............

So until then,

Three more!!

The girls have been busy!! Since last week Lyn (no blog) and Valerie (also no blog) have made more toiletries bags!!

The two at the front are Lyn's and the one at the back is Valerie's.

Free tutorial here :o).

Donation made :o)

I'm so happy to let you all know that I've made the donation to Red Cross!!!! Huge big thanks go to Kim from Honeysuckle Cottage as it was her very generous high bid that won the Diamonds and Braids kit.

Here's the receipt from Red Cross :o)Don't forget to keep supporting Handmade Help - there are still loads of items up for sale with donations going to various charities who are helping the people and animals involved in the Victorian Bushfires.

First Finish For February!!!

Hmmm, that heading is a bit of a mouthful with all those "f's" LOL.

Great news though ...... I've [finally] finished Brooke's quilt!!!! I think I mentioned this quilt in one of my first posts - yep, here it is here ;o) - Goodness, that was August 08!!! And look at that, there are the fabrics that I bought to start the Panda quilt!!! Eeeek!!! ....... It's (ha ha - "they've") been on the go for that long!!! Plus now I get to add it to my OPAM list :o).

Here's the back ....................My DD1 loves it, she says she'd like one like this too ... hmmm, maybe I should start on hers now he he he.
That's my gorgeous girl Tahlia (bridesmaid to be) on the right (direct from London - we're SO excited to have her home!!!) with Brooke (the bride to be) on the left - we went out for high tea for Brooke's bridal shower last Sunday.It was lovely, we went to "High Socie-tea" at Clayfield.

The china was soooo pretty - Royal Albert, and look at this ... sugar lumps!!!and the food was so yummy ...... would you believe this was between just 3 of us!!!??!!! And we pretty much demolished that too LOL ......... so delicious. And the best part ... what you couldn't eat they gave you a 'doggy box' to take it home. Might have been better if they'd told us that before hand then we might not have scoffed so much LOLOL.

We're really looking forward to the wedding, we get to stay at the Sunshine Coast for the weekend as it's too far to drive back after the wedding - so that means we get to spend a bit more time with DD1 and her boyfriend Luke as they only arrived from London last Sunday morning and they're going back in a couple of weeks. I went shopping yesterday and bought a new dress for the occasion - I also bought a new dress to wear to Ross (DS) & Alicia's (DIL2B) wedding the week after ;o).

Talk soon .......

Thank you :o)

Bidding has ended now for my Handmade Help/eBay auction to aid the Vic Bushfire Appeal. I'd like to thank all the people who bid on the kit when it was on eBay (before and after it was removed). I started the auction at $80 and I'm pleased to bits that it reached $135.00. Such a fabulous result. Thank you :o). Every cent will go to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
HUGE big thanks go to Kim who put in the highest bid - I'll be in touch for your snail mail address Kim :o).

Bidding ending soon!!!

Bidding will close soon on my auction to aid the Victorian Bushfires appeal. Please come and bid on my Diamonds and Braids kit .... click here for more information :o). Every cent bid will go to the Red Cross for the bushfire victims.

Winners at last ...

Okay, I know, I was supposed to let you know the winners of the Panda quilt patterns on Valentines day!!! I'm really sorry ... it's been soooo busy around here and it's been so hard to find a little bit of time to do a post on my blog!!! But here I am and first of all I'll tell you that the name I chose from all of those fabulous suggestions is "Pandamonium". That was a really popular choice among all of those who entered so that's why I chose it :o). So I'm going to send a pattern to Terry since she was the first one to suggest that name.

I won't keep you waiting any longer .... my DH was happy to help with the "old fashioned" style drawing names out of my little sewing basket .... He mussed them all up ...... and picked out 3 names .... and they are ......................................... YAY!!!! Congratulations to all the winners DiahRothman, Thimbleanna and Lynn S - and to Terry too for being clever and picking the name for the pattern :o). I'll email the winners later today to let them know about their win :o). Thank you all for entering - I'll be putting the "Pandemonium" pattern on my website in the next few days and it will be available for you to buy there if you'd like one. It will sell for $15.50AU plus postage.

I've got more to tell you but I have so much to do today and I'd better get a move on ...

Talk later ...............

Here we go again!!!!!

Okay, it's my Handmade Help auction take 2!!! My listing, like loads of others with proceeds going to Vic Bushfire Appeal or Red Cross etc., has been removed. No problem though ... I'm going to continue the auction here. The starting price is what it finished on ebay at ... $133.00, so if anyone would like to leave a bid please do it here by leaving a comment - or if you'd prefer to be anonymous you can email me at - joy(at)joypatch(dot)com and I will adjust the "highest bid" on the bottom of this post :o). Please note, I will need your email address so if you make a bid so please be sure its not 'anonymous' - No "anonymous" bids will be accepted.So here's the deal ..... you get the kit to make a "Diamonds and Braids" quilt-as-you-go quilt (61" x 63") , almost the same as the one pictured above, only the charm squares are slightly different. Included in the kit is a Moda "Laurel" jellyroll, 1 yard Moda "Oak Leaves and Reel"; 1 yard Moda "Simplicity"; 40 x 5" Moda "Laurel" charm squares and a "Diamonds and Braids" pattern by 'JoyPatch' (that's me :o)!!!). You will need to provide backing fabric and batting yourself.So come on Fellow bloggers .... every cent of the highest bid for this auction will go to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. Auction will run until 8pm Brisbane time Tuesday 17th February.

There are loads more items up for auction at Handmade Help - just click on the button on the top of my sidebar to see them :o)

First bid $135.00 received - Thank you :o)

A bit of stitching :o)

I got together with my friends Valerie and Lyn (no blogs) today and we did some stitching. They both wanted to make my toiletries bag so I thought I'd make another one too .... that's 5 I've made now LOL, but this one I'm going to keep, cos it's PINK!!!!! And I LOVE pink!!!!! I should have piccies of theirs to show you next week - they hadn't quite finished them when it was time to go home so I left them with their homework he he he.

I haven't forgotten that my giveaway finishes on Saturday!!!!! How exciting!!! You still have time to leave a comment here to win - I'll draw 3 winners and they'll each receive the pattern to make this cute Panda quilt (that's still looking for a name ;o)!!!!) ..........

I've had some fabulous suggestions for names for the quilt and I'll let you know what I've decided on when I announce the winners :o).

Also there's still plenty of time to get your bids in on my Ebay Auction to aid the Victorian bushfires appeal. The auction is for a kit to make my JoyPatch Diamonds and Braids quilt ..... almost the same as the one pictured above, only the charms squares are slightly different. Included in the kit is a Moda "Laurel" jellyroll, 1 yard Moda "Oak Leaves and Reel"; 1 yard Moda "Simplicity"; 40 x 5" Moda "Laurel" charm squares and a "Diamonds and Braids" pattern by JoyPatch. You will have to provide batting and backing fabric for yourself.

You can find the listing here :o). Every cent made on my auction will go to Red Cross for the bushfire victims.

That's all for now ... talk soon

Handmade Help for Victorian Bushfire Appeal

I really didn't think it would take long for blogland to come through with a way to raise funds for our Victorian neighbours who have lost so much in the bushfires. I'm so pleased to join in with Cindy and Gillian with their ebay and etsy auctions to raise money for these stricken families. Cindy has even started a special blog for just that reason!!You can click on that button or the one in my side bar and from there you can view all the auctions that are ongoing ... you can also check out the ones that have finished. Big thanks to Cindy and Gillian for doing this :o).

I have listed a kit for one of my JoyPatch patterns. It's a quilt-as-you-go pattern called "Diamonds and Braids". The kit is to make a quilt almost the same as the one pictured above, only the charms squares a slightly different. Included in the kit is a Moda "Laurel" jellyroll, 1 yard Moda "Oak Leaves and Reel"; 1 yard Moda "Simplicity"; 40 x 5" Moda "Laurel" charm squares and a "Diamonds and Braids" pattern by JoyPatch. You will have to provide batting and backing fabric for yourself. The auction is open to international bidders too, but postage is pretty exy to overseas from here so please keep that in mind when you bid. All proceeds from my auction will go to the Victorian Bushfire appeal. Please go and have a look and maybe bid on one of the items listed at Handmade Help.

Janet at Wildcraft Farm is also selling items with proceeds going to the bushfire appeal ... you can check her blog out here. Also check out Melly and Me's blog as they are running silent auctions. Karen at Mrs Martin's quilt shop is collecting blocks and quilt tops to be made into quilts for the fire victims so if you have something you'd like to donate you can click here. You can still donate $$$ to Red Cross directly by clicking here. Any way at all that you can help will be appreciated as so many have lost everything.

Talk soon ...............

Please help .........

No doubt everyone is aware of the devastating fires that are ravaging our southern state of Victoria. So many lives have been lost in this horrifying tragedy, not to mention the homes, animals and even entire towns. So many people, the 'firies' and volunteer services to mention a just some, are working tirelessly to try and take some kind of control over what would seem is an uncontrollable situation. God Bless them all. Right now these people need all the help that we can give. Red Cross has a site where you can give to the Victorian Bushfire appeal . Please take a moment and visit this site - every cent you can give will help out these people who have lost so much.
My heart is breaking for them all and my prayers are with them.

Oh Pretty Oh!!!

Look what came in the mail today!!!!!!

I have held them .............. ... and arranged them ......... ......and re-arranged them .............

They're just so pretty!!!

They're "Oh Cherry Oh" from Moda ....... I think they're Oh Yummy Oh :o)!!!!

Talk soon ................

Linus quilt & a Cat in a Bag!!

Yesterday a couple of my friends came over and we made another quilt top for the Linus group.We had managed to buy this cute dinosaur panel a little while ago and we found all our bright fabrics to make pinwheels. I think it turned out pretty good :o).

I couldn't resist showing you this piccy of Sophie ....... Whenever we leave a bag lying around she simply can't resist crawling in for a snooze ;o). In this pic she seems to have such a blissful look on her face ... she stayed in it for ages too. It was her birthday last week, she was 11!!!!!

I'm still plodding through the instructions on my Panda quilt he he .... I seem to have a million jobs on the go at the moment, but don't worry, it will be done very soon ;o). You still have time to win a pattern ... just leave a comment here to be in the draw :o).

Talk soon, until then ............

Well how about that!!!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I was reading the paper this morning ... right before my eyes in Brisbane's "Sunday Mail" today is this piccy..... isn't she absolutely adorable!!??!! So to Terry, who suggested "Pandamonium" and to Kris who suggested "Peek-a-boo Pandas" (see caption on photo) ... here's someone else who might agree with your choice of names!!! He he ... she's almost in the same pozzy as the one on my quilt!!!This is the gorgeous Mei Xiang, she's a 10 year old Panda at Washington Zoo who's been feeling a bit down since a shortage of bamboo, so a call was sent out to anyone who had bamboo to bring it in for her ... result, one much happier girl :o).

I've been working very hard on writing up the pattern and it's not far off being done, so if I get it finished in the next few days I'll draw the giveaway early ... but there's still time to get a comment in here to win a pattern for this quilt :o). Just leave a comment on that post, maybe with a suggestion for a name for this quilt if you like just for fun, and I'll draw 3 winners very soon!!!

Talk soon ....................