Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Look at them! Look at them!

As the {self-appointed} promoter of the work of my talented quilting buddies I’d be falling down on the job if I didn’t show you some of the gorgeousness they’ve been creating lately.

Anne is making progress with “The French General’s Mistress”, a pattern by Australian designer and teacher Lyn Alchin, and I’m loving those clamshells (and admiring Anne’s patience).

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Robbie designed and made this fun cot quilt for her new grandson.

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Those elephants’ 3D ears really flapped when they heard that this little fellow was home from hospital, even before his original due date!

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Rae is our queen of fussy cutting, and these are her latest, to be added to a stunning quilt she’s making as she tries to use up her stash. Ha! As if that will ever happen.

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Lyn’s Sue Spargo woollen houses are so vibrant against that background.

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Janet’s reproduction sampler positively glows with those rich reds and cheddars. Well worth the handwork she put into making it.

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Sue’s Dresden Plates {work in progress} again show what a stunning effect a darker background can produce.

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Jean was hand quilting this fresh and simple little quilt she made up from a jelly roll – and I couldn’t help smile when I saw how her blouse co-ordinated with her quilt!

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15 abandoned sewing machines? Don’t worry, our St Mark’s Quilters were just taking a breather from making lots and lots of scrappy 12 inch blocks.

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We’re going to make them up into several bed sized quilts for victims of the recent bushfires and floods here in Australia.

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This is our pattern, from Amanda Jean Nyberg’s book Sunday Morning Quilts. Doesn’t it look bright and cheery?

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How could you feel any other way looking at all those creations. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – I have such talented friends!

Red rose Di

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

More February Photo a Day Snaps + It’s All About Me Blog Hop Day 2

I’m sticking with Fat Mum Slim’s Photo a Day Challenge, taking a photo every day and posting it on Instagram and Facebook, and posting a weekly digest on my blog.

Day 5 - Something you smelled

Day 5 – Something you smelled

Beautiful lilies in a vase on my hall table.

Day 6 - Soft

Day 6 – Soft

Shredded documents (I filled an entire wheelie bin when I cleaned out my filing cabinet!)

Day 7 - Your name

Day 7 – Your name

Little gold brooch I wore as a baby.

Day 8 - Something Orange

Day 8 – Something Orange

Fabric, of course!

Day 9 - Guilty Pleasure

Day 9 – Guilty pleasure

An ice cold gin and tonic in the garden on a summer evening - with my boy!

Day 10 - 3 o'clock

Day 10 – 3 o’clock (or thereabouts!)

Day 11 - Entrance

Day 11 – Entrance

The entrance to my backyard stables, just a few kilometres from the CBD. Unfortunately the horse has long since bolted Smile.

* * * * *

If you fancy a little chuckle you might enjoy visiting today’s blogs in the “It’s All About Me” Blog Hop while you enjoy a coffee.

Wednesday, February 20

Buzzing and Bumbling

Cherries Prairie Primitives

Kwilty Pleasures

Sew On And So Forth

Sew. Darn. Quilt.

A Stitch In Time

Doodling In My Mind

Moosestash Quilting

A Patchwork Life

Vickie at That Other Blog

Susie's World

Red rose Di

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Today “It’s All About Me”!

It’s the first day of what promises to be a hilarious blog hop, Madame Samm’s latest, with the delightful Marlene as our cheerleader.
Madame Samm’s sent our jolly band of bloggers an Amy Bradley applique pattern of a …(ahem)…’traditionally-built’ woman, with instructions to make it something of a self-portrait. I think we’re all in for a chuckle-filled week!
So here I go, diving in at the deep end, with not a soul to copy model my blog post on. (Deep breaths…)
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Let me tell you (not exactly all) about me…
So the first thing is that I find new experiences such as this extremely daunting. My heart’s been racing as the deadline approached and I wondered whether I was going to have my little project finished in time for the great reveal. But, as usual, the anticipation was far worse than the reality.
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I have grey hair. I used to be ‘blonde’, but who was I kidding? One day I decided I’d rather grow old disgracefully while just being myself. Life’s too short for root touch-ups!IMG_0782
My favourite colour is PINK. Bright, fuchsia, lollypop, shocking in-your-face PINK. Actually any shade will do, just as long as it’s PINK.
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I LOVE my red spectacle frames. They have the teensiest bit of blinginess. In fact I love them so much that when I needed to get new spectacles recently and my old frames were a little knocked about and scratched with age (a bit like me, really) I just bought a new version of my same old frames. How boring is that? The only thing that would make me love my frames better would be if they were PINK!
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I’d rather hand stitch my applique than attempt to keep to the lines as I feed it through a machine, so I worked all of this quirky Amy Bradley design by hand, apart from the borders. Of course I had my pins close at hand on my wrist, and Amy’s lovely clear instructions.
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For the first time I learnt, in Amy’s easy steps, how to fuse a second layer of white fabric onto the back of light coloured fabrics where patterns and threads might show through. IMG_0795
“Imagine FUTURE you”, said Madame Samm when she introduced this blog hop, but the thought of developing hind fat quarters like this Brunhilda is frankly scary. There was a heck of a lot of woman for me to outline-quilt around!
One thing about me that I doubt will ever change is my weakness for a certain family of techy toys.
IMG_0781I listen to audiobooks on my iPhone as I stitch, and snap and edit photos on it using cute apps that can create amazing effects. Then I post them on here as part of a Photo a Day Challenge. I keep in touch with friends, family and blogging buddies across the world by playing Words With Friends on my iPad. The music on my iPod  keeps me company too, and recently my joy was complete when I acquired an iMac.
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I even had a special case made for my iPhone from a photo of my Daisy a Day quilt.
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When it comes to products prefixed by that dear little “i” I just can’t get enough. You might say I’m a little biased!
Not too keen on the iRon though Winking smile.
* * * * *
How about a little giveaway? Just leave me a comment on this post to be in the draw for these goodies…
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A pair of quilter’s socks (PINK, of course!) and a little extra help with becoming FUTURE you – a bar of mud soap with minerals from the Dead Sea (I bought it on our pilgrimage to Israel last year).
For a second chance, become a Follower of my blog, then tell me you’ve done this (or tell me you already are a Follower) in a separate comment. Please be sure you’re not Anonymous or a no-reply blogger. I’d be sad if you won and I couldn’t reach you.
I’ll close comments on Friday 1st March and draw the winner.
* * * * *
Would you like to see how today’s nine other bloggers have created their self-portraits in fabric? Madame Samm has prizes for visiting all the blogs taking part in the It’s All About Me Blog Hop, around ten blogs each day, and for leaving lots of encouraging comments.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 19
Just Let Me Quilt
Sunshine Quilting
Karen at That Other Blog
Grammie Q
Gracie Oliver Arts
Marjorie's Busy Corner
SnippetsNScraps
Sowing Stitches
Pigtales and Quilts
Stitchin'ByThe Lake
Wednesday, February 20
Buzzing and Bumbling
Cherries Prairie Primitives
Kwilty Pleasures
Sew On And So Forth
Sew. Darn. Quilt.
A Stitch In Time
Doodling In My Mind
Moosestash Quilting
A Patchwork Life
Vickie at That Other Blog
Susie's World
Thursday, February 21
Kris Loves Fabric
The Quilting Alleycat
Cat Patches
Bumbleberry Stitches
Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts
In Stitches and Seams
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Quilting Unleashed
Rosemary at That Other Blog
Thimblemouse & Spouse
Sew Many Yarns
Friday, February 22
A Little Bit of Lorene
Life In The Scrapatch
Boston Bits
I Love Wool
Patchouli Moon Studio
As Sweet As Peaches
Just Quilt It
Grandmama's Stories
The Slow Quilter
Robin at That Other Blog
Scrapbook-ChickADoodle
Monday, February 25
Quilting Lines
Mountain Delights
Jane's Fabrics and Quilts
The Fuzzy Hat Quilter
Ramblings of an Empty Nester
NautiStitcher
Quilt Doodle Designs
Living Life
Freemotion By The River
The German Mom
Spoilt Dog Quilts
Tuesday, February 26
Pat Sloan's Blog
To Love Handmade
Feathered Nest Studio
Selina Quilts
Gypsy Dreamer Quilts
Sheila's Quilt World
Meadowbrook
13 Woodhouse Road
Zellerwear
Stitches of Love
Janice at That Other Blog
In The Sewing Basket
Wednesday, February 27
The Passions of Cliodana
QuiltMamas
Marathon Quilter
Marla's Crafts
Fiber Babble
Simple Sew
Sewn Seabees
Charlotte at That Other Blog
Nini's Patchwork
Charlotte's Creations
Ipiece2-Mary
My Spoolish Art
Thursday, February 28
Cherry Blossoms
Hill Valley Quilter
Dachsies With Moxie
I Like To QuiltBlog
Quilt Smiles
More Stars In Comanche
Tea Time Creations
Shedding the Wolf
Life, Quilts, and a Cat Too
Judy at That Other Blog
Madame Samm
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Red roseDi

Monday, February 18, 2013

So, what happened to the sheep?

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Back in December Di B, Helen and I helped out our neighbouring parish by knitting seven googly-eyed sheep for their Christmas outreach.

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Almost as much fun as the knitting was the photographic session we had before popping our sheep in a bag and delivering them to our friend Jane.

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We met up with Jane over coffee a few weeks ago, and she reported that these fat little fellows were a great hit. Where did they end up?

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Bo Peep looks as if she’s enjoyed a little too much Christmas cheer!

Around a dozen cafes and shops in the neighbourhood around St John’s agreed to display a sheep for the 10 days leading up to Christmas Eve.

   IMG_2160They gave their sheep names, and children did the rounds visiting the shops on the Messy Christmas Sheep Trail and compiling a list of names that they handed in at the church for some prizes. IMG_2158

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Finally, the sheep were all gathered in and took pride of place at the children’s Christmas Eve service.

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They were a great link between St John’s and the community as adults and children alike took ownership of “their” sheep!

* * *

buttonbiased4Please pop back tomorrow (Tuesday) for more fun when the It’s All About Me Blog Hop starts. It’ll be my turn on the first day, along with nine other lovely bloggers.

Here’s the entire schedule.

Tuesday, February 19
Just Let Me Quilt
Sunshine Quilting
Spoilt Dog Quilts
Karen at That Other Blog
Grammie Q
Gracie Oliver Arts
Marjorie's Busy Corner
SnippetsNScraps (that’s me!)
Sowing Stitches
Pigtales and Quilts


Wednesday, February 20
Buzzing and Bumbling
Cherries Prairie Primitives
Kwilty Pleasures
Sew On And So Forth
Sew. Darn. Quilt.
A Stitch In Time
Doodling In My Mind
Moosestash Quilting
A Patchwork Life
Vickie at That Other Blog
Susie's World


Thursday, February 21
Kris Loves Fabric
The Quilting Alleycat
Cat Patches
Bumbleberry Stitches
Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts
In Stitches and Seams
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Quilting Unleashed
Rosemary at That Other Blog
Thimblemouse & Spouse
Sew Many Yarns


Friday, February 22
A Little Bit of Lorene
Life In The Scrapatch
Boston Bits
I Love Wool
Patchouli Moon Studio
As Sweet As Peaches
Just Quilt It
Grandmama's Stories
The Slow Quilter
Robin at That Other Blog
Scrapbook-ChickADoodle


Monday, February 25
Quilting Lines
Mountain Delights
Jane's Fabrics and Quilts
The Fuzzy Hat Quilter
Ramblings of an Empty Nester
NautiStitcher
Quilt Doodle Designs
Living Life
Freemotion By The River
The German Mom
Stitchin'ByThe Lake


Tuesday, February 26
Pat Sloan's Blog
To Love Handmade
Feathered Nest Studio
Selina Quilts
Gypsy Dreamer Quilts
Sheila's Quilt World
Meadowbrook
13 Woodhouse Road
Zellerwear
Stitches of Love
Janice at That Other Blog
In The Sewing Basket


Wednesday, February 27
The Passions of Cliodana
QuiltMamas
Marathon Quilter
Marla's Crafts
Fiber Babble
Simple Sew
Sewn Seabees
Charlotte at That Other Blog
Nini's Patchwork
Charlotte's Creations
Ipiece2-Mary
My Spoolish Art


Thursday, February 28
Cherry Blossoms
Hill Valley Quilter
Dachsies With Moxie
I Like To QuiltBlog
Quilt Smiles
More Stars In Comanche
Tea Time Creations
Shedding the Wolf
Life, Quilts, and a Cat Too
Judy at That Other Blog
Madame Samm

Aussie readers, please note you’ll have to wait till 4pm tomorrow because this is a world-wide blog hop and we all have to publish our posts at the same time – Central Standard Time (CST) in the USA.

Then …. Let the fun begin!

Red rose Di