One Block!

I don't have much to share with you this evening, there hasn't been much time for stitching - and at the moment I'm painting bead heads for my sweet customers working on mmmCrafts projects. It's such a fun thing to do, and I love to see the finished ornaments people create.

But back to stitching - I've only made one block this week. I cut it out before we left for travel stitching, but never got to it. On Sunday afternoon Amy babysat the puppy so I could have some time to myself, and I was able to spend some precious time at the sewing machine. This is the result:

I love this block so much! It would be a really fun block for a whole quilt, using different corner fabrics and border strips would make such fun secondary patterns.

I'm not sure what my count for Sarah Morrell quilt blocks is now, but surely I'm in double digits?

Another fun (and slightly stressful) thing I did this past week was to decorate a cake for a friend who was celebrating a school milestone with a bunch of friends.

Norma baked the cakes and distracted the doggo while I did my thing with icing. I'm so glad she was happy with the cake, I feel like I could have done so much better - every cake is a learning experience.

I'm super hopeful that this coming week will be less hectic - I'm still adjusting to life being a puppy Mum. This week has included a trip to the emergency vet, which not only isn't great for the stress levels, but the bank balance too. My tactic now is to simply relax into the fact that it's going to be messy for a bit here, and this little (well, not so little each day) fluffball is going to take up a lot of my time for a while.

I'll be trying to get back to your messages when you leave them as soon as I can, please don't give up on me. Your notes mean so much, so I'll chatter soon! xox

Ship Stitching

Before we went away, I prepped a few blocks for stitching - just in case I had some free time while babysitting etc. I completed three of the blocks, and not because I was always too busy, but more that I seemed to always find different things to do.

These are two of the blocks I finished up:

The third block is also an applique block, and I've hidden it away amongst my hand sewing things, I'm sure I'll find it soon!

Here's a new picture of Rowley, as he seems to be the thing that's occupying most of my time at the moment:

I just want to boop that nose all day long. Well, not really - he requires quite a bit of supervision when he's inside. While he's exploring he's starting to chew on things a bit, those puppy teeth must be annoying him now. We start puppy school tomorrow, which is going to be beneficial for this puppy newbie.

I'm going to finish up quickly here now with a picture of where I'm at with Lily Rosenberry. I've put a few stitches in this week. Right now I'm in a race to see if I can finish this post before the battery gives out on my laptop. So, I'll chatter soon lovely friends!

Puppies are delightful time wasters!

So, I asked the hubster this week if he had any idea how busy a puppy would keep me. He said yes, but I'm not sure I believe him. Wow, they're such delightful time wasters :-) Little Rowley has gone from a shy little guy to a ball of energy resembling a baby shark! He's grown so much already too, and he moves so fast I haven't managed to take any good pictures of him, hopefully next week.

Stitching time has been scarce, and I'm kind of not feeling like it anyway, so I've only really put a few hand quilting stitches into Lily Rosenberry.

It's definitely not going to be finished any time soon, but every stitch is one stitch closer to completion right?

And I painted up some more coloured Elf heads for the mmmCrafts Twas the Night elves ornament pattern. Some for stock, and some to go to a new home. I love that they've been so well received in my Etsy store.

Last week I also promised to share some more holiday snaps etc. First up the items I purchased at the quilt store while were in Kona:

I was absolutely happy to purchase some souvenir style fabric, and given our location, I was thrilled to buy some Hawaiian applique patterns - a kit, a book, and a pattern. They'll go on the long list of things to do, but when I finally get to them it will be a wonderful reminder of our trip.

We stayed in the Hilton Gardens Hotel Waikiki Beach. We didn't do bunches of research about our hotel, and hadn't specifically asked for a view, so we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to see the beach from our suite. It was a great place to stay, we had a two bedroom suite with a lounge, little kitchen area and huge bathroom. We were so very lucky.

It was absolutely on our bucket list to visit Pearl Harbour, and I'm so glad I've checked it off my list of things to do in this life. There really aren't words to adequately describe the memorial, and it's hard to imagine the chaos and horror endured all those years ago.

This far away picture is of the Hula Kahiko dancer statues outside the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Our tour guide pointed them out to us, and I found them fascinating. Also, aren't the tropical gardens just lovely. There were so many things to see, and I just wasn't fast enough with my camera. I feel like there will be another trip to Hawaii in our future, we just didn't have enough time to see all the things we wanted.

So that's all I'll share for today - I'm catching up with Amy on Sunday, so I'll check her phone and see if she has any pictures to share with me - she's always so much better getting the happy snaps. Hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll chatter soon! xox

A month disappeared, just like that!

Hello friends, I know it's been a while since I checked in. I promise I have a really good reason. I've been off on holidays again, it's naughty that I didn't tell you all about it, but there are folks that say it's not a great idea to advertise when you're not going to be around. So I took that advice, even though my boys were still at home, you just never know who's reading along - best to play it safe.

Anyway, that out of the way, I'll fill you in. I went on yet another cruise - how lucky am I? This time it was like a girls trip with my Dad along as chaperone. My Mum, myself, Amy, Mary and Dad spent a night in Brisbane before cruising for 17 nights to Hawaii, then some time in Hawaii before flying back to Sydney and then home. We were away for just over three weeks, and we had a wonderful time.

Our chariot for the journey. We had adjoining balcony cabins, which was just wonderful.

I always love the art and sculptures on board, this piece was just mesmerising. We saw it every day when we walked by to have breakfast in the 270 lounge.

Our first island visit was Papeete in Tahiti, we spent a little time shopping, and then we caught a local cab looking for a nice beach and were recommended to Parc Vaira'i. This was a revelation, not busy at all (places can be super busy when a cruise ship comes in) and we had a lovely time in the warm water.

Our next stop for two days was Moorea in Tahiti:

Here we tendered ashore, and organised a tour with Captain Taina - on the way to a private island and beach we swam with stingrays and sharks. It was an amazing experience. I will confess that while I was the second person from our boat into the water, when those stingrays came near me, I was out of there! I don't mind admitting I was first back in the boat! Amy did so much better than me, she's so brave, and even came back for another go the second day we were in Moorea. 

Back again at sea, our next stop was in Kona Hawaii where I managed to find a quilt store:

I was fascinated to find they had a fabric cutting machine. I'd never seen such a thing before!

The store is called Quilt Passions, I did a little shopping with a local theme. I haven't remembered to take pictures of my purchases, so I'll save that for next time.

Our final stop on the cruise was in Honolulu Hawaii, where we spent time shopping and being tourists. Though I've been to the USA many times, I've never been to Hawaii, and I loved it! I'll share some more pictures next week, I haven't downloaded very many from the cloud yet, and even though we've been home for a week now, I just don't seem to be able to get back into normal life yet!

After we got home from the big trip, I had another exciting thing waiting for me. On Friday we went and picked up a new member for our family:

Meet little Rowley! He's a Rough Collie (like Lassie but our sweet baby is a tri-colour). In this picture he's 11 weeks old on the day we collected him.

This pic is from just a couple of days ago - he's starting to settle in. He's such a sweet boy! For the first couple of days he was so nervous and trembly, but now he's doing zoomies in the yard, running off with shoes when I'm not looking and generally stealing our hearts!

I'm having to remember to keep our bedroom and the sewing room doors shut, not sure what he's capable of as a little puppy with baby shark teeth! This is going to be a fun adventure as he grows - I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him!

So, I've filled you in on the last month - I promise to share some more photos next week - there are so many! Hopefully I will find some sewing mojo and have some stitching to share with you also - chatter soon! xox

Such fun times!

I'll open this post with the result of a little retail therapy, and then I'll tell you the story of how it happened ...

Aren't these yummy fabrics? I know they'll go really well in my version of the Morrell quilt. And as I placed them on the counter at Quilters Quarters, as Lyn worked out my total, she said they're so very me - she is so right! It was a fun journey to get to the quilt store on Wednesday ... let me enlighten you!

Our lovely Canadian friend Chris from Quilting at the Farm was set to land at the airport in the early afternoon as part of her grand Australian tour. Communications had been challenging due to being overseas and data providers and whatever. I had gotten an email the day before with the address she was staying, which was seriously the other side of town, and with work commitments I wasn't sure how we'd be able to make a catch up work.

So, on a wild hair, I decided to head to the airport at about the right time and see what happened! Hilariously I managed to startle Chris, her husband and her host near the baggage carousel! After excited chattering and whatnot, managed to convince Chris to join me visiting me at a nearby quilt store that had agreed to open especially for us if we would like to stop by. We had so much to talk about, and following a tea and cake break as well as retail therapy, it was time to get Chris across town to her lodgings. We had so much time to talk in the car, and we giggled endlessly about how Chris now has a fun story about being kidnapped at the airport in Adelaide.

And a big thank you to Chris' host for taking a photo to remember our fun afternoon by:

Aren't blogging friends the best? What a fun day! Chris has a little more time here before heading back to NSW for more adventures.

After the fun day out, I've been working on prepping some Morrell blocks for hand piecing. I'm loving how they're coming along so far, and I can't wait to get stitching on them:

The applique block there is all glue basted and ready for hand stitching down, that's going to be a fun one to work on.

I'd like to get another couple ready, so I'll be able to get that done in the sewing room over this long weekend. I think I'm enjoying selecting the fabrics for each block most of all.

There are a couple more pictures to share, but they're gifts, so I'll wait until they've been received and show them off later. I'll leave off here, and wish those of you that celebrate a Happy Easter, and I'll chatter soon! xoxox

I’ll hand quilt a little …

Tonight I’m just plain worn out, so I’m going to settle in with a little hand quilting and chill …

I can tell I'm definitely carrying a little tension right now - my vice like grip has bent my needle like a banana ... I need to relax!

Should I perk up a little later on, I plan to make some templates and cut out some pieces for blocks of the Morrell quilt - I'd like to get some portable piecing together. I'll have fun choosing fabrics when I'm ready to tackle it!

As this isn't a very newsy post, I promise I'll check back in a couple of days, I'm sure I can share much more newsworthy things! Chatter soon xox

Quickie post!

Hi there friends, this week I've been working really hard to get through all my deadline projects, and I'm so thrilled to report that I'm really getting there!

I've pieced this quilt top, and it won't take long to quilt once I've pinned it:

I'll use a light coloured thread and an all over design. Not sure what I'll use for binding yet as all the fun prints were fat quarters, but I know I'll have something cute in my stash. This is one of the sweet Flinders Kids patterns, I love how it came out, and I'm going to use it for some donation quilts later in the year as it was super fun to put together.

I've got a good start on the last of my deadline projects, I'm quilting on this sweet top for a friend. I don't quilt for others very much anymore, but I was happy to do this one:

I'm trying to work on my quilting repertoire, when it comes to machine quilting I'm a bit of a three trick pony - I'm usually happiest with the results when I venture out of my comfort zone a bit, so I don't know why I don't try more often. Please don't look too closely, the experts among you will see all the imperfections, but I'm happy and I know my friend will be too.

And last of all for this post, I wanted to do something just for me that has been hanging around for A LONG TIME!

Did I share this dress while it was a work in progress? Well, I stalled when it got time to attach the neck band. I was kind of scared of messing it up as it's usually the most noticeable part of the garment. Anyway, with advice from one of my quilting friends, and a dose of courage, I basted the neckband in place, overlocked it to the body of the dress, and then used the coverstitch machine to topstitch it down nicely. I did have to do some unpicking, but I got there in the end, and now I have no clue why I waited so long! Now I want to find some more knit fabric and make some more to take on holidays with me.

So that has been my week. I'm going to get back to quilting now, I hope to have the black fabric area of the quilt finished before I head to bed tonight, so I must get moving! Chatter soon friends :-)

If only I would remember to use my camera ...

Hello friends, I hope you've had a wonderful week!

I've had a great one - since I checked in last, Mary had her birthday party. I managed to take a happy snap of the cakes while we were setting up for the festivities:

And then got busy socialising and didn't manage to get the camera out again :-/

Almost right away after the party (as it was a long weekend) we headed off to spend some time with friends at their beach house in Aldinga. On the way down there I noticed we were heading right past Tricia's Fabrics, and managed to convince the hubster to stop in, and grabbed a couple of treasures. This picture I took just now lol:

A cute Di Ford Hall border print and a sweet French General toile. Not really what I expected to buy, but I'm super happy with them just the same. Marty actually came into the store and was helping me look around, and a sweet lady from interstate asked me how I managed to get him in the store - her husband was sitting outside in the car. We all laughed a bunch, and then we were soon back in the car and on the way again.

As is my usual form, I only managed to get one picture while we were on the beach:

We genuinely did have a great time and were sad to have to return to normal life. If I could just remember to take more pictures, I'm sure you would believe me!

And in quilty news, I haven't managed to achieve much this week. I have started working putting together a block which is just a kernel of an idea right now, I hope it will become something:

I'm thinking about some appliqued EPP pieces and some broderie perse to make it more interesting. Let's see how that goes.

And tonight I'm going to start quilting on the pink heart quilt with the crown background fabric. It's all pinned and ready to go:

I can't decide whether to use a pale pink or a cream coloured quilting thread. I think I'll try a pink first and see how I like it. I'm super happy to be getting through all the projects I have deadlines for. There are two more must do things on the list, and then I'm coasting toward getting some hand piecing ready for next month. Yay!

Okay, I'm off to answer a bunch of emails now, thank you for all your sweet notes. I'll chatter soon! xox