Time For A Little Bliss

The last little while has been quite stressful for our family. Somethings have been resolved and some are still ongoing...you know as we all have in our lives from time to time. So I am really looking forward to going away on a Yoga retreat organised my my lovely Yoga sister Janeen from Yoga and More Studio at Beenleigh. lots of Meditaion, Yoga sessions (and for those of you who saw Sunrise on naked Yoga....ahhh NO!! None of that! LOL!), art workshop and journalling.....bliss!
My gear is packed...

Suitcase packed too. As we have a fair bit of free time I have popped in a little bit of stitchery just in case.

This will be my home for the weekend.

Nestled in the magnificent ancient rainforest at Springbrook. Beautiful waterfalls...

and majestic giants reaching skywards.

So I wish you all a very happy weekend....talk when I get back :)
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Lovely Rain

My garden is enjoying this wet weather. the bird bath is full almost to the brim. The Maggies are very pleased. I couldn't get a photo of them though, they were to quick for me.

and my pale Cooktown Orchids are beginning to bloom..

I finished my bit of hand quilting and started on a little redwork that I had traced out. I am slowly catching up on my lasped work schedule.

My Lucy blocks have been calling as well, so I have begun doing some of the background hexies to see what it looked like.

I also received some nice mail. I love the "daily deals" over at Fee's Shabby Shack" especially for very cute trim and sweet buttons...cannot resist!

Sooo pretty! I am looking forward to playing with them.
Thank you all for your kind comments last post. I had quite a lot of "non-reply" bloggers so I have not been able to respond to your comments but they were appreciated and your names are in the draw :)
Little quote I like:
"There are many things shared, celebrated, mourned and mended over a good cup of tea"

Beautiful graphic from Lets Enjoy Beauty

Enjoy your day.
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Back on the Air

Well what fun I have had....a sick computer that then decided to die completely!!! So consequently no posts from me :( Withdrawals definitely!
It also occurred to me whilst preparing to do this post that this post was number 701!!! So I thought that it was a bit of a milestone and perhaps a little giveaway was in order. I shall give you details at the end of the post.
Now last week I received some lovely and unexpected mail. I belong to a lovely Birthday swap club and one of our ladies the very lovely O'faigh has been having health issues and has fulfilled her obligations early so as to enable her to concentrate on getting well. These little beauties are my early birthday gift. I did promise to be good and wait but O'faigh really wanted me to open them ( very secretly pleased to oblige)

Aren't they pretty! Well wait until you see what was inside... we get to nominate a favourite range or colourway of fabric we may be collecting as a guide for our fat 1/4 gifts. Mine was anything French General (surprised?) look at my gorgeous gifts!!!

One person in the club also makes a special gift for you as well as your fat 1/4's. O'faigh made me a lovely thread catcher and pincushion which I was in desperate need of...

Can you see the gorgeous hexie box there too? There was also a matching non slip Mat for my sewing table, a work apron and the cutest little birdie.

And if all that was not being totally spoilt enough there was my fabric.....French General!!!! YUM!

Look at the lovely vintage lace tied around the fabric....I also was lucky enough to get the left over from my beautiful gifts. thank you so much O'faigh for your beautiful gifts, generosity and thoughtfulness. I adored every square inch of it.
Ok on to the giveaway. I decided on a bit of a "Teatime" theme. So there are 3 of my Tea inspired patterns, a piece of Tilda teacup fabric, some sweet buttons, thread and ric rac and a teabag so you can have a cuppa on me. Just leave me a comment to say you are interested in being in the draw.

I shall draw it this time next week. Good luck!
I have been very busy stitching but not a lot to show you. I am at the moment doing a little hand quilting.

Lastly I just wanted to share a piccie of my eldest grandson who has just started playing soccer and is loving it.

A very happy little footballer...

Well done Lachie!!
That"s all from me folks! You will have to be a little patient with me as I get my head around the new beast.
Take care,
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

A Finish Almost!

Happy Saturday all! Yesterday I finally got to my machine after stitching all the centres on to my Dresdens.
What a lesson in accepting I cannot measure or estimate yardage...

I thought I had chosen so carefully!!! But not so! Whilst I have been true to using only French General Fabics, there is a little 'ring in' that is not from the Rouenneries Deux range but still from the FG range. I think it looks fine now, even though a little spack attack was my initial reaction folks.... and hey one can't be good at everything.
The top is now together and just waiting for the applique to be created and stitched on.

Mr R. remarked that it will be fine to keep us warm in the camper!!!! Ahhh! Nope! I don't think so!!! He did think he was saying all the right things...
While I was on the sewing down little circles kick I finished off the baby Dresdens too. I did iron it!

Because I had been so diligent tied to the machine for so long I allowed myself some playtime with "Lucy"
and finished another block.

I am trying to baste some background hexies as I go so that I can begin joining some together but the lure of making the blocks is very enticing.
Well family duties await for myself and Mr R. and then some relaxation I hope.
I wish you all a lovely weekend and please... be very kind to one another as you just do not know what someone else may be going through or what burdens they are carrying....make the load a little lighter...

Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Organised Chaos!

It feels so good to be back to 'normal'....well as normal as I am going to admit to anyway! Hubby may not agree with the amount of stitching debris and fallout all around the fav chair. I have finally finished all nine Dresden plates in the French General fabric....ooh love it! So I set about and have all the centre circles ready to be appliqued in place.

Even though I am beginning to think I have an obsession with little birds I have decided I want some sort of applique on the borders of this quilt and so I drew a little birdie out and hope to have flowers scattered along them as well (mind I said hope!!)

I just get a quiet peaceful garden feeling about these blocks and you need little plump birds in your garden don't you...He was a lot plumper (almost the size of a pigeon lol) so he has undergone a reducing regime and hopefully will now fit with his friends on the border.
The other bit of progress is all the tracing of stitcheries and cutting out of lots of applique pieces are done...looks like a big mess but...

trust me it is organised chaos!!! They were also nicely pressed before I put them away in the folder. Now all the preparation is done I can stitch at my leisure and also sneak off with my Lucy Boston tin to have a little play....getting withdrawals!
The other thing that I have gotten done is to finally put my "Autumn" stitchery mini on my stand.

Ok folks coffee awaits. Enjoy your day.
Namaste and Blessings,
\Michelle xxx

Showery Monday!

Good morning everyone from a showery old Brisbane. I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend. I spent most of it catching up on work that has fallen behind while I was unwell....thankfully making some progress. I will be very glad when I am finished these steriods though. I hate how they make me feel.
Here are a couple of peeks for you..
I enjoyed playing with these pretties and I am happy with the outcome.

Little blue bird is also finished and it was also fun to do.....

A very cute Gingie project is next in the pile which I think you will really like when it is done....no piccies yet!
I like everyone else have been hacking off my selvages with abandon....dreaming of all the upcycled projects I intend to create with them and to date...nope NOT one!! But! I have been collecting some of my favourite ranges selvages in a separate little container. You know the French Generals, Robyn Pandolph, Choclat etc. and I decided I would use them to make a tote bag with selvage front and plain back (stash busting too). I got the front strips all sewn together but no pellon to go further.
I do love seeing all those reminders of ranges that I love in one spot...

So I now feel somewhat justified that I did attempt at least "one" upcycled project and I can keep hacking off those pretty selvages with a clear conscience.
That is it from me. I am off to work on the Michelle's secret sewing project....

More tracing out and applique preparations to do. There have been moments lately when I have thought that I have not only bitten off more than I can chew...I can't even get my mouth around the bite! But I am trusting that my guiding creative partner knows better than myself....I have not been let down so far!!
I wish you a day of simple pleasures,

Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Friday Night Stitching

Good morning everyone. How I enjoyed my morning walk today. We had showers overnight so it was nice and cool. Even though I live in densely populated suburbia because of the conservation park close by we have an abundance of bird life. Many kept me company this morning....Rainbow Lorikeets noisily heralded the morning whether you were ready or not...

Magpies gathering their breakfast..

with their beautiful warbling, a favourite of mine. Lots of top-knotted pigeons fluttering out of the way, even a pair of beautiful ducks. I pass by two beautiful Frangapani trees each morning which at the moment are just laden with flowers and the smell on the morning air is just devine.

Such a lovely wander and home to hot coffee.
Last evening I linked up over at Cheryll's at Gone Stitchin' for a Sew in with other blogging friends from all over Australia overseas. Recently while on retreat I was gifted some lovely fabric and thread from the lovely
Sandi and I have had it in mind as a background for a little "birdie" project I wanted to create.

So I choose some other bits and pieces and set to work....after a bit of scribbling and a little needle turn to start.

I was quite pleased that I got this far with it...

You will have to wait to see what it becomes....love that background! Thanks Sandi!
I also stitched a couple more blades together on my French General Dresdens.

Did you get some stitching done?? I am looking forward to visiting to see what everyone else got up to.
Today is a special day for two reasons the first and most important for me is that it is our DD Birthday so

and also it is "International Womens Day" too. I thought I would share a favourite of mine which you have seen before but it inspires me to 'love' where I am at in this moment and celebrate womanhood.

So Happy Womens Day to all you stunning and talented  Goddesses out there and big Birthday hugs to Melissa.
Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

A Conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert

Last night a wish I had held dear for quite some time came to fruition. Some friends introduced me to this book....

and I have to admit to having read it several times along with the Authors other books. I have discovered that you either love it or hate it. I am obviously in the first category. So I was delighted to accompany my friend Janeen (fellow Yoga sister, Yoga & Art teacher, beautiful artist and all round wise woman) to hear Elizabeth Gilbert speak about Inspiring Creativity at the Powerhouse Theatre at New Farm.

Elizabeth was witty, charming, funny, insightful and truly inspiring. It was wonderful to listen to her creative journey and process. Don't you just love it when some one you admire turns out to be so much more in real life. Janeen and I had a brilliant evening and came away very inspired. The other bonus of the evening was Aussie comedian Tom Ballard giving us his unique insight into writing creative comedy...fabulous!
I also have in my hot little hands Elizabeth's new novel which I can't wait to disappear into.

This just topped off a lovely day I had with my stitching friends earlier in the day held at my friend Kay's home...lots of chat, yummy food and some stitching was done. I worked on my Dresden plates as I don't want to neglect them as I am very close to getting them finished for these little beauties that seem to be multiplying!

I have started to prepare the backgrounds pieces as I want to start joining them before it gets to big a job.

Well as they say "that's all there is folks"
I wish you all a wonderful day,

Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Bloggers are Such Lovely People

Do you remember me doing a little show and tell about my friend Robyn's gorgeous "Spool" quilt..

Well I decided I would love the book so I can make this quilt a little later down the track but I was dismayed to discover it was out of print and there was a waiting pre-order list for the new print run. In a conversation with the very lovely Sunny from Quilting Dreams she said she had a copy of the book and would be very happy to send it to me. Sooo! We did a little bartering and look what the postie dropped outside my door.

With the sweetest little card. I have already had a big drool over the quilts within it's covers but the "spool" still remains a favourite...

I am going to start saving all my 1 inch scraps for the spools but I am going to take the advice of my clever friend Robyn and I am going to have several shades of the one colour on each spool rather than all scrappy.

Having seen Robyn's in the flesh so to speak, I like her arrangement much better.
Thank you so much Sunny you lovely girl for your kindness, I am very excited to have received it and to start planning. Your envelope is on it's way to you as I type :)
Now I thought I would end my post with a bit of a giggle. My Daughter shared this with me and I am sure many of you will relate....

Mr R. will never be in this predicament because he can suss out a bakery in a 30km radius. Hee hee!
Ok enough from me. I apparently have not gotten rid of my bronchitis so a bit of rest and more pills are my orders from the Doctor....yuk! I fancy that my Lucy Boston blocks won't tire me too much. LOL!
Enjoy your day,
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx