Busier than a Bee

 Hello there. Well I have had a very busy time. Filled to overflowing with friends and fun.

I had a lovely houseguest for a week.....our very own blogging friend Shez.

Another lovely friend Wendy of FNSI fame came to my town to visit family. So before we knew it a bloggers meet up was organised and the fun began.

First on the agenda was to introduce Shez to my dear friends in my stitching group. Such special women in my life......

Lorel, our hostess was kind enough to share some of her gorgeous work with us. Don't you just love admiring friends quilts....I never tire of it! Lorel and I are stitching the new Homespun BOM together. It was a lovely day .

We had our arms twisted to enjoy a little (a lot) of retail therapy by Susan and Wendy! 

Such great fun......treats were also consumed from time to time! I squashed mine when Wendy came to visit so definitely wasn't photo worthy lol!

Finally our big meeting day arrived and we took over a corner of a local club. A very obliging venue I have to say.

......lots of lovely friends, giggles,and smiles....

And perhaps a bit of nonsense lol!

Sadly after this fun day I came down with a nasty lurgy so no more partying for me. I was disappointedto miss this months Sunday Stitchers but thankfully Shez and Wendystill got to visit thanks to lovely Susan xx......but coughing,  wheezing and sneezing aside....... I had a wonderful time.

Shez also gifted me one of her gorgeous Clutch bag sets.....

Complete with a sweet bee zipper charm. How spoilt am I! 

When my dear hubby and I visited Shez on one of our trips she got us hooked on her delicious homemade pickled beetroot. She popped a jar in of this for me too.....yum! NOT SHARING!

Now whilst I will admit to a lot of chatting, there was also a lot of stitching done. 

Lots of progress on Gossip in the Garden bits!

Before my friend arrived I got my Friends Hearts top together to give to the lovely Fiona to work her magic on.

It looks so lovely in real life.....very special to me.

Happy birthday to my dear friend Fiona today xx

Missing my lovely houseguest this week too. Thanks to all the wonderful women who made the week so much fun.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx 

Down the Rabbit Hole

 Hello friends. I had hoped to be back here before now but there is still a lot going on in the background. Life is just messy sometimes!

Do you ever find yourself travelling along nicely with your projects and then...wham! You spy something delightful and down the rabbit hole you go! I follow an incredibly talented lady called Louise May Watson on IG. She is artist, nature lover and stitcher (no wonder I love her posts) anyway she makes these gorgeous little accordion books. Stitched covers and a little drawing on each page. Well I have been itching to have a go! Soooo down the rabbit hole I went.....

My stitched covers, front and back! I chose my own little Wren design to stitch for the front cover. I stitched on a piece of Osneberg fabric I found. 

The inside....accordion surprise! These were made from leftover strips of watercolour paper from other projects. Great to use them up.....being a bowerbird comes in handy sometimes! Lol!

Drawing close ups....

I also made the drawings Australian nature. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed combining stitching and drawing. I am very keen to do another and tweak the construction of the book and think about my drawings a bit more. I wasn't happy with my tie for the book but I will work on that!

I also did this little drawing after waking at "sparrow fart" as us Aussies say again the other morning....

More art sorry folks! My Daughter's school has a gorgeous resident therapy dog called Norman and his Mum is so dedicated to bringing assistance and joy to the students at the school. Norman is much beloved by all who know him. So my daughter and I colluded and I did a pastel drawing of Norman as a surprise......

Here's Norman with his portrait....

He's a beautiful boy.....

Here he is waiting at the tuckshop for his pupsicle....

With my Granddaughter on his birthday......we LOVE you Norman xxx

Ok! There HAS been sewing. I am happily making progress on my Gossip in the Garden quilt that I am stitching with friend Fiona...bubzrugz

First block done....

And some EPP bits and bobs.....

I am currently working on the centre block and hexagoning in between.

Well that's me done! I'm off to my newsagent to collect my Homespun magazine and decide whether another friend is going to lead me astray with their 2023 BOM....I suspect she just might.

Take care lovely people.....hug your tribe!

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx