Is it Monday again???

I like to tell myself that the reason that time keeps flying by leaving me spinning is that I am having so much fun and certainly not because I am getting older. Do you remember as a child the time between Christmases was a lifetime and now the years seems to fly. Anyway I am rambling maybe it's the euphoria of having finished ALL my pattern instructions...here they are already in a lovely pile to be sent off to who knows where...you will have to wait and see.....tee hee.

I have loved all these projects and I hope when you get to see them you do too. I have really given in to my leanings towards the vintage and soft with these. But you know my rule. Now they are done I get to do MORE!!! Yes! Here is a little sneaky peek of a little quilt that I have just begun and I am afraid you will have a little wait for this one too....sorry about that. But it is needle turn applique and I am loving it.

On a completely different note, we used to have a lovely lawn and garden in the front of our house but due to 7 odd years of drought and then 3 years of extreme wet weather our poor lawn and top soil is now defunct and somewhere else and  I have found it really depressing. So Mr R. and I came to the decision rather than replant with more grass we would keep a very small section in lawn which we can nuture and the rest we will change into a low maintenance garden which will hopefully look a whole lot better than bare ground...so over the weekend we did some plotting and moving the odd edge or too so as to gauge what we would need to rework it.

It is hard to believe that this was once lovely lawn and now is disgraceful. I know we have no right to even moan a tiny bit when so many people lost there lives and homes during those weather events. Hopefully by the New Year it will be looking much better though. Being the impractical person I am (or else I was someone who had servants in a previous life to take care of the details) I have gone straight past all the hard preparation and construction side of things that come next and am already in the garden shop choosing the plants and the pavers for the pathway. Just as well I am married to a practical bloke or else we would have no hope.
That's it from me today. I am off to enjoy a job well done with two favs....

I wish you all a wonderful week which includes a little magic with needle and thread.
Blessings Michelle xx

Lots of Typing - Not Much Stitching.

Today was instruction writing day.....ooohhh! How I love it! NOT! I was pleased to have made a fair dint in it but still have one large project to go but I am doing a Scarlett O'Hara and "I'll think about that tomorrow".
I did however get the most gorgeous little parcel in the post. Lovely Liz from Village Quilters sent me a beautiful card and inside was this little dazzler....isn't it lovely!

It is made from beautiful crystal beads and I wish you could see how it sparkles. It just so happens I had one of my smaller Christmas trees out for a photo of a project so of course I had to try it out to see how it looked. Beautiful of course.Thank you Liz I love it and shall treasure it. I have a Memory Tree that my friend Ann and I decided to start quite a few Chrismases ago and on it go all those lovely ornaments that are handmade by friends as well in my case beautiful ornaments that have been bought back for me as gifts from all over the world. I even have a notebook included with the givers name and year beside it. So Liz' lovely star will make it's way there this Christmas.
In between all this pattern writing I did get another mini stitched for my collection...here's a sneaky.

If I am really good and get my instruction writing finished tomorrow I hope to get a couple more stars made for the pressie box. I think I may actually meet my swap deadlines. YAY!

On a final note I am very relieved to tell you that in relation to my 'Advent Calendar' Folly of the other day my darling friend Ann is going to bring her basket of magic tricks down to me in the next little while and help me make it gorgeous....NOW! I am excited! It is such a blessing to have clever kind friends.

"And ya gotta have friends...la la la la la! (Sorry I am just really excited now)
Have a great weekend everyone.
Blessings Michelle xxx

Oops!

Do you get that sinking feeling when you push your rotary cutter through a piece of limited fabric suddenly realising you have made the cut the wrong size and you don't have any more....aarrghhhh!
That has been the basis of my day today and of course being a big fan of using my favourites rather than the latest range available (call me old fashioned or frugal - take your pick) there was no more to be had anywhere so I have spent the majority of the day trying to match some sort of co-ordinating fabric. Thankfully it was for the back of a cushion....but I do love to match!!!

It is for an upcoming project (sneaky peek above) and I was having so much fun and it is so pretty (even if I do say so myself) Oh well it is good for the ego to have to rethink these things. So that has been my day. How about you???
There were two things I meant to share yesterday. The first a lovely birthday gift I received from my friend Sandra belatedly as she has been off swanning around the UK (lucky duck) anyway it is simply gorgeous and I am a very spoilt girl...some lovely goats milk soap and a lovely vintage hanger and gorgeous card. Love it.

How pretty :)
The other thing that I meant to do was to underline what Melody mentioned on her post on Tuesday about
Oscars Law. I try very hard to keep my blog an uplifting place. I hope I succeed. But I feel I have to remain authentically true to myself so when something I feel really strongly about  occurs I feel I have to include it.

If you love dogs visit Here and then do what you can....write to your government member. Make as many people as possible aware of the hideous practice of puppy farms so that we can stamp it out. That's what I am going to do. I am also putting Oscar's Law on my sidebar.
Blessings Michelle xxx

What Was I Thinking!!!

Today was stitching with the girls day and before I headed out to my friend Anne's who was hosting for today I took a side journey to Spotlight for some whisperweft and threads. Yes the plot thickens!
When I was at the craft show recently with my bestie Ann without an "E" I was making noises about wanting to make an Advent calendar with the little draws and I saved myself from disgrace by the stall not having the style I fancied in stock.....Well today I had several moments of brain fade and bought this.....

That Sound you just heard is my friend Ann falling off her chair in astonishment and laughter.
Of course then I had to have some lovely papers to go with it to finish it. (ha ha)

Just the name got me in "Twig & Berry" how cute is that. Anyway when I perform this miraculous box building and cutting, gluing and painting (2 of which I failed) it is supposed to look something like this....

While I was driving up to meet the girls I thought " I'll ask Kay" another lovely friend of mine who is also very fond of all things gorgeous paper and card related. My hopes were dashed when she told me that she indeed had one but it was still in it's wrapping. So watch this space. It could be gorgeous or a complete disaster!!!
I did as promised do a little stitching on my "Beyond the Garden Gate" blocks and I do mean a 'little' as I was too busy talking as usual. But! A little is something.

I did have a lovely day as I always do with my girlfriends. They are such a special group of women.
I am off to rustle up something for dinner....my least favourite thing. I decided long ago in the culinary arts I was an "appreciator" of others skills rather than the "provider".
I would like to leave you with a little saying that I love and has been shown to be true for me over the years.

Blessings Michelle xxx

Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

My treasure today is very simple and is not an old treasure but a new one. As you know I cannot resist a lovely book especially if it has beautiful photographs. Last week this beautiful book that I ordered arrived.
It is called "Elegant Quilts, Country Charm" by Leonie Bateman and Deirdre Bond-Abel.

It has beautiful projects inside and is a treat just to browse through while sipping a cup of coffee, curled up in your favourite chair. I don't know if I will ever get time to make any of the projects which seems to be my lot in life lately but for now I am treasuring the possiblities.
Speaking of not completing projects I saw on the gorgeous Peg's blog her Friday Night Stitching with Friends project, the beautiful Leanne May pattern "Beyond the Garden Gate" that she was working on. I thought to myself "I love that pattern" and then " you have already started that pattern" so a rifle through boxes and bags revealed this moment of shame.....

Six blocks already completed, one block in progress and only two left to stitch. So I am going to make a concerted effort to fit a stitch or two on this project until they are finished. Thanks so much peg for reminding me what a gorgeous pattern it is.
Speaking of lovely people my blogging friend from up "the Mountain" the lovely Fiona from Bubzrugz sent me some gorgeous red fabric with my beautiful birthday gift this year and I have been dying to play with it. So over the weekend I did. Just a little sneaky though as it is for a special little project.

Don't you just love red!!!
Well here in Australia today is the running of our most famous horse race the Melbourne Cup.

Whilst I love horses and think they are such beautiful creatures, I always worry about them in these racing situations....I know I am probably the only Aussie to feel this way and even feel a tad unpatriotic saying it but it is truly how I feel. If one of these beautiful animals could tell me "Hey it's fine we love it" I would feel better but as they can't I will continue to worry.
Anyway if you are having a get together to watch the race in all your finery and have a little wager I wish you a fun filled day.
Don't forget to pop over to Melody's to see who else has treasure to share.
Blessings Michelle xxx

Friday Night with Friends over at Cheryll's

Last night I had my first virtual stitching with friends and I really enjoyed it and got quite a lot done. Although I have to say trying to explain it to my other half was hilarious and now I am sure that he thinks I have gone completely off my rocker.......he did however provide some sweeties.

They went down a treat and kept my energy levels high for all the stitching I got done.

I managed to finish another little redwork block and also 3 little stars for the gift box. I even got back to my Mini  and did a couple of stitches before the full time hooter sounded and the lights were turned off.

Crazy as it sounds I really loved knowing that in other parts of Australia and overseas other likeminded women were doing the same thing. I hope you all got a little stitching done too.
Thanks so much Cheryll  for being such a charming hostess and now I am off to see what everyone else has in their sewing baskets.
Blessings Michelle xxx

All Set

I have a very busy day today so I thought I would get prepared early for...

I am joining all my friends over at Cheryll's. If you want to join in click HERE.
My arm and hand a feeling so much better and I have several things in my sewing pile for tonight.

There is a little stack of stars that have been waiting for their rusty bells which arrived yesterday, another redwork block, a mini quilt stitchery. I will decide tonight. I also have the Tim Tams as promised and my favourite cup ready for my cuppa. Hope to see you there.
Yesterday I had to buy some fabrics for a project I have been asked to do and so off to the fabric store I went. Happily I found what I 'needed' and was making my way to the counter.

But then I tripped over this and it fell on to my pile accidently and rather than embarass myself by declaring I didn't know it was there I just bought some. Does this ever happen to you....you know being set upon by bolts of fabric.

So I have given it a home and secretly love it.....I feel a flurry of redwork "Frosties" coming on.
I must dash but I thought in wishing you all a lovely weekend I would leave you with another quote from my little book "Moments of Pleasure" by Paul Wilson..
"Relax and Enjoy it - Accept small pleasures as they happen. So much effort goes into trying to influence the way things happen, and so little is spent in actually appreciating them."
I wish you a weekend full to the brim of small pleasures.

Blessings Michelle xxx