A Big Thank you, Mail & a Giveaway

A huge thank you to all you gorgeous girls for letting me know how much you liked "Ginger Tea" and that it worked. It has been very important to me to be able to share with other stitchers and not always be about the money (don't get me wrong...I looovvee!! getting orders for my patterns) but I feel very blessed to be able to do this.

If you missed all my excitement and stress over the little girl above see my previous post.
My other concern today is I am little worried about the "Santa Sack Mail" I received this morning....

All gorgeous I know but I think the Christmas Elves have been into the brandy for the Christmas puddings as you see I received an extra pressie for August And September.....what should I do? Tell! Or keep quiet. I don't want to get the Elves into trouble......maybe I shall just not mention it as long as you don't. Ok it's agreed no one will tell Cheryll. LOL! Don't they look ever so cute with those gorgeous tags.
Well if I am going to keep Mum about the extra pressies I had better tell you all about my giveaway.
My Mum used to love a song about "Spring in Paris" and as we are still technically in Spring I have gathered a few little Paris themed items together.....

A little set of boxes, a notebook, Eiffle Tower themed fabric, DMC thread, my pattern "Shades of Audrey" and 2 gift cards featuring a scene from Paris. I know a lot of you have bought the pattern from me so if you have and are the winner you can choose another pattern I have put aside.
If you would like to be in the draw leave me a comment and good luck.
Have a great day all.
Blessings Michelle xxx

Trying to Learn Something New.

To say I have had fun this morning would definitely be grossly overstating the fact. I had been wanting for ages to be able to share a little something from my sketchpad with you all for free on my blog......well what a to do for this simple minded old girl. If you have been visiting this morning you may have seen things coming and going from my blog. The up shot of this diatribe is that I think I have succeeded and you will notice my "Sketchpad Freebie" on my side bar. I would like all you lovely blogging friends to let me know if you can 

(a) go to the link (b) actually print it out (c) if you actually like it. If all 3 are possible please enjoy this little gift from me and hopefully (once I get out of therapy) there will be some more along the way.

Yesterday one of my dear friends had a girls pamper day to celebrate her birthday. We tried out all sorts of lovely creams, smellies and lotions, had bubbly and cake. Which "Sweet Birthday Girl" baked herself. Besides being a very clever cookie (sorry) she is a fabulous cake maker and decorator....this choccie marble cake was so yummy and as you can see we had already had a taste test.

Lots of laughter and catching up with friends from my old work....

"Sweet Birthday Girl" is on the left in the purple....such a gorgeous girl.

Yours truly with the gals. There was a couple of us missing but still great to catch up. Thanks Loz!

I think after the trauma of this morning I more than deserve a coffee and CHOCOLATE!!!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday,

Blessings Michelle xxx

A Visitor

Good morning on this lovely Saturday morning. Today we have the pleasure (I use the term lightly) of  having Miss Sophie come to visit for the day......as the photo below will tell you she was not having any part of having her photo taken.

Oh Purleasssee!!! Would you mind!

There is tree lopping going on at her abode and it offends her sensibilities so she is visiting us. She is such a Princess.

I have been tied to my chair a lot lately to get my hand quilted project finished and it has been made very pleasant by watching the whole 2 series of this......

In fact I would have to say it saved my sanity. I am not a fan of regular TV watching and on occassion when I do have it on in the day time I get mortally sick of ads saving my family from the burden of my funeral every 5 secs, how to get rid of the love handles, mop my floor, chop and dice like a pro......AARRGGHH! So if time is spent in my chair during the day it usually something of my choosing and I have to say I adored this Series. It was wonderful. 

Now that the pressure is off you would think a rest would be on the cards but I had to straight away give into my obsession of having some redwork to do and started on some blocks I drew a while ago.....I do worry about myself sometimes.

Have a great weekend everyone. Tune in next week as I am having a little giveaway.

Blessings Michelle xx

Time for the Binding.

Hooray! Yipee and Woo Hoo! I have been under the gun to finish a project of late and I really scared myself this time.....you know bite off a big bit and then chew like crazy. Needless to say my jaws are very sore. I didn't think I would get it done but I did! I shall tell you about this quilt at a later date but I am a little excited about it......you know how exciteable I can get! Anyway all the hand quilting is done and I have sewn the binding on today and tonight I can relax and hand stitch the binding down. aaaaahhhhhh....

Well guess who else is now in the hoop????? Yep the 'bossy mouse'. Quite pleased about it she is too as she was very put out at being put to one side for "THAT OTHER" quilt. So yes "A Christmas Tail" is finally getting quilted. It shouldn't take long as it is really a large wall hanging.

I am now looking forward to getting back to my Mum's quilt and also my little Christmas Swap stitchings....I do so want to be a good little "Elf" but life seems to be getting in my way lately. Still as they say 'it's all good'.
Well time for a cuppa and to consider what Domestic Goddess miracle I can produce for dinner.
Enjoy your evening,
Blessings Michelle xxx

Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

There is an old saying that I am sure as stitchers you have often heard - "When life gives you scraps make a quilt".

I love scraps and scrappy quilts and I think this is why I also love applique because you can still use tiny bits of that favourite fabric that is now reduced to scrappy bits.

I love that something beautiful can be made from those itsy bitsy pieces. I think as we have all seen Hexies are a perfect example and Melody our lovely hostess is queen of the gorgeous hexies. My hexie quilt below really was made from scraps that were not considered beauties but I think they have shown us all.

When I first started quilting I didn't have much of a fabric stash let alone a scrap stash and I really fancied doing a log cabin quilt ( I thought I might feel like a 'real' quilter then). My friends laughed as I was like a bower bird collecting the bits and bits they gave me with relish but the wonderful thing about that is my log cabin quilt is like a friendship quilt as so many of the pieces were given by friends.

There are some very old country fabrics there that I am sure some of you probably remember but the overall effect is in my eyes gorgeous.

It is still a favourite....I think because I can't believe I actually cut out and sewed all those strips.

Another little scrappy I love is "Bareroots" version of a log cabin block which I used my scrap box for.

So there you have it "SCRAPS" a real treasure to create treasures of the future.
Why not pop over and visit my lovely friend MELODY our lovely hostess each week and share one of your treasures. We would love to see it and hear it's story.
I am still quilting but can see light at the end of the tunnel as I am on to the border now and as Sunday was just tooooo hot to hand quilt even with air I did a little secret Chrissy stitching. Here's a little peek....

I feel a coffee coming on so before I pop off to put the kettle on I shall leave you with this beautiful sweet girl from the very talented and inspiring Mo from  Rose Petals from Heaven to celebrate the safe return of dear friends from various overseas and domestic travels......your loving energy was missed.

Have a great day and cherish those you are fortunate enough to call "Friend" as they are rare treasure indeed.
Blessings Michelle xxx

I Spy Quilts are all Set.

I received another lovely parcel of I Spy fabrics from the very generous BARB of Barb's Creations yesterday and so now I am all set with lots of variety to finish the Grand boys quilts.

I am still decked out in thimble and quilting thread and hard at the hoop quilting away.

I love the meditative quality of hand quilting or hand stitching for that matter and the fact that I can allow my mind to drift off into my imagination and Anything is possible. The only thing is sometimes I have to take a break because an idea will not pass me by. So I did have to down tools and pick up pencil and paper just for a little while and get it all drawn up on paper. I indulged myself and bought new pencils and pens just recently.....even at school I loved nothing better than a brand new sharpened pencil.

I am having fun planning the future of these sweet blocks.
We are expecting quite high temperatures here today and I have to admit I am loving feeling the heat seep into my bones....I must be a Queenslander as I have missed it. Although you can bet I shall be complaining when it gets really hot and humid.
Dry hot weather is just perfect for the Bougainvilleas that grow on my fence and they are beginning to bloom there little stalks off.......despite their thorns I think they are beauitful.

Well I must fly as I have a busy weekend ahead.....Family stuff.....and more quilting and of course the
"Big Race" at Mount Panorama in Bathurst this weekend.
Being huge HOLDEN fans in this household (in fact the other brand is a dirty word) we are hoping resident Queenslander Craig Lowndes does well.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend wherever you are and that you find a needle and thread in your hands at sometime.
Blessings Michelle xxx

Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

Good Morning everyone. It is time  to visit my lovely friend MELODY who hosts Tuesday's Treasures where we get to share a place, thing, experience or special person whom we consider our "treasure". You also get to see other treasures being shared. So pop over and join in....share a treasure. I promise it makes you feel good.
My treasure today is very new. Well new to me anyway. I am not sure how old he is. When I was up the mountain with Fiona next to the Teapot Exhibition there was a little jumble sale and I found this cute little fellow amongst the bric-a-brac and as I have a passion for these furry Aussie people I had to bring him home with me......

And now for my side on view.....

He has initials EJB stamped on him at the front but I have no clue as to who that is.
I thought I would share a couple of pics of real wombats for the overseas girls. We have to types here
one is the Common Wombat...

You just gotta love that face!! The other is the Hairy Nosed Wombat. They are both Marsupials and carry their live young in a pouch which faces backwards so they don't get dirt in their face when Mum is digging a burrow to call home. They are nocturnal and sleep all day.

So there you have my treasure for today. Wombats! Who by the way are having health problems here on the mainland due to habitat clearing which allows weeds to grow which the starving wombats are eating which is making them really sick or they starve to death......very poor show humans!!!!!!
Don't forget to pop over to Melody's for a visit.
My hexies for my Mum are coming together and I now have 4 of the 7 rows together.

Stitching the black is nearly sending me blind but hey that's what loving daughters do for their Mum's.
I also have my stitchery row by row in the hoop and have started quilting it. I have shown you snippets of it and I will share a big pic when it's done.

Do remember these hexies....

Well looky here....this project is featured in the latest Country Threads Magazine.

I never cease to feel excited and extremely grateful when I see a project of mine in print.
As I did lots of chores yesterday I am free to get back to my quilting after a quick jaunt out.
Wishing you all a lovely day,
Blessings Michelle xxx