The Simple Things

Yesterday Mr R. and I decided to get out of the house as we are both fed up with this lurgy that will not leave town. Some sea air we thought was the just the ticket so we packed a picnic lunch (I love a picnic) and headed for one of our favourite haunts, our beautiful Bay area.
It was so lovely to walk along the foreshore with the water lapping the wall.

We walked out to the jetty which I love. The entrance is guarded by this huge timber sculpture which commemorates the original jetty which was built in 1882.

I love the little stainless steel fish that are embedded into the jetty walkway that lead you out to the end of the jetty...some are in small schools some are in ones and twos..they glitter silver in the sunlight just as real fish do when you see them flash by in the water.

Beautiful colourful mosaics also brighten the walkway.

and I love this mandala circle at the end of the jetty.

We chose this lovely shady tree to plonk our chairs under and eat our lunch.

You can't see it here but the tree was covered in these lovely cheery flowers..

So after a nice lunch what does a girl do??? Well she does a little bit of stitching...

and looks at the view...

and watches the rest of the world sail by!

Whilst it hasn't cured the lurgy it certainly helped in the "I feel so sorry for myself" stakes.
I love our Moreton Bay. We are so fortunate that it is on our doorstep.
Bye for now.
Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Mixed Bag

I do hope your weekend has begun well. I am once again not feeling 100% with this darn cough. Anyway I decided to have a little play with a couple of the new fabrics I bought whilst I was away. A little bit of needleturn was the order of the day...

I can show you a little sneaky of how it turned out but I still have a little more playing to do.

I really love those fabrics! Speaking of fabrics, I finally decided to take the plunge and completely paper piece the Lucy Boston Blocks. I am also pleased that I finally managed to get a copy of Linda Franz book which is winging it's way to me as I type....no going back now!!! With the decision made I set out to choose fabrics for the setting in pieces and little diamonds in the quilt. I am really happy with my purchase. I want to maintain that vintage look but the cream background will help the blocks pop a bit (I hope anyway)

I am so terrified of running out of the cream that I bought oodles of it...so I think it may be turning up as Applique backgrounds for years to come! So it seems I am all set. Lucy Boston here I come!!!!
I haven't "Nana" bored you for a while so here we go...
Lachie and Erin sharing a cuddle.

Cooper having fun with a balloon creation.

Our Son's family like us love camping. Our youngest Granddaughter has taken to it like a duck to water. Commandeering her Brother's chair into the bargain.

This "camping gig"??? Got it down pat!!! LOL!

For all my blessings big and small little and tall! How about you?
Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

And Then There Were Three!

I have to say these little blocks are very addictive....although I am only using my stash for the blocks, background or joining block fabric is required. On the horns of a dilemma....if I do all the blocks and then decide it leaves one mammoth job to join them all....decisions, decisions!! Part of me is telling me to be true to the pattern and paper piece the whole thing and the other part is saying applique them....hhmm! Help! I knew I should have kept on ignoring them.

I am also sewing the binding down on a project for Country Threads which is due VERY soon....instructions are next!!!

So not a lot to share here.....off to continue pounding the keyboard....oh a have a nice cuppa!
Aren't my Crotons pretty....just love their fiery foliage! Enjoy your day.

Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Some Treasures

Good morning all, I just thought I would show some of my treasures that I bought at Glenrose Patchwork and Canning Town Patchwork in Warwick.
Love these yummy fabrics...

I also loved these pretty pale blue sweet fabric some of the girls were using and so had to have some as well as some pretty ric rac and trim. I also have been flirting with the idea of making some blocks using the paper lozenges in the style of the Lucy Boston blocks.

So much fun. I do have to work on my fussy cutting quite a bit but I am pleased with the result. I am wanting the more muddy vintage looking fabrics so diving into the fabric draws is in order. I am going to aspire to using only those fabrics in my stash...hhmm! I just love playing around with them in different combinations.
I think though I am probably going to cheat and applique the blocks to a background rather than paper piecing the whole quilt....still thinking!
Big Happy Birthday wishes to my lovely friend Fiona from Bubzrugz xx

Enjoy the rest of your day,
Namaste & Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Last and Final Chapter

Are you bored yet?? This cute little wall hanging was hanging in the work room to inspire.
I was really pleased to finally finish a UFO that had been hanging around for ages. You may remember it and I still am not sure what possessed me to choose these fabrics but I have to admit that I am now quite fond of it....who knew! Fancy that!
 So here is "Hooray it's Stitching Day!" Table topper.

A lovely lady called Leonie stipple quilted it for me so just a bit of hand quilting remained and the backing had to be trimmed back and sewn down.

Each corner has a separate little stitching related stitchery

In the pile for instruction writing now.
Most of my stitching however was concentrated on my Michelle's secret project sewing and although I didn't get as far as I would have liked (it's called making a miscalculation in the design process) progress was indeed made.

I had lots of encouragement from the girls (even some requests...not naming any names of course) which was so nice. I loved seeing all these clever ladies at work on their projects. Caught Tatyana late in the day with her lovely blocks.

And then as all good things do....it came to an end.
I would like to say a huge big thank you to Teresa for inviting me, Sandi for organising such a wonderful retreat, Tatyana for keeping me company on the drive up and home and to she and  Teresa being such lovely 'roomies'. To my lovely friend Fiona for 'gatecrashing' and driving all the way over to spend time with us and spoiling us. To all the girls for being so friendly, kind and such good (wicked) fun. My lips are sealed!!!! I loved every second.
You know, I had wanted to visit this lovely place for so long but it didn't eventuate and I was disappointed but strange things happen.....when I did get to go it far exceeded my expectations and I think that has to be the lovely girls that kept me company. So the lesson here? Don't give up on something because there may just be a much better version right around the corner as there was for me. Thank you everyone...big hugs xxx

Ok! That's it from me I think I am done. One very happy and contented stitcher here.
Blessings Michelle xxx

Retreat Chapter 2

On arrival at Glenrose Patchwork B&B we were greeted so cheerfully and a delicious Devonshire Tea awaited us...oh such pretty teacups! It was hard to chose.

the scones went down a treat!

After settling in Sandi (organiser extraordinaire) gave us the sweetest "blue" gift. It was presented so beautifully none of us wanted to unwrap it...

But we forced ourselves..lol. Isn't it pretty. Please note my Oreo's are still intact.
The first evening everyone bought something delicious to share and our first meal was something to see and taste...So much laughter and friendship....lovely!

We had a visit into Warwick to a cafe and gift shop called Bryson's a favourite of the girls and a very nice lunch was had. We enjoyed it so much we had to go again. This time however we had a very special visitor with us, Fiona from Bubzrugz who came to spend the day with us...Yours truly and Fiona.

The rest of the girls...
Sandi and Teresa.

Tatyana and Noreen

Jen No1 and Miss Helen.

Yours truly and Jen No.2

Noreen Tess and Jen

As you can see we spoilt ourselves with lovely treats.
Fiona left us with a lovely bundle of gifties to play "Naughty Santa" after dinner that evening. Tess gets the game under way while Helen supervises.

It was so much fun and much thieving, hilarity and keeping your gift close to your chest took place.

Jen and Teresa remained friends even after some extreme stealing.

My gift was a lovely needlecase that I was thrilled with.

We did actually do some stitching which I will show next chapter.

Blessings Michelle xxx

Retreat at Glenrose Chapter 1

Good morning everyone. Well I am back from my retreat and I had the most wonderful time. I thought I would break it up into smaller epistles. So first a tour of the venue.

This is the gorgeous Glenrose Patchwork shop....a couple of donations were made here. Not far away is the fantastic workroom where we spent our time stitching, laughing and other activities that I am sworn to secrecy about...

The grounds are beautiful with little secret places and gardens to inspire you.

Beautiful roses...

This cute little shed was the venue for sweet Tatyana's Baby shower..

We had a lovely teaparty in the garden in beautiful teacups...

The little cottage that Teresa, Tatyana and myself shared was called "Wisteria"

Isn't it sweet! Want to take a peek inside?

There were lovely quilts gracing the walls to inspire you.

Lots of niches filled with lovely things..

This little darling minded my bed all day while I was away playing.

Tune in for the next chapter shortly,
Blessings Michelle xxx