Happy Easter & ANZAC Day

Hope everyone has had a happy, safe and relaxing Easter weekend & ANZAC Day.

It has been a brilliant weekend weather wise in Perth, not hot, not cold & some of that strange wet stuff. Yes, it RAINED, in PERTH & the forecast is for a bit more in the next few days to come & not a day over  24 degrees, autumn at last.

My normally unproductive sandy garden is currently prolific in yellow passionfruit too. I'm thinking maybe a passionfruit curd recipe might be worth a try.

The boys have had a lovely weekend too, young Honey played in the garden for while,

Old Brun snuck away & had nice naps in his mum's bed on the electric blanket left on 1 for him to warm his old bones.

It was one of my favourite days today too, ANZAC Day. We get to acknowledge the brave men & women of all the armed forces past and present & remember all who have gone before us & fought for the life & liberty we now have as lucky Aussies & Kiwis (or in my case both - an Auswi!).

This means my favourite footy match of the year, the Collingwood vs Essendon ANZAC Day game. Have I ever mentioned I like footy, well I don't, I LOVE FOOTY! While being in WA, I am an Eagles girl, but I just love great footy so love any great player & team and will watch any match possible.

Sorry, that means I do love Collingwood (I know, I hear the boo, hiss & roar from here) but also think Essendon is gaining mementum this year, how could they not with the return of James & assistance by Bomber Thompson - Go Bombers! So today I was in my element but in between couch coaching did manage to get lots of hexie flowers cut out ready to glue & sew.

Here's my progress to date towards the Vignette Hexagon Flower Quilt. 12 down, 128 to go. Should be finished by ANZAC Day next year, I hope.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

In Memory.....

In memory of our beautiful furry friend Sugie Bun Bun from Bunnyville with Shell & Harrington at The Raspberry Rabbits who passed away yesterday.

Thank you for sharing so much of your happy bunny life with all of Shell's bloggy friends & your biggest fans. You brought us all much joy, love & laughter and will be so sadly missed.

Love & condolences to Shell & Harrington.

Tracee, Brutus & Honey xxxxxx

19 Today....

There's a big birthday today here. My baby Brun has turned 19!

Like Royalty he wanted an official birthday portrait, so here it is. Not looking bad for an old fella!

Here's the full story....

Mum, don't watch footy, watch MEEEEEoooowwwwwww!!!!

Then curl up on the couch with your favourite blankie for a well deserved nap. Dreaming that he & his little, big brother will get something nice for dinner..........

Purrs & Happy stitching
Tracee xx (& Brutus & Honey)

Floral Friday

I thought I would join in Floral Friday today hosted by Bronwyn at Korumburra Quilting.

My pictures are taken in my home town of Nelson, New Zealand. They are beautiful though bittersweet as they are all around the Nelson Hospice where we lost my Aunty to cancer in 2008. It was nice though to have such beauty close by & seemed right with Aunty being an avid flower gardener.

This is the entrance & the beautiful blossum that was in flower at that time.

Next door was the administration building with lots of lovely flowers.

And because I can't go anywhere without meeting a cat, here is my very large friend who made my day by spending 10 minutes with me in the sunshine.

His mum needs to place him on a bit more of a restrictive diet!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Chaos & Bliss

Who could believe that something so little could cause such chaos!

Yes, I am late but have finally caught on to the hexie craze & this is my little template I brought from Quiltjane at Want It, Need It, Quilt. The best $3.50 investment in my quilting happiness!

And this is the result of this little tiny template entering the house & my sewing room,

Beautiful fabric chaos everywhere as I pull out what I think will work for my Vignette Hexie Quilt.

And dozens of little matches for future flowers. Bliss!

At least last night while watching the AFL Footy Show I did manage to make my first two flowers. Needless to say - HOOKED! I even got up & matched up those fabrics about 1am as my mind was spinning with fabric goodness.

So 2 down, 138 to go if I want to make the same size quilt as Leanne has in Vignette Issue 2.

I download & print my own hexie papers from here.

Of course, as I write Little Brun is sunning himself in the window behind me. He is so lucky to have a nice furry tail to keep the sun off his nose.

His old bones love the sun & alas (for him) the seasons are at last changing in Perth with rain yesterday, for the first time in months & no days forecast over 29 in the next week so far. After 50+ days over 32 this summer, his mummy is loving this change of weather to something more suited to quilting & snuggling.

Happy stitching

Tracee xx

Teddy Bears Picnic

I have some elderly friends who have packed a picnic & are ready to join in with the teddy bears.

These two old dears are from the Care Bear family. Back in 1982 when I was a 16 year old sewing my own clothes, I had an urge to make these babies for the two most important women in my life.

The blue care bear was a present for my Aunty, who was a hige part of my life, more a second mum. He has been treasured by her & always in her bedroom ever since until her passing 4 years ago. He has been well loved & played with by grand children & great grandchildren. He even survived a few trips through the washing cycle to clean him up from sticky fingers. When I returned to New Zealand over Christmas my Uncle asked if I wanted to take himback to Oz with me which I thought was a beautiful idea. So 29 years later he is back with me to live out his elder years.

The white one is a Care Bear Lamby, an obvious favourite for a Kiwi teenager! I made him at that same time for my mum. Poor lamby, note his feet are on upside down so the hearts on the soles of his feet are the wrong way around. He hasn't been subjected to the washing machine so has a lovely sprinkling of dust over his face like a dusting of freckles. Mum has also passed away in late 2009 so he is back with me too.

So my old care bears now sit in my bedroom, making me laugh as I look at lamby's wonky feet & my early applique skills on their hearts as well as yet another reminder of my mum & Aunty who I treasured so much. They don't get out much so I thought a picnic with new friends would be just the occasion they need!

Come join in at Melody's blog.

Happy stitching & picnicing!
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

My treasure today is another saved craft work from the Op Shop. It is a lovely cross stitch sampler, framed & with anti glare glass. The cross stitch panel is 60 cm x 38cm (24 inches x 15 inches).

I started my stitching hobby with cross stitch so know this would take me so long to complete. Every stitch is perfect & so much time, effort, expense & love must has been expended to make it. It has pride of place in my home now & was a brilliant $20 investment.

To see a whole lot of treasures, go to Melody's blog & check out the other links.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Giveaways & Winnings

Hi all, here are some more opportunities to win some lovely crafty prizes from generous bloggers & a look at my two recent wins;

Tess from Raggedy Station has opened a lovely new quilting store. If you are near Boronia Heights in QLD, go to her blog for the address & go visit. If like me, it is a long way away, get in for a taste of her lovely fabrics by entering at her blog to win 12 stunning black & white fat quarters & a lace button. Even the bow is beautiful!

Rachel at Stitched in Colour is having a week of giveaways for her blogiversary so get in quick, everday from now for patterns & lovely fabric.

And now my show & tell of how lucky I have been in blog world already!

This gorgeous sewn bag with lovely pink birdies on yellow, pink opening & lining was made by Diane from Quilting is Blissful blog & came all the way to me from New York state. Wow, wow & WOW! It will be put to good use gently so it lasts forever!

An extra bonus purrfect for a mum to fur-babies like me is the 'Paws For A Cause' Keychain from Theanimalrescuesite.com. Check out this wonderful site too.

Thanks so much Diane, I am very, very happy with my first blog win! xx

These four lovely fat quarters of fabric were my second win from the lovely Terri of Terri's Place blog. Very yummy fabrics & it came with a very big added bonus. Terri is in Perth too so I dropped by for a few hours to pick up my win & more importantly share quilt & cat stories, laughs, and make a lovely new friend. How amazing & we will do it all again soon. Thank you Terri, for a lovely afternoon as well as my beautiful fabrics. xx

Lucky me!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx