Winners Are Grinners!

It's been a long process to the drawing of winners here today. I seemed to make a lot of erroneous assumptions. I thought I knew cats - I thought I knew my cats....... They had a few lessons to teach me today.

First I printed out all the comments & decided to cunningly wrap kitty treats up in the paper. I then planned to throw them randomly on the mat & as the boys chowed down, the winners would be picked in order of munching......

1st Mistake - it was 36 degrees today & like a couple of wharfies with union representation, the boys refused to work in the heat of the day. Little Brunnie stayed napping on the TV table & refused to get down and Hun-bun napped in the fernery.

So we waited awhile until things cooled down a bit & little fluffy tummies would be wanting their dinner.... How about a bowl filled with paper & cheesey treats boys????

2nd Mistake - all cats love playing with paper or so I thought. I randomly sprinkled them about on the rug in front of the boys bowls waiting for them to investigate. 

Brunnie walked straight past & went to his biscuit bowl - Í'm too old muma, I play on the inside now'.

Who could have guessed, Hun-bun is scared of balls of paper with treats inside. When I sprinkled them near him, all 7kgs of him leaped in the air & he went running to the front door crying. When I followed him, he cowered at the door from me. I carried him back to the papers & put him down & he ran & hid under the table, peeking at me through the lace tablecloth.

After two more tries I had to admit, Kitty Pickers they are not so it is back to our little digital friend at Random.org. Drum roll please, so the winners are....

Prize 1 - Gail Pan kit goes to SUSAN IN TEXAS!

Prize 2 - Wonderfully Whimsical Quilts goes to CHRISTINE M!

Prize 3 - Felties goes to VICKIE!

Prize 4 - ACC&D Address Book goes to CHERYLL!

Prize 5 - Rosie Quinlin Pattern goes to SALLY JAMES!

Prize 6 - Natalie Ross Pattern goes to FIONA!

Prize 7 - Gumboots Fabric goes to MHAIRI!

Prize 8 - Gumboots Fabric goes to JOSIE! Gumboot fabric flying to Scotland...... lovely!

I will now go & send emails to my lucky friends. Thanks to all who entered & pushed me up to 110 followers. I wish there was gifts for all. It's only 15 days to my blogiversary so we shall see if I am up to another giveaway by then. I'm feeling somewhat scarred by the boys lack of participation. Obviously my boys are a lazy lot!

Happy stitching

Tracee xxx

Happy Scrappy!

There seems to be plenty happening here this month amongst lots of work hours but not much to show for it, doing some secret sewing, knitting a few rows of Christmas balls...... more about that in my 1 Christmas Item A Month post. I made 1 snuggly-bug block with a cute little unicorn,

and a pair of cute little bowls so I could play Christmas Swap angel to my good friend Shez.

I love that fabric I used on the outside of the bowls & the Paris Holiday used as wrapping is pretty cute too.

It's been hot here again so there have been a few naps & lots of yawns....

The cherry tomatoes are prolific....

And little Brun has done his best to try & kick start the broken laptop (when I just read this through I had typed 'lick' start - bet that wouldn't have worked either!). Even he couldn't work any magic so it is holidaying in the laptop workshop.

But most of all I want you all to....

If you haven't entered my giveaway, please leave a comment on the previous post here. Thanks to those who have & the new followers, look forward to the draw next Sunday. I have been playing with the auto draw programs but wonder if maybe I should go the old fashioned way & let the boys help? It only seems right.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Quiltkitty 100 Followers GIVEAWAY!

Brunnie, Hun-bun & their muma are proud to present our inaugural giveaway to celebrate our first 100 followers and our first 30,000 page views. This happened at the beginning of December so now it is actually to celebrate 102 followers & 32,000 page views.

I want to thank everyone who visits my blog, the friends, the commenters, the followers & the lurkers. You all make this blogging caper fun & worthwhile for both myself & my furball want-a-be famous writer cat & his lazy little but large brother.

The rules are easy;

• leave me a comment below
• if you are not a follower, it would be nice if you joined up at on the right sidebar but not complusory
• I will draw the winners on Sunday 27th January - time to be determined according to my whim, how hot the day is, whether Brunnie is helping etc.
• Winners will be drawn in the order I have listed my giveaways below
• I will post anywhere

Good luck - hope there is something that takes your fancy....

Draw 1 - Gail Pan Designs - My Sweet Home Kit, contains pattern, fabrics & threads

Draw 2 - Wonderfully Whimsical Quilts by Carol Burniston - 10 playful projects to make you smile (Brunnie's Choice - cats on the cover)

Draw 3 - Felties by Nelly Pailloux - How to make 18 cute & fuzzy friends

Draw 4 - Aust Country Craft & Decorating Address Book

Draw 5 - Rosalie Quinlan Designs - Mauritian Bloom Pattern Holder (Pattern Only)

Draw 6 - Natalie Ross In Stitches - The Hootie Hoo Family (Pattern Only)

And not wanting to be left out of the fun we have Huney-bun's choice of prizes...

Draw 7 - Two x Long Quarters of two Gumboot Garden Design Fabrics

Draw 8 - Another 2 long quarters of fabric, same as draw 7

I'll be back on the 27th with a list of winners!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

I am linking up today with Melody's (now) monthly Tuesday Treasures. Go to Mel's blog to join in or to read what everyone else is treasuring today.

My treasure today is all the generous people & companies out there in blog world who offer up prizes and giveaways that we have a chance to win with very little effort. Their generosity brightens many a day even if not the lucky winners. Of course I love them because I am lucky at these and have nice success in the 25 words or less competitions too.

As examples I am going to show you what great goodies I have won lately;

From Homespun Magazine in a 25 words or less competition - a fat quarter pack of Helen Stubbing's from Hugs n Kisses, Life is Beautiful fabric pack. I wanted this badly as in an earlier blog post in October you will see I brought the latest quilt pattern filled with vintage stitcheries & made in this range. Here's the pic I took of the quilt. There are more closeup pics on my October blog post.

 

Below are the fat quarters I won plus there are two gorgeous panels. 

Also sitting waiting for me when i came back from Ballarat was this parcel from Samelia's Mum blog.This range of Command clear adhesive hangers have been great for hanging the calendars this year & I still have heaps left for many more uses.

And next to that parcel was this one from think-Tasmania.com. I won this on Facebook for correctly guessing what was the closest town to the tree pictured. I got in late in the comp & had been late night prowling Tasmanian real estate down the Huon Valley way so my first guess was Geeveston. I was pretty happy when I found out I was right. Could it be a sign???? The pack contained lots of little goodies, a bag, mousepad, pen, cards & postcards, shortbread, sweets, stickers, everything a Perth girl with Tassie in her heart will need.

Now here's a cutie of a recent win that I haven't got yet but can't wait to get into my sweaty little hands. (It's 38 & horribly humid today, I don't normally have sweaty paws) Christine from Aunties Quaint Quilts has just celebrated 5 years in blogland with 5 delicious giveaways. On Saturday when I saw I had been lucky enough to win one I was off on my yippee! dance again. It includes the book 'So Darn Cute' & a patchwork pencil case Christine made from the book Zakka Style - even darn cuter!

I'm sure everyone gets as excited as I do when I win something so I want to say a big thank you to all for being so generous & brightening my days. Still a 'tin-bum' thanks mum!

If you want to try out your luck too, the following giveaways are currently in blogland;

Wendy & Charlie from Charlotte's Web in NZ are having their first giveaway so click on the blog name to go & enter. I shouldn't tell you about this one, Wendy has made some gorgeous gifts that I would love to come live in my house. But in all fairness I have been very spoilt already so enter away...

A Spoonful of Sugar is having a sponsored giveaway of a $40 voucher to buy wonderous fabrics from XO Gigi Fabrics. If you haven't been to this blog before, your in for a treat, lots of goodies, tutorials, recipes & inspiration here.

I'm sure if you catch the competition bug, by going from blog to blog you will find lots more.

I also promised a giveaway for my 100+ followers celebration that happened a couple of days before I went on holiday. Now Christmas is over & we can celebrate my 102 followers & 31,000 page views I will take pics and post my giveaway this weekend. So come back & see me for my giveaway soon!

Happy winning
Tracee xx

Weekends With Brunnie =^..^=

Hi friends! Brunnie here, survived my 21st Christmas!

I have been waiting, waiting, waiting & waiting some more for muma to finish dinner, open up the blog post page and leave me in peace to write my very important blog post to my friends!

Finally we are underway friends!

Hun-bun & Brunnie had a purrfect Christmas. We have new stockings that muma made up from fabrics Aunty Melody sent special for Brunnie & Hun-bun.

Muma did some pretty whites stitchy on each one. My stocking has the patchwork at the front with the turquoise lining & Hun-bun's stocking has the big cat face (like his big round cat face) with the purple lining. I say 'Muma - write that down so Hun-bun don't pinch my stocking on my 22nd Christmas'. Muma said 'We'll see Brunnie'. Muma knows Hun-bun is a knicker. He knickered a mouse today & tried to bring it home for muma. Muma wouldn't open the screen door for mouse to come inside again. It was so hot, Hun-bun came in by himself & left mouse outside alone.

Muma hung the stockings up for Santa and I slept out in the lounge watching for Santa Paws but didn't see him come at all. Yet Christmas morning Brunnie's stocking was full of goodies.... Happy, Happy, Happy!

 Hun-bun's stocking was full of goodies..... Happy, Happy, Happy!

Hun-bun was up late Christmas Eve, not a morning cat, he usually naps in like muma....

Next it was time for special Christmas breakfast. Hun-bun & Brunnie received two yummy treats from Aunty Shez so we had to decide what to have for breakfast..... Tuna, sardines, tuna, sardines, tuna, sardines, Bruunie too purry on Christmas morning to decide....

Hun-bun say 'Don't panic old dude, it's Christmas, we have tuna for breakfast and sardines for lunch. Muma will give us lunch on Christmas Day!' So we did!

Big purry thanks yous to Aunty Melody & Aunty Shez for making our Christmas such a treat!

Muma is back off to work tomorrow so no more lunches for Brunnie & Hun-bun....

Happy New Year Friends!

Hun-bun & Brunnie hope all our friends are managing to stay fairly cool

 in the heat of summer and that our friends especially in Tasmania are 

far from the fires currently threatening. We hope all the animals are 

safe and pets are with their mumas!

Bye friends!
Brunnie xxx Hun-Bun xxx

Friday Night With Friends

Last night I took part in my first Friday Night with Friends sew-in hosted by swap-mama Cheryll from Gone Stitchin.

I started earlier in the afternoon & made a very large cushion cover to replace an old one for the playroom at work. It's about 80cm x 100cm so not much to photograph but here's a pic of a smaller part of the fabric. It's cute for $8.00 a metre in the Spotlight sale bin.

Next I did a clean up of my cutting table & storage area in the laundry. I set up my new cordless iron - another Spotlight bargain at $19.99. The base reminds me of a snail who lost his shell. I thought it had lost its cord too but found it snuggled into a little hidey-hole in the snails buttocks! The kitty tin is for the rubbish & the red tin is for my scraps. I must have been reasonably productive last year because my scraps have outgrown the big scrap bin in my sewing room - maybe time to make them into something. As I told Sharon recently, I have scrap phobia so maybe one of those no planning, just grab & sew string projects might snap me out of that. Ohhhh, I shiver at the thought of it!

Later that evening I watched some episodes of Criminal Minds & did some knitting. No this isn't a fizzy red volcano, though I see the resemblance. I'm teaching myself to knit Christmas balls from the book on my sidebar '55 Christmas Balls To Knit'. Every time I see one of these knitted baubles on someones blog I covet them deeply so thought I better learn to make my own. I've done a couple with plain yarn so now have moved up to glittery fuzzy yarn - quite a new experience. I am hoping to soon get to the point when I can knit the fair isle picture knit ones the book is full of.

Finally I finished off a mug rug for my Uncle Gordon's birthday present. Maria suggested on my previous post where I lamented what to get this dear man for a present, that a mug rug would be nice. I decided that was a fine idea because Uncle Gordon doesn't go to bed without a cup of tea & a piece of toast. It's been his routine through all his married life with Aunty & beyond. It doesn't matter what was for dinner, tea & toast sends Uncle happily off to dreamland. So I stitched this little stitchery rug with nice alpine pictures my mountain climbing Uncle will love (I know - it's a bit FUGLY & the pics are Canadian - not New Zealandish - no bears or beavers in NZ - but I think he will like it).

So that was my productive Friday. If you haven't read about everyone elses FNWF, click here for the list & start visiting. There's 69 blogs to visit so grab a coffee.....

You may of read about some recent swaps where commitments have not been honoured which considering the amount of work, care & effort most of us put in to our projects, this is very disappointing and such a let down for the recipient that misses out. So swappers take up the initiative and take the pledge;

I Tracee Quiltkitty will try my utmost...

·        To always swap on time.

·        To always email a THANK YOU to my partner.

·        To be considerate and thoughtful when choosing a gift.

·        To give my partner the quality of gift that I would like to receive.

·        To communicate when it’s required.

·        To NEVER over commit and let a partner down.

·        To advise the swap mama when I receive my gift.

This I sewomly pledge....

To get a copy of the button & copy the pledge go to Cheryll's latest post or you are welcome to copy from here to. Thanks Cheryll, great idea!

Here a link to Tipnut - More Than 50 Fabric Scrap & Remnant Ideas..... lots of free patterns.

Happy Sunday!
Tracee xx

Christmas Swaps I Sent

I have lost most of my pics for 2012 & so have borrowed pics from my swap partners to show you what I made for them.

In Chookyblue's SSCS Swap my partner was Siri in Norway. This is the peek of her main project I gave back in November.

And here is the finished cushion sitting on Siri's couch all the way in the Northern hemisphere - amazing! Siri's happy & so am I.

In an earlier post you saw all the amazing projects that Karen from Just Purrfick sent me so here is the line up that I sent to her.

The Christmas Tag - thanks to Red Brolly for this free design.

Something sewing - love this book by Lynette Anderson (see her new book Stitch It For Spring to preorder from UK Book Depository on my side bar - $8.93 bargain!).

The Christmas Decoration - simple with a steampunk embellishment.

A starter kit

A Christmas Postcard - a Jenny from Elephantz design. It says 'Ón Christmas Day at half past three, I'll think of you, you think of me'. The words you can't see are under the chocolates. I didn't know whether to add tea or coffee satchets so went with chocolate pops instead. I sent Siri one of these too as her decoration in the SSCS swap.

Something to nibble

 



A Candle mat - a very large candle mat - I thought this funky table runner would suit Karen's bright Christmas decorating so had to fit it in somehow.

An applique wall hanging - the idea for this was in a American quilting magazine but I had to add in Rudolph for a bit more humour.

A Santa Stocking, with happy dancing santas....

And the piece de resistance..... the steampunk robin stitchery & frame. I wasn't sure about this while stitching, not colours I am used to, but when it hit me I had the perfect frame & I got it in there, I realised it was better than I hoped for. The main thing is Karen loves him so yippee!

 

 

I can't believe I made so many gorgeous things! I love them, Karen loves them & Mrs Martin ran a great swap - so thanks to both of you for making this so much fun!

 

Happy stitching

Tracee xx