Tuesday Treasures

Hi everyone, I don't have one treasure to celebrate today but many that I am very thankful for. My treasures today are all of you, the old friends, family, work-mates, bloggers, Facebookers & new friends who have touched me deeply by their kind words & caring thoughts on the loss of my little Brunnie.

I'm sorry I haven't yet been able to reply to all the messages individually but please know how much you have helped & how surrounded in love & support I have felt at this very sad time.

Many people will walk in and out of your life, 

but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. 

[Elenor Roosevelt]

With the constant support of a dear friend, Hun-bun & I are grieving our little man while keeping busy, establishing new routines, starting the next chapter of our lives and looking forward to sharing so many more happy times & fun posts with you in the near future and for a long time to come.

Visit one of our treasures, Melody at The House on the Side of the Hill to see what others are treasuring today.

Many thanks

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

Tuesday Treasures

Hi all

Here's my little treasure....

She is Anabella, nine weeks old & the beautiful second child of my dear friend Regina.

Along with her birthday suit, she is wearing her 'Wee Willie Winkie Hat' that I knitted for her. It's times like this I am very thankful for the craftiness I have been given & being able to share it with those around me.

Of course I am tickled how cute she looks in her kitty hat too....

To see more treasures or share your own, go to Melody's blog, The House On The Side Of The Hill.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

I'm not much of a gardener. As a matter of fact I would put myself forward for the black thumb of the year award. I think it has something to do with growing up in New Zealand where you stick anything in the ground & the combination of great soil, sunshine, regular rain and no week in & out heatwaves ensures they grow with very little intervention from anyone but Mother Nature. Of course, the weeds thrive too so that is a big job to contend with.

However I have found the perfect plant for me. I hack to back with a pair of shears, I never water it, never feed it and talk harshly at it for dropping so much fruit that I have to go around & pick up. My treasure for today is my two Columbia Gold Passionfruit vines. They start the season by growing long trailing glossy green vines followed by the most gorgeous, intricate flowers.

Then the flowers turn in to large green fruit. The yellow passionfruit can be twice the size of the more common purples ones and are jam packed with fruit inside. I watched this little guy below (a snail) for about 10 minutes while he tried to manoeuvre a piece of stalk to make a bridge up to the green fruit.

He's a smart little snail, the fruit do taste amazing. The only problem with these passionfruit is that every year the crop seems to get bigger and every one I know soon gets sick of me asking 'do you want some passionfruit???' I picked up 26 today alone, so I guess I will be getting my dose of vitamin C this week. I do love my passionfruit vines though, it is nice to be able to grow something!

I am joining up with Melody for Tuesday Treasures. Go to her blog The House on the Side of the Hill to join in or read of other treasures.

Happy growing
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

It's Tuesday again so I am back with some more Tuesday Treasures.

Today my treasure is Op Shopping / Second Hand Shops / Thrift Shops & all the amazing goodness you can find in them. This was a favourite pasttime I revelled in with my mum for many years until she went into care. When I was a little tacker it was for necessity, later it was because we were addicted to bargains & now it's more because it's a great way to find vintage treasures, hand sewn linens, old china and oh so many other pretty & unique things.

Thursday on my way home from quilting group was a great day for bargain finds as I popped in to my local small store in our little suburban shopping centre for just a look, just in case........

The first item that had to come home with me is a sweet little Empire platter, in Shelton Ivory (with gold edges) made in England for the princely sum of $3.99. Perfect condition & a nice shape. It's a little bigger than a dinner plate so a useful size - though who needs useful when you have pretty?

Then things got interesting. I have to admit - I am a woolaholic (yarnaholic in the Northern Hemisphere?). I love knitting wool. I just want to touch it, knit like my kitties on it & purr. Some of it can be costly though so I am always out for a bargain. Thursday it was New Zealand pure wool goodness - 2 lots of variagated Naturally in Turquise / purple (6 balls)  and red / black (6 balls) and Magic Garden Lollipop 100% Merino in the blue / grey / white variagation (5 balls) & all for 99c a ball. Big Purrs!

Next to that amongst the usual stack of old craft magazines a couple of books caught my eye - thank goodness! In absolutely mint condition I got Jan Constantine's Heirloom Embroidery. It still had the receipt in it from the Book Depository UK for $24.80. I paid $3.99.

And beside that in the same mint condition - Inspirations Magazine's Stitching For Beginners & Beyond for a measly $1.99.

Lots of beautiful stitchy goodness in those two books. It's not very often I have a find like Thursday's crafty yumminess so I was very happy with myself.

To check out more of this weeks treasures or to share your own, join up with our Hostess Melody on her blog The House On the Side Of The Hill.

Happy Shopping!
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

After spending a pleasant evening stitching Bronwyn Hayes new free stitchery from her Red Brolly blog I decided my treasure for this week is all the talented designers who freely offer us projects, blocks of the month, tutorials, giveaways and hints & tips to greater improve our stitching & enjoyment of our favourite crafty past times.

It isn't sewn into the pin cushion yet but here's my Easter bunny stitched from Bronwyn's free pattern.

Obviously I only know about a tiny percentage of the free projects on offer but here are a few that I love & whose generosity I would like to acknowledge;

Our beautiful hostess Melody, from The House On The Side Of The Hill & her unique 10 part Penny Rug BOM Home Sweet Home. Also thanks to Mel for all the freebies, tutorials & fun things she tells us about in her every post.

Val Laird & her beautiful BOM Thoughts in Thread.

Michelle from The Raspberry Rabbits & her exquisite wool felt BOM Hannah & Harrington portraying the antics of her sweet & sassy bunnies.

(\__/)
(>'.'<)
(")_(")

Val Spiers from Val Spiers Sews & the numerous small projects she designs & finds and happily shares with us - including kitty designs.

/\ /\
(>'.'<)
( UU )

Jenny of Elefantz & her Promises & Borders BOM with delicate stitcheries & scriptures.

Anne from Bunny Hill Designs who is currently hosting the Dresden Plate Club & has given away many free BOMs over the years, including Snowbound & A Tisket, A Tasket.

Fiona from Bugzrugz Quilt as you go tutorial with denim that was a guest spot on the blog Sew We Quilt. This was from May 2011 & yes I still have lots of denim circles of fabric sitting in a pile waiting for me to move ahead with my picnic blanket.

Dawn Hay from As Sweet As Cinnamon who has six gorgeous small project designs freely given on her blog currently. The Holly Berry Mug Rug is on my 'to do' list (actually I'm thinking of making a 'to do' quilt, as a list just doesn't have enough room).

That is just a few & I'm sure we could do a linky & end up with an amazing list of other great projects & generous designers (which would turn my 'to do' quilt in to a 'to do' hall runner, rather like the red carpet at the Oscars).

Whether I have named you or not, thank you to you all for your kindness & giving back to the quilty & stitchy community who love you & the beauty you bring to the world.

Happy stitching

Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

I was reading a book called Vintage Home I got from the library & it will filled with pretty things I liked very much so I took a few pics to remind me of them & hope against all odds that one day I may find something just like them.

The first is this soapdish, which I am still searching for but no luck so far - it's so cute

The second is this plate

This appealed just for the aspect of giving thanks for what we have and seeing the positives even in something as down right awful as doing the dishes. As my bench often contains dishes I thought it would be right at home in my place.

A couple of weeks later at the local St Vinnies I was overjoyed to see my new plate, not quite the same but same saying, same sentiment & just as lovely. $3 later & it was mine so this is my Tuesday Treasure for this week.

Come join in or for links to all the rest of this weeks treasure hunters go to Melody's Blog, The House on the Side of the Hill.

Happy treasure hunting
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

Yipppeee! It's share your pets day for Tuesday Treasures.

The Patriarch of the household, old Brutus (little Brun) is now very well known to so many of you as his geriatric days are played out through my blog. We leap & lurch towards his 20th birthday in our ungainly style but still with a purr in our hearts. Only 6 weeks to go now & my constant companion will be well & truly 'over the hill!'

However there is also another young furball in the Quilt Kitty household who often gets overlooked due to his little, older brother. Honey-bun was a Mothers Day 2007 present picked out by my mum Dorothy.

Poor little Hun-bun didn't have a conventional start to life with his granny who was in the mid stages of dementia. At about 18 months of age when mum went in to care, little Hun-bun came to live at the Quilt Kitty household to discover many a new trial - routine, a working muma, and a very grumpy & jealous older brother Brutus and his overprotective poppa too. A 15 year old cat used to being an 'only furbaby' who had started to slow down suddenly coupled with a large 18 month old bundle of kitteny energy with no boundries soon had us all pulling our hair out. It took about a year for things to settle down & while the boys will never be close, we now live in harmony.

(One of the rare pics where the boys are close enough to get in a photo together)

Beneath that big 7kg creamy exterior of Hun-bun lies a heart of marshmallow. He's a real little scaredycat but still a very self sufficient cat - the complete opposite of Brun which is why he misses out a bit. However when he does want a cuddle, nothing will stand in his way, not quilt or pins, knitting needles, laptop or his pesky older brother - when a cuddle is on his mind he just comes looking for it & it's a happening thing. (Which is why he is standing beside the laptop now bunting my hands as I type asking for some smooges) One of the things I love about him is how much he talks, he's a very vocal cat which can be very funny. He's a character, my little Hun-bun & very much loved.

So that's a bit more on the boys of the Quilt Kitty Household. Two bundles of joy in fur coats!

Linking up with Melody from The House on the Side of the Hill, so please go check out the other Treasures of today and show us yours.

Hope it's all purrs in your household too!

Tracee xx Brutus xx Honey xx

Tuesday Treasures

This week I have had a reminder that I have treasures out there I wasn't fully aware of. Yesterday I received a lovely gift & card saying 'I saw this is the sales and thought of you straight away, so it's a 'just because' present'. How sweet is that & of course the panels all wrapped up in ribbon are just so me. So are the chocolate lady bugs!

Of course, this is a treasure I share with many of you as she has touched lots of our hearts in many different but loving ways. My treaure this week is our host of Tuesday Treasures, Melody. Thank you for the brilliant panels, for thinking of me & for your friendship & caring ways. To think that you can get a gift from someone you haven't met in person but who knows you so well & thinks of you in their everyday life is just so amazing & so special. Thank you precious Mel!

So this year the kitties get new Christmas Stockings & at last they are big enough that I can add a pressie or two for me as well. A nice jelly roll to fill out the toe maybe........ So what do you say kitties - purr purr Thank you Aunty Mel! purr purr!

 Our quilty blogging world is a huge treasure in it's own right. We make friendships with no boundries as to location, age, skills etc which enriches our lives for just a little input & who doesn't want to show off the pretty things we make to others who understand the obsession. So thank you to all my treasures out there. As I come to my first blogiversory I can't count on my hands the number of bloggers I see as friends & whose names makes me smile when I see them on a comment or new blog post. We are just so lucky!

To join us in Tuesday Treasures go to The House On The Side Of The Hill & link up.

Happy blogging Treasures!
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures..

Here's a treasure I never expected to have.

This year I commenced doing the accounts & Treasurers role for a Calisthenics Club where a friend & work mate is the Co-President. In August each year a Family Concert is held where all the age groups from 4 years old to adult perform their competition routines for family & friends. It was my first time watching & it was stunning. I was so proud & the tinies made me cry they were so cute, especially when they tried to skip across the stage & curtsey when introduced. That skipping sure is the hardest steps to master.

The funniest thing ever though was to happen straight after interval. I was helping clean up after we served refreshments to VIP guests when I was told 'Tracee, your wanted on the stage'. I burst out laughing & said 'no, I'm not!' To which I was told firmly but politely to get my self in to that auditorium & up on that stage NOW. After all those pretty wee things that I had watched earlier, I was wondering what on earth is going on?

Anyway, accompanied by a bad case of the shakes, I did enter the auditorium to hear a President speaking about my dedication to the club even though I don't have kids involved. Eventually I did manage to get up on to the stage & was presented with the Presidents Award for 2011 for my time & effort put into the club. It seems kind of ironic that after all the hard work put in by so many people I came home with the biggest trophy of the night. I get to keep that for a year then it goes on to the next recipient who will no doubt be less surprised than I was. The champagne flute is engraved & I get to keep that to remember the honour they bestowed on me. The flowers of course, were beautiful & much appreciated.

Join Melody at The House on The Side of The Hill for more Tuesday Treasures & join in!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

I'm not much of a gardener but this time of year is my favourite for plants as the Cyclamens are in bloom. So these little pretties are my treasures for today.

I love having these around the house & if I am really lucky I can look after them over the season when they die down & have them rebloom next year.

If you have a treasure to share today, please join in on Meldoy's blog, The House on the Side of the Hill.

Happy stitching & gardening
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures....

My little Tuesday Treasure this week is a beautiful crochet rug my Aunty made. Over the years she laboured long & hard to make one for all the members of the family so must have made maybe a dozen at least. It is single bed size so lots of lovely granny squares. I received mine in my early 20s & carried it on the planes back with me as I flew from my home town of Nelson, New Zealand to Auckland, then on to Perth. It weighs quite a bit but I was snuggly warm on the flights :)

My mum had one too & as she has now passed, I (& Brutus) have guardianship of her rug for her. As you can see, when little Brutus wants a special warm hug from both his Granny & his Aunty, he snuggles up in the blanket Aunty made for mum.

To join in on Tuesday Treasures or see the links to all the posts, go to Melody's blog, The House on The Side of the Hill.

Happy Tuesday!
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

It's been awhile but at last I am able to rejoin Melody & friends in showing our Tuesday Treasures.

My treasure is a small china ornament my mum brought me maybe 14 years ago. Mum thought they were a family of little cats (shopping without her glasses again) but instead they are a very cute family of dogs & I think one of my favourite breeds, the Scottish Terrier. Mum, Dad & the two pups are picnicing together.

As you can see in the pics these are very civilised pups that sit up to the table together to partake in their food & drink. The chairs have sweet little draped covers with bows across the chair back. One little pup is having trouble paying attention so he is seated backwards watching what else is going on in the yard.

It is a one off treasure mum picked up in an op shop that she knew I would love (quirky animals - whats not to love??). It is only small, about 5in x 4in x 4in (12.5cm x 10cm x10cm) with felt on the bottom & no obvious marks of value dollarwise but lots of sentiment & I love my little scotty dog family!

So if you have a treasure to proudly share, sign up at Meldoy's blog, The House on The Side of the Hill.

Happy stitching
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

Tuesday Treasures

I wasn't sure what I was going to post this week for my Tuesday Treasure & then I came across one while I was cleaning out my desk drawer. It should be looked after a lot more carefully than that & now will be.

My treasure this week is a picture taken some time in early 1938 of my mum's family. It is the only photo I have of the whole family, and the only one my mum had too. While a photo this old of family now all passed is always a treasure, this one just tickles me because of the picture of my mum.

Yes, that's her, the youngest daughter in the middle with her finger up her nose at one of the few family photos ever taken. I imagine they weren't cheap to do at that time & there are few others except for special occasions like weddings etc & none altogether.

Mum told me she had just turned five at this time. Obviously there was something much more engaging going on with her nose rather than posing nicely like Aunty Ella & Aunty Audrey did. Even baby Uncle Charlie looks like he is trying to follow mum's lead. My Grandmother Lillian must have been very dismayed when she saw the result.

My mum & my Aunty Audrey to her right are the two women who shaped my life so lovingly. It's a photo that always makes me smile & I love it. If I am going to have one photo of my mum's family, well thank goodness it is not a boring one!

For more treasures hop along to Melody's blog.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx