Bad, Bad, Bad.....

Not Brunnie, not Hun-bun (well yes maybe Hun-bun too), its me & I am a bad, bad, bad friend!

I received a lovely birthday gift from my friend Leanne from Lizzie Quilts in Tassie & while Leanne knows I absolutely love it & it is proudly displayed in my home, I have let work get in the way of blogging about how gorgeous it is & how lucky I am.

Inside was the most beautiful tumblers table runner in perfect colours & prints for my home. As you can see it was made to perfectly fit one of my coffee tables too. I admire it every day as I walk past.

Here's a close up & isn't it beautifully quilted too.

The handmade card is so cute and still on display & I received a lovely pack of charm squares - Looking Back by Moda.

So hows that for a wonderful birthday gift! You already knew privately I loved it Leanne but it's long overdue time I shouted it to the world too!


So I am about half way through the busy period for me at work, working full time again & 9-10 hour days too. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of working in the afternoon at the Poo & Prams Expo - the real name is the Pregnancy, Baby & Childrens Expo but in my first year at this work I was warned by the old hands of the pram traffic jams & to expect the overwhelming smell of dirty nappies from all the younger attendees. It can be quite fun but they were true on both accounts!

With all this extra work bed time is a lot earlier & there is a lot more sleeping going on. There are no complaints about that except from me. Brunnie is doing a lot more sleeping....

Hun-bun is doing a lot more sleeping...

& I'm doing a lot more sleeping too & missing out on my valuable blogging & stitching time. Funnily enough this week while I am the busiest I have been, I have started stitching again & staying up a bit later just to get a few more stitches in. Maybe that is because someone special is having a birthday soon too????

Miss you all & great to see so many of you now on Facebook.

Happy sleeping!
Tracee xx  Brunnie xx  Hun-Bun xx

Dining With Brunnie

Hi Friends, Brunnie here!

Muma's neglecting you all badly so I just wanted to tell you we think of you often & miss you all heaps, but mum's working hard & we will be back sewing & blogging soon.

I might have some more news soon but tonight I just wanted to share with you the wonderful news that I had my favourite morney for dinner....

Muma said that somehow she thinks you would already nose about that! ????

My brother Hun-bun is well, but he freaked muma out tonight when she got home by pretending he was a V8 Supercar & running fast laps of the house making brrrrmmmm, brrrrrrmmmmm noises. Now he is parked up on the couch waiting for refuelling.

Purrs to you all

Brunnie xxx



Weekends witn Brunnie - I Made it!

Hi Friends

I made it! No, not some pretty sewy thing like you & muma make, I made it to my next special occasion. I made it to my muma's birthday! Not that I doubted I would but muma is a bit emotional so she thinks after my 20th birthday every day is fraught with the danger of Grandma coming & taking me to heaven with her.

My Daddy looked on the computer & found out the oldest cat on record is 38 years young. I thought that would make muma feel better but she said 'oh hell!' I think that is because muma says I am high maintenance.

I gave muma a special birthday cuddle in bed (after making her get up & give me breakfast so I had the energy to have extra big cuddles).

For my present to muma I decided to stay in her bed & keep it warm for her all day so when she hops in tonight it is all snuggly. It's a specialised service but one I am very good at.

Happy Birthday to muma, from me & Hun-bun!

Big purrs
Brunnie xxx

Home Sweet 'Red Home'

1st of July already - the start of the 3 months of spreadsheets, accounts & reconcilitaions if like me you work in management accounting. Even for a small business it's numbers, numbers, numbers until you wake up having nightmares about them. The sad thing is this is my favourite time of year at work but this year it's just too busy, too much work in too little time & taking over another full time role as well is just not helping. More stress relief stitching is what I need but some nights I am just too tired.

I am still knitting, on to the last of four hats for workmate Regina's new baby Annabel. I am loving the brim on this one, a new stitch I haven't seen before that looks fantastic. It's ultra easy too, knit 1, slip 1 - that's it with a knit row every second. The third row you knit 2 to start so the rows are offset & you end up with this cute honeycomb design.

Another mesh scarf done for Megs too, this one in red, maroon & purple - delicious!

I have done a little stitching on my Stitch A Long SKOW block & will have to concentrate on them soon to catch back up. One thing I haven't given up is buying new books by our local Aussie designers. I have The Simple Life by Anni Downs on order & my new favourite pattern book is

RED HOME by Natalie Bird

Another beautiful pattern book by Natalie with 10 red themed sewing projects for the home. The main quilt have a pieced centre with appliques & stitcheries around it so for someone who needs more piecing practice like me this is very attractive. Time to break out of my comfort zone of making quilts with stitcheries & appliques with borders.

My number 1 project given my current time limts & the subject matter is this cute little Red Cat Mini Stitchery - purrfect for me! It looks gorgeous in applique on the top right of the main quilt too.

I also like this little Red Bird Coin Purse on linen.

I also want to make the Heart & Bloom Mini Quilt because at 11 inches x 14 inches I can make it to fit on the mini quilt stand. It will look gorgeous & I can't wait to get a selection of these little quilts to swap and change on the stands regularly.

As you can see, lots of great projects. On the back cover you can see the True Friends Tote Bag, Little House Pincushion (with hexies), the Heart & Bloom Mini Quilt, the Table Centre & the Churn Dash Pieced Quilt.

There is also the Red Home Round Cushion in lovely toile & the Thread Catcher, little baskets that can have 101 uses as well as catching our threads & off-cuts.

After a really busy day at work, just looking at this book makes me feel relaxed & itching to stitch.

I brought my copy from Sarah at Patchwork Plus. They are currently just $25.00 with free post & you will have it in your hands within a few days. Sarah is super fast at posting out orders.

I can't sign off without an update on the furboys. Little Brun is feeling a little neglected with my now working more days a week (I'm surprised he hasn't done a blog post letting you know of his dismay!). To add to his woes, last night I lit the slow combustion fire in the family room rather than sitting in the lounge with the gas fire. Poor Brun just couldn't get his old head around the change & kept going back in to the dark lounge & sitting in front of the unlit gas fire. One guess who kept traipsing in to the lounge & picking him up & putting him back on the rug in front of the lit fire. Young Hun-bun is his usual happy self, enjoying the two sunny days we have had this weekend after weeks of rain. Hun-bun's new nickname is 'Low Maintenance' which only leaves one new name for his big little brother........

Happy reading
Tracee xx

Mini Swap Quilt Send

Hi all

I have taken part in the first of Cheryll's min quilt swaps. The first subject very fittingly was Welcome & doesn't everyone need a pretty little welcome quilt in the entry of their home. The stands that fit these 12 inch x 14 inch quilts look so wonderful. See the white one below in Cheryll's swap button.

My pictures will show my quilt on a wall as I have been a bit slow at ordering my stand. However when they get here there will be celebrations as I haven't stopped at one buying both the white & the silver that you can put different headers on matched to your quilt subject, season or celebration.

So here is my mini quilt I made for my swap partner that is currently winging its way to its new home.

I hope my partner likes it. From stalking her blog it seems she like bright colours so I used my current favourite paisley fabric in pinks & yellow on a white background. I also used this on my last swap with Raelene on her journal with lots of other bright contrasts that I posted about back here. Maybe now I should make something for me with it & then put any left to rest for awhile.

Here's a close up of muma & baby bird in their happy nest. When I receive my swap pressie & my hangers I will show you more.

Thanks to the lovely Cheryll from Gone Stitchin for hosting this gorgeous swap. Naturally we are not stopping at one of these little quilts, there will be ongoing swaps where you enter the ones that interest you (you don't have to do all of them) and end up with a selection to display. The next subject is Fathers Day so go to Cheryll's blog to sign up.

Happy swapping

Tracee xx

It's Official!

It's official & now I have a card to prove it -

I am a Crazy Cat Lady!

Check out the work of Susan Faye on her blog 365CatLadies and Etsy site. I admit I did buy 4 of the kitty picture necklaces, a cat nip pillow each for Brun & Hun-bun and my official Crazy Cat Lady card.

I came across Susan's work as a quilt in last months Homespun was based on Susan's artwork. It was purrs at first sight for me!

Happy purring
Tracee xx

Tuesday Treasures

I have to admit there is good & bad about my treasure for today. It keeps me in touch with friends & family, lets me see what crafters are up to worldwide & gives me a daily dose of kitties big, small, young, old, cute & a few that are not so cute. It makes me laugh which is a great thing.

It also wastes time when I could be sewing, doing chores, doing my cali accounts or sleeping. Some times you come across the occasional meany but fortunately they are quickly & easily anihalated & where else in life can you say that. On busy weeks, my crops die, my animals are neglected & the fruit stays on the trees too long....... but fortunately I have heaps of money to replant & buy more -  hey we are only talking about Farm Town!

Yes, my treasure of the week is FACEBOOK.

I know, some of you will be nodding with me & some will be shaking your heads in sorrow. I have to admit I am a Facebook addict. Where else can you find 100s of cat pics with funny captions to read & laugh at when you come home from a frustrating day at work?

There is even doggies & I am an equal opportunity animal lover even if I seem cataliciously biased.

I can feed my love of things shabby, vintage, beautiful cottage gardens & treasures of the past.

I can embrace my Kiwiness & never forget my Aussieness too.

I can at last have the farm I so desire & the funds to make it beautiful. It is called 'Crazy Cat Lady Farm & does have many cats but also every other animal a farm usually has as well as my beautiful herd of bulls - I love the bull riding so think it only fitting I become a bull farmer! I can do all this & play Mahjong, Bingo & Solitaire and 100s of other games at 2am when I definately do not want to go to sleep.

When I'm feeling a little down or unmotivated I can find sayings that touch me & make me realise how lucky I am.

And all this & so  much more I can do for free. I think that is a pretty great deal. So thank you Mark Zuckerberg & all those people that make pics to share, & thank you friends, family, crafters & random strangers whose posts make my day.

PLUS - where else can I go to be friends & swap comments every day with a cat called Zanda who lives in Melbourne & two cats called Dastan & Caspian who live in Cambridge in the UK???? Yes, 3 of my friends are cats on Facebook - no surprise there really. No, Brun & Hun-bun do not have Facebook pages, I think they are better suited to be blogging cats.....


Join in with Tuesday Treasures by going to Melody's blog The House On The Side Of The Hill to read what other treasures are talked about today or to post your own.

Happy Cat Booking (the official term for looking up cat pics on Facebook!)
Tracee xx

Quilt Kitty Bookclub

Hi all

I hope you can all forgive my neglect of you all over the last month. It has been an up & down month but I really had no good reason for it. It wasn't even that I meant to, it just happened and now I think maybe I needed to have a rest from something & unfortunately it was sewing, stitching, blogging etc. Work, my Treasurer duties & housework don't go away so naturally the fun stuff was the sacrifice. Hopefully that is over & done with now because I missed you all something awful & have been so lazy & unproductive.

I knitted one of those pretty mesh scarves in bright red & when a friend loved it & asked if I could make her one I did another one. I couldn't get the Moda Vera Honeycomb Mesh I usually use so used a Bobble Mesh, similar on the mesh side but with the cutest little bobbles on the outside edge. It made a pretty scarf & I forgot to take a pic before I gave it away. These are both from Spotlight for $5.99 a ball.  

One thing I have been doing over the last month is my usual fallback position - reading. I have had the flu so while in bed last Thursday & Friday I read the latest Elm Creek Quilts novel by Jennifer Chiaverini called Sonoma Rose.

I love all of these but normally the books set in modern times at Elm Creek Quilts & about the quilters are my favourite. This was one of the series set in the past, that fleshes out some of the back story that we have read about in earlier books.

The official blurb reads "As the nation grapples with the strictures of Prohibition, Rosa Diaz Barclay lives on a Southern California rye farm with her volatile husband, John, who has lately found another source of income far outside the Federal purview.

Mother to eight children, Rosa mourns the loss of four who succumbed to the mysterious wasting disease currently afflicting young Ana and Miguel. Two daughters born of another father are in perfect health. When an act of violence shatters Rosa’s resolve to maintain her increasingly dangerous existence, she flees with the children and her precious heirloom quilts to the mesa where she last saw her beloved mother alive."

On Goodreads web site where I log my books I read it rates a 3.76 from 344 ratings. However it was a 5 out of 5 for me. It was a family saga, with a lot of sadness & turmoil but also good people, neighbours that rally around and hope for the future.

Even if you haven't been reading the series, this stands alone as a great book too. If you are already an Elm Creek fan then don't miss it.




Before I go - The times & trials of an old cat! I was sitting in bed watching the Dockers vs Adelaide game & Brutus was sitting on the other side, leg up in the air, washing his nether regions when suddenly he did a backward somersault (maybe with a half pike) & landed on the carpet. I ran around the bed to pick him up,  patched up his ego with soothing words and put him back on the bed. For a few minutes he glared at me as if the say 'What did you do muma!' Then of course, he went on with washing those regions....

(not actual event - taken when Brun was a sprightly 18 years of age)

Happy Reading

Tracee xx

Weekends With Brunnie =^..^=

We lives friends! Brunnie here still!

I know, it been so long, some of you think we disappeared. Thanks for the emails & comments, we all purred when we read them. Don't know what's been wrong with muma, no sewing, no fabric shopping, hardly any stitching, no blogging, no blog reading - think alien took over muma's body & it was a very boring, non-sewing, non-blogging alien!

Muma's had the flu but only the past week but that was very bad timing as it started on the day muma went to the Quilt Show & she didn't buy much, didn't look at most of the stalls and come home and went to bed. By the second day muma was due to go she was very sore & snotty so muma stayed tucked up in bed with me instead. I think that is over pretty much now though. She's started playing with her SKOW SAL book & neglected block so paws crossed tonight it will be footy & sewing in front of the gas fire for muma, me & Hun-bun.

So what have we been up to in the last month.....

I have been back to see the kitty Dr. I have a very stylish bag muma carries me in while I travel but I don't like it, I don't like it at all. At least I got to see my favourite kitty Dr, Rudolph. I was a bit rude though & hissed at him as he gave me an injection in my back but that was no fun at all. Muma was cringing something bad while he did it too. He also stuck goo in my eyes & gave muma some to bring home. Muma's not the best at that stuff so if I move she jumps with fright which is kind of fun. Eventually I end up with gooey stuff in my eyes anyway & muma saying 'mush it around Brunnie'. My infection has gone again so I guess it was all good.

I watched the WA Footy Derby last weekend & as usual couldn't keep my eyes off my team - The West Coast Eagles & their purrfect performance. It must have been half time when muma took the photo, just resting between quarters.

Muma put up a new hanging rail above her cutting table to hang these funny things from. I didn't know what the blue & white things were but I know the blue brush. Muma chases my furs off the furniture with that. It has been around for a long, long time.

Muma has since used one of the blue & white things on a cutting ruler to keep it from slipping, so that's what they are for. Muma cut up & then sewed back together some charm squares that Aunty Leanne sent her in a swap. I supervised but it seemed a bit pointless - cut up squares, match with the charm squares, sew them together, cut the squares of fabric in half & end up with new squares??? I'll be glad when muma back to daily stitching, making pictures from string I understand....

Muma has done one little bit of stitching which I quite like. We like sewing machines in our house, even Hun-bun who isn't really in touch with his creative side like me & muma. He's only 5 so I'm hoping he will learn in time. He's not much of a writer either, sometimes in my humble opinion he thinks he is around just to look pretty....

Yesterday was nice & rainy in Perth so we all made the most of it. Mum was in bed coughing away with her flu again. Hun-bun he was on his couch snuggled up with Hermoine napping....

I was looking after muma, hard work but don't feel too sorry for me. I had my red cat face blankie, my pink knitted rug, muma's soft old flannelette sheet over me & my electric blanket on two. Ahhhh, this is living -  muma, but please stop coughing......

I hope muma will be back blogging this weekend, now I need to go check on her, if she is stitching I will give her a purr, if not I will knit on her until she can't stand it & pushes me off with the excuse that she can't stitch with me on her knee. Sneaky kitty ; )

Purrs

Brunnie xx

Try The Purple Gorilla!

Alas! My stitching mojo has abandoned me again, just when I am getting so behind on the SKOW stitch a long. My avoidance issues of the needleturn applique are rearing their heads again now that I am at the flower block that has tiny shapes which I am not good at.

Never mind, I went back to my first love - knitting. I haven't been able to knit much for the last few years due to a pulled tendon in my elbow. A couple of rows & the pain would always start. A new baby coming in June & the start of winter was a nice prompt to get me to try again after such a long break.

First up was a pair of pink Mary-Jane Booties with a flower on top - every girl needs at least one pair in her life time.

I managed that with not too much pain so decided on a baby hoodie and matching booties in a gorgeous bright multi colour bamboo / wool blend called Layette by Bella Baby from Spotlight. It was nice to get it down to $2.00 a ball too. A pretty wooden flower button & it was done.

It's hard to see the hoodie properly lying down & not having any newborns on hand to model it was into the sewing room & on to my soft toy shelf to look for a suitable baby size model. Try the purple gorilla I thought!

'He's no supermodel muma' said Brun.

'No, not purple with orange, pink & red muma' said Hun-bun.

'Sweet' said Purple Gorilla! Gorilla does look a bit like he is about to enter the ring in a bout with Rocky Balboa. First Hood up....

Now hood down....

Unfortunately Gorilla's feet were too big for the booties.

This was a nice, simple pattern, easy to do while watching footy. The hoodie pattern came from a US Creative Knitting magazine & the booties from my favourite 20 To Make Knitted Baby Booties by Val Pierce.

Also this week while watching the voice on Monday & Tuesday I finally gave one of the scarfs a try that Peg & Shez have been wowing us with. Your right Shez, there is a lot of unravelling of the yarn & lots of pulling, plucking & unwinding too.  I used the coffee & cream colour scheme & used a ball of wool called Honeycomb from Spotlight. It's lovely snuggly & soft.

Happy knitting

Tracee xx Little Brun xx Hun-bun xx



Friends With benefits Swap

I have been trying to avoid swaps lately so I get caught up on my BOM projects but every so often one cames along I can't resist, like the Friends With Benefits swap that Kathy from Sew Happy House has recently hosted.

I was partnered with Raelene from Raelene's Rambling which is great as we haven't met before & it is so nice to meet more new quilty bloggy friends. Raelene does a lot of block swaps & gorgeous piecing, the opposite to my obsession of stitching & just a bit of machine sewing.

Raelene was super quick with getting my parcel in the mail so I had to sit & look at the parcel for a couple of weeks sitting on my coffee table. I was so happy when the opening day finally came. My first view of the fabric from the back had me swooning. The background is quite a bit darker yellow than my photo shows, my favourite colour of the moment.

It is a gorgeous tote bag. Raelene read my mind, I was thinking a few weeks ago that I had no hand crafted tote bag to take to the quilt show, having only ever made hand bag style bags.

But the best was yet to come. I said earlier that Raelene is an excellent at piecing so check out the front of my bag. It definately had me purring!

Isn't my new kitty just gorgeous!

Along with a cute little friendship book & a quilt label, it was a wonderful swap present. Thanks so much Raelene. xxx

 I will be happily carrying my new tote bag at the Quilt Show here in Perth on the 24th & 25th May. So if you go to the show & you see this gorgeous bag, say hello. I was be resting my weary feet selling raffle tickets for the WA Quilters Guild stand between 3 - 5pm too.

Now, my swap present for Raelene. I wasn't sure about the fabric colours to use for Raelene but thought she would like some stitchery, so started from there. My choice was a stitchery by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse, called Good Friends from her Sweet Sentiments Book.

The variegated pink, red & orange thread I used for the stitchery words toned in perfectly with the bright & happy fabrics I had picked out that I thought Raelene would love. I decided to make a journal with the stitchery on a front pocket where a pen, glasses or notes can sit.

I have been wanting to use this paisley fabric in a project for ages & after doing the Name Game Swap I fell in love with all the yellow & orange that a lot of the US & UK quilters were using in their projects. Personalising the journal with Raelene's name in the same variegated thread was the final feature. I think it turned out pretty cute, definately a new colour scheme for me bit I am loving it.

I was then lucky enough to find an orange ball point pen & the bright pink Breast Cancer Frixion pen to coordinate with the journal. I added a red dog bone photo key ring for Raelenes precious pup's photo & who doesn't need a nibble, so some chocolate Caramello Nibbles. It was great to hear that Raelene loved her swap pressies just as much as I loved mine!

Thanks to Kathy for all her hard work as our swap muma & to all the generous designers who offered prizes for the weekly giveaways.

Happy swapping
Tracee xx