FNSI - Mini Madness!

Hi all

Last night was the Friday Night Sew In for this month. I used this time to do some minimal quilting & then the borders of my Christmas Mini Swap pressie.

 

I think it turned out quite a treat & here it is on my special 'Merry Christmas' mini stand.

This is one of Nancy Halverson for Art To Heart designs from her Be Attitudes applique quilt. I love Nancy's design & fabric. Most of the fabrics used are Nancy's designs too. I have gathered little bits over the years as I find them from her Star of Wonder & Angels Amongst Us ranges so this is the first thing I have made with them.

 

My last task to finish this last night was just a touch of blusher to give Santa rosie cheeks. I hope he like mineral makeup?

Now I wonder whose place he will be winging his way to on Monday? I'll give you a hint - he's travelling East. Considering I live about 3 kilometres from the Indian Ocean on the West Coast that doesn't rule many of you out..... Oh well, I guess everyone who hasn't yet received their mini is watching for our friend, the postie.

 

I am one person who is not watching for the postie. My mini arrived nice & early on Thursday. I held off opening it until today. My partner for this swap is Marie from Life On The Block here in rural WA. We haven't met before so yippee a new blog to read.

 

Look at my lovely wrapping....

 

 

And yes, that Partride in a Pear Tree is fabric - yah!

 

 

Marie included a great shopping list - she must have sensed my love for lists..... Today I have made a sewing list, a Christmas list, a blog post list, a jobs for over the Christmas break list & a cleaning / chores list - see, I said I loved them! Loving that backing fabric too...

 

 

And here it is & that gorgeous pressies fabric is on the front as well as the back.

 

 

The stitchery presents & Christmas tree have gorgeous sparkly little beads on them too. A bit of Chrissie bling..

 

 

Here it is all set up for Christmas display...

 

 

Thank you Marie, it's a beautiful mini & I will love displaying it for Christmas!

 

Thanks to Cheryll from Gone Stitchin, who is a brilliant swap mama & has hosted 4 wonderful mini swaps this year. I hope we are on again for next year Chez!

 

It was another successful Friday Night Sew In too. If you go to Heidi's blog Handmade by Heidi, you can link through to 115 blogs whose creators were taking part, many from Aussie too.

 

 

Now I am going to attempt to take my washing machine apart. Get the washing machine guy on speed dial I hear you say! Maybe... I googled the error message so have a few things to check first to get it spinning & draining again, then maybe I will ring the wm guy.....

 

Happy sewing.

Tracee xx

Mirror Mirror....

Mirror Mirror on the wall (couch - doesn't sound right), whose the prettiest mirror of them all???

You are! My flowery, metally, creamy beauty!

My latest op shop buy - a massive 29 x 33 inches (74 x 84 cm) including the tin frame. The mirror itself is 20 x 16 inches (50 x 40 cms). All that loveliness for $50. In case you are a local & wondering, it was from Good Sammys in Balcatta.

That's me waving hi to you all as I take the picture too!

Now can I find a place for it in my suburban double brick & tile, just like all the others in the suburbs, Perth home - highly unlikely. It may have to be safely packed away in to the country farmhouse pile just waiting for the day we find our dream home......

WANTED - Weatherboard Farmhouse in Tasmania or Victoria - old, big rooms, 3 bedrooms +, preferably some of the work like rewiring & replumbing done, very happy to decorate and gut & replace bathroom & kitchen. Must have a second lounge room, separate studio or massive bedroom suitable for sewing room. Preferably on the outskirts of town, in a small town or rurally. Quilt shop & beautiful quilty bloggy friends not too far away would be a huge bonus too. I'll keep looking......

Here's my long time favourite from the Huon Valley in Tassie. It's perfect but a bit of a worry when it comes to getting work that far from Hobart - I can't see myself doing that well in a salmon factory, unless they want someone to keep a spreadsheet on the number of fish. Then again maybe it's a little too perfect, wonderfully renovated with great taste but harder to stamp my chaotic style on. I still wonder if something less perfect, with surface renovations left to do would be better for me to run amuk in..... So many choices.....

Pic from realestate.com.au Homelands Real Estate http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-tas-surges+bay-111752667

Now to go stare at my mirror some more, on an angle so I'm not just having to stare at myself!

Happy days!
Tracee xx

Weekends with Brunnie =^..^=

Hi friends

Brunnie still here - 20 years & 6 months and still going strong. Muma did say yesterday that if I didn't stop crying for food that she was going to kill me - she didn't mean it I hope & to be honest I think sometimes I forget I've already eaten. Muma remembers though, she says things like "Brunnie stop meowing, you are driving me crazy, you have had 2 breakfasts and one lot of biscuits & its not even 11am yet". I say - too late on the crazy bit muma!

 

Anyway, enough about muma starving Brunnie, a solution is at hand, we got MAIL! Muma loves mail, I loves mail, Hun-bun too silly to understand mail - he's a simple guy.

So mail came, a nice little box.

I looked & couldn't believe my whiskers! Was it for muma - NO! Was it for Hun-bun - highly unlikely! It was addressed to Mr Brutus Forster!

My friends at my favourite biccy makers - Purina - sent Brunnie a parcel! At first I thought it was all cardboard & writing for muma to read but on closer inspection I could small something exciting.

Purina sent Brunnie sample pack of biccies - Yahhhhhhhhhhhh! Non, nom, nom - yum, yum, yum!

Purina also sent Brunnie a toy ball of yarn made of card. Here I am playing - I am 20 & a half so I do more of stationary playing now than loopy playing like brother Hun-bun does. I's playing on the inside!

Thank you friends at Purina - it was a proud day for Brunnie!

Hope you all get happy mails too friends!
Brunnie xxx

The Week That Was.....

Hi all

It's been a big week, lots of work including our AGM on Wednesday which meant getting home from work at 10.30pm (followed by a nap in on Thursday morning). A bonus was being able to bring home one of the flower arrangements. The photo below was taken Thursday so now all the lillies are out & it is even more gorgeous.

Like many I am doing the mad secret sewing rush to get all my Christmas swaps ready. Lots of hand stitching & Friday night I surprised even my self with a machine sewing frenzy. I zipped through a couple of swap pressies, part of a table runner & a little bag for a precious little lady who has just turned six.

 

The bag is called Ruby's Party Bag, a free pattern from Moda Bakeshop's blog & website. You can find it here. It is the perfect tiny size for a perfect tiny little lass, one of my big hands almost fills it. I used three of Melly's 'Where The Wind Blows' fabric, the main one great for a fellow pinkaholic.

Today was the first meeting of the WA Quilters Guild's applique group, now known as The Applique Junkies. We met in one members house with 11 of us to begin with. Next year we will have a hall & welcome everyone so it should grow much larger. There was a great show & tell (with my camera sadly forgotten at home), needleturn, machine & blanket stitch applique in progress and of course plenty of food & coffees. At last, a quilt group that meets way North of the river in Perth. It is only once a month but was a great day.

I worked on 3 projects today, finishing the binding on a swap gift;

Finishing the blanket stitch applique on another swap gift;

And starting the blanket stitch applique on a third swap gift;

Quite a productive day amongst lots of talk, recommendations of places to buy, lots of comparing notes on the frustrations of free motion quilting & longarm quilting and even some discussion on applique, especially the dreaded needleturn which a couple of ladies were very proficient at - hope for me yet!

 

Now I am going to sew three Snugglybug blocks - good thing I don't think I will need dinner.

 

Please note: NO santas were harmed in the making of these swap gifts!

 

Happy stitching

Tracee xx

The Luck of the Kiwis!

I know the traditional form is the luck of the Irish but I have been a pretty lucky Kiwi this week.

 

At last I am following in my mothers footsteps. She was lucky - small bits of luck that makes you smile. That reminds me that my mothers favourite word for it was that she was a 'tin bum' when it came to scratchies, small lotto wins, small horse racing bets etc.

 

Now I am assuming 'tin bum' meaning an extra lucky person must be a Kiwi saying & I can guarantee it came from my Grandad who also loved a 'flutter on the GGs'. A search online shows that 'tinny' was the saying in Australia around the turn of the century (tin in relation to coins) & that 'tin backed' was even used. I then quote the last line on World Wide Words.com 'The variant tin bum is known in New Zealand.'

 

So why was I a 'tin bum' this week?

 

First I was lucky enough to win The DVD of The Hunger Games from Samelia's Mum blog last week & it arrived Wednesday. I have read the 1st book in the series by Suzanne Collins on which the movie is based & loved it. The next one is on reserve from the library. The teen book series like this, Harry Potter, Maximum Ride & The Day After Tomorrow are really my idea of fun - what does that say about me - I'm still in touch with my youthful spirit! I found the movie just as good as the book though the book was much more detailled so maybe I filled in a lot of blanks by knowing the storyline already. Great though & thanks very much to Anorina for this win.

Next I received an email from Jenny of Elephantz to say I was one of the winners for her Embroidery workbook giveaway. This arrived Friday. I can never have enough stitch guides. Thanks very much Jenny!

Now the other thing mum told me was that luck - good or bad - always comes in threes!

 

Also on Friday I also received my latest issue of Vignette (yum yum) from Sarah at Patchwork Plus and included was the Mauritian Bloom Pattern Holder by the lovely Rosie Quinlan. I emailed Sarah thinking it was put in the wrong envelope & got a reply to say, no I won her giveaway too. I am so far behind in my blog reading I didn't even realise. Thanks so much Sarah!

I also received in the mail a new book that is a new US release but I am currently making a swap gift from it so more of that later. To begin with it wasn't the best Friday - you could say I wasn't completely a tin bum - stomach cramps, aching legs, headache & lots of visits to the smallest room in the house. After a full night of this Thursday night I was a bit miserable, so the postie dropping a nice bundle on my doorstep Friday lunch time was very welcome & cheered me up a lot.

 

Brun did his best to help with lots of cuddles but all the jumping up through the night didn't do much for either of our beauty sleep.

 

 

 

Hun-bun tried to compete with the wins by bringing me a present today too - a RAT! For some reason he still thinks my yelling 'bad murderer Hun-Bun' through the screen door is positive reinforcement.

 

 

By the way - no rats were harmed in the making of this picture. He was still alive, just playing dead. Unfortunately I can't vouch for what happened at a later date. Hun-bun picked rat up & tried to bring it inside for me so I ran, screamed & shut the door on him & his present.

 

Oh & I am still not winning the fluffy bed stand off.... maybe next winter.

 

 

 

Wishing you 'tin bummedness' too

Tracee xx  Brun xx  Hun-bun xx   rat : (

Spring Mini Swap

Hi all

I had the sweetest parcel to pick up from the post office late this week. It was my Spring Mini swap parcel & it came from our sweet friend Melody from The House on the Side of the Hill blog. If you are not a regular visitor to Mel (unlikely!), rush over there & check out her blog, the posts of beautiful creations & all the amazing free designs Mel find & shares with everyone.

My parcel was a delight right from the outset with the parcel wrapped in blue kitty fabric & blue ribbon. I love ribbon (almost as much as kitty fabric - I'm a ribbon stasher - shhh don't tell anyone!).

There was a beautiful card with my favourite flowers, sweet peas, on the front. My mum always grew sweet peas & they are so fragrant & prolific in flowering- I love them.

Inside was not only my lovely spring mini but generous Mel had also sent me a book - 'A Friend Like Ben' by Julia Romp. (A mother desperate for love. A little boy who can't show it. The cat that brought them together). All I need to add to that is a nice big box of tissues - the cat goes missing too! Thank you Mel, you thoughtfully picked up on my love of reading as well as kitties (surprise, surprise!).

And leaving the best to last - my Spring Mini quilt. Isn't it gorgeous, redwork stitchery, red & turquoise fabrics, bright & happy colours & a gorgeous design with buttons. Here it is, on my bronze mini quilt frame with the ribbon header. Purrfect!

Yes - that is a stack of magazines on the coffee table behind it - the ones I can't bear to put away yet.

So big kisses & thanks to sweet Mel - you can see I love everything!

Thanks also to our swap mama Cheryll of Gone Stitchin. There is still time to take part in the Christmas Mini Quilt Swap, it closes on the 25th October. Sign up to join in the fun on Cheryll's blog.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Spring Mini Swap

I did the recent 'Spring' Mini Quilt swap hosted by our swap muma Cheryll from Gone Stitchin'.

My partner this time was Dannette from Quilting Chemist in the USA. Great to meet, well really it was to stalk, someone new. These are secret swaps so Dannette didn't know I was stalking her a few weeks back to learn what she liked & what would suit her in a mini quilt. It ends up we have a lot in common - definately not the chemist bit but we both love hexies, stitchery, applique & birdies.

So this is the Spring mini I made for Dannette.

The stitchery is from Homespun magazine, a design by one of my favourite designers, Lisa from Cubby House Crafts in Tassie. The original pattern is for a great tablerunner & included hexie flowers. I didn't want to lose the hexies so used them as a border feature. The colours are soft & subtle with the lovely blue birdie.

Dannette emailed me last night to say it had arrived safely & she loves it. Yippee! This is my favourite mini I have made so want to make an identical one for myself too. It's on the list!

Can't wait to see more of these mini quilts as they arrive at their new homes & mine too. As always, Thanks to Cheryll for putting in the hard work.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Weekends With Brunnie =^..^=

Hi friends - Brunnie still here, just not been writing much & my typist is very unreliable!

Never mind now I have a tale (or tail??) for you. It contains purrs of joy, generosity, snuggliness, squeaks of terror & mumma swearing. Oh it also includes me, Brutus Beefkitten as the hero & Honey-bun as the bad, bad scaredy cat.

It all started one fine shopping day when mumma decided (right or wrongly but generously) that it would be a good idea to buy her two furboys a new fluffy bed for them each to nap in. They are soft & fluffy, spacious and match nicely to the decor of the lounge room. They were also 50% off so what could possibly go wrong.

I very happily took to my new fluffy bed (here are the purrs of joy). It is warm & snuggly and sits on the couch next to mumma where I can sit & watch mumma sew.

Here my tale takes a turn for the worst. Hun-bun normally sleeps on the other couch on his blankie & mumma thought the snuggly bed would help contain his ginger furs he puts on the chocolate brown couch. Little did she know what she was in for.

Mumma lifted Hun-bun in to his snuggly bed & Hun-bun turned from sweet napping kitty-cat into massive big crying scaredy cat not wanting to go in fluffy bed. He held his paws out on the sides like he was being thrown in the bath, squealed & tried to claw mumma. That was the bit when mumma said the bad words!

So after a bit of planning & no sign of Hun-bun all afternoon & evening mumma decided to put Hun-buns blankie on top of the fluffy bed & entice him in that way. Hun-bun crept in that night after mumma went to bed & slept on the couch, right on the brown. That was the next time muma said the bad words!

So mumma decided to get Hun-bun used to having the bed around first & so it sits on the couch next to Hun-buns blankie. Hun-bun ignores the fluffy bed, mumma ignores the fluffy bed, even Hermoine ignores the fluffy bed & I laugh at scaredy Hun-bun & dirty mouth mumma!

Two weeks later & I can see mumma hasn't given up though. It is just a temporary truce & every so often she puts Hun-bun in the fluffy bed & holds him in there. The record so far is about 20 seconds with mumma lying full on top of Hun-bun to keep him in there. The saga continues......

My poor oversized scaredy cat baby brother!

Big purrs
Brunnie xx

Naked No More....

My mini-quilt frame that is!

It has sat forlornly waiting for my overdue Welcome mini quilt. Now I have finished my first little mini quilt for myself & I think it is a beauty.

I have shown the stitchery previously but I finished it off with a simple red border and final border & binding with a gorgeous blue & red fat quarter that Leanne gave me in a swap.

It is delightfully cute & simple, showing off the stitchery perfectly. At last I am displaying a mini quilt on my gorgeous cream frame.

I have since made another for the Spring mini swap. It is currently winging its way North so I can't show it yet but I so much want there to be time to make one for myself. I love it & hope my swap partner does too.

Over the weekend I also made two more Snugglybug blocks to go in to a quilt along with the other block mades around Australia for a 6 year old little man who is getting treatment in Hobart Hospital. I hope Spiderman helps him fight the big battle he & his family are facing.

I couldn't get Spiderman fabric in the quilting department of the three shops I tried. I was worried that I would get distracted & forget what I was looking for so I was wandering through the fabric aisles singing 'Spiderpig, Spiderpig, does what ever a spiderpig does'. I did get a couple of stares that made me think I wasn't singing as quietly as I thought. I don't know what Spiderman's theme song is but obviously I have watched a few episodes of The Simpsons in my past.

 Given the circumstances I so much want to get the fabrics that these little people ask for & in the time alloted so this time went for curtain fabric in the spiderman blocks in the centre. I hope that works OK for the person putting the top together & the quilter. I'm sure the little spiderman fan will love it!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Stitching with Helen of Hugs n Kisses

On Friday I had the best day.

1st - I finally had a day off work to do something fun

2nd - I spent the day with Helen from Hugs n Kisses & 7 others stitchers doing what we love best - stitching, laughing & learning new techniques.

Helen came all the way to Perth from the Promise Land - Hobart, Tasmania, to teach classes for the WA Quilters Guild. The Friday class I went to was a workshop on embroidery & specifically her lovely 'Sewing Chatelaine' projects.

Before even the first stitch I learnt heaps about needles, working with threads & specifically why my thread tends to get fuzzy & knot (I'm using too small a needle with too small an eye - Crewel No 7s for me from now on!).

We started with the large medallion on the needle case. Here's my effort for the day;

The blue areas are the iron on pattern, such a time saver & a feature of Helen's patterns. You get an iron on transfer that will work several times as well as the printed page for tracing if that is your preference. The blue petals are now filled with satin stitch in a delicate pink.

Even though that is as far as most of us got, Helen went through all the tips & hints for finishing off the set. I can't wait to try the leather stitching on the sides of the scissor case, tape measure holder & fob, it is such an easy, strong & decorative stitch. Helen showed us how to make the cord & tassel to finish off our little masterpieces.

As you can see behind Helen, there was a display of her work & I was so happy to see her new project 'Home Sweet Home' up close. The scallops are larger than I expected & the stitcheries in them so vintage & sweet.

Check out some of the stitcheries up close;

and of course there has to be a kitty;

So naturally a copy of this glorious Home Sweet Home pattern & the acrylic templates had to come home with me. The fabrics in this quilt are Helen's first fabric line 'Life is Beautiful' in conjunction with Red Rooster fabrics.

They are available at Quilt Fabric Delights ($5 a fat quarter - great price for Aussie) and I read on Leanne's Blog yesterday that Esme's in Launceston is stocking Helen's fabrics too. Check out the needle cases Leanne has made for the shop out of Helen's Life is Beautiful panel. In Perth, Quintessential Quilts in Morley are stocking the range too, so we can see them, touch them & play before we buy.

A big thank you to the WA Quilters Guild for bringing Helen all the way West for us & to the lovely & talented Helen for her fantastic teaching, generous sharing of her wealth of knowledge and sweet ways that made the days such fun.

I read something recently that gave me a giggle, on a blog or Facebook, can't remember which, 'I'm going to a workshop to learn how to make another UFO!' I can so relate to that but this sewing set is just so pretty & useful that I am determined to get them finished - soon!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Black & White Bag Swap

Hi all

I have recently taken part in the Black & White Bag swap, part of Cheryll's 'Lets Exchange' series of swaps. Cheryll is a great Swap Mama, so thanks again for all your hard work Cheryll xx

Boy was I glad I did when I got matched with Sharon from Lilabelle Lane. I am just amazed by her beautiful creations & how finished quilts & smaller items come out thick & fast. Her sewing machine must have smoke coming off the feeddogs!

This swap was no exception. The parcels arrived about a week before the post date so I sat them on the table & tried not to look at them, touch them, smell them or rip into them.

I hadn't even posted mine but that was soon remedied so I waited for Sharon to receive my parcel on Friday before I opened them. A nice start to a Friday night after the work week.

My bag is beautiful. It's roomy, has great inside pocket & I love the conversation print lining.

An added bonus is the embellishment is on a brooch pin or hair clip so can be moved or taken off the bag & used else where. It is very pretty close up.

The fragrant part of my present is a gorgeous set of lavender & chamomile body wash & body lotion. They are all naturally derived ingredients and beautifully packaged. Spoilt!

Thanks again Sharon, loving my swap pressies! xx

Here are my presents to Sharon; the black & white bag.

I have been saving that white & black swirly print for just the right project - it's a favourite & I think looks very posh in this little bag.

I also sent a glasses case made to match. I have been meaning to make one of these for ages & was pleased how easily it came together. It is from my favourite US magazine, Quilts and More.

It fitted my sunglasses very nicely. Here are both gifts together.

As you can see the pics are taken aboove my sewing table - no fancy settings for me, I just don't have the knack for doing that!

I forgot to take a pic of the smellies & extra but you can see them on Sharon's blog. I sent Blueberry & Raspberry Body Butter, Soap & Hand Sanitiser and a chocolate with a spoon in it all ready to make decadent real hot chocolate. Maybe I should trial things like that before I send them.........

My bag came from this great UK magazine filled with lots of great bag patterns.

Shez also used this magazine for the pattern to her amazing knitting bag that she made for Maria. If you haven't seen it, check it out, it's a beauty & on my 'to do' list. We both made a slight change by adding pellon to the bags but otherwise even though both patterns introduced us to something new, they worked a treat and gave excellent results.

Here's the original of my bag in the magazine. I think the pellon making it a more formal looking bag suited the colours & fabrics used. I have one cut out for me in red & black. I'm sure I will make it one day soon........

Happy stitching
Tracee xx