Mrs Martin's Latest Swap

We have just had the latest swap from our Mrs Martin's Swap year - it has been in tribute to the Biggest Morning Tea. Every year on May 1 Karen from Mrs Martin's quilt shop runs a morning tea to help raise funds for the Cancer Council.

 

Here is what I received from my swap partner Glenys;

 

A gorgeous Red Brolly morning tea stitchery in variegated green threads. The big question is what I will use this to make???? It's a bit hard to capture in a pic but is really subtle & cute.

I also received the following goodies - a Bareroots sewing stitchery mini kit with all the threads, beautiful napkins that look like pretty little quilts & lots of yummy chocolates! Thanks again Glenys.

Now to my pressie for Glenys. I made a mug rug & brought a mug to match. Actually you won't be surprised to hear I did it the other way around - brought the mug then tried to match fabrics to it.

I was happy with my quilting. I used a heavier matching thread and was quite happy with the results. Getting well defined straight lines is a step forward for me! Even the back looks pretty spiffy, hope Glenys thinks so too.

I also sent Glenys some almond biccies, chai tea and a mini cook book on making more biccies (& I forgot to photograph it).

Great swap and now the next ones to look forward to are both of our birthdays, mine in July & Glenys's in early August. Should be fun!

 

I have been a bit quiet lately, lost my mojo completely - it didn't sneak away, it ran off screaming. I had over two weeks with no stitching, that is unheard of for me. As I was hoping, a Quilt As You Go workshop yesterday with the WA Quilters Guild has got me firing again. I am loving my results from yesterday so will do a post about them soon.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Presents for....

.... a special little girl! My friend Frank is now Grandpa to this gorgeous little girl, Neve, born Friday 14th June 2013. It's one of those special, straight after all the action pics, even before they make them all pretty wrapped in a blankie. Three weeks early she is only a tiny little possum.

Grandpa wants to know when they iron the wrinkles out - but he is known for naughty comments. He can't wait to head East later next week to see his little granddaughter.

So I have been making a few things for this little miss. We didn't know what sex baby was going to be so had to go the unisex route with the knitting. The set I knitted is in beautiful merino wool (a Spotlight special) so super soft & pretty. A jacket, hat & booties pattern came from the book Baby and Toddler Knits Made Easy - see on my right side bar.

She is also getting two of my earlier made stuffies - the little bunny on the left, perfect for a little lady and the happy helicopter because her daddy / Frank's son is a helicopter pilot.

Also little Neve is getting this special blanket my mum gave to me, hoping in vein that it would prompt the arrival of her own grandchild. Unfortunately it was going to take more than just a beautiful, delicate blanket to make that happen so I'm sure mum would love the thought of little Neve being wrapped up in it. Look at the beautiful knitting. Mum didn't knit it, she won it in a raffle at a retirement home where some talented knitter must have spent many hours making it.  A wonderful example of a really clever knitter.

I had also cut out a baby quilt for baby X but have been avoiding it as it wasn't just right, being another unisex choice. I will make it up later as it is more suited to a baby boy and little Neve may end up with a brother one day soon.... In the mean time, there is some quick cutting happening to make a girly baby quilt out of pinwheels and pretty thread.

Happy days!
Tracee xx

Winner Winner!

Hi all - sorry I forgot I said I would draw the winner of the Mollie Makes Feathered Friends book Wednesday night. I have been feeling decidely drippy this week and the result was lots of early nights and forgetting important stuff like this.

So tonight was the night. As I use the old fashioned barrel-cat picker method, first I printed all the comments, cut them apart, ready to fold up in to little pieces - no peeking Hun-Bun!

Next step was to try the sprinkle method - sprinkle the folded up entries on top of Hun-bun while he napped. The Hawthorn - Carlton game was so exciting & I yelled so loud that poor old man did not get any sleep earlier and now I was waking him up for barrel-cat duties.

Initially there was no result. Heckling from the sidelines I said 'touch one, smell one, put your paw on one - anything HB!'

Suddenly there was movement. Paws moved, the winner was grabbed, bitten and generally slurped on a bit. Aren't you glad you are only represented by paper. And the winning entry, complete with bite marks & a bit of slurp.......

 

Anthea of Hibiscus Stitches!

Congratulations my friend, send me an email with your address and the book will be heading South to you. Doesn't Hun-bun look very proud of his effort.

Thank you all for joining in the fun!

Happy reading

Tracee xx Hun-bun xx

PS: I have just received an email from Mollie Makes saying they have four copies of this book to giveaway too - be in to win there too, click on link here.

On the PIECE Train.....

There are two facets of quilting that have been on my 'to do' list for the last two years (no I won't call them New Years Resolutions - after year two my failure rate was toooo high) and finally I am dealing with one of them.

1. Machine Quilting - watch, learn, practice & more practice - hasn't happened, still scared...

2. Learn to Machine Piece - do a quilt with no stitchery, that has some difficulty factor....ahhhh!

I have said before, I am a stitchery queen, I only do patchwork to hold my stitcheies together. This is true but illogical as I come from a clothes sewing background so I knew if I really tried I might be able to be a piecer. 

When I'm a big girl (no comments necessary - maybe I should say 'when I grow up' ) I want to be able to piece like our friend Sharon of Lilabelle Lane . Many of you are wonderful piecers I know & sorry I haven't acknowledged everybody but Sharon uses fabrics I swoon over so her projects always speak to me. Usually they say 'If you weren't so scared to cut up all that fabric stash and took a lot of care with your machine sewing, you could do this too!' Quilts can be so cruel!

So earlier this year on Facebook and Samelia's Mums Blog I saw the info to sign up for the Modern Blocks Quilt-a-long being hosted on the blog And Sew We Craft. The book that was being used I had recently looked at from the library so ordered it again to have a closer look. Some of the blocks looked a little scary, lots of pieces. The worst possible was the flying geese block. I've heard making those birdies is like herding cats so didn't want to get that one. 99 blocks in the book, what's the chance anyone will pick that one. So after careful consideration, I signed up.

Modern Blocks, currently $22.73 delivered

There are 12 bloggers hosting the QAL and each month one picks the block and posts about making it. I like that, it gives me something extra to follow & seeing what fabrics they choose to use.

I decided to use my Secret Garden by Micheal Miller fabric. It's the stack in the bottom left in my header. I brought it for a similar QAL 2 years ago but it took about 8 weeks to be delivered and this was a block a week so by then I was so far behind I didn't join in. It is also a lot of big prints so I didn't know quite how to use them. Now I am jumping in with them & I have added in another grey and some bright red.

Finally the list of blocks came out - Month 1 - Follow The Leader - the flying geese block - ahhhhhh! I contemplated & then I cogitated and finally I cut some fabric. I then procrastinated until finally I started some sewing. Eventually I had 16 little single geese that looked quite good. Little did I know, its the putting them together, flying in formation that is the tricky bit. Needless to say, me & my quickunpick are better friends because of it but I am pretty happy with my first ever grown up block. I almost pulled it apart again but decided life's too short to worry about a millimetre here & there, it's even more accurate if you express it in inches!

 

I choose to start with my plain fabrics, something else new for me - geese, piecing, modern choices, no prints, no stitchery - I feel like I climbed Everest without the use of oxygen!

On the And Sew We Craft blog you can see examples of everyone's block. Note I am the last to upload my block.... but it's there proudly displayed.  The pic is a little dark as I took it at night, impatient to acknowledge 'I've done it!'

The June block was much more to my level of expectation and gave me a reason to use a big print. The Spool block was fun, colourful and fast to make.

On the And Sew We Craft Blog block 2 post there are 12 Spool Blocks displayed already, including mine.

I'm glad we started with the doosey of a block, I'm feeling slightly more confident now. The July block is called Megan's Star and will be posted by Anorina of Samelia's Mum. Two blocks in & I can't wait!

Maybe machine quilting will get some love in the second part of the year......

Happy (machine) stitching!
Tracee xx

 

Happy Dunsborough Holiday Giveaway

If there is one thing I enjoy when travelling, it is going to different news agencies & book shops just in case they have any craft magazines & books I may desperately need to buy as a momento of my holiday. Country newsagencies are normally the best & the one in the middle of Dunborough shopping Centre didn't let me down. Before I show you what I brought to giveaway to one of you my friends, you have to endure a few of the happy snaps of the week 'down South'.

The resort was beautiful. That was our apartment upstairs.

The restaurant & fire-side bar had delicious food & watching the last quarter of Friday night footy by the fire with a glass of Bridgetown cider was not hard to take at all!

We spent time in Dunsborough, Margaret River, Augusta, Prevelly, Canal Rocks, Busselton...... and did you know that some of the cows in Cowarramup wear spectacles?

There was wisdom to be found in Margaret River - A meal without wine is called breakfast!

A Devonshire Tea at the Cape Leuwin Lighthouse is a very good thing even during a power outage. Water boiled the old way, on the wood stove.

The beaches and rocks made for invigorating walks and fun whether on the wild West coast or the more sheltered bays.

A trek through Mammoth Cave provided a workout, shelter from the rain outside, geological splendor and a history lesson. I didn't realise Western Australia used to have Tassie Tigers, Tassie Devils, Marsupial Lions and many other long lost animal species... but surprisingly no mammoths??

Maybe more pics another day. It was a great holiday. There was rain and temperatures dropped about 5 degrees to highs of 16 by about Thursday but it was also not overly crowded, everyone we met was happy, friendly & helpful and there was always the very comfy apartment to relax in.

Young Hun-bun lived to tell the tale (tail?) of his holiday at the cattery. Mary said he was timid, had to be moved once so he couldn't see other cats, never missed a meal (like his mum) and once he was familiar with you was up for a cuddle. Now he is home, he is President of the Muma Appreciation Society - long may it last!

Now on to important matters. The book I found to giveaway is Feathered Friends by Mollie Makes.

 

Feathered Friends $14.64 at the UK Book Depository

It contains knitting, crochet, sewing, felting, papercraft & more. Following is some of my favourite projects.

Oh that peg bag is so cute! So leave me a comment letting me know you want to be in to win and Hun-bun will be prompted to draw a winner next Wednesday evening. If he fails me like he & little Brunnie did on my last giveaway then the Random Number Generator will be put to work.

Good luck!

Tracee xxx Hun-bun xx

Favourite Quilt Show Quilts

I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful quilts from the Quiltwest Quilt Show.

Our Best in Show for 2013 is by a member of our Quilters Guild, Jocelyne Leath who does such amazing work over so many different styles of quilting. My favourite is her thread painting but this art quilt made using cheesecloth has so many dimensions & you notice different things up close to what you see from far away.

The runner up Best in Show is a quilt I saw during the making as Rebecca Stewart-Bartell is in my Applique Group. I love it & the best part is all the different styles of machine quilting Rebecca has done over all areas of the quilt. All the different tones on each leaf are quilted differently. Rebecca is amazing at free hand quilting on her long arm quilting machine.

Another member of our Applique Group Megan Byrne, entered the Amateur Traditional Mainly Applique section for the first time & got a third place. The first & second place getters must have been very good. This quilt is beautiful.

Here's a few quilts I liked very much;

Lesley Fry, our ex-QAWA President won third prize in the small quilts section for this round 1930s beauty.

A cheeky quilt next from the AQC Challenge by Elaine Sturmfels of Qld. I see she caught me wearing my blue sunhat!

A couple from the Contemporary Quilt Group using dying techniques and great use of colour.

The quilt above by Hilary Arber is actually square but I don't seem to be able to upload a vertical pic today without it being distorted. The quilt below is by Liz Humphreys.

And finally my favourite pictorial quilt and a close up showing how the waves were made using cotton lace. This quilt was also in the AQC Challenge by Lucy Carroll of the ACT.

Happy Foundation Day weekend to the locals!

Tracee xx

PS - Head home tomorrow & can't wait for 9am Sunday morning when I get to pick up Hun-bun!

Bloggers Meet at the Craft Fair

Hi all

I have really enjoyed my Thursday & Saturday at the craft fair. Thursday I met up with my Thursday Quilt Group that I have been sadly missing due to work so it was extra special to see those that came to the fair. At the end of each day I spent an hour on the stand for our WAQA group The Applique Junkies and then an hour & a half on the Raffle table chattering away like a happy monkey. Here is a pic Julia took on Saturday of me at the Applique table & Anthea having a giggle at me!

Saturday was our official bloggers meet. My dear friend Tracy from Outback Craftaholics came along to say hi, with her lovely five month old daughter (much cuddles) but was soon off on airport duty for one of the guests as she is the WAQA Workshop Convener. She missed the photos but here is one of all the rest of us before entering the show.

From the left we have Sandra (Maria's daughter) from Playing Tiddleywinks, Anthea from Hibiscus Stitches, Maria from Life on the Block, myself, Julia from Julia's Place and her delightful daughter in law Janete. Thanks to Anthea & Maria for organising our meet up. It was a brilliant day. We all went shopping, with Anthea & I partners in crime shopping together, then we all  met up again for lunch. Now we need to find something fun to do together again soon.

I didn't have too much of a spendathon, mainly small buys this time. Here's my Thursday haul, the biggest purchase being the mini light to take travelling though I have been known to move lamps around in accommodation until I find the right lighting for hand stitching. There were a lot of non quilting stalls, cardmaking, scrapbooking, cross stitch, jewellery, scarves etc & lots that we got here on previous years were missing. I do like a good $5 necklace so brought a couple - quantity rather than quality here. The red (actually more orange) & black is a scarf - no fabric on Thursday & only 1 pattern. I did buy some stiffer bag wadding too & forgot to add it to the photograph but loved being served by sweet Monica Poole.

This is the Saturday haul. I brought a Tumbler template, the only item that was on my list but checked out after Thursday's look around what colours I wanted in bag handles & wide ric rac so got what I needed. I brought the two yellow, red & white fat quarters from Patchwork with Gail B, some bag fittings from Studio Mio & a couple of scarf embellishments. Then because I had been so virtuous I came straight home & ordered the new BirdHouse pattern Sweet Pea Runner from Sarah at Patchwork Plus as I could not resist it. Even the needleturn ápplique didn't put me off.

I have lots of pics of wonderful quilts so will add them to a later post.

Me & Athea, my partner in crime!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

A Bit of This.....

And a bit of that..... in my post today.

Let's start with a little stitchery that I actually did the machine sewing on (about 3 minutes worth) & finished the item for Friday Night Sew In. What's more, it's a gift for me - the words definitely were written about me!

Wishes won't do dishes, so true in my house. I used two of my favourite supplies, variegated thread & some of my treasured Marmalade fabric - currently my favourite print in the range. The pattern was a freebie from Bird Brain Designs. They have pages of lovely little stitcheries that they generously give away.

 

I have been busy knitting a  baby jacket that I am hoping I will finish this week, it seems to be taking me forever!

 

 

Next I want to show you a beautiful vintage kitty. It was made by my friend Frank's mother, out of pom-poms, many, many years ago. It's a very cute little piece made from three elongated pom-poms for the body, one for the tail and the round one for the head.

 

 

Isn't that just what we want for our crafts - for it to be on display & cherished many years later by our family for generations to come.

I had a lovely big first chat this morning with Anthea from Hibiscus Stitches. Next Saturday we have our bloggers meet up at the Perth Quilt Fair. I can't wait to meet our local bloggers that are coming along & a big thanks to Anthea & Maria from Life On The Block for organising it for us.

 

The next day we head off for a week down the South-west of WA in Dunsborough, right on the ocean. So far it looks like we can expect more of the same weather in the early 20s with nice, cool mornings & evenings. I am very much looking forward to the week away, so better start packing my sewing, magazines, books, not to mention anything I buy at the craft fair that I can't bear to leave at home for the week.

 

The bad news is that Master Hun-bun is having his first ever holiday at a cattery! He knows he is going, we speak often of Hun-bun's winter holiday, but I don't think he realises he is going there on his own & not with his muma. I couldn't tell him that. He is all prepared - had his vaccination, been micro-chipped in case the worst ever thing happens & he gets out, has a new necklace to hang his microchip pendant on & I washed his blanket today for him to pack. By Sunday morning, he will have slept on it enough for it to remind him of home but not enough that you can't see his favourite farmyard animals for the creamy furs clinging to it. It will be me in tears as I drop him off on Sunday. I bet they will have to kick me out to make me leave him. Oh dear - I will have to try to be brave! They will do phone or video visits, can't you just see me Skyping my cat! It's only a week, I'm going to try to limit myself to only 2 phone calls to check on him.

 

 

 

Finally, it was a beautiful day in Perth today & we made the most of it by going for a walk this afternoon around the lake at Yancep National Park, about 60kms North of Perth. The lake is called Loch McNess, named after a Perth philanthropist not its Scottish namesake, and I didn't see any monsters either.

 

The Yancep Inn looked like a great place to sit this afternoon, with warm sun on your face & a cool beverage in your hand. Maybe next time, today we had walks to do & pics to take.

 

 

It was just the weather for a snooze in the sun, hiding ones face behind the trunk of the Euculyptus tree.

 

 

Many people were taking advantage of the great weather & beautiful surroundings. The views were very pretty.

 

 

The locals were getting lots of attention from the younger generation.

 

 

And the imfamous West Australian Tap tree was in full bloom.

 

 

We spent ages on a jetty in the sun trying to capture photos of dragon flies. The dragon flies had great fun doing very dramatic, acrobatic moves to make sure most pics captured only a wing or just blurry blue sky.

 

 

The birds were far better behaved.

 

 

And the native plants in flower were very colourful and pretty.

 

 

 

Have a great week everyone!

Tracee xx  Hun-bun xx