The not so extreme make-over Lizzie Edition

Do you remember I was going to paint my 100 year old crystal cabinet? Well.. I did it and the end result is very pleasing. I decided to give our lounge a mini makeover as well. I have my new leather sofas which are beautiful but the room was kind of simple so it needed a few changes.

Here are a few before shots..

This is the cabinet all emptied and ready for painting.

It was so full of my collection of cups and saucers and a few other things thrown in there as well.

Ta Da.... here is my new lounge, what do you think?

New cushions for the sofas and my French General quilt which matches perfectly

The cabinet all painted and most of its belongings back inside. The colour is called Scallywag ( hlaf strength)








Yestersday on the way to buy my paint I called in to a thrift shop and I found these fantastic milk jugs, the big one was only $1. Hows that for a bargain.

Its been such a productive weekend, I haven't touched my sewing but tonight I'm going to sit and stitch and watch a movie with my boys. It will be very relaxing sitting there admiring all my hard work.

I hope you had a good weekend, don't they go fast?

A French kind of quilt

Don't you love it when you get an idea for a quilt and it comes together really well, this is what happened with this quilt. Months ago I bought these beautiful charm packs called Pom Pom de Paris from work, I didn't have a plan for them at that stage so they just sat in the cupboard. Well the other day I decided to put them to good use and I made this quilt, so easy, just added the cream borders around the squares.

I love the yellow border print, its so soft and delicate. Now it just needs to be quilted.

Tomorrow I'll be back to show you some painting I'll be attempting, it involves a 100 year old cabinet and some cream paint. Very exciting and a little bit scary.

Another finish to share

Here is my newest finish, a beautiful half sqaure triangle quilt. I really enjoyed making this quilt, it was easy and quick to do. I didn't use a pattern, I cut my squares at 6 inches and sewed the 2 lines either side of the middle. Easy peasy I'm sure some of you think I don't do anything else but sew, but I do other things as well, for instance... this morning my family and I went on a 2 hour bush walk. It was -2 degrees but we braved the cold and off we went. I never thought to bring the camera until we got there. It was so nice and quiet.

Although as soon as we got home and had lunch I was into my sewing.

I love the feel of this quilt, its so soft and snuggly now its been washed. I finished sewing the binding down last night.

I also have a shared project to share with you. I did the stitching but my wonderful mother in law put the bag together for me. I was having a bit of trouble understanding the instructions.

It turned out really well. Thanks Dawn. xx

Its been a busy day and I'm worn out so I'm going to dish up our dinner soon and have a well earned rest.

Until next time.... happy sewing

More OPAM finishes

This week has been a good week for finishing off a few projects. Apart from going to work each day and doing after school activities I have been sewing and stitching.

This is a doiley designed by Leanne Beasley, I love her patterns and I loved making these. I thought the ric rac would be tricky to get right but it turned out just fine.

I loved making this one, I stitched on linen and its so nice to work with. The blossoms were fun to stitch.

I definately am Happy when I'm stitching.

Another finish is this cushion designed by Lynette Anderson, this is a sample for the shop. If you look closely you will see the word Esme's above the shop door. This is the name of the quilt shop where I work. I thought it was a nice touch.

Sorry this photo is a little blurry.

Its been a very productive sewing day so I'll be back tomorrow to share what else I have been working on. I hope you found some sewing time today.

Another project finished

I had a busy weekend with my sewing, I got lots done including finishing off this beauty. This is what I call my Bliss quilt, the fabric is gorgeous and I thoroughly enjoyed putting this quilt together. Any kind of stitchey quilt is my most favourite to make.

This is my favourite block.

My photo skills are improving, I get lots of inspiration from other blogs and the way people photograph their quilts. If you look closely you will see a gold fish swimming away. We have a big pond in our back garden.

Yesterday while I was whipping up yet another swoon block (photo of that to come) I had a few scraps of fabrics left so I made this dresden plate, I think I'll turn it into a cushion as it will be go nicely with the quilt when I finish.

I also have almost finished a cushion for a shop sample so I'll share that with you soon.

It was a very productive weekend, I hope you found some sewing time.

Christmas In July

My online stitching group had a christmas stocking swap, we all had to make a stocking of our choice and send it to our partners, this is what I received from Lynda, I was a bit spoilt and got more than just a stocking.

Lynda made me the most gorgeous Lollipop made from punch needle. Its so cute.

Thankyou Lynda, I love everything you sent me, including the cross stitch patterns.

This is the stocking I made for Tracy, Its a Bronwyn Hayes pattern.

A few weeks ago my wonderful husband surprised me with a hot house. I love to grow plants from seeds so now I have the perfect spot to do so.

Today I filled up all the seedling trays with seeds, I have poppies, heartsease, delphiniums and swan river daisies. I also replanted some geraniums.

I can see myself spending alot of time in here. Enjoying the piece and quiet.

The iris are the first spring plant to flower in our garden, these are minatures and are very cute.

I did make some time for sewing today, I'll be back tomorrow to share my progress.

Sunday sewing

I have had a great day with my sewing machine, we got lots done. I made and sewed the binding on 2 quilts, I'll share them later when I have the binding sewn down. I also made 2 more blocks for my Swoon quilt, these blocks are such fun to make. I love the blue with the red, they really compliment each other.

I have made 5 now, only 4 to go.

I also sewed the borders on my christmas stitchery quilt, there are 9 blocks altogther and I want to try and have it finished for this christmas, block one is nearly finished. Its a Rosalie Quinlan design.

While I was in a binding kind of mood I sewed it on my new sewing folder which I made a couple of weeks ago, they are easy and very useful, I think I'll have to make a few more.

Now its time to cook dinner so I'll say goodbye, I hope you found some time to sew today.

Gifts for me....from me

I often buy my boys little treats for no reason at all so this time I thought I would buy myself a few things just because...I had seen Anni Downs new book Some kind of wonderful around blog land and I wanted a copy for myself. Lillian ordered a few copies for the shop and of course one for me,its a beautiful book and I can't wait to start some of the projects, I also got Life of a bag which is a great book.

Last night while son number 2 was at basketball I had a quick wander around the shopping centre and I came across these bargains, buy one get one free. I thought they were beautiful so of course I bought them for myself.

I also got these for the same deal, its shower gel and body lotion, they smell divine. I just liked the holder they were in.

Then of course I walked into the newsagent and found this American magazine, it was the front cover that got me, such a fresh picture to brighten our cold winter days.

The quilts on these beds are so pretty, the whole magazine has lovely photos.

Today I got the binding ready to sew on 2 quilts, I hope to get these sewn on tomorrow, I also finished my secret stitching gift and made another big block for the Swoon quilt.

I'll be back tomorrow to share my progress. I hope you found some sewing time today.

Its been a big week

Do you remember me telling you last week I was battling a bad sinus infection, well it turned out to be an abcess in my tooth. I had such a rotten week with pain, My face was hurting like you would not belive. It got to the point where I couldn't eat or drink as I couldn't stand anything touching my tooth. Time to go to the dentist. What a battle that was trying to get in somewhere, finally I had some luck and I was counting down the hours until I went as I just couldn't wait for them to stop the pain. That was Thursday night and since then I've been like a new woman. I hadn't touched my sewing all week until today, I certainly made up for lost time. I made these two beauiful blocks for a new quilt I'm doing. Its called Swoon by Camille Roskelley. I really like her patterns and her fabrics. I can't wait for Ruby to come out. I have seen a few sneak peeks on line.

I have used fabric from my stash which has made me happy. Its called Flower sugar by Lecien.

I also finished stitching a secret project for a christmas swap I'm in. I'll share more on that later.

Now I feel 'normal' again I have lots of sewing and stitching to catch up on, I hope you find some sewing time to.