What I've been stitching and growing.

These holidays I was busy stitching some new blocks for a new block of the month by Natalie Bird. The fabric hasnt arrived at the shop yet so I can't put it together but I can't wait as the fabric we'll be using is from Fig Tree quilts called Californai Girl. Its so pretty and cheerful.

If you would like to join our new block of the month go to the web site at Esmes to find out more.

This summer I grew Zinnias for the first time and I'm so pleased with them all. They really add a bit of colour to the garden.

Our roses are still very pretty and growing well.

And of course the dahlias are just delightful.

Have a great day, hope you find some sewing time.
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Australia Day Sewing

I am enjoying making this quilt so much, I'm trying to work on it whenever I can. As I don't have a sewing room I have to set up at the kitchen table so at 9am this morning I started sewing and didn't stop until it was time to start dinner.

I first discovered this block on Jodi's blog over at Pleasant Home and immediately I knew I wanted to make it. There is a tutorial by Amber from A little bit Biased and its fantastic. You should check it out of you love scrappy sewing. Amber has made a mini quilt in red, white and blue, its so cute.

I still have 5 blocks to make for the bottom row then I'll have to think about a border. I have quite a few 3 1/2" squares left so I want to use them in a border of some kind.

So Australia Day was a good sewing day for me while the boys watched cricket.

A Day at the Beach

It was so hot here today we decided to head to the beach for a bit of relaxation. It was good family time.

The boys played on their boogie boards,

and played down ball.

While I sat and sewed some hexagons,

It was such a nice way to spend the day.

What did you do today?

A challenging scrap project

Last week I joined in Jodi's sew scraps challenge, I have had such good fun going through my stash and finding suitable fabrics to use. Its as scrappy as I can make it. I really struggle with the scrappy look as I like my fabrics to compliment each other, but I think its all coming together nicely.

The 9 patch block in the middle is fun to do and its adds that little bit of interest.

I love doing the stars and deciding which fabric goes where .I try to not repeat the same fabric in the one block. Thats how scrappy works isn't it??

So here we have the first 2 rows of 5. I want to do a scrappy border so I'll have to think about that for awhile. I can't wait to work on it some more.

Our eldest son Daniel is 16 today, sorry I have no photo of him to share, he doesn't like to be on my blog very often. Teenagers like to be difficult.

So Happy Birthday Big boy.

A little bit of painting

Do you remember last year when I painted my really old crystal cabinet?I liked the colour so much that I wanted to paint a couple of other pieces of furniture.

So last weekend hubby and I repainted this cupboard that lives in our bathroom, it was a pine colour before. Paul started painting while I was at work so I didn't get a before shot. I love the way it turned out. It makes the bathroom look so much softer.

Living with 4 males I have to keep it fairly neutral as we all share the bathroom but every now and again I'll add something pretty.

I made this fabric basket during the week to hold soaps and lotions, I must get the inside of the binding sewn down. I got a bit excited and put on the shelf for some photos.

I had these cute little fabric hearts in the drawer so I took them out to have on display. They look nice on the blue hand towel.

We also have an 0ld writing desk which you may remember quite awhile back I painted black ( that was in my primitive look phase) I loved it but it didn't really fit in with all the other furniture so we painted that to and it looks great in the lounge in the corner opposite my crystal cabinet.

One more week of holidays to sew, paint and have fun with the boys before I go back to work. Its going to be great.

Have a wonderful day.


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Some new fabrics

When we went to Hobart on Monday the boys went to look at boy things so I went to look at fabric shops. I went to the Needlewoman first. Its a beautiful shop with such lovely fittings and the fabrics are so pretty. I bought just a few fat quarters, these pretties by Lecien .

And these ones by Kate Spain, I think its called Fandango.

Then I popped in to Spotlight to buy some much wanted Denise Schmidt fabric. I was very excited to learn that Spotlight had these fabrics. I have a plan for these beauties.

Look at all that yumminess. I can't wait to cut into these.

I also found some pretty tea cups, they matched some of my flower sugar fabrics so I just had to have those to.

It was a great day shopping for me.

Camping at Swansea was fun, the boys caught over 50 fish, they had such a good time. Poor Daniel cut his finger though at 10pm on the first night there so we took him to the medical centre where he had 5 stitches.

Next week we are planning a bush walk at The Great Lakes. I'm looking foreward to that.

Today I plan to do a bit of sewing. I hope you do to.

A little bit of sewing

Not a real lot of sewing to share with you as I worked all last week but now I'm on 2 weeks holiday so I plan to get lots of sewing done in between doing things with hubby and our boys. Tomorrow we are going to Hobart for a bit of retail therapy. The boys have some christmas money just burning a hole in their pocket.. Wednesday we are off to Swansea to do some camping. Should be fun I hope. I'm not much of a camper but I'll give it a go. I plan to do a bit of stitching while the boys are fishing. I did make a new needle case for myself from a charm pack. I loved making it.

This is the back view, it folds in twice if you know what I mean.

This is the inside, I think I should have put the felt to the side as the pockets will be more useful then so I'll make a note of that for next time.

Our garden is looking very pretty with lots of new plants flowering for the first time. I think this plant is Queen Annes lace. Its so delicate and lovely. I planted a pack of mixed seeds and lots of new plants popped up.

A new rose which is just divine, the scent is beautiful.

This one is my favourite, its so pretty and soft.

This cute little baby bird was sitting on our garden waste bin and making such a fuss, I went outside to have a closer look with my camera and I think he was stuck there, I picked him up and sat him on the ground and he ran off as he couldn't quite fly. His Mum and dad were close by and gave him a good talking to, it was so funny to watch.



Have a wonderful week, I hope you find some sewing time.

Sunday Sewing

I got a lovely surprise in the post on Friday, it was my christmas present from my friend Stephany, all the way from Belgium. She has made me a beautiful heart garland. I thought it looked really sweet hanging on my kitchen shelf. If I was lucky enough to have a sewing room it could go in there but alas I haven't so I'll leave it here where I can admire it while I'm cooking. Thankyou Steph, I love it. So pretty.

Also pretty is my new rose that has flowered for the first time, the colour is so soft and delicate.
I love roses.

Today I did a bit of sewing on my first new quilt for the year, this is for my youngest son, The fabric is called Children at play. I thought a simple square with some sashing was all it needed as I didn't have a lot of fabric to play with. Its looking good so far.

Back to work tomorrow which will be nice, just for the week then I'm having some more time off to spend with the boys and hubby. We are planning on going fishing and to the beach.

Have a great week and happy sewing.

Meet my new friends

We are having such a good time on our christmas/new year break, we have been swimming almost everyday. The swimning lessons have finally paid off and now the boys enjoy the water so much more. I have had a day or two for myself and I made these gorgeous Tilda dolls, they were so much fun to make.

I enjoyed making their clothes more than I enjoyed making the doll body but they weren't to hard to assemble.

This one is my favourite, I just love her red jacket, I made it from polar fleece and found a trim to sew around the edges. Their hair was tricky but after doing one doll I got the hang of it.

I recevied this Tilda book for christmas and the dolls on the front cover looked so sweet with their overalls on so I had to make a pair for my doll and give the first Tilda doll a friend.

The boys have laughed at me a few times while I played with ( I mean made ) my dolls, Jacob even said I looked cute playing dolls. A funny thing for a 13 year old to say but I thought he was sweet. Then we got on to talking about toyes I used to play when I was their age. They can't belive we didn't have computers and x box. Kids of today really don't know how lucky they are, especially mine.

A few more days off then back to work for a week then I have some more time off to sew, go the beach, go fishing with our friends and do whatever we feel like. oh the joy!!!!

What was your favourite toys or activity to do when you were a child, I'd love to hear about it.