So much to share

 Goodness me. We are half way through September and I'm just getting around to doing my birthday post. It was my birthday on the 1st September, first day of Spring to. I had a wonderful day. Received lots of phone calls from my family and friends and also got some beautiful gifts. My friend Tracee made the wall hanging and I love it so much. Its so pretty and very Spring, I have it hanging in my sewing room. Thankyou Tracee.

My other lovely friend Anthea sent  baking goodies, sweet Anthea knows how much I love to bake and every Sunday I bake treats for my boys lunch boxes. Thankyou so much dear friend. 

My friend Joni who lives in Canada made me some beautiful Tilda pillow cases, these are the prettiest pillow cases I have ever seen. And 2 Sue Spargo books which I can't wait to open and read. 

I also bought a few pretty goodies for myself the other day. I went to the newsagent to buy the paper and they had the prettiest stationary. I love things like that. 

 I have sewn my tilda runner together, just going to add a bit of stitchery to it now. Can't wait to get this one finished. I just ordered some of the newest tilda fabric on line, should be here tomorrow I hope.

 Got some new christmas fabric in the mail, from etsy, there is alot of pretty stuff on there. Sometimes you find fabric that is no longer available in the shops.

 I have been working on my halloween project, I bought this cute layer cake off etsy, its a Riley Blake design. I like the green to break it up a bit. Just need to sew 2 more rows together.

 And finally I'll leave you with a few pics from my garden which is looking so pretty this time of year. Blooms everywhere.  
Have a wonderful week and thankyou for stopping by. Hope you find some sewing time.

Friday night sewing

 I had a very productive sewing time last night, I finally got the binding  sewn on my new table runner. Its a scrappy runner so I thought a scrappy binding would suit perfectly. All stripey strips frame it nicely.

 I even spent a bit of time before bed and started sewing it down  on the back.  I love tucking in all those stray threads,

 I also cut into my tilda fabrics that I have been saving for no special reason  and started making little blocks, I want to do some stitchery on the odd block  so I'm working on a layout, I do like it so far.

 My garden is looking very pretty with all my bulbs in flower, Look at my hyacinths, they are my favourite and smell so nice.

 Tulips are starting to bud so it won't be long and they will be blooming, another favourite of mine.

Last Monday was my birthday, I had a wonderful day, All week I have been receiving lovely parcels in the post. I received this beautiful bag from my Friends in Stitching group, the theme was black and white and we had to make a bag of some kind. Lynda made me this one and I love it.  Thankyou so much Lynda.


If you would like to see what others got up to for Friday night sewing click here and go to the list. Have a great weekend and thankyou for stopping by my little blog.

A blog hop kinda day

 The purpose of this blog hop is for each blogger to tell their readers about their life as a creative person.
So today I get to tell you my story.  I was tagged by the lovely Fee of Designs by Fee.



What are you working on right now?

Well its a secret magazine project so I can't give too much away but it involves pretty garden stitchery and summery fabrics.

 How long does it take you to create  a project?

Once I come up with a design I want to get it down on paper as soon as I can, Once I do the drawings then I choose my threads and fabrics, I always like my stitchery threads to match my fabrics. I can usually get a project finished in a couple of weeks, having to have a "real" job takes up alot of my day so I only grt to sew in the evenings during the week and sometimes in the morning. When I have a deadline my whole routine changes so I can fit in as much sewing time as possible.

 What are my favourite things to create with?

Well I would have to say threads, its amazing how much we can all create something beautiful with just a few stitches of a pretty colour thread. Stitchery is my favourite craft.

 How does my creative process work?

I love to draw inspiration from my garden so I'm always taking photos of my flowers. Sometimes I'll just have a whole lot of garden drawings then I'll take a bit  from each one and create a project.

 How do I become inspired and stay inspired?

With so many beautiful fabric ranges around these days how could you not be inspired to sew  with them, I'm always thinking what projects I want to make next. I have a long list. Pinterest is a great source of inspiration. I waste lots of time browsing other boards and getting ideas. And visiting my friends blog is always inspring. I love seeing what other people are making.

My favourite time of day?

Thats easy, its after dinner when I have cleaned up the kitchen and its time to sit on the sofa with a nice cup of tea and stitching on my lap.



Now I get to nominate 3 lovely ladies to join in this blog hop. I nominate  Rose from Threadbare creations,   Val Spiers and Helen Stubbings. If they would like to play along.



Thankyou for reading my story, have a wonderful day.  xx

Sewing in the garden and my birthday.

 I am so pleased with how much sewing I have got done in the last 2 days, I was lucky enough to have a day off work on Friday and gee I had a lovely time. Hubby at work, boys at scool. I had the whole day to myself. I did all the house work first then headed straight to my sewing room where i worked on my 2013 fat quarter shop block of the month., I had all blocks done, just had to get it altogether.

 It took hours, making sashing strips and lots of little 9 patch blocks, then there are 3 outer borders, the patterns calls for a navy border of flying geese but I knew I wouldn't  be doing that, so a straight border it is and I'm very happy with it.

 Now to hand it over to my fabulous quilter so  she make the quilt even more beautiful,

 You may remember me telling you back in March that I was planting over 400 new bulbs to my garden, well now I'm starting to reap the rewards, my garden is looking so pretty, with lots of colour. I had to include a few sewing projects amongst all my pretty flowers.

 This is a new table runner I have made. Last night I sewed the binding to it  so now its ready for some night time stitching while I  sew the binding down.

 I used all my Bonnie and Camille fabrics.

 This little crocus is so cute, they are such a delicate little flower.

Tomorrow is my birthday and the first day of Spring, My lovely friend Steph from Belgium sent me a lovely package. I got a Greengate tea towel which is way to pretty to use, so that will go on display I reckon. And lots of other goodies, thankyou Steph. I love everything you made me,


I hope you all have a great day. As tomorrow is a work day I'm planning on celebrating my birthday this afternoon by locking myself in my sewing room and playing with some pretty fabrics.


Have a great day.

A day by the sea side.

 Its been another exciting time for me seeing my latest design  in print and on the pages of the latest Patchwork and stitching magazine. 

 This big table runner is called A day at the sea side, inspired by our trips to the beach in summer. I'm not much of a swimmer so imagine me sitting in the deck chair with my stitching on my lap, watching my boys swim and play beach cricket.

 It was such a fun project and I loved sewing with the blue and aqua fabric fabrics, I think the range is called Seascape by Deb Strain.  It was beautifully quilted by my lovely friend Sarah from Patchworks plus. She's a clever girl.  Sarah also has a new web site, its set out so nice. Go and check it out, Sarah has some beautiful stock, including lots of Bonnie and Camille fabrics for all you Miss Kate lovers out there.

 As always the magazine do a beautiful job of photographing my designs,

 I was a very happy girl thats for sure.

 Another busy week ahead, back to work and the every day routine like most of us. I did stop today and pick some pretty snowbells from my garden, they are so sweet with their little green dots on each petal. They don't have much of a scent but I do like just admiring them.


Do you like my new header, my dear friend Tracee designed it for me, Gee I  have some clever friends don't I. Thankyou Tracee I love it.


Have a wonderful week and I hope you find some sewing time. Thanks for stopping by.

Something different

 Well another week has come and gone, soon Spring will be here and I for one can't wait. Its been a long cold winter and after such a beautiful sunny day today I  have had a taste of whats to come. I have been sewing like crazy all weekend trying to get a magazine project ready to send off  but I can't share it just yet, sorry. Soon though!!!  I have had a fun time changing things around in my sewing room, I thought I would bring a bit of early Spring to my shelf and share it with my prettiest tilda doll.

 Working with such pretty fabrics always makes me smile and I added a new zipper pull to a new project. I love the tiny log cabin.  Such a clever design.

 I also changed and added a few new things to my kitchen, I had all red stuff on here but now I have added a bit of aqua I love it  even more. Its funny how just adding  a few things can  change to the whole look.

 My pretty Cath Kidston cup, I wish I bought more when I saw this in a shop last year.

 Yesterday I was in K Mart and found this gorgeous jug for only $12, I liked it so much I bought 2. I put one in the bathroom for decoration. Also the little tin, I thought that was just so cute and for $5 I mean really could I leave it behind. These goodies are on my kitchen hutch and I love looking at them.

I also changed my Greengate shelf around, these cups are my most favourite. Such beautiful colours and shapes. I do use them occasionally, whats the point in having nice things if you can't use them. My grandmother used to say that when I was young and we would go to visit. She would serve tea in pretty china cups and I was always worried I'd drop it.

I have roast chicken in the oven  and it smells delicious so I had better get my vegies ready, wishing you all a wonderful week and thankyou for stopping by.

Sewing, magazines, baking and gardening.

 What a week its been, lots of fun and exciting things happening. First off I can't wait to tell you that I have a quilt published in Homespun magazine. I don't think this issue is in the shops yet but it won't be far away. I got my issue in the mail and I couldn't wait to open it up and see my design.

 Do you like it?   All made in my favourite Kansas Troubles fabrics.

 The photography is so nice, even a photo of me and my profile is included.

 I have been sewing like a mad woman all week, working on secret projects for magazines and writing patterns til the early hours of the morning. Finally I think I'm on top of it all. Oh its hard being a designer. lol and  I am loving every minute.

 I have been doing some sewing for myself to which  is fun. I made a mini pouch to hold my ipod so I can find it in my gym bag but its so cute I  might have to use it  for sewing instead and make a new one.

 All my photos are out of order today, blogger is being silly and I don;t know how to fix it so its all a bit jumbled. This morning I have done my traditional Sunday Lunchbox baking. Made choc chips cookies and an oat slice and right now I have an apple slice in the oven, it smells so good.

 My garden is showing signs of Spring (At last) I'm so sick of winter. I have a few bulbs in flower.

 My mother in law sent me a box of cute little quilt block decals, I'm not really sure what they are called, they are made from metal and had a little jump ring on them so I made use of one and used it as a zipper pull. They are adorable and I think they make the zipper look so lovely.

So thats my week and all my news, I hope you have a wonderful week, enjoy your Sunday and I hope you find some sewing time.