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.

I did it again...

 I am very excited to tell you that I have had another design published in Patchwork & Stitching magazine. There it is sitting on my bed looking pretty with all the others I have made.

 Pretty stitchery with flower sugar hexagons, I loved making this cushion. Watching my drawings come to life with thread is such a good feeling.

 There it is on the front cover. Thats an exciting moment when you get your magazine from the letter box and see the cover with your design on it. Doing the Happy dance on the foot path makes for some interesting curtain movement from the neighbours thats for sure. I'm sure they think I'm crazy.

 Such beautiful photography makes my project really shine.

Stitchery of course is my favourite thing to do, most of my designs have stitchery on them somewhere.

Its been such a wet and stormy week in Launceston and much of the state. Luckily we had no damage to  our property but I watched the wind carry my neighbours  trampoline almost over the back fence. It got caught on some bushes.
Right now its -2 degrees and so frosty outside. I'm sitting by the fire  debating to have another hot cuppa or do some baking. Which would you choose?

Have a wonderful day.

Christmas gifts made by me.

 These are the gifts I made for my Christmas in July swap partner Anna, (no blog) All of them were so much fun to make, especially the christmas candle mat.

 I used Gail Pans pin cushion pattern from her new book and added Lynette Anderson's reindeers, Pretty nifty don't you think?

I love pin cushions so I had to make this one also designed by Gail. Glad you liked everything Anna.


Have a wonderful week everyone.

Christmas in July

 I received 3 beautiful gifts from  Tracy  and they are beautiful. My pretty stocking is so cute, love the Reindeer.

 I'm sure Tracy has read on my blog how much I love crochet as she made me the most sweetest snowflake bunting,

And I think my santa ornament will look right at home on my christmas tree this year,

Thankyou so much Tracy, I love everything you have made me, thankyou to Cheryll for organising such a fun swap.



I'm off to Hobart tomorrow to go to Craft and Quilt fair, its been a bit disappointing in previous years so I'm hoping  its a bit better this time.

Have a great weekend.

Friday night sew in.

 Last night was very productive for me, I made 2 Round and Round blocks, they are so much fun to put together. The pattern is by Thimbleblossoms and I used lots of Bonnie and Camille fabrics and a few other favourites.

 I have made 5 blocks now only 2 to go, Can't wait to get this one finished.

To finish the night off and relax a little before bed I basted some hexagons for a new design, I love this fabric. Its so pretty and girly.


Do you ever have days where you plan to do so much but you feel like you haven't achieved anything. I had a day like that today.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

What did everyone else who joined Friday night sew in get up to? click here to go and see.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

In from the cold on a Friday night

 Its been such a cold week here in Tassie, we have had fog, snow, rain and frosts. It makes getting up early just that little bit harder. I'm looking foreward to a bit of a sleep in tomorrow. Last night I joined in with lots of other talented ladies for Friday night sewing. I worked on my In from the cold quilt, designed by kate Spain, This quilt is a free pattern  from here. Its such a fun project.  I used all scraps and fabrics I already had for this quilt so I haven't had to buy anything. Pretty happy about that, wait til you see what I have planned for the borders and backing.  I did change this cup a little bit and added an American flag. It was fun making something  a bit different. I do love all things Americana.

 This block was fiddly but fun to make, the pin wheels are 2 inches each and very cute.

Its altogther now and I love it. I want scrappy borders so they should be fun to make.

I have already made this quilt before in Christmas fabrics and the two together look so different. I have one for summer and one for winter now.

So thankyou for visiting my little blog, Friday night was a good sewing night, if you would like to see what everyone else got up to click here.  Have a great weekend.