Finished.......

Final border on......

So glad this quilt is finally together.....

I will get this to the quilters after I find something to back it with.

Completed with fabric from my stash, with the borders and backing being purchased.

It was at least a three year project - maybe more.  I think I read the Chocolat range of fabrics was released in 2006 - maybe it was a four year project.

P.S. For some reason I feel as though this picture looks a little out of focus (or something)!!  If you click on the pic, you will get a bigger view, which looks a whole lot better.

A Gardeners Journal.....

The first border is on.....

I cut this border at 2 1/2 " instead of the 1 1/2" suggested in the pattern.  

More to come tomorrow......

A Gardener's Journal........

Have you seen over at Chookyblue when she issued a challenge to finish or make the beautiful "A Gardener's Journal" by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched?

I think that there are now at least forty people who have decided to stitch along with dear Chookyblue to make this beautiful quilt.

I didn't really "join" the group, but it was a great reminder to me that this quilt was in a little box on my desk, well and truly started. 

Well over two years ago I decided to make this quilt after a dear friend gave me a copy of the book.

I decided that I would make it completely from fabrics from within my stash at the time and have only purchased the two border fabrics required.

At the time, I remember putting all the DMC colours out and then choosing my fabrics to co-ordinate with them.

In between projects and life...... I have stitched the blocks......

Enjoying each one as I went along............

And now I have six of the eight blocks put together.

When Chookyblue issued her challenge I even had all my fabrics cut and separated into zip lock bags ready to go.  I have plugged away in just little snippets of time over the last two weekends.  Isn't it amazing what can be achieved when we put our minds to it.  I am so blessed to have my sweet sewing room where I can leave projects at the ready to grab a moment or two when I can. 

It will be so lovely to have a large project like this finished and off to the quilters. 

I might even have it back to snuggle under for the winter ahead!

P.S.  I have now officially joined the group!!  See the link on the side to pop over and see all the quilts being stitched.

Antiques Steps..... by request

Quite a few people have enjoyed looking at my cushions from the last post. Isn't it funny when we are looking around all the wonderful blogs there are and we are also looking way into the background of the lovely photos and enjoying the "rest" of the picture too! I know I do! (Or is that just being a sticky beak?!!!)

Well, at least two people were enjoying the background of my cushion photos and were asking about the quilt. Thank you for asking Anne and Ineke.


I made this quilt a few years ago now and it is the largest one todate. I bought it as a kit at a craft show in Brisbane. It is called Antique Steps and is from The Old German Quilthouse in Geelong, Victoria. I couldn't find them on the web, so not sure if they have a web site or not.

It measures 76 x 100 inches. The fabrics are the Antique Flowers range from Lecien. It has 35 different fabrics in it. You only require 15cm of each fabric. I had it machine quilted - I don't hand quilt at all. Too much to do! I would just prefer to get on with the next project. I rarely have more than one thing on the go at one time. Especially quilts! I do however have more than one project in my cupboard - ready to go!

My favourite part was the scalloped border. I just love borders done like that. The worst part of that though is having to make bias to bind the edge. There was quite a nifty instruction in the pattern and was easy enough to do.

It is an absolutely perfect winters day here today. Beautiful outside in the garden. We have just finished to all the little plants with liquid fertiliser. The cold weather has slowed everything down quite a bit, so the warmer weather will be lovely for the garden. I am still deciding wether to prune the roses this weekend or next. The new roses are doing beautifully - lots of new growth already. There is rain forecast for early next week, so I hope they are right with that.

I hope to get a little more stitching done this weekend. It's been enjoyable in the garden so far!

Anniversary Giveaway & A Few Other Things.....

Blogger has not been playing very fairly for me, so I had given up - just about. My last post took hours to load the photos. I had tried last week and nothing would load for me, so I gave up.

So, another go today and here I am!!

My newly painted and renovated furniture came back. I am so pleased with how it has turned out. The couch above was on Nan and Pop's back verandah for as long as I can remember. It was almost black, the varnish was so old. The man who painted it for me sanded it back and then had to put five coats of paint on it. It has an old wire base that is a bit saggy, so I will have to get a board for the base and a new mattress. At the moment I have this quilt on it. I hope to just change the covers around as I feel.

I am thrilled with the hutch. I didn't take a before pic - so just imagine 80's style pine hutch. It has a lovely new moulded top and new shaped base. I also had the very thin ply back replaced with VJ's. The new knobs match the glass ones on the kitchen cabinets. These two pieces are in the same room and make the space very light and bright. My china looks so pretty displayed in the hutch now.

We have had lovely rain here overnight. So some beautiful water in my tanks to water all those flowers I have been planting. I'm sure the new roses will just love the rain. I am still waiting for my mail order to come. The soil will be lovely to plant into when they do.

With the school holidays here we are finally into a slightly slower pace. I have still been working at our bakery but it's so nice not to have to go anywhere in the afternoons. I have been enjoying some time in my lovely little room and even got some stitching done.

Time flys by just too quickly I think. In the last two weeks it has been my one year anniversary in the world of blogging. It has been a lovely journey, with so many new people to visit and chat with. I just love visiting blogs and get an absolute buzz when people visit me and especially when they leave comments. I think back to that first post, wondering if anyone would ever find my blog, let alone leave a comment. Over nine thousand visitors later I am thrilled to celebrate my first anniversary of Eleanor and Ruby.

So in the tradition of blogging Anniversaries, I am having a GIVEAWAY to celebrate.

I have been having a lovely time looking at Rosie's beautiful new book Gift and I have made a little something from it to be part of the giveaway.

A bit of a long winded post - but I just love chatting with all my blogland friends. Don't forget to comment - I am sure you will love the gift.

So, leave a comment here during the next week and on Tuesday the 15th July I will choose a winner. I hope all those lurkers out there who very rarely comment will enter, I would love to meet you!!! Or, of course those people I know visit and don't comment - you can even enter too!!!! You know who you are I'm sure.

Blessings...... Small and Large

The week is flying by once again. The school holidays will be here before I know it!

The little plants in the garden are doing well, so far. There are larkspur, foxgloves, delphinium, poppies, snapdragons and then the bulbs, daffodil, jonquil, rununculi and tulips! I really enjoy this time of year in the garden, not too hot to tackle all the jobs at once and exciting to plan for Spring.

I have also made a start on Mitchell's quilt - with a little peep in the picture! I have been quilting now for around seven years and todate my boys do not have quilts - bad Mummy I know!! So this year they are both getting one each. Mitchell is a bright boy and loves green, so his is bright with lots of green to match his room. He has a "Bok Choy" feature wall and he just loves his green "hand" chair (shaped like a hand). His fabric is the Friends and flowers range.

Cameron's will be more sedate in the Peace on Earth range - just love the map fabric for the back - so very Cameron .

Well, my biggest boy has been busy, busy. He has started an Arts/Business degree at University and is juggling two part time jobs to pay for his passion and long term goal in life - flying!!

Cameron has loved all things aeroplanes since he was just a little boy. We gave him a trial flying lesson for his 12th birthday and that was the beginning of this very long haul for him. It is just so expensive to fly and basically you buy yourself a job at the cost of at least $60000 for starters
!!

On the 1st May, 2008 this 17 year old son of mine flew solo!! I thought driving a car was bad enough, but knowing he is flying on his own is definately worse.

So I guess he is on the way to fulfilling his career goal. I just pray he will be kept safe and that he is always just so careful when he goes flying and also out in the car.

I just wonder where the last 18 years disappeared to.

As I have written today my thoughts keep wandering to a family from our church who have lost their little boy after a hard battle with illness. I am truly blessed with healthy children and I thank God for that each day.

We really should be humbled everyday and be thankful for the lives most of us live, but it shouldn't take a tragedy to bring me to my knees in thankfulness.

I am truly Blessed beyond belief.

Sunday Picnic.......

With the turf laying out of the way on Friday afternoon we only had work to contend with. With our youngest away on music camp we only had the boys at home, so just a little quieter than usual.

BJ had to work on Sunday as our relief baker was away, so after he had a little nap we set out with Mum and Dad for a picnic and a look at a lovely Open Garden in Warwick.

Our first stop on the way was a picnic lunch at Allora. It is a lovely little town where my Dad grew up. The park we stopped at was just outside the Anglican Church there. I was so pleased that the front door was open as this is the church where my dear Nana and Pop were married in 1940. I have been to that area many times in my lifetime but have never seen the beautiful little church.

The timber inside and the stain glass windows are just beautiful.

Warwick is a lovely city about an hours drive south of where we live. A little while ago I had been over that way and by chance discovered a beautiful quilt shop and B & B. I found out too that they were to be having an open garden weekend.

Glenrose is set on four acres of beautiful gardens. The house is a big old Queenslander that was shifted to the site. The front part of the house contains the quilt shop Glenrose Patchwork. It is just beautiful. The front verandah has tables and chairs and would be an absolutely delightful place to spend the day quilting.

In the grounds there are four beautiful cottages that are run as a B & B. Just beautiful. I hope BJ and I can escape one weekend in the winter and enjoy the little wood burners each cottage has. As much as I love my air con and don't miss the mess of a wood stove, I really do miss a lovely fireplace in winter. Glenrose Cottages are certainly very lovely. This whole garden and associated businesses are certainly a credit to the owners.

My Dad took us on some back roads on the way home, past where my Mum had attended a little school as a child. I enjoyed hearing and seeing where Mum had ridden her pushbike as a child and where the magpies used to swoop her and her brother and sister in the springtime. She pointed out the homes and who had lived in them and where she her sister had been invited to little birthday parties. It also made me feel a little sad when Mitchell's comment was he doesn't know where any of his friends live. What a different world we live in when attending school in the city. I am grateful that I also have had a country childhood and can drive around my district where I grew up and remember where everyone lived!!

With the beautiful rain we have had the Darling Downs is just beautiful. The eastern Downs is mostly rolling hills and at the moment it is looking just picture perfect. What a lovely day we had. I am just so thankful for that one little outing and for the change of scenery and different things to enjoy, even if just for an afternoon.

A lovely couple of days.......

I hope everyone enjoyed a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas as we did here at our home.
Our day started with yummy freshly baked croissants for breakfast, followed by opening of our family gifts.

Morning tea followed with delicious fruit cake, almond butter balls and almond and white chocolate shortbread.

Lunch with one side of the family and dinner with my Dad and Mum completed a lovely Christmas Day.
Today is another public holiday here in Australia - Boxing Day. We've been relaxing at home today and it was thoroughly enjoyable!
It's been a rainy and quite cool day today, perfect for stitching the binding on my quilt. I've been hoping to get to it now for quite a few weeks, but with all that's been going on I haven't had a hope or when I did have a few minutes it was too hot to be manouvering a quilt to try and stay out from under it. But today it was lovely!
My feet were even cool enough to try out my new little sockets!!

So Excited

Just a quick hello in amongst the madness of this very busy weekend. Our week ended with sitting through three separate Speech Day/Night sessions. At this very moment my sweet Alexandra is on stage performing in her ballet presentation of Snow White. We are going to see her tonight. I am so looking forward to next week when all the end of year things are over - just have to concentrate on our business then.

Last week I put my name into the draw for Rosies new set of patterns for her beautiful new quilt. My dear friend Barb sent me a little message this morning to ask if I had checked out the newest post over at Melly and Me.

Well I clicked over there as fast as my little fingers would take me and guess what! I am the very, very, very lucky winner of the patterns.

I am sooooooo excited - my first blog win, PLUS it's from Rosie - YAY. What a wonderful end to a very "bumpy" week!!!! Thank you Rosie and Melly for your kindness and generosity with your giveaways - I feel truly blessed.

Quilts........

I have been sewing and stitching since I was a child and have always enjoyed it. When my children were small I used to visit my friend and be in awe of her beautiful quilts she was making for her home and family and so wanted to be able to do the same. It looked complicated and hard.

My first attempt was rather sad - cut with scissors and not terribly accurate.

I was fortunate to be part of a group at a local church and many of the ladies there were quilting and making lots of lovely things. So it was there that I was able to learn much more about quilting. I really haven't done any classes, but have been able to pick up enough I guess because of my sewing experience.

This quilt is the only "BOM" that I have done and probably the only one. I was so disappointed with many of the fabrics that came. I swapped a few but when you have paid to much for it that seemed a little pointless.

This is Angel Story by Hatched and Patched. It is made using the full range of Hannah Bella by Robyn Pandolph. It is appliqued with buttonhole stitch and was fun to do. I purchased the full set of 1/4's and had them sent from America. I have so much of it left I will make another quilt of some sort from it!!

I have always had hand work on the go mainly because of the amount of time I have spent waiting for children at their activities. When we lived a little further from town I spent around nine hours each week waiting for them at different times. I don't have to wait so much now as we moved to our new home closer to town, but still seem to get something done - even though I would like to achieve more.

These are a couple of my favourite blocks from this quilt.

This is the second quilt I made. I love 1930's fabrics and this collection I purchased when I was fortunate enough to visit Piecemakers in California. It was a really lovely shop and the memory will stay with me forever.

Well, this is a bit of a peek at some of my work, I hope you enjoyed them. Off to work on the next project...........