Coming round

DH is coming around to the idea of Harry joining our family.

PHEW!

He is such a cute skinny lil kitty who has 3 lil girlie's who follow him everywhere.

Last night he spent the night curled up with girlie # 2 in her bed, under her doona....too cute.

Henry is getting used to him, Henry is at the I am going to sniff you constantly stage, no hissing of puffing today :)

Even the naughty puppy has met Harry, for ail kitty Harry has a lot of spit in him and the claws were flying and the naughty puppy was soooo excited lol.

Well DH has gone to bed :(, the girlie are all in bed, so is Harry and Henry and me well I am having a couple of quiet Bacardi's, watching some crap on cable and surfing the net.

Who knows what excitement tomorrow will bring.....more alcohol with luck lol lol lol

Harry Vincent

Its very original don't you agree.

Girlie's 2 & 3 picked Harry

girlie 1 chose Vincent (lol)

and so everybody is happy

he is called by his full name

Harry Vincent.

I do have 1 problem though

dh just isn't as enthused as all his girls are, in fact I have been to sewing and didn't get home until after 11 and Harry VIncent is no where to be found I am hoping he has found a warm cozy spot in a girlies room. I guess I'll find out in the morning.

Baby Caitlin's quilt/floormat is coming along, I have 3 or 4 more hearts to sew onto the background blocks then I can add the sashings, border and get it ready to be quilted. So exciting and its looking great and has been really easy, its basically 20 8.5 inc blocks with hearts appliqued on, I am using the needle turn method, 2 hearts are blocks of 4, 2 blocks are quarted hearts and the rest in varying tones of pink. I am going to use the 6600P to make the label for the back.

its a long weekend here so I am hoping to get some serious sewing in, and as there is an ironed work shirt on the chair I am guesing DH is off to work in the morning :(

Have agreat weekend whatever you might be doing

Oops

I am wondering if I have make a mistake.

We have been discussing getting another cat so the girlie's actually know what its like to have a at that will sit on your lap and snuggle with you unlike our anti social fur ball Henry so today I was coming home after having a 'private' lesson with the janome peoples on the 6600P and thought I would go to the pet store and see if they had any kittens JUST TO LOOK lol......

and they did, 1 lone kitty

and he was very very cute

and he is 10 weeks old

a shelter baby

a neglected baby (and it shows)

and

he somehow found himself in a box

then in my car

and now he is in the house

and Henry is pissed off

and he is growling at the baby

and is puffing up like a giant orange powder puff

When 'the baby' has a name I'll introduce you all properly.

See OOPS is in order lol

Flat Out

I feel like my feet haven't touched the ground in days

We have the Janome peoples from Perth here at the moment, and to say my day has been frantic is an understatement. I am home long enough tonight to cook my man and babies their dinner, bath the girlies and maybe I can sneek in a story, then back to work for Wednesday night sewing :), and a wee bit of shopping as I have a bag I want to make asap to lug my sewing to and from.

No Janome pinkie tips as yet.....will pump them tonight and I am going to have SO MUCH FUN when I get my new machine....which hopefully will be soon I got to play on the shops 6600P and I made a wee little bag, such fun and I am in love with the auto thread cutter seriously love it :)

Photos by the end of the week I promise.

Another busy day tomorrow at work, and no doubt Friday morning will be busy too, I am getting my hair cut and coloured on Friday @ 11:30 and I can't wait still undecided whether I should keep the same style or go for something different ............. I have hair that does its own thing, I have curls that on the left side curl out on the right they curl under....see weird.

Might even share a pic of the new do too lol

to all who are going to the AQC in Melbourne have a fabulous time, spends lots, we want pictures and I am needing a supplier of Roxannes baste it glue, so if you should find any please can you take note of the store and its www address for me.....

PLEASE!

have fun :) :) :)

Seriously Slack & Seriously Jealous

and yes I have slapped myself lol

I didn't take any pics today, the day really just got away from me

by the time I drank my coffee's, swept, did the washing, stripped beds and remade them, went to the supermarket, called into work for some wobbly eyes, bought the shopping home, went back to the supermarket because I forgot the bread DOH!, picked the girls up from school, dropped 2 at dancing, took a quilt to the quilting lady to be quilted, collected 2 girls from dancing bought onions, cooked dinner, bathed the girlies got them into bed and watched underbelly

it was too dark for photos :(

so I will take them in the morning after I have gotten the girlies to the bus and dh off to work and before I go to work then tomorrow night I can share them promise.

and why am I seriously jealous.....

well my mum and dad are off to Melbourne later in the week, mum is going to the big quilt show that is on, along with a few bloggers....and I am stuck here on the other side of the country absolutely GREEN with envy, although I am sure dh's wallet is glad I am not going....

green I tell you maybe I can convince my man to take me to Perth when the next quilting show thingie is on, I personally have never been past Perth Airportwell I have I have been to Bunbury, Bussleton, Margaret River and Augusta but that was before my addiction to patchwork reared its head.

thinking happy non green thoughts here lol

nope its not working I am still very very envious

Stitching fun

I have had a great weekend of sewing stuff (as dh calls it)

We havefriends who welcomed a not so little baby girl on Tuesday night, as her daddy is a live marine aquarium fish collector (think Nemo and Dory and the sharks) I hunted through my magazines until I found a 'fab fishy' pattern designed by Melly and Me, so Miss C has her very own fishy to play with, I have started her play quilt, which is very simple, I have used pinks, white and beige fabrics as the base for each appliqued heart block, tonight I have managed to complete 4 appliqued hearts, so theat means I only have 20 more to sew lol.

and I am a bit passionate about chooks, we have 8 girls at themoment and have already discussed having bantam hens when we move back to Tasmania sometime in the next 18 months hopefully, so I have been making a chook desk caddy but I am having some issues with her so I have some reworking to do before she can make her public debut

my other weekend projects I will share photos tomorrow.

Its a big work week for me too, not only do I have my usual Tuesday Wednesdays, I also have Thursday and Friday too. We have the state manager for Janome coming to the shop, Wednesday Thursday and Friday it should be alot of fun and I am looking forward to learning more about my current Janome (the pink ribbon one) and my new Janome the 6600P.

Girlies are al great they had a camp out last night in the tent, 2 made it all night 1 wandered in because 'I can't sleep' we are thinking more she was a bit nervous to be out there.

Dh is back to woek tomorrow after his week off, it will be a busy one for him no doubt and if you could all keep your fingers crossed that he isn't working Wednesday, Thursday or Friday nights I would really appreciate it, Wednesday and Friday is sewing at the shop nights and Thursday night is dinner out with the Janome peoples.

Such a busy life I am leading lol

Have a great one whatever you are doing

Lifestyles of the not so rich and semi famous

Can you guess who I am talking about.....

yep.....you are so right

the long furred hippie of a cat Henry

Every time you turn around he is having a cat nap ( I wish I had his life lol)

here are a few examples

these 2 photos were taken when Henry thought the travel crate was for safe sleeping time the girlie's weren't allowed to annoy him when he was in the crate

then he found out what the crate was all about when he spent nearly 12 hours locked in it, in the hold of a plane, on the tarmac of a major airport or 2 and then a car, twice.

so Henry changed sleeping positions.

Again he loves to be able to sleep in unusual places like here

the cover for my sewing machine

or here

usually he prefers in the bag as opposed to on top of the bag lol

now I would like to introduce you all to 'Lucky' cat or Snowflake as my dad calls her lol

smart cat she is on the couch

today he has also had naps on the ironing board, the bench, the hallway floor, in the shower recess, behind the tv, on the phone table, on the pile of fabric on the dining table. He sure does get around lol

A Stitchers' Angel surprise

from Marian

when Helen ran her stitchers' angel swap last year I for some reason never received my angels gift :( so Marian offered to be my substitute angel :)

today when I went to our PO box, there was a parcel card in the box, I had NO IDEA what it was as I wasn't expecting any parcels, so I went this afternoon to collect the parcel and this is what I found

a gorgeous pin cushion to add to my collection, a scissor keeper with scissors and some flosses and a gorgeous little wall hanging which I plan on hanging above my sewing cabinet.

Thank you so much Marian I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

right I am off to have a wee little sob while I watch 'find my family' that show always gets the tears flowing

Have a great day

Tired

So so tired

My baby girlie 'couldn't sleep' last night, she wandered out at 11:30, hoped onto my lap with Smilie B Bear her 'bestie since birth' and proceed to chat, wriggle and sweat all over me, so at 12:30 this morning (Monday) we went to bed, of course she had to get into my bed, where she wriggled, sighed loudly, stole my pillow and sweated all over me again lol so at 1am I got up, found the fan, found the power board and I turned that baby on just so I could get some sleep, after I removed the wriggler into her own bed.

Then we slept in until 7:30am and as a result the girlie's all missed the bus and I had to drive them into school, I obviously didn't get enough sleep as girlie # 1 and girlie # 3 ended up with the wrong lunches oops lol.

I had to clean the house too as we have an inspection today (Tuesday), then I took the bags and magoo into work for collection at 11am and didn't leave there until 3pm, raced to the supermarket, went to target where I bought 2 single bed doona covers and 2 flat and 2 fittedsheets for less than $100 happy with that, raced home cooked tea and then when the girlie's got home from dancing there were tears as Daddy thought they finished at 4:45 so he was late, they finished at 4:15 oops but it is all good and they are all fast asleep in bed, daddy included which is where I should really be as I have to work tomorrow, not that its a bad thing I get to play with fabric all day, I am LOVING it and I get any of new fabric's to add to my stash before it hits the shelf.

My new sewing machine is ordered. So very excited about that I just hope it fits in my Horn cabinet that I got last year, from my measurements it will JUST make it so I should still be able to lift it up and down, and if it doesn't well I will stress about that when the time comes.

No photos today I tried to get one of Henry cat who sat on the salad we had with tea tonight, luckily I had covered the salad before he sat in it lol he is a very naughty boy.

and BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Maree for her awesome effort with her online auction for the bushfire appeal, she raised over $700 I am digging through my stash tomorrow after work to cut some 4"x4"blocks to send to her so she can make some 9 patch quilts.

Have a great day I know I will.

Henry Cat

Henry Cat is an Exotic cat,

thats his breed, and I do love his smooshed in face except when he sneezes all over me.

Henry Cat is almost 2 years old, and we got him from the breeder when he was 4 or 5 months old, as a kitten he was my shadow, wherever I went so did he. He was until recently a 100% indoor cat, alas for me Henry can now open sliding fly screen doors so he has since become a 99% indoor cat, he really doesn't like to wander to far and nearly always comes when I call him.

He dislikes small children and is definately not a lap cat :( unless I am doing hand quilting then he happily becomes a lap cat. He likes to sleep in unusal places, kitchen sink, bathroom sink, inside the shower, and in my bed in winter, shopping bags are a favourite.

He has decided that he doesn't like going in the car and will 'sing' the entire time he is in the car, and as of Thursday he doesn'tlike the vet because she tries to stick thermometers where they shouldn't go and my hand bore the brunt of that discovery lol.

He will only eat fresh meat, no tinned food for this boy he loves to chase moths and grasshoppers when they are inside and loves to watch the birds but has no idea how to get them, mind you the birds he wants are 2 times the size of him he won't eat chicken wings or necks so he is currently having to eat dental bikkies so we can avoid listening to him sing on the way to have his teeth cleaned at the vets, and he is a tad overweight (just like his mum lol) but still a gorgeous boy.

Henry cat is my cat and I absolutely adore him and still a bit sad I didn't take his sister too when she was offered to me.

So thats the run down on my long furred hippie of a cat and as he seems to have a couple of fans I will make sure to blog about his adventures more often.

and the winner is

My trusty assistants doing the honors

and the winner is.......

Priscilla

woo hoo congratulations Priscilla please email me your postal address and as soon as the journal cover is done I will post of my little parcel of love from Western Australia.

thank you all for playing along with me :) mwah mwah

Now for the bags and contents

year 1's tooth bag, apparently if the kids lose a tooth at school it goes in the bag with a journal for them to take home.

the bag for girlie # 3's class

and the contents of this bag a Melly & Me Magoo (he still needs his eyes finished and his shorts need elastic which of course I don't have )

I only assisted girlie # 3's teacher in making him, she cut him out, sewed his legs and arms and stuffed them, I connected his limbs to his body and had a wee bit of help connecting his head and I stuffed him. He is being delivered to school tomorrow. Girlie # 3 thinks he is for a little person in Victoria who lost their own toys, she is in for a shock lol.

and would anyone like some stir fry Henry,I had to laugh when I found him in the wok lol but he is far too cute to eat today.

Just one more bag to make now, but today I am over bags, maybe tomorrow I will get that one done.

Are you a Winner

I don't know yet

I am waiting for my girlies to come home so they can do the honors

so watch this space

soon the winner of my 'Because I Can' giveaway will be announced.

and I only have 2 bags to go YIPPEE

will share a photo of the bags and a photo of what belongs in the 2nd bag when I finish it later today.

Don't forget Maree's bushfire auctions finish at 10pm EST tonight, so hurry and get your bids in she has some gorgeous goodies listed.

I've done my bidding.........have you??????

Goodies

goodie goodie yum yum

as promised a photo of my 'Because I Can' giveaway

ta da

2 patterns

by Hatched and Patched and The Rivendale Collection by Sally Giblin

4 DMC flosses, 1 verigated

2 fatquarters

and 1 (needs to be made) Journal Cover with the journal.

Only 4 more visitors togo :)

This weekend I have 3 bags to make.

1 for girlie # 3's class

1 for the year 1 class @ school

and 1 for girlie# 3's tap shoes

AND

I need to get sewing on my bushfire quilts I bought the blue fabric yesterday

AND

I need to do the housework, we have an inspection on Tuesday

AND

Happy Valentines Day I bought my dh some roses and he is buying me a new sewing machine.....this one

a Janome Memory Craft 6600P now I just need to pay it off and bring it home :)

so spoilt

So Happy Valentines Day I hope your DH's have spoilt you all

We Are Safe

Unless a fire pops up.

I have an escape route planned if we ever need to use

The girlies have been repeatedly told WHAT they need to do if there is a fire.

We have had 1 scare this year which was just down the road.

But this week we have had high fire danger

but its all good

I have goodies

photos later :)

My fire risk

We live in a rural subdivision ALL the house lots have to have fire breaks around the boundry

except for ours.

We have a 'nature reserve' on one side, and of course its right opposite the house.

then behind the house we have this

This is the top of the bank, that little brown patch in the centre of the pic is dead dead grass we cannot get the mower in there to cut it

and blogger has stopped co operating so I'll post the other pictures later.

have a great day I am off shopping:)

Wish me Luck

My LPS missed out on some of the batting donated by the girls at Matildas Own so today I am putting on my big girl panties and heading into DH's work to see if they will donate the money or some of the money for us to BUY a roll of batting so we can get these quilts made......

and if you knew me you would know that, I have a phobia of asking for anything, unless its from DH and its something I KNOW he will say yes too, like a Janome 6600 sewing machine which he said yes too yesterday lol.

You know I might just let him do the requesting for me lol.

Wish me luck.

Otherwise there is a wonky star tutorial here and the address to send the wonky star blocks too here

come on girls lets get sewing and spread the love

don't forget my Because I Can giveaway it will end when I get my 5000th visitor

so comment away please. I am shopping for my giveaway today and will have a photo or 2 to share this afternoon and I'll share the fabric I picked up yesterday for the 2 quilts I want to make for the bushfire appeal.

and even better knews is

Lyn from Squilters is OK :)

Have a happy sewing day

Going to do a Giveaway

because I can

what is it....

I have no idea YET

but if you make a comment between NOW and my 5000 th visitor (64 visitors to go) you will be in the draw

1 entry per comment.

you know you want to

go on leave a comment

make this lil Aussie gal happy happy happy and say HI

I have to work tomorrow soI will make sure I come home with a FABULOUS thingies for you and remember I am happy to post internationally.

and after the week my gorgeous homeland has had, I just want to share a bit of Western Australian love!

Quilt as you go tutorial

If you visit Jan's blog she has a quilt as you go tutorial.

I am planning on a BIG sewing weekend and I am hoping to complete 2 single bed quilts to be donated, 1 pink and 1 blue.

this afternoon I am making some blocks for Maree so I can get them into the post remember she is after 10" finished blocks.

I will post more links as I come across them

10" Blocks Wanted

Ladies,

Maree is collecting 10" (finished size) blocks to be made into quilts for the bushfire victims if you can help in any way please please email myself or Maree and we will pass on postal addresses for you to send the blocks too, I am putting up a sign at work today requesting blocks too (I work at my LPS)

I have 1 quilt top (mystery quilt) that I just need to quilt and to the binding and that will be going east too that is the weekends job

the girls from Matilda's donated $12 000 worth of batting to be made into quilts how generous are they.

My little town has 2 shipping containers of goods heading east in the next couple of days.

I am SO proud to be an Australian at the moment, when the going gets tough we stick together.

but I am so angry that the scammers have crawled out of their holes to make money of this tragedy, so so angry.

Please Please Please if you have any blocks floating around (10" finished) let Maree or myself know.

Bushfire Online Auction Appeals

Patch workers and Quilters are gorgeous gorgeous people.

Melly & Me have some gorgeous items up for auction go visit and make a bid

Maree also has some goodies up for auction with all the proceeds going to the Bush Fire Appeal.

I have made my bid.......... have you?

Being on the other side of the country I can only watch the news on TV, listen to it on the radio and wonder WHY someone would light a fire for their own thrill the stories of the survivors just make me want to cry. My heart is broken for those who have lost loved ones and their family homes.

My little town is on high fire danger this week, the wind has been so strong, yesterday we had gusts of over 40 knots with a slight breeze so far this morning, we also live in the bush with the front of the house cleared but behind isn't. I read that people who live in the bush should be prepared just in case, what would I grab, my computer, the external hard drive and the kids, cat and dog we are insured the rest is replaceable my photos and kids are not. This week we are buying 5 fire blankets so if the worst does happen and we are trapped, the blankets might offer us some degree of safety. I pray that we never have to use them.

I am a member of Squilters, one of our members lives/lived in Kinglake we still haven't heard if she is ok her name is Lyn Duhig if by some small miracle anyone reading this knows Lyn could they please email me and let me know that she is ok, and I will pass it onto the group.


So go bid for some goodness for Melly & Me and from Maree

Photo's and a Sad Day for Australia

As promised some photos of my productivity

one tap shoe bag, I ran out of pellon so number 2 is waiting til tomorrow

inside the bag with the adored tap shoes :)

Helen's mystery quilt it now has the borders sewn on

and my secret squirrel project sneak peak

and I had to share this picture of Henry cat. I just love the way he sits to wash his belly (excuse the cord from the iron he was actually sitting on it lol)

and what a sad sad day for this beautiful country I call home. Victoria has had the worst bush fires in the history of our country, so far 84 people have lost their lives with the toll expected to rise, entire towns have been destroyed. Such a tragedy and such a sad sad time for those left behind my heart aches for the survivors.

Queensland is in flood and Victoria is on fire from one extreme to the other.

SAD

I hope you have had a better weekend than Australia has.

A Productive Day

I have had such a productive day today I have impressed even myself lol

I managed to finish one and almost the second quilt tops

admittedly 1 is only 28" x 28", but the top is still finished, I have the wadding and the backing fabric ready to go I just need to decide whether to machine or hand quilt it, and I need to decide on the binding fabric.

It was a secret project so I will give you all a sneak peak photo tomorrow :) but shhhhh its a secret lol

and

I have been busy doing Helen's mystery quilt and I am pleased to say the top just needs its borders sewn on tomorrow :) that makes me happy

girlie # 2 had gymnastics this morning dh drew the short straw for the 8:30 drop off.

The dog went to the beach with the kids and dh, they have also been fishing this afternoon, and now are fast asleep in bed.

Speaking of the dog, I have to take both Henry cat and Tanis to the vet on Thursday for their needles and Henry cat is getting micro chipped wish me luck but I do get to drive dh's new work vehicle for the day as its a dual cab Holden Colorado and he is a big dog so he just doesn't quite fit in my Astra

he he he

hope your weekend is a productive as mine

Pie's, Tart's and Moda Love

My Pie and Tart BOM arrived on Tuesday lots of yummy reproduction fabric to play with :) last night at sewing I managed to cut out all the pieces for my pie's and tart's to be sewn.

On Monday I had a parcel pick up card in our PO Box, I trotted off to the post office to collect my box of yumminess to be told that she couldn't find the parcel so I didn't actually have one.Well while the girlie's were at Tap dancing yesterday girlie # 2 and I did some errands, and we we back to the PO and I asked about my missing box of yumminess, surprise it was there and the lady had NO IDEA why the other girl couldn't find it.

Here's what my box of yumminess contained

yummy fat 1/4's in deep chocolate brown and some pink

a sweet roll,

Moda Charisma

Moda Arcadia

and I do love this photo the big jelly rolls look like eyes.

Girlie's 1 & 3 started tap dancing yesterday at the end the littlest girlie was in tears, she had sat down for a little rest and ended up with a tap shoe hitting her face, after that she didn't want to do tap anymore but after a quiet chat with Miss F, she is ready to go back next week, and they both have tap shoes (someone pass the panadol please) and are very impressed with them, today I am off to get some fabric to make tap shoe bags for them.

Girlie # 3 stats gymnastics on Saturday and today I am taking it easy, I am still in my jammies ummm ahhhh, but I have to go to town to do some banking, buy the fabric and then off to school to get socks, a dress and 2 backpacks so I had better organise myself then.

Have a great day everyone :)

How cute is she. This is my baby girl in her much wanted uniform this morning, and she caught the bus home for the 1st time too.

here are all my girlie's

the house is definitely quieter during the day :)

Here's where Henry slept last night

we start tap dancing tomorrow afternoon for girlie's 1 & 3

Happy mail today in the shape of the first BOM package from here

I am going to the Wednesday night gathering at my LPS so I plan on making a start, I have 10 pies and 10 tarts to sew and the fabrics are gorgeous.

Have a great day

Its been a big day

for all the girlie's, me included.

All 3 went to school today :)

they had a great day but the littlest girlie has decided that she doesn't really want to go to pre primary anymore, she'd like to go back to kindy!

Why that decision? one of her bestest girlie friends wore the school uniform, which is optional for pre primary, so after a chat to daddy this afternoon she is ready to face PP again, because ....

she has school shoes

AND

a school dress

AND

she *might* get to have the sports uniform too.


I prefer her to wear the uniform this year, no more 3 different outfits each morning before she decides what to wear, no more which shoes do I wear lol, and she will look very cute and no more ruined clothes :) :) :)

and the biggest thing for her

she is catching the bus with the other girlie's, she isn't to keen on that either but she'll get used to it. Tomorrow afternoon is her first bus ride.....

fingers crossed lol

Such a big day for my baby girlie

photos of my 3 girlie's ready for school tomorrow

Just call me Nigella

rofl

today we made stuff for lunch boxes.

baby Salmon Quiche.....not the nicest lol even dh commented and he eats anyting so they quickly morphed into baby quiches with ham.

we made 3 dozen and wrapped them in foil, put them into a snap lock bagand put them in the freezer, the giries will get one out each night and by lunchtime it should be thawed.

Then we progressed onto Mini Corn Frittatas (sp) which the littlest girlie assured me she didn't like, was forced to try it lol and proclaimed loudly that it was yum, we made 3 dozen again they are in foil in the freezer.

We were also going to make banana muffins but after the oven being on for 4 hours the kitchen was so hot so I'll make them tomorrow while they are AT SCHOOL woo hoo.

I didn't get to make my pincushions today :(

I managed to finish cute as a button by crabapple hill

and here is the bug in a bag (although mine is bagless lol)

I have got the top of Sophie Sunflower sewn together, and the petals are gathered and ready to be sewn on, but that can wait until tomorrow afternoon, because I have to work tomorrow tomorrow morning at my favourite shop, yes I have managed to get my self some hours at my local patchwork shop, in school term, 2 days a week and a rather lovely discount to boot.

So I have to get an early night as its back to early mornings, lost school shoes, books & bags, school buses, dancing twice a week, gymnastics in saturday mornings @ 8:30am (how rude) and 7am starts when the earliest I have had to get up these holidays is 9am...... but it s all good.

We have 2 girlie's in year 3 and 1 girlie in pre primary which is the equivlant of prep in the eastern states they just grow up to fast, and girlie number 3 isn't to sure about full time school she says she will miss me, and I know just how she feels because I am going to miss her too.