MacDonald's Patch: May 2015

31 May, 2015

May OPAM!

It's the end of May so that means time to report on OPAM!

Nick's 50th apron.

A cushion made for our Gail Pan swap.

An apron for Barb.

Another small tally for this month!

Thanks to Peg and Kris for keeping us inspired.

28 May, 2015

A Small Finish

Earlier this year I came across this tea towel that had an embroidered "B" on it. Straight away I decided I would use it to make my lovely friend Barb an apron for her birthday.

Thank you Nelson for being my model!

Barb's birthday was last month and life got in the way, so it was a little late. I was finally able to give it to her when we caught up in Geelong a couple of weeks ago.

26 May, 2015

Thank You!

Back in March, I was the lucky winner of Melody's

(The House on the Side of the Hill)

Rosalie Quinlan Stitch-A-Long giveaway. Mel and I had been so busy that we hadn't been able to catch up with each other. When we finally caught up a couple of week's ago for the Geelong Patchworkers and Quilters Quilt-In, Mel was able to give me my prize. A lovely Rosalie book and two fat quarters of Rosalie's Chirpy Lola fabric.

Thank you for my lovely prize, Mel.

I was also the lucky winner of Sharon (Vrooman's Quilts) Let's Book It for April. Sharon sent me this lovely

Vintage Sewing Machine brooch along with a Carolina Lily charm. She wrapped it up in some of her cute little sheep fabric. Thank you so much, Sharon.

25 May, 2015

A Night At The Ball!

Last Friday saw us all heading off to

An Elegant Affair Debutante Ball.

Austin was asked by Monique to be her partner.

I love this one of them heading to the car.

It was a lovely group of only eleven couples.

They all fitted into the one limo.

Nelson looked very grown up in his suit!

Introducing Monique and Austin.

Dancing for the first set.

Had a dance with my baby.

Mitchell seemed to be enjoying himself dancing

(that's Zoe in the blue).

The second set was a bit more relaxed and fun.

They were dancing to some Michael Jackson.

Brotherly love!

Just so there's a photo of Noel!

The theme was Beauty and the Beast.

At the end, all the mothers (or special person) of the debs were asked to come up and were presented with a rose.

It was such a wonderful night.

We had some professional photos taken of the five of us.

When we get them I might just post a photo!

18 May, 2015

One Lovely Blog Award!

The other day I received an email from Dasha of Patching Pixies. Dasha has nominated me for a One Lovely Blog Award. The purpose of this award is for bloggers to nominate fellow, mostly newer, bloggers that they wish to recognise. The goal is to bring attention to blogs that we think are "lovely" and enjoy reading. We hope others will enjoy reading these blogs also.

In order to accept the award, the nominated blogger must:

Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
Share seven facts about yourself.
Nominate 10 other bloggers for the award.

Here are seven facts you may not know about me:

1. I met my husband Noel at Ballroom dancing. Pretty corny hey! As he said at our wedding "It was probably 6 months before I knew her name. You would be doing a dump dance (progressive), say hello, how was your day and then dump them onto the next partner!" I did my dance examinations in three styles - Modern, New Vogue and Latin American. This is the last one I did when Mitchell was 5 months old. It was for my Oscar New Vogue, the highest exam you could do.

2. I started quilting in 1993 when I went to an overnight mystery quilt. You were supposed to already know how to patch before you went. So after a crash course by my auntie, I made a bag and said I could do patchwork. We were at the mystery night for 12 hours and it took me another six to finish the top. I was pretty impressed with that considering I hadn't done much piecing before. This is my quilt called "Intriguing Illusions". It is quite large and I hand quilted it! I hadn't heard about sending them off to be quilted. If only I'd known but I persevered and finished it.

3. Before quilting, I did a lot of cross stitch. This is my favourite one. The quilts are each stitched separately and then sewn to the background. The sheep has hundreds of French knots. I don't own this. A friend asked me to make it for her and it lives in Philadelphia. When I caught up with Kathy in the US in 2005, it was so lovely to see it again.

I also did ceramics for many years.

This is my musical bear.

4. Besides collecting fabric, I collect Swarovski crystal animals and Lilliput Lane Cottages. I have about 50 animals and 20 cottages. Although I must admit, my collection has hardly grown at all the since we got married. Sorry it's not the best photo of the crystal.

5. During 1988 and 1989 I travelled the world for 12 months. I was based in Oxford (UK) for about 3 months and worked while there doing temp work. Countries I travelled to were USA, UK, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Egypt and finishing up with New Zealand. I've probably missed some.

Oxford is such a beautiful town.

6. Some people were surprised I was okay with Austin doing a Bungy Jump in New Zealand on Easter Sunday (here). I couldn't very well tell him he couldn't do it as I did one at the same place on Good Friday 1989!

Yes, that's me hanging there!

With my certificate and t shirt. You have to jump to get one and cannot just buy it. I still have my one.

7. The only time I turn on the iron is when I am doing patchwork! I always hang the washing as soon as it's finished in the machine. I will then fold or hang up the washing straight away without leaving it sitting in the basket. Although I will iron the 'good clothes' when we are going out!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed finding out a little about me.
Thank you for this lovely award, Dasha.

Now to nominate some blogs I love to visit. I have a huge blog list, so if I haven't picked yours it's only because I could only pick 10 and I couldn't list everyone.

They are in no particular order.

Melody from The House on the Side of the Hill

Mel shares lots of lovely links.

Shez from Enjoying Life

I don't think Shez ever sleeps, she gets so much done!

Baa from Baa's Amazing Adventures!

Baa is off on a big adventure soon.

Sue from I Purr-Furr to Craft

Sue makes wonderful Aussie Hero Quilts.

Fiona from Bubz Rugz

Fiona will have you in stitches!

Wendy from Charlotte's Web

Wendy is an amazing knitter and dress maker.

Anthea from Hibiscus Stitches

It's always lovely catching up with Anthea.

Barbara from Cat Patches

See what Barbara and her two cats,

Gracie and Smitty, are up to.

Cheryl from Cheryl's Stitchings

I think Cheryl is the Christmas Queen!

Kim from Quilting With Kim

Kim has a bit of a Bonnie and Camille addiction!

17 May, 2015

A Day In Geelong!

Yesterday I caught up with all these lovely friends at the Geelong Patchwork & Quilters' Guild. We had such a wonderful time. There were some speakers. One was Kathy Doughty from Material Obsession. She was so interesting to listen to and we got to see some of her beautiful quilts.

Now I didn't get any stitching done at Friday Night's
Sew-In but I made up for it yesterday.

I made my little hexagon flower for my pin cushion.

And got a good start on this month's

Vintage Kitchen block by Jenny.

I think this is the most stitching I have done when we all get together. As there were speakers, we had to sit quietly and listen. Usually I only get about 6 stitches done!

Our swap this time was a Gail Pan design.
I was lucky enough to get this gorgeous table runner
made by Sue (Kiwikids).

Sue also made these two cute pin cushions.

I made this cushion which went home with Jo (ButterZ).

Thanks for another lovely day of friendship, girls.

I'm already looking forward to our next catch up.

16 May, 2015

Friday Night Sew-In

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In with Wendy and the girls. Once again I didn't do any stitching.

I just sat at the computer and read blogs!

This morning I'm heading off with Mel and Annie to the Geelong Patchwork and Quilters' Guild Quilt-In. I hope I'll have some stitching to show you tomorrow. That's if there's not too much chatting happening! We'll be catching up with Shez and some of our other friends. It should be a fun day.

Head over to Wendy's to see what everyone else got up to.