It's beginning to look a lot like Easter...

Not much time for blogging lately, but this morning I'm not starting work until 10 am (instead of the more usual 8 or 8.30 am). This change of starting time is so I can work much later than I normally would. 

 Today is the last day of pre poll voting at the office ( the election is tomorrow) and we are open for an extra hour of voting. And just like those in retail find, people will arrive with '5 minutes to spare', just getting in the door before we close. But I digress...starting later means I have time for a short blog post. 

One night last week, I brought out my box of Easter 'stuff'...

And I started to put out some knicknacks...

Some of the old egg cups from the 1950s, who share space with some that are much newer...

My Easter Mini made for me by Anorina in a swap a few years ago and my lovely Easter mug rug which was in a big bundle of goodies ( donated by Helen McCulloch) which I won in a Sunday Stitchers raffle last year...and the little bunny also was a gift one year! 

 

Again most of these are gifts in blog swaps. The little bunny in the white mug was a gift from my roommate Judy at last year's Let's Get Stitched retreat...the bunny is exquisite! 

I haven't decided where my new Easter banner will hang yet, and it's still too hot here, to fill the white China bunny with little Easter eggs...by the time friends and neighbours were offered a chocolate egg, they would have melted somewhat! 

Friday Night Sew In...

It was the third Friday of the month yesterday so that means FNSI! 

Once again Wendy of Sugarlane Quilts hosted this event. http://sugarlanequilts.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/fnsi-sign-ups.html

Just for a short time last night I worked on my Trip Arounnd the World (TAW) quilt. Or should I say started on my TAW??? Some of the Sunday Stitchers are working on this challenge during 2015. We got the first lot of instructions in January but I'm only starting now. Part of the hold up was my 'fiddle faddling' about the choice of fabrics...I continually dithered about what fabrics I should use. 

But a week ago I knew that I had to start as the first stage should be finished by April 26. So early this last week I started cutting 2" squares from a bundle of fabrics from the stash. And last night I started stitching. The red and white dotty fabric has to be used in 2 rows of the first stage of the challenge; the middle and one other of the 9 rounds. 

This is a hand stitching project so I'm 'right at home' as I love hand stitching! 

Day 3 Giveaway...

Early last year, I saw an ad at the side of my Facebook page about some company called NaturesFace Art. Facebook tailors those advertisements based on each person's likes and I have discovered some great fabric shops etc this way :-). So I thought I would give this site a bit of a 'look-see'. 

Well I was 'hooked'; there were these beautiful fabric squares showing Aussie Nature at its very best...and the fabrics were high quality and could be used in numerous ways including patchwork. Postage was free...worldwide! So I ordered just 3 as I had thought they would be a lovely inclusion in overseas swap parcels. I had ordered just before we took off for the UK, so 7 weeks later when we  arrived home, I eagerly opened the envelope...and loved what I saw!  

Passionflower...

Deep Forest

And people, such as Denice, to whom I've sent them to, have loved them too. So just before Christmas, I bought some more :-). 

I had recently sent one of these patches to Lin, over at St Victor Quilts Blog (France) and in our email 'conversations' I said that maybe I could write a post about NaturesFace Art. Lin thought that was a good idea, so I asked the 'man behind the label', Gerhard Hillmann if I could use some of the biographical info on the site and maybe some photos too. In his lovely reply, he gave me permission to use whatever I needed.
So firstly here is a photo of Gerhard...

Gerhard was born in Cairns in Far North Queensland and spent much of his childhood 'exploring and discovering' both the plants and animals of the rainforests. On his website, this statement sums it all up pretty succinctly...
'The curiosity of nature from an early age and the desire to share the experience with others has motivated him to be a nature based artist'.
For 15 years he travelled and studied overseas but is now back 'home', living in Kuranda with his young family.

Gerhard at work...

Gerhard has won numerous awards for his photography, and as well, he has had a number of exhibitions which are listed on the website. His skills as an artist means that in some of his works, Gerhard  incorporates his paintings and drawings with  photography.
There is so much to look at on the website, including a section where there are photos of projects using the fabric patches. Quite a few people have shared their photos...they are well worth a look!
Now I've only really talked about the fabric patches that NaturesFace produces, but this family owned and run company is much more than that; jigsaws, prints and art cards are all made using the beautiful photographs and images.
So now, today's giveaway...of course it's a lovely fabric patch ! lol. Maybe some of those photos in the People's Creations section on the website could inspire you to make something yourself...and this lovely patch could be the the start of that process.
To be in the draw, just leave a comment on this post. All 5 Giveaways will be drawn on Monday, January 19, starting at 7pm EST (Australia).
My photo doesn't do it justice...the colours are gorgeous,the details incredible. There are holes in the leaves, maybe from caterpillars in the life cycle of that species of butterfly? There are all sorts of little details waiting to be discovered. Children would love finding all those little creatures and flowers :-)

 

This fabric patch is 'fp13' so you could check out the photo of it on the website to see it in all its glory. 
So here is the link to Gerhard's website again...http://www.naturesface.com.au/

Why not make a cuppa and settle back and look through Gerhard's website?...you won't be disappointed. :-)

FNwF...

It's the first Friday of the month, so that means Friday Night with Friends! So as Friday night rolls around to all the Time Zones, bloggers from all around the globe join in to work on their individual projects. The Sign-up is over on Cheryll's blog and I'm sure it's not too late to sign up for this month's FNwF. http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com.au/

Tonight I did some more work on the knitting project that I wrote about in FNSI last month...remember it's a secret project so you don't really want to see another blurry photo of the back of the project...but I will say that the project is nearing completion with just 2 more horizontal blocks of colour to go...

The other project that I worked on tonight was that I finally made a start on another dog quilt for DD2...well not for her exactly...for her partner's dog, Missy. Apparently Missy was a bit jealous of the quilt I made for Jimmy, DD2's dog, and tries to take Jimmy's quilt. So I offered to make Missy one of her own...as you do! Lol. 

The block I made tonight is a free pattern on Craftsy, called the Bow Wow Kennel Quilt, except I made it smaller, as I want to add other blocks...the Craftsy pattern block makes up as a 24" square quilt. 

As you can see in the photo, I also have some 'puppy' fabric to 'play around with' too. The ideas for how I'm going to continue with this project, are swirling around in my brain at present. But I'm sure Missy will be happy with how it all turns out! :-)

Use the link in the first paragraph to visit Cheryll's blog and then use the Sign up Widget there to visit other FNwFers...

Our little house guest...

It's a long weekend here and DD 2 has gone camping leaving her little dog, Jimmy Hans, with DH and I. He's a sweet little fellow and I always enjoy 'babysitting' him. 

A little while ago I decided to make him a quilt...just a simple strip, QAYG one. My daughter's favourite storybooks as a child were the delightful Richard Scarry series and I had bought some fabrics from the range that had been released which used his drawings. So I had decided to use some of these fabrics in Jimmy's quilt. 

The backing is rather 'vintage'...I bought several metres of this fabric to back a quilt that was made of squares. Each of the squares had an outline drawing ironed on it and each student in my class that year painted a square using Hobbytex paints. I then sewed the squares into a quilt and the class presented our teacher aide with this gift on the day she left on maternity leave. So what year are we talking about here....ummm...??

It was 1976 and the 2.5 metres of fabric left over from that project has been hoarded all these years! A couple of times I've gone to 'ditch' it but somehow it remains. I used some of the fabric in 2012, and now this project and there is still quite a bit left! Lol

It celebrates American Independence...

The fabric was purchased at the Coles Variety Store that was in the city...Coles had a huge fabric department on the first floor, adjacent to their famous cafeteria. The price must have been good as I bought far too much! :-)

Last night Jimmy snuggled down on his new blankie...cuddling his toy...

Since we last looked after him, Jimmy has moved with DD2...instead of his backyard being a postage stamp sized, paved courtyard, he now lives in a house with a yard...but he still loves exploring our garden...

But he doesn't mind sitting on my lap while I watch the Old School episode from last night which we recorded...

But running after balls being thrown sure tire a little fellow out...The rug that I made DH 12 years ago, must have looked very inviting...

It's funny though, even though I knitted that for DH, Eduardo also thinks that it is his! 

FnwF...

Yep! Last night was Friday Night with Friends hosted by the lovely Cheryll.

So what did I work on last night?...

Some tracing, cutting out and stitching...

One block

 I had tried tracing this design using the light box but the 'dot on dot' fabric just seemed so difficult to 'see through' to trace. Eventually I resorted to using a transfer pencil, but only back stitched for a while after all that 'drama'.

 And I finished the evening knitting a number of rows on this ...yep! The good old chevron design and again in favourite colours. This one is a 'thank you' gift to an old friend. It should be finished in the coming week as I work on it most evenings.

So there you have it, my Friday evening of crafting while watching 'Broadchurch' and 'Doc Martin'.

Cushion swap....

Well I finally finished the cushion for my swap buddy and the item is now on its way to a new home :-)

The back opening  is sewn 'envelope style' with a band of colourful fabric. My swap buddy didn't specify any colours or style, just that it should be a cushion for her sewing room.

I made the front in a variation of an 'Eyespy' design....you just never know what you'll find on this cushion...
For example...pins, bolts of fabric and even little 'Keep Calm' messages! :-)

More good advice and buttons and thimbles...

And look at all those thimbles, pins and tape measure...

And what else can you find :-)

It was a lot of fun to make, despite a few feelings of angst that come from the 'making it up as you go along' attitude of mine. Maybe next time I'll use a pattern...but then, who knows! lol

Another lovely Saturday...

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Secret Santa Sew in at a local patchwork shop called 'The Patchwork Tree'. Regular readers may remember that was where I went to a  'Christmas in July' afternoon. Even though I thought I was reasonably early yesterday, the shop was overflowing with ladies when I got there. But Alison (the owner) and her helpers had set up chairs in every nook and cranny so I easily found a seat but not at the big work table. That just meant that my stitching items and my cuppa and plate of goodies had to sit on the floor.

I met a whole lot of different ladies this time and one of these ladies was related to the wife of a prac teacher I had in 1969 at Mitchelton SS!!! Leon (Taefe) was studying law part time in those days and eventually became a barrister and well and truly left teaching behind! Sadly he has since passed away but as I told Mrs Taefe's cousin yesterday, I credit Leon with inspiring me to continue with my final year at college, as nothing else that year inspired me :-(. She's going to tell his widow I said that. So small world and all that...

Some of the ladies indulging in some retail therapy. Alison, the owner' is wearing the antlers

We also have Secret Santa at the sew in and I took along a jar of lovely homemade strawberry jam from the craft markets, wrapped up in 3 fat quarters of Christmas fabrics, with a decoration pinned to the fabric. All gifts are placed in some big baskets and then the helpers walk around distributing the gifts...I was handed my own gift but using sign language I indicated it was mine so I was able to get another gift. And this is what I got...lovely Christmas dish and pretty nice looking chocolates too!

This was the secret santa gift that I took along

This is the secret santa gift I received!

As we arrived and paid for the afternoon, we could choose a little stitchery kit...there was one with a scene with a cute house but I don't like doing backstitch that much (well I reckon my backstitch looks awfully uneven) so I chose another one which ended up being the same one I did at Christmas in July!

Also when we arrived we each got a raffle ticket for the lucky draws during the afternoon. On the 3rd draw the number 95 was drawn out...that was mine!! My prize was a beautiful Christmas panel...so that was an extra bonus after a lovely afternoon meeting lots of people, chatting, eating and sewing...what could be better!!! lol

Lancaster County...

Late last Saturday, we arrived in Lancaster County. Too late we had realised that our schedule meant that we would be in Amish country on the Sunday but our motel was already booked and paid for. The country we drove through to get to Lancaster was beautiful.  Everything looked so neat and picture-book perfect. Lancaster is a town with many lovely old buildings mixed in with some more modern developments.

Farmland in Lancaster county

Lancaster

Farm buildings

 DH had been looking forward to seeing the Amish community going about their everyday life. I was looking forward to shopping in the town of Intercourse which is in Lancaster County. This town is known for shops selling Amish quilts, patchwork and quilting supplies as well as general craft shops. This wasn't going to happen on a Sunday. So on Sunday, we drove over to Gettysburg and we toured the battlefields and stayed the night there on Sunday.
On the Monday we drove back to have a quick look at Lancaster county and for me to look through the shops in Intercourse. We really only had 2 hours to spare so we couldn't do an organised tour of an Amish farm. So we still don't know much about the Amish and their way of life; whether they make concessions to modern life. We drove past a lot of farms but most of them had trucks etc parked in the yards...but there were some where there were carts/buggies parked.

Some tourists having a ride in an Amish wagon

Some of the houses in the main street of Intercourse

From the carpark of the Kitchen Kettle shopping complex in Intercourse

We first of all had brunch in a restaurant called Klings which is in an historical house. The food was beautiful! DH and I had skipped breakfast at Gettysburg so we could get an early start in our 'backtrack' to Lancaster. You see it was an 80 mile drive from Gettysburg to Lancaster so we were going out of our way when we had been expecting to be driving to Washington DC.

I had a marvellous time in 'The Old Country Store', The Yarn Store and Zooks. Zooks had Amish staff serving. Amongst themselves, the staff spoke a germanic sounding language but spoke English to customers. In 'The Old country Store' I bought gifts for some friends, a collection of homespun in Amish colours, a pattern plus a pure indulgence of 2 Amish dolls. To continue indulging myself, I bought a skein of kettle-dyed wool and a beanie kit in Amish colours which had a soft wool and mohair blend .

My goodies/indulgences

Reluctantly we had to leave Lancaster County and head off for Washington DC...