Made a quilt.....

Really loving free motion feathers... so decided on a whole quilt

... got hungry... love THIS  food blog.... simple yummy recipes.....

 this is one of her 30 minute recipes... Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

... it was Damn Delicious...

.. and I did another hexagon from Michelle's patterns....

... and did the whole quilt in free motion feathers... a bit of marking to get the basic shapes

... this stitchery made me think of Hubz and me at Christmas.....

.... and I've played with my Churn Dash blocks (received from swaps)

... thought you might like to see the finished quilted whole cloth ....

... yes, that's 4" square.... cute huh?

Righto, Gotto Go.... I was given some mushrooms today so I need to find a thimble....

A quilt top, a bag and some hexagon stitching....

When Hubz and I went on holiday I took some blocks to applique.....  over Easter I put the blocks together and sewed the last of the applique....

This is a design by Toni from Red Boots Quilt Company...

I had some white on white fabric which I used for the background and the polar bears... it gives a little bit of texture to the look which I quite like ...

The blue stars was left over fabric from my aeroplane quilt and I only bought a bit of the darker blue border .. the rest was 'scraps'

... and I used some of my felted wool blanket for the warm scarves and caps....

... and some tiny buttons for eyes .....

I will need to buy some backing.....

Of course I have done a bit of handstitching... these are the Christmas hexagons by Michelle....

they are on some white on white snowflake fabric with quilting wadding as stabilizer

I am doing these in redwork (DMC 221) with a little accent of silver (metallic thread is a nightmare to sew with????)

... and I did a shop sample for The Quilters Angel... this is Sleepover bag by Melly McNeice...

.. a bit of a challenge to make because of the size and shape.. but a great learning experience and I love the result.... it does hold better than my picture shows.... 

Such awesome Autumn weather at the moment.. the temperatures are just perfect... last evening these paragliders came over my house and off into the sunset.... what fun ...

... and another picture of my quilt top....

... just because ....

It looks a bit like I am doing advertising... I'm not.... I love my sewing ... but I couldn't do it without the lovely designers and their amazing patterns... and I think it's only fair to acknowledge them

Righto, Gotto Go.... must deliver that bag before I am tempted to keep it...

Bitsa this and bitsa that....

Our little grandie girl Maddie turned 3 on Easter Sunday

- we had a lovely Facetime chat and she opened her books from us and her mum read her a story

... she is into My Little Pony at the moment and delighted with her new books ...

(and at the same time I got a lesson on how to take a screen photo of our chat off the ipad!)

a friend made these lovely little mushrooms.. they look just perfect

I baked a ginger and nut loaf... I love these round tins...

I had never seen them before I came here and mushroom making friend found these at an op shop for me at a princely sum of $2 each.... made in Australia but you don't see them new anymore in the shops...

I cut out hexagons and traced them with some of Michelle's stitcheries... this time I have used scraps of wadding as stabiliser... so I just stitched around the edge to hold it in place...

a Rainbow Lorikeet dropped by for a chat....

and I have been appliquing squares on the border of my Polar Bear Quilt designed by Toni 

(if you don't know Toni's quilts is worth visiting her ... she has bargains every week - $4 a pattern! - I got four of them last week!)

We had Easter lunch at my daughters and she made this lovely cake for dessert...

.. the inside was just as impressive (Red Velvet)

... oh .. and here is the rest of the mushrooms ..... 

that is a child size thimble... these mushrooms are minute

Christine is very clever .... and has excellent eyesight (obviously)

Righto, Gotto Go... suddenly I feel like a snack....

FNSI....

As it was Easter Friday and a public holiday here in Australia I sewed all day whilst Hubz bottled a new brew .... Apple Cider... which I will enjoy in a few weeks...

I started these applique blocks some time ago and this week I started putting all the blocks together....

...till they were all joined....

... then added the borders....

It's busy with those fabric choices, but I think it's fun for a little girl princess...

This pattern is Sweet Dreams and is by Kids Quilts.....  I rediscovered how much I love doing hand applique....

Eldest Grandiegirl Chloe is getting this one.... 

I did do some hand-stitching in the evening... but it is secretive for the moment

Thanks Wendy for hosting us... best wishes for your FIL ...xx

so many commented about my nice tidy kitchen.... this is how it often looks....

yes, that's a hammer on the top .... I needed feet on a bag.. where else does one do it but on the kitchen bench... and then I wanted to make ginger and nut loaf... in my new tins.... and I washed those collectable beer glasses a friend gave me for Hubz new hobby and then made cauliflower soup.... and we keep the fish food there so it is easy to access .... and the dog's pills too.... 

... so my kitchen is not really a tidy place...

Righto, Gotto Go.... tea and a slice of ginger and nut I think.... and have a look at what everyone else did for FNSI

Dresdens......

I recently took part in a swap.... the focus of the gift being a dresden plate... 

my allocated partner likes French General fabrics....

... of course I had to play with quilting.....

... on every blade......

... the back was fun ....

.... and this all became a clock.....

... and a pincushion with an itsy bitsy mini dresden....

... and because it is around Easter a potholder/mug rug in similar fabrics....

These went to Keryn... a new blogger friend of mine.... who has the mooooostt delightful Christmas decorations  and beautiful quilts etc... she also has a "I'm not moving it" sale....  go get tempted.....

Thanks to Peg and Shez for organising this ultra fun swap...

Righto, Gotto Go..... quilting, stitching... coffee....

A Happy Place Kitchen.....

I do love eating food..... and sometimes I even have fun making it... but I do find I need to fill the kitchen with things that make me happy... 

(due to pressures from society it sadly cannot ALWAYS be alcohol)

Back in February I had a birthday and my gift from Shez went missing in the post (tears)

A lovely little replacement parcel arrived from Shez to help happify my kitchen...

Shez does beautiful work and hand made the linen cloths too.... 

... so lovely...

this little groovy gal also makes me happy in the kitchen...

... so does my scissor hanger...

(I wished I'd had one of these when my children were still at home!)

I also have some gecko's keeping me happy in the kitchen...

.. and of course my new beer rug. um, wine rug..... I mean mug rug

I am such a convert for those kitchen towels with the loop over the oven handle...

... happiness in the kitchen... that's what I need....

Righto, Gotto Go... could be spending a bit of time in the kitchen Happy Place today.... thank you so much Shez.... very special

What's your kitchen like???????????