Alphabet Bears, EPP, quilting and Easter bunnies....

I have recently found that I am enamoured with alphabet bears.  For some reason they are appealing to me.... perhaps because there is another grandiebaby on the way and I am feeling nanaclucky?????

A friend of mine (Lyn with no blog) has been making this one

... she is a clever clogs and generates her own design from bears she found on line HERE.....

... aren't they ultra sweet.....

I've been trying to persuade her to do a set and sell them!!!  

(thank you Lyn for letting me take pictures and show them off!!)

Anyway... I have been stitching alphabet bears too ... they are going slowly at the moment as I have decided to sew all the bears and then go back and do the other things in the block

but I did get the borders on these blocks .... I think they are working out just how I wanted it to look

these are from Michelles set of Alphabet Bears ...
and will be part of Terry's snowballs and nine patch scrappy challenge

This is some quilting I did for The Quilters Angel recently
log cabin style blocks so I did sweeping feathers in the middle and then ziggy zaggy lines around the edge

it is a small sample for a lovely kit called Apple Bloom and all done in beautiful Tilda fabrics

..... pretty pretty....

I'm very lucky they let me play with their lovely fabrics

meanwhile there is secret sewing happening....

an EPP challenge.. hmmmmmm

Righto... Gotto Go... I had to reverse sew bunny ears (several times I might add - the trouble is if you decide to make a bundle at once and make a mistake... they are ALL wrong).... so now they are waiting patiently to be stuffed !!! sigh

(Rosalie Quinlan's Easter bunnies)

What a Day was had.....

Lets Get Stitched... an annual "Nutter" stitching event was held in Brisbane this year

4 Nutter designers (Joy, Vicki, Dawn and Fee) and 3 invited designers (Teresa, Michell and Cheryl) all made a huge effort to put together some lovely patterns and started packs for us

As it was hosted in Brisbane Joy was the one to coordinate it all and a really fun day was had.  Most people had spent the weekend and got up to all sorts of nonsense.... hmmmm but that is their business isn't it?????

This is a group picture of everyone... you can see it was quite a crowd

Here are the Nutters who organised it all....

(Vicki, Joy, Dawn and Fee).. I hadn't met any of them before so I was a tad excited too.... they are all so lovely!!!! 

... these are the wonderful assortment of patterns we were given....  It was Teresa's designing debut... what a great job she did with her Sewing Binder....

I didn't get a lot of photo's.... somehow I was flittering around (but I have been stealing borrowing some.  

These are some of the ladies at the table.... Cheryll, Jeanette, Michelle, Shez and Sue.  (I have been bloggy friends with them all for ages but never met Cheryll, Shez and Sue before... so it was wonderful) There were so many others I met too

Michelle gave me a lovely birthday parcel..... such sweet sentimental goodies....

.... and Shez brought me these pretty doilies as she knows I love them..... and I think she can't help herself giving things????

On the drive home we were treated to this lovely sunset..... I always love how every day the sky is different....

I have always loved Shez's headers where she puts her friends and commented once that it was on my bucket list to make the header.... aren't I lucky as this was there quick smart this week!!!

Shez...you made my day....xx

oh... oh... and I know you are bursting to see what I did at the stitching day....

Not bad for a full day????

lucky I took a glue stick as I didn't even thread a needle!!!

 Righto, Gotto Go..... recovering.....

FNWF....

It's been one of those weeks when I have been a bit reflective about my friends... both cyber and those I get to meet up with... some regularly ... some not so regularly....

This week I used up the last of the scrappy strips to make a backing for my sampler...

 I have a couple of reds to choose from for the binding.... I am leaning towards the one on the top right to bring out the reds .... (though in the picture there doesnt seem a big difference)

I am in another Spring/Easter postcard swap and so I made up this one.... which will be going to Puerto Rico.... 

The background is an old damaged doily which I cut the end off and appliqued a wool rabbit (designed by Michelle from her book Briarside Lane)

I'm pleased with how this has come out... 

I did loads of little scribble quilting so it is like board.... hard to photograph but it took about an hour to do... this picture shows close up... you can't really see the fabric anymore... 

Cheryll hosted FNWF this week... well ... she didn't really as she wasn't there at home but she still let us all gather together cyberly.....

It was one of those weeks I was lucky enough to be with friends in body as well....

For FNWF I went to sewing group at The Quilters Angel ... on the way there the full moon was on it's way up.... pretty evening...

I have started making some of Rosalie Quinlans Easter Bunnies... so I sewed faces and tummies... (there are a few faces without bodies too!)

There is other stitching I did but that's secret stuff..... so no peeks at all....

This afternoon I had an unexpected message from a friend who was in town... I hadn't seen her for about 25 years so we caught up... always rather fun to gather up some of those hidden memories...

Righto, Gotto Go.... I'm off to meet a whole bunch of bloggers at Lets Get Stitched in Brisbane tomorrow.... so many that I have been online friends with for ages and very much looking forward so meeting them and making some new memories .... I wonder how much sewing I will do??????

The Sampler.....

The full sampler is 12 1/2" wide by 52"

the top half......

... the bottom half...

the first block was needleturn... lots of tiny little pieces....

then a row of little 1/2" hexie flowers.....

some stitching and words

I changed the wording to reflect more about what I feel about sewing....

I love the little house with the garden

alphabet and numbers aswell

and a chain of hexies

I think my favourite is this blue cross stitch with daisies and leaves

... but the baskets are cute too - little baskets - 3" squares

and finally a medallion of hexies with a garland of daisies

This pattern is called Times Gone By and is by Helen Stubbings from hugs 'n kisses

I was kindly passed on the pattern from Marina... and now it is going to Jeanette.... I hope you enjoy making it as much as I have....

  

Righto, Gotto Go... my alphabet bears are feeling neglected!!

The weekend that was.....

The last block of my sampler is done now.....

..... that satin stitch seemed to take me ages.... I did a line of backstitch for and filled in the leaves with two detached chain stitches instead 

(it is a sampler so I wanted to show different things I could do!!!)

... in addition I managed to finish off a Christmas Item... this is a stitchery I did last year sometime and just needed to make it up .... just needed borders and that little bit of hand quilting around the edge

It is from Gail Pan's book "Simply Christmas" and this is my One Christmas Item for February

... when I was at the sewing weekend I forgot to change the stitch on my machine and sewed into metal.... I've managed to break needles before but not bend like this.... I was quite impressed with my ability to make fishing hooks....

... this weekend I did the first step for my apron and cut off the back and sleeves.... 

..... I have kept the label... (but I took off what size it said it was!!!! - some things should stay personal don't you think?)

I live in a small town 20km from a larger city .... a few years ago when there was floods our little creek grew and grew and grew and thus damaged the side rails rather badly... we have had this mess for a while now....

... but now our wonderful new bridge is being built next to the old broken one.....

... impressive .... I think we'll be safe from the flood waters now....  I am going to enjoy watching the process of building this up ....

(can you see the cloud making a funny face over the bridge?)

Righto, Gotto Go.... it's almost tipple time....