Holiday Time Views and postcards ....

Hubz and I went off on a road trip to Tasmania for a couple of weeks ..... 1500km by car then on the ferry overnight and drive around Tasmania, back on the ferry and northwards 1500km..... it was great....

Before I went away I sent off a postcard to Selina....

The postcard exchange was hosted by Sheila, and I love these little swaps .. so keep an eye on Sheila's blog if you fancy doing the occasional postcard... it's a fun collection from all over the world.  This stitchery is from a little extra design on a pattern by Natalie Lymer.... gotta love little fat bluebirds.....

There is so much to show you from our trip so I will do it in looooong picture posts.... these are some of our views....

Sunset whilst on the Ferry

Early morning clouds greet us when we arrived in Tasmania

 the little lake where we stopped for breakfast 

Brady's lookout

Farmland - North East Tassie

so many lovely pictures on the way

Red rocks at Bicheno

Blowhole...

The Hazards

near Coles Bay

 East Coast

Coles Bay

farmland

View from Mount Wellington (outside Hobart)

Salmon Ponds

Cradle Mountain

Huntsman Lake

... and when I got back this is the postcard from Selina waiting for me.... perfect Spring themed picture....

Thank you so much for the postcard Selina and thanks to Sheila for coordinating the swap

Righto, Gotto Go.... so many pictures to sort through

Hoo won?

This is the winning banner made by Chriss from our club - all the attending members had a vote and personally I found it very hard to choose .... 

well done Chriss...they have the loveliest expressions

Now I sit with a lovely group of ladies (I am informed that they are indeed ladies!) ... not all of us made a banner but these are ours......

Christine's "Bad Hair Day"

 Bev M's "In The Dark"

 Lynn's "Canungra"

 Bev B's "Night Owl"

My "Mantra"

It's a bit cryptic so here is the verse on the label
(one has it's eyes closed, one has no ears and one has it's beak tied)

"Don't listen to everyone's flaws

Don't listen to everything you're told

Don't speak if it's not kind

Always look for the good in people

Not everything is truth

Only speak words of kindness"

(unknown)

It's amazing how very different they all were....

Righto, Gotta Go, apologies in advance... not sure I will get to answering comments this time - sorry

A Hoot of a Day.....

I want to show you my new Glambag....

Thank you so much Teresa... I just love it .... have already used it and received compliments

Yesterday we had our Quilt Group AGM and challenge.... last year those of us who wanted to participate were given two squares of fabric (about 6" square) to make owls... the fabric could be used in only 2 owls and we had to use a minimum of 90% of the fabric and we had a specific size banner to make. 

There is an amazing assortment..... have you got a favourite? ... I'll do another post and show you the one that won and also some close ups of the ones made by the ladies (well they aren't really ladies) that boost me up each week....

Flying ... flying.....

I worked hard on doing all the applique this week....

then got out fabric for the edges.....

... just strips in different sizes so quite quick to put together....

since finishing that my personal consultant (aka Hubz) suggested the stripes down the sides to give it a more finished look.. I agreed... so that is done and I am pinning the quilt together this arvo....

The little parts were a bit fiddly on the machine... I used embroidery thread which is a little thicker and I quite like the glossy look.... and I did the wing struts with the triple stitch ....

meanwhile I am tracing out applique for a new quilt.... I had some background for the aeroplanes left over and some white damask so that is taken care of.... I will use wool scraps for the hats and scarves..... I think it will be lovely....

some stitching to take with me on our Tassie holiday

Baby It's Cold Outside was a lovely freebie from Toni during the Winter Olympics.... if you missed out it is available from her store.... with loads of other lovelies... I'm going to do the Flower Fairies next I think ....

Righto, Gotto Go... off to make some ham and mushroom wine sauce for the pasta ....

More on aeroplane applique.....

My aeroplanes are still on their baking paper..... 

I have now made my lengths of sky but I keep them on the baking paper whilst I set out how I want them to go.....

you can see here that taken off the baking paper the pieces still stick to each other where they have overlapped... this means I can keep my whole aeroplane in one piece......

... and place it on my background and move it around until is is just right.... and then press with the iron to hold firm in place prior to stitching .....

... here is a picture of them all together on the background - all pressed.... next job to sew them... I am going to do machine buttonhole....

 

This quilt is called Up and Away and is by Kids Quilts 

I have used scraps for the planes and the background was in my stash

... and I have another girlie quilt block finished....

Righto, Gotto Go ......  machine buttonhole stitching to do...... so fun....