About Me

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Married to Tony mother to 2 children Lucas 23, Gemma 26 & her boyfriend Sean. Carer for 2 crazy Jack Russells. I'm dyslexic so excuse any mistakes. The Stitching Room is where I spend my time playing with Clarice (my camera) and Bernie (my sewing machine). Come on in and see what I'm up to.

Sunday 24 June 2007

Messenger bird with tag


Just thought I would show the bird along with the tag I have made. It is for my friend who owns Hettie's Patch. My local quilt shop. The messenger bird is a great present as they do not take long to put together. I now have to make one for my friend Joanne who gave me the crochet lesson.

Gemma is home

My beautiful daughter Gemma came home on Friday. She has been in England,Spain & America for the last 3 months. I am so lucky, look what she brought home for me. A lovely bundle of fabric from America. I will keep these fabrics for my weekend in Loxton with Leanne from Leanne's House and Gail from Gail Pan Designs.






















She also bought me this great book. There are so many patterns in it that I want to make. The hard decision is which one to try first.

















We had Bradley's 21st birthday party last night. Bradley is our neighbour and Gemma's best friend it was a great way for her to catch up with everybody on her return. Tony, Lucas and I came home around midnight I heard Gemma stumble in, in the wee hours. This is Gemma now I wonder how long Jet lag takes to get over when you party all night.

Saturday 23 June 2007

Messenger Bird

Yesterday I picked up a pattern from my local quilting shop it was by Melly and Me. As always I have to get started on things straight away. The problem with that was, there was a crochet component to the pattern. I can knit but I have never crocheted anything, not even a granny square. So the quest was on to find someone to teach me how to crochet. It was 4.30pm so I headed around the corner to a neighbor who I knew was crafty hoping she might crochet. No luck she was sitting knitting when I called. When I got home Lucas's friend Nick was here so I asked him could his mum crochet. His reply was she doesn't play much sport at all! He thought I was talking about croquet. We had tea and I thought I would ring a friend who I thought could crochet no luck there she could also knit, but not crochet. It was now 7.30pm I rang another friend who I knew didn't knit and she said she could crochet. There must be a thing with knitting and crocheting. She was dropping her daughter to a friends at 8.00pm so she said she would call by and give me a quick lesson.

This way my first attempt.



This was my second attempt.



Then finally third time I was happy. Complete with Messenger Bird.




It has been a beautiful day here today a really cold morning but a lovely clear day. I crocheted the third nest while sitting watching Lucas play football. They won which is always a good thing.

Friday 22 June 2007

Quick post


Two things came from America today, my beautiful daughter come home today and a parcel from Hope my swap partner from Melly & Me. I love the fabrics Hope sent me and the lovely little strawberry. I will post more about my daughter later it is so nice to have her home.

Monday 18 June 2007

Exciting Post


It is so nice to go out to the letter box and get something other than bills. Look what was waiting for me today I left a comment on Gail's Blog and look what I won. Head on over to her blog and have a look she has some lovely patterns. Gail is teaching at Almond Grove Craft in Loxton at the end of July and I am going for the weekend. I am really looking forward to it, I have even arrange to have a day off work which is something I rarely do. How clever of Gail to give away a Xmas pattern in June, it gives me plenty of time to finish it before December.

Sunday 17 June 2007

Day trip to Moonta

Today my DH and I drove to Moonta. It is a 2 hour trip in the car and it is where I grew up. My mother, sister and her family still live there. My mother is elderly and is in the hospital at the moment. These photos are of Moonta Bay, it is a lovely place. My father was a professional fisherman because of this I spent a lot of time at the beach. These photos are taken from the cliffs that look out over the bay. My mothers house is very close to these cliffs. This afternoon was quite overcast and really cold with the wind blowing in from the sea.






































I did manage to pop into the quilt shop. Ali who owns the shop has an amazing amount of patterns. I had seen a table runner made from this book a few months ago and had really loved it(another thing to add to the list of things to make). You can see the table runner on the front cover it has a basket shape at both ends with flowers in the middle.

Saturday 16 June 2007

Bow Bag



I have had quite a good day sewing today. My DH sometimes has to work through the night, last night was one of those nights. I hate it as the family has to be as quiet as possible for him to get a few hours sleep. Weekends are really bad as my sewing area is near the children's bedrooms and they like to sleep in. Thankfully Bernie the Bernina isn't too noisy. I made myself a bag, not that I need another bag but I keep telling myself I'm looking for the perfect design. I really like this pattern I have not made it before and it was easy to follow. The pattern is by Monica Poole. All it needs is a button but I finished it too late to get one.

I love the Empress Woo fabrics.

I am not sure if these photos do the fabric justice I had to take them inside as it was getting dark outside(another reason I hate winter).









This is my DS cutting out the base for me. He is such a great help, you would never think it is winter. Unlike his mother he does not feel the cold.

Tuesday 12 June 2007

The tale of two pin cushions



Let me tell you the tale of two pin cushions. One day a few months ago I came across a pattern for a pin cushion while blogging. I thought it looked really cute It must have been a Saturday morning so I quickly rushed to my favorite quilt shop and got some fabric. I thought I will be able to sew the paper pieces while watching my son play football. So this I did. I then pieced it together and stuffed and it turned out like this.




I was happy with it but it didn't look quite like the one I had seen. I emailed May at Abyquilts and she kindly emailed me back. So I tried again looking more closely at the pattern. This one turned out right.












The pattern can be found here I think it is amazing that 15 two inch square can turn out so differently.

Monday 11 June 2007

365 Day Challenge


Back again it is cold out but the sun is shining so I thought I would take some photos of my 365 day challenge seen here at Leanne's House. I have finished 2 full strips and a few square short of the 3rd. I have added some stitcheries.

Pages for my Journal


I was up early this morning. My son will be back from Brown Beach later so there will be competition for the computer. He will be cold, tied and grumpy I expect. Four boys sleeping in a station wagon doesn't make for too much sleep. That is, if they haven't been lost in the sand dunes or swept out to sea. I try not to think about what could happen to them too much. Here are some pics of the pages for my journal I quickly did this morning. I intend to put every thing I make in it as I tend to give things away so it's a good way of remembering(at my age things leave my brain quite easily).



Page 1






Back of page 1
























Page 2



Back of page 2

Sunday 10 June 2007

Journaling for the artistically challenged


I have had a great morning, apart from wondering about the safety of my son who has gone camping with some mates I have been sewing. Some month ago I watched a DVD by Leanne of Leanne's House about journaling. I really liked the idea and thought I would have a go. Sadly my writing is something from junior primary and to put it straight I'm not that artistic. So I decided to make a journal that I could use with the help of the computer. I bought a 4 ring folder and came up with a design for the back, front etc. I used a pattern for the stitchery from Leanne as I have the pattern for her "Journey of a Quilter" quilt. The text I used the computer and the back came from me. Here it is, it turned out really well to my surprise I can now print the pages on the computer. But that will be my next post.


The Front Cover



The Back Cover



The inside with pocket



The front and back

Saturday 9 June 2007

Pocket and Floss


Let me introduce Pocket and Floss. They are a pattern from Melly and Me
I have made quite a few of them and given them away as present. I just love them. Floss has a cute dress and pantaloons and Pocket has a shirt and overalls.

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Still learning



I thought I would show some of my past sewing projects. This is the bag I take to my stitching morning. I took the pattern from a shopping bag and the stitchery if from Bronwyn Hayes.


The other side.
It has lots of pockets inside a solid bottom and I can fit heaps in it.







Monday 4 June 2007

Adding a Picture

Roses from my garden and my Lollie doll pattern from Rosalie Quinlan.

















A better picture of Lollie

First Post

I have been reading blogs for quite a while and really enjoy them. I have been reluctant to start my own as for one I am dyslexic so the written word does not come easy to me. I spell so bad that spell check even struggles. I wasn't a very good student because of this my use of grammar etc. is also not that good. The one thing I brought from my school days was the ability to sew. This I have always been able to do, for that I would like to thank my year 11 teacher Fiona Anderson (nee Hall). She started me on this journey. So if any one other than my family reads this bear with me and my poor use of words and grammar and I will share my sewing with you.