Message to Anne

Go to the left hand side and view my complete profile. My email address is there then just email me and I will reply.
My family are wondering why there are no finished projects!!!!
Had to explain we were having tooo much fun.

Back from Loxton

I have had the very best weekend. Early Friday morning in darkness I packed the car and headed off to Loxton which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Adelaide.

I arrived at Almond Grove Crafts around 9.10am.

We were divided into 3 groups.








Our group had Gail for the first day. I was pleased about that as I didn't really know any other ladies and I had chatted to Gail a little on the internet. Gail is such a lovely friendly person and along with the group of girls I was with made me feel welcome right from the start. We were to make a bag designed by Gail. Our group seemed to chat a little too much to get the project finished but we decided that it was about the journey not about finishing the bag. Needless to say we have a little home work.
Here we are at the end of the day with our not quite completed bags. It is really interesting to see all the different styles that came from one pattern.















This is Cheryl with her completed bag and there is a story to that.




















On Saturday we had Leanne we were to make a wall quilt again a lot of talking got in the way needless to say we had a great time.










Here is our group. Anne was a local and came from across the river at Winkie.




















Glenys and Judith.















Robyn and Megan
















Julie and Cheryl















Meredith, Georgette and Sarah















The whole group.

















On Sunday we had Viv Robinson and we were to make a Keepsake basket again we did too much talking and have homework to do.






















This is Tricia who owns Almond Grove she is a lovely lady who provided us with a great place to have the very best weekend. We had the best food her wonderful husband and 2 children catered for our lunches, not to mention the yummy chocolate slices, meringue mushrooms etc etc etc let me just say I am a few kilos heavier with 3 projects to finish. If you are ever in Loxton make sure you visit Almond Grove I guarantee you will not leave without a purchase. Tricia has heaps of great patterns. The walls are covered with the most wonderfully inspirational projects, and need I say heaps of great fabric. Tricia is holding up one of Viv's lovely Christmas wall quilts.






















At the end of Sunday we had Show and Tell this is Leanne with one of her many bags.













My photos of Leanne are not that good as she would have to be the fastest moving person I have met, for this photo we asked her to stand still so we could take it. I have about 20 photos of the back of her head as I'm sure she moves faster than the camera shutter.

















This is Gail with one of her fantastic quilts.


















Here is Leanne modeling Gail's backpack.













You cannot visit Loxton without seeing the beautiful river Murray.
In the coming weeks I will finish off my bag,wall quilt and keepsake basket and let you see them.

Winter colds

I haven't been very productive this week. Along with 1/2 the population of Adelaide I have a cold, to make matters worse I have been on holidays. I have spent several days just feeling O.K. one minute and wanting to lay down the next. The only sewing I have done is finishing off my PIF gift which should be ready to go soon. I know this is a little anal but with me it is either now or I would be doing them on the 364th night. I made this bag earlier in the year and gave it to a friend for her birthday. Today I have to pack and organize all that I am taking to Loxton for my weekend away.

I hate winter

I could write a million reasons why I hate winter but this is one. Does this look like a sad face? In the summer our doors are never closed and our dogs roam freely inside and out, but in winter the doors are closed to keep the heat in. This is Molly on the wrong side of the door.









I have been busy making my PIF gifts so I cannot show them. I thought I would show a pin cushion I made recently. It is rather large however I know I will never loose it. You may have noticed I am a fan of Bronwyn Hayes's women(this is another one). I fill my pin cushions with sheep's fleece which helps grease the pins. We live quite close to a warehouse that handles sheep fleece. I head off there with an empty shopping bag when I need to fill a pin cushion. The men there are always obliging, as I don't expect top of the range fleece they generally give me the amount I need.


























I have also included a photo of a table runner I am working on. Both ends will look like a basket full of flowers, it is a long way from being finished.

365 Challenge

I have decided to keep a photo journal of the year which will go with my 365 challenge quilt. I had originally put a photo in the quilt
but after some thought have decided not to add any more. I think if I
have to wash the quilt(not that I intend to) the photos will
disappear. I had made some labels the same way and they did not wash
well. The black ink is permanent but the colour ink isn't. I have
started printing off photos of important days eg. My sons 18th
birthday, my daughters 21, my nieces wedding. I have made up a special
album which I will store with the quilt for the future. The top photo is the front cover.

The next photos are the inside cover, I have covered up some of my personal info for obvious reasons.

I have not completed the back cover I'm still thinking about that.

Pass it Forward

I found this on Jenny's blog this morning and thought it sounded like fun.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week... LOL... but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

However I do have something in mind to make.

A great day sewing

A few weeks back I was at the Animal Welfare League's op shop and saw this great basket. It was a bargain at $5.00. It is one that is made by the Royal Society for the blind so it is really sturdy. I then thought I would do some stitcheries and make a lining. Today I made the linings. Here are the stitcheries they are by Bronwyn Hayes.


















They all became pockets.




















































The ladies became the side flaps.


















And this is the completed basket, with lots of inside pockets.

Lovely Friday off

Another wet cold day. The good thing is I have a day off and I have a project I have been stitching for a while and it is ready to put together so Bernie the Bernina is just waiting to race into action. I thought I would put some photos on, of a blanket I recently completed. It is a Jenny McWhinney pattern and I did a day work shop with her. You can visit Jenny's site here.

I even made the cute little butterflies

Wet Sundays

It is a cold wet Sunday I was going to take some photos of my latest WIP however the light is not good so will do it another day. I walked down to the lake at the back of our house and took this photo. It makes the weather look much better than it is. I love the pelicans , they can be quite aggressive and at times they can really bother the people who fish in the lake. I love it when they come into land and skim on to the surface of the water and then they flap their huge wings to take off again.






I made this table runner a few months ago it is paper pieced and I really enjoyed making it. The pattern was from Australian Patchwork & Stitching. In the magazine it was made with Xmas fabrics. It was such a portable project and I could piece it even when I was tired at the end of a working day. I find some things difficult to to sew at the end of a work day.