quilting, the queen and hot dogs

in hobart there has been quite a bit of sewing going on i believe !
i am heading down there in a few weeks for a visit, i will have camera with me, so will post about what i find. at the moment i can only rely on what i am sent, so will share with you.

paula has been busy and finished her spools quilt, all hand pieced and then quilted by hand with perle 8 cotton. i know it now has a different binding, so i will zoom the camera in on it when i am down there.

caught on camera on a previous visit some time ago playing with a bird feeder as a crown atop my head ! the bird feeder is now in this garden, in hobart, belonging to my friend !

lots of birds come to visit here ! look at the lovely autumn colours !
winter will be with us officially in a couple of days, but the days have turned very brisk already! my cousin has a new pup, a jack russell / ????? (i know, but i could not spell) cross and could not find her recently in the house !

where the big logs for the fire usually sit, there was chloe, prime position, keeping very warm !

and during this month here at my home, my friends and visitors have been raising funds for the cancer council 'biggest morning tea' promotion. we have had a little 'things for sale' basket at all our gatherings. it is not too late, i am off now to make some of my scrappy dilly bags, everyone wanted them !

the circles of life

i have a problem with my heating here at my place in melbourne ! it has got quite chilly and it reminds me of the days before central heating !
so i am using some of my quilts to keep me warm !
here are a couple of views of 'camelot' on my bed, it is fun because the look changes depending on the way i fling it on the bed when making it.

and also interesting when sitting up in bed having 'a nice cup of tea'

it's mothers day tomorrow, so i hope many mums get a cup of tea in the morning and have a warm quilt to cheer them also

and some new bits purchased yesterday while out with the girls




















and these fabrics were sent to hobart for paula and barb

a layer cake
and
a charm pack












and these bright cheery socks will keep some feet warm soon

such fun to knit
with this wool

a post for april

it is the middle of april already and there has not been an update here for sometime, but that does not mean that nothing has been happening! lots of sewing has been going on in both states !
barb has been sewing up a 'cafe' almost with layer cakes, and some sewing for me, and working on her hexagons, and some sewing for me, also her spools and some sewing for me.

here are two in the process
and this was some work to help me out with some of my things in the cupboard that needed to be dealt with

this alphabet has been cross stitched from the fairytales mango publication, available in our etsy store and made into a quilt for little lola

and this is barb's spool top being hand pieced, i will have to tell her to take the photos square on, so i can play with them, and yes she did do some more for me, made me some night dresses, but i will spare you a glimpse of me in either of those, the nighties are lovely, but i am not jennifer hawkins ! ok !

paula too has been sewing for me and also catching up on some of her own

a giant pincushion, they are so good when machine stitching and hand piecing

and her spools !


and i also have been quite busy

and me, lizzie, these are my spools, but i need to cut up some more white, i have lots of blue bits ready to go.
plus i have been cutting blue and green tumbler shapes for my next scrappy quilt, i have heaps, and heaps of these !

and i will show you in the next post some other bits that have been filling my days.
see you soon !

at this table

at this table in my home in melbourne, over many years, as well as hosting many wonderful meals shared by family and friends, it has also been the spot where creativity has taken place.

recently, when the girls were over from hobart, we spent many hours round the table

making some paper boxes, using magazine pages, as well as hand piecing and some machine sewing

most recently we were plaiting fabric strips and making bags of all shapes and sizes
then there is this, each piece has been drawn from a template, then cut out with the scissors, then handpieced, hand quilted and now the binding is done

there are spots and dots, fruit and florals, stripes and little chirpy birds and, and, and

and every colour of the rainbow, but it has worked and i am pleased with this finish !

and i have just had a phone call from the hobart girls, they have been making me some things to wear !
SPOILT !!!! I AM !!!!

happy birthday to barb tomorrow, march 15th !

getting together

i spent christmas in hobart and there were lots of days where we got together with friends and family and just for the family members i will publish some of those photos!

paula, marcus, lizzie and barb on christmas day 2010

nicholas and anthony shaw with marcus

that pantry door is always open!

the world would be a much better place if there were more
wendy's in this world, she isn't family, but we would adopt
her! she is famous for her random acts of kindness! and the 
ironing basket is nearly always empty!!!

and one of the duo of 'grumpy old men' who did a great job on christmas day! is that a crumb on his face!

the home grown raspberries going on the pav!

our kangaroo paw christmas tree

and our little bit of england!
we had another christmas tree

stitched by our dear sharon years ago as a sample for my shop
but now is apart of the living area all year round along with the fond memories of her

and the navity scene on the old organ
along with photos of those we loved

hobart cottage was also ready for
christmas, my friend deb had added
some christmas cheer

barb and paula are coming to melbourne this week for some more 'getting together'!
we will be doing lots of sewing and making things and i will be back to show you and share our time together.

january reporting !

after being away for christmas i have returned to my place and all of a sudden the end of january is in sight !
we had a very enjoyable time in hobart, tasmania !

the sydney to hobart yacht race was a part of the hobart scene!

lots of sailors in town

the local birds were all happy















and we went and enjoyed high tea at the revolving restaurant at wrest point, i had been before at night, but never during the day and the views of the familiar surroundings were good to see

we did eat some of the goodies, but were busy looking at the views

mt wellington stands over hobart with varying moods

looking down on sandy bay

the yatch club and city view
















a happy time was had by us all !

my comfy bed, over the top is a cross stitch i did 24 years ago when the twins were born, there is another one in another bedroom










i certainly had plenty of sleep and a good rest, lovely fresh air and one of my favourite spots to lay my head

someone had a birthday and we enjoyed more of the local grown delicious raspberries on the homemade sponge, happy birthday paula and thanks for making the cake deb

some sewing was done





















and now at home i have finished this quilt that i started in hobart in 2009

i hand pieced the squares, then it sat in the cupboard waiting to be quilted, so off to be machine quilted and now the binding is done and i have slept under this quilt












off to the beach again for a week at phillip island, you can see some other adventures in hobart over at my other blog here.