The Wonders of an Eye Spy Quilt

Many years ago I made Amy (now 10) an eye spy quilt which she still has and loves. It is much loved and very well washed but still nice and bright.

I had a little visitor here for a sleep over last night who has discovered the wonders of an eye spy quilt. Young Tommy (18 month old grandson) was very entertaining with his ooh's and aah's and recognition of some of the animals in particular the frogs. He loves the quilt and quickly snuggled down for a wonderful 12 hour sleep !!!!

This morning he once again played with the quilt and said "snuggle" as he and Amy played with it.

So I think that it is time for me to raid my stash and make Tommy his very own"snuggle" eye spy quilt ready for his second birthday.



The beautiful reaction and bonding that he has made with it since seeing it last night is so lovely. It makes the act of "making and giving" so much nicer when you know that something that you have made is so well loved and treasured.

I will be sure to put plenty of animals in his as he just adores ducks and frogs.

The sun is shining here this morning but I intend on having a quite day as the lurgy is slowly creeping up on me.

HUGS,

Advent Swap Blog

Hop on over to the Advent Swap Blog if you have joined. This will be the new home of the swap. I hope that I have included everyone on the list of swappers. If you find that you are not on the list please e-mail me. Both Jo and I will be blogging over there with ideas and bits and pieces.

It is raining here again today and is quite bleak but not too cold which is good news.

I still have a few more Charm Packs left ON Sale for just $10.00 per charm pack over at my shop

Tonight will be spent in front of the fire stitching - It is that sort of night.

Hugs,

How Do You Store Your Projects ?

How do you store your ongoing projects? I store mine in little folders in this basket.

There are 7 in here at the moment. Each one contains everything that I need for each project including the pattern, threads etc.

This is Gail Pan's BOM - When I first started it I stitched all of the blocks ready for hand stitching when the patterns are released. I also store the embroidery threads in here as well.

I find that this system works well for smaller projects which need hand work. I like to hand stitch of an evening so it is easy just to grab a project folder and stitch away.

So how do you store your ongoing projects?

And whilst you are surfing around take a look at Jeanette's give away at Serendipity Design to celebrate her 50th post.

Have a fantastic day !!

Hugs,

Productive Day

Today was quite a productive day. All of the planting I wanted to get done was achieved and even did some weeding in the vegie patch which was a bonus. I also managed to cut out and begin to sew up a duplicate project from yesterday. This time I am using "Hope" which is one of the new fabrics in my store. I just love this fabric it is so soft and pretty.

I am doing my best to avoid the flu in my household at the moment both Amy and Rod have it. Amy made me chuckle last night when she stated that we would all be doomed if mum gets it........... She says that it is a compliment so I am looking at it that way - Nevertheless I DO NOT want their bug and have threatened to quarantine them in the garage.

I have a few specials "IN STORE" at the moment there are some Charm Packs available for just $10.00 each - Be Quick - Stocks are limited. Click on the Specials Button for current specials.

Hugs,

The Shortest Day

Today is the shortest day of the year so I was up before sunrise and headed off to the market.

I found this gorgeous hand made wheel barrow - Made from recycled timbers and iron. I have some perfect plants ready to be potted up to live inside. I just had to have it.

Whilst there I also purchased some Watsonia bulbs. I remember seeing Watsonia on someone's blog awhile ago and loved them - The old lady who sold them tells me that there are White, Pinks and Burgundy in the bags that I have. I will plant these tomorrow.

And from the same stall I purchased some Tayberry Bushes. They are longer in shape than raspberries and bigger but apparently taste similar? I will have to get Rod to build me a trellis to plant them on - Hey Cheryl - I can hear you laughing from here.......... He will try anyway.

I have been busy this weekend making up my item for the Paper Bag Swap. My partner Beth sent me this lovely rose fabric to make her something from, along with some Pink RicRac, Green DMC, Cream Homespun and a few buttons. I decided that if I was going to make something from all of these bits that I would design something from scratch so I did. Here is a sneak peek. I am pretty pleased with the result and hope that Beth likes it.

Here it is all wrapped up and ready to be posted tomorrow.

I have also finished my two "Believe" blocks this weekend. I am looking forward to putting these together - Not too far away from finishing now.

This is sweet little Maddie who is 3 1/2 months old now and weighs 11 pound 3 ounces. She came to Grandma's for a visit yesterday and posed for this shot.

Tomorrow is a day off - I hope to get a few hours of sewing in but you know about the best laid plans and all of that ......... fingers crossed anyway.

Happenings

Hello - How are you? Thanks for stopping by. And a HUGE thank you for all of the warm wishes and messages regarding the launch of Mothers Cupboard On-Line Store. It means so much to me - So thankyou........

Here are Blocks 3, 4 & 5 of Jenny's Shabby BOM (The link is on my side bar) - I am really enjoying this project and it looks as though Jenny has many more gorgeous blocks to release - Next release is the 1st July.

Winter time usually sees me cooking comfort foods for dinner - At least once a week I put a casserole in the slow cooker before I go to work and come home to a ready cooked meal - But other nights I have to make a little more effort :) This is last nights creation. I usually call these Chicken Wellingtons. I use cheese and bacon as a filling but there was no bacon to be found at our house last night so these ones were filled with home made tomato chutney and cheese. They are so easy to make - I use 1/2 chicken breast, chutney & cheese and a piece of pastry - Lay the pastry out, put the chicken breast down, smear with chutney and sprinkle with cheese - Wrap into a little parcel and pierce the top. Bake for around 40 minutes at 180 degrees celcius. They are delicious.

This is tonight's dinner which was a Quiche (On the left) and an Egg & Bacon Pie. Hubby loves Quiche and the kids love Egg & Bacon Pie so I had to cook both. The upside is that Quiche will be for lunch tomorrow at work.

I have lots of projects on the go at the moment as we all usually do - I did a bit of work on this one today it is Nanny Sharon's Picnic Quilt from Threadbare Creations. I am using Nature's Chorus from April Cornell which is going to look great with a cream homepsun, Moda's Howard Marcus Collection for a cause Roses and Moda Mottled Pink. I have sewn together 10 blocks and have another 10 to go for the body of the quilt. The pattern is available in my store if anyone would like to make one - Rose writes an extremely easy to follow pattern and makes everything look and sound easy.

Today was my day off from my day job but boy we managed to get a lot done. Did I tell you that I bought myself an old ute? Maybe not......... Well I bought a litle Red Toyota Hilux Ute named "Terry". Terry's role will be to help me gather items for my garden and animals - well back to today ...... Terry and I (and hubby) took a little trip to collect Hay for the animals and to go to the nursery for fruit trees to add to our orchard. We bought Plum and Nectarine Trees ( a few different varieties) and also some strawberry runners and some gooseberry plants (I have been trying to buy some of these for ages and ages) The rest of the day was spent planting all of our new purchases and trying to tidy the veggie patch a little.

A hot spa was in order for the end of the day but I must admit I am still a little sore.

Bye for now from my little part of the world.

Mothers Cupboard - On Line Store - OPEN !!

The day has come for me to finally open the doors on the beginning of my dream. When you visit please remember that it is a work in progress and if you find any glitches I would love to hear about them. I still have quite a few boxes of stock in storage with lots of gifts and vintage items especially that will need to go into the shop in the coming weeks. But I will keep you updated here on new stock arrivals.

Before I open the doors I really want to thank all of those ladies who gave me advice and in particular - Pauline, Bonnie & Rose. Your words of wisdom and experiences have been important to me and I appreciate them so very much.

Well off you go and have a browse :- HERE

I am off now to drive hubby to Launceston so that he can watch his beloved Hawks play - I intend to wander around launceston for a few hours before we start the trek home - I am packing my stitching !!

Please enjoy your wander around Mothers Cupboard.

HUGS,

Almost There - Tomorrow ..........

Well it is raining here again today which seems to be the norm lately. I did manage to spend an hour or so weeding this morning before it started so that was nice. At least I feel like I have started the war against the weeds.

Look at the items that Beth sent me in the paper bag swap. I have to create something for her from the above items. I have a few ideas and will make a start later today. I love the colours that she has chosen.

I have done a little sewing each night and have finally caught up with some of the BOM's - This is last months Gail Pan design - I am currently working on this months.

And I am also currently working on a "secret" project from a very talented designer. I am absolutely loving it too. It is a really enjoyable project and I look forward to picking it up each time I get the chance.

I am almost there with the on-line web store. It has been such a long process which I am sure could have been made easier but we learn by our mistakes - LOL.

Grand Opening is tomorrow so do not forget to check back in for the link and the fantastic give away to celebrate. The bricks and mortar store is getting it's final coat of paint as we speak so it is only a few weeks away from completion now. YEAH !!!

It will still need tweeking but I am sure that it will grow as we go.

Hugs for now,

Rainy Day Tales

The rain has subsided here this morning but it looks like it is not too far away. It is very very wet and our drains have overflowed again but it is probably the best drop of rain that we have had since moving here 3 years ago. Last night I made some sausage rolls for a quick and easy dinner.

They were very nice - I added some tomato relish that I made in the summer which gave them a nice flavour.

I did roll the sleeves up yesterday and got stuck into fixing up my little studio. It took me 6 hours !!!! I cleaned out the built in robe on one side of the room and made it into a temporary storage area for all of the shop stock.

The room looks so much tidier.

As does my desk and filing system.

Yes I can now see the carpet !!

And the shelves look so neat (For now)

I am so very pleased with having it tidy and did manage to trace out a few stitcheries for the BOM's that I am behind on and also did some cutting on a new long term project that I am working on.

Today I would like to get a little more done as well as 1 coat of paint on the shop - We will see how I go !!

Thanks you to all of the swappers in the Advent swap - We have 56 of you so far. You should have all received a welcome e-mail. If you haven't please e-mail me again as it means that I do not have your details. Jo and I are going to give the swap it's own blog in the next week or two.

Hugs for now.....

It's Raining..... It's Pouring.......

And yes the "old man" did snore last night -LOL !!! (I love that nursery rhyme)

Seriously it is raining here again today for the 4th day in a row..... Goodness, our pond in our bottom paddock has water in it for only the second time since we have lived here. I am sure that the farmers are very very pleased but I think that we need a little break from it now.

I am not sure if it is the rain making me feel blue this week or the horrible mess everything around me is in at the moment? The shop still needs two coats of paint and then the floor coverings laid. Until then all of the stock that I have been busy gathering is making my studio look like a store room.

See what I mean ??????

I have quite a few projects started and can't even find them.......

It is a long weekend here so I am thinking that today should be spent trying to get a little order into this room but to be quite honest I am not really sure where to start and even where I am going to put things for the interim?

I suppose the best thing would just be to roll up the sleeves and make a start - So that's what i am going to do - Hopefully some time over the weekend I can show you some pics of a tidier organised chaos.........

Hugs,