So Who Stole the Weekend?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to lounge around in front of the warm fire on a cold winter's day just like my darling Dreamer?

"Jack" had a day out at the show today.  He had a fantastic day again in his last show as a kitten winning a Best In Show in all 3 Judging Rings.  One of the judges "Kerrith" was also a quilter - A lovely lady who I hope is popping by my blog to say Hi.

This is where he planted himself as soon as he got home and gave himself a big wash.  A much deserved wash I must say - He is a lovely boy and Dreamer was very glad to have him back home.  I have a little secret though - Dreamer will be going to the next show. 

I haven't broken the news to him yet as it will involve a little bit of dieting for a few weeks.  I am hoping that Jack will enjoy the shows more if he has Dreamer with him.  If not then he will be retired at the tender age of 1 - LOL.  I am sure I will get no arguements from him - The warm fire will win every time if he had a choice.

To keep my post a bit crafty here are a few "beady" bits that the grandbabies and I made last weekend.

Some nice little scissor keeps

To be used as gifts for a few birthdays in the coming months.

And to show you that I haven't been completely slacking off here is a cuddly chenille quilt that I made earlier in the week.

Josh and his family are all moved in now and the house is alive with a gorgeous 11 month old keeping us all entertained.  Thanks for all of the well wishes and prayers.  He is in high spirits today so that is wonderful.

Oh and by the way if you find out who stole my weekend away in a flash let me know :)  I seemed to have blinked and it disappeared.

Hugs - Fee XX

Feeling Pretty Humble Today .........

Whilst I walk this journey of life some things just touch my heart in a way I can't explain.  I have a wonderful family and lots of lovely friends. 

Some of my closest friends are people that I met in wonderful "blogland" and my life would not be the same without them.  Some blogland friends are friends on the other end of an e-mail but that does not diminish the friendship that can exist between 2 people via e-mail. 

One of the blogs that I have visited for a long time is Illene's.  Illene lost her lovely daughter last year and in her honour I named one of my designs after her called "Lorraine's Flowers" a tablerunner, which is in this month's Patchwork & Stitching Magazine.  I have also sent the original table runner to Illene as a keepsake.

Illene blessed me yesterday with a photograph of her 1st table runner that she has completed and the beginnings of her second.  She is making these for her family members.

This is what touched my heart in a way I can't describe - I feel so very humble.

Thank you so much for sharing with me Illene.

Hugs - Fee XXX

Another Cold Winter's Day

Today has been another cold wintery day here in Brighton.  A perfect day for a nice pot of soup.

It took no time at all to get a pot bubbling away on the stove.  The smell throughout the house is just divine on a chilly day.

Of course it always helps when you have an able kitchen assistant.

Who loves to wash up.

The peel and pumpkin centres do not go to waste either as the hens just love it.

Do you remember when our eggs hatched earlier in the year?  We only had 1 surviving chick.

And here she is - Meet "Henny Penny"  Who is now the biggest hen we have.  I was so pleased that we ended up with a hen - As much as I love roosters I really didn't want one......

This afternoon Amy, Tom, Maddie and I had some fun beading.



We made lots of things.  They all loved threading the beads onto the string.  I will show you some of our finishes next time.  Did you have a productive weekend?

Also, Thanks so much for all of your well wishes for Josh.  His little family move in with us next Saturday so we are going to be very busy preparing for that.  He has quite a long road to travel yet but we will all be by his side.  We are off to have him fitted for his wheelchair in the morning and he has asked me to make him a cushion for it - I will have to be careful not to make it too "pretty" LOL......

Have a wonderful week.

Hugs - Fee XXX

Crafting with a 2YO

I had some little visitors last night for a little while whilst their mother shopped in peace.  Maddie was a little teary so I decided that we would craft together.

Maddie loves hair clips so we decided to make some to add to her collection

And also a lavender bag for her as she loves to smell it

We stitched and glued and came up with some new clips for her

She loved each new one more than the last - Or so it seemed - LOL

She took her job of "Quality Controller" very seriously

and she had no problems modelling the different styles for me

I did manage to hide one to be put away in my "present" box for gift giving later in the year.

Then I decided to make her a heat pack as she tends to borrow her mum's quite often.



We had a lovely time crafting together and making memories.  I will have to come up with some more ideas for next time.

Hugs - Fee XX

How has your weekend been?  It has been very chilly here just 10 degrees celcius for most of the day even though the winter sun has been peeking through.

We have been very busy around the house.  My 19 year old son Josh has been quite sick for the past couple of months and is moving back home.  He needs to go into a wheel chair and our house is wheel chair "friendly".  We have been shuffling rooms around and having a massive clean out and de-clutter in readiness.

I have wondered once or twice over the past 3 days how I have come to accumulate so much stuff. 

I have had to be very ruthless and am quite proud of myself for letting go of some things I have kept for so long.  At times like this you just do what you have to do. 

It will be so nice to have him back home in our care and I will try to fatten him up a bit in the process.

We have also had a few visits over the long weekend from these 2 little monkey's.  (Tom & Maddie)  They walk through the front door of our home once ariving and run for cuddles - It is just so lovely !!  I can't wait until Mia and Isabelle do the same. 

Having 4 grandchildren is such a blessing and I love spending time with them all.  Sometimes I wish they could stay so young and innocent.  But I know that they have to grow up and face the world - I just pray that it is an easy road they have to travel.

Each evening I have been able to sneak a little time for stitching.

I am progressing with my BOM and am now onto Block 2 !!

I was also able to embellish some little singlets for Isabelle.  Sam bought them a few weeks ago and I finally got around to prettying them up for her.

Very simple but very cute

So that is a round up of our long weekend.  How did you spend yours? 

Before I go I just wanted to send my love and best wishes to our New Zealand friends who are once again facing more devastation.  It is so unbelieveable what you have had to go through yet again.

Hugs,

Fee XXXX

Falling in Love Again .........

I can't say that phrase without humming the song in my head......  I have been fortunate enough to have fallen in love a number of times in my life.  There are different types of love but all make your heart skip that extra beat.

I fell in love with all 4 of my babies the minute they were born :-

I fell in love with all 4 of my grandchilren the first time I cradled them in my arms :-

I fell in love with my gorgeous husband the first time we embraced :-

And last night I experienced a bit of fabric love with the delivery of this :-

and this :-

Not the same sort of love as the great loves of my life as previosuly mentioned but my heart did skip just a few beats I am sure.  I welcomed into my home A bundle of Fig Tree Butterscotch and Rose for my new BOM to be released in November.  A Bundle of Bonnie & Camille's "Ruby" for a new quilt design and a bundle of "Ruby" in Flannel "Just Because".

I have to admit to buying bundles of pre-packaged fabric and being unable to bring myself to open them for some time - They look so nice all bundle up and neatly wrapped.  This was the first time I had ever dismantled a bundle instantly.

I have had my new BOM Quilt drawn up for some time and have been waiting for just the right fabric to come along so I wasted no time in cutting up the fat quarters.

And started sewing blocks together

You know that you have fallen in love when you can't stop putting blocks together - I am afraid that I have fallen head over heels in love with Butterscotch & Rose.

Did you notice that my mojo has returned?  On Monday I went looking for him and dismantled my studio in the process.  Would you believe that he was hiding under my huge pile of UFO's?  I suppose he thought he would never be found there !!

Well in the process it was decided that I should move out of my tiny spare bedroom and perform a take over of our unused formal dining room.

So with help from Hubby, Sam & Amy we spent the day moving me in.

The room is much bigger and looks out over our front garden.

I still have quite a bit to move in but the essentials are there

There is room for a work table in the centre of the room when I have friends over to play

And room for some of the bolts I am currently using

So as you can see I have been quite busy this week and am really looking forward to the weekend so that I can finish moving in.

And maybe I will get some more time to play.

Hugs,

Fee XXX