The Friendship Quilt

As a stitcher sometimes you stitch a design that you absolutely fall in love with.  The Friendship Quilt is one of those designs for me.

Every night I look forward to spending some time stitching it.  

I am up to Block 3 of 9.  Every block is capturing my heart.

I think of all the flowers I draw these ones are my favourite.

I can't wait until the quilt is finished so I can reveal it to you.  Do you fall in love with your projects too?

Hugs,

Fee x

Project De-Clutter Continued

Yes that's me - Plumb Tuckered Out after 7 solid hours of cleaning out cupboards.  The good news is that the trailer is full of rubbish, and there are 2 car loads to be donated and taken to the local market.  I was ruthless !  I shocked everyone around me including myself with how harsh I was. 

 

I gave 2 big Chest of Drawers to my son and his partner who are expecting a very special baby to be born in June. 

 

This morning at 9am both of the chests were bursting at the seams with "stuff "and I managed to cull most of it. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself.

 

 

 

Here is the start of my throw out pile. (Minus Miss Grace who just HAD to jump in the empty box)

 

 

Which quickly became this

 

And then this

 

And finally the whole sorry mess !!  What was I thinking keeping all of this stuff?

 

Now to confess this is not the whole house de-cluttered but a good chunk of it is now done.  I feel very tired but very pleased.

 

So now it's time for a lovely hot shower, A nice glass of red and my slippers on so I can sit down and watch the footy tonight with my stitching and a fur baby on my lap.

 

Hugs,

 

Fee x

 

 

 

 

Project De-Clutter

Our house is bursting at the seams.  My middle daughter and her partner and part-time step granddaughter all moved back home so that they can build a house.  We now have 2 houses stored in 1.

It's doing my head in !  Don't get me wrong I love having them at home and it will give them a great start financially when they move into their new home at the end of the year but there is just sooo much stuff !  Everywhere !  There's no spare storage, the place is bursting at the seams and I feel like I am living in chaos.

So tomorrow I have declared de-clutter day !  My oldest daughter is coming up for the day and we are going to tackle cupboards, drawers and wardrobes - Some of which haven't been opened for months - You know what that means don't you - I probably don't need the items stored inside.

So tomorrow is "d" day for some of my possessions.  If I get really brave I may even show you some before and after shots :)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Fee

PS.  It's still raining - YAY !

Blessings

 

I am feeling quite blessed at the moment.  My Dot Com address has been out of action since November and a dear friend's (Jenny of Elefantz)  hubby (Mark) spent some time on it yesterday and fixed it - I am so grateful to him.  He is such a blessing. Thank You just doesn't seem enough.

 

 

 

A period of change is about to be embarked on by my family in the coming months.  I refuse to look at any of it as a negative and instead I am looking at it as an opportunity.  An opportunity for change.  An opportunity for  me to tick some things off my "Life" list including the decision to go to University next year and study nursing - A life long dream of mine.

 

It is going to mean a HUGE financial change to our family as I am the bread winner, but I know somehow we will manage.

 

 

 

I thank god that I have been blessed in the past few weeks with many new designs and I feel that I have been blessed with them for a reason.  2 Brand New Clubs will be launched in the coming weeks including a 10 part stitchery quilt called the Friendship Quilt.  I am so excited by this project.  I am having lots of fun stitching it. 

 

 

We have also made the BIG decision to take Fee's Shabby Shack on the road later this year.  We will have a very small stand at both the Melbourne and Sydney fairs.  The stand will be to promote our Brand New BOM and Programmes as well as our Deal of the Day items with some extra special stock on it's way into our store just for these shows.  How exciting !

 

I hope that I can get to meet many of you whilst at either show.

 

 

 

The final blessing of today is the rain we are currently receiving.  It seems so long since we have had any that the ground is totally parched in our area.  Luckily we have no stock on our land but many around us are having to hand feed and water so the rain is a welcome visitor.

 

Thank you to everyone who entered my little give away yesterday.  As I am a few hours late drawing it I decided to draw 2 winners they are :-

 

Lisa V & Sylvia A.

 

Please contact me ladies with your postal details so that I can send out a Lucey pattern to you right away.

 

Hugs - Fee xx

 

Autumn Reflection

My sewing room has begun to be a bit of a cat magnet in the late afternoon these days as the summer sun turns into autumn sunshine with not much heat in her rays.  The cats want to soak up as much as they can because like us they know it's on it's way out for the season.  The nights have begun to be a bit chilly and on these days I am grateful that we decided to install reverse cycle air conditioning a few months back because now with just the flick of a switch we have warmth.  No more lighting fires, no more dust and no more spiders !

When the weather begins to turn it makes me feel like baking.  Not sure why, maybe it's the need for comfort food.  I decided it had been ages since I had made a Raspberry Shortcake Slice.  So I grabbed my homemade raspberry jam and set to work.

It was divine.  I had forgotten how lovely it is.

Have you begun to think about Easter?  I found these adorable jars in our local Woolworths store - Aren't they lovely?  They would lovely holding just about anything.  I have a yellow one which holds buttons in my sewing room.

Yesterday I released a BRAND NEW pattern Lucious Lucey" named after a lovely friend "Narelle".

It is a 54 1/2" square quilt and is super easy to put together.  

How about we have a give away for a pattern of "Lucious Lucey"?  Simply comment on this post and I'll draw a winner out this time tomorrow.

Life is so unpredictable isn't it, I am such a planner so it's hard for me not to plan ......  Both my hubby and I have very close friends that have faced major health issues in the past year or so, my hubby's dear friend has a very big battle on his hands currently.  

This makes you think about your own mortality .......  Over dinner on date night - Friday night - I asked hubby what he would do with his life if he had no financial concerns, no concerns about the kids who have their own lives, no worries about pleasing or doing what others want you to do ......  We both thought about it a lot and both came up with a clear answer.  It makes you dig down deep into your heart and think about what you truly want - It might surprise you try it .......  You might be shocked about what you find out about yourself.

Hugs,

Fee xx

In A Flurry

There has been a flurry of activity in the studio lately - I truly do not know what has come over me.  But I'm not complaining.  I have enough new designs down on paper to last me quite some time.

Garden Treasures looks lovely in it's new clothes and lots of lovely new ladies have joined me in making it.  It will be on display in Melbourne in June along with my brand new Block of the Month which is currently in production called "The Friendship Quilt" - I can't wait to start showing you the blocks as they are stitched - I am quite proud of this one.

I am stitching it with these threads and using the Printemps range by 3 sisters - It is such a pretty range of fabric.

I think the threads will match in beautifully.

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Hugs - Fee xx

Busy Busy

It's been really busy in the life of Fee lately.  I have had 2 weeks leave for "Let's Get Stitched with time at home before and after the event but the time just seemed to fly by.

I have drawn up a few new designs in that time and have had lot's of time stitching them.

I decided that it was about time I broke into my Cottage Garden Threads stash and start to use some instead of lovingly gazing at it.  I auditioned some threads to go with the little birdy button and decided on "Coconut Ice" (The one on the right).

And I was very brave and actually used a teeny weeny bit of my wool stash too for this one - I have a real problem with actually using the items I buy - Do you too?  

And I have also been using up some of my treasured Theodora Cleave Buttons.  It is nice to use them in a project you love and I just love this Cup of Tea one ......  "Life is like a Cup of Tea ...  It's all in how you make it"  How very true.

Both of these new stitcheries are available NOW over at Fee's Shabby Shack in paper format.  You can also buy the buttons there too.

And I have designed a BRAND NEW child's quilt which is currently in the hands of Australia Post on it's way back from being quilted.  It features a gorgeous little Elephant - As soon as she arrives home and she has had her binding put on I will introduce you.

I have cut quilts for it too - They took me way longer than I thought they would.  Gosh I don't think I could do that day in day out !

I was very proud of myself as I used up all of the left over scraps from making the quilt and turned them into little applique hearts for wheat bags which I will make in the coming weeks.

The remainder of my time off was spent cutting fat quarters

Lots and Lots of Fat Quarters

All ready for a quilt show I am attending locally in April.

So you can see that I kept myself pretty busy in the past few weeks.

I am now working on a BRAND NEW quilt design - I know I said I wasn't designing for awhile but when inspiration hits you just have to go with it !!

Love and Hugs,

Fee xx

My Little Trip

To say that the the trip away to attend the 4th Let's Get Stitched weekend was awesome would be a true understatement.  It was a wonderful time spent with new and old friends.  The memories and bonds formed on these weekends can't be measured.  It is just a wonderful 4 days.  This year I finally got to meet my treasured friend Jenny of Elefantz.  We have been calling and e-mailing for over 5 years and finally got to meet up.  How wonderful !

The weekend was full of lots of yummy things and inspiration.  I haven't stopped drawing or stitching since I have returned home - Part of the reason for this late blog post.

It was great to see some different quilting stores and help the Victorian economy along with a bit of a boost.

I may or may not have purchased a lot of fabric !

We spent a few hours in a gorgeous little town called Sassafrass - What a gorgeous place on top of the Dandenong ranges.

Lots of delicious food was consumed over the 4 days including this flour free orange and almond cake - It was divine !

One of the highlights of the weekend was spending time with my darling Dawn.  It's been a tough past year for Dawn and it was wonderful to give her a hug in person.  

We celebrated our 4th Birthday of Let's Get Stitched on Saturday night with a meal out and a birthday cake.

Sunday was our stitching day and it was wonderful to have 50 ladies there to share the day with us.

Vicki was this year's host and did a wonderful job of looking after us all.

This year I designed a Retreat Bag for the event.  It holds everything from an A4 cutting mat, rotary cutter, 6 1/2" ruler and much much more. The pattern will be launched to shops with my new distributor really soon. (Oops I think I let out a bit of my secret :) )

Until next time,

Hugs,

Fee xx

Let's Get Stitched 2014

 

 

Tomorrow I leave for a 5 day trip to Victoria for "Lets Get Stitched 2014".  I have been busy over the past few days getting some stitching ready to take with me but if it's anything like past years I probably won't get much done.

 

Isn't my little thread holder just the most adorable thing?  It is holding some of my current favourite DMC thread colours that I amusing in Up The Garden Path".  The very talented Barb from Theodora Cleave paints and sells them HERE.

 

I'll be back once I return home to share with you some photo's and memories of our trip.

 

Hugs,

 

Fee xx

Up The Garden Path - Block 3

 

It's the 1st of the month again and time for another block of Up The Garden Path"

 

Here is Block 3.  I hope you enjoy stitching it.  Go to my CRAFTSY store to download it.  Remember it's only free until the next one is released.

 

Hugs,

 

Fee x