Riley's Ramblings

Hexies... ( a sewing post)

2012-01-19T20:07:00.003+11:00

In the past I had stated I would not "be sucked into the hexie vortex"........yes those were my words. Words which Chooky told Sue Daley - the queen of paper piecing and hexies!
So my words have come back to bite me.
Sue Daley is going to be the guest tutor for our Girls Day In The Country retreat in March, and I am going to assume that we will be doing some form of paper piecing. Oh dear LOL.
It's not that I don't like paper piecing or hexagons, I just didn't want to start yet another project or something else that would get me hooked LOL.
Anyway, in preparation for the upcoming retreat, you might remember back here when we met in Bathurst, that Chooky got me started on a hexagon flower.

And I am pleased to say that I finished it!!!

So I have had some practice before the retreat so I can at least pretend I know what I am supposed to be doing!

This flower is a bit lonely though.....................

Hugs,
Anita

Slack blogger......again

2011-12-31T19:30:00.001+11:00

Oh dear - it has been over a month since I did a blog post! But life has been good, work is very busy which means I don't accomplish much in my down time LOL
But I have done some sewing unfortunately not all of it has been photographed! I did remember to take a pic of this cute wall hanging I made for Diana for a swap

and I made another one of these tablerunners (same colours) also for Diana

Our little sewing group also went out for lunch for the end of the year and Laurel brought with her her first finished quilt for her first grandchild due early next year. Very cute colours and with owls!

I had a lovely Christmas at home, just a quiet one with my family and my parents. Craig had to work in the morning but was home just after 2pm so that wasn't too bad. We usually have a traditional Roast Turkey dinner but I made these delicious treats for dessert.
Berry trifle:

and a Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Cheesecake:

Very indulgent!!!! - only a veeerrry small slice needed!

After Christmas we went down to Canberra to visit my brother and his family for a few days. It is not often that most of my family is together so it was nice. Tim came with us and my parents were there and my aunty & uncle from the Gold Coast popped in for a night as well.

We had a great time together, eating, drinking coffee, shopping, eating, drinking coffee, shopping, drinking coffee....you get the idea!!
We also did a bit of sight seeing.....

And now, here it is, the end of another year.
It is New Years Eve here and I am sitting watching a good movie......no partying for me tonight.
I hope you all have a safe new year and that you all have a fantastic year in 2012!!!

Hugs,
Anita
xxx

Road Trip!!!

2011-11-17T21:09:00.001+11:00

Last Saturday Sandy & I headed off to Bathurst to do some shopping and meet some bloggers.
Where else to shop in Bathurst but Anni Down's shop - The Home Patch!!
Where else to meet up with fellow quilting bloggers - The Home Patch!!

Me with Alison (non blogger), Chookyblue and Kate-Show & Tell

And one with Sandy - Patchwork Angel

Deb & Khris were doing a Punchneedle class with Anni so we gatecrashed the classroom to say hello!

The Home Patch is such a beautiful shop - with so much fabric and other goodies in every nook and cranny - I am sure you can't take it all in in one visit!

And outside is just as lovely - it is a really old building that has such character..

After some serious shopping by us all we headed into town to Crepes Royale - for an extremely delicious lunch!
Funny......I didn't get any pics of the main course..........just dessert LOL

Now, for those who know me, know that i have said I will not start doing Hexagons/ Paper Piecing. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't like it, it is because it is just another thing that I don't want to start and not finish LOL
When I was in Brisbane for the retreat last month one of the patchwork shops gave us a sample pack of hexagons in our bags. So I took this to show Chookyblue, for a joke as she introduced me to Sue Daley (queen of paper piecing) at the Craft show as someone who refuse to do hexies LOL so of course she had to show me how to put them together.
So everyone, here is the proof - Anita doing Hexies!!

But just so you know - I haven't been "sucked into the hexie vortex"...........well not yet anyway hehe!!

If you want to see some more pics of our fantastic day go visit the other girl's blogs...........they of course had their posts up on their blogs within a day or 2 of going. Me - well it took me almost a week !!
Thanks girls for a great day - it is amazing how the internet brings us all together. I was so glad we got to meet, love how we meet for the first time and we get on like old friends, like we have known each other for ever. Can't wait until next time!!!!

Hugs,
Anita
xx

Sewing day...

2011-11-09T20:59:00.000+11:00

Last Friday we had sewing group again and here is what we were working on...

Glenda was making this beautiful quilt for a gift...

Mum was working on another block from the FQ shop block of the month ( from a couple of years ago LOL)

And I stitched the binding on my Jely Roll Quilt from retreat...

And played with this cute stitchery..

I love these Fridays.........the 4 hours a fortnight I get to do what I enjoy..........this little stitchery says it all!

More from retreat....

2011-11-08T20:52:00.000+11:00

Of course at retreat there is lots of eating.....

Some random pics...

Sharon and her new toy!

Lois's beautiful Jelly Roll quilt..

After we left Mount Alford we spent a night in Ipswich and spent some time patchwork shop shopping!!

I had such a great time this week with all my internet friends. Some I have met before, others it was the first time meeting but I count all these girls as close friends, despite the physical distance of where we live.

Back - Lois, Khristina, Sharon, Diana & SharonNZ
Middle - me and Amanda
Front - Lynda and Floss
Thanks girls for a great week!

xxx

Catching up....

2011-11-07T20:35:00.002+11:00

Catching up on an overdue blog post! 2 weeks after returning from Hawaii I headed off to Brisbane with Lois to meet up with our great friends from our yahoo group - CRAFT.
After meeting up in Ipswich we headed out to Mount Alford Conference Centre for a fabulous 4 days. If ever you are after somewhere 2 hours from Brisbane for a retreat or even a family get together or get away - this place is fantastic!

There was lots of sewing......

Some of us made some tablerunners....
Lois made this one.....

Lynda's....

Mine....

Khristina's.....

Here are all the tablerunners.....

Khris, mine & Diana's Jelly Roll Quilts
( Bliss, Kansas Wildflowers & Martinique)

More to come!!!!

Road trip......anyone up for a meet up???

2011-11-03T21:12:00.005+11:00

Next Saturday the 12th November, Sandy & I are going on a road trip to Bathurst to meet up with the Chookster!
First up will be a visit to Anni's delightful shop, The Home Patch.

...........then off to have lunch and catch up.

Soo.....feel free to join us - the more the merrier!!!
Would love to catch up with some of you that I know and those that I haven't met in person!
Just let myself or Chookyblue know.

xxx

2011-11-03T20:55:00.001+11:00

Farewell Hawaii....

2011-10-29T21:54:00.003+11:00

Even the view from the runway on the plane was great!!

Farewell Hawaii - we had a fantastic holiday - and we will definitely be back!!

Day 10 - our last day....

2011-10-29T21:51:00.004+11:00

So it is our last day...........
When we opened the curtains to our Lanai this morning this was the view....

It was raining a bit and there was the rainbow!

We decided to head to the beach for the morning for our last swim in the beautiful Waikiki waters....

Back to the hotel for some lunch to try to fit everything in our suitcases then we walked down to Waikiki for the last time....

We wandered along the beach again and did some last minute shopping then headed to Dukes for dinner again. We really enjoyed it here on our first night so thought we would enjoy it here again on our last night! It is such a lovely location, the staff are sooooo friendly and the food is pretty good too!

I need some more Aloha!! - Day 9 - Polynesian Cultural Centre

2011-10-29T21:40:00.003+11:00

So today we headed over to the other side of the island to the Polynesian Cultural Centre. This centre is run by the Brigham Young University and most of the workers there are students from the university. Many of them come from other island in Polynesia (eg Samoa, Philippines etc) and are offered full scholarships at the university in exchange for them working at the Centre. Some of them work as tour guides, some in the many shows and displays, some as just hosts, and some in the service area. These young staff were fantastic and so friendly and helpful. They could not do enough for you.

So the coach picked us up from the hotel and we headed over to the other side of the island - here are some pics of the views.

We went on a guided tour this was the host of our small group - Jethro the Filipino!!

Here are some random pics from throughout the day.

In the evening we went to the Luau for dinner - there were hundreds of people here but it ran like a well oiled machine! Just like this whole place - everything was so well organised. There was hawaiian entertainment while we had our dinner too.

AFter dinner we went to the night show which is called Ha - Breath of Life - this was fantastic! Unfortunately they don not allow photography so you will just have to take my word for it LOL
We really enjoyed this day - a very long day though - we were picked up at 10am and got dropped back to the hotel about 10.30 but it was worth it.

Day 8

2011-10-11T22:18:00.002+11:00

Sorry for the break in posting but I have had a week away at our Yahoo group retreat! Yeah yeah I know, another holiday , but that is it now........well for a while LOL
Post for that on its way, but lets keep going with Hawaii!! Gee I miss it....

So today we were up reasonable early and off to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkelling. I have never snorkelled before but I really enjoyed it! Hanauma bay is a beautiful location and we had a great time here.
The view from the top of the hill....

The view down on the beach....

This is all we have from the bay as we don't have a waterproof camera so you will just have to imagine all the fish we saw!!!
On the way back we hopped off the bus at Denny's for lunch - and were very good and had dipping veggies and chopped fruit with our chicken burgers....they were options if you didn't want fries - what a great idea! The waitress thought we were nuts though she couldn't believe we didn't what fries.........."honey...one can never have enough fraaahs!!!" *imagine very strong american accent*LOL

Back to the hotel for a clean up and a bit of a rest then we walked down to Waikiki for some more shopping and dinner.
Here are some pics from the walk down to Waikiki.....
The torch lighter in the Hilton Hawaiian Village -

Gardens at the Hilton -

Fort De Russy Military museum -

Sun starting to set -

Red Ginger Plant -

The only quilt store I visited! Not really my style but interesting to see the work that goes into the designs.

Before heading back to the hotel we shared a Nachos with Pulled POrk - very delish! We don't normally eat pork but this was really nice.

Day 7

2011-10-02T10:00:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was an exhausting day so we changed our plans around a bit for today, we were going to go to Hanauma bay to snorkel but as that required an early start we mixed things up a bit.
We headed down to Denny's in Waikiki for a very delicious breakfast then on to Waikiki beach for a swim. We had a nice time here just lazing in the sun and enjoying the beautiful water.

We were not far from Lulus so we went there for lunch and shared the fish tacos - delicious!! and what a great place to sit and watch the view!

The view...

Back to the hotel for a clean up and bit of down time then headed on the bus to downtown Honolulu.

We then headed back to Ala Moana Mall(after we found the right bus stop for a bus going in the right direction LOL), had a bit more of a wander around the mall, then had dinner in Romanos Macaroni Grill - which by the way does not serve macaroni LOL

Some other pics from the day....

Our hotel -

A beautiful hotel in Waikiki - the Moana Surfrider...

A shop we saw that had tshirts and things with funny sayings on them....

Day 6 - around the island

2011-10-01T21:56:00.003+10:00

We bussed it again today, first top was the Dole Pineapple Plantation - yes a big tourist trip - but beautiful gardens. We just went in and had a look around the gardens and had a dole whip. We found it quite sweet but the pineapple was delicious!!

Next stop was Haliewa town and here we got off the bus a bit too early and ended up walking a fair way to the main town bit. It was quite a bit hotter here than down in Waikiki but not unbearable. Had a little wander round in the shops then had some lunch in Kua Aina Sandwich shop - a very delicious teryaki chicken sandwich.

Back on the bus to Lanikea beach to see the turtles - this was fantastic!! There were 2 huge turtles on the beach and we also saw another one swimming in the surf.

Back on the bus then got off at Waimea Bay We stayed here for a couple of hours and had a swim in the gorgeous water and a bit of a sunbake. We really liked it here and would love to spend a day here.

Back on the bus to try to find Sunset Beach. Again we got off the bus too early LOL, and ended up walking a fair way. AFter getting home and looking at the map we realised we were at the Bonzai pipeline and then walked all the way up to Sunset Beach. We sat at the pipeline for a while and watched some surfers then walked up the beach and then on the path that went through the houses just behind the beach. Some great houses there right on the beach that we would love to rent for a couple of weeks!

We eventually found Sunset beach ( or we think it was) and it was just as the sun was starting to move down so the view was stunning

We didn't want to get caught in the dark so we kept walking until we found Ted's Bakery - we shared a Lemon Chicken plate and a Chocolate Haupia pie and a malasada. All were delicious and were glad that we shared the meal! Sorry no pics was a bit tired by this stage LOL
We did see a bit more of the top part of the island past Turtle Bay on the bus back before it got dark. Took about 1.5 hours to get back but it was good to see a little bit more of the island, even if it was dark LOL

Day 5 - Pearl Harbour

2011-09-30T20:53:00.003+10:00

Up bright and early yet again and on the bus to Pearl Harbour.

What a beautiful place and very well kept. We had a look around the museum and displays, really well done.

You then go and watch a short movie about the attack on Pearl Harbour and then go on a boat over to the Arizona Memorial, which is a platform directly over the USS Arizona which sunk and many bodies were never retrieved.

The thing that you notice first thing off the boat is the smell of oil, apparently the boat still leaks oil as it had millions of gallons of oil in it when it was attacked. You can see in these pics the reflection of the oil in the water.

It is quite a humbling experience to be there.

The round thing sticking up out of the water is actually one of the gun turrets from the ship.

When we came back we had a look around the grounds and all the memorials.

The best thing they had there was that some of the remaining veterans often come down and volunteer and sit so you can chat to them. They have a printed sheet about what they were doing when the attack happened and their life after. It was really cool to talk to them, they are getting on in years and I guess it won't be too long before there are none left.

We then headed over on the shuttle to Ford Island to the Aviation Museum. There are some other things you can see there like another boat and a submarine but Craig is right into planes so I let him go to the Aviation museum LOL. I thought going on a guided tour would be quicker and more interesting than Craig taking his time looking at every display and reading every little plaque but I was wrong! I asked the lady at the desk how long the tour took and was told about an hour but 2 1/4 hours later....!!!! I was very bored by then LOL - even Craig was yawning! The guide was very good though, a young university student who is an aviation enthusiast, had a great knowledge.

Some bullet holes in the glass in one of the hangars...

We had a bit of lunch there then headed back to the hotel.
We decided to walk down to the Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island and have a swim later in the afternoon. What a lovely spot!
View from our balcony...

The view looking back to our hotel and Waikiki....

And as the sun started going down we headed over to the wall where everyone was gathering waiting for the sunset - what a view!
Sunset reflecting off Diamond Head...

Back to the hotel again to clean up then headed to the Ala Moana Shopping Centre (again LOL) to grab some dinner in the food court then around the back of the centre to find Walmart and have a browse and some shopping. Picked up a beautiful lei there for $5 !! $20 at the airport LOL
The Hawaiian look LOL.... Lei from Walmart & Frangipani from the tree!

Hawaii - day 4

2011-09-27T10:00:00.000+10:00

So it is Sunday in Honolulu and we researched a local church last night to go to this morning but we set the alarm clock wrong and we slept in!!

So we headed off to the beach down in front of our hotel and the Hilton next door. As we were walking down we could hear this beautiful singing and there on the beach in front of the Hilton was this hawaiian choir singing - it was just beautiful. So we plonked on the beach there and it turns out they have a Church service on the beach each sunday. As we were getting settled all went quiet and then they started singing the US national anthem and then we realised it was September 11. The most amazing thing was all the people hanging out on the beach and swimming in the water all stopped, faced the flagpole, hands on their hearts and joined in the national anthem. It was really goosebump stuff!!Sorry we didn't take the camera down with us!
After a very refreshing swim - the water is just the right temperature there - we headed back to the hotel, got cleaned up then went to the Bar & Grill in the hotel for lunch, these were some pics of the back deck of the hotel and the restaurant.

The hotel - we were on the 18th floor - about 6 levels from the top.

A beautiful setting for lunch....

This is looking into the lobby from the rear, all open and lets the lovely breeze in -

This is the view from the lobby of the rear hotel deck .......full of gorgeous gardens and water features...............

This is the front of the hotel..........

We then headed to the huuuuuge Ala Moana Shopping Centre for yet some more retail therapy! They have the biggest food court we have ever seen there,

this is just a very small part of it..............but we decided to have dinner at Ruby Tuesday's - yum!

Part 2

2011-09-26T20:49:00.000+10:00

So after the hike we went across the road to the Farmers Market in the Community College. Was great to see some local produce there some of the food looked delicious. We bought a fresh pineapple as the pineapples there were sooooo sweet and juicy compared to the ones we have here.

There were some amazing plants there too, we were going to get some to enjoy in our hotel room but we went to get something to eat first and then forgot!

After the market we bussed it back to our hotel with our Crusty Baguette and cheese to have a bit of a rest and clean up.

Later in the afternoon we headed down to Waikiki do do some shopping and some dinner. We did a fair bit of shopping here too, best buy of the day was all the Quiksilver and RipCurl Tshirts for $20 - normal price - we are getting severely ripped off here! The guy that served me in the Quiksilver shop could not believe that we pay $45 for these Tshirts, now he understands why the Aussies spend up big there LOL

For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory.........we had many recommendations for this place and it did not disappoint!! There is usually a wait to get in so we put our name down, collected our pager and went down the street to keep shopping!
The menu was huge, very hard to decide what to eat. We shared this entree, fried macaroni cheese! I would have to say this was probably the most non diet food I ate in the whole trip LOL.........but it was delicious!! I could have just eaten this but we had already ordered our meals. I didn't get a picture of mine but it was huge.........beef/onions/mushrooms/with mash and gravy.......I don't even think I ate half of it LOL

This was our view from the outdoor eating area of the restaurant - Macys!!

This was Craig's meal, it said Parmesan & herb chicken with a lemon sauce - it was 3 huge schnitzels!! He ate about half LOL

Of course you couldn't go to the Cheesecake Factory without having cheesecake but we just got 2 slices to take back to the hotel, I think we ate them over the next couple of days! Sorry no photos but there were very yummy!
When we left this was part of the queue to put their name on the list to wait!! very popular place.

Just down the road was this Ferrari shop with all things Ferrari - Craig went in there while I went in Macys LOL

We then bussed it back to our hotel, what an exhausting day!!!

Hawaii - day 3

2011-09-22T21:41:00.002+10:00

Up bright and early this morning as we were off to do the Diamond Head hike - a steep hike up the Diamond Head crater!
So here we are at the entrance to the crater all geared up with our new running shoes that we bought yesterday LOL.

I was a bit worried about doing this as it is quite steep and lots of stairs but I have been doing some stair runs in my training the last few weeks to get my lungs a bit fitter.
This was the view from the car park, you can't see it in the pic but from where we were standing we could see the track zigzagging up the side of the mountain and it was a bit daunting.

Here are some photos taken on the way up....

So we zig zagged up the side of the crater then we hit these 74 stairs!! And let me tell you these were no where near as bad as the next set of stairs!

At the top of the stairs there was a tunnel you went through and I thought "oh a reprieve from the stairs" but the tunnel was at an incline as well.

Then at the end of the tunnel you stop to catch up breath and this is what greets you......

99 extremely steep narrow steps!!! We waited a bit then headed up, unfortunately I couldn't do it all in one go and had to stop about 3/4 of the way up, but just enough to catch my breath as it was very narrow and there were lots of people there. So we got to the top and into the bunker then there was the next staircase...........a spiral metal staircase!!!

Up we go again!!
At the top you come out into this concrete bunker where you have to crawl through a small opening to get out to the lookout.

But the views........oh so worth the effort!!!

It was sooo worth it. Here is a diagram I found on the net of the hike.

So we had all this done by 10am so headed back down to near the bus stop to the farmers market across the road at the community college. Will do a part 2 to this day.

Hawaii - Day 2

2011-09-21T20:15:00.002+10:00

This day was SHOPPING day!!!
We headed out to the Waikele outlet centre on a coach shuttle, took about an hour and a half to get there after it did the rounds of all the pick up points in Waikiki then the drive out to Waikele.

This was a great centre with lots of great shops. Across the road there was another complex with Kmart, Old Navy, Sport Authority and Lowes ( a home improvement store).
So we headed over there first and checked out Kmart, pretty much the same standard as ours, just on a bigger scale. I then went into the Sports Authority while Craig checked out Office Max. I thought I had hit the jackpot in the Sport store. It was like our Rebel sports on steroids!!! But at half the price of Rebel. We bought a ton of brand name fitness clothes at minimum 50% less than what we pay here. And then some things were on special as well! We got a load of clothes for Trainer Tim and a few things for us as well. We also got Tim and us a pair each of Nike Free sport shoes for $90 each - they are $160 here. We really boosted the US economy at this store LOL

We noticed on our walk over to this centre that there was a Chili's restaurant, so we just had to go there for lunch. We used to have Chili's here but they closed down and we all really liked their food. We took some photos to show the boys that the decor was the same as it used to be here, right down to the tiled tables! And the nachos were just as delicious as ever!!

After lunch we headed over to the main outlet centre and did a bit more damage over there - Sketchers shoes was first stop, then there was Guess, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Coach........and much much more............. LOL

We got back to our hotel about 7.30pm so was a looong day shopping.

On Friday night in our hotel they have a dinner and Hawaiian entertainment show but we were too late getting back to go to that, but we were able to watch a bit of the entertainment from the main bar area of the restaurant. That was really good and then later the Hilton next door put on a fireworks show on the beach so everyone heads out to the back deck of the hotel to watch that. It was such a great atmosphere, everyone was enjoying themselves and just kicking back.

Headed up to bed after dinner as we had an early morning the next day to do the Diamond Head Hike.

Hawaii - day 1

2011-09-21T07:48:00.001+10:00

Well my plan of doing a blog each night of our holiday didn't happen LOL. We were on the go all day and usually back at the hotel too late for me to put anything down that would make any sense !!
These posts might be pretty detailed as I am putting this all down so I remember it all myself!
So here it all is.

We had a pretty good flight over, I managed to sleep for a couple of hours thanks to the travel sickness tablets!
We arrived in sunny Honolulu at about 7.45 am and got to our hotel about 9am. We had private condo rental in a hotel so we were able to check into our room straight away which was nice.

So we dumped our luggage and after checking out the great room and fantastic view headed out to find some breakfast. IHOP across the street, was pretty good. Stopped at an infamous ABC store on the way back to hotel to stock up some groceries and snacks. We were getting pretty sleepy by now so set the alarm and allowed ourselves a 2 hour nap.

We then headed down the beach into Waikiki, this was probably about 20 minutes,

then had a lovely dinner in Dukes on the beach. The food was delicious and we had a great table with a view out to the ocean.

Walked back on the beach all the way back to our hotel and then crashed.

Sewing Bag - almost finished!

2011-09-07T23:04:00.002+10:00

Well I have almost finished the bag, but the base is a real pain to sew in so didn't have the time to devote to that the last few days. I have sewed a little bit to hold it in place and stuck a velcro patch on the back to hold it in place a bit more LOL until I can get the time to fix it properly.
But here it is, ready to be packed with my stitching to take on the plane.

You can see here the base piece is not sewn in properly but at least it holds its shape...

And I have put this cute little owl charm on the zip.....from Khris ( I think it was meant to go on my phone but never did LOL)

Well, tomorrow we are heading to Hawaii for 10 nights, am pretty well packed and ready to go........just need to put in some last minute things. I am going for a long walk in the morning, then will head to the airport mid afternoon.
Stay tuned for updates from warm Hawaii!!!

Hugs,
Anita

Bits of sewing

2011-09-05T05:09:00.000+10:00

Since I have last blogged I have had a couple of sewing days with the girls. One day I was very unfocussed and couldn't decide which project to do so these are the ones I dabbled with. A tablerunner, a bag and a sewing bag...

The next time I finished this tablerunner for a gift.

I also pieced the panels for this gorgeous sewing bag from Anni Downs new book.

I have almost finished the bag, just have to finish hand sewing some of the lining. I am hoping to get it finished to take some stitching with me on the plane.
Here is a pic of Glenda & Maria my sewing buddies (and Aqua buddies!!) with their latest creations.
Glenda made a chenille quilt for her youngest grandson...

and Maria was crocheting an edging on some cuddly baby blankets.

The monster quilt

2011-09-04T22:09:00.003+10:00

Back in July some of my bloggy friends were off to Nundle for a quilting retreat with Kerry at Cottage on the Hill. I had to skip this year as we have been saving up for our trip to Hawaii. So the weekend they went I was feeling a bit down so I did some sewing myself and I put my quilt on my bed from last years retreat. Now only a very small part of the binding has been sewn down but I decided to put it on the bed anyway to cheer myself up LOL

I call it the monster quilt as it is huge! We only have a double bed, maybe I should have told Kerry that when I said I wanted a quilt for my bed LOL

I'll be back at retreat next year girls!!!!

xxx

2011-09-04T22:01:00.001+10:00

Oh gee, it has been so long since I blogged, blogger has changed !!! Will have to try to see how this new set up works.
I have been a very slack blogger - just read my last post and it was in June, and I promised some pics of our weekend in the city.
So I will try to catch up LOL

We stayed in Darling Harbour, where we went to the craft show. We did tons of walking, was really good and the weather was fantastic for the middle of winter. So on the Saturday we walked up to The Rocks and wandered around the markets. Was a great atmosphere there. There were these great food stalls and this was a huge pot of meatballs simmering!

Then there was the cupcake display!!

This row of buildings are old ships stores that are now restaurants.

This not a very good pic of me LOL, I was actually sick most of the weekend with a shocking head cold that got worse as the weekend progressed. We sat for a while here in the sun.

On the Sunday we headed on the ferry over to Watsons Bay for a lovey seafood lunch. We had a good walk here too. It was a glorious day on the harbour and it was great to see so many families out enjoying time together.

So that was our weekend waaaay back in June!!
I have a few more posts coming from the sewing that I have been doing.
I am now on 3 weeks holidays from work and on Thursday this week we are heading to Hawaii!!! Sooo looking forward to that!!!

Another great weekend! Part 3

2011-06-27T17:21:00.000+10:00

Of course I couldn't go to the show without some purchases!!

Necessities from The Home Patch.....

Some great bag handles, another charm pack LOL, some handpainted buttons....

And I just couldn't resist this lovely bundle of fabric...

The rest of the weekend was spent with Craig enjoying our gorgeous city...........pics to come......

Anita

Another great weekend! Part 2

2011-06-27T17:14:00.000+10:00

Of course the Quilt show wouldn't have been the same without a meetup of bloggers!! It was great to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones.

Sandy, Me, Lynda, Alison, Maree , Alison

Sylvia, Patricia, Donna.

Cardygirl, Chookyblue and I with Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched.

And what goes with good friends?..........Good food of course!
Some of us headed out for dinner on Friday and night - great food and great company - thanks girls!

Another great weekend! Part 1

2011-06-27T16:57:00.000+10:00

On Friday I headed into Darling Harbour to the Annual Quilt Show. Here are just a few pics of some of the most amazing quilts that were on display. I think there were 350!

Of course there had to be the fashion creations....

Very slack blogger!

2011-05-29T21:16:00.000+10:00

There hasn't been too much blogging happening here lately, I have been too busy getting into a new routine of regular exercise and healthier eating. It is time now for me to do this and I have been doing some form of exercise most days. Heck, I even got up at 5.30 the other morning to go swimming!!!
After trying to fit in the exercise in my busy life it seems that mornings are the best times for me. This means I need to start exercising at 6am to get in 30-45 mins exercise before needing to get ready for work.
One of my goals when I started this program was to learn to run properly but have since discovered some leg and feet issues which have meant that I am on non weight bearing exercise only for the time being. This means the pool for me - very hard to start this in winter!
Anyway....enough about that!
We have had 2 sewing days in the last month. The first one we all made the same pattern of a bag out of a Quilts & More magazine.

Then last week we all decided to our own thing, and Glenda & I caught up on a block from our Mystery Designer BOM ( from a couple of years ago!), Mum was putting together her quilt top from the very first quilt she ever started (mine is further behind than hers and still in a bag LOL) and Maria made some covers for the ice packs they use on the tiny babies in the NICU. Elsa, Maria's cousin, also joined us and she was crocheting slippers.
So we were a bunch of busy sewers but we have such a great time together, talking and laughing.
Just one photo but we are all at our "workstations"!!

Not much sewing happening in the next few weeks, but am really looking forward to heading to the Craft & Quilt Fair in Darling Harbour in Sydney in June for a day and meeting up with some bloggers there. I am staying in town that night and hopefully we will all be able to enjoy dinner together after the show. I am then going to enjoy the rest of the weekend in the city with Craig.

Till next time!
Anita

Crafting retreat - October 3-6, 2011, Mt Alford QLD

2011-05-01T22:28:00.000+10:00

Every year my online CRAFT group have a get together. This has only just started over the past two years but we have had an awesome time. This year we are heading to Mt Alford in Queensland which is where we held our first retreat . Last year we held it her in Carrickalinga SA. Its a fantastic time with friends who chat, eat, drink, sew a bit, laugh a lot and just generally have a great time. Mt Alford has cabins which offer your own room and en-suite with all meals catered for or you can share a room with ensuite for slightly less amount.

This year we have a couple of spots free and I am offering my online friends a chance to join us for some great fun with great girls. We don't have planned sewing events, there are no designers or shops trying to sell you anything. You just bring your own sewing along and prepare to have fun.

I can vouch for all the girls there, they are a great bunch of gals, great friends, and would welcome anyone.

Here are some of the other's blogs

sewprimkhris.blogspot.com
seasidecraftin.blogspot.com
amanda-lotshappening.blogspot.com
dewbearryhaze.blogspot.com
materialmagic.blogspot.com
beeshebags.blogspot.com

If you are interested in joining us please email me for further details. We can arrange pick up and drop off at airports, bus or trains in Brisbane and Ipswich areas.
Blogger won't let me put any pics in the post but if you go to the link to my blog post on the retreat you can see all the pics there.

Hugs,
Anita

A drive up in the mountains...

2011-04-25T22:29:00.000+10:00

After a glorious day weather wise on Good Friday we took a drive up to the mountains on Easter saturday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great up there - rain, mist - you know, typical mountains weather! But it was still a nice day out. After being stuck in a traffic jam which made a 1 hour trip take 2 hours we had a yummy lunch at the Megalong Valley Tea Rooms. Of course we had to finish off with their famous scones!

They have such lovely gardens there, the autumn colours were just starting to appear.

Playing around with the macro on our new camera - have to say not as good as our old one but OK for a small camera.

Had a little wander around Blackheath and all the lovely shops.
Some of the streets were bursting with colour there!

Then for a quick drive to Govett's Leap lookout to see if we could see anything! It wasn't too bad when we got there but by the time we left the cloud had rolled in and you couldn't see any of this.

Bridal Veil Falls...

Sewing day

2011-04-19T21:36:00.000+10:00

I have been very slack not posting these photos but I have been busy planning our holiday for later in the year.............more on that later!!

A couple of weeks ago a few of us got together for a sewing day and I showed the others how to make these little fabric baskets. I had some gorgeous printed linen I bought from Etsy that they all used.Aren't they cute!

I was going to sew the binding on my monster quilt but didn't get it done. I did get the binding all put together and ironed in half all ready to sew on.
Am hoping to get 2 sewing days over Easter.

A bag for a friend

2011-03-26T22:53:00.000+11:00

I met my friend today for lunch for her birthday and I made her this bag.
It is from cream linen and a charm pack of Decadent Victorian.

Oh and excuse the rope around the tree, it is holding the fence up LOL

Anita

Some more random pics from GDITC

2011-03-25T22:12:00.001+11:00

The hall (complete with very posh seat covers!) - full of busy women!

Show & Tell of Anni's designs:

A group of us all made Anni's Gardener's Journal quilt and here they all are hanging on the fence.

And here we all are holding our

handiwork. I have a confession to make though, mine is incomplete LOL. I have done 5 blocks - I think there are 9. But it will get finished!!

As you can see we did lots of eating!!

This photo is of all the bloggers that were at the retreat!!
Every year this group gets bigger and more fun. I feel so privileged to be part of this group of very talented women many of whom have become very good friends to me.We come from so many different backgrounds, from all over the state - city and country - and from out of state, yet we all come together with a common interest. Thanks to all of you for a great weekend!!

Our table group!!

Can't wait until next year!!!

Anita

My first full size quilt.

2011-03-25T22:10:00.000+11:00

Back in August last year I went to a retreat at Cottage on the Hill in Nundle where I made this huuuuge quilt!
I finally got all the borders on and sent it off to be quilted. I picked it up when I was in Nundle last weekend and I am so happy with the quilting job that Vickie has done. I must try and take a close up of the quilting. This bed is a queen bed so you can see how big it is!
Now to sew on the binding!!

The fabric is Park Avenue by Moda.

Anita

What a fantastic weekend!

2011-03-23T21:13:00.000+11:00

Last weekend I headed off for my annual trip to Nundle, 5 hours drive away, for Girls Day In The Country. This weekend is organised by Kerry of Cottage on the Hill, who does a fantastic job every year of putting on a wonderful event for all us crazy crafting women!! The guest designer was Anni Downs of Hatched & Patched. Anni is a delightful lady who designs the most amazing quilts & things.

Anni & Kerry

Anni designed 3 projects for the weekend:

This is what I got done today LOL. Doesn't look like much but it was very fiddly!!

More pics to come!!

Anita

Girl's Day In The Country - Nundle 2011 #1

2011-03-23T20:49:00.001+11:00

Well here we are on Friday relaxing on the deck after driving from all over the State!

Oh dear, not a good one of me....but it was a long drive!

Blogless Bronwyn, Cardy & Me

Julie & Lea

Off to Mt Misery Gold Mine for dinner:

Me with Peg & Gaizie

We had a lovely time over dinner catching up with everyone from previous years and meeting new friends!

Anita

Block E

2011-03-05T20:59:00.000+11:00

Here is the next block I have done for the Gardeners Journal quilt - it is starting to come together really nicely !!

More sewing....

2011-02-26T20:47:00.000+11:00

I have finished another block in the Gardeners Journal quilt - these are the blocks I have done so far. I actually got to join 2 blocks together! Sorry , not a good photo but was taken on my phone which doesn't take good photos indoors.

I had a sewing day with my mum and friend yesterday. Mum made another block in the Fat quarter shops mystery BOM from a couple of years ago and my friend made a table topper for her dining table.

I have also sewn the borders on the quilt I made at the retreat last year, so it is ready to go off to the quilters............just waiting for a quote on the cost LOL

More birthday suprises

2011-02-26T20:42:00.000+11:00

Some more gorgeous birthday FQ's from the girls...

I also got a lovely surprise the other day when I went to the PO box...................Naomi had sent me this fantastic sewing caddy she has made. I love it! and the colours are perfect.

I had a birthday this week!

2011-02-19T21:32:00.001+11:00

Here is a pic of the gorgeous fabrics I received from a group of crafty friends for my birthday last week!! It was a lot of fun opening all the parcels up before going to work.

In the online group I am in as well we have a birthday group. Instead of swapping fabric we now send in an equivalent amount of money for each persons birthday so when your birthday comes around you get a nice little sum of money to go shopping with! This year I received $200 (wow!!) which I am going to use to get my huge quilt quilted - the one that I made at the retreat last August.
I had to work on my birthday, but the day went well, and in the evening we went out to one of our favourite Italian restaurants for dinner which finished off the day beautifully!

Nothing much else happening here, just the usual routines.
I have been stitching away on my Gardener's Journal quilt and today I did get some machine sewing in. I sewed the borders on my huge quilt mentioned above. I wanted to mitre the border but didn't have enough fabric so have emailed Kerry at Cottage on the Hill to see if she has some more. I was hoping to get it quilted before I go to Nundle in March but not sure if that will happen now.
Oh well.

Great bag pattern!

2011-02-10T19:53:00.000+11:00

Australian Homespun website has this fantastic bag pattern featured this month as a freebie - How Charmed
My very clever friend Khristina has designed this lovely bag - so jump across to download the directions on how to make this easy tote you can whip up over a weekend.

Another Gardeners Journal Block.

2011-01-19T20:54:00.002+11:00

Sooo..do you remember how last week I sewed one of the stitcheries back to front???
Well just to keep up my record, look what I did this week...

I guess there was a bit too much talking going on!!
No problem though, didn't take too long to fix!!

So...another block completed for me!
Just need to trace some more stitcheries. An old xray viewer has turned up in my office so I am going to use it as a light box to trace some tomorrow at work LOL

Ooops!!

2011-01-05T22:35:00.000+11:00

Well after my bragging in the last post - I discovered a mistake!!
I was sitting having my breakfast on Monday and the blocks were draped over one of the dining chairs and I was admiring them (as you do LOL) and I realised I had sewn one of the stitchery blocks on back to front!! It's the little snail block - if it was any of the larger blocks I think I would have noticed it as the back of my work is not too tidy! I just can't believe I had sewn it all together and even ironed it without noticing LOL

So I got to use my new unpicker from Dawn Hay in our swap and I had to do a bit of repair work!!

all fixed now!!

And for those family that read my blog, we went out for dinner on Monday night to our favourite Thai restaurant as my brother and family were passing through Sydney on their way back to Canberra from holidaying on the wet Gold Coast!

2011-01-02T21:39:00.001+11:00

I hope everyone has had a great New Year!!!
I have had a week off and go back to work on Tuesday - unfortunately!!
I got a bit of time on New Years Eve to do some sewing as Craig was working.
I managed to finish another Gardeners Journal block and add all the missing bits to the block I thought I had finished before!

I also got another block finished for my Little Patchwork Village quilt:

2010-12-24T20:32:00.000+11:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

Hope you all have a great day as we celebrate one of the most important event in history!!!

City Lights

2010-12-22T22:02:00.001+11:00

On the weekend we went into the city to have a look at the christmas lights andwindow displays.

We had dinner at City Extra at Circular Quay - this is what the menu looked like...a newspaper! The food was delicious - sorry no pics - I forgot!

This was the view from our table...

This was the huge christmas tree they put up in Martin Place every year....

Hyde Park Barracks also had a light display and the Town Hall was lit up as well....

The David Jones department store has christmas window displays every year as well. Each window here had the theme of a different christmas carol - they were so cute and such details in the puppets and displays.

On the way home....

2010-12-22T21:41:00.003+11:00

On the way home from Port Macquarie we took a detour through Forster/Tuncurry. We spent a lot of time holidaying here when the kids were younger as my father in law lived here for a while. But we think it has been about 14/15 years since we were here. But it is still a beautiful place and hasn't changed too much, hasn't lost that small seaside town feel to it ( unlike port macquarie LOL).

There were some dolphins just outside the net here but my camera skills were not good enough LOL

Next stop - Port Macquarie

2010-12-21T21:32:00.001+11:00

After we left Old Bar, Craig & I headed up to Port Macquarie for a few days R & R before coming back. We stayed a great apartment across the road from Flynn's Beach. We spent 3 days doing lots of walking, relaxing, swimming and of course eating!!!! The weather was quite warm and very humid but not too sunny but of course the day we were leaving the sun was out in full force LOL

Swap Goodies...

2010-12-20T22:18:00.000+11:00

In our yahoo CRAFT group we had christmas swap and my partner was Dawn Hay.

Here is a pic of the gorgeous table runner that Dawn made me, as well as lots of other goodies.

Dawn & I obviously think alike as here is the tablerunner that I made for her LOL

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of all the other goodies I sent to Dawn!

Thanks so much Dawn for the gorgeous presents - and for being such a great swap partner!!

2010-12-20T21:30:00.000+11:00

While we were at Old Bar we took a drive out to Ellensborough Falls - a spectacular waterfall that was flowing really well. It was a bit of a hairy ride out there on a dirt road - alright for us but not for my parents sedan LOL - but it was well worth the drive.

On the way back we took a side road to find the site of the capture of the last bushranger in the area and we came across a couple of causeway crossings. The UK relatives were glad they were in our car so they could enjoy the crossings!

At the coast again....

2010-12-20T21:20:00.001+11:00

Earlier this month we had a week away up the coast. My aunty & uncle have been visiting from the UK and we had the chance to spend a couple of days with them. So we headed off to the Meridan Resort at Old Bar on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

This is the view from the door of the unit:

Our Unit:

It was our 24th wedding anniversary while we were away and this is the dessert my dad treated us to (he also shared it with us!)!

We took a drive out to Wingham which had these beautiful old buildings - the bank had been made into a guest house.

Plane in the park...

This was in the window of the museum - don't think it would keep up with the amount of washing in this house!!!

A big birthday to celebrate~

2010-12-04T11:11:00.000+11:00

NOT IT ISN'T MY BIRTHDAY!!! I have a few years yet before I reach this number...but it was hubby Craig's 50th birthday on Wednesday!!!
We went out for dinner to our favourite restaurant just with the boys, close family and a couple of friends. Being a week night our other friends couldn't come and due to Craig's work roster I wasn't able to plan a party for him. A shame really as 50 is quite a milestone!! LOL

A Day in the City - Pt 2

2010-12-03T22:49:00.000+11:00

We took a ferry rider - an old original ferry!!

Heading up to the Harbour Bridge...

Luna Park....

The Opera House...

Under the Harbour Bridge...

There was a cruise ship in at Circular Quay...The Rhapsody of the Seas...

Kirribilli House - the Prime Minister's Sydney residence,,,

North Head - the entrance to Sydney Harbour...

South Head Naval Base...

A Day in the City - Pt 1

2010-12-03T22:40:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago Craig & I headed into the city and played tourist for the day! We had a voucher for a restaurant at Darling Harbour and the weather was perfect so we headed into town. Our plan was to go to The Rocks markets but I had hurt my knee a couple of days before and couldn't do much walking.
So we took a Tram ride which we hadn't been on before.....

Had a little walk around Darling Harbour....

Went here for a yummy lunch....

A present for a friend...

2010-11-22T20:21:00.000+11:00

I am very privelaged to be part of a Yahoo group called CRAFT ( Creating Really Amazing Friends Together), and you couldn't ask for a more lovely bunch of ladies. The group leader is Khris and she does a great job of keeping us all in line LOL
A couple of months ago a group of the girls decided to put together a quilt for Khris as a thank you for keeping our group together and being a wonderful friend to us all.
Sharon in New Zealand designed and put the quilt together from blocks that we all sent in and did a fantastic job of quilting it as well.

All of this was done without Khris's knowledge and Naomi presented Khris with the quilt the other day - here is a pic of Khris with her special quilt!!
Pop over to Sharon's blog for her story of making the quilt.
Thanks so much Sharon for all your hard work!!

Gorgeous Giveaway!!

2010-11-12T15:24:00.002+11:00

Pop over to Retromummy for a giveaway of Rosalie Quinlan's beautiful new fabric Sweet Broderie.
http://retromummy.blogspot.com/2010/11/sweet-broderie-giveaway.html

Maybe I shouldn't have told you all - less chance of me winning!! LOL

Anita

A litte drive to Robertson.............

2010-11-04T22:54:00.000+11:00

On Monday I took my parents and aunty & uncle (visiting from UK) for a drive down to Roberston in the Southern Highlands to the Robertson Pie shop. The weather at home was a bit overcast and a bit muggy but by the time we got down there it was 13deg and the clouds were so low we could hardly see in front of us!
The funny thing is we came here 3 years ago and the weather was exactly the same!! LOL
http://rileysrambles.blogspot.com/2007/11/robertson.html
But we had a lovely day out together, catching up.

We visited the Cheese shop while we were in Robertson, but is a bit of a gourmet foodies market now with exorbitant prices. Some of the cheeses were $100 per kilo!!
My relatives could not believe these prices as they live in France for part of the year and get gourmet cheese at very low prices.
But it was a lovely shop and this was the view from the inside out of one of the windows, I thought it was quite pretty with the lavender outside the window.

Unfortunately the collectables store wasn't open as it was a Monday.

We drove down the mountain to the coast thinking it might be a bit clearer down there but it was raining so we couldn't do much sight seeing. Another day!

Grrr....

2010-11-04T13:52:00.000+11:00

I decided to make another tablerunner, one from this pattern, which says "Runners designed for 5"charm squares".
Great, I thought, don't have a lot of time, nice and easy, hardly any cutting.
Well , first instruction is to cut all the charm squares down to 4 1/2" charm squares!!
So why didn't it just say you need 4 1/2" squares not 5" ones!
I am assuming that it is a marketing ploy as they know us quilters love our 5"charm square packs!
So while I love this pattern and it came together really easily (after all the cutting), please take note Ms Tablerunner Designer, please be honest next time and put the REAL requirements on the pattern packet.
That is all.

Some more finishes....

2010-10-12T22:00:00.002+11:00

I made this bag when I was at the SA retreat but forgot to put the pic up before. It is a Sling Bag, another great Sew Prim Khris design. The fabric is Amy Butler's Love. It still needs a nice big button over the pleats on each side but haven't had the time to look for one yet. The original pattern had a fabric flower there but the flower is not really me LOL

On the weekend I also sewed up another table runner, this one for me!, will show a pic when I have the binding sewn down.
I was also going to make another PET mesh bag but got sidetracked making these cute fabric baskets from some gorgeous linen from this Etsy seller. She has the most gorgeous printed linens.

Hard at work!! (retreat continued)

2010-09-28T17:32:00.000+10:00

2010-09-27T21:28:00.000+10:00

Carrickalinga Beach - would love to come here in the summer!

Helena & I.......

Khristina & I......

Victor Harbour........

Lots of pics............

2010-09-27T17:27:00.000+10:00

Here are just some random pics from my trip to South Australia.............

Sewing at retreat....

2010-09-26T18:44:00.030+10:00

We did do some sewing while we were at the retreat...........here is a flower pincushion I made from Khris's pattern which was in the last Homespun issue.

I also made a Sew Charmed quilt - another one of Khris's great designs.

Khris & I also made these bags with pet mesh.......

and a few of us made these turtles, I think it was a Heather Bailey pattern. Probably unrecognisable from my "mutant" turtle LOL........I have shared with you before how much I don't like sewing small things..........and this just confirmed it LOL!!!

below is a pipberry willow tree I bought in a lovely gift shop in Victor Harbour called Thistlebow Gifts (if you are ever in town).

Lots of food at retreat!

2010-09-25T21:43:00.000+10:00

We spent a fair bit of time eating while we were at our retreat - of course!
Here we are (Naomi, Khris & Amanda & I) having lunch in Adelaide on the day we went quilt shop hopping.

While we were in Carrickalinga we went to the Normanville Hotel a couple of times for dinner. What a gorgeous hotel with lots of timber, exposed stone and leadlight glass.

Some had salads...........

...........while some indulged!!!

Adelaide/Carrickalinga Retreat

2010-09-23T21:38:00.000+10:00

As I mentioned in my previous post I have been down in Adelaide for the past week on a retreat with some great crafty friends!!
The first day I was there we spent the day quilt shop hopping around Adelaide - great fun!
Then we headed down the coast to this little coastal town called Carrickalinga where we stayed in this gorgeous beach house for 5 nights. The house was very well equipped with 5 bedrooms and 2 living areas, even 2 kitchens!

There were 8 of us and what a great time we had sewing, talking, eating, laughing, crying, sleeping, snoring.............and then doing it all over again the next day!!

Here is the view from the deck upstairs out across the ocean:

Here are the happy sewers - Terry, Kerry, Khristina, Helena, Naomi, Christine & Amanda

Lots more pics to come!!

Finished project

2010-09-23T21:22:00.000+10:00

Here is a pic of the tablerunner I was making (sneak peak in last post). It was for my friend Khristina who I have just visited in Adelaide. I got a bit carried away with the length of it but it fitted her dresser perfectly!!

As I said, I have been in Adelaide for the past week, just got home last night. Had a great catch up with Khristina, Naomi & Helena from the Yahoo group I am in, and 4 other sewing ladies from Adelaide.
Will have some posts to follow with our adventures!!

2010-09-13T20:05:00.001+10:00

I have been doing some sewing but can't show it yet. Am testing out another camera and tried the macro today. I didn't realise my quilting was so crooked!! oh dear!!

Spring is trying to happen here, gorgeous weather the last few days, today was about 24 deg and clear skies until later this afternoon. Was playing with the macro again, and we finally have flowers on our lavender plant we bought about 2 years ago, we thought it was never going to flower!!

Ti'm's 21st

2010-09-13T20:02:00.000+10:00

On Saturday we celebrated Tim's 21st birthday. When did I get old enough for my youngest to be 21!!!
We had a great night at a Korean BBQ restaurant (Tim's choice) with almost 40 people. Tim has some lovely friends and it was a pleasure to spend the evening with them and some of our family.

Our family, not the best photo, but the best of some bad ones LOL

Tim and his only male cousin Lachlan!

Tim doesn't like a lot of fuss and did not want a cake but we organised one and he enjoyed it.

I had also made some table decorations that had photos of Tim from when he was a baby up to about 18yo, everyone enjoyed looking at these and having a good laugh!! Tim didn't know about these so was a surprise for him too and after we got home he thanked me for making them.

Best thing about having it in a restaurant - no cleaning up!!

2010-09-09T20:27:00.000+10:00

Not much to post about at the moment, have been doing some sewing that I can't show on here yet and have been busy organising Tim's 21st on Saturday night.
As of today I am now on 2 weeks holiday from work, next wednesday I am heading to Adelaide for a week to catch up with some friends from the Yahoo group I have been in for over 5 years.
I have been going through old photos looking for photos of Tim, had a great time reminiscing through the old style photo albums the other day!
Here are a couple of pics of Tim I have scanned in that will be part of the table decorations at his party.
UPDATE - well I would show you some photos but I got a new laptop last week and realised all my photos are still on the old computer LOL
STAY TUNED!!!

At last!!

2010-08-23T21:32:00.001+10:00

I have finally finished the first block - well almost!! I have just realised that I forgot to sew the top row of rectangles on LOL
Full credit for getting this block done goes to Chooky for cutting out my fabric for me - champion!!

Anita

Guest Feature

2010-08-12T20:32:00.000+10:00

This post is to show you all how talented my Aunty is!
Aunty Beryl lives in England (and France at times) and comes to visit us in Australia regularly. According to her husband everytime she comes to visit us here she goes home hooked on a new craft! There has been cross stitch, cardmaking, jewellry making and last time she was here she picked out a pattern and some fabric for a couple of projects. And if you are reading this Uncle Bruce, we didn't encourage her one bit!!!

So here are the 2 things she has finished - a sewing machine cover and a necklace holder - aren't they lovely!
.
Hmmmm..................now what projects can we start her on when she comes to visit in October??? HAHA

Weekend with Fabric!

2010-08-11T21:01:00.000+10:00

Last weekend I headed off in the car for a 6 hour trip to Nundle, NSW for a weekend retreat put on by Kerry at Cottage on the Hill.

Food ( and wine!) were big features of the weekend as well as fabric LOL

It was great to catch up again with Chookyblue, Cardygirl and Lea, and meet some lovely new friends.

This is what we woke up to both mornings - a heavy frost making a white picture.

Here is the set up in the shop, all hard at work!!

Some stitched into the night to try to catch up on all that piecing!
(oops - another bottle of wine!)


New stitching buddies helping each other out!

Some of the finished quilts - all just beautiful

And here is my quilt! I love it! the fabric is Park Avenue by Moda. It is huge and it still has to have 2 borders!

I took this pic on Monday at home on the washing line...........

This is the view from our cabin after the frost had melted on the last morning - so peaceful.

My lastest sewing

2010-07-31T19:14:00.000+10:00

Here is a pic of the sewing machine mat that I finished last week. I found some charm squares that I had bought of Ebay years ago and thought this would be a good use for them.

And here are the stitcheries that I have completed for my Gardeners Journal quilt. I am way behind everyone else in the Stitch-a-long but I don't mind as am continually working on it, just at my own pace LOL

Saturday

2010-07-10T20:29:00.004+10:00

Today was a busy day here, but lots of fun!
We went this morning to pick up our new car!!

Same car, Nissan Xtrail, but different colour and brand, spanking new! We have only ever had 1 brand new car before so we were a touch excited LOL

Then this afternoon I went with some lovely friends to the Park Hyatt at The Rocks in Sydney for High Tea. We had a great time catching up and eating some very delicious food.

This is the view from the restaurant:

Monday

2010-07-08T20:16:00.004+10:00

This post is for Donna who says she misses my posts about our weekend jaunts when I have no posts about sewing LOL.

On Monday we both had the day off so decided to take our car for a dirt road drive before we get the new one (can't get the new one dirty!!). So we headed down to the southern highlands, about a 45 min drive down the freeway from us. We had planned to go driving in a particular forest but couldn't find the right map so didn't want to venture too far off the main forest roads.

This is in the Penrose State Forest and this is clump of trees they haven't chopped down, I assume because they are gum trees and not the pine trees that they harvest.

Of course no drive would be complete without a yummy BBQ lunch - I tell you it was so cold there we were fighting for prime position next to the BBQ!!! LOL
We then drove down to the Morton National Park near Bundanoon and here is the spectacular view of the "Grand Canyon".

Saturday

2010-07-08T20:09:00.003+10:00

On Saturday I finally got some time to do some sewing. Here is my spot in the gorgeous winter sun, the warmest place in our house.I finished another owl bag, the same as this one, for a friend who asked me for one last September LOL
I also sewed some cute charm squares together to make a sewing machine mat. Unfortunately that is far as I got, so putting it all together will have to wait until the next window of opportunity to get the machine out!

MOre Cold!

2010-07-08T20:06:00.002+10:00

The day after the last frozen morning was even worse! So cold I only took 2 pics as I didn't want to be outside!!

2010-06-29T21:24:00.004+10:00

We are having a bit of a cold snap here this week. Last night it was -2 deg celcius, and tonight it is expected to be colder! This morning it had only reached 0 deg by 9am! It is back down to 2deg c here now at 9pm, so hate to think what is going to be like in the morning. I had better allow extra time in the morning to get the ice off the car. This morning i couldn't hose the car down as the hose was frozen so threw some buckets of water over it, but still had to scrape ice off the windscreen as it wouldn't budge with just the water.
Here are some snaps I took at 7.30am.