Gone Surfin'!!

WOW! I just realised how long it's been since I popped in to chat to you all ... not sure where the last week has disappeared to! It seems this year is going to fly by in an even quicker blur than last year ... EEK! I'm in TROUBLE! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I do have a really good excuse for being absent for a few days ... well, I'm ALWAYS a little absent, but this time I mean absent from blogland! :0) I've been surfing ... not on the web (way behind with visiting my blogging buddies!!), not at the beach (this podgy body was NOT meant for hangin' ten!!!) ... I've been surfing a CREATIVE WAVE! You know ... one of those lightbulb moments when all of the odd little things you've been mulling over for a while suddenly come together into a clear project? Well, that happened to me this week after weeks of wracking my brain for a project to fit a particular theme for an upcoming issue of "Handmade" magazine ... EUREKA!! I headed for the sewing room ... which is no longer neat! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Here's the creative clutter littering my ironing board at the moment. Some pretty felt, a bit of yummy lace, tape measure to check ... well ... measurements, oddly enough! :0) ... some soft coloured fabric and my rainbow-in-a-box of embroidery threads. Add them all together and you get ...

... a sneaky peek! Tee! Hee! Hee! You didn't REALLY think I was going to show you the finished project, did you??? It's got to stay a Secret Squirrel surprise for a while longer! :0) I CAN tell you that a new Tag Along Teddies teddy has been born ... I'm proud Mama Bear to a little felt cutie whose name is Lavender Lil. And that's all I'm going to tell you for now ... you'll just have to wait til later in the year to see her in all her finished glory. I know ... I'm such a TEASE! :0) But you love me! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Other than playing in the sewing room, I've spent a little bit of time out at Quilters' Angel with Marion and Steph, to see how the quilt drive for the flood victims from our local region is going. Last I heard (there's been another couple of sewing sessions after I chatted to Marion last) there were over 60 tops and finished quilts in the pot! How FANTASTIC is that! Well done to Marion and Steph for the HUGE amount of work and effort they've put into the Quilt Drive (I know all about those after-shop-hours prep sessions they've been having to keep things running along!!) and congrats to all the lovely stitchers who've donated fabric, wadding, quilts, kits and their time to help make this heart-warming initiative possible. I just know that these quilts will mean so much to their eventual new owners.

The other thing that took a bit of my time this week was some behind the scene work on OPAM. If you take a peek at my sidebar, you'll see that I've got the full list of participants up there now, so if you signed up, but your name isn't there, drop me an email and I'll sort it out. Also, if you could check your link to make sure I haven't had a "Space Walk" moment (Mr Squiggle reference for those who grew up in Australia in the 70's! Tee! Hee! Hee!) and that your link works properly. The final sign up tally this year is ...

157!
Woo! Hoo! A few less than last year, but that's OK, cos not only do Peg and I have a few less blogs to hop around at the end of each month, we had a few people last year sign up, but not follow through, so I'm sure that the slightly lower number means all you gals are ready to STITCH and tackle your "To Do" lists with gusto! :0) If you haven't already done so, make sure you pop the OPAM 2011 button on your sidebar with a link back to Peg or me and pop a list on there of your finishes. If you're having any problems with either of those things, just drop me an email and we'll sort it out.

But right now ... I'm grabbin' my figurative surfboard and heading back into the sewing room ...

KOWABUNGA, DUDES!!!

Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS