Long Weekend & OPAM Winners

It's a long weekend here and I'm rather happy to say, my Beloved Geek Boy and I have spent the entire weekend at home ... AAAAH ... BLISS! :0) Life has just been so hectic in the last month or so that a couple of weekends at home is just what the doctor ordered.

I had BIG plans for the sewing I was going to get done this weekend and when I was at my Home-Away-From-Home on Friday for our Quilting Angels gathering, I stocked up on some yummy fabric to help me on my way. I had two specific projects in mind to work on this weekend, the first being a stacked coin quilt for my Mum's neighbour's daughter. Did you follow that?! :0) She saw the quilt I made earlier this year for Mum's friend who is undergoing cancer treatment ...

The last update I heard on Pauline's condition (the sweet blond lady and quilt recipient) was that the treatment was going well enough that she should be able to take a hoped-for trip to the UK soon, so that's good news, though she's not out of the woods.

So ... Mum's friend said her daughter's favourite colours are purple and yellow. Hmmm ... I struggle a bit with yellow, so suggested I just run with the purple theme. After getting the nod, these are the fabrics I stocked up on this week to get started ...

Some yummy batiks and a nice strong, royal purple for the sashings. I've also added a few other purples to this pile, after I took the photo, that I had in my stash left over from where I made this ...

My favourite skirt! It is just so comfy to wear ... which is why I bought some fabric to make another one ... my second batch of stocking up this week. :0)

Some yummy, warm browns. I absolutely fell in love with the range the top row of fabrics comes from ... 'Eclectic Elements' by Tim Holtz that arrived at Quilters Angel this week. They are in various sepia/brown/black shades and have a bit of a steampunk/industrial feel about them. It's quite a big range, so lots more fabrics to choose from ... I had to limit myself or the budget would have squealed! Tee! Hee! Hee! They'd be perfect for making quilts for teenage boys and men ... or patchwork skirts for some gals who aren't pink, frilly frou-frou gals! :0) I am going to team them with some warm chocolate and malt toned batiks to bring out the rich colours. Hmm ... doesn't that just make you want to rush out and find a chocolate flavoured malted milkshake ... or is that just me?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So my plan for the weekend was to get both of these projects done. Hmmm ... yes ... well ... the best laid plans of mice and men etc!!! After realising I had a couple of deadlines looming to put together some bits and bobs for two lovely friends publishing e-zines, I have spent quite a lot of the weekend on the computer. And while I was going, decided to finally get myself organised and add a long-overdue pattern to my website ...

"Life Is Good" ... the bag set I designed for Girls' Stitch In in march this year is finally up on my website. It's been available from Quilters Angel since March, but somehow adding it to the website kept getting moved down my list of jobs ... Oops! The pattern includes instructions for the large tote bag pictured ... it's 19"x18 1/2" so you can fit a LOT of stitching stuff in there to run away for a retreat! :0) ... a large drawstring pouch, a tiny drawstring pouch and two sizes of snap-closure phone/glasses cases. All have garden themed stitcheries and the stitchery panel on the front of the tote bag says,

"Bees buzz, birds sing, butterflies flutter on rainbow wings ... Life is good!"

When I designed it, I thought of my absolute DREAM spot to sit and stitch ... a gorgeous cottage garden with birds, bees, butterflies, flowers, a comfy chair, a cup of tea, some stitching ... and of course some stitching friends would complete the picture! :0) This pattern is available as a paper pattern or as a downloadable PDF format. I hope you all enjoy stitching it ... I sure did! :0)

And of course the other thing that has taken some of my stitching time this weekend was finishing off the round-up for OPAM for September. Sweet Peg and I ... as always!! ... have been blown away by the GORGEOUS projects you clever-clogs gals have been creating with needle, thread, knitting needles, crochet hooks and wool. It is always amazing to see the variety of projects people are working on. Thanks to those gals who emailed Sweet Peg or me ... it's much appreciated and enables us to get back to our own stitching a bit quicker ... in theory! Tee! Hee! Hee! The final tally for September was ...

368 Finishes!

WOW!! Well done everyone who finished some projects on their "To Do" list. And even if you didn't actually have finishes to add, but made some good progress on some long-term projects ... congratulations to you too. OPAM really isn't about who has the biggest tally, it's about taking some time out from your busy day-to-day schedule to enjoy some 'time out' being creative, whether you use needle and thread, sewing machine, knitting needles or crochet hook. Being creative feeds our soul, calms our mind and recharges the batteries ... so we can keep being the busy gals we all are. :0) OK ... this month's random draw winners are ...

SHEZ

&

KATHERINE McW

Congrats, gals! Please email your snail mail addresses to me and I'll pop a little something in the mail for you soon.

OK ... that's enough from me for today ... sewing time's a-wastin'! Whatever you've been up to this weekend, I hope you've managed to grab at least a little time to yourself to be creative and recharge your batteries. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS