Still Here & Stitching!!

I'm still here ... really I am! The days just seem to have scooted past me way too quickly and it's over a week since I've popped in for a visit ... Sorry!! :0) I've got a really good reason for my absence, though ... I've been busy stitching!!

A couple of weeks ago, the lovely Marion gave me a challenge ...

... what sort of stitchery project could I design using these soft pink and grey Tilda fabrics and just five thread colours??? WOW! Those of you who know me and have been visiting my blog for a while will be laughing your butts off right now, cos you know these colours are the opposite end of the colour wheel to where I usually choose to work. See ... I TOLD you it was a challenge! :0) But you know what ... after scratching my head, doodling in my sketch book and cruising around Pinterest looking for inspiration (well that was my excuse for all that time spent looking at pretty photos! Tee! Hee! Hee! ) I was on a roll! Not only did I come up with ONE idea ... I thought of a collection of THREE projects to make up in these softly shabby chic colours. Now ... the projects are still Secret Squirrel but I can give you a quick sneaky peeky ...

... some sweetly shabby rosette flowers and a shabby chic ruffle ... are you getting some hints about the direction my designing took?? I bet when you see the finished projects you'll still be in for a big surprise! :0) I have to say ... even though these colours are not my usual colour palette, I am LOVING how the projects are coming up and can't wait to share them with you. I promise to keep stitching so I can share them with you soon. Steph's cracking the whip to keep me on track, so it shouldn't be too long before they're ready! Every day-dreamy designer who has A.D.O.P (Attention Deficit ... Oh!! Pretty!!) needs someone to crack the whip and keep them on task or no new designs would every get finished! I'm pretty lucky to have Steph!! :0)

If you're looking for a project to stitch in front of the TV right away, though, you need to pop across to visit my mad-mate and blogging buddy Toni at the Red Boot Quilt Co. Toni is an incredibly clever designer and her speciality is quirky appliqué projects ... I am SOOOOOOOOOO in love with heaps of her designs!! :0) During the Winter Olympics, Toni is sharing a SUPER CUTE quilt featuring the quirkiest and cutest polar bears you will ever see! 

Isn't it FANTASTIC!!! I just makes me smile every time I look at it! :0) Head over HERE to see how you can get the pattern to make this quilt for your very own self ... don't forget to say a big THANKS to Toni for sharing!!

I'm off to keep stitching away, but wanted to give a shout out to all of the farmers who are battling with drought at the moment. It's one of those 'silent' disasters that face our primary producers so often. My Beloved Geek Boy and I lived in Bourke in north-western New South Wales for seven years and GB and I both grew up in rural areas that reply on primary industries, so we've seen first-hand how drought affects not only farmers, but the rural communities around them. I was sad to see a report on the news tonight about the severity of the drought in the Bourke area, but  encouraged to see a convoy of hay arriving to help landholders a little. The feed had been sent from the south of the state that had been fortunate enough to have some good rain. How wonderful to see farmers doing OK helping their fellow-farmers who are doing it tough! Now if only the government would stop worrying about being 'politically correct' and get its act together to lend a hand!!

My blogging buddy Chookyblue and her family are doing it pretty tough at the moment in rural NSW and she has been sharing photos on her blog, including the one above of feeding their sheep that I've borrowed, to try to increase awareness of just what our farmers are facing. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers ... and wherever possible, buy locally produced and Australian made products ... it's a little something city/town dwellers can do to help.

Right ... off to play Polly and get back to stitching. I promise not to be gone so long next time. :0) Enjoy your weekend, whatever you have on your agenda. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS