Dreaming Is Hard Work!

G'day everyone! I'm still here and have been missing catching up with you all, but life here at the Meares' Madhouse has been manic, frantic, stressful, chaotic and at times a complete shambles ... which has left no time for stitching and little time for catching up with my blogging buddies. You see, we've been reaching for a dream ... and can I just tell you a little secret? Dreaming is HARD WORK! :0)

I know I've been dropping hints and not telling you what we've been up to, but I was waiting for a few ducks to be in their rows before sharing too much. It all started about a month ago when I was cruising around real estate sites looking for our 'dream house'. You see, we live very close to the centre of Toowoomba ... very handy to everything, but my Beloved Geek Boy and I really are country kids at heart and have dreamt of a little bit of acreage to retreat to.

So there I was, surfing the real estate sites, admiring some houses, sniggering at a few (shame on me! :0) ) and wincing at prices when ... HOLD THE PHONE!! I stumbled on the PERFECT house ... for us. It was a historic house that had been moved onto an acre block and renovated to perfection ... SQUEEEEAAALL!!! So I showed GB. He was quiet for a long time, then said ... "You've found our dream house." And it was open house the next day ... and it turned out I knew the real estate agent handling the sale ... it felt RIGHT!

There followed a wild and whirling carousel ride of meetings with financial advisors, mortgage brokers, real estate agents ... EEK! It was really happening!! So then it was the madness of preparing our crazy cottage for sale ... you know ... finishing off all those half done projects and finally finishing those 'one day' jobs ... DOUBLE EEK! ... de-cluttering, packing, CLEANING ... TRIPLE EEK!!! :0)

So this Federation cottage ...

... is now on the market and we're a step closer to reaching a long-held dream. It's exciting, it's scary ... it's been bl#$%y hard work!! And we couldn't have done it without the INCREDIBLE support, encouragement and practical assistance of our wonderful family and friends. GB and I have been blown away by the way people have stepped up to help us ... we are BLESSED!!

So ... now you know what's been keeping me away from my designing, stitching and blogging ... I told you it was a good reason! :0) I'm hoping to pop in a little more often now that the biggest chunk of work has been done, but since  a lot of my sewing paraphernalia has been packed up, there may not be much stitching happening ... SIGH! Hopefully all of you in blogland are stitching lots so I can stitch vicariously. :0)

In the meantime, we're still catching up on sleep after an exhausting month, so I think I'll play Polly and put the kettle on for a cuppa, then head for bed. Hope you are all keeping well and enjoying some creative time. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Winners & White Light!

G'day all! Hope your week has been super-fantastic! :0) The chaos continues at the Meares' Madhouse ... we're getting closer to a time when I can share a bit more with you about what the fuss is all about ... trust me, we'll be happy to get to that point too! :0)

So ... still no stitching happening here, but there's been plenty of flying needles in blogland and Sweet Peg and I have enjoyed seeing the OPAM tallies coming in for May. There was a grand total of 409 projects finished in May ... WOW!! Well done to you all! And to those of you who didn't get to add finishes to your list, but took time out to make some progress ... well done to you, too. It really does amaze me every month that you clever gals are creating so many wonderful and varied projects. Pat yourselves on the back! :0)

OK, so it's my turn to announce the winners of our random prize draw ... drumroll please ...

SIMONE

BRENDA K

Congratulations gals!! If you'd like to email me with your snail mail addresses, I'll pop a little something in the mail for you next week. As always, thank you to all of you who took time to email your tallies through to me or my Sweet Partner-In-Crime ... and a HUGE thank you to my P-I-C Sweet Peg for co-hosting OPAM with me. What would I do without you, Gorgeous Friend!! :0)

Now, even though there hasn't been time to stitch in amongst the craziness of our household at the moment, I did gather with some stitching buddies today in the workroom of the Quilters Angel. Our Quilting Angels group has been helping Sue Cook and the gals behind the White Light organisation. 

White Light is a not-for-profit group that seeks to support victims of domestic violence. So often, women who are courageous enough to get themselves out of domestic violence situations have to leave EVERYTHING behind to escape.  The White Light gals create pretty toiletry bags, which are then filled with some bathroom necessities and work through women's shelters to distribute them as a practical way of supporting these brave women and let them know that they aren't on their own.

We had "Sue's Sweatshop" happening today in the workroom, with the Fabulous Fiona, Jo, Kylie, Sue and Sue's lovely Mum all zooming away on their machines while I tried hard to keep up with cutting out more bags and linings ... boy was I outnumbered! :0) Would you like to see some of the pretty bags?

(photo borrowed from White Light Facebook page)

The toiletry bags are made from pretty, feminine fabrics, lined, paper-bag corners and fold-over tops. The fold over is secured with a sweetly-shabby-chic flower that can also be worn as a brooch. 

Are you interested in helping Sue and the other White Light gals to support victims of domestic violence? Well ... there's a few ways you can do that.

Firstly, you can visit their Facebook page HERE and read more about what the gals are doing. 

Secondly, you could donate some pretty fabrics for bags OR, very importantly, plain fabrics for linings so more bags can be made. You can also donate money so lining fabric can be purchased, if you prefer.

Thirdly, you might like to make some bags in your very own sewing cave and send them to Sue to help out. If you contact Sue through the White Light Facebook page, she will be only too happy to give you measurements and instructions. (she was cracking the whip today, let me tell you! Tee! Hee! Hee!) 

Fourthly ... are you keeping up?! ... you can donate toiletry items to go into the  bags ... toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, talcum powder, deodorant, hairspray, nail polish ... whatever YOU might like to find in your toiletry bag. If you pop an item in your shopping trolley each week, it won't add too much to your shopping bill and will be a big help when added to other donations.

The Quilting Angels came together in 2011 to make quilts to assist flood victims, but we are very pleased to be helping Sue and the White Light gals with these pretty and practical toiletry bags. We'll be gathering again next month for another stitching bee, so if you're local to the Toowoomba area and would like to help, drop Sue a message on Facebook and she'll let you know dates, times etc. Oh ... and we always have a BLAST when we gather together! :0)

Right ... I'm off to play Polly and make myself a cuppa while I watch the north QLD Cowboys get a hiding ... sadly!!! Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

End Of Month ... Start Of Winter!

G'day to all of you in blogland! The Meares' Madhouse is even more manic than the last time I popped in, so I'm afraid I don't have any sewing to share with you ... but lots of you have been busily stitching away and adding to your list of finishes, so this is a little reminder to all of you ...

... OPAMers. It's the end of another month and time to update your sidebar lists and email me or my Gorgeous Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg with your May tally. We always have so much fun seeing what you lovely gals have been creating. :0) We'll be blog-hopping in the next few days, so stay tuned for the random prize draw

And that means today is the first day of winter ... EEEEEEEKK!!!! You all KNOW how much I DON'T like winter ... SIGH!!! If I was a bear I could go into hibernation mode about now. :0)

If only I didn't have to be a grown up and go to work. :0)

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend ... lots of action around the Madhouse ... I promise to share a little more soon about what's keeping me busy and away from my blog. Have a FANTASTIC weekend! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS