Procrastinating 101!!

If there really was a class with that title, I'm pretty sure I could teach it ... in honours ... for a doctorate, even! :0) Yesterday I had a long list of jobs to tackle. I was up early (Rats! Days off are supposed to be for sleep-ins!!), had great intentions and got off to a flying start with a load of washing ... and that's where my productive Friday went pear-shaped! :0)

You see ... here in the Land Down Under, it's spring and although I'm a confirmed summer gal, I love what spring does to the garden. There are things shooting, flowering, growing, changing and developing every day. So, when I'd hung the washing, I thought I'd just have a 'little' walk around the garden. Hmm ... over an hour later, I made it back inside to put the second load of washing in!! So then you can imagine what happened when it came time to hang the second load out, right?! Yep ... more garden wandering! :0)

I have taken heaps of photos of the spring garden to share with you, but need to crop a few more of those yet, so thought I'd just give you a little taste for now ... just enough to make you understand how I kept getting sidetracked! :0)

The number 1 attraction today was something we've never tried growing before ... Foxgloves. I absolutely LOOOOOOOVE the English country cottage style of gardening, but unfortunately, with our shortage of water (we only have rainwater) and our Queensland climate of extremes, many cottage garden plants turn up their toes pretty quickly, so we're gradually experimenting to see what will grow here and what we need to just admire on Pinterest. :0)

And we've discovered that Foxgloves do pretty well here in our sunny north facing garden. Aren't they great?! There are still a few opening up, but I just love those trumpet shaped flowers. It's like having fairytale flowers in my garden. :0)

Don't you love that depth of colour and the speckled throats? And they're pest free due to their poisonous nature ... remember all those Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot books that had killers using digitalis?? :0) And a particular favourite at the moment ...

We have four crabapple trees across the front of our house and at the moment they are absolutely FULL of blossoms and bees! And they smell GORGEOUS!! The blossoms, that is ... not the bees! Tee! Hee! Hee! You can't see them in the photo of course, but there were hundreds of honey and native bees buzzing around this tree as I clicked away with the phone camera. Fantastic to see for the health and balance of our garden. So ... you can see how I may have been drawn away from my productive plans for the day. :0)

But ... there HAS been some sewing happening here lately ... and I have photos to prove it. :0) The first project is actually my finish from last month's OPAM tally ... sort of! :0)

A version of my patchwork skirt for my MIL for her 70th birthday ... at her request. Apparently, she's been eyeing off MY skirts (I have about five different ones now!!) and decided that they looked cool and comfy ... and they are ... hence the ever-increasing number of them in my drawers! Tee! Hee! Hee! It was a bit of a challenge to work with these colours, as my MIL's colours and tastes are quite different to mine, but I'm pleased with how it came up and ... more importantly ... so was she! :0) Now, it was a 'sort of' finish for me because it was a bit of a joint effort to make this skirt on time ... I cut the squares, Mum overlocked and joined them into tiers and then I threaded the elastic ... so I did the first and last steps ... does that count as a finish?! :0)

The second project is one that's been a while in the making. You see, when my brother and SIL had their first son, I made him a quilt ...

He's grown a bit since this pic was taken! :0) So, when their second son was born, I said I'd make a quilt for him ... but was told that one per household was probably enough, thanks. Hmmm ... obviously they have never lived with quilters. :0) Fast forward a year and in chatting with my brother he said ... "You know how you were going to make a quilt for "T" ..." Yes, says I, but you told me not to. "Yes, well, we were talking and thought it might be nice if he had one of his own after all." Hmmmm ...!! :0) So I started to ponder a quilt for "T" ... then came our house selling/buying/moving chaos, then we had a revolving door of visitors, then it was Christmas, then we were moving Mum and Dad in with us ... and time just seemed to get away.

Finally, during my recent break, I returned my thoughts to ponder a quilt for "T". And this is the result ...

A couple of Vintage Volksies! :0) I'm really happy with how this came together. There's blue and yellow for Australia's oceans and sandy beaches, green for our rainforests and a couple of cute vintage Volksies for "T's" slightly quirky and offbeat Auntie Kris and Uncle Scott ... rather fitting since my brother continually tells me I'm a left-over hippy!! :0) I had so much fun cruising Pinterest and clip art sites to look at photos of Combi vans and Beatles to get just the right angles to draw up my sketches. In fact ... I had so much fun that I've started on a new quilt design featuring some of these fun vehicles ... stay tuned! :0)

So Vintage Volksies has now been handed over to the Fabulous Fiona to wave her magic quilting wand over it. I LOVE how Fiona puts the final polish on my quilts! I hand them to her with vague mumblings about quilting designs, end up telling her to do whatever she thinks will look best and ... ET VOILA!! She weaves her magic to make my quilts look spectacular! :0) Thanks Fiona!!

Right ... I'm now off to make a cuppa and watch "Gardening Australia" ... which will possibly lead to me being drawn out into the garden tomorrow again, but ... What a way to go! Tee! Hee! Hee! Whatever you're up to for the weekend, I hope you have some fun stuff scheduled. OH!!! And make sure you pop across and congratulate my Gorgeous OPAM Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg ... who has become a first-time Grandma!! Congratulations Grandma Peg and Poppy Jimmy!! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

PS. I'll leave you with a sweet something from my good blogging buddy Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique ... something for us all to aspire to. BH! KRIS