Celebrating With Friends & OPAMERS!

Hellooooooo! How is everyone? Hopefully you've all had a wonderful week. Things here are still busy ... But we're starting to count down to our much-anticipated holiday, so we're hanging in there. :0) And this weekend is a long weekend, so there's an extra day to fit home stuff in ... YAY!

And it got off to a rather social start as I helped one of my Friday night sewing buddies, Chriss, celebrate her 60th birthday. Chriss popped around yesterday for a relaxing chat, cuppa & lunch so we could have a little play with watercolour pencils on fabric. There MAY have been more chatting, cuppa & lunch time than colouring, but that's OK, right?! :0)

Then today a group of Friday Nutters ... Er ... NIGHTERS! (Tee! Hee! Hee!) ... Met up at a local coffee shop to further mark Chriss's milestone birthday ...

Here's our motley crew ... Or as many of us as were free to gather. You can see the birthday girl rockin' her tiara on the left. Now, despite her insistence that she didn't need presents ... Gail was a bit sneaky & organised a birthday box. We all had the chance to decorate the box with sharpies & pop a 'little something' inside ... Ie. Most of us chose fat quarters ... Cos you can never have too much fabric, right?! :0)

Here's Chriss looking slightly gobsmacked ...

And here she is with her birthday stash ... Fabric, pretty cards, sweet notebooks ... & even some funky socks. And since it was a birthday, there had to be cake, right?

Chriss's look of amazement when she saw the GORGEOUS creation from Gail's kitchen. Would you like a closer look?

Isn't it amazing?!! Gail has created each of these icing flowers with her piping bag & placed them perfectly to create floral abundance.

Chriss asking ... "Do I really have to cut this?" Well ... She did ... Eventually! :0) 

Then she passed it back to its equally gorgeous creator to cut into portions ...

YUMMO!!

Thank you, gals, for a wonderful time of celebrating not only Chriss's birthday, but also the fantastic friendship circle we enjoy.

And after all that socialising, I'm looking forward to the next couple of days being stay-at-home-and-sew days. :0) Which (fingers crossed!) will result in another finish for my OPAM list. OPAMers ... Have you updated your sidebar tallies & emailed your monthly total to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg ? Well ... Get hopping, cos we've just about run out of September. And don't forget Sweet Peg & I take turn about to do the prize draw each month, so you need to check in with both our blogs. I've not heard from the last few winners I've drawn, so don't miss out!

Right now, though, I'm off to make a cuppa & put my feet up to enjoy the long weekend. Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you get to spend some time with your special people doing things you enjoy. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Stitchers Dream Day Catch Up!

Wow! Here it is, Friday again & I don't know where the week has gone. I thought I'd better pop in to catch you up on my doings ... There are LOTS of photos, so grab a cuppa & get comfy ... Chookyblue you might want to brace yourself! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The annual Stitchers Dream Day is hosted by the GORGEOUS mother/daughter team of Marion & Steph Marshall of the Quilters Angel at Highfields & is always a fantastic time of friendship, fun, food, chatting ... & some people even STITCH! :0) Friday was set up day, which is always organised thanks to the awesome planning skills of Marion & Steph ... Seriously, if I'm ever wanting to organise a royal gala or invade a small nation, I'm getting these ladies to plan it! :0P Fabulous Fiona & I were in charge of dressing the chairs ... We decided that over the last few years we've tied hundreds of bows in all sorts of colours, different fabrics & a few different methods, so we deserve an honorary doctorate in bow tying! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Organza & satin bows this year & dotty giftie bags. There were lots of "Ooh" & "Aah" noises when the crowds arrived & it was time to introduce the guest designers ...

That's Lesley from Faeries In My Garden showing off her design, with her stitching partner Kate in cream & Leeanne from Petals & Patches in black ... With Marion to the right of the pic, looking fabulous. Each designer was given fabric packs of fat eighths in two different colourways to create two new project designs ... Though Kate & Lesley took one each as they stepped in close to the eleventh hour when another designer had to pull out for family reasons. Wanna see the projects??

Lesley's journal folder. Gorgeous embroidery on the front ...

... Inside has two pockets that will fit a paper journal or an iPad ... Or you could make it your sewing pouch.

Kate's sewing set featuring a hexie pin keep, a needle book & a lidded basket ...

Pretty & handy.

Leanne's manicure fold out case ...

... With pockets to store everything ... Could also be a sewing pouch. :0)

And I think my favourite (despite it featuring my least favourite colour ... PINK!) Leeane's reading cushion with a pocket for a book. Love the cute bunny! Then it was time to socialise ... Er ... Stitch! :0)

Lyn & Julie got Stitching ...

Blogging buddies Robin & Fiona played on their phones ... Who said it was just Gen Y that did that?! :0P

Another familiar mother & daughter team.

Then there were mini workshops & demonstrations ... Leeanne showing watercolour pencil techniques ...

Lesley showing how to stitch grub roses (I need to practice!)

And Kate sharing more embroidery tips. Then it was time for show & tell ... So many gorgeous projects that people had created ... But one that caught my eye was a version of my "French Amour" pattern ...

A lovely bright, happy version for a daughter who loves all things French. And there was show & tell from the designers, too with lovely pattern samples on display ...

I LOVE Leeanne's mermaid quilt! A friend & I who are both March gals, so star signed Pisces, call ourselves mermaids ... More romantic than being fish! :0) 

More of Leeanne's lovely work.

Some gorgeous embroidery projects by Lesley & Kate.

And the lovely ladies who made the day happen ... Marvellous Marion on the left, Stupendous Steph on the right & the guest designers Kate, Lesley & Leeanne. Thank you to you all for creating gorgeous projects & a fabulous environment in which to enjoy a day of stitching indulgence! :0)

I discovered that Leeanne has popped into my blog from time to time & we've 'seen' each other on Facebook, so it was fun to catch up in real life ... Looking forward to more cyber chatting, too. :0)

And it wouldn't be Stitchers Day without a visit from my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette ... Pictured chatting to Lesley.

So ... There you have a wrap up of my busy weekend last week. I think I've kind of sleep-walked through the work week & am looking forward to a quiet catch up weekend with my Beloved Geek Boy. We're heading off on an exciting adventure in three weeks so there's lots to do before then ... Though I'm hoping for some sewing time, too. :0) Whatever you're up to this weekend I hope it includes some time to relax with your special people ... & maybe some sewing time! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Still Alive And Kicking!

Hello to all you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland! Yes ... I'm still alive & kicking ... & wondering where the heck the last couple of weeks went! I can't believe it's September already ... Though our weather up here on our 'hill' hasn't exactly been Spring-like.

Life here continues to be crazy busy, but things at my grown up job are starting to get sorted a bit. After four & a half months of co-managing the retirement village where I work, after the abrupt departure of our manager in April, we welcomed our new manager this week & I have a feeling he's just the right person for the job. There's still the settling in period while we all work out the new team dynamic, but I have a good feeling about it. :0)

And this week saw something else exciting happen ... I got to spend some quality time with my sewing machine!! YAY!! Between one thing & a dozen others, it had been over a month since I'd had some sewing time. Better still ... I FINISHED a project! DOUBLE YAY! :0) Remember I shared a pic of my gloomy day movie-watching project!

A little painted stitchery project designed by the lovely Libby Richardson. Well ...

It's FINISHED! :0) Now ... Those of you who know me well & have been visiting my blog for a while now will NOT be surprised to hear that I didn't make up my project by following the instructions ... I went rogue! Tee! Hee! Hee! I wanted to show off the pretty fabrics so put wider borders around my stitchery & made it as a 'book' rather than a tri-fold folder ... Which meant I had to redesign the inside of the folder, too. :0) But ... It's still a thread holder ...

... With a swatch of pretty green wool to store needles & pins.

It's turned out to be a very handy size. It can store 12 embroidery thread cards & scissors along with needles & pins. I'm thinking about making a couple more of these so I can have one per project. Of course ... It's taken me a year to finish this one, so who knows! :0P And ... It's the first ever Stitchers Dream Day project that I have FINISHED! I've finished the stitcheries for a few in the last 11 years, but never before have I managed to finish a whole project. Just in time for next weekend's Stitchers Dream Day! :0) Are any of you coming to play next weekend? Let me know so we can catch up. And if you haven't booked yet, I believe there are a few spots left for both the Saturday & the Sunday, so act QUICKLY if you want to join the fun ... A FABULOUS day is guaranteed! :0)

And as well as being the first Stitchers Day project I've ever finished, it's an early finish for my OPAM list for September ... To balance out the goose egg on my August tally. :0) I think quite a few of us were busy with non-sewing things in August, or were working on long term larger projects, as our tally was a bit lower ... But there were still 118 finishes recorded, so well done to everyone. And the August random draw winners of the OPAM stitchery pattern are ...

NARELLE C

&

ANNE MARIE

Congrats to you both! Drop me an email & I'll send you the PDF stitchery pattern so you can get stitching. Have any prize winners stitched their version of the prize stitchery yet? I'd love to see them if you have.

But right now I think it's time for a cuppa & then maybe some more sewing ... I have a few gifties that I need to work on so will get started while my mojo is in residence. :0) I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS