SDDO 2019 - Part 3!

PHEW! I TOLD you I took lots of photos! :0) This will be the last of them & it's a really fun, important part of Stitchers Dream Day Out ... Show & Tell.

Now every year, the designers & helpers wander around the room chatting to people as they stitch ... & scoping out who has lovely handmade goodies to share during Show & Tell! :0) So many times, we'll hear people say ... "It's not very good." Or "It's only a simple project." Or "I didn't make it, a friend did." Or "I'm too shy to speak in front of people ." Well ... Let me tell you why none of those are valid reasons NOT to share.

 While we all love to look at pretty things ... Hello! Otherwise, why do we stitch & quilt?! ... I really feel that Show & Tell isn't about us showing off, or bragging about how good we are ... It's all about women encouraging other women to 'have a go', to take some "ME" time & to be creative. You might say that your quilt/bag/pincushion isn't very neat, or not perfect ... So WHAT?! If we wanted perfection, we'd buy mass-produced quilts made by computerised machines. Your project is too simple? Great! It might encourage someone to say, "Hey! I could make that!". You say you didn't make it, your friend did? Then show it off, cos how very blessed are you to have a friend who loves you enough to take the time to make something just for you. You say you're too shy to speak in front of people? You're never going to find a more accepting, forgiving-of-mistakes-&-stutters crowd than a bunch of crazy stitchers who have gathered for a fun day out. We're all beginners at some point, we're all constantly learning & honing our craft, NOBODY is perfect, so next time you're invited to be part of Show & Tell ... Get up there, sista & strut your stuff! :0) You may be just the nudge someone else needs to get creative! End of rant, dismounting from soapbox! Tee! Hee! Hee! It's just something I feel strongly about ... & I know Marion & Steph, do, too ... As women we need to be encouraging & nurturing to other women because truly strong & awesome women don't not judge or put others down, they lead the way, then reach back to bring others up too. :0)

And after all that ... If you're still with me! ... Some photos of a few Show & Tell projects. :0) One small confession, though ... These are all projects made from my Tag Along Teddies patterns! BLUSH! :0) I love seeing what people do with patterns I've designed to make their own unique projects & I was pretty excited to see a few Tag Along Teddies projects in the lineup. :0)

This is a beautifully made version of my "Life Is Good" run-away-from-home bag. :0) This was the project I shared when I was a guest designer for Girls Stitch In a few years ago. My sample bag of this pattern is my sewing bag ... It's big enough to run away from home with for a day of stitching with friends. :0)

Michelle showed a sweet wall hanger she made from my "Keys Of Life" pattern. It's sweetly shabby chic & the first key was designed to make a gift for a friend's "21 Again" birthday a few years ago.

And Michelle's daughter Jodie stitched a cheerful teddy from my "Fairy Bears & Butterflies" quilt pattern & framed it. I love seeing my designs used in different ways & especially love playing a small part in encouraging younger Stitchers to ply needle & thread. Michelle & Jodie also made a bright & funky version of my "French Amour" quilt, which they shared last year. And my favour show & tell ...

Gorgeous fellow Stitchers & awesome women! :0) Pam from Cottage Garden Threads, Marvellous Marion, hostess with the mostest, & Lesley from Faeries In My Garden. And last, but DEFINITELY not least ...

AAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!! 😍😘 (my chipmunk cheeks & all! 😜)

And that's IT for my SDDO round up for 2019. Thanks to Lesley, Kate, Katie & Pam for sharing their creativity with us this year, thanks to all the lovely ladies ... Newbies & repeat offenders alike! ... Who shared the fun day with me. And a HUGE THANK YOU to Marion & Steph for all their hard work to make sure we have a fantastic day of being spoilt.

 If you're thinking of joining us for all the fun, frivolity & fabric next year, make sure you book & pay your deposit early to ensure you don't miss out. The theme will be "Celebration!" & the guest designers will be Katie from Cottage Garden Threads & Debbie Magee of Always Stitchn'.

And now I really think I've earned a cup of tea, so I'm off to play Polly & put the kettle on. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend & that you squeeze in some time to be creative. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

P.S. It has come to my attention that my website is misbehaving at the moment. We changed servers a few months ago & seem to be having a few issues. While the website will eventually be sorted, GB is pretty snowed under with his grown up job, so it could be a while. A range of my patterns (especially more recent designs) are available from the Quilters Angel. If you are chasing a particular pattern, feel free to email me. Sorry for any inconvenience. Technology!! 🙄 KRIS xx

SDDO 2019 -Part 2!

Helloooooo! Here I am again, as promised, with another instalment of my update of Stitchers Dream Day Out hosted by the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph of the Quilters Angel.

So ... When last we saw our heroes ... Oops! A little carryover from a childhood of watching "Danger Mouse", "Scooby Doo" & "Secret Squirrel" showing there, with a touch of "Rocky & Bullwinkle" & "Roger Ramjet" thrown in! Tee! Hee! Hee! SSDO ... One of the most enjoyable parts of SDDO is a whole day (or two!) spent with gorgeous gals, whether they're friends you've known for years, or friends you've met by being seated at the same table. One of my fave parts of this event is that my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette comes up the'hill' to play ...

Here she is ... Proving that despite the fact that most of the photos I share of her show her eating, she DOES do other things! Tee! Hee! Hee! Lynette stitching. And to prove that I DO in fact stitch ... A wee bit!! ... At these gatherings ...

Not my best look! Kind of a cross between Granny Grey & Kindly Librarian! :0P And a few of our Friday Nutters were on hand, too ...you can see Miss Sue behind me there ...

Miss Julie giving her 'startled possum' impersonation. :0)

... And Miss Wendy getting photographic proof that not only did she stitch this year ... She finished her stitchery! YAY! :0) And SDDO is also a time to catch up with friends from other places who we only get to see once a year ...

Felicity & I met about five or six years ago when she & some friends first attended SDDO & while we DO chat a little on Facebook, September is our only face to face catch up each year. You can see her absorbing a mini workshop with Kate here from Faeries In My Garden. And of COURSE SSDO means time spent with two of the most AWESOME ladies I know ...

Steph & Marion. I've never met two ladies who work harder (there is a LOT of behind-the-scenes work needed to run a quilting shop as gorgeous as the Quilters Angel !), who achieve more, who give more or who encourage people to be creative more than this dynamic duo. Not only have they been my biggest encouragers & cheerleaders in my designing journey, they have become two of my most trusted & loved friends! 😘

And on that heartfelt ... & slightly mushy!! ... Note ... That's the end of part 2 of my SDDO wrap up. Yes ... Believe it or not, there's still MORE! :0) Stay tuned M

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Stitchers Dream Day Out 2019 - Part 1!

Hello to all of you out there in blogland! I hope you've had a fantastic week. Once again mine seems to have gone whooshing by at a rapid rate of knots & I haven't done half the things I'd planned to do. I really do have to start writing shorter lists! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Part of the reason my week disappeared on me was that I was ambushed by a head cold that my Beloved Geek Boy brought home from his work & shared. SIGH! Just as well he's cute! :0) And because I was a wee bit tired from a busy weekend last weekend, I ended up tucking myself up for a sick day on Monday ... But I'm well & truly back on deck now.

So ... My busy weekend last weekend was, of course, our annual Stitchers Dream Day out hosted by the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph of the Quilters Angel  And if you've never been fortunate enough to come along to an event hosted by this Dynamic Duo ... You really need to put it on your bucket list. :0) I keep telling people that if I ever want to invade a small country & decorate it, too ... I'm hiring Marion & Steph! Tee! Hee! Hee! While SDDO is always a fantastic weekend of gathering with like-minded creative ladies to chat, giggle, eat, drink coffee & generally be spoilt ... Oh! And some people even STITCH!! :0P ... This year was bigger than Ben Hur, with two completely booked out days & a long list of people to be notified in case of cancellations. In fact, it was so HUGE ... That I'll have to break my report of it into a few posts so my blogging ap doesn't self-destruct! Tee! Hee! Hee! So be warned ... You're gonna need a bit of free time to catch up on all the goss ... & you probably need a cuppa & a bikkie to sustain you. :0)

Now ... From the time you walk into SDDO your senses are bombarded with prettiness, with the local school multi-purpose hall being transformed into a stitcher's paradise. This year's theme was "Vintage Market Place".

There were lovely vintage treasures on display everywhere, including a few from chez Tag Along Teddies ... Which caused a giggle when someone wondered how I'd arranged such authentic looking cobwebs on my trunk of bears to give it a true vintage look! ;0P I didn't have the heart to explain that I'm usually far too busy sewing to do housework & our spiders take advantage of my disinterest. Tee! Hee! Hee!

And you have to have a pop-up-shop of goodies to tempt you, right? :0)

Even the chairs & tables were draped & decorated ... My bow-tier-extraordinaire partner-in-crime was once again the Fabulous Fiona. We can tie bows in our sleep ... & possibly have from time to time! :0P

Then there were the projects ... Our guest designers this year were Katie & Pam (another mother/daughter dynamic duo) from Cottage Garden Threads & Lesley & Kate from Faeries In My Garden, who say they aren't a mother/daughter team but are sisters in stitching. :0) Designers are given two fabric bundles of fat 1/8's in two quite different colourways & asked to design a brand new project from each bundle using the theme of the day. Participants then receive a copy of all four not-previously-released patterns in their goody bag, along with the fabric bundle & pre-printed stitchery for one of the projects that they can start stitching straight away. WOW! All that AND yummy food treats! :0) Do you wanna see this year's projects? Well ... Since you asked so nicely! :0)

A GORGEOUS bag designed by Kate ... I LOOOOVE these fabrics & Kate's bag is practical as well as very pretty. Fiona says it should fit at least three bottles of wine ... Just to help you picture the size! :0P

Lesley designed a super feminine project folder ... Don't you love the bunting? :0)

Inside the folder are pockets for stitching, threads & a band to tuck laces & ribbons through.

And the Cottage Garden Threads girls, Pam & Katie, designed a needle storage set & a stitching cushion. I told you we were spoilt with pretty projects! :0)

Now ... Getting off track slightly for a moment, I can also finally show you MY two Secret Squirrel projects that I've shown sneaky-peekies of recently. It's become a bit of a tradition for me to also have a play with the fabric bundles guest designers are given & my projects this year are ...

A re-usable, fold-away shopping bag featuring a vintage penny farthing bicycle & the encouragement for us to return to vintage values of "Simplify, Re-use, Recycle, Make Do". When folded around the stitchery (folding directions included in the instructions) this sweet shopping bag slips into its pretty storage pouch & can clip to the handle of your handbag so you're ready for shopping. And my second project ...

... is a simply pieced patchwork drawstring backpack featuring a groovy vintage ute full of daisies & a lace rosette flower decoration. My thoughts here were that when my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette & I explore vintage markets & antique shops, I need both hands free to search, so a pretty backpack will keep my play money safe while I explore. :0) Both projects use gorgeous variegated threads from Cottage Garden Threads & patterns & limited kits are available from the Quilters Angel  The patterns are called: "Vintage Market Bag" & "Vintage Diva Backpack".

And that's part 1 of my SDDO wrap up for 2019. I'm going to hunt & gather some lunch & be back later with more pics ... Stay tuned! :0)

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

OPAM Winner & Weekend Winding Up!

Hello to all you lovely creative people out there in blogland! I hope you're having a fantastic week. Mine has been a bit muddly & is ending with my Beloved Geek Boy feeling miserable with a nasty head cold ... Which I'm trying hard not to catch! September is WAY too busy for me to get sick, so he's receiving care & sympathy from a distance! :0)

Not much sewing here this week, but this weekend is Stitchers Dream Day hosted by the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph if the Quilters Angel, so the chances of me threading a needle are pretty high ...though my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette says I do more chatting than stitching. How rude! And I'd be highly offended ... If she wasn't right! Tee! Hee! Hee!

While I may not have been stitching, I have been busy ...

Printing, collating, folding & packaging LOTS of patterns ready for this weekend ... My two new Secret Squirrel projects that I've shown you sneaky-peekies of will be revealed this weekend, so I'll be able to share them with my cyber buddies next week ... Stay tuned! :0)

I've  also managed to finish the OPAM hopping & the total of finishes for August was very impressive ...

177 Finishes!

WOW! Well done everyone! And the winner of the random draw prize of a Tag Along Teddies PDF pattern is ...

ANNE-LISE!!

Congrats Lise! :0) Anne-Lise is one of our wonderful repeat offenders who has been OPAMing with me since the start. Drop me an email, Lise, & I'll email you a PDF to play with. :0)

But now, I think I need to hit the pillow so my batteries are fully charged for a weekend of stitching, chatting & giggling with stitchy buddies. Whatever you're up to, take care of yourself & have fun! Back soon with Stitchers Dream Day pics ... AND ... An exciting piece of news! Stay tuned! ;0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Weird Weather & A Wedding!

Happy Friday to all my lovely blogging buddies out there! I hope your day is toodling along smoothly. It's my non-grown-up-work day & I had LOTS of plans for my day. HMMMMMM ... I need to learn to write shorter lists! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

I'm blaming the strange weather for the fact that I'm struggling to focus & settle down to tackle things on my "To Do" list. Our weather here on our 'hill' has shot straight from winter to full summer without passing through spring. You know I love hot weather & I'm enjoying being back in light summer clothes, but the extreme dry conditions our ongoing drought has caused, added to mid-30's temperatures & horrible 40km an hour westerly winds have come together to put us in an extremely high fire risk situation. And since we're surrounded by forestry here, we're keeping a close eye on weather reports & fire updates. Boy, do we need some rain!!

But ... We'd prefer it not arrive tomorrow ... Fickle creatures, aren't we?! :0P You see, we have a very special wedding to attend. The first of our 11 nephews & 3 nieces is getting married in an outdoor ceremony, so dry weather is preferable or ladies in heels will be getting bogged. Tee! Hee! Hee! And since this is our FAVOURITE nephew (SHHHHH! Don't tell the others! :0P ) I've made something special as our gift to the happy couple ...

A stacked coin quilt. I love making these ... I've lost count of how many of them I've made ... But I especially love this one because the colours remind me of the many moods of the ocean ... Teals, greens, aquas, navy & sky blues. If I was naming it, I'd call it "Ocean Dreams".

My mermaid & pirate Beanie Bears seem to approve. :0)

And as always, a huge THANK YOU to my quilting fairy, the Fabulous Fiona  Her free motion all-over quilting looks just like the ebb & flow of waves.

I hope the new Mr & Mrs like it & spend many happy years snuggling under it together. It's made to be a throw for the couch, or maybe a curl-up-for-an-afternoon-nap bed runner. Whatever spot in their home they decide on for it, I hope it is a reflection of their marriage & home ... Full of warmth & love.

And now that I've finished this quilt by its deadline, I'll be back to stitching away madly on my BOM design-in-progress. Are any of you coming to Stitchers Dream Day Out next weekend hosted by the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph of the Quilters Angel ? If you are, you'll get a sneaky-peeky at my BOM. :0)

But right now, I think I just have time for a cuppa & a little read before I get ready to head out to our Friday Night Sit N Sew gathering. I hope you have some fun stuff planned for your weekend, too. Oh ... I'll be back soon with the August OPAM draw winners. :0) Til next time me ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS