Progress!

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a fabulous day. It’s a hot, humid & sunny day here on our ‘hill’, so I’m happily settled in under the ceiling fan, playing with ideas about how to make stitcheries into a finished “something” …

… and remembering why I usually just work with simple squares for my patchwork. 🤣😂 I’m not really a patchworker or a quilter … I’m a stitcher. 😜 I needed to play with coloured pencils & grid paper to get a better idea of what fabric to put where. I think I’ve got it worked out. 😜 

Remember the gum leaves I teased you with last time? Well … someone has been munching on them …

And since we heard one of our local grumpy male koalas grunting & roaring last night, I’m taking it as his unique approval of my design. 🤣 We’re so fortunate here on the edge of our forrest to have at least four or five koalas that visit our big eucalypt trees periodically … they seem to have a bit of a rotation around the area to allow the fresh leaves to regrow between their visits. 

And now it’s that time, when I boil the kettle & enjoy a cup of tea whilst watching the test cricket … the Aussies need all the help they can get cos the Indian team is trouncing them. 😜 Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Take care, stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling. Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Exciting Plans & Sunday Stitching!

Hello, hello! How are you all doing today? I hope you’re enjoying a restful weekend. It’s a hot & humid day here on top of our ‘hill’ today … & while I like the heat, I’m not at all fond of the humidity. My Grandma used to call it ‘knickers-sticking’ weather. 🤣

So after some grown up chores, I’ve happily settled into our living room to do some planning, some design editing, some sketching & once I make myself a cuppa, I’ll pick up my needle to do some stitching. The year may only be a month old (YIKES! The year is already flying by! 😳) but there are some exciting things happening in 2023 for Tag Along Teddies that have got my stitching & designing motor humming. While I can’t tell you too much at the moment, I can share a sneaky-peeky of what I’m currently stitching …

… celebrating the forest/bush setting we call home. Stitching is almost done & then it’ll be time to play with fabrics … YUMMY! 😁🥰

Right now though, it’s time to boil the kettle, make myself a cup of lychee flavoured tea & stitch in front of a fave movie. My creative heart is happy! 🥰🥰 Wishing you all a fabulous week … hope it includes time doing whatever it is that makes YOUR creative heart do a Happy Dance. 😉 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Baby Steps!

Do you sometimes find that when you’ve lost your sewing mojo for some reason, it’s really tough to get going again? I confess I’ve really struggled over the last year to get into a creative habit. Between crazy Covid, topsy-turvy grown up job conditions & extra grown up job workload, my brain has been a bit full. So I was excited over the Christmas/New Year break when I heard the whisper of my designing muse & got sketching with some new stitchery designs. Then came the many hours of editing my sketches in photoshop to smooth out the bumps & get the sketches to publishing standard. Fun Fact: I fully edit my stitchery designs BEFORE I start making the pattern sample so that I’m working with exactly what you will be working with when you purchase one of my patterns.

I printed out the designs … And then … the edited stitchery outlines sat on my dining table for a week or two. 😜 I would stop & look at them when passing by, but somehow couldn’t take that step to trace & get stitching. Then on Friday I spent the day with three of my creative tribe members, got a sneaky-peeky at the soon-to-be-released Tilda Range “Pie In The Sky”, received some encouragement … & a giant nudge! 🤣 … & yesterday …

… I traced off the stitcheries, chose some threads & after I finish a few house chores, I’m planning to stitch in front of a fave movie for a couple of hours. 😊 And THAT’S why we need our creative tribe around us! 😉 I know it’s probably still going to take a bit to fully rediscover my mojo, but I’ve taken the first step. What do you do to help kickstart your mojo when it goes AWOL? I’d love to hear some ideas. 

If you think some fabric admiring might help get YOUR mojo motor humming, pop across to The Quilter’s Angel website to get a sneaky-peeky at Pie In The Sky … OOOOHH! & there’s a fabulous pre-order offer on this yummy range, too. But if your hubby asks, it wasn’t me who told you! Tee! Hee! Hee! Enjoy your week! Take care, stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling! ☺️ Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Another Year Of Possibilities!

Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳 I know we’re over a week into 2023, but I’m already running behind … story of my life! 🤣 How did you celebrate turning the calendar to a new year? Things at the Meares’ Madhouse were very low key, just the way we like it. 😜 

We don’t really do the resolutions thing, but we did finally start a home decor project we’d been planning for a while … we started tackling the Sleepout. You know how most people have a room in their house that’s a bit like a black hole? It’s the room that seems to magnetically attract all items that don’t really have a proper place, are awkward to store or are only used every five years or so & it’s usually complete chaos? Or is that just us?!? 🤣 Well, our black hole has been our sleepout … a portion of the wraparound verandah enclosed to create a narrow room. When we moved into this house eight & a half years ago, we said we’d make the sleepout into GB’s office … one day. 😜 Well, GB decided this Christmas/New Year break was the time. He disappeared in there for some time & after hearing thumping & bumping I decided to see what he was up to …

This is what the sitting room usually looks like … that door in the middle of the pic goes into the sleepout. What I discovered GB had been up to …

EEP! The sleepout threw up! 🤣😂 This mess enabled GB to paint the sleepout walls the same warm sage colour as the sitting room & we’re now slowly sorting through the flotsam & jetsam to either get rid of what’s no longer being used or finding proper storage for things we’re keeping. Having made the switch to reading on my iPad through kindle …

… I’m sorting through my book-books … I’m channeling my decluttering Mum & being quite ruthless … these boxes are all going to Lifeline. Good progress has been made, but there’s still a lot to sort. We really do have too much ‘stuff’. 🙄

And in between sorting books etc., I actually found my design mojo that has been AWOL for most of last year & began working on some new stitchery designs. Stay tuned! 😜 No actual stitching was done, though. However … I enjoyed blog hopping to collect the OPAM tallies for the last three months. There sure are some clever crafters out there! The monthly totals were:

OCTOBER - 103 FINISHES 

NOVEMBER - 37 FINISHES 

DECEMBER - 101 FINISHES 

2022 TOTAL - 979 FINISHES 

WOW! Well done to everyone who contributed to that impressive total. And well done, too, to those who made some good progress on some longer term projects. OPAM has always been about encouraging busy gals to take some time out of their crazy schedules to spend some time relaxing & creating, some ME time. Over the last 14 years of hosting OPAM, I have been blown away by the skills & creativity of the hundreds of crafters around the world who have joined the challenge to try to finish at least one project each month. I’ve also felt privileged to be allowed into your craft rooms & your lives as we’ve  ‘chatted’ through blogs & emails. It’s been especially wonderful to meet some of you in real life … & I look forward to continuing our cyber friendships even though this is the end of OPAM. Big thanks to my original co-host May-Britt & my longer-term co-host Sweet Peg. But without further ado, here are the last three random prize draw winners …

CHRISTINE MAC

JUDY S

JANICE

Congrats, gals! Send me an email & I’ll send you a PDF pattern prize to get your creative juices flowing for 2023. 😉 Again, thank you to everyone who has joined One Project A Month over the years … especially those of you who have been with me from the start. And even though I won’t be hosting OPAM anymore, I will still be popping in semi-regularly to share my stitching, designing & general craziness that is my life, so I hope you’ll keep ‘tagging along’ to visit me. 😉

But right now I think I hear the kettle calling my name, so I’m off to have a cup of tea & help the Aussies bowl out South Africa in the test cricket. I hope the first week of 2023 has treated you kindly & sets the pattern for your year. Stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling. 😊 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Ring Out The Old!

Well … it has been quite a long time between posts! Life sure has a way of getting in the way of the best intentions, doesn’t it?! 😜 There has been so much going on here with grown up work, family commitments, end of year gatherings & Christmas stuff that I’m not even going to try to catch up. I’ll just say that GB & I are very much enjoying this week between Christmas & New Year at home … apart from a few family gatherings & emergency-work-call-outs. 🙄 GB has been brave & decided it’s time to tackle tidying our sleepout … it’s where everything without a proper place languishes before being sent to the tip. 😜 And I’ve picked up my designing pencil & paper for the first time in months. 😁 Not a bad way to see out what has been a challenging year. Here’s hoping it’s a sign of what will happen in 2023. 😉

For now, though, it’s time to give OPAMers their last ever reminder to update your sidebar lists & email me your December tallies. I’ll be doing three random prize draws for October, November & December to catch up. For now, it’s time for me to sign off for the last time in 2022 & make myself a cup of tea … you shouldn’t really be surprised that that’s my ptrferred New Year’s Eve tipple! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks for hanging in with my erratic posting … I’ll try to get back into a more regular routine next year. Wishing you all a safe & peaceful start to 2023. Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

(Temporary Backup) Tea Anyone?

Hello! Hello! How are all of my bloggy buddies doing this week? I hope you’re keeping well & achieving more in your sewing room than I have been. 😜 It seems we’ve reached the social craziness part of our year with lots of outings, catch-ups & events happening or about to happen. This makes for lots of fun, but boy is it exhausting! 🤣

One of the recent social outings was a Girls Night In (though it was held during the day) as part of the October fundraising campaign for the Cancer Council . This lovely girly gathering was hosted by Miss Wendy, who is one of our Friday night stitching gals. There were lots of yummy things to eat & pretty china from which to eat them …

And lovely ladies to share it with …

… Including the GAWJUS Gail. Gail is another of our Friday night stitchers, who moved towns last year, but came back for the weekend.

It might surprise you to hear that we often end up on the Naughty Table together … we’re partners in mischief! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks to Wendy for being the hostess with the mostest! Donations for the fundraiser totalled $913 - WOW! About half the amount was raised through donations at the high tea, with the remainder being proceeds from a raffle. The raffle prize was an ex-sample quilt donated by Marion & Steph of the Quilters Angel. 🥰

Two of the upcoming events on my calendar are also high teas, that I will be hosting, so I’ve been …

… spring cleaning & washing my pretty china, as well as …

… using it as an excuse to gather MORE pretties from Marketplace! 🤣


I’ve also done some procrasti-baking. 😜 You know … when you have things you should be doing but bake instead! 😂 These coconut raspberry slices & a few other sweetie-treaties are now tucked away in the freezer so I’m not in a complete state of chaos when the high teas roll round … just a moderate state of chaos! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Now … even though my sewing has been gathering dust, I’m sure many of you have been creating up a storm, so don’t forget to update your sidebar lists & email your OPAM tallies to me … I’ll be updating the spreadsheet in the next few days.

And that’s it from me for today. I’m off to find a lunch-snack … we’re out to dinner with friends tonight so don’t want to have too much for lunch. 😜 Take care, stay safe & keep smiling! 😊 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Putting Things Off!

Hello lovely blogging buddies! I hope you’re all keeping well. You’ve probably forgotten who I am, I’ve been absent for so long. 😜 Do you find that when you put a task off for a day because you don’t have the energy to tackle it, that somehow, you seem to have less & less energy to tackle it the longer you put it off?? I confess to feeling like this about blogging at the moment. 😯 There are a few reasons for this … one reason is that I’m finding less people popping in for blog visits, which makes it less enjoyable to blog. But the main reason is … I just haven’t been sewing very much! I know that’s a bit shocking, but there it is. There’s been some design work & instruction writing, but no sewing or stitching. I’m out of my groove & haven’t found a way to get back into it … yet. I’ll get there, I’m sure! … in the meantime I don’t have anything to share with you all, so nothing to blog about. 🙃

One of the other blogging motivations in the last few years has been keeping up with OPAM … & with fewer people joining in each year & only three or four people regularly remembering to email me their monthly finishes, this too has drained my blogging motivation. And it’s also led me to the tough decision to not run OPAM next year. I hope my sewing mojo will come home & when it does I’ll continue to share pics & updates here … & I hope you’ll all continue to share your creative endeavours with me, but I think OPAM has run it’s course.

And speaking of OPAM … zombie flu, grown up job busy-ness, our road trip, lack of sewing mojo & my slackness means I’m a few random draws behind. So … the random draw winners for July, August & September are:

FIONA

JEANETTE 

MARIA

Congrats, gals! 😁 If you’d like to drop me an email I’ll send you a PDF pattern prize to play with. And that’s it from me for today  … I don’t even have a photo to show. 🙄 I hope you’re feeling more motivated & productive than I am & hope the rest of your week is fabulous. 😘 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 11 & 12!

Day 11 & 12 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’. Day 11 was pretty quiet, consisting of a few hours’ drive to Charters Towers, followed by an afternoon kindy-kip for the designated driver, GB, while I curled up with my kindle for a quiet read. When we holiday we try to balance up seeing as much as we can with having a break/rest, hence a few quiet arvos in the schedule. 😉

Day 12 was a fun one. Imagine my delight when we called into the local tourist info centre (usually one of our first stops when we hit town) to see brochures telling me that there were three historic homes open to the public that day! WOO! HOO! We spent the morning admiring high ceilings, original timber floorboards, GORGEOUS aqua window glass & fabulous vintage treasures & decorating. Alrighty, then … brace yourself for some heritage building spam. 🤣

Our first stop was once a church manse & this gorgeous chapel was next door. It’s not often these days you find bell towers with their bell intact. No pics of the manse as the rooms were a bit too dark & crowded with other visitors to get good pics.


House two was lighter & airier, so got a couple of snaps. I fell in love with the aqua windows! 🥰😍

This is the first time I’ve seen aqua windows, I have to confess. I now have window-envy! TEE! HEE! HEE!

House number three was a showstopper! I could definitely see myself moving in here. In fact … some of the rooms were decorated very similarly to our home … clearly it’s been decorated by someone with exquisite taste! 🤣 Actually, I had a nice chat with the lady responsible for the decorating choices & she said when she & her hubby bought the house, it was the first time it had been sold since the 1920’s … & she reckoned nothing had been updated or renovated in between sales! 🤣 Eight years of hard work, finance-juggling, wrangling tradies, sourcing vintage goodies & cleaning, cleaning, cleaning led to the state we were able to enjoy.

I was going to run off with the half-tester valance, as I’ve been hunting for one for about five years now for the brass bed in my sewing room. GB refused to cause a diversion for me! Selfish! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Each of the vintage brass beds was adorned in a beautiful quilt, as well as several luscious crazy-patch/embroidered quilts being displayed. 

The dining/lounge room was divided by the fabulous archway. If you click on the pic & enlarge it, you’ll see the ’crackle’ finish to the paint that looks like a special paint effect. In fact, it’s caused by paint layers & time. Apparently the timber tongue-&-groove walls were given a clear varnish finish when the house was built, then at a later time, this was painted over. Through decades of the timber expanding & contracting with different temperatures & air moisture levels, the outer paint developed its crackle look & the owners decided to leave it.


Bit harder to get a good pic of the main bedroom due to the door blocking the view into the room as it opened inwards. Still pretty special … & a similar colour to our guest room. 😜

After wiping the envious drool off our chins, it was time to explore the town … next instalment pending. 😜 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 10 - Part 2!

Day 10 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ … part 2. After a tasty lunch at the local bakery, 

… where our little feathered friend & his mate hopped around our feet, we popped into the tourist info centre to check out the dinosaur display & say g‘day to Mutt, the Muttaburrasauris … pictured with GB …

This is a replica of the fossil critter found at nearby Muttaburra … hence its name. 😜



We mosied amongst the fossil collection, greeted Mutt, chatted to the friendly & helpful tourist officer & then decided we were all tourist-ed out for the day. 😜 I tell ya, if anyone is putting together a pub quiz team & needs people who know about the shearer’s strike of ‘91 or dinosaurs … we’re your bunnies! 🤣😂 Moving day tomorrow … stay tuned for more adventures. 😉 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 10!

I hope you’re all enjoying catching up with our road trip adventures. I have to say, after being back to our regularly scheduled irregularity for two weeks already, I’m enjoying revisiting our holiday … & already planning the next one! 🤣 OK … on with the adventures …

Day 10 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ part 1 … Porcupine Gorge. 

About an hour from Hughenden the “Grand Canyon of Australia” was a pretty speccie way to start the day.

Here’s GB channeling his inner tourist. 🤣 I think we were seeing the gorge at its best with flowing water & lots of greenery around. The second stop in this impressive national park was Pyramid Rock …

Can you see the pyramid? We also enjoyed wildflower spotting, thanks to good rain falling in the region in the months leading up to our visit … some of which fell again during our visit to the gorge … the rain-bringing legend grows! 🤣 

I don’t know what this flower is … it could be a noxious weed for all I know, but it sure was pretty. 😁

And a few bovine beasties decided they didn’t want to get their hooves muddy, so were congregating on the bitumen. A nice way to spend the morning before heading back into town … part 2 coming soon. (My blogging ap objects if I include too many pics in a post, hence my’episodic’ reporting. 😜) 

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 9!

Day 9 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ was a travel day, moving north from Longreach to Hughenden. Due to the rain &  road closures, we thought we might have to take the long way (8 hours) but thankfully, the shorter route (4 hours) dried out enough to be open to 4WD. So we arrived in Hughenden in time to make the climb up Mt Walker to take in the afternoon views. Oh … the climb was up a steep road by vehicle, NOT on foot … we left that to the crazy locals who tackle the Mt Walker Fun Run each year… which is an oxymoron if you ask me! 🤣😂

GB spent a couple of years in Hughenden about 30 years ago & he says it’s currently MUCH greener & wetter than he ever saw it.

Somewhere out there is the township of Hughenden … hence the name of the lookout! 😂🤣

… a different point of view, but still pretty.

And that was Day 9 of our road trip done & dusted. More Hughenden adventures coming next. 😉 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 8 - Part Two!

Day 8 - part 2. Hopefully this will help my blogging ap cope with photo uploading.

After two rain-related cancellations, we finally managed to go for our paddleboat cruise on the Thomson River .

 Lots of water in the river at the moment & lush riverbanks. 

We chatted to other travelers from all over Australia & watched the sun sink below the tree line …

… before returning to base camp for a camp oven dinner, some bush poetry recitations & a light & sound presentation on the riverbank of the story of Captain Starlight the bush ranger. 

Enjoyable night, the highlight of which was Steven our bus driver’s running commentary … especially his opinions of the ‘logic’ of the local council … we could relate!! 🤣😂

And that was our jam-packed Day 8 over. Next stop … Hughenden. Stay tuned. 😁 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 8!

Sorry for the posting intermission … I didn’t fall off the edge of the world, just ran into some tech issues & then got caught up in the post-holiday catch-ups at my grown up job. So even though our road trip is over, I’ll post the daily travelogues here in the next few days for you to enjoy. So … where were we?? 🤔

Day 8 -  Wet weather stopped us getting to the Lark Quarry dinosaur stampede site, but we got a great dinosaur fix at the Age Of Dinosaurs experience. (Near Winton). 

SOOOO much to see! There was a relocated focalised dino trackway …

… a reproduction of a boneyard, 

… life size statues of fossil critters found in the Winton area …

… including the first meat-o-saurus discovered in the area … Banjo … pictured with GB. 😜

There was also a tour of the fossil processing areas … very interesting.

Highly recommend a visit if you pass through Winton, but allow a minimum of four hours to enjoy it. We were chasing the clock to return to Longreach for another adventure … separate post coming. 😁

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS