Taking A Breather!!

WOWSERS!! What a BUSY few days I've had!! So I thought I'd take a little breather and tell you what I've been up to. As I told you last post, I headed out to my Home-away-from-home on Sunday because the lovely Marion and Steph of Quilters' Angel were hosting their annual ...

Marion describes the "Girls Stitch In" as ...

"Taking time out to appreciate the joys of being a woman and embracing all things 'girly'!"

(I even typed it in pink writing, just for you Marion!!) And BOY were all the 'girly' gals SPOILT!!! :0) Imagine a marquee draped in satin swags, lit by crystal chandeliers and decked out in 'girly' goodies and you get ...

... THIS!! You can just see one of the chandeliers in the centre top, but you get a good idea of the rest of it! :0) On top of this, two guest designers were on hand with brand new projects designed especially for "Girls Stitch In". This year, the guest designers were Sue Daly of "Patchwork With Busy Fingers" and Linda Blake of "Bella Embroidery". Throw in a GORGEOUS Parisian-inspired bag full of goodies and everyone was in girly heaven! :0) Yep ... a day of stitching and indulgence ... including DELICIOUS morning and afternoon tea and a healthy but SCRUMPTIOUS lunch ... with live entertainment!!

Oops! They're not the singers Marion hired!! :0) But ... Robyn and Marcia had a BALL singing along! Tee! Hee! Hee! Meanwhile ... up the back of the marquee ...

... the party girls were bustin' out their moves! :0) Sue confessed that it was just as well she hadn't had a glass of wine with lunch or she'd have been dancing on the tables ... we offered to get a glass and clear a table for her, but she declined! Tee! Hee! Hee! Oh ... and just in case you were wondering where I was ... in that gap between Sue and Marion! :0) But you'd probably guessed that, right! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And although Linda wasn't up the back with us dancing, she WAS up to a bit of mischief ...

This looks like a nice, sedate picture of Linda modelling her gorgeous project for the weekend, a girly-girl apron featuring her signature crinoline ladies, right? HOWEVER ... there was a slightly SAUCIER modelling of this apron that involved Linda's skirt hem going up and a bit more leg showing!!! The French Maid's version of the apron perhaps!! Ooh! La! La! :0) I was too shocked to take a pic! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Now ... there WAS a bit of stitching going on amidst all the modelling, singing, clapping and dancing ... APPARENTLY! :0) Here are some of the 'good' girls stitching away ...

Some of these gals were local to the Toowoomba/Highfields area, but others came from all over to play for the weekend ... some from the Atherton Tablelands, Mackay, Emerald, Bundaberg, Brisbane ... and probably a lot more places that I didn't get to hear about. And working away in the background to help Marion was ...

... Marion's lovely Mum Ethel!! :0) This lady is just the SWEETEST and she gives great hugs! :0)

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Marion and Steph (who kept things running smoothly in the shop during the weekend) for another FABULOUS stitching event!! I doubt that anyone in Australia spoils stitchers more during a weekend retreat! If you're looking for a fabulous weekend of stitching, chatting and being spoilt ... make sure you book in to next year's "Girls Stitch In" you will NOT regret it!! :0) Pop across to the Quilters' Angel web site or give Marion and Steph a call to get more details or book your spot ... it's never too earlyto book, cos places fill up pretty quickly!! :0)

While I was out chatting, dancing and being spoilt by Marion, my Beloved Geek Boy was beavering away in the sewing room to prepare it for it's new colour. So ... I have a question for you ... What is "Sea Note"??

Answer: It's the colour I'm painting myself ... Oops! ... I mean ... it's the colour I'm painting the sewing room!! :0) Yes, I started painting the section GB had filled and sanded cos I just couldn't wait to see how the colour looked on my walls! :0) I am STOKED at how it's coming up and can't wait to see it all finished and decked out! It will be so exciting to have a neat, tidy, stylish creative space to work in ... even if it isn't likely to stay neat and tidy for very long! Tee! Hee! Hee! There's still piles of 'stuff' for me to sort through, but I'm making progress ... slowly!!!

"Sea Note" is also very close to the new colour of the smaller writing at the bottom of the OPAM Button ... take a peek at mine in my sidebar. If yours doesn't have blue writing, drop me an email and I'll send some step by step instructions to help you update it. Oh ... I've also had a note from someone to say that I typed Peg's email address incorrectly in the "Welcome To OPAM" letter that you would have received from me or Peg when you signed up. I fixed it everywhere else, but missed that one! Oops! Peg's email address is ...

pegcoen@bigpond.net.au

The incorrect one has an "H" in the gorgeous Peg's surname that doesn't belong there. So, if you email your finishes at the end of the month to Peg, please just double check the address ... or you'll actually be emailing a lovely, patient lady in Western Australia called Penny! :0)

Right now, however, I'm off to pop the kettle on for a cuppa. Don't forget to tell me your "Old Ted" story on the previous post before Friday to be in the draw for one of two copies of my new pattern. I love hearing about people's favourite teddies! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Tempis Fugit ...!!

Time flies ... whether you're having fun or not!! :0) I know I've been a bit of a slack blogger in the last couple of weeks, but I just seem to keep running out of hours in the day ... or maybe I just need to start making shorter "To Do" lists! Tee! Hee! Hee! Let's see if I can catch you up without the post getting so long that Chookyblue needs TWO cuppas to get through it! :0)

Project "Sewing Room Make Over & De-clutter" is still underway. There has been progress ... it just seems to have been a bit slower than hoped for due to a busy week. Will show some update photos in the next few days ... promise! :0) And my messy sewing room confessions have brought a few more "Chaotic Creators" out of the closet ... pop across to encourage my blogging buddy Toni ... she's also decided to be brave and tackle her creative chaos. :0) We can do it Toni!!!

In between work and de-cluttering, I've managed to finish writing instructions etc. for my latest pattern design ... "Old Ted Wall Hangings".

I love how these matching wall hangings have come together and the "Pure" fabrics were just right ... though if you wanted to make it for a little girl's room, I reckon something like the pink, blue, green and brown combination of the "Lily & Will" range would work well too. This pattern will be listed on the Tag Along Teddies web site this week as a paper pattern and as a downloadable pattern, so stay tuned! And since it's fun to share the love ... leave a comment on THIS post telling me an 'Old Ted' story and I'll be back on Friday to draw the names of TWO lucky people to win a copy of "Old Ted Wall Hangings". So, put your story-telling caps on! :0)

When I wasn't working, de-cluttering or writing pattern instructions ... I've spent a bit of time at my Home-away-from-home this last week helping the lovely Marion and Steph get ready for a very special event that's on this weekend. And since I'm about to head off to spend some time there ... I'll tell you all about it next post! :0) I know ... I'm a horrible tease ... but you LOVE me!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Hope you're having a great weekend, whether you're de-cluttering, de-stressing or just enjoying some kick-back-and-stitch time. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

PS. Pop across to the lovely Kerryanne's blog to 'meet' her latest sewing buddy and then take a peek at her newly updated website ... I will warn you though ... there are LOTS of pretties, so you might be tempted to buy up big! Tee! Hee! Hee! BH! KRIS

De-Cluttering Update & OPAM Winners!!

WHEW!! Sorry it's a bit later than I originally intended to pop back to let you know who the winners for the OPAM draw are ... I've been buried in the sewing room ... literally! :0)

All the guides to de-cluttering tell you that before you can clean up your mess, you have to make a BIGGER mess ... by dragging EVERYTHING out of its hiding place. Well ... step one successfully accomplished, then!! :0)

Here's how the sewing room looked after EVERYTHING was dragged out of the cupboard that was marked for demolition. WOW! Who knew I'd managed to fit that much stuff in there?!?! Nah ... some of it was already piled on the floor waiting for new homes, but most of this was from the cupboard. Since this photo was taken, I've been plugging away at it and have taken out three garbage bags of rubbish (mostly paper ... sorry to all the trees that were sacrificed!!) and three bags of 'stuff' that are either going to other friends (so they can claim anything they want before things are tossed out), or to charity. The ugly built in cupboard that was marked for demolition (the other one will go once we can afford to buy something to replace it) has gone and the new sewing desk has been picked up to put in its place ...

The previous owners hadn't painted inside the cupboard, so there's a 'feature wall here now! :0) The desk is just what I wanted and fits nicely in this spot now. It will get a shabby chic/French provincial make over when we're painting ... the walls will be a cornflower blue with white trims. The old sewing table has gone from this ...

... to THIS ...

So ... some progress ... though it seems to be taking a LOOOOOONG time to see any difference!! Now ... a lot of gals confessed that their sewing rooms could do with a make-over and de-cluttering campaign too ... how many of you are game to show brutally honest photos of your sewing mess and join me in cleaning up?!?! It's a bit like a 12-step program ... "My name is Kris and I have a sewing room clutter problem". Tee! Hee! Hee! If you're brave enough to post some 'BEFORE' and 'AFTER' pics of YOUR sewing room clutter, let me know when you post some pics ... we'll cheer each other on! :0)

Now that I've showed you my reason for being a bit later than expected with my OPAM winners, I'd better tell you who was chosen by the random number generator thingy. :0) First, can I say a huge ..

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
... to all of you OPAMers!! There were

708

finishes registered for February! WOW!! Maybe a few of you are also trying to clean out your sewing rooms ... one project at a time! Tee! Hee! Hee! That is FABULOUS ... especially since February is our shortest month for the year. Well done, too, to those gals who may not have registered finishes, but made some progress on a few projects ... I know quite a few of you are working on quilts BOMs and other longer-term projects. If you managed to take a bit of time to stitch and make some progress, then you've done well, too! :0)

OK ... the three winners for February's random draw are ...

JOANNE

RAIMAREE

MARILYN

Congrats, gals! If you can email me with your snail mail addresses, I'll pop a little surprise into the post for you. Now since this was a double-whammy prize draw for January AND February ... you'll be wondering where the January winners are ... well, you'll just have to hop on over to Peg's blog (if you haven't already!!) where she posted her three prize winners this morning ... Peg's an early bird and I'm a night owl! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Oh ... and keep an eye on your OPAM badge in the next few days ... my Beloved Geek Boy will once again update the total number of projects completed since OPAM began ... the smaller writing at the bottom of the button (which should currently be green) will change to BLUE. If your smaller writing is still red, drop me an email and I'll give you some super-simple steps to follow to get the button loaded up properly so your button receives the monthly updates automatically.

Well ... I think that's it from me today and after all that cleaning and counting, I think I've earned a cuppa before I cook dinner. Hope you're all having a great start to your week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

I'm Gonna Be RUTHLESS ... Sort Of!!!

I'm going to be REALLY RUTHLESS!!! Sort of! A bit! Maybe .... Awwwwww .... who am I kidding! I'm really not good at being ruthless!!! No, no ... I'm not thinking of attacking anyone or invading a small island nation ... just getting ready to attack a HUGE task ... Spring cleaning the sewing room!! EEP!

It's sort of a long story ... you see ... it all began when we bought and moved into this house. Previously, we'd been renting a HUGE old farm house ... the equivalent of a six bedroom, plus large dining room, plus sitting room, plus huge lounge room house. Which we very quickly filled with 'stuff'! So then we bought our current cute Federation cottage ... which has four bedrooms, a small lounge room, small dining room, and a kitchen we renovated a year and a half ago. You can imagine, then, just how much of a challenge it's been for two collectors (my Mother says hoarders, but that sounds so harsh!!!) to downsize enough to fit. Storage is ALWAYS a problem. And although we've cleared out a lot of 'stuff' as we've renovated each room, the two most challenging rooms have been left til last ... the office and ... MY SEWING ROOM!!! Each of these rooms contains the contents intended by their titles ... along with all the 'stuff' that didn't fit anywhere else. Are you getting a mental picture here?? Let me show you a few actually pictures of my sewing room. I know I've shown a few over the time, but this is what it looks like today.

These are the only built in cupboards in the house and not only are they fairly unattractive, they're incredibly badly designed and pretty hopeless at being useful storage space. There's actually two banks of these along the entire wall that has the entry door to the sewing room in it and because the sewing room also has windows on two walls, it severely limits how I can arrange furniture.

This is my current sewing table. Have you ever noticed that the bigger your sewing table, the more mess and clutter you store there? Is that a little-known law of physics or is that just ME!! :0) On the other side of the room ...

Two large bookshelves that used to be in the 'library' in the farm house. At the bottom of the picture, you can see that my stash is in complete disarray ... funny ... it USED to fit into that container! Tee! Hee! Hee!

With the projects I'm designing for my Tag Along Teddies range of patterns getting bigger ie. from teddies to quilts ... I really do need more useable room in my sewing room, so the decision was made that this would be the year of

"Project Sewing Room Makeover & De-Clutter".

Step one was the decision to pack my overlocker away, (I really don't use it as much as my sewing machine) dump the stereo on the end of the table that hasn't actually worked for about six years (don't ask why I've kept it this long, it is a mystery to me too!!) and get a smaller sewing table. That's not as odd as it may sound! :0) You see, that bank of built in cupboards is being ripped out and that is where my sewing desk will be ... a smaller space than my current table will fit into, plus, my current sewing table is only a cheap fold up one that gets a pretty decent vibration 'bounce' happening when it's pedal-to-the-metal on the ol' Husky! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'll also be testing out that peculiar law of physics I mentioned and see if the level of clutter drops ... stay tuned! :0)

Well ... I ordered a nice solid pine table to house my Husky ... and got a phone call this week to say it's ready ... two weeks earlier than expected! EEK! That of course means I actually have to stop procrastinating about spring cleaning my sewing room and DO it! EEK! Now, since it seems such an overwhelming task to this non-compulsive-cleaner (Mum was supposed to help me get started at Christmas time cos she is a champion de-clutterer but the floods cancelled their visit ... AND the assisted beginning of my cleaning!!), I decided to start with a relatively small task ... culling my vast magazine collection. Since it's a rainy, overcast day today, what better way to entertain myself AND dip my toes into the spring cleaning pool than ...

... flicking through the old magazines to tear out pictures, ideas and recipes that I want to keep, before the magazines go to a new home. I've actually already culled over 100 craft magazines ... Christina is having a lovely time with those! :0) I'm now tackling the old "House & Garden", "Home Beautiful", and "Better Homes & Gardens" issues. Some of these date back to the early 1990's and it's kind of fun (and sometimes a little scary!!) to see the trends and decorating fashions and how they've changed. Not to mention, noticing how much my own taste and style has changed. :0) I've gone from the natural timbers, pottery and dark dusty country colours and furniture styles to white painted furniture, softer colours and a sort of shabby-French-country-cottage-chic style all of my own! :0)

So ... you've probably guessed, there's not a lot of stitching going on at the Meares' Madhouse at the moment, apart from a little bit of hand stitching. I'll keep you updated on the progress of

"Project Sewing Room Makeover & De-clutter",

but right now, I think I'm going to make myself a cup of Peppermint tea and cull some more magazines. :0)

OPAMers ... Peg and I haven't forgotten the double-whammy combined January/February prize draw we promised. We decided to leave a few days grace for people to remember that they'd forgotten to email us their finishes ... if you see what I mean! Tee! Hee! Hee! We'll be announcing the SIX lucky random winners (3 from each of us) by the end of the weekend, so STAY TUNED! :0) Wish me luck with my de-cluttering campaign! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Catching Up!

WHEW! What a busy, busy week it has been, with a whirl of social activities and travelling and BOY am I EXHAUSTED! :0) I have a long list of things that really need to be done this weekend to play catch up after being away last weekend ... but I just don't seem to have the energy, so thought I'd procrastinate by popping a post on to update my blogging buddies on what I've been doing. :0)

Let's see ... we travelled the five hours north to Bargara, near Bundaberg last Saturday to meet up with most of my mad rellies from Mum's side of the family. And it was a REAL hardship to look over our unit's balcony to see this ...

Yep ... hardship indeed! :0) Queensland is back to living up to it's motto of, "Beautiful One Day - Perfect The Next!" And it certainly was perfect weather for a family reunion at the beach. Grandma lives at Bargara, so it was the best spot for us all to meet up. Mum and Dad drove across from Mundubbera, one uncle and aunt and two cousins travelled up from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, two cousins flew in from Western Australia and my brother and his wife flew in from Alice Spring. Now this meant all of Grandma's grandkids but one (who is studying in New Zealand) were on hand, as well as her three great-grandchildren. Here we all are ... you'll have to excuse the colour/lighting ... the perfect sunny day may have been great for a beach visit, but it did make it a bit awkward to get photo lighting right! :0)

It was so much fun to catch up with everyone, especially my WA cousins - I hadn't seen one for nine years and it had been almost three since I'd caught up with the other. And of course the big bonus was getting to catch up with my brother and SIL and my seriously cute nephew! :0) Not that I'm at all biased, of course! :0) There were lots of chats, swims, lunches out and catching up in general to be enjoyed before we headed for home late Tuesday afternoon. I even managed to squeeze in a visit to The Quilters' Shack, where I caught up with Jenny, who was one of our OPAMers last year - Hey Jenny! :0) It was just as well we'd done most of our catching up on Sunday and Monday, though, cos on Tuesday morning we were greeted with this view ...

A bit different to the pretty blues of Saturday when the other pic was taken! :0) So ... no tan for me! :0) It actually showered quite heavily throughout Tuesday, but thankfully, our trip home was rain-free.

Wednesday was back to work to play a bit of catch up for the two days I'd had off (I'm very lucky to have an understanding boss!!). Thursday after work, I made a flying visit to Quilters' Angel to say G'day to Marion and Steph and all the gals beavering away at machine quilting some of the Flood Quilt Drive quilts - can I just say WOW! These quilts are GORGEOUS!! Well done to everyone who has been involved!! Then, I scooted home to throw a few things in an overnight bag to head down the hill to Bris to meet up with my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette. We both got a little gussied ...

Can I just say that ... yes ... Lynette IS quite a bit taller than me, but not THAT much!!! She was wearing heels and I was wearing flats! Just made us look even more like Laurel and Hardy than usual! Tee! Hee! Hee! We then headed into the city to enjoy an evening at the theatre to see "Wicked". Apart from having to hike a fair distance to get to the theatre (the QPAC carpark was damaged in recent flooding and is still under repair, so we had to park at the Conference centre) we had a FABULOUS evening! We both thoroughly enjoyed the show and if you haven't seen it and still have the chance to ... GO AND SEE IT! :0) Jemma Rix who played Elphaba has the MOST amazing voice I've heard in a long time - she just blew us away with "Defying Gravity". And the COSTUMES ..... DROOOOOOL!!! I would have loved to see them up close cos even from the audience (we had pretty good seats so good views of everything) you could see the detailed work in them.

Friday saw Lynette and I enjoy a play date, where we headed off to "Forget-Me-Not Tea Room" for High Tea. We hadn't visited this tea room before, so it was a new adventure ... and a DELICIOUS one at that! Sorry ... too busy gobbling goodies to take a pic! ;0) And when we went to pay for our treats, we were each presented with a pretty beribboned rose bud .... AAAAAAWWWWWW!!! You can guess we'll be heading back there again! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... all in all ... an exhausting week, but a good one of catching up with family and friends. Hopefully the coming week will be a wee bit quieter so I can get some stitching done ... and some instructions written ... GROAN!! Hope you've all had a fabulous week too and that you're managing to find some 'YOU' time this weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS