Inspiration & instructions!

Well, the last couple of days have been BEARY busy!! I told you last post that I'd finished my first challenge project and the lovely Peg, who is hosting the Finish Five challenge sent me this ...


YAY ME!! Thank you Peg! So, one down, four to go. Not only has Peg been very encouraging of those of us who've joined her challenge, she's been inspirational! You see, when I popped into Peg's blog to tell her about my first finish, she had posted a photo of one of her own finished projects - a shaggy quilt which is just GORGEOUS! (If you haven't yet visited Peg's blog, I'd encourage you to take a peek - and tell her I sent you over with Bear Hugs!!) Now seeing Peg's beautiful FINISHED shaggy quilt jogged my memory of buying a stash of flannels to make one of these fun quilts.


Aren't they yummy?! My colour tastes have shifted a little since I bought these - two years ago!!! OOPS!! Still, they look great all laid out together like this! So finishing this raggy quilt seemed like the perfect project to add as number three to my "Challenge Finish Hit List". Hmmm ... just one problem ... it had been been SOOOOOOOOOOO long since I began this quilt that I could no longer remember HOW to put it all together!! DISASTER! However, the lovely Peg came to my rescue and emailed me some instructions she'd already put together for other bloggers who had been admiring her quilt. PHEW!! Thanks Peg! And her instructions are so clear and easy to understand that even an instruction-impaired person like me can understand them!!! Hmmmm ... it suddenly occurs to me that for a bear person ... I've chosen three quilts as my first three "Finish" projects - how did THAT happen! Ah well, I should be nice and cosy warm by the end of July and set for many winters to come! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And speaking of being a bear person ... some of you may remember me musing (no doubt in a sleep-deprived stupor after my Gayndah workshop weekend!!) that one day I'd have to measure just how much stuffing goes into one of my bears. Well ... I was in the process of making a bear yesterday when the gathering around the neck gave way as I was about to stitch up the opening after stuffing the head, and said bear head fell off!!! Now, for a bear person, it's pretty alarming stuff to see a bear with no head, even if it's a work in progress!! Not only that, the head can be a bit tricky to stuff properly to get a nice finished shape - and I'd just FINISHED this when it popped off! So I had to UN-STUFF the head, undo the neck joint, re-stitch the neck, re-attach the lock nut joint, re-stuff the bear .... AAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHHH!!! Very frustrating!! However, to help soothe my frayed nerves, I took a photo of the pile of stuffing that came out of the head to show you just how much stuffing it takes to fill a bear. Remember, this pile was just from the bear's HEAD! I sat the TV remote beside the pile as a reference. The remote is 8" long.


That's a LOT of stuffing!!! No wonder bears don't come when you call - all that stuffing must muffle the sound!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

In the time I've been playing on my blog, a number of you have left lovely comments about the layout, look or various elements of my blog that you like - THANK YOU!! I have to be honest and say I can take very little credit for the look of my blog - in the technical-nuts-and-bolts-computer-stuff sense. That's all handled by my live-in technical support officer, my beloved Geek Boy, AKA GB, AKA my husband Scott. Well, GB has now set up his own blog (must've seen how much fun I was having!!) but it has a definite technical element that my posts will never have. You see, he's set it up to answer people's computer, electronics, programming questions. He gets asked for advice on so many different things (being the technical genius he is!!) and it occurred to him that some of the questions were repeated by different people, so ... if he answers them on the blog, other people can take advantage of the answers. So if you have any questions you'd like to try to stump him with, pop into his Geek Boy blog and leave your question/problem in a comment and he'll post the answer. I find him VERY handy to have around - but I'm just a bit biased! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Finally before I sign off, I'm going to leave you with a puzzle picture. What do you think I'm going to make from these things ...


It's a birthday surprise for a friend, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer before I share!! Right now, I'm off to play in my sewing room and cut some more flannel squares!! Til next time, Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Winter Warmers!

Brrrrr!! It's been NASTY cold here the last few days!! Several mornings have seen the thermometers drop to just 2 degrees!! Oooooooohhh! Not fun to get out of bed with those temperatures! In fact, it's getting to the stage where my beloved Geek Boy and I are playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide who gets out of bed first to turn on the heater!!

However, I've compiled a list of some winter warmers. Want to see??


What could be more effective to stave off winter's chills than: a hand made flannel quilt; a cuddly bear to give bear hugs; and a mug of hot chocolate, complete with little marshmallows and a couple of accompanying chocolate bars!!

Now, one of the winter warmers pictured above is also my first project finished in the "Finish 5 By The End Of July" challenge that Peg has put out. YAY! I can cross one off the list! Now some of you might think this is a bit of a cheat to be included on my list of five because it was already almost finished before I joined the challenge (publicly, that is! BUUUUUUCUCK!!), but I'll tell you my justification! You see, I had got my project to the stage where it only needed an hour or so of hand sewing, but then it was put aside, where it sat as I kept thinking, "I'll leave that for now, it won't take long to finish!" Hmmmm, what eventually occurred to me was, if it's so easy to finish, why haven't I done it!! So ... drum roll please!! Ta Da!! My Chocolate Mousse quilt is FINISHED!!!!

Those of you who've been popping in to visit me for a little while will be aware that this quilt began as a surprise housewarming gift for a couple of friends who enjoyed snuggling up to my flannel quilt during a coffee and dessert evening. Well ... my wonderful GB managed to let the cat out of the bag. He asked her when the housewarming party was planned and when she said she hadn't really thought about it - was it really necessary? he said yes - so she could get housewarming gifts like the one that had been mentioned on my blog. So ... she then had a peek at my blog and ... it's no longer a surprise. The deal still stands, though - the gift doesn't get delivered until the housewarming party!! Tough, aren't I!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Any excuse to gather a few friends together!! So ... AMELIA ... we're waiting for a date!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Now, I've also made a bit more progress on challenge project number two - my hip squares. Apparently, after reading my post, a couple of my bloggy buddies had the Huey Lewis song stuck in their heads and found themselves bopping away to it! Tee! Hee! Hee! I confess I did too! Good thing the neighbours didn't spot me dancing around my lounge room!! OK, so here are some update photos.


I love the combo of the apple green and jacaranda blue - so fresh! And then we add ...


You all know by now that I'm the "anti-pink", but this lolly pink looks great with the fresh green, too. Hmmm ... reminds me of those little musk ball lollies I loved as a kid!! And why not throw in another colour to the combo ...


Yummy yellow and apple green - looks a bit citrusy, doesn't it! I won't give the secret of how they'll all go together away just yet, but will give you one little clue towards the final quilt they'll be part of ... the nine patch squares done like this remind me of a daisy flowers, don't you think??? Stay tuned!!!

Oh! Had some exciting news last night! I got an email from Lilly Linda to say she's going to try to book a place at the Stitchers Dream Day Out at The Quilters Angel in September to join Lynette and I to play ... I mean STITCH! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'm VERY excited!! We all had a wonderful day when Lynette and I visited Linda and her friend/business partner, Laura, at Lilly Cottage earlier in the year, so I'm sure a day together at Highfields will be just as much fun! Mind you, not everyone was as excited by the news as me. When I told GB, he groaned and said, "You and Lynette get into enough mischief with just the two of you - how much more will you find with Linda helping AND hanging out at a patchwork shop all day!!" Tee! Hee! Hee! I told him if we managed to find a way to get Kerryanne up from Melbourne he'd REALLY have something to worry about!! :0)

Anyways, the sun has gone down and that night chill is settling in, so I think it's time to go crank up the heater and kick back for a bit before tackling the cooking chores. And what will I have to warm my tummy and keep winter chills at bay????


Til next time ... Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Hip To Be Square!

Have you heard the Huey Lewis song, "It's Hip To Be Square"? Well that's the song I was humming to myself this afternoon while I was working away in my sewing room. (No, Jimminy Cricket, I'm a bad girl and still haven't tidied, just cleared a spot to work in!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) You see, this is the result of my labours ...


I was cutting ... squares! "Here, there and everywhere - it's hip to be square!" Sorry! Song's still stuck in my head - damn you Huey Lewis!!! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'm not going to tell you what the squares are for just yet, though it is for one of my Finish Five challenge projects. And no doubt the sleuths amongst you will be able to backtrack through my previous posts, follow the clues and find the answer - 42! You know, the answer to life, the universe and everything?!?! Uh oh! More evidence of a mis-spent youth reading! (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for those wondering!) I'll say no more about my hip squares except, "WATCH THIS SPACE!"

Now, having settled lengthy and involved negotiations with my camera, most importantly about it's disinclination to acquiesce to my request (little Pirates of the Caribbean reference there!!) to take photos, and some theological debate between us as to whether a camera that is created to take photos, but refuses to do so can still be considered to be a camera ... I put a different brand of battery in it and it worked!! I then had equally long and involved negotiations (this time amidst some mild course language ... do I now get a PG rating?!?!) with the computer, specifically, the settings in Photoshop, I am now able to do what I need to with my photos before popping them into my blog! Phew!! It really has been a tough afternoon! Perhaps the government should pay me ridiculous amounts of money to sort out their union issues! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hmmm ... now, where was I heading with this sentence??? Ah, I remember! I was reading Leanne Beasley's blog yesterday and she is having a give away - quick! Go and visit her! The prize is a gorgeous little tin featuring one of her pretty butterflies from her Butterfly Garden quilt. I left a comment drooling over it, and said that once the above-mentioned negotiations had been carried out, I would post some photos of some of my ever-growing tin collection. So, here we go!


This is my shabby chic sewing cupboard that I did up last year and these pretty tins look very at home on top.


Here's a close up of some of my favourites. Aren't they pretty!! I love the tall stripey tin (it came with yummy caramel toffees in it! Mmmmmm ... Caramel!!!) and the little floral heart tin reminds me of pretty china tea cups.


Another little heart tin that I keep my sewing pins in - when I'm not sticking them into the arm of the lounge chair, that is!! And finally ...


This is the handiest little tin I own! Someone gave it to me a few years ago and it was full of teddy shaped chocolates. The chocolates have long since disappeared from the tin and reappeared in a slightly altered form on my thighs!! The tin, however, has been much more useful (though the chocolates WERE yummy!!!) as I use it to carry my hand stitching. The tin is only 5" by 4" by 3", so it fits into my handbag. (OK, so I have a giant handbag! My brother calls it the Tardis, after Dr Who's time and space travel machine because he says it has to be bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside for me to pull some of the things out of it that I do!!) The hinged lid means I never put the lid down and forget where I've left it - don't laugh! I bet you do it too!! And the little clip on the front keeps my bits and bobs from spilling everywhere if the lid slips. I can fit my scissors, scissor keep/pin cushion, threads, needles, stitchery, as well as a few 'just in case' buttons, bows, ribbon and rick rack. Now that doesn's mean I don't need to win Leanne's give-away!! Her tin is a little bigger than this one and if I won (besides doing my version of Snoopy's Happy Dance!!) I would be able to fit slightly bigger hand stitching projects into it to take with me where ever I go - you never know when there'll be a chance to stitch! So hopefully the give-away faeries look kindly on me!!! Tee! Hee! Hee! And failing that, I'll just wait til Leanne finds a suitable tin to release her pretty design commercially!! Uh oh! Another item to add to the "Wish List"!! That list just grows faster than Pinnocio's nose!!

Well, now that I've dribbled on much more than I intended, I really should go and do some more stitching - too cold to go back into the sewing room, as its one of the coldest rooms in the house! You'll soon find me curled up in the lounge room in front of the heater with a nice cup of tea, waiting for my beloved Geek Boy to come home before I start dinner. And I'll probably still be humming that darn tune ... "Here, there, and everywhere, it's hip to be square!!" Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Buck, buck, BUUUUCKKUCK!!

OK,so usually the dialogue of chickens ISN'T a written language (after all, can you imagine trying to hold a pen with claws?!?!) and so looks particularly odd when typed above!!! Let me explain ... you see, I was catching up with Granny Loz's blog yesterday and she mentioned she had joined the challenge to finish five UFO's before the end of July. I left a comment to say that I was doing so, unofficially, as I thought I might get stage fright from the public pressure and go hibernate for the rest of winter. (Still considering this option since it's rather cold and icky today, but for totally different reasons!!!) Now the naughty Granny Loz wrote back and called me ... GASP!!! ... A CHICKEN!!!!


I'm having sudden flashbacks to Marty McFly in "Back To The Future" - nobody calls me a CHICKEN!! Tee! Hee! Hee! So, I'm coming out of the closet ... so to speak!! I'm publicly joining in the challenge that Peg at Happy In Quilting has put out.


I will aim to (you'll notice I'm not rash enough to just say I WILL!!) finish five things on my "To Do" list before the end of July. So there, Granny Loz!! No more chicken jokes!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Of course, if the deadline starts to loom and I'm behind schedule, I may be like the chicken and cross the road - to leave town!! A little aside about the challenge logo - it was designed by that clever and versatile Chookyblue!! What a ... wait for it ... CLEVER CHOOK! Tee! Hee! Hee! I crack myself up!!! Sorry! Moving right along ...!! (must try to catch up on some sleep this weekend!!)

So ... guess what's on MY agenda for the weekend!!! Fly fishing ... Just Kidding!! I'm off to the sewing room to nominate five UFO's for graduation. Hmmmm ... where's that hat....!! Oh, before I sign off, if you're a serious bear fanatic, and only the NICEST possible people are!! You should check out Liz's blog and fab designs at Teddlywinks Designs. There's lots of cute little bear faces to admire and some fun patterns to add to the practical definition of "Infinity" - a stitcher's/quilter's "TO DO" list! Tee! Hee! Hee! Tell her I sent you to give her bear hugs!! But right now ... "Hi, ho! Hi, ho! It's off to stitch I go. No time to twitch, I have to stitch! Hi, ho! Hi, ho!" ... Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Stitchers Dream Day Out & a Story!

Well ... I said this week was set aside for cleaning my sewing room, didn't I? Hmmmm ... that hasn't happened as yet! The weather has been so overcast and icky and cold that I've just felt like curling up to stitch - so I have!! As a result, the sewing room still looks like a craft and fabric bomb exploded in there, but the Chocolate Mousse quilt I've been working on for friends as a housewarming present is almost finished! The quilting has been completed and I'm half way through the last hand stitching of the binding - perhaps it will be finished tonight while I watch "Criminal Minds". I like a good crime story!!

The other thing I've done today is to book my best mate, Lynette, and myself into the annual "Stitchers Dream Day Out". And I had scanned the logo to tease you with, but somewhere along the track, Microsoft has done one of it's annoying 'compulsory updates' and mucked up my Photoshop settings, so that I can't save it in the only format Blogger will recognise! %#$@&#^$%@#$%%$@# Microsoft!!! However, I'm VERY excited about being part of the Stitchers Dream Day Out! It's hosted by the Quilters Angel at the Village Green complex at Highfields and I've wanted to attend for a couple of years now and it's just never happened - we've either had visitors, have been away or have had other commitments that kept me from going. So ... as soon as I saw a brochure on a recent visit to QA, I sent Lynette an SMS to see what her calender was like and we've both managed to have the Saturday free! YIPPEE!! You see, Lynette and I have also been trying to organise a 'girlie' weekend for the last few years and, again, something always seems to come up to prevent it. So ... we'll kill two birds with one stone, so to speak ... but not really, as we wouldn't hurt birds!! We'd both love to book in for the two days, but thought it was safest to just book the Saturday in case life interferes again. We reckon we should be able to get the one day to ourselves!!

This year's Stitchers Dream Day Out theme is "Vintage" and it will have Debbie McGee (Always Stitchin'), Lesley McConnell (Faeries in my Garden), Leanne May (Candlelight Creations) and Libby Richardson (Art Smart) as the special guest designers, which will be exciting, because I love all of their design styles! Will keep you posted as the event draws closer ... and as I start to count down sleeps in my excitement!! And of course, if you'd like to join Lynette and I in our day of mischief ... I mean STITCHING!! Tee! Hee! Hee! ... you can book your place by contacting Marian at Quilters Angel. And let me know you'll be there so we can catch up - what fun!!

Now, the other thing I wanted to share was a story from last weekend's bear making workshop in Gayndah that I forgot to tell you. I won't mention any names to protect the relatively innocent! We were almost at the end of day one and the little furry critters were starting to look less like crumpled hand towels and more like bears. One lady had stuffed the arms and sewn them in, attached the head with the lock nut joint, stuffed the body and just sewn in the legs when she let out a gasp and a horrified, "Oh no!!" When asked what the problem was, she said, "I've sewn the legs on backwards! They face a different way to his head!!" I tried very hard not to giggle as I calmed her by pointing out that her bear's head was JOINTED, so all she had to do to prevent her bear from watching where he's been was to turn his head around the other way!!! Tee! Hee! Hee! She was a little sheepish, but relieved as she did just that!!

So ... I'm now off to keep stitching binding in place - where's Chookyblue when you need her! She's recently had LOTS of binding stitching experience!! Will catch up with you all again soon and hopefully by then not only will my Chocolate Mousse quilt be completed, thereby allowing me to cross something off my "To Do" list, (YAY!!!) but the camera may also have been coaxed out of its sulk and again be taking pics of my progress AND I will have worked out how to reset my Photoshop settings! Hmmm, sometimes working on the computer is the slowest way to do something quickly!!! Until then, take care! Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS