November Winner & Butterflies Released!

Well ... here it is, only Wednesday, still with two days to go in this week and already it's been a big one! Some exciting things have been happening here at the Meares' Madhouse, home of "Tag Along Teddies" designs ... BUT FIRST ... I need to announce the end-of-month winner for November for the One Project A Month Challenge. Before I do, can I just say that, either lots of us have got our sewing mojo happening again at the moment OR ... we're all starting to panic, cos it's less than a month til Christmas! Tee! Hee! Hee! For me, I think it's a bit of both!

The total number of projects completed (either emailed to me or May Britt, listed or posted on blogs - if you didn't do any of those things, sorry, your projects didn't get counted!) for November was ...

568!

That gives us a running total ... SO FAR ... of ...

5,084!

WOW!! Can you imagine what a sight that would be if we had ALL of those completed projects displayed in the ONE ROOM!! It would be crafter heaven, I think! :0) OK ... drum roll please! And November's OPAM winner is ...

Maria H!!

CONGRATULATIONS, Maria!! If you email me your snail mail address, I'll pop your prize in the mail and who knows - we might even manage to convince our mail systems to get it to you in time for Christmas. And that would be very fitting because THIS is Maria's prize ...

A fun pattern by another Toowoomba designer, Majella Rush of "Kookaburra Cottage" designs that has three versions of a country Santa! I've got a copy of this pattern myself and the flat wall-hanger Santa (a bit hard to see cos the camera flash has hit right on his face!) is very quick and easy to make AND it looks FANTASTIC!! :0) Maria also gets a cute country-style calender that will help her schedule regular stitching days next year :0) AND a groovy laser-cut timber gift tag button created by Lisa at Button Bliss (I have a stash of lots of her fun timber buttons!). I hope you enjoy your prize, Maria.

CONGRATULATIONS to ALL of the OPAM Challenge participants on all of your finishes and CONGRATULATIONS, too, to everyone who has made some progress on some long-term projects, even if you haven't actually finished them yet - every stitch takes you closer to enjoying a finished project! :0)

Now ... a few of you have been asking whether May Britt and I will host the OPAM Challenge again next year. Well ... we're thinking about it! If we do, there will be a few changes to the guidelines and we will limit the number who can join in because we've discovered throughout the year that 276 blogs is a LOT of blogs to visit at the end of each month and keep track of finishes for. So, stay tuned for more news of that later this month.

And on to the first EXCITING thing that happened this week. There was some of this going on here at the Meares' Madhouse on Monday afternoon ...


Yep, HAPPY DANCING!!! Which had to stop when the RSPCE (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elephants) sent a representative to our house after neighbours complained we were forcing our pet elephant to learn to tap dance! Tee! Hee! Hee! And what led to the tap-dancing-elephant-impersonation? This ...


The long-awaited December issue (No.79 Vol.10 No.12) of "Homespun" arrived on my doorstep. Now although many of your (especially Aussie gals!) will understand that the arrival of the latest "Homespun" issue is USUALLY cause for Happy Dancing anyway, THIS particular issue was a BIT more exciting to than usual because inside ...

... was my "Butterfly Hunt" quilt AND a designer profile on yours truly! OOOOOOOOHHHH!!! HOW EXCITING!!! My quilt-baby arrived home last week - probably the first of my exciting things, really! I know a few of you have already commented and emailed that you had discovered me lurking in your magazine - thanks for your lovely comments! And as if THAT wasn't exciting enough ... my very first quilt design is in the SAME issue as a project by my fave designer ... Bronwyn Hayes!! More Happy Dancing!! Oh ... and if you haven't already heard the buzz, Bronwyn now has her own blog, so you can pop in to see what she's up to. I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Catherine and her team at "Homespun" for inviting me to share my quilt design with their readers and for being so encouraging and helpful to work with throughout the process.

There have been a couple of other exciting things happen this week, too, but my Beloved Geek Boy has just come home from work and I'm going to go have a cup of tea and see how his day was. I promise I'll be back soon to share the rest of my excitement. And who knows ... with two more days left in the working week even MORE exciting things may happen! Oh dear ... I'm not sure I can take much more! Tee! Hee! Hee! I hope that whatever you're up to today, you find a little bit of excitement to keep your day interesting. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Happy Birthday Mum!!

Today is November 30 ... My Mum's birthday. And since I can't be with her today, I've already rung her and thought I'd also do a little birthday tribute here on my blog. And to do that, I thought I'd share a couple of photos of Mum with you.

Here's Mum as a marching girl in her home town of Mackay in northern Queensland, when she was about 18 or so - Dad always says it was her legs that caught his attention! Tee! Hee! Hee! The marching troop Mum was part of competed and did well in many competitions around the state.


And this was taken a couple of years ago for Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary. I might add that she hasn't aged at all since this photo was taken, although Dad has a little more 'salt' than 'pepper' through his hair now! :0) Bet you can't guess how old Mum is!! And she might hurt me if I made it public! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'll just say that people are always surprised to find our how old she is and leave it at that. See what a wise daughter I am!! :0)

When people ask who my heroes are, I always include my Mum in the list. She was always (and continues to be!) there for my brother and I growing up, made most of our clothes, made sure there were always home-baked biscuits in the bikkie barrel, encouraged us to do better, praised us when we had done our best, taught us to work hard to achieve our dreams, showed us by example to never be too busy to help someone, modelled true Christian compassion and love and ... even when the whole world seemed to be against us ... she wrapped us in the magical healing warmth of a Mother's hug! If I grow up to be half the woman my Mum is ... I reckon I'll be pretty happy! :0)

So ... even though my Mum doesn't know how to turn the computer on, 'sends' emails by writing her message out longhand and giving it to Dad to type and send (makes for some funny emails when Dad adds his comments in brackets throughout!!) and probably won't even see this, I thought I would indulge myself by paying tribute to a wonderful, wise and loving woman and by wishing Mum a very

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Thanks Mum!!!

I'll be back in the next day or so with this month's OPAM end-of-month prize winner (so all you OPAM gals better get updating lists or emailing me!!) and share a couple of other exciting things with you, so stay tuned. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

I'm A BMW!!!

I don't know if you've seen the posts on a few blogs in the last couple of days where bloggers have declared themselves "COWS". Now, this isn't a livestock study, we don't suddenly have ladies munching on grass or chewing their cud ... COW is an acronym for Cranky Old Woman. And with the heatwave here in Australia, a few are feeling a little crankier and older than usual! :0) Many have jumped on the COW bandwagon and joined the 'herd' ... But not ME!! I have decided that I am a BMW!!

B - Bothered, Bemused, Bewildered, Baffled, Bright, Bubbly, Beautiful (select the most appropriate for the occasion!!)
M - Middle-aged (at not-quite-forty, I figure I've got a ways to go before I'm old!)
W - Woman

There! I think that description not only suits me better - it sounds so much CLASSIER! Tee! Hee! Hee! And of course, if one is going to be a BMW ...

... one REALLY should be a break-your-heart-tart RED, don't you think! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Whether you're hot and bothered or cold and contemplating snow, I hope you're having a fabulous start to your week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

An 'A', 'B', 'C' Post!

OK ... so ... I was a little longer getting back to post some photos of what I've been working on this week, but I'm finally back to share an "A", "B", "C" post. Of course, since this is ME we're talking about here, you just KNOW it's not going to happen in order, right?! Tee! Hee! Hee! So I'm going to start with the "B" part of the post.

It all began with me trundling down the hill on Friday to visit my bestest buddy Lynette. You see ... it was her "BIRTHDAY" on Thursday, so I just HAD to go help her celebrate. We decided that we would play 'LADIES' for the day and headed off to Fleet Street, for a repeat performance of the DELICIOUS High Tea we enjoyed earlier in the year. You know ... just to check that their standards were still high! :0)

Here we are, playing 'LADIES' with our FABULOUS treats and our freshly brewed tea in pretty china cups. Oops! We forgot to make sure our pinkie fingers were out! Guess we'll never really be ladies! Tee! Hee! Hee! Right at the back, behind all the yummy treats on the table, you can just see a blue and white teapot shape - that was the tea menu and there were SOOOOOOOOO many to pick from, all sounding fabulous! I decided to try the Christmas tea and it really was like drinking Christmas! Fruity with lots of cinnamon. MMMMMMMMMMMMM!! I just know it's the tea that Santa and Mrs Claus drink up at the North Pole when they're having breakfast! :0) Can't remember what Lynette had ... she changed her mind a couple of times first! Tee! Hee! Hee!


Couldn't have a "Birthday" post without a photo of the birthday girl with a 'cake'! I think this was the mini orange and poppyseed cake - just one of the YUMMO treats we enjoyed. Oh look! Lynette remembered the 'pinkies out' rule! Tee! Hee! Hee! We had a wonderful day of chatting, eating and drinking cups of tea - but then that describes MOST of the play dates that Lynette and I have! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OK ... so on to the "A" part of my post. "A" is for ...


"ANGELS"!! Aren't they cute!! These are two of five of these cute angels that I'm making to put into my Christmas box - not sure who any of them are going to yet, but thought I'd make a few and then decide where their new homes would be! :0) Another couple of finishes to add to my OPAM list and another two gifties for the Christmas list. I know the one on the right isn't' really Christmasy colours, but I thought I'd mix it up a bit - whoever receives this cutey may even like to leave her hanging all year round! Oh ... I don't think I explained that they are wall hangers. I guess you could put them on a Christmas tree, too, but I think they look pretty groovy hanging on the wall to add a Christmasy feel.

And finally ... the "C" part of my post is for ...

"COIN QUILT". This is the smaller version of the stacked coin quilt I showed you last post. The first one for my Mum has been dropped off at my super-speedy quilter extraordinaire Rosalie's place last week so she can work her machine quilting magic on it. This is the throw/lap quilt size version for my workmate Tony and his fiancee Elese when they tie the knot in early January. This time I used charm squares from my "Swanky" packs that I bought from Sarah - aren't they bright and funky!! A bit too much pink for me, but since bright colours, especially pink, yellow and blue are Elese's faves ... these charm squares seemed to fit the bill! I shall drop it off for Rosalie to again work her quilting magic on and I promise I'll show them both to you once they're quilted and bound.

So there we go me ... "B", "A", "C" post! :0) As you can see, it's been a busy week here at the Meares' Madhouse, but my sewing mojo is hanging around for a bit, so I'm making the most of it while I can! :0) I've got quite a lot of Christmas performances with our "After Five" vocal group coming up in the next few weeks, so I'm madly fitting in as much sewing now as I can.

And now ... since it's still hovering around the 30 degree mark after climbing back into the mid-30's again today, I'm off to find one of my cool beverages and rest my poor pin-pricked fingers - did I mention I'm a bit clumsy with pins when quilting?! But it's OK, cos I didn't bleed on the quilt! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend ... although I know a few Aussie gals I 'chat' with have suffered through a scorcher - we're all praying for rain soon!! - and hope the coming week is a fun and productive one for you. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Heat Wave & Sizzling Sewing Machine!

I sure could do with one of these today!! You know how it wasn't really all that long ago that I was complaining about the unseasonably COLD spring we were having here on top of our hill? Well, it must be all that global warming coming into effect, cos we've gone from averaging about 26 degrees last week to mid 30's for the last two days, sitting on 37 degrees Celsius here as I type at 4:30pm!! - that's 98.6F for those playing overseas and VERY unusual for Toowoomba! Even I'M feeling the heat a bit and I'm a self-confessed hot-weather-gal! Have to say, it's the humidity that's making me feel icky and sticky, not the temperature, cos there's storms rolling around the area teasing us with the possibility of rain ... but not following through! RATS!! Still ... it's better BY FAR than being cold!! :0) (No matter what you say, Lilly Linda!!!)

But I'm happy to report that the heat wave hasn't chased away my sewing mojo and I had a VERY productive weekend and start to the week. Firstly, I finished the top of a stacked coin quilt for my Mum's birthday/Christmas gift. Do you remember some charm squares I found at Patchworks Plus a while ago?


Well, the pink ones (I know, I know!! But they weren't ALL pink!!) were transformed into ...


This was my first try at a stacked coin quilt and I confess to making some things up as I went along, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. In fact, I was SO happy with it, that I HAD to order some more charm packs from Sarah ...


... to make another smaller version as a wedding present for Tony, who I work with and who's getting married in January. The Swanky packs (the ones that are THAT colour!!) are the ones I'll use for Tony and Elese's quilt and the others ... well ... they kind of followed me home! :0) OK, so they didn't, but I'm intending to make some Christmas gifties with them, so feel justified in adding to my stash! It's a good story and I'm sticking with it! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And although this quilt top is the only finish I have to share at the moment (well, sort of finish - I'll be chatting to my super quilter Rosalie tomorrow!!) I have also finished the machine stitching on five more projects that now need some hand stitching done, so I'll be able to share photos of those soon - I promise! :0) So, all in all, my sewing machine has been sizzling along with the weather!

But right now, I think I'm going to go make myself an icy cold beverage and sit under the fan for a bit. My fave libation at the moment is a self-made concoction consisting of a splash of Mango Iced Tea syrup, ginger ale to top up the glass (Kirks is the best taste for any Aussies wondering!) and finished with four or five mint-ice cubes. If you've not tried mint ice cubes before, all you have to do is put a couple of handfuls of fresh mint leaves into a heat-proof jug, pour boiling water over them and let them steep for five minutes or so, then strain the liquid (a mint tincture or tea which can be enjoyed hot as a tea and is good for unhappy tummies!!) into ice cube trays and freeze. Actually, you could probably just make up some mint tea bags if you don't have fresh mint taking over your herb garden - like I do! :0) Mint-ice cubes are a must at our place for summer - they even give plain ol' water a bit of a boost! :0) Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh .... I can taste that cold drink now!! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

PS. It's raining - YAY!! Hope it sticks around for a while!! BH! KRIS