Surprise!!

You didn't think I'd be back again THIS quickly, did you?! :0) I had some requests for a closer look at some of the applique elements on my quilt, so thought I'd pop back in to give you a closer peek ...

"French" ... a combination of blanket stitch applique and back stitch embroidery ...

"Amour" ... the same combination of techniques ...

"Eiffel Tower" ... you can't have a French quilt without it, can you! :0) Blanket stitch applique with chain stitched antenna thingy (that's the technical term of course!!!) on top.

"Fleur De Lise" ... one of these in each corner of the quilt, but each blanket stitched in a different fabric.

"Perfume" & "Merci" ... French perfumes are another French icon that just had to be included and throw in a few French good manners. I think this is my favourite block on the quilt ... could be because I love the look of old perfume bottles! :0)

"Bonjour" & "Bag & Shoes" ... The French language just seems so smooth and romantic ... even if you're just saying "G'day!" Tee! Hee! Hee! And high fashion is another element associated with France ... plus ... what girl DOESN'T like a sweet handbag or a gorgeous pair of shoes! :0)

So ... there you have it ... a bit closer peek at my "French Amour" quilt ... and as the name suggests ... I'm still loving all things French! :0) Hope you enjoyed the peek and don't forget if you'd like to make your very own version of my "French Amour" quilt, you can buy a pattern from my Tag Along Teddies web site ... once I get my Beloved Geek Boy to upload it today!!!!

(EDIT: The web page finally played nice and I've uploaded French Amour to the web site!!)

OR ... you can contact Quilters Angel and Marion and Steph can fix you right up. Oh ... they also have a limited number of kits done up for "French Amour" in the gorgeous "Rouenerries Deux" fabrics by French General that I've used for MY "French Amour" quilt. Then again ... you might like to make it up in pretty pastels for a girly girly look, or some red, white and blue for a patriotic French flavour ... the possibilities are endless!!! You can see why I keep creating new designs!! :0)

OK ... I'm off to hang out my washing before the neighbour lights his fire for the afternoon ... just another thing I hate about winter ... having to dodge the neighbour's wood smoke to get my washing dry on the line in the fresh air ... SIGH!!!! It's not even winter yet and I'm looking forward to spring!! Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you have some fun stuff scheduled. I'll be back with the promised peek of some new projects soon ... promise! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

COOOOOOOOEEEEEE!!

For those non-Aussies (and for those who haven't seen 'Crocodile Dundee'!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) the echoing cry of "Cooooooooeeeee!" is a traditional way stockmen used to stay in contact with each other when working in scrub or situations where they couldn't SEE each other. Since it has been a week since I last posted, I thought I'd better employ the ol' Aussie "Cooooooooeeeeee!" to get back in contact with you all again! :0)

This week ... as I seem to be always complaining! ... went by in the blink of an eye and I've been very busy ... I promise!! :0) I just haven't managed to get around to taking PHOTOS of what's been keeping me busy ... but I promise I will on the weekend when I have time to take a breath.

One exciting thing that I CAN share with you right now, though, is the launch of a new Tag Along Teddies Pattern ... YAY!! My "French Amour" quilt is now available as a pattern in paper or PDF format!

Ta Da! It's taken a little while to finalise the pattern-writing side of things, but it's all done now ... though it hasn't actually been added to my web site yet due to a bit of a hiccup with the system ... some setting has changed in one of the auto 'updates' and I couldn't get into the nuts-and-bolts of the site to add this newest pattern ... but I'll put it on my Beloved Geek Boy's "To Do" list for the weekend! :0) If you can't wait that long, though, just email me with your order and we'll sort it out from there. Let there be NO barriers to stop us gals from shopping when we want to! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The other option you have to buy my "French Amour" quilt pattern (as well as many other patterns in my Tag Along Teddies range!!) is to contact Marion and Steph at my Home-Away-From-Home, Quilters Angel at Highfields. I was out there today to play ... WORK ... with the other Quilting Angels and just HAD to take a photo of my 'baby' displayed in the shop ...

OOOHH!!! How exciting to see another of my quilt-babies displayed at my Home-Away-From-Home! :0) And even in this little snapshot of a small part of the shop, you can see that it is jam-packed with goodies. If you're within driving distance, you really should come for a visit sometime ... and it you let me know you're coming, I'd be happy to meet up for a cuppa and a browse ... it's such a HARDSHIP to show people around Quilters Angel! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I'm now off to do something about dinner (maybe dialing the pizza shop is as much as I'll manage to do! Tee! Hee! Hee!) but I promise to be back this weekend with pics of a couple of finishes ... one is another new pattern that is ALMOST ready to launch and the other is a giftie. I'll keep you in suspenders for a little while now! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope all of you, my blogging buddies, have had a good week, even if YOUR week went whizzing by as quickly as mine! :0) I hope there was at least a LITTLE bit of time set aside for you to create and relax this week ... if not ... make sure you treat yourself to some "YOU" time this weekend. Til next time ...

 BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Sittin' & Stitchin' !!

That's how I'm spending a VERY rare Friday at home ... and I'm LOVING it! :0) Friday is officially my day off work, but with two Fridays a month dedicated to the "Quilting Angels" and many others spent running errands or catching up with friends and family, a full, UNINTERRUPTED day at home is indeed a rare treasure. So ... how do I spend a WHOLE day at home? Here's a clue ...

... some of my fave movies, some hand-stitching, a mug of chai latte ... oh ... and a few little sweety treaties ... just to help keep my strength up to stitch, you understand! Tee! Hee! Hee! The stitching is the beginning of a new design project ... yep ... butterflies feature again. :0) And you can see that I'm not really a 'Chick Flick' kind of chick ... more of an 'Action/Disaster Flick' kind of chick! Hmmm ... not sure what that says about me! Tee! Hee! Hee! These are some of my faves and you could add all of the "Mummy" movies with Brendan Fraser, the first, third and fourth Indiana Jones movies (wasn't all that fussed on number two!!) and a couple of "Die Hard" movies and I'll be in movie Heaven. :0)

I'm off to enjoy that chai latte ... and the sweety treaties! :0) ... and watch another action-packed movie. How do YOU like to spend a day at home?? Are you good and spend it catching up on the housework? Or are you like me, and curl up on the couch with stitching and movies?? What are YOUR fave movies?? I'd love to hear ... and promise not to tease if you DO like girly 'chick flicks' ! :0)

Whatever you're up to, I hope you're well and that the coming weekend holds some time for you to relax and get creative. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Comfort Food & Prize Winners!!

Oops! I said I'd be back "On Monday" to do the OPAM draw ... I seem to have misplaced a day! :0) You see ... it was a long weekend here in QLD and so Monday felt more like a SUNDAY ... and I forgot!! Sorry for keeping you all in suspenders for a day longer than planned ... I hope you'll forgive me! :0)

OK ... who voted that the cold weather was allowed to show up and where to I go to protest!!! SIGH! Yes, it's that time of year where the thermometers here on top of our 'hill' start to dip below the 10 degrees mark and this summer chick thinks about hibernating or moving to Fiji! :0) So what's a girl to do ...

... but make herself a cuppa and curl up to munch on some old favourite 'comfort food' ... Girl Guide Biccies!!! I don't know what it is ... maybe it's a secret ingredient!! :0) ... but no other biccies are quite as tasty as the good ol' Girl Guide biccies. We hadn't had them for a few years cos the little girl in our neighbourhood who used to knock on our door to sell them to us moved away ... winter just wasn't the same! :0) BUT ... my dancing buddy Lynda's daughter is a GG now ... YAY!! BICCIES! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... while I was slurping my cuppa (quietly of course ... manners!!) and enjoying my GG biccies, I got around to the random choice of winners for OPAM's April collection. Firstly, a big WELL DONE!!! To you all! April saw our second-biggest tally for the year so far, a whopping ...

634 Finishes!!

WOWSERS! You gals must have been stitching up a storm! I say "you gals" cos my poor tally stands at a big fat ZERO for April ... SIGH!! Busy month, lots of welcome visitors ... and then the UN-welcome visitors in the sewing cupboard!! ... all added up to not-much-sewing here. Ah well ... NEXT month! :0) Thank you to all of you who emailed Sweet Peg and me with your finishes ... much appreciated! Congrats to you all for the finishes and for those of you like me, I hope you at least managed to steal a bit of time for yourself to sit and relax with some stitching ... or knitting. :0) That's what it's all about, after all.

OK ... without further ado, the prize draw winners for April are ...

VIC

Bev C

CONGRATULATIONS! Gals! Drop me an email with your snail mail  addresses and a little surprise will be coming your way by camel train! :0)

And now ... I'm off to sneak a few more GG biccies ... oh dear! Perhaps it will be a gym visit on the agenda for tomorrow! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and that the rest of your week includes lots of time to sit, stitch and dream! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Sewing Room Shamozzle!!!

I'm still here, though you haven't heard a 'peep' out of me for a week now. The truth is, I haven't had anything much to share with you cos the sewing room is still a shamozzle in the aftermath of the war on the invading ant army. My Beloved Geek Boy thoroughly routed the invading enemy ... despite being slightly phobic about ants due to childhood misadventures with army ants!!! ... but the mopping up operations are still underway.

You see, those %&!%$#&~! ants had made themselves VERY much at home in between every layer of paper, under every bag, between pages of books  etc, so EVERYTHING had to be taken out of the cupboard, shaken, sprayed, wiped, brushed and put to one side so the cupboard could be completely emptied. While the 'emptying' phase has been completed, the clean up of dead bodies (only ant bodies, thank goodness!!) and 'putting back' phase was put on hold for this weekend, so that's what we're tackling now. This is what my work table looks like at the moment ...

As you can see, there isn't a lot of room left to work. :0) There also needs to be a bit of carpentry tackled by GB to replace the old shelves in the cupboard ... one had collapsed and this seemed like the perfect time to replace dodgy old chipboard with something stronger ... and cleaner! :0) So ... it could be a while before I have much to show you ... although I HAVE been doing a bit of hand stitching at night on a smaller version of this ...

... to make a lap quilt for my sort-of-sister Tiffy, who was eyeing off my "Blissful Butterflies" quilt when she visited at Easter.

I've also been doing some blog-hopping for OPAM ... did all you OPAMers remember to update your sidebar list of finishes and/or email Sweet Peg or me with your tally? A lot of you did ... THANK YOU! :0) ... and I am still working my way through replying to you all. I'll be doing the prize draw on Monday, so you have til then to email me. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the start of your weekend ... a long one here in Queensland, so hopefully the sewing room will be sorted enough over the three days that I'll actually be able to get back to sewing. In the meantime ... have fun everyone!! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS