The Things You Find ... !!

... when you start cleaning and packing to move! :0) Just over a week til we bid farewell to our cosy cottage and move into our dream house, so you can imagine that it's approaching "Panic Stations" here at the Meares' Madhouse. We're walking that fine line between needing to pack 'stuff' ready to move and not being ABLE to pack 'stuff' cos we're still using it! It's doing my poor ol' head in, I tell you! :0)

So ... this week I decided to tackle my sewing room cupboards ... GROAN!! While quite a lot of my sewing and craft supplies are stored in plastic tubs as a matter of course, which will be easy to load into the moving van, there is still quite a LOT of 'stuff' stored in my shabby chic cupboard ...

I took a deep breath and dived in. WOW! Who's been stashing fabric, layer cakes, charm squares, wadding and all sorts of interesting things in my sewing cupboard while I wasn't looking?! Tee! Hee! Hee! I discovered all sorts of goodies ... along with quite a few WISPs ... OOPS! :0) And right at the back of the cupboard, I found a 'blast from the past' ... the second quilt I ever made ... er ... STARTED to make! BLUSH!

I started making making this tartan butterfly quilt about ... hmmm ... 15 years ago ... EEP! It was supposed to be for one of two single beds we had in our guest room at the time, the other quilt featured tartan fabrics and gingerbread men. It DID get finished and after years of gracing the back of our lounge chair, it is now our picnic rug that lives in the car.

This one showed off tartan butterflies and quilted Celtic knots. Alas ... as you can see ... I never got around to finishing it. You see, I'm predominantly self-taught ... though I've picked up some handy tips from more experienced quilting friends over the years. So when I was making this quilt, I made a few simple mistakes that led to it being discarded in the "Too Hard" basket.

1) I didn't quite do a good enough job of keeping the backing fabric smooth and flat when I basted it, so when I started to quilt it, lots of pesky wrinkles and bumps, that I didn't know how to get rid of, appeared on the back.

2) I was on a very limited budget and used poly wadding that was inexpensive, but quite 'floofy' (technical term there! Tee! Hee! Hee!) and this compounded the wrinkles-in-the-backing problems.

3) When we moved last time, I lost the Celtic knot design I was tracing onto the tartan squares to quilt ... DOH!!

So ... this quilt is now hidden in the back of the sewing cupboard like a crazy great-aunt is hidden in the attic in movies. :0) I'm not quite sure what to with it ... do I make a stab at re-drawing the Celtic knot, fix the backing wrinkles and keep quilting, or do I undo the lot and save up my play money, replace the floofy wadding with better quality wadding and get the Fabulous Fiona to work her quilting magic on it? Still thinking ... so for now ... it's been packed! :0) Any suggestions??

To take a break from our packing (BLECH!!) last weekend, my Beloved Geek Boy and I toodled off to a couple of second-hand shops in search of a couple of pieces of furniture that we'll need once we've moved into the new house. Not a lot of success was had there, but I DID find a sweet, vintage treasure to rescue for the princely sum of $5 ...

This linen and lace ... er ... ITEM!! OK ... giggle at me if you will (and let's face it, I giggle at myself quite frequently!!) but I don't actually know what this would have been used for originally. The lace is hand made and very delicate and fragile ... you can see a couple of places where it's coming away form the edge of the linen ... and it is only around three sides of the linen. I'm not sure whether it would have been used as a cloth for the top of a chest of drawers or similar that sat against a wall, or whether it would have been a valance for a half tester bed canopy. One of life's mysteries ... does anyone have any ideas? Here's a closer look at the delicate lace ...

Isn't it lovely! It has a few 'ugly spots' on it, so I'll reattach the lace where it's come adrift and soak it in some whitener. I'm sure I can find a spot for it in the new house ... whatever it was originally used for. :0)

So ... that's what's been happening here at the Meares' madhouse ... amidst the manic packing and planning! Speaking of "amidst manic packing and planning" ... thank you to all the OPAMers who emailed me and my GORGEOUS partner-in-crime Sweet Peg with your end of month finish tallies. 310 finishes for July!! Well done everyone!! Now, knowing that our life is topsy-turvy at the moment, my Sweet partner-in-crime has taken over the prize draw for the next couple of months ... THANK YOU SWEET PEG!! You are a gem!! :0) And my Sweet friend has posted the July winners on her blog this morning, so pop on over to see if you're one of the lucky ones. If you emailed your finishes to me ... I'm still working my way through answering emails for the last couple of weeks ... I do like to reply to you all, but I hope you'll understand if I'm a bit slack. I shall try my best to catch up with you all. :0)

Well, now that I've caught you up on our doings for the week, I think it's time for me to play Polly and enjoy a cup of tea ... before I head off to Friday night Sit And Sew. I'll be taking my cotton crochet blankie to work on ... not much thinking involved, so perfect to relax with while we chat! :0) I hope you've all had a great week and that your weekend includes sewing your projects rather than packing them ... SIGH!!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

End Of The Week, Start Of A Month!

Hello to all of you who 'tag along' to visit me here! :0) Lovely to have you all pop in to see what doings have been done at the Meares' Madhouse ... otherwise, I'd just be chatting to myself, wouldn't I? Oh ... wait ... that happens all the time anyway!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Well, this week has gone whizzing by ... weeks seem to insist on doing that! With the settlement date of our selling and buying houses creeping nearer, we're about to get stuck into the business of packing ... SIGH! That's the NOT-FUN part of moving! But before I start to pack away my pretties, we invited our neighbours over for an afternoon tea last Sunday ... and it seemed the perfect chance to actually USE a few of my pretties.

Here's the coffee table all loaded ready to receive guests ... some pretty plates holding treats and rosey plates and posy napkins ready to catch crumbs. We had a lovely time chatting with our neighbours and nibbling our way through the tasty treats ... craisin and coconut slice, mock chicken with rice crackers, mini lemon-curd tarts and a pretty glass plate of cabana, olives and cheese ... MMMMMMMMM!!! Not much dinner needed afterwards. :0) It also reminded me that I should use my pretty plates, cups, platters etc more often ... and that's one of the nice things about the house we'll be moving to ... it is PERFECT for entertaining, where our cottage really has been limited in space to do so. Hmmm ... I can see I'll be madly pinning interesting looking entertaining type recipes on my Pinterest board, won't I?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And as the working week rolls to an end, it brought with it the start of a new month ... which meant today was the day our Quilting Angels gathered at our Home-Away-From-Home. There were only a few of us there, but we sure made enough noise, had enough fun and ate enough lunch for a bigger group of ladies! Tee! Hee! Hee!

With all of our unsettled comings, goings and packings, I haven't been very motivated to stitch much, but found some interesting looking crochet cotton in my cleaning/tidying and decided to have a little play ... today with the Angels seemed the perfect opportunity to get started ... in case I needed a few reminders from Miss Marion, crochet-teacher-extraodinaire! :0) I think I made a nice bit of progress ... in between chatting, laughing and eating, of course! ... considering it had been ... hmmm ... YEARS!!! ... since I'd picked up a crochet hook. Wanna see???

Here's my granny square. Not too bad, if I say so myself. :0)

I like how this ecru cotton is crocheting up. I inherited a bag full of crochet cottons when one of the ladies moved from the retirement village where I work and hadn't really known what I would do with it. I think I'm going to make a throw rug to go over a chair or at the end of a bed. I have a white knitted cotton quilt made almost 100 years ago by my Great-Granny and although this one won't be nearly as complex or classy, I thought it would be a handy, light throw to have around. I'm now trying to decide whether to:

A) Just keep crocheting around and around and around til the throw is big enough; or

B) Make 10" squares and join them all together; or

C) Alternate this square with another treble-stitch block done in the same cotton.

What do you think I should do? I'm open to suggestions here! :0)

And ... since the start of a new month has brought around our Quilting Angels gathering, it also means that a month has just FINISHED... funny how that works! :0) And of course that means ... OPAMers ... Sweet Peg, the most GORGEOUS partner-in-crime a gal could have, and I will soon be doing our blog hopping and spreadsheet updating for the July OPAM tally. Have you updated your sidebar lists? Have you sent a quick email to Sweet Peg or me with your final tally for July?? QUICK-STICKS!!! What are you waiting for?! :0) 

I've already been receiving a few emails and, as always, there are some FABULOUS projects being created out there in blogland. The Fabulous Fiona is seeing stars this month ... pop over to visit her to see what I mean. :0) And Judy has been knitting away with some FABULOUS wools. Have you taken a blog-hop through the OPAM participants list recently? I can tell you it's WELL worth your while to make yourself a cuppa, get comfy and take a hop around, cos there are some GORGEOUS projects to be inspired by. And maybe you could leave a comment or two around the place to encourage your fellow creative spirits ... it's so nice to have a world-wide OPAM cheer squad, don't you think? :0)

Okey doke ... it's that time of afternoon where I turn into my Nan and decided that I simply CAN'T go any further in the day without a cup of tea, so I'm off to play Polly and put the kettle on. Hope you've all had a wonderful week ... and a wonderful July ... only one month of winter left to survive before my spring weather starts to thaw out this hot-weather gal! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Doing My Block ... S !!!

Nah ... I'm not REALLY 'doing my block ... it just seemed like a catchy way to introduce what I've been up to! :0) Hmmm ... in a complete sidetrack ... it occurs to me that "doing your block" is a very Aussie term ... right up there with "chuckin' a tantie", or "chuckin' a wobbly". Translation: getting rather cross, perhaps involving the ranting and raving of the block doer and/or foot stamping. :0) Does that clarify our Aussie peculiarities? :0)

So ... this post involves no ranting, raving or stamping. It DOES involve blocks. Are you confused yet? So am I frequently ... especially when it comes to patchwork blocks and quilting ... but whilst cruising around Pinterest (... and around ... and around ... and around ... oops! There goes an hour or two! Tee! Hee! Hee!) I came across a photo of a quilt block that seemed simple enough for me to tackle. It involved 5" charm squares ... hmmm ... I had a small stash of those in my sewing cupboard. It needed a low-volume contrast fabric ... hmmm ... I had several metres of white homespun that I'd been given. Two checks on the list. Add to that the fact that I was suffering severe sewing withdrawal symptoms after a month of keeping the sewing room neat for open house sessions ... do you see a big light bulb going on?! :0)

I pinned that block pic (so I knew where to find that sucker again ... the beauty of Pinterest!) and followed it back to a nice simple run-down of how to achieve said block ... HERE.

Then it was full steam ahead into the sewing room ... YAY!! It was like embracing an old friend after a long separation. :0) In a short amount of time I was ready to start ...

... a pile of white squares and a pile of pre-cut charm squares. Step two ... play matchmaker with these two piles ...

... a bit of chain piecing on my trusty Husky ... aaaah!! Back in the saddle! :0)

... some seam-pressing. I seem to remember being told that seams should be pressed to one side, not open, but I could just see myself getting into all sorts of messes when it came to further slices and seams, so I pressed them open. Next step ...

... join the pairs ... now comes the fun part ...

... with ruler and rotary cutter, cut through the block an inch from both sides of each axis. Then we play "spin the bottle" ... patchworkingly speaking! This is a "PG" rated bog, after all!! :0)

... rotate all the smaller pieces 180 degrees and stitch 'em back together ...

Ta Da! A finished block! I love that it LOOKS like I've been incredibly patient, cutting and joining small pieces, when really it all started with four simple squares. Cool, huh?! I know ... small things amuse small minds. :0) But I sure have been having some fun with these addictive little blocks ...

Here's my tally so far. I really love the pretty blues, reds and yellows against the fresh white. I'm not sure how this quilt will turn out ... I'm toying with a few ideas to finish it off. But first, there'll be more block-doing to be done ... if you see what I mean! :0)

So ... what's been happening in YOUR sewing room? Have you made something that you've found inspiration for on Pinterest? I'd love to hear about it! :0) But right now ... I bet you can guess what I'm going to say next ... yep! I'm off to play Polly and put the kettle on for a before-bed cup of tea. Hope the tail end of your week wags with happiness! :0) Til next time ...

BLOCKY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

P.S. Thank you to all you lovelies who've left congratulations and compliments on our house selling/buying. It's been fun to share our new adventure with you all and I promise to keep you all updated. :0) Bear Hugs! KRIS xx

Ducks In A Row!!

FINALLY!!!!! All of those pesky, frisky ducks are in a row. :0) I shared with you last week that we'd sold our cosy cottage ... well ... after a VERY stressful, frustrating week of more hoop-jumping and duck-lining-up ... the contract on our NEW home went unconditional at about 4:30pm on Friday afternoon ... PHEW!! For a while there we weren't sure we'd have a house to move into, but after lots of finger-crossing and many prayers ... we have our DREAM HOME! WOO! HOO!!

Now, it will, of course, be a while before I can give you a tour of it, but I thought you'd all enjoy seeing a quick pic of our new house ... since you've all been tagging along on the journey with us. :0) This is the first pic I saw of the house when I was aimlessly cruising real estate sites  ... it was the start of a new love affair! Tee! Hee! Hee!

It's a little ways out of town on an acre of pretty cottage gardens, peaceful lawns and tall gum trees and it really is our dream house ... not only because it's GORGEOUS and somewhere we want to live, but it also has a few home-based-business possibilities for the future. So, you can imagine that once we had a chance to take a breath and shake off the waiting-on-banks stress ... there has been some ...

... Snoopy-style Happy Dancing going on here at the Meares' Madhouse! :0) A huge thank you to all of you who have left encouraging comments and well-wishes for us during this process ... these and the wonderful support of our family, friends and work colleagues have helped us through some of the stress and worry of the last couple of months. I know we've still got the packing, cleaning, moving stuff to wade through ... but it sure is EXCITING to be taking a giant step towards achieving some of our long-held dreams. I promise to share a house tour once we're all moved in and settled. :0)

But for right now, my Beloved Geek Boy and I have decided that this weekend is the breath-catching break that we both need, so after running a few errands this morning, we're kicking back in front of the heater (did I mention that it's FREAKING FREEZING here on top of our 'hill' at the moment!!!!). I'm hoping to thaw out enough to head into my sewing room tomorrow to make a bit more progress on some blocks I'm playing with ... I'll be back soon to share some pics of those. Now, though, I think I'll go and play Polly and pop the kettle on for a warming, soothing cup of tea. What is everyone else up to this weekend? Hope there's some breath-catching time in there for you, too. :0) Til next time ...

HAPPY-DANCING BEAR HUGS!!

CHEERS!
KRIS

A Picture Paints 1000 Words!!

Well ... actually ... it really only needs to paint ONE word ...

Yes ... our cosy Federation style cottage that has been home for the last 11 years will soon be someone else's home, as we took another giant step towards achieving our 'dream house' move. And boy oh boy ... was it a NERVE-WRACKING experience!! There we were, tucked up inside where we could hear the auction proceedings in our side yard but not be seen. When the auctioneer couldn't get an opening bid, we nearly passed out in the lounge room!! Then when bidding stalled at a much-too-low price, we nearly had conniptions again ... not to mention that the mother-in-law who was with us nearly had to have an oxygen mask applied. :0) However ... at the end of the day, that one-word red sticker went onto the signs and its over to the mortgage broker and financial adviser to work the final magic to make our move a reality. PHEW!!

So ... as you can imagine, there hasn't been much stitching happening over the weekend here at the Meares' Madhouse. I DID make some good progress on a new stitchery project on Friday when the Fabulous Fiona came to sit and stitch with me in front of the heater, but no stitching Saturday or Sunday. However ... I thought you might enjoy it if I shared some of the pics of our cottage as you've never seen it before ... NEAT and TIDY! Tee! Hee! Hee! Ready for the ten cent tour??

You always start at the front gate, right? So come on in ...

First stop ... the guest room featuring our restored brass bed, an ex-hospital basket cradle and just on the right hand edge you can see my Thumbelina spinning wheel. Yes ... I DO know how to spin wool ... unfortunately I could never perfect the spinning straw into gold trick, or we'd have had NO worries in buying our 'dream house'! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Next stop ... my creative cave AKA the sewing room. I love this cornflower blue ... it is such a restful colour and my sewing room has been my haven. You can see I have gathered many of my treasures in here ... a rescued cupboard that was given a shabby-chic makeover, a painting (near the window) and blackboard both created by my clever clogs blogging buddy Kerryanne English of Shabby Art Boutique, the pretty white cast iron table and chairs my Beloved Geek boy gave me one birthday and a quirky appliqué bunny quilt made by another of my clever clogs blogging buddies (I seem to collect them! Tee! Hee! Hee!) the quirky and talented Toni Alexander of The Red Boot Quilt Co. Never fear ... there is a room earmarked to become my creative cave in the new house. :0) Moving down the hall way we come to ...

... the office. I have a confession to make ... this room didn't usually look like this during our time here ... let's just say that if something didn't have a home, it went into the office. We were all quite amazed at the size of it once we shovelled out the flotsam and jetsam. :0) Do you have a room like that??? And it finally gave me a chance to set up the single cast iron bed I was given quite a few years ago. I have plans to turn it into a day bed in the new house, but it was fun to dress it up with a blue and white blanket, red and white pillows and my "Holiday In Paris" quilt ... instructions still pending ... I know Fiona ... I HAVE to get writing! :0) Moving right along before I get into more trouble for procrastinating about pattern instruction writing ...

... the main bedroom. I think this room ties with the sewing room for being my favourite. The teal wall colour is probably a bit deeper in 'real life' and teamed with the white bed, linens, cupboard, net and valance, it really becomes a peaceful haven to dream in ... I just never seem to get to spend as much time as I would prefer all snuggled up under the doona. :0)

Then you find yourself in the lounge room. The photo is a bit glarey, but you get the idea. Cheerful green with red accents make this a relaxing room to chill out in, whether we're watching a bit of tele, chatting over a cuppa with friends or sitting and stitching. 

Next in line is the recently refurbished dining room. I love how the black and white vinyl pops against the apple green of the walls and the French-influenced white and timber furniture. And this room opens into ...

... the kitchen. You can see my hutch to the left there showing off some of my pretty china collection as well as my green Depression Glass. 

So there you have it ... a quick tour of our soon-to-be-ex-home. I hope you've enjoyed it ... I know I've enjoyed having some of you drop in in 'real life' for a cuppa and some stitching, too. The new house is VERY conducive to entertaining, so I hope to be hostess to more sewing days in the future. :0)

Thank you to all of you who have sent well-wishes, crossed fingers and toes and remembered us in your prayers as we've gone through the stressful process of jumping through bank hoops, rush-renovating and putting our home on the market. Your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes have been VERY much appreciated ... and I'm sure have helped! :0) Just a few more boxes to tick and ducks to line up before our big move becomes a reality, but I'll keep you updated as we know more. It just goes to prove that with perseverance, prayers and a lot of hard work, dreams really CAN come true! :0)

I hope you have all had a relaxing weekend, whatever you've been up to and that there has been some time for you to sit back and put your feet up to relax with a cuppa and/or some stitching. Have a fantastic week, won't you. I'm off to play Polly (I know that will surprise you ... NOT!!) and then will camp in front of the heater to watch a bit of tele with my Beloved GB. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS