Should Have Stayed In Bed!!

SIGH!!! Do you ever have one of those days where you just should have stayed in bed?!? Well ... I've been having one of THOSE days!!

Firstly, I woke up with a nasty crick in my neck that means I can only turn my head a little to my left and not at all to my right ... which I keep forgetting!!! OUCH! But ... Friday is my day off work each week and it's washing day ... so I dutifully ... if somewhat awkwardly!! ... put a load of towels into the washing machine. No problems there right? WRONG!!! I came back an hour later to hang the washing, only to find that my Beloved Geek Boy had piled some things in the wash tub and they had blocked the drain, so instead of the washing water draining away as it should ... it went OVER THE SIDE!! Now, that wouldn't be such a problem, except the two dogs sleep in the laundry and guess what all that overflowing wash water did? You guessed it ... flooded the dogs' bedding!!! SIGH! OK, so I'll hang the dog blankets on the clothesline to dry THEN hang out the washing. So I lugged the first of the heavy, waterlogged dog blankets to the line, nearly busted my foo-foo flinging it over, then went back for the next one. I came back out ... hmmm ... that's funny, I didn't think the first blanket was touching the ground when I originally hung it. Wait ... is it just me, or is that blanket getting closer and closer to the ground???

(Insert slow-motion toppling and loud clanging sound effect here!!!)

Never mind London Bridge ... my CLOTHESLINE has fallen down!! EEK!!

Not the Hills Hoist!!! Now how am I going to dry my clean towels?!?! SIGH ... so much for reducing the carbon footprint ... it will have to be a dryer job. I wonder how much a new clothesline is going to cost???

So, you see, some days it just DOESN'T pay to get out of bed! :0) Oh ... in case you were wondering ... yes ... the mowing of our backyard jungle is definitely on the agenda for weekend jobs ... right after we go and buy a new clothesline! :0)

Hopefully YOUR day hasn't been quite so SIGH-worthy as mine and I'm sure tomorrow will be better, but in the meantime, I think I'm off to pop a heatpack on my poor cricked neck and curl up in a corner with a book so nothing else can go wrong!

Don't forget, OPAM gals, it's time to update your sidebar list of finishes for April and email your number of finished projects to Peg or I. I'll be blog-hopping around in the next couple of days to collect finishes that aren't emailed in, so up-to-date lists are a great help. I've been seeing some gorgeous photos of finished projects around blogland, so why not make yourself a cuppa and go for a little bloghop through the OPAM list on my sidebar - I guarantee you'll enjoy it more than watching clothes dry ...Oops! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Weekend Away!

Here we are, it's Tuesday ... I think!! ... and I'm a little muddled and losing track of where I'm up to cos we've just had a long weekend to celebrate Anzac Day and I always get a little muddled about what day it is after a long weekend! :0) Guess I'll be muddled again next week, too, since we have the Labour Day long weekend. PHEW! Wish we could spread some of these long weekends out into the second half of the year a bit! :0) Still, my Beloved Geek Boy and I decided to make the most of a four day weekend (I always have Friday off and GB had some overtime up his sleeve) and we headed off to my parents place at Mundubbera for a quiet family weekend.

The main reason for our visit ... besides catching up with Mum, Dad and Tiffy ... was to pick up a couple of pieces of furniture we bought last time we were home. Mum had found a great garage sale and despite giving me a hard time every time I buy something to add to my collections of vintage bits and bobs ("Where are you going to put THAT?!?!") she suggested we take a peek and we bought two items that need some TLC ...

These two items triggered some lovely childhood memories, so they just HAD to be given a new home ... at OUR place! :0) The kitchen cupboard at the back is just like one my Nan and Pop used to have in their dining room, except theirs didn't have the stained glass panels (and this one needs the second one replaced) and it was painted depression green. I remember, as a child, being fascinated with the lift latches and it seemed there just HAD to be a treasure hidden in the drawers I couldn't reach! :0) This one definitely needs a new coat of paint, some repairs to the stained glass panel and a matching stained glass panel put into the second door, but the mesh in the sides is in pretty good condition and the shelves are nice and sturdy, so it has "good bone structure" and just needs some "cosmetic work". I know the feeling! Tee! Hee! Hee! The front piece is the bottom of a kitchen hutch, the shelf part having been removed at some time. Someone has had a go at restoring this one, though it could definitely use a bit more work and an extra nail or two put in to secure the slightly wobbly top, but it reminded me of a hutch my Nan had in her dining room that housed her every-day china trios - cup, saucer and sandwich plate. No matter your ailment or dilemma, my Nan firmly believed it could be improved with a sit down and a nice cup of tea ... or two ... or three! :0) As I get older, I appreciate my Nan's wisdom, cos most situations (and our state of mind!) usually benefit from us taking a moment to catch our breath, have a little 'time-out' and re-hydrate ourselves. Even if it doesn't SOLVE the problem, it often helps us get a more realistic view of the situation so we can proceed. She was a smart lady, my Nan! :0)

As well as collecting our garage sale treasures, I was pleased to give Mum the mug bag I showed you last post for her Heart Sister (I found a pretty cup with butterflies on it and filled it with sachets of 8 different teas for her to pop in the mug bag!) Mum was really chuffed and said she was sure her Heart Sister will love it. And she commented that perhaps she needs something like the mug bag to take a cup and coffee sachet with her when she volunteers at the local tourist information centre or art gallery or the several other places Mum volunteers. (Did I mention my Mum does a LOT of volunteer work and I have to just about make an appointment to call her?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!) My reply to Mum was ... "Funny you should say that ..."

Cos here is the mug bag I made for my Mum! :0) Isn't it nice when you finally manage to get a step ahead of your Mum who ALWAYS seems to be a step ahead of YOU! Tee! Hee! Hee!  Mum's mug bag is pictured with Finn, a hand stitched mohair bear I made quite a while ago - he was named after Huckleberry Finn from the adventures of Tom Sawyer, cos he just looked like a mischievous little boy! :0)  I chose blue and red fabric for Mum's mug bag to match a backpack I made her a few years ago ...

So now she's all set to be trendy and stylish next time she heads off to one of her volunteer sessions. The mug bag was also accompanied by a packet of 12 individually wrapped choc-coated Turkish Delights (a weakness Mum and I both share!) and a box of cappuccino sachets, so she says she's set for Mothers' Day now! :0)  There might be another surprise for her, but I won't tell for now! :0)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, too, especially my Aussie blogging buddies who enjoyed the long weekend. And of course, as the weekend was to commemorate Anzac Day, a huge thank-you to acknowledge the role of all members of our armed services, past, present and future for their willingness to risk their lives and their futures that we might have both.

"... At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."

"LEST WE FORGET"

Til next time,

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Still Here ... Still Stitching!!

Hmmm ... I suddenly realised that it's been a few days since I checked in with my blogging buddies, so I thought I'd better make a quick stop in on my way to bed to let you know I'm still here and still stitching! :0)

Firstly, I'm VERY happy to show my first finish for April. It is a mug bag that my Mum asked me to make for her Heart Sister. A group of ladies in Mundubbera signed up for the Heart Sister program ... basically, you are assigned a Heart Sister, but she doesn't know who YOU are. Throughout the year, you spoil her in little ways with cards, treats, little gifts, birthday wishes ... you know ... all those lovely things we all WISH someone would do for US ... but they rarely do! :0) Then, at the start of the next year, a luncheon is held and the previous year's partners are revealed and new ones assigned. Mum saw the sample for my "Girl Stuff" pattern when we visited my home-away-from-home together recently ...

The bag on the left is just the right size to pop your favourite mug or tea cup in to take to sewing days, workshops or even to work with you and Mum decided it would be the perfect thing for her Heart Sister. Now, I modified the pattern just a little .. you know me!! :0) And this is what I'll give Mum for her Heart Sister ...

A very girly version of my mug bag, mimus the stitchery panel pocket, due to time constraints. Don't you love that giant rick-rack though!! I found it at Quilters Angel on one of my many visits. This bag, without the stitchery panel, takes only a few hours to whip up, so perfect for a quick gift idea. I'm off tomorrow to find a pretty cup to pop in it, cos the one in the photo was a birthday gift from a friend last month, so I'm not going to give THAT one away! :0) And of course ... there's one of the gorgeous Kerryanne's DELICIOUS faux cupcakes ... I just love these!! Oh ... in case you haven't heard the news, Kerryanne has decided to release the previously-super-secret recipe for her faux cakes as a pattern packet, so if you want to whip up some delicious treats that have NO calories, pop on over to her website and check it out. Oh ... a little warning ... there are LOTS of GORGEOUS things on Kerryanne's site, so you may end up ordering way more than you meant to! Or is that just me?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Let's see ... what else have I been up to?!?! Oh ... more stitching on my Gardeners Journal quilt ...

I've 'painted' the garden shed and am presently 'painting' the door! :0) I'm having fun with these little stitcheries, in between my 'have to do' projects. Long weekend coming up, so perhaps more stitching, though I DO have to get stitching on that baby quilt I showed you a preview of a couple of posts back. The applique is in place, just have to blanket stitch it now.

So, that's what I've been up to this week so far. Hopefully I'll get a couple more finishes added to my OPAM list, but you know how the days just disappear ... it will be the end of the month before we know it ... EEEEKKKK!!! :0)

But right now, I can hear my pillow calling my name, telling me I am WAY overdue to keep a date with it, so I shall toodle off and put my jim-jams on now. Hope you're having a stithin' good week so far!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Road Trip!!

Some people may spend their day off doing housework, or sewing, or spending time with their beloved, or maybe even reading. In fact, I've been known to do some, even ALL of these things on my usual day off each week (Friday). But THIS week I went on a ROAD TRIP!!! YAY!!

And I even managed to incorporate a few of these usual ways of spending my day off ... well ... NOT the housework! :0)

It all began when my Beloved Geek Boy came home and told me he had to travel to Yandina (near Nambour) on Friday to install some video conference equipment for a client for work. I jokingly said, "Friday's my day off, maybe I should come for a drive with you." To which he replied, "OK, it would be nice to have company ... but you WOULD have to get up early." Hmmm ... OK ... so after weighing up my Friday sleep-in with a road trip adventure, I set my alarm clock.

So bright and early (7am is early for us night-owls, anyway!!) and after a bit of a scuffle over whether we listened to talk-back radio (Blech!!) or Rob Thomas (YAY!) we settled down to enjoy the three hour drive and some 'together' time - very nice indeed! :0) And the scenery was pretty speccie, too. With the wet summer that south-east Queensland has enjoyed, everything was so GREEN!

So ... we arrived at Yandina about three hours later and GB got to work while I curled up at the back of the conference room with my stitching travel pack ...

Into my lovely stitching pouch made for me by the gorgeous Joy-Belle, I packed my favourite needle folder, a cute little tin to hold my threads, my Gardeners Journal

Watering The Garden' block and my instructions. Now ... to keep my stitching stuff to a size that fitted into my pouch, I photocopied the stitching instructions for Gardeners Journal and shrank them to A5 size ... Oh so handy and I didn't have to worry about my lovely book being damaged. And so I stitched ... and stitched ... and enjoyed a quick lunch with my beloved before he went back to trouble-shooting the video conferencing equipment ... and I stitched ... and I snoozed ... Oops! Maybe not quite, but the installation was a little more complicated than GB had hoped and took quite a lot longer. But FINALLY ... we were back on the road and since I'd been such a GOOD girl (stop laughing, you lot!!!) GB made a special stop off for me here ...

The Patchwork Angel at Forest Glen!! YAY!! It had been a couple of years since I popped in for a visit this well known shop. We arrived not long before closing time and it was a little bit busy ... but fun! Penny said that I was welcome to come and join the madness, as long as I could cope with choas ... I told her it is the regular state we live in at our place, so I felt right at home!! :0) And of course you KNOW something followed me home! :0)

Not too much ... I was trying to be good and had stocked up not too long ago at my home-away-from-home, but these few fabrics came home with me and I grabbed a few threads for Gardeners Journal that I didn't have. The two on the left looked just perfect for some appliquéd  bears; I noticed the other day when looking for a white tone-on-tone fabric in my stash that I only had a small piece of one left so this will be great; and I'm always on the lookout for nice yellows, which seem a little hard to find for some reason.

After I'd satisfied my fabric addiction, we hit the road again headed for home over the range, enjoying gorgeous views of the glasshouse mountains ... which I tried REALLY hard to get photos of. However, the photographic faeries were NOT on my side that day. In the morning, there had been rain and low cloud preventing me from getting nice photos (in fact we couldn't SEE the mountains in the morning!!) and in the afternoon ... we discovered there was nowhere to pull over to get photos - Aaaaarrgghh!! However, after listening to me mutter about not being able to capture the fabulous effect of the afternoon light on the Glasshouse Mountains, my dear GB found a slightly wider section of the shoulder of the road and pulled over for me to take this shot ...

Here we have ... a Glasshouse Mountain ... singular! :0) This unusually shaped peak undoubtedly has a name ... but I don't know it - geography was never my strong point at school. :0) See how green everything was!! And I even managed to capture a curious horse and a couple of magpies on the wing. Actually, the horse got a bit upset with us ... I think he was expecting to be fed when he saw a van pull over near his paddock ... then we just drove off again!! What the?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee! Poor horsie! We finally arrived home at about 8:30pm and I confess we watched a couple of favourite shows on TV and crawled into bed early worn out after our early morning start. All in all, it was a lovely road trip. Now we just have to work out when we can have a LONGER road trip back there to see and do more things! :0)

Today, then, was housework day, but after the chores were out of the way, I headed into my sewing room to put together my first block for the "A Gardeners Journal" Stitch-A-Long. Yep ... I finished the stitchery block in the photo I showed you ... told you I had a lot of stitching time while GB was installing gadgetry! :0) I have to say, while putting this block together, I remembered why I don't usually do much patchwork! I muttered some VERY unladylike things when the ruler slipped or the blocks didn't stay where they were put!! :0) Ready for the unveiling??

Ta Da!! Block G of "A Gardeners Journal" by Anni Downs. Despite my grumbles about piecing, I'm pretty happy with how it came up - although the colours in Anni's original quilt look more like summer, it is definitely SPRING in my garden! Tee! Hee! Hee! When I decided to join the Stitch-A-Long, I promised myself (and my long-suffering GB!!) that I wouldn't buy any fabric for this project, it all has to come from my stash, so it is going to be a bit of a scrappy version of Gardeners Journal, but that suits me fine. And even though the one and a half inch squares made me mutter under my breath to cut and stitch, they ARE handy to use up some of those small-but-pretty pieces in my stash that I just haven't been able to bring myself to throw out.

And now, I think I've earned a cup of tea, so I shall pop off and put the kettle on ... just call me "Polly". Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope you're having a fabulous weekend whether you're road-tripping (like me and Peg!!) or having a quiet time at home. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

A Bit Of This & A Bit Of That!

After a busy but enjoyable weekend, I don't really have any finishes to show you, but thought I'd give a little update on what I spent my time 'playing' with. Between having visitors, the usual house chores and a trip to the movies (we saw "Clash Of The Titans" in 3D. Bit head-spinny in the action sequences, but I enjoyed it!), my sewing time was a bit intermitant, but I did make some progress on the April block for "A Gardener's Journal" Stitch-A-Long ...

The birdies now have a completed birdbath in which to ... well ... bathe! And I've built the fence and the garden edging  and planted the shrub for "Watering The Garden"! :0) I'm pretty happy that I'm plodding along but getting this done and it's nice to sit and stitch in front of the tele at night on something that I know almost 50 other stitchers all round the world are working on at the same time. It's rather a lovely thought! :0) If you want to see this fun quilt being made in all sorts of colourways, pop across to the Stitch-A-Long blog and take a peek. Who knows ... you may even be tempted to JOIN us! :0)

The other project I've started on that has a June deadline is a baby quilt for my brother and SIL. Do you remember me showing you these yummy fabrics purchased from my home-away-from-home Quilters Angel?

Well, after I'd played in the sewing room for a few hours, they now look like this ...

Aren't these some of the most CHEERFUL fabrics you've ever seen! :0) This will be the centre panel of the quilt, so there's still a ways to go with it before it's finished, but that's part of the fun of quilting, isn't it ... watching your quilt grow. There will also be some appliqué elements added to this panel and knowing me - and looking at what's featured on the main two fabrics here! - you just KNOW the appliqué is going to include bears of some sort! :0) I've finished the initial sketches and as soon as I finish posting, I"m off to the sewing room to play. Stay tuned for updates! :0)

Oh ... and for those who read my last post and were wondering if I was a good girl and sat down to write the pattern instructions I was procrastinating about ... YES! I DID write the instructions, so I was a good girl after all - though I'm sure there would still be those who know me who would dispute that!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And now ... I'm off to the sewing room to trace and play with appliqué. Hope your weekend was as productive as mine and that your week is off to a great start. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS