Throwback Thursday!

Hello everyone! How has your Thursday been? I always enjoy Thursday because I get to take off my "grown up job" hat & put on my "stitcher/designer" hat. 😁 I'm busily writing pattern instructions at the moment, but took a little stroll back through some of my other patterns this week, revisiting old friends & favourites. 😜 Since some of you have only recently started to pop in for visits, I thought I might share a pattern or two in each post for a while, along with news of what I'm up to.

Whilst scrolling through files, I found this pic ...

The pattern us called "Girl Stuff" & was designed for the first ever Girls Stitch In hosted by the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph of The Quilters Angel. Can you tell I LOVE a handy & pretty bag ... Or two ... Or three hundred?! 😂 The stitchery pockets show a girly bear surrounded by some of her girly stuff ... Tea, shopping, chocolate, pretty things ... & I bet there's fabric in one of those shopping bags! Tee! Hee! Hee! The larger bag is a great size for stitching stuff & you can pop your keys, sunnies or phone in the front pocket for easy access, while the smaller bag is just right to protect your favourite tea cup/coffee mug & the pocket is perfect to store a teabag or two, or a spoon. I've made up this pattern several times & it's so quick & fun. Along with many other of my patterns, "Girl Stuff" is available online at the Quilters Angel website  so pop over for a look. But be warned ... There are lots & lots of stitchy, quilty, fabricky goodies over there to tempt you. 😂

And speaking of revisiting past ... Karen from Somerset Patchwork is today's spotlighted designer over on the Love & Hugs From Australia page   has shared some of her quilting journey. It's fun getting to know a bit more about these gorgeous, talented ladies, so hop over & 'meet' Karen today. Leesa Chandler & Marg Low have also introduced themselves a bit more this week ... & the rest of the LAHFA designers will be sharing over the next couple of weeks ... Including yours truly, so stay tuned! 😁 

But right now, I think it's time to keep an appointment with my pillow, so I'll sign off. Have a great weekend - stay safe, stay well & keep on stitching & smiling! 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Boredom Buster!

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Well, I hope. Are you surviving our current "stay at home" situation, or starting to go a little stir crazy? While I suspect that most of you are like me & have enough fabric/craft supplies to last out a ten year siege by the Roman army, I think we're all missing the freedom to "just pop down" to our fave coffee shop, massage therapist ... Fabric shop!! 😜

Well ... I've been missing all of those things (especially visiting my home-away-from-home the Quilters Angel!! ) but I've got a couple of boredom busters for you. Firstly ... The lovely Helen Stubbings shared her sweet block over on the Love & Hugs From Australia page today (oops! Yesterday! Just realised its after midnight ... AGAIN!! 😝) so hop across to check it out.

And secondly ... OPAM gals ... Have you noticed there's a new list in my left hand sidebar? It looks like ...

... This. Yes ... I've FINALLY managed to organise myself to put up the list of OPAM participants. YAY! 😜 So when you start to feel a bit twitchy, follow a link or two to visit some fellow OPAMers to see what they're creating & maybe leave an encouraging comment. It's a special thing to be part of a worldwide stitching family, isn't it?! 😁

But right now it's time I hit the pillow, cos I've been hard at work in the garden & have quite a few protesting muscles. And they try to tell me gardening is good for me! 😂 Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Stay well, stay safe, stay home & keep stitching & smiling. 😁 Til next to me ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Slacko Is Back!

Hello to all of you lovelies out there in blogland! How are you doing in our topsy-turvy zombie apocalypse days? I hope you're all travelling along OK ... But staying at home whenever possible, of course! 😜 I thought it was time I popped back in here to chat with you all ... I've mostly been hanging out on what my Bloggy buddy Chookyblue calls "The Dark Side" (AKA Facebook 😜) thanks to being part of the Love & Hugs From Australia Stitchalong  over there. By the way ... Make sure you catch up with the latest blocks from Lynette Anderson, Karen from Somerset Patchwork & Kathy from Material Obsessions ... Their blocks are as gorgeous as the ones I've already told you about ... I find myself amongst an incredibly talented group of ladies for this virtual Stitchalong. 😁

So ... Sorry to have neglected you a bit ... Especially the VERY patient OPAM gals! I am so slack with the March random draw ... Sorry! 😁 So, the total number of projects for March was ...

102 FINISHES!

WOW! Well done everyone! Aren't we fortunate in these days when we're encouraged to stay home as much as possible that we have something fun, creative & soothing to occupy our hands & minds. Not to mention that we are able to justify our fabric/craft supplies stash to the husbands at last ... "See! THIS is why we stash fabric/wool/craft supplies! So we're ready to ride out the zombie apocalypse with needle & thread in hand!" 😂 And the winner of the random draw, who will receive a PDF copy of one of my Tag Along Teddies patterns to continue to keep them stitching, is ...

JEANETTE

Congrats to you Jeanette. 😁 Send me an email so I can send your prize pattern to you. Well done to all of you who have finished projects & to those of you who have been working away at some long term projects, too. I do hope your creative outlets, whether they involve needle & thread, wool, fabric or a combination of them all, are soothing your heart during this crazy time. While my weekly schedule hasn't really changed ... In fact it's been BUSIER as I've crammed in more designing & stitching time than usual. 😜 ... I have been finding it relaxing to sit at night in front of a movie or catching up on eps of Gardening Australia & stitching my Groovy blocks ...

I think this one is my favourite because the rainbow colours are so cheery ... & also satisfy my colour-freak hippie soul! 😂 ...

... But I also LOVE how these Tilda fabrics gave the stitchery a different look. Don't forget, if you'd like to make this set of handy drawstring bags, the pattern is now available from the Quilters Angel  Marion & Steph also have a limited number of kits if you'd like to make the tote bag in these fun & funky Tilda fabrics. In fact, even though the doors of the bricks-&-mortar shop are shut, I know Marion & Steph have been hard at work behind the scenes to provide even MORE kits, BOMs & pre-cuts to keep everyone stocked up & stitching our way through the zombie apocalypse. 😜 I've already taken advantage of their phone order service & they're happy to do email & postal orders to anywhere in Australia. So do a virtual "pop in" & say g'day to them. 😁

And now, I think it's time I popped the kettle on & made myself get back to writing instructions for my own BOM design-in-progress. SIGH! At least it will keep me at home, right?! 😆 While we may be a little limited in our weekend activities choices, it's only for a while & so worth the small sacrifice of staying home to get this virus under control for everyone's sake. So, stay safe, stay well, stay home & keep smiling & stitching. 😘 And if you're really struggling with feeling anxious or overwhelmed, please, PLEASE talk to someone ... And though I'm not a counsellor or professional, if it would help you, I'm more than happy to answer emails if you need to chat & need a splash of silliness in your "IN" box. 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Feel in' Groovy! LAHFA Block!

EDIT: There have been a few technical glitches with various platforms, apps & devices not talking to each other, so please be patient. For those looking for the pattern download on your phone, scroll to the bottom of this page & click on View Web Version under the Home button.Then click on the Love & Hugs logo on the left of the page, this should take you straight to the pattern. KRIS

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend & I hope you’re ready to do some stitchin’, cos it’s my turn to share a block for the Love & Hugs From Australia Stitchalong … WOO! HOO!! I’m pretty excited about that & feel so blessed to be part of this wonderful initiative which is connecting stitchers worldwide during a time when we all need to be reminded that we’re not alone. A HUGE thanks to Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Designs for gathering us together & big thanks to Nat & her merry band of admins who have been working hard to keep things running as smoothly as possible … which is NOT always an easy thing to do.

When Natalie invited me to be part of LAHFA, I was keen to be part of something spreading joy, fun & colour during a difficult time. I wanted my block to be fun & make people smile … which led to a couple of my favourite cute Combi vans & their link to the free-wheeling, peace, love & rock ‘N’ roll 60’s … my brother is always telling me I’m a leftover hippie! Tee! Hee! Hee! And as I started to sketch, the words of a Simon & Garfunkel song seemed like a timely reminder … “Slow down, you’re moving too fast … you’ve got to make this moment last … Feelin’ Groovy!” 😊

 

So as you stitch this block & the other GORGEOUS designs by the equally gorgeous & talented Aussie designers in this group, I hope it is a reminder to you to slow down & enjoy life’s journey wherever it takes you & I hope it leaves you … Feelin’ Groovy! 😊

 

To download my block you can click on the Love & Hugs logo on my sidebar … or pop over to the LAHFA Facebook page to follow the link & see what everyone else is up to with their stitching

 

After finishing my Groovy stitchery, I decided to take it a step further & design a project to showcase it … for those who don’t want to make their blocks into a quilt & … like me …LOOOOOVE a nice roomy bag to stash their stitching in. 😉 So, after scratching through my stash I made my stitchery into …

 

A Groovy rainbow Tote Bag! 😊 Obviously my heart needed a rainbow. 😉 But WAIT …there’s MORE!! I decided to make a second version of my Groovy Tote Bag, this time featuring some GORGEOUS Tilda fabrics. And since the only thing better than one handy drawstring bag is TWO handy drawstring bags, I designed a simple drawstring bag with a slightly different Groovy Combi stitchery to store your stitching necessities in. 

 

The pattern & kits in these fun & funky Tilda fabrics are available NOW From The Quilters Angel. The doors to the bricks & mortar shop may be shut, but the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph are working hard to provide online, email & phone orders for stitchers, so if you’re looking for more stitching supplies … or a kit for my “Feelin’ Groovy! Drawstring Bag set” 😉 … Pop over HERE to get shopping, then get stitching! 😊

 

And since I now have to toodle off to my grown up job to impersonate a responsible adult, I’ll sign off for now. I hope you all have a fantastic day. Stay well, stay safe, stay home, stay stitching … & stay GROOVY! 😉 Til next time …

 

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

Late Easter Greetings!

Once again, today has clicked over to tomorrow too quickly for me & I'm just getting around to wishing you all a Happy Easter. 😁 Some people have an Easter Bunny, some people have an Easter Bilby ... But we just had to be different ...

We had an Easter koala! 😁 Keith, our resident koala cutie, had been fairly vocal throughout the afternoon, but we hadn't seen him, until at about 4pm GB spotted Keith heading up one of the big gum trees at the back of our block. He was not overly impressed with the hoomans disturbing his efforts to attract a lady koala, but we always enjoy a sighting. 😁 We feel pretty blessed to have our very own neighbourhood koala. 

In between koala-spotting, I spent the day madly writing instructions for the project pattern that features my soon-to-be-shared Love & Hugs From Australia Stitchalong  block. I'm on the home stretch ... Which is just as well, since I will share my block on Tuesday. 😜 Sunday was Leesa from Chandler's Cottage 's turn to share a stitchery block, so make sure you hop over to check it out.

But right now I really need to turn the light off & get some sleep, so I'll sign off. I hope you're all staying safe, staying well, staying home & still smiling & stitching. 😁 Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS