Stitches and craft highlights bloggers.

Dear, oh dear, oh dear!! ...a week offline with satellite antenna problems and bloglines is screaming it has over 1000 posts for me to read...all the rest of you have probably given up, I was behind with my reading anyway! Anyway, I promise that next week I will be back visiting..and sewing!

Wicked was...well...wicked!! we loved it, DD reminded me of Vivian at the opera in pretty woman..she was entranced! She even spent her birhday money on the CD, which we have almost worn out since.

We have fortunately also uploaded it onto this fine new toy!

I have never had an ipod, the Sony CD stereo I bought with a very early "real" paycheck when I started nannying has served me faithfully for 18 years but I don't say no to a win..and I won this!! Answered the questions right at a recent field day and hey presto, a 16 GB ipod and speaker system. Have almost loaded my whole dodgy music collection on..and it doesn't seem to have blown up from my uncoolness ...or the dulcet tones of a Marty Robbins gunfighter ballad-so the world is good!

Had a fabulous time at the Stitches and Craft show...after a little detour to Ikea! There was a slight chance there for a while that DD may have had to be strapped to the roof for the trip home but I managed to keep my love of containers..and container systems-in some sort of check!

Saw the blogger section at the show, especially Jodie. Here are a few pics-she looked fabulously professional just at her site....

and then you got even more impressed when she was interviewed on the stage!! Amazing where blogging-and oodles of creative genius-can get you!! Jodie's famous selvedge dress was even on our national TV morning show!

She chatted about her sewing and her blogging, it was great!! And very entertaining as well.

I got some of her fabulous patterns . And can't wait to try them out.

I also visited Audrey and Maude and did some shopping.

My DD was a sucker for the puppies, i loved the elephant and DD is going to work on the canvas. She lasted very well for an 11 year old. i thought the new format of the show was very good-but i was bias as they highlighted blogging!!

We came home into a setting sun and I took some pics. I need one for a card and verse I have in mind...which of the four is your favourite?? You can tell me while I am travelling across the country in the next few days to see the V8 supercars first race of the season in Adelaide. DH and I will reintroduce ourselves to each other while the kids are safely tucked away here with my parents and stand up comedian brother-they WONT miss us!!!!! See you for a coffee and catch up in a few days when my life hopefully slows a notch or two...ready for a BIG bout of bushfire block sewing.

Have a great weekend, Tracey

Another taste of summer swap...

Life is a little hectic here. My girl seems to be all better, which is lucky because she has a busy week coming up...... more details later.

On the sewing front-the free pieced sun has gone into the 'work on later' pile, but I can offer you a snippet of its replacement as the new summer quilt for the 4 seasons quilt swap-still using the colours I wanted but in a slightly more formal style. ny ideas on the design oh clever ones?.......

-you can even see the needle that held it up against the tree. Full photos next time-that's if you want a peek!
Big news on the "print out your blog" ideas from from my last post. Carol at Pins and Needles has sent me the link to a photo book, made out of your blog!! Take a look, seems great and very reasonable, easy to download the necessary stuff and muck around with a/c to carol. I love the idea-a proper diary cum book! Thank you so much Carol!
I have to run now, I have date with a handsome 8 year old and his father for a game of twilight football-this is how I find out I still have some muscles left-well actually it is really the next day I find that out!

Have a great day, Tracey

Received this email and thought you may like it. I delight in the differences between men and women...really.....well, most of the time......

NICKNAMES

If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.

If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT

When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.

When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel .

The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FUTURE

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP

A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.

A man will dress up for weddings and funerals. NATURAL

Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING

Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

SO, send this to the women who have a sense of humor and who can handle it ... and to the men who will enjoy reading it.



Proof that Men Have Better Friends. (according to a man!!!)

Friendship among Women:
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.

300th post

Our close proximity to the coast is fabulous.....95 % of the time! It lets us swim in the summer and enjoy wildlife and crashing surf in the winter. But right now the fact that the coast leads fairly quickly to Antarctica means that it IS FREEZING HERE!!! The windchill is awful and it is well and truly patchwork weather. I feel like laura Ingalls locked away on the prairie...excepting of course, my heated floor, plasma tv and a freezer full of food...to name but a few. Well, okay.... I kind of feel like her-just humour me!

This is my 300th post. Blogging is a little like living near the coast, 95% fabulous and about 5 % not quite as much fun. I am well and truly up for something that is fabulous 95 % the time so that's why I am still here after 300 posts. I love the interaction, and as I have said before, this is the only diary i have ever fully kept. Well, except for in my heyday, between 19 and 22, when I had a lot to write, but that was the heyday-there were instances of more than one boyfriend at a time, a girl has to keep track!!! Don't hold it against me, I am very responsible now!

Well, back to blogging: 'cos i am having fun, you have a chance to share the joy. Drop me a line over the next few days....(before I yell "stop") and you may be lucky enough to score the prize consisting of chook or cow novelty tape measure (you choose which), a charm pack of Lancaster County fabrics, a plastic coated Moda purse made by me and a few of my patchwork cards. You can tell me something you have liked along the 300 or just say "hi". A big hi from me to the many emailers who have been dropping me a line lately, it's great to hear what non-bloggers think-and to mail out the odd card. You are all welcome to enter as well.

On a sewing note, I made a few more shirt blocks and played again at Quilters last night-here are some playing ideas for thei block......

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I decided on this arrangement. I have a few more blocks to make but this is how it looks this sewn together this morning.

Learnt how to make this fabulous little sewing bag last night. I can't wait to try a few out.

Have a great day, Tracey

I hear a lot of people complain that there is no service in the world anymore, no-one has compassion, no-one cares....well they obviously don't have my friends and they definitely don't have a quilting blog.

When I put out my little request for help with Dad's farm fabric, I knew people would have a think about it for me, but I didn't realise new bloggers I had barely got to know would scour quilt shops in places like Dubbo in outback NSW armed with a photo...(and only miss the fabric by an hour!!!!!) or lovely friends would check the shops in Kalgoorlie, a mining town in Western Australia or that shops would be scoured all over North America....just to name a few locations I know about.

This is really only the tip of the iceberg: fabric comes when needed-(and Amy will eventually get her surprise for the lovely cowboy prints for my boy-when I get my act together), quilt blocks come.. and go for good causes as well, birthday surprises, bag magnetic clasps, completed quilts for swaps and even lovelier, all those words of encouragement, whether over kid issues or quilty business....and the multitude of ideas your blogs add to my "to do" list!

It really makes you feel part of a wide tight knit group, a fabulous feeling-and thanks go to everyone who has helped make my year brighter and hopefully I have done my little bit for someone as well.

Here is Isabelle junior as your reward.-and she really is happy, it's just those eyes!

But onto the sewing front, here is me doing something that brings tears to my eyes and probably makes all quilters feel a little sick. Yes, using my new unpick...and not just on anything, but on an entire double bed sized quilt binding.

Not understanding why I would perpetuate such a crime, well, we will go back for a quick overview.

In Feb of 2006 I decided, with 3 or 4 days to go before my dad's 70th, that I would make him a quilt...here it is, with me and Dad. It was made entirely from stash as I got it all cut out after 7 pm one night. All the guests signed it on the back, it had family photos printed on it and that, I thought, was that.

Half way through the year I was given it back, Mum wanted it bigger, for their bed. Many bloggers gave me ideas but the overwhelming response was make him another one....and this I was going to do until the "fabric and the 6 days left until Christmas and they are calling out for their summerweight quilt back" issue.

Hence, the binding picture. I am going to add the farm pictures to the bottom and 4 or 8 more of the log cabin blocks to the sides, and it should hit the mark. The farm pics are a risk...but I like 'em, they scream my Dad to me. I also don't think I have enough of the original cabin strips to conjure up too many more even slightly co-ordinating blocks so the farm pics should cover the hole. Here is how they are going so far, they will, of course be sewn in one long strip.

This was more the original quilt plan.

And this is the photo that is my Dad, (he just doesn't look right when he is polished up and in good clothes!) so I printed it on fabric and it will go on either back of front as well.

Have a great day.....and for the many who have enquired, DD is still good, 2 weeks now! Tracey

200th post caption winner

Life goes on around here as I try to sew, the houndstooth is the quilt that is coming along...so much for not getting distracted.

DH is busy with harvest so I am basically in charge of everything, DD also at home with the tummy pains so I can't really leave the house to play in the sewing room with the new toy. I have transported the sewing machine to the house but there is no way I am moving that frame!

These Willy Wagtails are nesting outside my sewing room window, under the fuel tank. I love these birds, they "talk" to you and like to be around people. I am also very impressed with the shared parenting.

Here is Dad watching my every move.

Weaned some calves, here is Archie the wonderdog thinking he is a cattle dog. He very quickly bolted to outside the fence when they kept inspecting him.

Here is a have to read!

I finished it really quickly, then Robyn borrowed it and was reading it making tea. Thank you to everyone who suggested these books to me, the great mix of a bit of quilting, good characters and a good story as well has been very enjoyable.

And my boy is providing the sparkler fireworks for the announcement of the winner of the 200th post caption for this photo.

I don't know how the Pioneer woman does it, she gets 1000's of entries. I loved all mine, but coming from a family of comics and a stand-up comedian brother, I am a sucker for a pun. I also loved that this one was all about the particular photo, so Leigh, who presently has her blog in hiatus, wins the prize for, "I've got my eye on you"

Ruth is an extremely close second with "The grass was greener...honestly", then there was Kim with "they make it look so easy on dancing with the stars"....and all the rest of you caption writers.- All too clever, so you get this poppy picture posted as a thanks!

Have a great day, Tracey

Winners and Op Shop finds.

Thank you to the many people who commented in Blogiversary week. I will get the minutes to personally return each email....but until I do, thanks again!

The winning quilt ended up being Joshua's. I don't need to give it a prize as the love it is getting is enough! I am not sure if it was the quilt or the happy boy next to it, but it won anyway. Narrowly edged out Gratitudes. But nearly everything got a vote, which just goes to show that we all have out own preferences.

The winning commenters were just drawn by my girl, who is home as she unfortunately only got 4 days between bouts this time, rather than the usual 6-8 weeks.

Drum roll please, here are the results...........

So I will be getting in contact with loulee and Laurie Ann and something special just to suit them will be on it's way....this year!!

As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping...well, real retail therapy could get a trifle pricey if I hit the shops every time my daughter wasn't well, but op shops, well that's another story-and all going to charity of course!

Do you always round up at Op Shop/Thrift shops, even to the next $10.... especially if you know you have a bargain? It is a easy thing you can do that makes a big difference to charities.

I have picked up a few good bargains of late, so I had better share, I wont burden you with all the books, just the more interesting stuff.

Great blue check flanelette dressing gown, pink chenille bedspread, yellow chenille bedspread and big piece of vinyl that just didn't want to stay there, preferred being stored in my shelves for "just" when I need vinyl!!

The pink chenille was in the dog blanket section for $1.50 as it has a little stain-we'll soon cut around that.

Cute little expanding wine rack that will be perfect to hang up for strips. ($1)

Spotted a little zip lock bag in the remnant box, took this home and unpacked these blocks and fabric to match, all ideas welcome! (50 c)

At the last one I visited, I found this heavy cotton tab curtain, love the gingham edge. I am thinking about cutting it up into tea towels for the Church trading table in such a way that each has one gingham edge, but open to good ideas on that one too, over a 2 metre drop. The basket was a pick up there as well, girl can never have too many of them!

A few more shirts to top up the stock that has hardly depleted after 3 quilt tops, and a cute floral skirt that will cut up well for some shabby chic.

Have a great day, hope none of you Californians are getting too hot with all those fires on our TV, Tracey

A post full of photos.

Trying a few different theories to see if you can then click on the photos to enlarge them. The cushion is the control, it is placed at medium size and middle layout. The rest are no layout and large size. We'll see if any click.

Here is the cushion close-up for those who asked, I hope you can see some quilting, it is difficult with the black.

My group strips of friendship (for Anne). Done three or so years ago ,it hangs in the entranceway.

A sample of the 60+ show/gift bags we are making for the market day.

Little wall hangings and string pieced pot holders. (Old blanketing inside.) Aiming to do a fair few pretty floral ones as well.

I scored 8 metres of this floral satin. I don't even like to guess how old it would be but it makes up beautifully into little cushion stacks/doll pillows and I'm going to try some pillow slips and doll blankets. I am happy to swap a fat quarter for the odd piece if anyone is interested.

and, of course, no fete is complete without chooks. We have done about 30 so far and more of the chenille ones are definitely on the cards, they are so cuddly.

Busy organizing the School market today, sick of the phone but enjoying the little email chats with a few of you in between. Cheers and tell me how the photos go, Tracey

100th post...and I spent the egg money!!

A nice, organisational and congratulatory moment here. As some regular readers will know, I save my egg money and I had let slip a few months ago that it had amassed the grand total of $299! Well, with recent chook sales I finally reached the milestone that allowed me to buy the side table I wanted in order to get my bedroom on track and here it is! (complete with one drawer out I just notice!) I haven't quite filled all the drawers yet but by the stuff that still needs a home on the floor it will not take long! (better a hoarder than a borrower be! Isn't that how it goes?)

DH still thinks I am crazy that I didn't just go out and buy it 18 months ago when I wanted it, but then I wouldn't love it like this and be quite proud of it, it would just be furniture.

Tidied up the "book floor" as well after this came, borrowed some of the wooden shelving cubes and solved the problem of keeping all the stuff I like nice and close. See the magazines next to the pen and little sticky notes so I can mark the good quilt articles so they are easy to find for later. I have not yet come to the point where I rip and file the good bits but with my growing mag. collection I may get to that. I also love the chook. He plays the chicken dance until you put your hands around his neck then he makes a choking sound. Depends on your idea of humour... my daughter's class gave it to me for my birthday for doing storytime!

Now, back to being my 100th post. What fun that has been. My posting started at about the same time as my daughter got sick with her giardia and associated tummy problems and the blofgging interaction has been lovely for some added contact and to keep me motivated to record my quilting. As a result, and as a Thank you, I am going to borrow from Darlene's idea and everyone who comments prior to my next post will go into the draw for a prize or two......

Have a great day, Tracey

I'm going to be a Maverick......
I wonder which one I'll be, Tom Cruise's Maverick out of Top Gun or Bret Maverick, the poker hustler......wait, what's that I hear.....oh, it's a quilt maverick! Well that hopefully wont be too hard for this "don't read a pattern- just see what happens" quilter!
I always wanted to join but was a little afraid it would be like trying to be in the in crowd at School and I might face rejection!! That's a little bit of a sensitive issue with me as you can see from the fact I don't list my favourite reads in my sidebar , I don't like others to have hurt feelings because they aren't on my list!
Happy Quilting and thanks to Bonnie for the OK! Tracey

Post Script: I was also in the mood for a change of scene on my blog, what do you think-I'm trialling it so see how I feel. (I was hoping it would give me back the 'post title' section!