A Christmas Wish Catch-Up

Not sure where the last week went, but it is Friday again so about time I did a blog post.

Last weekend, while watching shows such as Bergerac and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates on UK TV, I spent some time catching up on my A Christmas Wish blocks.







As you can see, I wasn't alone when TRYING to take these photos!



With all the rain we've had lately, the lounge room is looking like a Chinese laundry!. Oliver has spent a lot of time hanging out here.

What a pretty boy!



When Molly saw I had the camera out she wanted to 'play' too. However she was NOT at all cooperative .... this was the best I got of her!



Hope to do some sewing tomorrow. It seems like months since I used the sewing machine and I feel like a little break from all the handstitching I've been doing.

Simple Pleasures

Rediscovered these stitchery blocks the other day. They were in a little folder I take with me when out or travelling in the car.

They are from this book by Anni Downs.



The stitcheries are used in lots of small projects as well as this quilt ....



which I intend to make.

Miri was kind enough to send me this. Thank you Miri.

Bits and Pieces

Just a quick post to say the squares are appliqued onto Truly Scrumptious. It really wasn't that difficult a process ... don't know why I was putting it off. .... all I needed was a little nudge from my blogland friends ...

and the top is now officially completed.

The picture below is a little peek at something else I've been dithering around with for the last couple of weeks. (Don't you just love those cats?)

Now I've popped it on the blog, hopefully it will motivate me to get in and finish it.

Finally I would like to thank Siv Hege from Norway, who was kind enough to give me this award. She has only been blogging a short time and already has lots of lovely posts to read.

I'm quite hopeless at passing these on, so if you're a regular reader consider it yours.

Best Friends Zoe and Prudence

Introducing Zoe and Prudence ..... angel best friends.

Not sure who's who but they are both VERY pretty.

Apparently, they are so inseparable they often get their wings entangled when they fly. Therefore they carry this giant heart cushion to soften the landing when they inevitably fall!

Speaking of friends, one of my Tassie blogging buddies, Sarah, has just opened a new online store. For the month of June she is offering free postage on all patterns. (not including books) Visit Sarah's blog to see how you can enter her celebratory giveaway.

Thanks to all the advice re my last post and whether or not to applique on the squares. It was almost unanimous in favour of adding the squares ... so I will heed your advice and try to get them sewn on during the evenings this week. Back to work tomorrow ... but we won't mention that!

The last time Molly appeared in blogland she looked very forlorn in her Elizabethan collar with the 'sponge' on her ear. I took this picture of her at the beach this morning and as you can see, despite looking rather bedraggled from her frolic in the water, she is back to her happy, jolly old self.

A Truly Scrumptious Dilemma

Yesterday I got out my Truly Scrumptious quilt top. It was actually pieced together about 6 weeks ago but has sat folded in my sewing room until now!



I have changed the outer border. The original used long jelly roll strips .... I wanted a scrappier look. With a bit of 'fudging', I got the scrappy squares borders to fit.



All I need to do to finish it is applique on the four squares around the centre block.



Or do I? Do you think it looks okay without them? Am I just being lazy in thinking I could leave them off? I'm TERRIBLE at making decisions so please help me decide.



PS. Excuse the quatlity of these photos. They were taken inside and the light wasn't very good!
Just another reason why winter is NOT my favourite time of the year!

Kitty Wallhanging

Sorting through my photos I realised I didn't ever show the Pay It Forward gift I made for Cathy. Cathy lives in Toronto, Canada and has two very handsome boy pussy cats called Smudge and Lester. A post from Cathy is not complete without a gorgeous picture of at least one of them.

I made her a wallhanging with a cat stitchery as the centre. The stitchery was designed by Lesley Hiller of Wash House Cats. I found it in an older issue of Handmade magazine.





I had fun using lots of fabric from my stash for the scrappy borders and binding.





My stubborn cold is still hanging on ... although not coughing quite as much. No doubt I'll be better by next week when school starts again! Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes my way.

Finished an angel block today but it was too dark to get a decent photo. Will try and get one tomorrow.

Charlotte the Shopper

Introducing Charlotte the Shopper ... that's another block done for my An Angels Story quilt.

Wonder what's in all those bags?

She certainly looks pleased with herself!

I have a rather nasty cold at the moment .... cough, sore throat, runny nose etc ... so a day stitching in front of the telly sounds like a good idea. (Don't you love being sick in the holidays ... NOT!) Should have another block to share very soon.

Pattern Goodness from Audrey and Maude

A while ago I was the lucky winner of three lovely patterns by Audrey and Maude. Thanks Louise and Cathy.

I remember admiring the Baubles pattern on Amitie Textiles blog last year. (Click here to see a much better photo showing off the adorable quilting) Red and white is such an awesome combination.



Gertrude and Gilbert are very sweet. Maybe I need to make some friends for Mrs Perkins.?



I will have to fight my sister for this one ... a good pattern for quilts for her 2 boys. (Sorry about the dodgy photo. I uploaded it again but still had the lines across the middle!)



Will be back soon with some more bits and pieces to share. My stitching mojo seems to have disappeared but I have mananged to catch up with some blog reading over last couple of days.

Back in Blogland

Good news. My computer is behaving and I can access the internet again. Thanks to all who offered advice on how to fix the problems I was having. For those who are interested, I installed Firefox then downloaded a newer version of Internet Explorer. Both are working well so I now have a backup browser in case of future difficulties.

For various reasons I did minimal stitching in May,but did manage to finish this tablerunner.

I think this is no 4 ... guess I should have a go at a different pattern next time ... but I love how nicely it all fits together.

Excuse the wrinkles!

Recently, I discovered a new to me Australian website selling charm packs of Tanya Whelan fabrics. Couldn't resist these ...

and these ...

I am imagining a simple quilt with white sashings.

Finally for all Oliver's admirers, here is where I spotted him recently. It is not unusual to find him relaxing on this old couch ... but this time he had company!

Lucky lives over the fence and is sometimes friendly, sometimes not! He must have been having a good day. They were both happy to pose for the camera.

Missing in Action!

Hi. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes to Molly. She had the splint taken off her ear on Friday and it has healed very nicely. I'm sure she is very relieved to not have to wear her Elizabethan collar anymore, although she had got used to it.
I am posting from my sister's computer as I have not been able to access the internet at home for the last 2 weeks, so apologies if I have not visited your blog or replied to your comments. I have tried every avenue to fix it myself (PC Doctor, diagnostic tests, reinstalling the modem etc) but to no avail. I find it bizarre that Outlook Express works, I can access the iTunes store and receive security updates but whenever I try to open Internet Explorer it fails. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.
Sorry this is such a boring and pictureless post .... hopefully normal transmission will resume soon!