Photo skills......

Sometimes I think I need an assistant, someone I can rely on to help me take a decent photo.

I can spend AGES taking photos.

Maybe even more time than I spend on actually making some of the things I do!

I think this was pic number 40.......

Mmmmmm....this is what happens a lot.

Maybe I should use some knitting needles like this pro.......

Kathryn. XX

Quilt #3 Stacked Coins

Well, here it is finally finished. Quilt #3 The Stacked Coins Quilt.

I started machine quilting it on Friday afternoon at "Sewjourn" and by Friday evening had finished it completely. It was a good start to the weekend. I had planned to have it finished on Friday so that I could work on the Irish Flower Chain Quilt for the rest of the weekend.

I quilted it about 1cm inside the seam on the coins then stippled around them on the white.
The binding was even made entirely of scraps!
I must say it is really pretty and I love the fact that a lot of my favourite fabrics are in here.
A lot of the scraps were my last bits of these fabrics. :(

I didn't do any sewing yesterday - maybe I was all sewed out from the weekend!!! But I did have to finish this order for a lovely lady in the USA today.

Christmas Stockings already - this lady is organised!!

And this pretty number has just been popped into the shop and etsy.

What quilt will I start next I wonder?

Kathryn. XX

"Sewjourn"

What a fantastic weekend we all had here at "Sewjourn".

We enjoyed beautiful weather, a perfect venue, wonderful company and, surprisingly, lots of sewing!

The cottage was fully equipped with everything you would ever need. This is the view from the studio.

The studio.

Settling in.....from left Jodie, Lara and Emma

Rachel's quilt for Maya
Blogless Megan's quilt - amazing or what!

Gorgeous Nikki whipping up clothes for herself and her little one in two seconds flat!

Annie had so many things on the go and she ticked all but one thing off her list of her things to do! Go Annie!

Lara made loads of very cute clothes for her little girls as well as a few things for herself.

And here is the Irish Flower Quilt that I managed to finish (apart from the binding). Thank you Jan (owner) for holding it up. I don't think I will be making another one, but I am really happy with it. I did have a few teething problems with the pattern being "out" slightly. I had to cut down the centre white squares as they were too big. I also managed to finish the stacked coins quilt. I'll have to post a photo tomorrow.

And did I mention how wonderful my "boys" are? Well, this is what was waiting for me on my arrival home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I am a really lucky gal.

Thank you to these girls for one of the best weekends ever!!!

From left, Me! Nikki - You Sew Girl, Lara - Thornberry, Annie - Flower Garden, Jodie - Ric Rac, Megan - blogless and Rachel - Four Wise Monkey's

Emma - Scrap Bag (missing from the photo)

Here's to next year!

Kathryn. XX

Just in the nick of time.....

This little cutie arrived yesterday just in time for me to organise all the provisions for the quilt I am making this weekend at the quilting retreat. I was amazed it arrived so quickly from the USA. I ordered it (from here on sale for $16 US!) on Thursday and it arrived on Tuesday. How incredible is that! It is from the Moda Bake Shop by April Cornell and the fabric is called Spring Magic. I think it will be lovely in the "Triple Irish Flower Quilt" I have planned. Lots of pretty pinks and greens and, of course, roses.
This is another quilt on the go from the "Darla" range of fabrics by Tanya Wheelan. I love the brighter pallet of these fabrics.
And here is the Stacked Coins Quilt, I started ages ago from my scraps, pinned and ready to be quilted on the weekend.
And here is something actually finished and in the Etsy shop now....The Princess Cushion- Rose.
I have so many things planned for the weekend, I hope I can get at least one thing finished to show you....in between the laughing, talking and carrying on I expect to be going on....
2 more sleeps....
Kathryn. XX

Eurovision

Eurovision has become a bit of a tradition in our house. We watch it every year. But surprisingly we stumble upon it by accident every time! We don't trawl the papers in the hope that it is on or "google it" to see when it is on...

I just happened to flick over to SBS last night and realised it was on. We missed a few acts but caught most of them for some brilliant entertainment. I really love the competition with all the eccentric entrants from all over Europe. Some are fantastic and some are just plain awful! I will not mention the countries that were really bad - just in case I offend someone out there.

I really liked the entry from Malta (Chiara) but she only received 31 points and ended in 22nd place! And of course the amount of time, money and efffort put into winning is astounding. I guess it means a lot to a country to win because then they get to host the competition next year and it puts them "on the map" so to speak.

England really pulled out all the stops this year including bringing in Andrew Lloyd Webber who wrote part of the song and was on the piano for the performance. Jade didn't do too badly but she did stand too close to one of the violinists at one point and get jabbed...poor girl!

Have a look at this years winner from Norway (Alexander Rybak) and see what you think. When I first heard the song, I thought it was very child like in the way it was written and a bit folky (he wrote it himself) , but after listening to it again, at the end of the show, I realised it was very catchy. I did think there were better entries but you cannot argue with the whole of Europe when most of their votes went to Norway!

If you haven't seen a Eurovision contest before, I think it is one of the things you should do before you die!

Have a look at this years Eurovision website and see why for yourself!!!

It will be three hours well spent!

Kathryn. XX

Girls, I have decided......

Friday week will see me and a few other "girls" heading to "Sewjourn" for a quilting weekend.

You can imagine how excited I am......2 1/2 days of sewing bliss!

I have been wondering what project to take with me to do.....

Well this is it girls......

I have just seen this gorgeous quilt on "Moda Bake Shop" and it's called "Triple Irish Flower Quilt" and I am in heaven.

Ok, now I have to just pick up a few bits and pieces to make it....
Oh, I am excited......
Kathryn. XX

"Lambley" and Mother's day...

On Saturday my family visited a very unique nursery called "Lambley".

It is set around a beautiful old farmhouse called "Burnside" in a lovely area outside Ballarat called Ascot. It is unique in its ability to grow specific species of plants, sourced from all around the world, that are drought tolerant and extremely hardy in our dry climate.

The beautiful entry suggests wonderful things to come.....

This is called "The Dry Garden" and is only watered 3 times a year.

Even in Autumn it was beautiful with an abundance of colour.

We are starting to think about our new garden, when the house is finished, so we were able to see how these plants grow together and what colours looked good together.

They also have "The Cut Flower and Vegetable Garden". Just take a look at these mouthwateringly yummy strawberries.

I would love this in my garden....

Even though we were not here at its' best, it was still beautiful and you could see lots of colour. Imagine what it looks like in Spring!

The way out.

The kids enjoyed running around the gravel paths, hubs enjoyed marvelling at the colour (I think he was expecting to see lots of cactus and yuccas!) and I enjoyed envisaging our new garden.

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. I was spoilt with breakfast in bed (eggs on toast, bacon, mushrooms and a latte!) then master 8 had the brilliant idea of picking some lunch up from the bakery and having our first meal at the new house.

So we sat on the floor of the new house eating our meat pies, then had a kick of the soccer ball on the block next door. It was a great day. I love being a Mum......most of the time!

Kathryn. XX

The Brass Hussy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Brass Hussy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Go and check it out for a chance to win a gift certificate to "The Brass Hussy" on Etsy!!!

Good Luck, Kathryn. XX

Real Estate Agents.....

I have been working like a crazy lady lately trying to get our place looking spick and span and ship shape for a few real estate agents who have come, and are coming, in the next day or two.

It is such an awful feeling knowing that agents are wandering around one's home making decisions that will affect you so much financially.

It can either make your day or break it, obviously based on the market "today".

Because, as we all know, the market is totally different this week compared to last week isn't it? Didn't you know that?

Well, I found that out this morning when two local agents came and valued our home. Now, whilst they were extremely professional and honest (is that possible in a real estate agent?) I still couldn't help that feeling of....sales talk.

Oh well, it has to be done and I will go through it all again tomorrow. In between cleaning and tidying I have managed some sewing.....(purely for my own sanity)

These will be added to the website and Esty soon....

once I have had time to sit with a cup of tea and relax....

which probably won't happen for another few days......

And I have the niggle of a headache coming on...great.

(popping pills as I type...gulp - good excuse to sit and do nothing for the afternoon?)
See you in a few days, Kathryn. XX

A surprise.....

This afternoon my wonderful husband utterly surprised me.

It was the most wonderful feeling to have been completely surprised.

(Tears rolling down your cheeks surprised)

He had seen my last post about "Bear Hugs" and my love for "Woody". After a sneaky phone call to the owner, Sue (thank you so much Sue!), and a cock and bull story about having to duck out for a few minutes to check something at the new house he arrived home with a bag......

MY

HUSBAND
IS
THE

BEST!

If you are ever in Buninyong, make sure you visit Sue at "Bear Hugs" (also at "The Vintage Garden"), tell her Kathryn sent you.

Kathryn. XX

Which one would you choose?

I have been really slack with my blogging recently so I apologise if you keep coming back to see what I've been up to and all you are seeing is pink from the last post!

The computer doesn't seem to want to turn on today so I am working on the lap top and of course there are no photos of mine stored on here so I will have to do some surfing of photos to share with you...:(

Master 6 is home from school today - upset tummy (nothing serious and I think he is playing on it quite nicely). At present he is trying to beat his brothers score on "Arthur and the Invisibles" DS game....Mmmm!

Mum and Dad were here on Wednesday and took me out to lunch. They were supposed to come on Tuesday (my brother's anniversary) but they had a funeral to go to. Of all days to go to a funeral eh?

Anyway we had a really nice day together and lunch was lovely. We went to the Crown Hotel in Buninyong then ended up at "The Vintage Garden" (gorgeous shabby cottage homewares) and "Bear Hugs" (across the road).

Oh my goodness "Bear Hugs" is a very dangerous place.

"Woody"

I'm not a real teddy bear lover but I did fall completely head over heels for an English Teddy Bear called "Woody" made by a company called "Charlie Bears" (make sure you have a look at them...that's all I'm going to say). I may have to sew, sell and save to bring him home with me. The lady who owns the shop is a teddy bear collector and she has some of her teddies on display in the shop. She said that "Woody" comes and goes very quickly so maybe I should just go and be very naughty and bring him home with me...

"Diesel"
But then, of course, there is "Diesel"

"Kojak"

and "Kojak" and.....I could go on, and on, and on....

I can see, now, why people collect Teddy Bears!

Which one would you choose?

It will not be easy.....Hee Hee!

Have a great weekend, Kathryn. XX