Rosalie and Leanne's Campania projects

Above is a picture of Rosalie's display.

Such gorgeous things.

I am really keen to make the Dolls House quilt....will add it to my growing list!

Rosalie's Christmas Snowman stitchery.
This stitchery is cleverly mounted onto a canvas.... a good idea!

Another stitchery from Rosalie....so pretty and bright.....I would like to do this one too!!

Leanne's Craft and Needle bag.
This was the project that I worked on for the day.

My version of Leanne's bag.
It was a lovely project to work on.....

Campania

This Saturday saw many Tasmanian ladies head off to Campania for the 6th Gathering held by The Quilted Crow ladies. A terrific day was had by all. The guest tutors were Leanne Beasley and Rosalie Quinlan! While the day was all about Christmas there was a definite Halloween theme in the air. The date of this gathering was infact Halloween. Dierdre displayed her amazing collection of Halloween related craft and several bloggers arrived dressed in witchy outfits!!

The beautifully decorated hall.

A Halloween Tree.

My favourite Halloween quilt. (apparently the pattern for this quilt was in Homespun last year....it is now a quilt I am keen to make!!)

A couple of happy witches.

Myself, Jo, Fiona and Dierdre.

Rosalie and Leanne sharing a few stories and the projects for the day.

Ladies having fun....stitching, chatting, laughing, eating, enjoying......

Stitching Angel Surprise

I had a very pleasant surprise in the mail yesterday! All of these beautifully wrapped gifts arrived from my Stitching Angel. I don't know who my angel is, only that she lives in Salt Lake City.....very mysterious and sneaky!

And these are all the gorgeous black and white goodies that my Angel sent.....

A large black and white bag, a very cute cherry fabric bag, a pin cushion, a needle case, plus fabric, buttons, cottons and other notions....


The inside of the needle case...

Thank you So much Angel. I love black and white things and I love all of the things that you have sent! I have been very spoilt!!!

A Stitching Angel

It has been more than a month since my last post. Very slack I know!!

I have been busy stitching during this time. I have almost completed 2 Christmas swap gifts, made 4 Quilt Aid blocks and stitched for my Stitching Angel partner.

Above are the gifts that I made for Jo. I thought it was very funny when I opened the email from Helen and it said that Jo was my partner. It was even more amusing because the weekend after that email I went to Hobart and stayed at Jo's house for 2 nights. I was so tempted to leave "Stitching Angel" messages around Jo's house but I thought that might have been a bit obvious...

Below are the first 4 Quilt Aid blocks I have been working on. I am enjoying working on these blocks so much. They are all different and the fabric Sachet Potpourri is just beautiful. Thankyou so much for this idea Helen....I cant help but think of those women in Africa everytime I work on a block ....

Block designed by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched.

Block designed by Liz Stanway of Teddlywinks.(slightly altered)

Block designed by Rosalie Quilan of Rosalie Quinlan Designs.

Block designed by Helen Stubbings of Hugs'n Kisses.

Raggy doll swap

I have had an extremely busy and tiring 3 weeks, however a few positive things have come from it. The first is that my back-yard is now under control. Andrew and I worked tirelessly to reclaimed the garden beds and found the plants in amongst the weeds!!

The other more exciting news is I have changed my work-load and I am now working .8 again. This means I now have Fridays off and only work an 8 day fortnight. Hopefully I will now have more time for me. I intend spending my Fridays catching up, hopefully going for a nice long walk in the mornings, spending more time in my sewing room, catching up with my badly neglected Blog friends and of course the mandatory cleaning and grocery shopping....

On the quilting front things have been a little quiet. I have managed a touch of shopping, just to keep me motivated....

Sachet Potpourri.

Elm Creek Manor books.

Curiosity has gotten the better of me and I have to find out what these stories are all about. I have read about 100 pages of The Quilter's Apprentice and am surprised to say I am really enjoying it. I thought it may have been a bit contrived and lame....but no it is proving to be a good read....

My on-line Stitching group has just completed a Rag Doll swap. I received the cute Raggy doll named Emily in the green and yellow. She was made for me by Sue and a big Thank you to Sue for her. She is sitting on my shelf in my sewing room. I made the dolly below for Tereasa!!

And finally I am still receiving Thimbles from kind ladies!! This particular one has come from Darwin....Thank you so much Vicki....my collection is growing!!

So hopefully I will be able to keep up with Blogging a bit better now that I have a little more "ME" time. I will try and visit some of my neglected Blogging friends today....the weather is going to be helpful....it is pouring outside again....not sure about that morning walk?..

Cathyx

Mystery Marathon

My last week of term was very busy and tiring. I am very pleased to say that..... the school holidays start here in Tassie today!!

Last week was not very productive on the stitching front until Saturday.

On Friday night I drove to Hobart to attend Helen Stubbings Mystery Marathon- a quilting experience organised to help Helen's daughter Miss M raise money so she can experience the chance of a life time. Miss M has been accepted to take part in World Challenge and will be going to Namibia next September.

I arrived in Hobart about 6 and went to Jo's place. Jo very kindly invited me to stay with her. Jo and her hubby, son and special pooch Lucy, made me feel very welcome and it was wonderful to spend time with them. I also got to see Jo's creative sewing room....I am always intrigued by other peoples creative spaces!!

Jo and Fiona busily stitching!!

The lady in the back ground is Ange, another Tassie blogger.

On Saturday we stitched from 9 til 9 and boy were we weary that night. I had chosen not to take part in the mystery quilt because my end of term brain just could not focus on choosing fabrics etc. I must admit I regreted not taking fabric though.

Instead of making a mystery quilt I worked on Helen's block from the Quilt Aid quilt and am pleased to say I completed it!!

Many generous people donated special crafting goodies for the day. Below is a pattern that Rose provided for us all. I am keen to make the cute little pin cushion..

And finally the 2 finished Mystery Quilts......

I love both of these designs and they are on my ever increasing to-do list!! The fabrics used in the quilt below is just gorgeous and it is called Authentic!

So that was my busy Saturday.....Thank you to both Helen and Jo.......I had a wonderful time!!

Very Wet Book Week

This week has been extremely wet, windy and cold in the north of Tasmania. I am really tired of the rain and feel extremely water logged and soggy!
On the stitching front, my sampler is progressing rapidly...I only have the middle section to go. There are 3 middles to choose from, a birth sampler, a wedding anniversary or an alphabet. I have chosen the alphabet pattern and it has a very sweet peacock in the design.

I have also been playing with these 2 Stitching Angel patterns this week. I have made them for a non-computer friend of mine so I know I am very safe in sharing them. I am really impressed with both patterns, they were fun and very easy to make. Thanks again to Helen for organising this swap. (NB these are NOT for my Stitching Angel partner!!)

This week at school we celebrated Children's Book Week. We all chose a book character and dressed up as them. Despite my charming daughter telling me I looked the same, I dressed as the old crone from Snow White. I was very realistic and I managed to scare a few of the Kinder children....it was lots of fun!!

Here is my class all dressed up as various book characters!!


Well that was my week!
We only have 5 more school days here in Tasmania....looking forward to 2 weeks of holidays!!