Happy Birthday Joy!

My best friend Joy celebrated her 70th birthday during the week - but celebrations were put on hold as she came down with a bad cold - we waited until she was feeling a little better before catching up :)

You may have noticed from my photography blog that we go out a lot together with our cameras - Adelaide & Monarto Zoos are frequent destinations, as Joy loves the big cats!

When I saw this fabric from Cynthia's Ark, I just had to get it - I wasn't sure what I was going to make, but I got it anyway.









I really enjoyed this project and can see me making another one real soon!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Bloggers are wonderful people!

I got quite a few responses from my last post "I miss swapping"

Cynthia, Maria, & Anthea responded with a Fat Quarter Swap (FQ), and Jo responded with a block swap.

Here are the FQs I sent :)

For Anthea

for Cynthia

For Cynthia, I had to hunt high and low to find a FQ that 

I had not actually purchased from Cynthia's Ark :)

for Maria

Here is the block I sent to Jo - I had to hunt for a nice basket to make for her red & white basket quilt.

for Jo

Jo has recently posted that my block has arrived and she has already placed it in her quilt :)  I was most surprised, and very honoured to find Jo had placed it front & centre!

Please visit Jo's blog to see the end result - it looks amazing!

Here are photos of what I received :)

blocks from Jo (photo pinched from Jo's blog as her photo is much better than mine :) )

I had to share just how pretty that ornament is :)  thank you Jo, I love it!

from Anthea

from Cynthia

from maria

the FQs are beautiful and I can't wait to finish off my rainbow starflower quilt!

Thank you ladies for responding to my call for a swap :)  it was a lot of fun!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Project Uninterrupted - Wonky White Stars - PinkFlimsy

Hi everyone,
I had a virtual sewing get together with my friends at Project Uninterrupted, hosted by Cynthia, of Cynthia's Ark

The first Saturday of each month is set aside for some Uninterrupted sewing time, especially to work on unfinished projects :)  It is held in-store, but also has a 'virtual' element for those that cannot get to the store :)

I consider everything that I have on the go as a UFO, so I guess this next project qualifies!  LOL

I am part of the Australian CHERISH Do Good Stitches charity bee, where a group of quilters make up quilts for various charities around Australia.  January 2016 was my first turn as a quilter, and I nominated 'Wonky White Stars' in Pink/Purple or Blue/Green.  The idea is to make up two lap quilts :)

The CHERISH stitchers were absolutely wonderful in getting all their blocks to me in record time!

Here is my first flimsy, and my first cab off the rank for my Project Uninterrupted!



Hope to get some more sewing time soon, and complete the blue/green flimsy!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Time in the sewing room ......

is so wonderfully theraputic :)   I spent a few hours with my friend Cynthia in her shop, Cynthia's Ark, yesterday.  I was motivated to get back in the sewing room on my return home.  I have been quite busy with camera club secretarial duties, and after spending time sorting through some stuff in the sewing room after I was able to acquire some shelves (see my post HERE), I was itching to get my foot back on the sewing pedal!

First up, I finished my Christmas Block for my September partner.


I have decided to step down from being the Co-Ordinator of this Christmas Swap.  I have been doing it for 3 years & 8 months, and I think it is time for a change.   I really want to spend more time in the sewing room, and less on the computer doing swap admin stuff - it can be very time consuming process.  The reins will be handed back to the group's founder, SueB, in preparation of the October swap.

Then I got to finish off one of the Farmers Wife Sampler blocks, that was half complete when I started rearranging everything for the new shelves.  I thought I had lost some of the pieces, but I found them.  I wondered why some of the pieces did not come together as nicely as my last block, and I remembered that I had not starched these pieces :(  so there was a little bit of stretching on the HSTs



I am happy enough with it :)  I may redo it, when I redo some of the others .... I may not LOL

This is what motivated me to get back sewing ............

I saw this up on Cynthia's shop wall ............. I just have to make this one!  Already playing with fabric combinations in my mind LOL

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Cake & Coffee with friends

I was lucky enough to spend some time with some crafty friends - Mandy from CraftMad (papercrafts) and Cynthia from Cynthia's Ark (quilting) on Friday, 12th December

the best of both worlds I think, mixing my two hobbies with two great friends :)

LtoR:  Mandy, Cynthia, Cathy (me)

mug rugs for the girls

mug rug for Cynthia - front

mug rug for Cynthia - back

mug rug for Mandy - front

mug rug for Mandy - back

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

FNSI - show and tell

Well, I didn't get too much done last night for FNSI as I had the whole day out at the Adelaide Sewing, Stitching and HandCraft Fair and was quite exhausted by the time I got home :)

I spent most of my day assisting on the Stall of Cynthia's Ark for my friend Cynthia :)

I must say, that normally, I am one of those people that are in the background, doing the grunt work - I never saw myself as a person who would comfortably 'deal with the public', but I was most happy to be able to help Cynthia - I enjoyed it so much, and I am hoping to be able to do it again  :)

The crowds were a bit quiet - I think the extreme cold and being the last day of school holidays didn't help - but there was a fairly constant flow of quilters visiting the stall.   It was so lovely to see them go on the hunt for fabrics that would work with their existing projects.  I managed to see some lovely works in progress, and I do hope I can get to see the finished articles some time in the future  :)

A Facebook friend even popped in to say hello and meet 'face to face' LOL

So, my show and tell, is not really so much tell, as I have now lost my voice and seem to have developed a terrible cold during the hour drive home :(

Never mind, a special treat of a Black Russian was waiting for me when I got home :)

everyone knows that alcohol kills germs right?

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

What I came home with

I had a great day out on Saturday, helping Cynthia from Cynthia's Ark with her stall.

I also managed to come home with some goodies :)

The little button brooch was included in the entry fee of $5.00

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition

As mentioned yesterday, I had a day out at the Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition.

I had the pleasure of helping Cynthia, from Cynthia's Ark, with her stall.  There was a fairly steady pace of customers and I had heaps of fun.

I did manage to have a wander round and check out the exhibition too - here are some quilts that caught my eye :)

Farmers Wife quilt by Freda Steven

Tall Poppies & Daisies by Maxine Cullen

Down in the Garden by Michelle Elliss

my fave bit :)

My Fave quilt on display

Farmers Wife Sample Quilt by Sharen Saliba

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day - any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

more catching up ...............

...... on photos

In January 2014, I happened to be in the right place, at the right time to get these patterns from A Patchwork Quilt- with a discount code, I ultimately got postage for free :)  Now to find time to do some stitching!

February 28th was my friend Cynthia's birthday - so I made her a little purse to carry her bits and pieces when she attends workshops :)

but with Mr Fixit's unexpected stay in hospital, and other factors,
there was a bit of a delay in getting her present to her :(

we got there in the end - Cynthia laughed out loud when she unwrapped it ................. Cynthia actually helped me pick out these fabrics at A Quilter's Odyssey LOL

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Craft & Quilt Fair - Adelaide - Starstruck ;-)

I spent some time at the Adelaide Craft & Quilt Fair on Friday - and I am so glad I did ;-)

First up I decided to drive instead of relying on public transport - I am so glad I did .... my feet were very sore by the end of the day and it would have been terrible walking home from the bus stop ... my bag was very heavy too ;-)

As is my normal practice, I went in and did a complete circumference to see what was around - no purchasing at this point, but I did spy Material Obsession's stall, and had a chat with the lovely Kathy, I walked away thinking 'what a lovely lady, so nice to meet her in real life" .............. I must confess, I was completely starstruck ............... I forgot to ask for a photo :(  DOH!

then I did another round, this time making purchases ;-)

Purchases were from
The Bay Window
Patchwork with Gail
Cynthia's Ark
Fat Cats Card Corner

I had lots of fun, but was very glad to get home and off my feet so that I could sort out my goodies along with a lovely glass of wine ;-)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.