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.

Would you be upset if ............ (UPDATED)

you believed you were buying this

but received this instead

I deliberated long and hard before posting this ................warning ....................... dummy spit follows!
This CraftCentral/Patchwork&Craft Leutenegger promotion was available as a "Deal of the Day" on Monday, 25th November 2013.  By the time I responded, the "Leutenegger Clever Country “YELLOW” Fat Quarter Pack" for AU$45 was the only one available - that's OK, I needed to fill a yellow gap in my stash.
I was quite confident in dealing with this organisation as I had previously purchased a boxed set of FQs to match the FQs I had received as a bonus for renewing my magazine subscription - on that occasion, I was extremely happy with the fabrics received as they were EXACTLY as described, pictured and promoted.
I contacted Express Media (Craft Central/Patchwork&Craft) to express my disappointment and got this reply:

HI Cathy,

Thank you for your feedback in regards to the product you have purchase. The add did state that styles may vary. We have taken your feedback on board.

Kind Regards,
Victoria Loftus

Customer Service Manager
Express Media Group

Whilst I would have been happy to receive different styles of 'yellow' fabric, I was still expecting to receive individually wrapped Clever Country fat quarters from the Leutenegger range of fabrics - not some different range and in a different colour.
The other colour selections that were promoted at the time were as follows:

Black

Blue

Neutral

Pink

Red

(photos taken from the email I received as part of this promotion)

I have to wonder just how many people got what they thought they were buying.

Some of you may say "what do you expect for AU$45?" - well all I can say is I am glad I didn't pay RRP AU$105 for them - they would have been returned!
I have since done a search for the fabrics that were actually supplied, and have found:
yellow/black and white fabrics Lemon Tree by Benartex HERE
other black and white fabrics I found available at Alacraft  HERE
I cannot find any of the fabrics I received from CC/P&C on the Leutenegger website and therefore conclude that the fabrics I have received are NOT Leutenegger fabrics.  I feel as though I have been conned by CraftCentral/Patchwork & Craft and they have used the good name of Leutenegger to solicit sales.
I am still contemplating lodging an official complaint with ACCC - am I being unreasonable?

There is a silver lining though :)   In Alacraft I have found an Australian OnLine store that can satisfy all my creative craft needs - with sewing/quilting, cardmaking, beading, knitting & crochet - all in the one place!

UPDATED:  3rd January 2014
Since sharing my photo here and on Facebook on 29th December 2013 - I have received several comments both here on the blog and on my FB photo, to support contacting CC/P&C again to seek a full refund.  CC/P&C have since commented on my photo on FB apologising for the mix up and offering a full refund.  It has taken a few days, but I am now in receipt of the details needed to send my package back.  Will keep you all posted on how long the refund takes :)

UPDATED:  13th January 2014
After a phone call from Express Media (CC/P&C) on 7th January saying the returned goods have been received, they agreed to arrange a refund via Paypal, which was finally processed on 13th January.

Thank you all, once again, for your comments and support :)

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.

A Spotlight sale ...............

at the most perfect timing ;-)   (2nd post for me today ;-))

I noticed around blogland that quite a few people were mentioning the current sale at Spotlight for $1 fat quarters .................... say no more .................. I was there ;-)

The first opportunity for me to get to Spotlight was Saturday afternoon - we were going out to the SAPF (South Australian Photographic Federation) Annual Exhibition on Saturday night, so I got showered and dressed early, and nipped out to my local Spotlight at Clovercrest.

I had fun combing through the selections of fat quarters, and found some excellent buys ;-)

all FQs (except the solid red) were $1

then I found another 6 FQ pack in the same fabrics I am working on for my A4A QAL!

this was not on special, but I was able to use my 20% discount for having my own carry bag ;-)

I got some more black solid too .......... you can never have too much black ;-)

All in all, a great day ............... oh and the SAPF was great too - I got to see the images I entered up on the big screen, along with all the other digital entries.

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.

More January Sewing

Mr Fixit returned to work this week and I have enjoyed some time to myself .......... even if it was way too hot to do anything really strenuous!

I managed to get some sorting of my collection of FQs - all in colour order ;-)

then I started on some of my scraps 

here is everything back in the cupboard 

baskets for scraps 

I completed some more sewing  ........... here are a few tease photos for my January partners

These blocks will be in the mail to their respective partners on Monday

..... you will have to wait and see who gets what ;-)

Now, for some angel sewing on the weekend ;-)

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.

In and out of my sewing room

September seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye - where did it go?

Naomi has sent this gorgeous bundle of goodies - some extras thrown in to make up for being a bit late - Thank You so much Naomi - there was really no need for the extras, but I love them any way ;-) 

I love the little charms - especially the elephant - you know it means good luck when the trunk is pointing up - thanks for that info Dale Kerrigan ;-)

Here are my orange blocks from Annette & Mandy for the CraftMad Family Quilt

Spotlight shopping - I went out to grab some Fat Quarters and use up my Birthday voucher .......

.......... ooops, they just multiplied and grew up to 1/2 metres ;-)  

That is what happens when
it has been more than 60 days since my last Spotlight visit ;-(

I got to sew on my birthday ;-)  Bathurst was on, so I spent the day in my tracky dacks, drinking champagne & orange juice, sewing with the race going on in the background.

So I don't spoil the surprise for my October partners
here are some teasers

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.

Happy Camper ;-)

Some of you regular followers may remember a block I made for Alex as part of a RAK in 2010 - see my post HERE for pics on the whole quilt

Well, ever since then I have been on the lookout for this material - I only had 1 Fat Quarter of it and used most of it up as I made a mistake in the cutting ;(

Well, I finally found it in a Destashing  Group on Facebook 

I am so pleased - thank you Lois!

Now, if only I can find this fabric

I will be very happy ;-)

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.

Goodies from the Craft Fair

I went to the local craft fair on the long weekend, had a ball and got some more fabrics ;-)

see my post HERE showing the other crafty goodies 

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.

FNSI Show and tell

Another successful FNSI, well sort of ;)

After spending quite some time on Admin duties for Christmas Block Swap  **insert grumpy face here**  - see my post HERE

I continued working on my May To Do List

SWAPS

Quilt Block Swap Australia to Rosemary - fabric picked, washed ready to sew

Block Swap Adventure - to Sherry - fabric picked, washed ready to sew

6" Block - to SueB - template printed, fabric picked, washed ready to sew

Christmas Block Swap to Chris - fabric picked, washed, cut and ready to sew

I got a bit sidetracked sorting some more ;-)

as at February 2012

as at May 2012 (2 more containers sorted)

still haven't touched the bottom shelf yet ;-)

More strips sorted - although the different colours in the baskets look good, me thinks I will need to find bigger storage for these ....... I am sure they are breeding when I am not looking ;-)

found the perfect basket to keep my 6" swap blocks in ;-)

Still to do .....

Make May Block Lotto Block

Work on HST BOM - Fabric purchased, now to start cutting and sewing

CraftMad Quilt - to Merry and Mandy

CraftMad Sewing - pillowcase to POK

Post April Block Lotto Block to Laurina - DONE

Fat Quarter Swap - Birthday FQ to Wendy, Blue FQs to Jessica - DONE

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.

FNSI show and tell

Yesterday, I had a wonderful day ;-)

First up, the day started with a quick sweep, mop and vacuum; kitchen sink nice and shiny ;-) now with the chores out of the way, I could sew to my heart's content ;-)

The postie delivered some squishie joy this morning ;-)





The above goodies from Carol for April Fat Quarter Swap - thank you so much for the extras ;-)

See my other post about Fat Quarters received in the Fat Quarter Swap group HERE

The choccies came in handy for the obligatory FNSI preparation - Step 1 - Drinkies (Bubbly & Orange Juice) and choccies ;-)

See what I am putting my tools on?  That is the potholder I received in the CraftMad Potholder swap from Lauren - it was far too nice to get all dirty using it as a potholder ;-)  now I can see it every time I am sewing and admire it's beauty.  Better pics HERE

The postie also delivered this


from Busy Thimbles - Moda Old Primrose Inn. - their recent newsletter offered free postage for a short time, so I went to the site to have a look see - this layer cake was on special and so was some yardage ;-)

Now onto my To Do List .................

CraftMad Ugly item for Mandy
CraftMad 3 dudes jelly roll block for Kelly
CraftMad 3 dudes jelly roll block for Mandy
CraftMad 3 dudes jelly roll block for Merry

Cushion cover for Our Craft Forum Swap #10

First up - ugly item for Mandy as part of our CraftMad sewing swap

We had to pick an ugly fabric and make something with it - this was much harder than it seemed ;-( I picked this fabric, as it was not my most favourite colour scheme - I got it as a bulk lot from somewhere ;-) It is beautiful Lecien fabric, but the pictures did not really represent what I was buying - live and learn ;-)

Next up the 3 dudes jelly roll block (Let's strip it) this was part of our CraftMad Family Quilt block swap.

for Kelly


for Mandy


for Merry

I love how this block comes together and how many different effects can be created with this procedure. These blocks finish at 9 1/2" and could be a good candidate for Block Lotto in the future ;-)

I finished off my cushion cover for Our Craft Forum Swap #10 for TrishJ

here is a tease photo

this will be in the mail on Monday ;-)

this is the gorgeous cover I received from TrishJ

thanks so much TrishJ - will get a better insert for it and use it while I am sewing ;-)

I also did a little re-arranging of my Fat Quarters - I am getting a lovely collection together now ;-)

I am buying a clear storage container every two weeks to help store my fabrics - the latest one is for my Christmas Fabrics.

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.