We were nearly part of the Christmas Road Toll.

Hello,

This Christmas we travelled over 500km to spend a relaxing few days with Ainsley and Julian in Kalgoorlie. A lovely Christmas Lunch was cooked in the slow cooker. Time was spent in the pool playing board games and watching the Boxing Day Test. Things took a change when we drove home on Sunday. After having lunch at a Roadhouse in Southern Cross David took over the driving. David is our 17 year old P Plate driver son. David tried to overtake a four wheel drive towing a caravan and didn't allow enough time for the other four wheel drive and caravan that had just overtaken the first one when he saw a four wheel drive vehicle coming straight towards us. David panicked and drove straight onto the side of the road into the gravel at over 110km per hour (an estimate of his speed)we were heading straight towards the goldfields water pipeline which if we had hit it we would definitely not be here now. Somehow we got back onto the road and did a 360 degree turn at a very high speed. All I can remember is that it was very dusty and couldn't see where we were going or where the other vehicles were. We did another 360 degree turn and ended over the other side of the roadside going through scrub, I remember telling David to put on the brakes and helping turn the steering wheel because we were heading straight towards some trees. Thank God no-one was hurt Lucy was in terrible shock because she was behind David in the back seat she was closer to the pipeline and the thought of hitting that then being swung around really shook her up. I remember thinking we can't hit the pipeline or else we would have been dead. We all got out of this safely, our guardian angels were definitely looking after us. Thankfully no-one else was injured and managed to control their vehicles. Our drivers side of our car was smashed about and the two doors on that side we couldn't open although we managed with force to open the back door and get Lucy out. Our front tyre had blown and we replaced that with our spare. Thankfully people were kind enough to stop and help us and check that everything was OK. In fact one of the people who stopped was travelling with the RAC man who was from Merredin and was further back down the road. He came and checked out our car and followed us to Merredin. We stopped to refuel and check the air in our tyres at Merredin. The tyre pressure in the drivers side rear tyre was very low so this was corrected. Unfortunately this tyre blew 10km past Meckering when we were 30km from home. A phone call to the RAC and Gran who came to pick us up. Our car is now in the panel beaters. It certainly was not the way I wanted to end our Christmas break but thankfully we are all safe. Hopefully David has learnt a huge lesson and will not complain when he says I am nagging him about his driving. To all the Mum's and Dad's out there keep on telling your children to slow down and to have two hands on the wheel and anything else you need to pick up on with your Son's or Daughter's driving. We could have easily been part of the Christmas road toll and if David had killed anyone of us or the other people who were travelling on the road that day he would have been up on some very serious charges.

I hope everyone else had a safe and enjoyable Christmas and you didn't eat or drink too much.

Happy days.

Bev C

Pay if Forward Parcels, patterns, books and some stitching.

Hello,

Back in July of this year I got a lovely book from the library and made the table mat above. I call it my "Christmas in July." It was supposed to be in red and white colours with the trees appliqued on top. On looking through my scraps I only had a very small amount of red, so I decided to make it in blues and greens to match the room. I had some of the material for a very long time because I could remember making dolls clothes with some of the green.

I was at the newsagent the other week, browsing at the craft mags and I kept coming back to this magazine. It was very familiar. It was the book that I made the "Christmas in July" table mat from. So of course it had to come home with me. It is a David& Charles publication. This company prints some lovely books, so lets hope some more are printed in magazine format.

These three lovely patterns arrived this week from Ballarat Patchwork.A pattern for a baby bib, a cot quilt and a oven mitt and pot holder. A great prize to win in a giveaway. Thanks Pam and Emma. These are greatly appreciated.

Some of my Pay It Forward gifts have arrived at their new homes. Valerie's blog is as follows
http://www.ausrose.blogspot.com/ It was delivered on a Sunday which is a great surprise. Australia Post is doing a great job.

Claire's arrived also check out her blog at http://www.quiltygal.blogspot.com/

As this will be my last post until after Christmas I wish everyone Peace Happiness and Lots of Love for the Festive Season.

Merry Christmas.

Bev C

May Britt Stitchery finished

Hello,

Yesterday I came across this stitchery design from May Britt at www.abyquilt.blogspot.com
I fell in love with this design instantly. I started tracing the designs as soon as it was printed and stitched the main design last night. Then today I hand stitched on the ric-rac and buttons. It is a small wall hanging or table topper measuring 12 1/2 inches wide by 14 1/2 inches long.


Thank you for drawing up this design May Britt. I wonder what everyone else will turn this design into? Merry Christmas May Britt.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

A lovely week

Hello,

What a busy week the postie has had delivering lots of goodness to our letterbox. I received this beautiful Christmas stocking panel from Saffron Craig. The purples and greens are so bright on the white material.

I was the lucky winner of Cheryl's week 4 giveaway and received this parcel which contains some buttons. They are packaged so nice that it seems a pity to take them of the cardboard, but they will definitely be used. The patterns are for a felt pincushion which I hope to make this weekend and a small crib quilt called 'Cute as a Button' and a mini wall hanging called 'Coming Home'. This parcel like all the others brought a big smile to my face. Thank you for your generosity Cheryl.

Meet my Babushka Christmas Angel. This was sent to me by Janelle of www.threadsoffrienship.blogspot.com Thank you very much Janelle she will hang in my sewing room after her Christmas duties are done. And most importantly thank you for the encouragement and that email you first sent me.

On Monday the week started of with this lovely calendar arriving. I won this as part of Donna's 400 post giveaway. The photos in this are absolutely stunning. I especially love the card the close up of the flower is amazing.

Lucy has had a busy week. Last Thursday as a reward her Year 10 class had a day out at Laser Corps in the Swan Valley. There were some very sore legs for a few days afterwards so much running ducking and diving avoiding being shot by the laser. Friday saw there final day after assembly in the morning the Year 10 Leavers are given a guard of honour when leaving the school. Lucy spent the rest of the day with her friends in the Park and went to the Pool. She came home thoroughly exhausted and sun burnt. On Monday the day was set aside for there Graduation Mass and Dinner. We met at the school again for a photo session at 5.00pm. Lucy wore a white dress with small black polka dots and lots of matching bangles and a super necklace and very high heeled black shoes. She told me she would be tall for once but of course everyone else had high heels as well!!!We then had a beautiful Mass where the students each gave there Mum or Dad a long stemmed Red Rose in appreciation of our effort we have put into there lives and as a general thank you. After the Mass the students went across the the Hall and enjoyed a delicious buffet meal then the dancing started. This last Term they have spent an afternoon a week learning all sorts of dances from the Cha Cha to the Barn Dance. By this time all the girls had there shoes off. Presentations were made and speeches given and lots and lots of photos were taken. Of course there was the after party. Gosh it is hard staying up waiting for them. I think Lucy got home about 1.30am and then she was too excited to sleep at 2.00am I sent her to bed.
The week has been filled with lunches with relatives and friends. Yesterday I had morning tea at the local Tea Shop and enjoyed Mars Bar Cheesecake. Gosh I didn't need any lunch after that. The lady asked if we needed sugar. We all had to laugh, there we were with sponge cake with strawberry jam and cream and my cheesecake. Enough sugar to last us all for a week.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Bev C

Lavender cross stich and some needle cases.

Hello,

I did this cross stitch a few years back. It was a DMC pack. I love the colours in this they are so true to life. With the left over threads I cross stitched a hand towel with the word Welcome on it, they hang on the wall next to my bed. When it was nearly finished and there were only a few stitches to fill in I just used whichever thread I wanted, it was easier and quicker this way and it made no difference to the final result. I have had a little production line going with my sewing in the past couple of days. I have used Brother Card No. 65 to make these little needle cases for presents. The names are blocked out at the top so the new owners can't see what they will be getting. I have also embroidered a pattern with a sewing theme on the back of the cases. I still have two more to make.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Gail Pan pattern arrives.

Hello,

Last week I was lucky enough to win Gail Pan's last giveaway. It was a pattern for a wall quilt called Midsummer garden. It is something that is right up my alley flowers hexagon and hand stitching. In the photo is a bag from one of Gail's patterns that Lucy won last year. We used some frangipani material and ric-rac to make the bag, which is well used.

I have just posted my Pay It Forward presents to Claire, Valerie and Cheryl. Hope you enjoy them.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

A little bit of Culture.

Hello,

Our town is having a Cultural Festival over the weekend. Today I went to the markets in the local park near the river. Artists had painted Australian animals and fish on the riverbank.

This boat was on the riverbed. It is made from bamboo sticks and materials.

These paintings really stood out when viewed from the riverbank on the opposite side.

I also went to an exhibition of items made from flour bags, sorry no camera with me then. Some of the things that were made were the old fashioned wagga (A early Australian style quilt),a ball dress, shorts,pj's a knitting bag holder, candle holders and modern art. There was also poetry readings photo exhibitions and cooking demonstrations. Tonight there is a concert and tomorrow there are more things to attend like an orchestra in the park.

Happy days.

Bev C

Ladybirds in my garden

Hello,

Look what I found sunning themselves in my garden wheelbarrow today, three lovely ladybirds.

These are quick and simple pincushions to make. The pattern is in Australian Homespun No.51
(Vol.8.8).

I only wish these ladies were around earlier on when I had hundred's of aphids feasting on the fresh new buds of the roses.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Lyn's lovely Secret Santa present has arrived.

Hello,

I was very excited to receive my parcel for the Bee Sew Whimsical Secret Santa Honeypot Swap from my swap partner Lyn Morrison. Lyn lives on the opposite side of Australia to me in Nambucca Heads in New South Wales. Lyn has made me the most beautiful ornament to hang on my Christmas tree. The ribbon embroidery is stunning to say the least. Lyn also gave me a stitchery pattern from Angels in Disguise called Xmas Morning Annie, some material and a bag of buttons a beautiful card and most importantly a card that says I get free hugs. Lyn thank you very much for all the effort you put into this ornament. I will treasure this and remember you every Christmas time when we put up our tree. It certainly has been great fun looking to see what everyone has made and received in this swap. The thing I loved about this was that a lot of good will has been spread around and our world needs a little extra of this at this time. Special thanks to Darlene for all your effort you have put into making this swap such a success and of course to the 45 people who joined in. Merry Christmas to all the participants.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Lucy's Cat Quilt is finished.

Hello,

One of my favourite craft magazines is the Australian Homespun. When I get the magazine I try to make something from each issue even if it is just a pincushion. I fell in love with a project by Majella Rush of Kookaburra Cottage Quilts which was in No.61 (Volume9.6). The project was actually a cat or dog cushion. As Lucy loves cats I decided to make a quilt for her Birthday which was in July. I made the blocks as I went along , I made a rough sketch but in the end went with other ideas. The quilt ended up 55inches wide by 65 inches long. I even managed to get some lovely material for the backing which has cats on it. Hearts flowers cats and cakes make up the blocks. Now Lucy and Clyde our cat can enjoy snuggling up in this quilt.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

,

Hello,

My parcel that I sent off for the Bee Sew Whimsical Secret Santa Honeypot Swap has arrived at its destination. My partner was Clare at http://www.clarescraftroom.blogspot.com/

I made Clare a Journal and a Wall Hanging/Tablerunner. I am so glad that she likes them and will have them on display at Christmas time. My swap partner Lyn has posted mine off and will be here shortly. I can't wait to see it.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Buttons, tea towels and Billy Joel

Hello,

We were lucky enough to go to the Billy Joel concert on Sunday evening. What a great show he put on. Songs from the past few decades were sung and enjoyed by everybody attending. Thank you to Ainsley Julian Bonnie and Ryan for the lovely weekend we certainly appreciated it.

I made some tea towels recently. I used some buttons that Cheryl from Willowberry Designs had sent me. These raggedy towels are very cute to hang around the home. I am not sure that much wiping up would be done with them.

Thank you to the three lovely ladies who have joined in the Pay It Forward. I have cut out one of the things already and will get onto some sewing. I have finished Lucy's Cat Quilt and will post a picture of it when I have cut off all the threads and put a label onto it.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Pay it forward reccipients required.

Hello,

I have something special for everyone to join in. My very first Pay It Forward. I was lucky enough to be the second commenter over at Cathy's lovely blog www.paintsewstitch all the way in Canada.

The rules are I will make something for the first three people who leave a comment, you must have a blog and be willing to pass it onto three more people. I will post anywhere in this wide world of ours. I have 365 days to make it and so do you but I am sure we can get it out there in super quick time to keep spreading the love.

Come on, join in the fun and lets spread some good vibes around.

Happy days.

Bev C

Some lovely mail in and out.

Hello,

This lovely little screen print arrived in my mailbox the other day, thanks Lesley. I think I will add some french knots etc to the print and make it into a cushion. It measures 3 3/4 inches long by 3 inches high.

My Secret Santa present is all finished and I posted it yesterday. I hope my swap partner likes it. I had a great time looking through magazines looking for something to make. Thank you to Darlene at Bee Sew Whimsical for organising this Christmas Swap.

This morning I have prepared Lucy's Cat Quilt ready to start quilting it by machine. I would have loved to hand quilt it but it is already a tad late for her Birthday so the machine quilting wins out.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Kainga blooms and new books.

Hello,

We have been having cooler weather this year than last year. I needed a jacket on out in the garden yesterday. The good thing about this is the rose blooms are staying on longer not being knocked about by heat. The above photo is a rose growing over the back of the gazebo in the back garden.

A Rosemary hedge. This was grown from 3inch cuttings taken a couple of years ago. I have several Rosemary hedges, very tough and drought resistant. I originally bought two plants and have propagated from them.

Everything is in bloom at the moment. Everything seems to self seed very well for me. Hollyhocks are coming up everywhere.

On Friday I was lucky to receive this beautiful book for a present. It is called Naming the Rose discovering who roses are named for by Roger Mann.

When I went to the book store to pick up my book next to it was this book that I had read about and decided it must come home with me. It is called Tea Roses Old Roses for Warm Gardens. by Lynne Chapman, Noelene Drage, Di Durston, Jenny Jones, Hillary Merrifield and Billy West.

Both of these books I will treasure and read on a regular basis. They are full of information and stunning pictures.

Happy gardening.

Bev C

A finished table runner and camera bags.

I made several of these little camera bags earlier on in the year. I adjusted the pattern by putting on another panel so this suited the size of the camera's. Some of them had embroidery and some had only ric-rac. It looks so much nicer when you are out for dinner to have your camera in a little bag and not nude on the table.

I finished putting the binding on this little table runner last night. It is from a book called Thimbleberries Quilts for my Sister's House by Lynette Jensen. It is called Mini Cherry Berry, there was a bigger table runner that actually had cherry's on it. The finished size is about 15 by 25 inches. I used card No.22 from the Brother Embroidery Collection to quilt it.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

Two more journals.

Yesterday I visited a new craft shop in town that stocks lots of scrapbooking stamping haberdashery homespun quilting supplies and art supplies. I bought some black homespun for a quilt I am working on some cute cat buttons for the same quilt some cardstock for Christmas cards and a visual art diary. I have been looking for these visual art diarys for a long time. So of course I had to make some journals. The floral one is for a Christmas present and the sewing notions one is for myself. I will put this in my bag for when I need to have measurements of material and DMC colour numbers etc instead of writing on an old envelope. So much nicer to bring out a journal. Today I will try to get the quilt I am working on finished, well at least the top of it. I am not sure if I will hand quilt it or machine quilt it. It was for Lucy's Birthday which was in July. Gee she is patient.

Happy stitching.

Bev C

A lovely homemade liquid soap recipe

Hello,

Today I will be making soap with a recipe that I have used for a while now. The recipe is very simple and only uses three ingredients .

Homemade Liquid Soap

Grate one bar of sunlight soap and one bar of the nicer soaps for example dove or palmolive, add them to a pot with about six cups of water. I use rainwater. Bring the soap and water to the boil. I give the occassional stir with a wooden spoon. Then give a wizz with a stick blender. Leave it overnight to thicken. water down if desired. Fills 4 or 5 bottles depending on the size. You can reuse shampoo bottles and hand pump bottles. Have a go with this recipe. It is a very
economical recipe.

Happy days.

Bev C

Happy Anniversary

Hello,

Well it is Ainsley and Julian's first wedding anniversary today. It is hard to believe that 12 months ago today they were married. For your first anniversary the present is supposed to be paper. So I made them a cushion with some of the leftover material from the wedding quilt. I used paper piecing and hand stitched the hexagons onto the material. I even made some piping for the edge which was a bit of a challenge getting around the corners. After completing the cushion and getting it ready to be pressed I felt front and could hear paper, I had left one of the hexagon papers inside. So a little bit of unpicking then stitching it back up again. Enjoy your day Ainsley and Julian and may you have many more anniversaries together.

Happy days.

Bev C

Delightful Tasmania

Hello,

Don't you just love tulips. We took these photo's in Tasmania two years ago. I was amazed at the amount of tulips. Cheryl over at Willowberry designs wanted us to show some photo's of our holidays and let her know about our memories of holidays. We are saving our pennies and hope to get back there again one day.

Enjoy your day

Bev C