Kainga, where Roses bloom, life is lived at a gentler pace.Living Simply, doing all those good things like stitching, gardening, cooking and reading.

Monday, October 28, 2013

"Welcome Beau."

Hello,

Happy Monday.

I recently had cause to do some sewing for a new family member. My Niece Jill and Dave welcomed Beau their firstborn.


I made up a sign to hang on his door.


 I found a pattern for a book bag in Homespun magazine No.67 Vol 9.12 which is the Kids Issue.I changed things around a bit as I had this piece of fabric with Teddy on. I used DMC  Cebelia crochet cotton size 20 to do the quilting.

 This is the other side. I changed this side also. Instead of applique teddy bears I machine embroidered them.


 Being a book bag I made a cloth book for Beau to look at. The front was a Dalmatian design. This used to be one of Lucy's favourite designs when she was younger.


 Next page is a owl.


 The last one is a Teddy Bear. I found the design for the book page on the net and enlarged it to fit the designs.
Best wishes to Jill and Dave, hope Beau is a dream baby.


Speaking of babies. Look what I found the other week, a baby goanna. Over the past couple of weeks we have had so many in the garden. I am sure they are nesting in one part as they are seen each day.

The hand quilting on the Heartbeat quilt is going well, past the half way mark which is a good feeling.

Hope you all have a Happy Monday.

Happy days.
Bev C

Saturday, October 19, 2013

"Heartbeat Quilting."

Hello,

Having a quilt top that needs quilting  is like having a body with no heartbeat. It is not until the quilt is quilted that a quilt really comes to life. So earlier on in the week I got out one of those quilt tops that have been waiting for a heart.A few hours spent getting the three layers together, spray glue and some big stitches to hold it all together. Quilting templates found and some new ones made. This is where cardboard cereal boxes and the like come in handy.


Using Gutermann 100% cotton for the hand quilting. Tracing around the templates as I go, no particular pattern. Some hearts are sideways, some are up side down, as long as it is quilted.

Continued stitching this last night joining in with the other ladies,( no gents yet) from the Friday Night Sew In crowd that joined up at Wendy's blog.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Happy days.
Bev C

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

"Hexagon T Shirt, Rose Show, Primrose and friends."

Hello,

A quick project to use up some hexagons that have been sitting around for too long.

Hexagon T Shirt.
I joined the hexies then pinned them in the desired position at the top of the shirt, then roughly cut out some vlisofix to the underside of the hexies to help hold them down. I chose a size 20 crochet cotton to button hole stitch for around the edge to secure it all.

Guildford  Town Hall Spring Rose Show.
 On Sunday we traveled down to the Guildford Town Hall for the Spring Rose Show. What a great atmosphere in the room. No pushing or shoving, everyone just taking photo's smelling roses and admiring them.


 This display was one of my favourites. I was quite impressed with the age range of the visitors and the people who entered roses. Not just the older people, lots of young people wanting to join the society which is a good thing.


 Across from the Town Hall is Stirling Square which was hosting a Austin Car Day, plus a Holden Car Day. This little beauty caught my eye first. Imagine driving around in this.

Primrose

 Then Primrose took our breath away, she is 85 years old. The owner told us she could drive for hours at 40 km per hour which is just wonderful after all those years. The engine and parts even I could fix (I think!!!). Meaning there isn't much under the bonnet unlike today's cars.

Austin 1800 Ute.

This is a Austin 1800  Ute,  Ian used to own a white one many years ago. We both said we should have kept it. I wonder if it is still going.

Holden FX Sedan 1953.
Fell in love with this one, can just imagine cruising around in this, what style compared to today's cars.

The day was finished of with a picnic then a big walk around Guildford.

Happy days.
Bev C

Thursday, October 10, 2013

"Sewing."

Hello,

For those waiting to see who won the Tuesday's Treasures parcel, it will be travelling to...


Susan who blogs at Susan's sewing Space. So the parcel is crossing over to the other side of Australia to Queensland.


I also embroidered this square to put in with the other items in the Travelling Giveaway. Thanks to everyone that entered.


 Flour bag Sewing.

 I am still working through that Flour bag full of scraps working out what can be made. I had these two rose machine embroideries that were test samples. I added the dragonflies on this one to jazz it up a bit.


 I used some pink braid that Lisa sent across from New Zealand on these projects. The only fabric that wasn't from the Flour bag was some cream Homespun that was used in the backing.  Now I have two small table toppers/place mats. If you are wondering the roses are "Lorraine Lee" This rose was bred by Alistair Clark a famous Australian rose breeder.


The past week I have been doing lots of sewing, some I can show like this Summer nightie and others which are for presents. I have had this fabric for absolutely ages, I must have picked it up at Textile Traders when they had one of their buy 2 metres get one free sale.I still have enough fabric left over for a child's item.

Happy days.
Bev C

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

"The Quilting Beetle."

Hello,

It is that time of the year when the farmers are out cutting hay while the sun shines.


 We have a neighbour who works in biosecurity and he is always telling me that to be on the lookout for a certain type of beetle that has escaped from over in Queensland. Guess what I found one in the garden amongst the roses here last week. So of course I sent it back to its owner in Queensland.


This is what the escaped beetle looks like a "Fionii Quiltoferus." Strangely enough it has a wonderful perfume of Lavender when squeezed.

Seriously if you believe that you would believe anything. You see Fiona had a photo of herself under a  Rhododendron bush and a email conversation followed as it does. I wanted to send her a surprise thank you for being such a great sport regarding the rather cheeky Santa machine embroidery samples.

The painted mural in the first photo is on a building in Goomalling.  We had a day out there last week and I decided to post Fiona's parcel from there as I knew she would have no idea where it was and what would be inside.

Happy days.
Bev C

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

"Tuesday's Treasures -Travelling Treasures Giveaway"

Hello,

Today I received from Lyndell the Travelling Treasure parcel.

"Travelling Treasures parcel of goodies."

"Out."
  I took out the two fat quarters and the piece of spotty felt.

"In."

Seeing that this parcel only travels within Australia I decided to add two Australian floral themed fabrics and some Clover Needles for hand quilting.

You can find out how this parcel first started its travels in Australia at Debbie's blog.

If you wish to participate in this giveaway, you must have a blog or get someone to host the giveaway for you. There must be two patterns and a fat quarter in the parcel, you may add and take what you want.

If you wish to be the November host for this parcel please leave a comment on this post. Entries will close at midnight next Tuesday 8th October 2013.

If you thought that you only had to leave your name in the comment section, sorry. You have to find out the name of the oldest Elephant at the Perth Zoo and how old she is and what team did this animal pick for the winner of the AFL Grand Final this year.
All the answers are easily obtainable by using your Internet search engine. Have fun.

Happy days.
Bev C