"Makes Me Happy Monday" Number 22.

Hello,

Happy Monday to you all. Today I am posting a little later than usual because I wanted to finish of "Red work Seasons". This is making me very very happy this Monday. I have turned mine into a table topper. I don't have many red pieces of material in my stash so it was a real challenge to do this without really buying any more material. Though I do admit to buying some red homespun along the way. I have added the seasons in the side border in back stitch .The pattern was designed by Paula Stoddard and is available for download on her blog. Thank you so much for this Paula. The only design change I made was to the Summer block, it originally contained a American Flag so I changed this to the Royal Life Saving Flag. I used calico for the backing. The final measurements are 28.5inches wide and 27 inches in length.

Last week I was lucky enough to win a prize of this teddy bear and his "rose " hand lotion and body wash. Our local patchwork shop had a Big Morning Tea to raise funds for the Cancer Council.
First prize was a beautiful quilt. I bought my ticket a few weeks back because I wasn't able to get to the morning tea as I was nurse/career for my Mum. She had her carpel tunnel operated on the day before so we were unable to attend.Now some of you know that my Brother Peter passed away from bowel cancer last year so these morning teas now take on even more meaning. I really don't have any need for "Teddy" so will be adding some baby items to him and dropping him into the gift shop at PMH next month when Lucy has her appointment. So the goodness travels on.

I am extremely happy with how the little garden applique turned out. I finished this last Friday and it wasn't until I nearly had it all done did I realise that I hadn't cut out the middle section of the "picket fence" I seem to have a thicker "straw bale fence". I also changed the flower design next to the "straw bale fence" I did have it cut out and ironed on but wasn't happy. Luckily it all worked out in the end.

Now if you really want to know what else is making me Happy this Monday you must check out Tarnyia's recipe. (Sunday May 23rd posting.) I finally got around to making it late yesterday. Yum, this Tangy Lemon Slice will make you happy. I did the same as Tarnyia and doubled the mixture. Now I am very happy that I found Tarnyia through blogging. Why you may ask. Tarnyia knew my brother Peter when he had his station at Mount Magnet. It really is a small world.

Plus I am jumping for joy happy that Lucy's corset is nearly finished. Hopefully she will have the rest of the beads sewn on at school today. When I got up this morning Lucy was sitting in my chair with the light on sewing on beads. Gosh she looked like her Mother!!!! The next project they are making will be something out of denim. So much easier than a corset!!!!

So a multitude of things are making Me Happy this Monday. Remember you have until lunchtime next Sunday to enter my 200th post giveaway. Good luck and thank you to those who have entered so far. What is making you happy today?

Happy Monday to you all.

Bev C

200th Post Giveaway at" Kainga Happenings."

Hello,

It is" Giveaway Time "here at Kainga. This is my 200th posting. I have enjoyed sharing my sewing gardening cooking and family and everything in between with you all. Do you want to join in the big celebration and win a pattern and the four DMC threads needed to complete the "Patty Cakes" cushion by Sally Giblin from The Rivendale Collection ?

I am using the KISS method aka "Keep It Simple for the Sewer." You thought I was going to say Stupid didn't you.

Leave a comment on this post and I will draw the winner at Midday on Sunday June 6th 2010.
This competition is open to "The World".For those interested in the name of the rose it is "Seduction". This is one of the best roses that keeps it bloom both on the bush and for a week or two in the vase. Yes, it does have a perfume.

Good luck and thank you for visiting "Kainga Happenings"

Happy Days.

Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday" Number 21.

Hello,

This weeks theme for the "Makes Me Happy Monday" posting is travel. Each Saturday I can explore the world without working out what clothes I need to take with me. I don't have to make sure my suitcase weighs too much and most importantly I have my passport with me. Gosh looking at the photo inside is enough to turn me of travelling. How do I do this. I read the Travel section in our paper. It is always full of wonderful places to visit,enticing you to try a new country each week. Plus some of there food and secret,well not so secret now places to visit. This week had a great section on travelling to Asia.

There is a wonderful article on the South Island of New Zealand. I can tick that one of my list though it was about 28 years ago when I went to the South Island. I reckon Mt Cook would still look pretty much the same,just the towns surrounding would have increased in size.

I read all about travelling in the Greek Islands and whale watching in Sydney.
Now which one to choose is the problem.

I have been following the extra ordinary taxi ride on the television. It is a promotion that is going on in our state at the moment. People from all over the world have been chosen to participate as passengers and get to see some of our state in a taxi. Of course there was a competition to see who would take them around and Doug was chosen. He is a taxi driver in real life. I would say he is having a wonderful time. Make sure you check out the link.

Then last but not least I was able to learn about the Leonora Golden Gift which will be held on June 5-7. There is $50,000 prize money to be won if you participate in the one-mile sprint down the main street. For more details check out this web page.

Reading all about travel makes" Me Happy" this Monday. While I was waiting for these photo's to load up the postie left me a postcard from Simone and she has been visiting to San Francisco. So that really adds some meaning to this post. Hope you have enjoyed your travels Simone.

Happy Monday everyone.

Bev C

Gardening and Sewing at Kainga.

Hello,

Well we have finally received the day we were after. Rain has been coming in bursts throughout the day. Great for the veggie garden. We were out hunting for those green grubs that the white butterfly lays and found our first piece of broccoli growing. It won't be long now and we will be eating this for tea every night. Yum. We grow things organically here at Kainga. So a wander around the garden and a quick stamp on the ground with our feet kills off any bugs that dare to enter.

We have been picking English Spinach and Chinese Cabbage from this garden bed for several weeks now. Cauliflowers should soon start forming too. You can see who much these have grown by looking back at this previous post. Which was only last month.

This morning we had our monthly Garden Club gathering which was held at my Mum's garden. Earlier on in the year I met a lady at the Mundaring Markets that was selling cottage plants and was willing to travel up and sell her plants and give a talk about gardening. Everyone enjoyed listening to her talk and I managed to pick up these plants. All the plants are suitable for hot dry conditions so hopefully with a bit of love and care will thrive here. Fingers crossed.

Last night I managed to get a fair amount of the cutting out done and started on the applique. The Friday-Night-Sew-In is a lot of fun especially seeing what everyone else has done. There were 108 people who were joining in this month. The next step is to get it completed. Ian Lucy and David are of to the West Coast Eagles versus Saint Kilda footy match tomorrow so I will get a chance to work on the applique while they are out. Wasn't it great to see Freo Dockers beat Sydney Swans today!!!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Bev C

Two Cow Cushions and Friday-Night-Sew-In Plans.

Hello,

I hope everyone has had a great week. Today I managed to get the frill attached to these two cushions as well as put in zips in the back. I have had these two panels in my cupboard for quite sometime. So I am especially glad that they are done. I will have to look out for some inserts in the correct size for them.If you are worried about the top left hand corner on the right cushion it just got tucked behind when I laid it down to take the photo. The past month has gone so quickly. Tonight is the Friday-Night-Sew-In. I plan to make a start

on this little wall hanging. It is all applique,something I really enjoy doing so will have some fun with it. I have a few of the patterns traced off so hopefully will get a bit done tonight. The pattern is a design by Karyn Herbert and is taken from "Patchwork & Stitching Annual" Volume 8 No.10.

Happy Friday -Night -Sew- In.

Bev C

Too cute for a rubbish bag.

Hello,

Today I put the binding on this little rubbish bag that I made last night. It is for sewing threads etc. A handy bin to have beside my sewing machine while I sew.Fellow blogger Lisa kindly sent me the pattern earlier on in the year. The front of the bag is supposed to have a stitchery pattern with a house surrounded by flowers. I had this machine embroidery sample that was a test sew-out in my cupboard so decided to use it,although I realise a cream fabric would have matched the main fabric a lot better.

This is how it looks folded up. There is also a little ric-rac handle on the inside. I made only one slight change to it. I hand sewed on the base. I found this much easier to handle rather than battling with the machine. If I made it again I would probably put some form of stiffening in the base as well as the side. There is some shapewell in the sides to help make it stiff.

Too cute for a Rubbish Bag!!!

Happy Days.

Bev C

"Makes Me Happy" Number 20.

Hello,

A Happy Monday to you all. This weeks "old threads" makes me happy. Last week I was tidying up my sewing room and re-arranging a few things when I re-discovered two boxes of old cottons that were passed onto me. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could buy threads in boxes like this now.

Inside were 5 full reels of Barbours' Irish flax linen thread. Number 50 with 200 yards of thread on each reel.

The other box was a Rowntree's Milk Whipped Cream Brazils box,so not so old but with a wonderful collection of thread. There are some wooden reels of Semco rayon crochet cotton No.24 which has 100 yards of cotton. I would be interested to know if anyone has any idea what the round thing to the far right of the box is.It has a few measurements on the side. Plus the words "The Perfect Tenerife" plus a patient number. These treasures will be put back in the cupboard in the sewing room to be brought out every now and again to be admired.

I hope everyone has a perfect Monday. We are having lovely Autumn weather here today so hopefully will get out into the garden.

Happy Monday

Bev C

Missing Australian Artifact Found!!!!

Hello,

Well what a surprise I found the other day. I have been cleaning up my sewing room this week. I found a little "goodies bag". In it was this little piece of work waiting for the side borders to be put on. I can remember doing this but can't remember how long ago it was. So glad it is finished though.I do love the "Australiania" material. There was just enough of each piece to make the little quilt.

So that is another finish for May.

I also made up a little bag to put in with Carmody's "Doggie Bag." It is posted and on its way to her.

Guess what happened this morning???? It rained. YAY!!!!!!

Happy days.

Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday" number 19.

Hello,

Happy Monday to you all. I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I certainly did so the theme for this week is Mother's Day. My Mother's Day actually started on Saturday. Every year there is a Mother's Day stall at St James Church. There is always a raffle as well as cakes plants flowers books and a stall with lots of goodies. I managed to pick up a cross stitch kit with a garden design for $2.00. Later on that afternoon we received a phone call to say that I had won 3rd prize in the raffle. Ian and Lucy went to pick it up and bought my presents at the same time. Everything was quickly rushed into Lucy's room for the night. So on Sunday I found out what was in the prize. You can see it all in the photo above, a lovely set of lotions and potions in rose perfume. Ian and Lucy gave me the Lavender products by Yardley as well as the Darrell Lea Mum's Bag. This contains such lovely items as Liquorice Rocky Road Choc Peanuts and a box of Milk and Dark Chocolate Soft Centres and a voucher for some fragrance. All is still intact except for the bag of liquorice.

Bonnie and Ryan got me a bag of liquorice as well as a gift card. Ainsley and Julian gave me a bag of potatoes. You may think that a bag of potatoes is a funny gift to give someone but not for me. It was a spot on present.

David came home yesterday with a beautifully gift wrapped box. He rang me while he was at work on Saturday night. He works a couple of days in a chemist. He asked if there was anything I needed. "Yes" I said some fish oil tablets. Well it was certainly a surprise to see David's present. Upon opening I saw the fish oil tablets and a couple of bags of liquorice and some black jelly beans. All my favourites. The box when opened has a flap on it so I will put it to use in my sewing room.

Thanks to my children for such thoughtful presents. I won't have to buy any liquorice for a while.

Happy Monday to you all.

Bev C.

Doggie Bag.

Hello,

I have just finished sewing a Birthday present for my niece Carmody. I had some dog material on hand and used that as well as some black homespun. I found this pattern in a issue of Handmade Volume 24 No. 10. This issue was printed in 2007. The design was called Afternoon Tea Bag. So using the dog material was very appropriate. Plus Carmody is a Ranger so it all falls together nicely. The pattern had used the "U" shaped handles with a curl on the end so the handles just slipped into the handle tabs. I had to do the pattern a bit differently because I used handles I had in my stash. I also used some iron on vilene on the lining. The pattern didn't call for any but I feel it makes the bag hang in place properly if it is lined with some sort of wadding.

One thing I am pretty pleased with is it is the first time I have used the magnetic clips to fasten the bag. Wow these things make the job so much easier. Now I will have to make a little purse to go with the bag. Back to the sewing machine.

Have a great weekend.

Happy days.

Bev C

"Beautiful things"

Hello,

Are you a lover of Beautiful things?
I know I am. To me roses are just beautiful, the perfume coming from these is intoxicating. Far better to have a vase of roses than a spray of room freshener.

Over the past two days I have been working on a table centrepiece called "Beautiful Things" It is from the book by Natalie Bird called "from the heart". I have made the main quilt from this book a few years back and gave to Ryan and Edy for an engagement present. . So I thought it was time to tackle something else in the book. I used up two of the pieces of material I had won in the Easter Giveaway from Jacquelynne. Of course the two pieces I chose had roses on them.

There were four little stitchery patterns all the same to stitch out. For some reason the circle pattern in the book didn't match the measurements of my centre circle so I went to the cupboard and picked out a saucer to use as a template. I made this big enough to fit some pink ric-rac that I added around the centre circle. This wasn't in the pattern.

We even had to make our own bias binding. I did try but must have made an error because it didn't work out!!!! I knew I had orange binding I had made up a while back. We learnt how to do bias binding at sewing and as I used quite a big square to start of with I had metres of the orange stuff. Only a bit left of it now. Wow I have a project finished for May. I think I will have to go an make myself a cuppa. I hope you get a chance sometime today to sit and have a cuppa.

Happy days.

Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday" number 18.

Hello,

I hope you all had a great weekend. We spent it out in the garden pulling out more lavender bushes. The bonus is every time we take a load of green waste to the tip we come back with a load of mulch for the garden. It means more work but it is a great help to have it for our garden.This weeks theme for "Makes Me Happy Monday" is the Jane McGrath Rose. I purchased this last week on our trip to the rose nursery. For those of you who don't know who Jane McGrath was I will quote from the rose label. "The McGrath Foundation was co-founded by Jane McGrath and her cricketing husband, Glenn,after Jane's initial recovery from breast cancer. While being treated for a secondary cancer in 2003, Jane had access to a breast care nurse for the first time and became aware of the huge impact that they can have on a patient's physical and mental well-being during and after treatment.

Jane said at the time that it was like having someone holding her hand through one of the worst nightmares of her life while allowing her to voice her frustrations and emotions to someone outside of her immediate family,as well as having someone who could give informed and knowledgeable answers to her many questions. By purchasing this rose,you are helping to continue the McGrath Foundations's important work to place McGrath Breast Care Nurses in rural and regional Australia as well as increasing breast awareness in younger woman. To find out more about this please visit the McGrath Foundation. Jane had seen this rose and was looking forward to its release prior to her passing in 2008."

The blooms on this rose have been on the bush since I purchased it last week. So it keeps its bloom for sometime. It is a Floribunda Rose and is Black Spot resistant. It was bred for Australian conditions by Ron & Barbara Inverarity. The lightly scented blooms are produced in clusters on slightly arching canes. It is an all round easy care rose with low maintenance that is ideal for hedging,mass planting or in a pot. It grows to a height of one metre and a width of 80cm.

A very "Happy Monday" to you all.

Bev C