Monkeying around for the OPAM Challenge and a great garage sale find.

Hello,

How is your weekend going? I can hardly believe how fast this month has gone by. I did manage to get one more item done for the OPAM Challenge (One Project A Month).

I made this bag from the Stash Blog. It is has insul-bright for the lining so it will be used for my lunch on my sewing days. So much nicer than a plastic lunch box. I embroidered a "rose tree" design from Sue Box Creations / Golden Classic Collection.

This is the other side of the bag with another "rose design" from the same embroidery disc.

Did you notice the peg tin and laundry powder box in the first photo? I got these at a garage sale this morning for $5.00 for both of them. A lady was shifting house and was going to get a new one for the next house because this colour didn't suit her new laundry. I asked her why she just didn't paint them. I think she was going to take them back when I asked her this. She then replied "Oh my husband can buy me a new set." He had the peg bucket set up on her clothesline on some sort of pulley system.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have some fun.
Bev C

Three things Tuesday.

Hello,

I hope you are all enjoying the Easter/Anzac break. You won't want to go back to work will you. We have enjoyed the time of, though Ian had to go back to work today. Lots and lots of work was done in the garden,we shifted trailer loads of manure and wood chips. I planted a punnet of Foxgloves, I am determined to get some to grow. Each year I plant a punnet or two and they come to nothing. I changed the bed they are in this time. Hopefully it will help them to grow. Now on to part one of today's posting.

Happy Monday.

Now I know this is a day late but I think ANZAC day takes priority.

I was very happy last week to find this parcel of goodness in the letter box. A jelly roll of "Love is in the Air" by Deb Strain. This was my prize for being a lucky winner in the OPAM challenge last month. Thanks to Kris and Peg who do all the bookwork tallying up the total number of projects finished each month.

I am also very happy to have finished the top part of the tablecloth I was working on. I used up some ladybird material that Jules sent me in a swap.

I machine embroidered some sunflowers in the centre. The middle sunflowers are from the Brother Embroidery Card Number 55. The outer sunflowers on the ric-rac are from the Studio Bernina Debbie Mumm Everyday card.

I am debating how to quilt this  by machine or hand. I am presently doing some "secret  hand quilting" so will get back to this tablecloth when I have finished the "secret project"

Joy.

You can find "joy" at anytime in the past week I have found it:

Enjoying our breakfast together on the front verandah and just watching the world go by. Those cheeky Willy Wagtails just love joining us. I love the antics of these little birds.

I have changed my walking route and looking at the different gardens and old homes brings "Joy". It is always nicer to walk where things are interesting.

Speaking to Lucy in New Zealand and hearing her good news. Good luck Lucy.



Tuesday's Treasures.

Today I wish to share with you my latest Treasure.

My potted "Sandgroper Chrysanthemum." This was given to us by my Mum for Easter. I didn't have chocolates so this plant was a great replacement,calorie free. I will  plant it in the back garden just near the  patio shortly. I have to wait until some Dutch Iris bulbs come up. I know I should have put a marker where I planted them!!! For those overseas "Sandgroper" is a term referring to a West Australian. Please visit Melody's beautiful blog to see what other Treasure's are coming to a blog near you today.

Happy days and thanks for visiting "Kainga"
Bev C

ANZAC Day

Hello,

Today in Australia and New Zealand we commemorate the men and women of our armed forces who paid the biggest sacrifice for our countries.

Lest we forget.

Bev C

My Musical Treasure.

Hello and Welcome to Tuesday's Treasures.

Today I wish to share with you some musical sheets I purchased at a auction here in town many years ago. A gift shop was closing down and auctioned all there goods. Not many people went to the auction I think mainly because the owners had such high prices on some of there goods in the shop. A girlfriend and I were just going for a look,several hours later(we left at nine and came back about 5.00pm) we came back with a couple of boxes full of all sorts of goodies. The good thing about an auction is you may be the only bidder. The auctioneer really had his work cut out for him on this day.



Some of the sheets date back to the 1930's. They have the Name Aeolian Club Choir on them. There was also a Junior Aeolian Club Choir.  One interesting sheet is called "Australia! O Thou Favoured Isle! with words by CJ Dennis and they called it A National Anthem.

Roses are freshly picked from the gardens at Kainga this morning.

 The funny thing is I haven't a musical bone in my body but I do love "old things"

To find some more treasure's please check Melody's blog and see who else is linking up. You can join in if you wish.

Happy days.

Bev C

Ladybirds and Sunflowers makes for a "Happy Monday"

Hello,

"Happy Monday" everyone.

Starting a new project is making me very happy today.

Of course the new project has to include ric-rac,ladybirds and sunflowers. It is the start of the centre block for a small tablecloth I am making.

Always happy to have Bonnie and David home for the weekend. David goes back on the train tonight, he has to work over the Easter, ANZAC weekend so is having a break at home now.

Hope you find some happiness springing up in your day.

Happy Monday
Bev C

My Row of the Month Quilt is now completed!!!!

Hello,

Today I wish to share with you the Row Block of the Month I worked on last year. It only took three weeks to do the hand quilting. I hand quilted around the inner border of each block and the shapes. I did a bit during the day and most of it was done at night time while watching television. Now I don't hand quilt like everyone else. I take one stitch at a time. I used to be able to do the quilting a few stitches at once. Unfortunately I don't like using a thimble so I find it better to just do what I feel comfortable with. It may take my longer but I do get there in the end.

It turned out quite big. The final measurements being 80 inches long and 53 inches wide. There was a different theme for each set of blocks. Chickens, hearts, trees, flowers,angels,baskets and  scraps. The blocks I made that were scrappy I cut up and used across the quilt for sashing. I took two of the blocks of from the chicken and heart row. The chicken one that had the machine embroidery of our favourite chicken recipes will be put on the back. The heart stitchery will be used in something else.

I used a cotton wadding and this caused a few problems with the fluff going everywhere whilst I was quilting. Lots and lots of scraps were used in this quilt. I raided my button jar to sew some buttons onto the suffolk puffs on the baskets.

I used Gutermann quilting cotton  that was a cream colour for the quilting. I used a red shade for the red square.Calico was the only material that I purchased for the backing. I bought a little less than what I needed because I wanted to add some strips of scraps. I had a bag of these that I had sewn up at sewing last year on the final day and just needed to add some more. I also used the strips of scraps for the borders.

For the binding I also used the strips. The strips were 3 inches wide so I just cut the backing and wadding a little wider to allow the strips to fit nicely on the border.

It turned into a lovely bright quilt which I know will keep someone very warm. Quilting on days with temperatures at 35 degrees I can tell you it is very warm under there. It is much brighter than what shows up in the photo's but I didn't want to get it dirty outside on the paving so dull inside photo's will have to do.

Thanks for visiting "Kainga" today, I hope you have a happy day.

Happy stitching.
Bev C

Whatever happened to Monday? plus Tuesday's Treasure.

Hello,

A belated Happy Monday,it must be Monday somewhere. I actually was busy finishing hand quilting the quilt I have been working on. Plus it was such a lovely day I decided to do what I wanted to do. Some days are like that,blogging takes a bit of a back seat.

The past week of  Happiness.

I was very happy to get 7 metres of lime green fabric for the sum of $1.00 from Good Sammy's on Tuesday. Yes a whole 7 metres of fabric, you will see it in quite a few projects. It was a bit dusty on the edges. Probably from where it was rolled up. A wash in the machine and it is back like new. I also bought some craft/patchwork magazines for a $1.00 each. The best thing I got though was heaps of embroidery threads in pink green and yellow.

It has decided to finally cool down. I think it was last Thursday our temps were from 6 degrees to 23 degrees Celsius. Just heaven after having days /which turned into months of heat. Rain, well that is another story. We had 1.75mls on the Thursday then a few days later we had 2 mls of rain. I did stand out at 11.30pm to see that it still comes from the sky.

On Sunday we had a family lunch. Ainsley and Julian have come back from holidaying in the Maldives for three weeks. Gosh the photo's of the sea were just so clear. Lovely resorts that they stayed at,one of the islands they stayed on was only about 300 metres wide and 1.5km long. They showed us a photo of a deserted island that you can hire for the day. It was so tiny, just a little shack and nothing else. I think you would be bored after ten minutes. Not even a  palm tree to shade you.

I am also very happy that I have finished my "Hot Pad" for the swap. You can see a bit of it in the photo.
It is of on its journey and won't be long before it lands at the new owners letterbox. Always happy to finish a project,especially for someone else.
I am EXTREMELY HAPPY that I finished hand quilting the quilt I have been working on for the past couple of weeks. Just the border and some buttons to go on now. Photo's soon.

Tuesday's Treasures.

This week my treasure is a favourite book of mine called  "Gardening by the seasons at Foxglove Spires - Velvet Pears" by Susan Southam.

Fellow blogger Dzintra kindly told us about this beautiful garden. You know she waves to me each time she goes there!!!! One day I hope to get there and see the treasures in real life. Here you can see more of Foxglove Spires. 

Make sure you see what other Treasures are being revealed this week at Melody's blog.

Happy days.
Bev C

"5 Little Monkeys" send some Chickens and "Colourful Friday".

Hello,

Earlier on this week I received a lovely parcel in the mail. It is always fun to get a parcel. It was my Hot pad from Angie, from 5 Little Monkeys Quilting. Angie looked through my blog and discovered that I love chickens. Angie has some cute chickens herself. You must check them out.

This is it. Isn't it gorgeous. It was put to use straight away. Presently it has a teapot on it. Just look at the cute little chicken under its Mother.

This is the back of it. Imagine a chicken taking a bath. Thanks must go to Cheryll for organising this swap. A big thank you to Angie for taking the time to look through my blog to see what I was interested in. She was spot on.

Today is "Colourful Friday "hosted by Robyn. The theme for today is Hexagons in any colour. Easy Peasy.
I found these two baskets that I made a while back. The little purse is one that I made many years ago. Most of it is made by hand. It seems this style of purse is making a come back in blog-land.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Happy days.
Bev C

Tuesday's Treasures.

Hello and Welcome.

This week my little Treasure is a hand painted rose de-thorner. This was painted by the same lady who did the plaque for our home which shows up in my blog photo profile.

Truth be known I don't use them as much as I should but they are pretty. The rose in the photo is "Dapple Dawn" which is a English Rose which was previously known as a David Austin Rose.

Dapple Dawn is a sport of "Red Coat". It has large, single pink blooms with a paler centre and long yellow stamens which are lightly scented and is always in flower. I have three of them in a hedge like situation.

The book  is about Trevor Griffiths a rosarian from New Zealand. A beautiful book with lots of history about his life and roses.

Once again one treasure has turned into more treasures.

Have a lovely day and make sure you find the other treasures on show this week at Melody's blog.

Happy days.
Bev C

Happiness is gardening.

Hello,

"Happy Monday" everyone.

Gardening makes me happy. Yesterday we went to the Swan Valley and visited a centre which had a 20 % off all stock sale, with some super specials. I can tell you it was just so wonderful to see a nursery with great looking stock. The nurseries up here are looking rather sad and depleted at the moment. That is what happens when rain decides to fall everywhere else in Australia  except here. Apparently though there is supposed to be rain in a few days. I won't be going out of town because I want to see if it is still wet when it rains!!!

We purchased this Frangipani. The perfume is wonderful. I will plant this out the back to bring a bit of shade in a few years to a section of garden. Plus you will walk past this as you come in the back gate. You walk into the back gate here at Kainga.

Now every good gardener knows that planting a fruit tree will bring you years of happiness and fruit. They had a selection of Heritage Apples. I was looking at a Bramley until one of the workers came up and helped us and told us the names of the others available. He went through them until he said "King David". Ian and I both smiled and said yes we would take that one. David is our apple eater in the family and the reason for planting the apples we have. So in his honour we purchased "King David" it is tall and thin like him. Now he will have is very own tree. Of course this could also mean that we get to go back and purchase the Bramley another time.

We also purchased a "Red Globe" grape which is seedless. A Tahitian Lime and a Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum.) plus a few others including tube stock which were only 50 cents each.

The sale at the nursery is on again next weekend if you are interested.

We have also made a start on our Winter vegie patch. Mini Cauliflowers are planted in the bottom of the photo and at the back are Chinese Cabbage. We also have Broccoli Peas etc planted. I have been sewing some seeds which are a few years old. As they are from places like Eden Seeds which are the Old Fashioned variety most of them have come up. This is the advantage of growing things from Heirloom stock.

I would love to hear what you got up to on the weekend.
Thank you for visiting "Kainga"

Happy days.
Bev C