My Brother quilted this for me.

Hello,

I hope you had a great day. We have had lots of rain today. If it is to wet to be outside its time to sew.
Over the last couple of days I have been working on my Ladybug Quilt.



I originally was only going to use it for a tablecloth and had planned to use some thin wadding inside it. I found a fairly big piece of 50% wool/50% cotton wadding. I just needed to add a strip to one side to make it big enough so now I can use it as a lap quilt if needed.



I embroidered a quilting pattern in the centre amongst the sunflowers.

Some baskets  in the corners and flowers along the borders. 

Now you may be wondering which one of my Brothers quilted this!!! I used a Brother Machine Embroidery Card Number 22. The final measurements for the quilt is 40 inches square. Another finish for the OPAM Challenge (One Project A Month)

Happy Days.

Bev C

"Happy Monday"- introducing "The Big Girls Eye Spy" Quilt.

Hello,

Happy Monday everyone. I haven't been on the computer much this last week. Too busy working with gloves. Garden gloves Oven Mitts and Quilting Gloves were put to great use over the last week. I even managed a trip to Needle Ny-dle Noo. I was in heaven there,lots of threads and embroidery supplies that aren't available locally. I purchased threads for some cross stitch projects I want to work on and of course while I was there I picked out another one and got the supplies for that as well.

The quilt that is making me "Happy this Monday" is one I want to introduce you to.

This is the "Big Girls Eye Spy" Quilt. I had sewing on Friday so was able to spend the day getting the quilting finished.

I had already quilted a quarter of an inch inside the triangles and decided it needed a bit extra. So I stitched in the ditch along the edges of each third row. It certainly makes for a interesting pattern which shows up so well on the back of the quilt. I used some floral material and the calico I got from Good Sam's last month for the backing. The only thing I needed to purchase was the wadding.

So I am extremely happy to have a quilt started and finished in a short time. What  is making you Happy this Monday?

Happy days.
Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday"

Hello,

Happy Monday to you all. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Last week I had a bit of fun with some blue food colouring.

I went out an picked two buds of "Blushing Pink Iceberg" this is similar to the "Iceberg" rose but has a pink tinge to it particularly when the weather is colder. I added some blue colouring and within a few minutes the edges of the petals started turning blue. It was interesting to watch its progress over the next few days.
So I am happy that there is such a thing as a Blue Rose!!!

I am also very happy that Ainsley and Bonnie had a wonderful week in Bali and arrived home safely on Friday. Of course they had no idea about the ash cloud from the volcano in Chile closing the Perth airport during the week or the goings on in Indonesia last week. I was certainly glad to have them back on home soil.

What is making you happy this Monday?

Happy days.
Bev C

Scraps make Quilts.

Hello,

Last night was Friday-Night-Sew-In. This year is all about using up what I have in my sewing room so the project for FNSI was all out of my big bag of scraps.

I cut 2 inch by 9.5 inch strips. Dividing these into light value colours and dark/medium colours. 6 strips of the light colours were sewn together then 6 strips of the dark/medium were sewn together in another block. These were then placed right sides together and a diagonal line was drawn on the wrong side of the light coloured blocks from the bottom left hand corner to the right top corner. Then sewing took place 1/4 inch either side of the line. Then cutting along the drawn line produced the blocks in the photo.
I have yet to make some quarter-square triangles for the sides and corners.

This is a great project to use up your scraps because you can join pieces together to make the strips. I did this in some of the lighter material.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and see you on "Happy Monday"
Bev C

It must be Friday.

Hello.

As promised I will give you some more information about growing plants hydroponically.

We have been interested in growing this way for a while. While we were in Toodyay back in May we found a little shop that was selling seedlings and items for hydroponics. We asked lots of questions which you must do. When we first walked into the shop there was a display of plants growing in some poly pipe that is used for drainage. There was also a capsicum growing in one of those disposable coffee cups. He told us that last year he even grew a melon that grew 14 metres in length. The best news is that it is very easy.

I borrowed the book called "Hydroponics for Everyone" A practical guide to gardening in the 21st century. by Dr Straun Sutherland. I thoroughly recommend this book as it is written so you can understand the process and has before and after pictures. This book is published by Hyland House.

There are different sorts of growing mediums. This is what you plant the seeds/plants into. We purchased a bag of coco peet and perlite mix. Some of the mediums available are sand, scoria, perlite, vermiculite,growool, expanded clay balls.

Pots, you can buy special pots but we used pots we already had. Just make sure there are holes in the base so the nutrient mixture can reach it.

Nutrient Mixture. There are many different brands available. Bunnings and your local garden centre stock these. These come in two parts, the first part is used when the plant is young. The second mixture is used when the plant is in bloom. Make sure you follow the directions. We were told to use only a small amount to start of you don't want to kill your plant with kindness. We change the water and nutrient mix once a week. This mixture can be used on other plants in your garden.

When planting seedlings please make sure all the soil is washed of but make sure you don't damage the roots.

We have a small pump going for most of the day. You can leave it on all the time it doesn't use up much power. These small pumps retail from around twenty dollars. We have used one the children had for the goldfish.

Your system can be as simple or technical as you want. You can start with just a plastic bucket for your container. Look around your yard I am sure you will find something that can be used.

Lots of vegies and plants like carnations can be grown hydroponically. I would urge you to give it a go. You will be amazed at how quickly things grow. Good luck with it. Please let me know if you try it.

As today is Friday I am linking up with Bronwyn for Floral Friday. I took this photo of my favourite rose called "Heritage" earlier on in the week. It is a David Austen rose and blooms almost continuously.

Robyn is hosting Colourful Friday today and she has chosen Blue and Orange together. I thought this was going to be a bit tricky but it was just out the back door. The Mandarin tree and the blue sky. I know it is a pity the oranges are no where near ripe as I would have loved to shown that.

I also have some orange and blue material that I will be using in my project for Friday-Night-Sew-In.

So that just about captures what is going on today. Hope you have a great night if you are sewing tonight.

Happy days.
Bev C

Tuesday"s Treasures

Hello,

Welcome to Tuesday's Treasures hosted by Melody. This week I want to share with you my scissor collection.

I guess it isn't a huge collection compared to other peoples but they do me just fine. The bigger pair with green handles are my favourite and still cut well after nearly 29 years. I got these free with my first sewing machine. There is a fold up pair which is very handy and some curved scissors for cutting thread and material whilst doing machine embroidery.

Now I bet you remember your Mother telling you to never run with scissors and always to hand over scissors in the correct way. Did your Mother tell you not to put your scissors on the edge of the lounge chair you are sitting on and letting them slip down the side. I mustn't have been listening when I was told this. On Saturday I was doing some stitching and just to let you know I do have a little stool beside the recliner rocker that I sit on. I did put the scissors back on that. Though every now and again I put it on the side of the chair. Of course they fell through to the bottom and I was able to reach it. This happened once or twice and then on the third time I couldn't retrieve the little pink scissors. I got up and turned the chair over so the scissors would fall to the back of the bottom of the chair. Of course I could get my hand in. Then I moved my hand along a bit further. OMG I couldn't pull my hand back out. Thoughts of pushing the chair across to the phone and calling for help were on my mind. Luckily Ian came down from the shed and was able to push the chair apart after several long moments and managed to pull my hand out. Bruised and scratched but we did get the scissors out in the end. So from now on my scissors will be on the tray on the stool beside my chair. I wonder where you keep your scissors when you stitch.

Make sure you see what other Treasures are being shown this week.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday"

Hello,

Happy Monday.

On the weekend I finished the borders for the "Catnip" quilt. I changed them because I didn't have enough fabric for the squares that were on the original pattern.

 I machine embroidered "Meow" on the bottom border with some whiskers thrown in for good measure.

 The top border has "Catnip" machine embroidered on it.

Along the side borders I added some flowers. There are also cat paw prints on the bottom and top borders.

Toni the designer of this quilt loves wearing odd socks. Looks like her creatures do to.
On the lookout now for some bright green backing and wadding. Looking forward to finishing this fun quilt.

I am happy to report that we have been doing a little garden experiment. As you know water is in short supply or should I say rain is in short supply in our State. We had lots of tomatoes coming up where I planted the winter vegies. So we decided to try growing them hydroponically. The photo above shows them the day we had set them up. The tomatoes had only just been planted into a mix of perlite and coco peet.

I am very happy to say it works. It was so easy. Look at the growth after only one month. We will put these into bigger pots in a while and a bigger container. Our little fish pump circulates the water and fertiliser is added to fresh water once a week. Certainly looking forward to seeing what they taste like.

During the past week our local Annual Art Prize has been on. I called in and had a look at the wonderful paintings and photos. Gosh there is some talented people out there. The old Mayoral Chambers were open at the same time in the Town Hall. The display was amazing,old photo's of people and buildings that were in town. I found out we even had a Brewery and a Skating Rink. It is a shame that a lot of these beautiful buildings have been pulled down. There were photo's of the tearooms with about 5  male workers standing out the front and I had to smile at the signs advertising 3 course meals. I wonder who has time for a 3 course meal today. There were rooms available for families and ladies to eat in !!! It was interesting to read the Rate Books from 1931. Everything was beautifully written in ink. Bookkeepers really earned there keep in those days. I spent a happy couple of hours browsing through things.

I hope you have a "Happy Monday" and do something you love.
Bev C

The time has come.

Hello,

I hope you have made a great start to the weekend. Recently I have been in my sewing room seeing what really needs to be done. Not new projects. That pile that sits beside the sewing machine. One of these quilts in that pile has sat there for nearly one year. It has been moved from the pile to the back of the sewing chair. That is an important move. Because it means I really want to get it finished.

I won the fat quarters a while back and because they were so bright and funky I really didn't want to cut them up to much. There are four spare blocks as well. These may be used on the backing or I will make some matching pillowslips. The quilt was just getting far to big. Originally I was going to make this for our bed but decided that it didn't suit our room.

Now I was thinking a all over scroll or floral type of quilting should be used. I know it would look great for each individual block to get quilted but it all comes down to cost. I promise the next stage is to take it to the quilting lady.

Have you got some quilt tops that need finishing? I have about three  plenty more so this is only the start.

Happy days.

Bev C

Happy Monday.

Hello and "Happy Monday "everyone.

We have a long weekend here in West Australia, we are celebrating Foundation Day. The sun is shining and it is perfect weather outside. So that makes for a perfect start to Happy Monday.

Yesterday I joined together the blocks for the "Catnip" quilt. I am happy with how it looks.

 I just picked blocks up and sewed them together. I made a few more of the patchwork blocks because I didn't have any more vlisofix and  after all  this year is all about using up what I have on hand.

Did you notice a dolly had decided to join in on the action. She is not part of the original pattern but from Toni's Blogging Buddies doll pattern. Her hair adds a bit of 3D to the quilt. I did button hole by hand on all the applique except for dolls hair. Here I did a satin stitch by machine as this helped hold down her hair. I have plans for the border of the quilt. Will work on that this week.

Last night I felt like doing some cross stitch. So I went to my local shop which is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week (my sewing room) and looked through the drawers of projects I have ready. I purchased this cross stitch last year from the Good Sammy's for only $3.00. Look what I got done in a short time.I plan to do lots of cross stitching in Winter. There is something about Winter that makes me to want to stitch.

This weekend it is ten years since we shifted here to Kainga. Still happy to be living here. Today we celebrate David's 20th Birthday. We will be going out for tea tonight to the Tavern. Gotta go where the boy can get his steak sandwich!! Happy Birthday David and all the best for the coming year.

Happy Monday and all the best for the week.

Bev C

Floral Friday and Colourful Friday.

Hello,

Welcome to Kainga Happenings. Today I am linking up with Bronwyn for Floral Friday and Robyn for Colourful Friday.

Please enjoy the roses at Kainga.

Of course some flowers turn into wonderful produce.

Lemons just ready for those hot lemon drinks on a cold Winters day.

Peas just waiting to be picked and popped straight into the mouth.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Meow"

Hello,

I hope you are having a great day. I have been busy embroidering the blocks for the "Catnip" quilt.

I just have the whiskers to go. The feet for the birds are cut out and ready to go. I will attach these when the blocks are joined together so the feet don't disappear into the seam. I will now work on the Sawtooth Star blocks. I have done three mystery blocks as well. These are something that weren't in the original pattern. I finished them yesterday and they are very cute. You will have to wait until it is together to see what they are.

Now I need your help please. I recently( the 10th of May) put in a order for some books from Almond Grove Craft in South Australia. I know there actual shop is closed and they are having a clearance of goods on there website. I received a email to say that my order was taken but I haven't heard anything since. I presume this email was an automated one. I have sent a couple of emails to see what is happening but I haven't heard anything. I was wondering if anyone knows if they are still operating or are on holiday etc. I really love the books I ordered and would love to get them. I have just tried the web page again and it seems to have gone. Any information would be appreciated.

Happy days.
Bev C