"Makes Me Happy Monday" number 41.

Hello,

Happy Monday everyone. I spent sometime over the weekend working on the embroidery machine, I am happy to say I embroidered these nine flannels. I will be passing them onto a lady on Tuesday. She is in the CWA (Country Womens Association) they usually have a charity they can give them to. The other good thing is I have one less parcel in the sewing room, gotta be happy about that to.

I wish I could say we received lots of rain on Sunday,unfortunately it only sprinkled a little in the morning. Oh well. I am happy that lots of roses are showing of there blooms. This one above is called "The Squire" It is a English Rose (previously known as a David Austin Rose) "The Squire" which was first produced in 1977 has beautifully formed,deeply cupped blooms of deep crimson,which become a rich purple with age. It has a rich old rose fragrance. It is a strong bush with dark green foliage which is great for cutting and will last well in a vase. It is mostly a continuously flowering bush.

I am very happy to have finished the "Planning and Hoping" quilt. I did the quilting on
Wednesday afternoon. I left the binding until Thursday. I have found it is best to work when you are refreshed.

I didn't worry about putting on a border. I debated about this as I had used two charm packs which I had bought from a stall holder at the Mundaring Markets and I really didn't have anything to match. The backing was also just wide enough if I didn't add on the borders. I have decided to call this quilt "Spring".

I have been doing a bit of tidying up in the sewing room to, which has made me happy. I am gradually working through projects which is a good feeling.

What is making you happy this Monday?

Happy days.

Bev C

Colourful Fridays-Blue

Hello,

Welcome to Colourful Friday. Today's colour is Blue. If you come to Kainga you will come through a blue gate to a house with blue verandah posts. You would have passed the blue pool on the way. Lots of blue around here. I found lots of blue items from the sewing room.

If you stay for a cuppa chances are you will be given a blue cup. Though not the cow one on the end that is my cup!!!! You can use a blue tea towel to wipe up. Though I wouldn't ask you to do that.

Chances are you would be given the milk for your cuppa from one of the blue jugs. The tea may even come from the blue teapot.

You would see some of the blue doily's I have crocheted. Chances are a blue quilt will be seen and I can guarantee you the blue cutting mat may even be on the table. The blue plate is very special. That stays on the cupboard above the oven. Ainsley and Julian gave that to us after they went to Bali. Julian proposed to Ainsley over there. It was just before the first Bali bombings. So a special plate. The blue sunflower jug is beside the kitchen sink brightening every ones day who does the dishes or at least puts there plates in the sink or dishwasher.

You would see some of my blue cross stitches hanging on the wall.Below it is a blue doily with a blue plate full of some of those little wishing stones. If you stay for a while you will get to use the blue broom and dustpan and brush set and the laundry basket is blue If you are into gardening there are plenty of plants planted in blue pots. So all in all a great many items are blue here at Kainga.

Last week on Colourful Friday when we celebrated the colour red I had Tomato and Fennel Soup at the Book Shop Cafe. This week I could try some blueberry muffins maybe.

Hope you have a Colourful Friday and look out for Blue.

Happy days.

Bev C

Planning and Hoping.

Hello,

Is there a difference between Planning and Hoping? The last couple of days I have been planning,thus I have cut out the backing and wadding to get this quilt top that has been ready for about a year. Hoping to get it done,now that is a different thing. David came home yesterday on the early train. See that is where the planning and hoping just went out the window. Maybe I will try to get it done today.

Today I decided it was time to wash the quilts which have been used in the family room over winter. So I have a colourful washing line filled with quilts drying gently in the breeze.

Don't forget to call back on Friday for "Colourful Friday." This week the colour is Blue. You can see the only blue flower we have in the garden at the moment- a Cornflower. The rose in the background is called Mutabilis.

Of to do some planning,or was that hoping.

Happy days.

Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday" number 40.

Hello,

Happy Monday to you all. Late last week I called into a neighbour who had started doing embroidery and quilting about March last year. We had a great chat about what she was into doing and those crafts that didn't interest her at all. I asked her if she liked cross stitch,she was straight of to her craft room and guess what she doesn't like cross stitch so I came home with the kit in the photo above.

I was talking to her about what I do with my scraps and she went back into the craft room and came out with a big bag of scraps. I cut the stringy bits of and I have this pile of strips of material. I am sure I can use them up. There is even some "rose"prints. This made for a very happy visit.

I am very happy that the roses are in bud or bloom. There are lots of aphids but the ladybirds are out and about in the garden. Plus we have had a lot of birds so there is plenty for them all.

The double red poppies have bloomed over the weekend. This one is growing amongst the broad beans which are producing. Over the weekend I caught up with Anita at the Bookshop Cafe. You will have to ask Anita how long we were there for.

A couple of other things are "Making Me Happy" today- Ian is on holidays for two weeks. It has been quite a while since he has taken holidays. He has been up in the shed making some beer. So he is happy. Bobbie-Lynn's blog always makes me happy.You must check out the post on her beautiful garden journal. If you are in need of a smile check out the header photo on this blog. While you are there you can read about Pauline.

Happy Monday.

Bev C

The story behind "97"

Hello,

It is nearly our daughter Bonnie's 25th Birthday in a fortnight. Either before or just after she was born I made this little crochet jumper. It was the first article of clothing using crochet that I had made. Before that I had only made scarves and blankets.

On the pattern sheet there was also a pattern for a bonnet. As we already had plenty of those I decided to use part of the pattern to make those 97 circles. They have remained in the same bag until I took them out the other week. Apparently I was going to join them together to make a blanket for her. Obviously this never happened.You know we had to wait a extra fortnight for Bonnie to arrive so this is my excuse for not getting it done!!! Anyway it was impossible to join them together so I decided to join them to the cream homespun with button hole stitch,using matching DMC thread.I then had them in a big pile and drew them out one by one to make twelve rows of eight. The final one is on the label on the back.

I found in my stash some floral material that was long and wide enough for the backing and also used this for the binding. As the circles are made of wool I used a thinner polyester wadding. It was fairly hard to quilt because of the weight of the quilt. Though it didn't take as long as I expected to.

Here it is in all its glory measuring approx. 51.5 inches wide by 77 inches long. Making this for Bonnie's Birthday will actually be more useful than if I had made it into a baby blanket. One funny thing happened while I was at the craft shop purchasing the wadding. There was another lady in the shop and the owner was telling her about my 97 circles and that I was making it for a 25th Birthday, the other lady said her Birthday isn't the 18th of October is it. Yes I said her son's Birthday is the same day. We both had a laugh. I then remember that when Bonnie was at High School she shared her day with him. I don't know if this is a record for a unfinished item being finished for the OPAM challenge but I hope it might make someone else finish a UFO.

So there you have it, the circles are all used up.

Have a great weekend and go St Kilda!!!!

Happy days.

Bev C