July 31, 2011

With Sugar and Cream

I feel as though I am on top of most things now, after our wonderful holiday.  The magazines are still piled up waiting to be read.  I like to savour every page after a quick flip through, so they are sitting there waiting for time to indulge in that luxury.  The anticipation is part of the joy!  Handmade Patchwork Annual has my table Topper "With Sugar and Cream" in it this month.


Here it is in the magazine:


DH saw it on the cover - I didn't even notice it down the bottom:


You can see I should have lived in the Victorian era:







Yesterday the Community Association of our local township (well, we probably are more a village than a town) held a Family Fun Day, celebrating our wonderful area.  It was really well organised and lots of people attended.  They held a photo competition and I entered two photos in the Nature section and won first prize for the Black-winged Stilt below, and highly commended for the other. As you can guess, I was very pleased!



And one last photo to finish.  Gina very kindly sent me a photo of her lovely version of "My Pantry":

Don't you just love all those great fabrics?

I love seeing what you do with my patterns, so feel free to send me photos of anything you make of my designs.

 I notice I have just reached 400 followers, so I might just have to think about another giveaway!

Hope you have a great week.
Val

July 25, 2011

Holiday Happenings

We're back home, having had a wonderful holiday with a lot of variety and plenty of opportunity to indulge in our favourite activities of bushwalking and birdspotting.  We hugged the coast of southern Queensland for most of the trip, stopping at Woodgate and Boyne Island on our way up to Yeppoon. 

We stayed six days at Causeway Lake and went out each day, exploring the lake, wetlands, beaches and bush.  We enjoyed watching Ospreys doing their fishing, and the clever way they carry their catch with their feet, facing it lengthwise for least wind resistance. This one had built its huge nest and popped out to check on the surrounds:


This cheeky little Golden Headed Cisticola came out to see who we were:


and the little Red-capped Plover totally ignored us walking on his beach:


Byfield National Park didn't disappoint us.  It has lots of different habitat and while some of the roads were only 4-wheel drive tracks, it was worth it to arrive at places like this:


We did a day cruise to Great Keppel Island on the Great Barrier Reef which included an hour looking at the coral formations in a glass-bottom boat, barbecue smorgasbord, visits to isolated beaches ... and best of all I didn't get seasick, which I usually do!


We then headed inland to Cania Gorge National Park and spent two delightful days on the walking tracks, climbing up and down the Gorge:


marvelling at the colours in the sandstone:



walking through rainforest:


and relaxing at forest pools:


And now we're home - and wonderful as the holiday was, it is always great to be home.  There's certainly no place like it, is there?

Thank you for all the lovely comments you gave on the latest pattern in the Consider the Lilies free BOM.  We didn't have internet access for some of the time we were away, so I hope you will understand that I was not able to reply personally this time, but I really did appreciate the way you took time to leave a comment.  It is always encouraging to know you like the patterns.

Now it's head down and tail up to tackle the big pile that has accumulated - washing, ironing, e-mails etc.

Have a great week
Regards
Val


July 17, 2011

Free Pattern - Consider the Lilies Pattern 7



It's free pattern time again - number seven in the Consider the Lilies Block of the Month design. This month we are starting Block 3.  This block is all about worry ... or rather some advice about

NOT WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW!!!

Sometimes it's easier said, than done!
.............................

But there's plenty of advice in the Bible - Matthew 6: 31-34

Don't worry and ask yourselves,
“Will we have anything to eat?
Will we have anything to drink?
Will we have any clothes to wear?”

Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things.
Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these ...

Don't worry about tomorrow.
It will take care of itself.


Here's my favourite section of Block 3:


I really enjoyed making these pumpkins.  When I was designing this particular block, I had "designer's cramp" - I just couldn't find the right thing to depict the theme. All I knew was that I wanted something from nature. After a few days thinking and getting nowhere, I asked my DH for some ideas.  He said, "You need something like a field of wheat swaying in the breeze!"  Isn't he brilliant?!!  The moment he said that, it all came together in my mind.  The pumpkins and wheat remind me of God's rich provision.. We don't need to be spending our energy worrying about tomorrow.
 
 
There's an easy-to-make Shoo Fly block (don't you love that name!)

and a few squares and pieces around the edges: 

 
I hope you like this next instalment. 
You can download the file from the usual web page here.

We're having a wonderful holiday, lots of bushwalking, bird spotting, and just plain relaxing ... and we have a good signal for our wireless internet this week, so I had no trouble uploading your free pattern!

Happy stitching!
Regards
Val


July 10, 2011

Granny Squares and Grass Slides!

We've had a fun week with our two grandsons.  The weather was lovely so we were able to spend time at the beach, playground and grass slide, take them to a theme park and movies, and give them plenty of sticky tape and glue to make things from the recycle box of goodies.  At the end of the week, when I asked them what they liked best out of the week, they both said the grass slide. They own hundreds of dollars worth of the latest toys, gadgets, Beyblades, Pokemon, Nintendo etc., but they were happiest at the beach, sliding down the steep grassy slope on a piece of cardboard!!!




Now that's where the Granny Squares come in. I used the opportunity while they were building sand castles and water dams, and sliding down grass slopes, to sit and enjoy the fresh air with, of course, some handwork on my lap. I have been asked to teach crochet at the Creative Craft Retreat later in the year, so I needed to work out a project for the class.  Granny Squares are great for learning basic crochet techniques and there are so many ways they can be sewn together to make fun bags.

I used three colours in this one:


I love pink and purple together:



Here's a four-colour one:


A soft pastel square:


The blue, black and white are quite striking, aren't they:


Which one do you like best?????

Keep an eye out next week for the next instalment in the free BOM Consider the Lilies pattern.  My DH and I are having a little holiday for a couple of weeks, but I hope to be able to upload the pattern as usual.

Have a great week.

Happy stitching!
Val

July 3, 2011

Lots of alliteration!

Another week has flown by - where do they disappear to??? 
How come I never get as much done as I hope and plan?  Unreal expectations - one of my weaknesses!!!

I did make a batch of sweet orange marmalade:


What else made the week go so fast? We had the car serviced and went bush walking in the nearby National Park while the garage had the car for two hours.  It was lovely to be out in the warm sun. I did some work on a couple of gifts and crocheted three small bags at night in front of the TV.  Crochet is so quick compared to embroidery! 
..............................

Now for the alliteration.  The two projects I want to show you today have lots of "F"'s in the titles!

This is my Flitting Free Pincushion and Scissor Keep.  I enjoy working with felt:


Here it is in the Country Threads magazine - on the editorial page:


and in the magazine:


The other project that has just come out in print is the Feeling Fruity Apron.  Sometimes I like to challenge myself to produce designs that are outside of my normal colour range and I was very happy with the way the Red and Aqua work together in this one:


Here it is on the front cover of Patchwork & Stitching:



and inside:


This week will be spent doing quite different things. We will have two of our grandsons, aged 8 and 6, here for a week of their school holidays. We have a few fun things organised and hopefully the weather will be fine to spend time at the beach. 

Better go and get organised before they arrive!

Have a great week!
Regards
Val