projects on the go, a freebie and a reminder…

It’s been one of those weeks with everything going topsy turvy, but rest assured, I’m still here and plodding along regardless!!

I’ve been working on my stash of hexies (…that seem to be breeding again!!) from Fee’s Framed Hexi Club

as well as designing and stitching this month’s block of the month for Dawn’s and my sister blog Sew Its Finished,

….and deciding on a design for a couple of blocks to finish a wall hanging with some KARTS that I started last month (or was it the month before??)…

….and dusting off an oldie but a goodie in preparation for a project with great plans in mind!

This stitchery design is available free on the tab called “free designs” at the top of my blog …perhaps you could stitch out something for the man in your life!

No ‘REAL’ finishes, but soon…..I hope!

What have you been up to?  Do you have any finishes for your birthday-love stash??   Remember, there’s only a week or so till the draw so there’s still time to join in on the fun and win this wonderful pattern pack by Jenny of Elefantz

All you have to do is make something for a special person’s birthday (or some other special event) to add to your stash and remember to sign up HERE by the end of the month.  I’ll be drawing a winner on the first of June!

Sew many sugary hugs xox :O)

Swapsies for me, and freebies for you…

Last month, Sue organised a table runner swap and I was lucky to be paired with Cathy who made this this gorgeous table runner using Blueberry Crumb Cake by Blackbird Designs for Moda….

It has pride of place as you walk in our front door….I love it!  The soft blues and browns tone so well together……even the boys in the family commented on how lovely it was!!!!  Thanks Cathy and Sue……

And here’s the runner I made for Cathy……her love of the traditional fabrics of Cattails & Clover by Kansas Troubles Quilters drew me to a traditional tumbler block to best show them off….

…and thankfully, Cathy loves it too!

It would be lovely to do swaps with everyone, but time is always a HUGE issue, isn’t it?  So instead, each month, Dawn and I are giving you a block to make, free, from our “Seasons Of….” BOM that you can use individually or altogether, with the instructions you will receive in December, to create a Seasons Of…. quilt.  You can choose to use the designs in swaps or gifts, or just plain keep them for yourself!   Our gift to you!

 

This month is block 5 which I designed to celebrate Mothers’ Day, a truly important and significant day in May.  You can download it from my sidebar, free, for the rest of this year.  I hope you enjoy it!

Sugary hugs :O) xox

yummy goodness to share….

I’ve been making a real effort to start looking after my health a bit more so losing weight has been top priority…..I started on a great metabolism boosting, calorie counting program (no…it’s not a ‘diet’) and I’m now in my third week and have lost 4.4kg…..I’m so happy to be seeing progress!

I even get to have some treats, so today I’m making low fat anzac biscuits…..

….hmmmmmm…..that oven needs a good clean again!!!!  Doesn’t take long to dirty it up!  Should tell the manufacturers I’m really not impressed with their self-cleaning oven that doesn’t clean itself!!  *wink*

Nonetheless, it didn’t have any effect on the outcome and these anzac biscuits are yummy, good for you and only 70 calories each….

….and dear hubby can’t even tell the difference!

Would you like the recipe?? I’m willing to share……

Low-fat Anzac Biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup each plain flour and wholemeal plain flour
• 1/2 cup each brown sugar and desiccated coconut
• 80g reduced-fat canola spread
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1. Preheat oven to 160˚C (140˚C for fan-forced oven).  Line a large baking tray with baking paper.  Combine oats, flours, brown sugar and coconut in a bowl, stir to combine.
2. Place canola spread and honey into a saucepan over medium heat and cook until melted and smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Place bicarb. soda in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons boiling water then stir into the honey mixture until combined.
3. Add the honey mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Roll 2 teaspoons of mixture into a ball using slightly wet hands and place onto baking trays, leaving room for spreading.  Repeat with remaining mixture.  Flatten each ball slightly with a fork.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes approx. 32

And I thought I’d give myself another treat……and pre-ordered myself a copy of some more yummy deliciousness …..

But oh, what to choose…….

And the lovely Sarah from Quilt Fabric Delights sent me this catalogue to tempt me…..

I think I’ll have one of each…after all, I’m not on a fabric ‘diet’ am I????  *wink*

Sugary hugs…..:O)

 

May's Birthday-Love Stash sign up.

I told you I'd be back today with the sign up for this month's Birthday-Love Stash, and here I am!!!!
For those new to the Birthday-Love Stash, if you click on the BLS button on my sidebar, it will take you to the post that explains all, but basically, you sign up below, make some birthday gifts for your friends and family (or whoever), and blog about it and at the end of the month, you could win a prize from me!

This month’s prize will be these two gorgeous patterns from the Jenny of Elefantz range….Rose House and Cutie Key Ring Fobs, ‘cause you just cant have a house without a key to lock the front door!!!!! 

A huge sugary thank-you to Jenny for offering this month’s prize.  I absolutely love her blog, have you seen it??  Go and have a read for yourself HERE ...she's an amazing woman with an absolute heart of gold.....  I’ve been reading her latest e-magazine too….why don't you take a look HERE    I know you won't be disappointed. 

There’ll also be a bonus gift to this stash if you tell others about the Birthday-Love Stash on your blog and get them to sign up to May’s Birthday-Love Stash  too…. they’ll have to tell me you sent them in the comments below, and sign up with Mr Linky on this post…. but you will be in the draw for the bonus gift as well as the prize (I’ll give you a hint……you just won’t need to buy ALL your requirements to make up your Rose House wall hanging!!!! *wink*)  
Ok....time to start linking!
Sugary hugs :O)

FNWF and finally.....an April Birthday-Love Stash Winner

 

Last night I joined with Cheryll  and the girls for Friday Night with Friends and with my Facebook buddies for our weekly Friday night Sewing with Friends group get-together.  It’s so good being able to sit in with your buddies and have a sewing night, even when you’re in a rural town, hundreds and even thousands of miles from any of them, or even half a world away!…….I don’t know what on earth we did before the internet!!!! (and you know how I feel about that after my little rant two days ago!!!! )

Well, last night I sat down and stitched the binding on our Quilt Guild’s raffle quilt.  Every two years, we have a quilt show and we raffle a quilt that we all have a part in making, and most of the funds we raise go to local charity groups.   Last quilt show, the money was donated to our local BlueCare and it bought curtains for their client’s recreation room, and also to the Queensland Heart Foundation. as a donation for research.

This year, we’ve chosen quite a different colour palette to what we normally would go for…….this quilt is bright….but it’s definitely not garish!  The photo definitely does NOT do it justice.  I think we will sell loads of raffle tickets for this one this year, and I’ve already been asked for some!  They’re not quite printed yet but they will be soon, so I’ll let you know when they’re available, if you’re interested!

The feature fabric is just gorgeous….lots of hyacinths, larkspurs and tulips with feint gold highlights……beautiful (and that’s not the bias coming out in me, either!!!)  Can you tell I’d love to win it myself?

So last night, I got up close and personal with the binding, with Nigella for company, as well as all my stitching buddies……the room was a little crowded, but that’s what Friday nights are for!

Did you notice the fabulous butterfly backing fabric?????

and yes…..I’m late again…….I have this terrible habit of letting time slip away from me and deadlines passing by before I know it……but, nonetheless, we have a winner for our Birthday-Love Stash for April.   There was such an array of gorgeous gifts made, I hope you got the chance to go and see them all?  If not, you can go back to the links HERE to have a peek…..it might even give you some ideas for your next month’s gift-making.

This month’s winner is ……

Now, if you went back and had a look at the links HERE, you’d know who that was!!!  Ok, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer ;O)…… 

congratulations to

ANTHEA

Make sure you do drop by and visit Anthea’s blog ….she has a great link for a tutorial for easy little zippered pouches….perfect birthday gifts, and can be tailored to whoever they’re for when they’re filled with all the recipients favourite things!

Anthea, you’ve won the charm pack of Moda “Quilt Blocks” by Ellen Luckett-Baker…

I’m sure you’ll find something to do with it!!!!!!!

This month’s prize will be these two gorgeous patterns from the Jenny of Elefantz range….Rose House and Cutie Key Ring Fobs, ‘cause you just cant have a house without a key to lock the front door!!!!! 

A huge sugary thank-you to Jenny for offering this month’s prize.  She’s the gorgeous friend I visited yesterday…..we always have a blast!  I’ve been reading her latest magazine….you can too if you go and visit Jen HERE

There’ll also be a bonus gift to this stash if you tell others about it on your blog and get them to sign up to May’s Birthday-Love Stash  too…. they’ll have to tell me you sent them in the comments, but I’ll put Mr Linky up on the blog tomorrow…..just have a think about it for now ….I’ll give you a hint……you just won’t need to buy ALL your requirements to make up your Rose House wall hanging!!!! *wink*

Until tomorrow then….I’m off to finish some binding!

Sugary hugs xox :O)

Epic fail…

I have been trying and trying to get onto the internet today, even via my mobile, but it just wouldn’t go….I thought they might have been working on the line as they’ve put a new 4G tower up nearby, so I held off and just kept trying. 

After 6pm tonight, I realised there was something not quite right so I rang the phone company…….your phone has been restricted as the bill amount of $48 has not been paid, was the answer……only problem was, it was their fault I had the bill in the first place due to a billing credit error so, after an hour on the phone yesterday sorting it out and being given a guaranteed 2 weeks to pay and having a very ‘hearty’ conversation with the girl on the other end of the line tonight again, who told me I must ensure I pay it by tomorrow morning or else it would be disconnected again, I finally got my line back! 

Needless to say….I AM NOT HAPPY, JAN!!!!!

Epic fail for you, phone company!!!!!!

But…..rant over…….point of the story is………

I am sincerely apologising for not drawing and posting the Birthday-Love Stash tonight as the young girl from a neighbouring country has worn me out….I’m off to bed!   I promise it will be drawn tomorrow…..after I come home from visiting a very special stitchy friend in Townsville! That will make me smile again! *wink*

xox sugary hugs

My April finishes…..

my oh my…..where did that month go???

It has been a busy one, with some changes around here…..

more time to sew, so that’s what I’ve been doing, and I’ll show you more of that later….but in the meantime, I’ve had finishes….believe it or not!!!   Here they are….

a Christmas themed table topper I’ve had cut out and blocks made since before last Christmas….I finally got myself together to play with the blocks and come up with this design….

A diary compendium that I bought as a kit from Joy at JoyPatch when we were at the retreat in Adelaide….I just love that teacup fabric, don’t you?  The pattern is called ‘Dear Diary’

….and here’s the inside……

A fun little stitchery by Kerryanne over at Woodberry Designs for Fee’s birthday…..

lots of shabby pinkness…..even in the variegated pink thread and the spotty pink ribbons…..It was hard to part with this one!!!!  Lucky it got there Fee!!!!  hee hee

And some secret stitching for a Table Runner Swap put on by Sue….

mine’s headed off to Cathy but she has to wait for the posty to arrive yet to get a closer look!

Finally, I’ve been playing around with this little petal pouch….

it’s in my favourite fabrics….Little Black Dress…..and this is the small one…..I have two more larger sizes ready to construct so they’re on the agenda tomorrow!

Phew…..there is more…..but they’re not finishes so they’ll have to wait till later……..and if you’re waiting for the Birthday-Love Stash Draw……that’s coming tomorrow……!  fingers crossed everyone!!!!

Hope you got lots of finishes last month too, including some for your birthday stash!

Sugary hugs xox :O)