TWINS IN NEW DRESSES

School holidays are the best time for visiting Nan and Pa, they have time to make things with you like kites and also make you a new dress, take you on a bus ride to the shopping centre and just play. All of this was enjoyed firstly by Emma, Charlie and Henry except the two boys didnt get a dress and Emma made a peg fairy instead of a kite. Forgot to take a photo of Emma in her new dress but the picture is in my previous post. I had enough fabric left over to make Chloe`s dress  but this one is not double sided, I just added a facing . Then to make Hayley her dress from the yellow fabric she had picked out at Spotlight on Thursday along with some others, dont know how I am going to do all this sewing before our next visit. Up at 5.50 this morning after being awoken by these two little monkeys " cos Nan you have to finish Hayley`s dress so we can go shopping." Would have had to gone naked unless it was done. Had a great time with them all and I get to sleep in tomorrow before starting the next lot of dresses. Bye for now Jude

LAZY SATURDAY

After a stressful week I have spent Saturday trying out the new dress pattern I bought to make up for my GD`s. Monday I spent in Modbury hospital with my DH after he suffered an AF attack, this is where the heart beats so fast you can hardly count it. when he was stabalised and back to a normal rythm in his heart i took him home. Thursday It was my turn at the doctors and mine was all good news, so now back to normality for me. Friday and this time take DH to the heart specialist to be followed next week with a heart stress test. The dr assured  my hubby all will be well but he needs to slow down a bit. .Here is side one of the dress and I really like the pockets as they have a gathered top that will keep those little treasures safe.The shoulder straps have two rows of elastic in them and this will keep the dress sitting nice.

The reverse of the dress. I have changed it a little bit and added a pocket and I am very pleased with the results. I bought the pattern from Heart `n` soul at Port Vincent last week and I can see it will become a very popular dress with the three little girls.

Bye for now Jude.

A DAYS FISHING

We are visiting Port Vincent in our caravan for a few days. Arrived Tuesday at lunchtime and the weather was perfect, a warm 22 degrees. Went for a walk along the beach and looked in the local shops. Went to visit the marina, lots of boats and even more shags were in residence. The closer you got to the shags the more putrid the air became and we didnt stay very long. Went fishing from the wharf this morning and caught 10 nice mullet, would have caught more but it is a dodge tide here at the moment. Sorry forgot to take a photo of the fish but here are the fish scaled, gutted and filleted ready to cook for our dinner tonight.

 Pelicans quietly waiting for the fish offal.

 Beak wide open and waiting for me to throw him his tea.

This is a view across the bay on Tuesday. Very blue and clean water and the temperature was a lovely warm 22 degrees. Cup of tea time now so will be back later. Jude

A LOVELY XMAS WALL HANGING

 This is so cute, easy to make and looks wonderful. It is a mini quilt from the temecularquiltco.blogspot in Calafornia and its titled the 12  DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. You get all the patterns to make it at no cost as well as they explain how the 12 DAYS OF XMAS song came in to being and the religious meaning behind it, I never knew there was a story behind the song, so check it out and I am sure you also will be making 1 or 2 or maybe even more as I will  be in the coming weeks.

I have finally finished the top of my SOME KIND OF  WONDERFUL QUILT stitch-a long and I am very happy with the results. Now just to decide on my backing and get it quilted and bound.
Dear Veronica I will try to blog more often so that you can see all of the wonderful things I get up to, well nearly all that I get up to. Cheers for now Jude

A COUPLE OF QUILTS AND CURTAINS FOR THE CUBBY

Hi all. I have been very busy sewing quilts and here are 2 that I have finished, the others you can see later. Also the curtains for my twin GD`s cubby that their dad built for their 4 th  birthdays.

 This lap quilt was a gift for Dr Tony my chiropractor who has left SA to return to his family in Victoria. It is a quick and easy quilt to make and can be done in any fabrics and still looks stunning.

 This is the same pattern but a row longer and was a gift for a friend who has moved to queensland. She was very happy to receive it as she didn`t have a quilt. I made it in pretty fabrics as she has a DH and 2 sons and deserved something special for herself.

This is one of 3 pair of curtains that I made for my twin granddaughters cubby house that they got for their 4th birthdays.

A SNEAK PEEK, THE BIRTHDAY BOY AND MY NEW CUSHION

 Here is a sneak peak at one of the blocks of the quilts I am making for my twin Granddaughters.I am using the Birdie fabric from moda and it is looking great.

 This is Henry my youngest grandson with his mum Leonie ready to blow out his 1st birthday candle. We went to the farm to help him celebrate and also had a great Mothers day bush BBQ with 2 of my DD`s their families and lots of friendly country folk.

 We went for a walk and the girls climbed the sheep loading chute. They are left to right Hayley and Chloe my twin nearly 4yo granddaughters and Emma, Henry`s 3yo sister.

 This is the back of my cushion. I  know it should have been the second of the cushion photos but I always forget which one to upload first.

This is my cushion and it really suits my lounge room sofa. It is made using the fantasy flower die that I bought to use with my GO! cutter from accuquilt . It is a great way to cut applique shapes and get them perfect. Dawn from As Sweet As Cinnamon is an agent to sell both the dies and the GO! cutters.

A WALL HANGING AND MY NEW BABY

In March I attended a quilt sew-in in Hobart, Tasmania with several great designers and we stitched and sewed several items. We also did a lot of sight seeing, shopping and chatter amongst ourselves. It was a really fun time and in 2013 it will be held in Adelaide.

 This wall hanging was taught to us by Designs from Fee and Is one I had to finish aws soon as I could. It now lives on the wall in my lounge room. It is called Plant A Pot of Friendship and Fee taught how to paper piece the border around the pot. I found it a bit challenging but was glad I persisted and finished it.

My new baby is a Janome Horizon and I have had my Ruby for 5 daysnow and she is a dream to use and purs along very quietly.I have started a cushion and small wall hanging and will show you when they are finished. Got to go now as I am going to a quilt show before going to sew more of my Gds quilts at Dawns home, more on that later.
Cheers Jude

FOR MY GRANDSON

My eldest GS came home from school the other day with a note to say that on the last day of term they could come to school in fancy dress but the character had to start with the first letter of their name.
 Sitting at the dinner table my DD thought I had better ring mum and give her time to make something (Leonie couldn`t sew a stitch if her life depended on it), at the same time Charlie said "Lets ring nan, she can make something for me to wear." We thought a clown or a cowboy might be nice and Charlie thought a cake would be good, dont you love em. With a little persausion from dad it was decided the cowboy would be fine. Charlie has jeans, western shirt and boots so it was left to me to finish his outfit. Above is the vest, kerchief and gun holster I have made and the Peacemaker 6 shooter that had belonged to my younger brother. After the parade I will post a photo of Charlie in all his glory.

A TEDDY BEAR GIFT

I have just finished sewing this teddy and his sailor jacket and he is reaching out for me to pick him up, but i must not do it as he has a new home to go to. He is to be a thankyou gift for my DD, Megans neighbour, Natalie as a thankyou for helping my daughter when I cant. It has been a long time since I made a teddy and I enjoyed it so much that I will have to make time to sew some more. Maybe I should make one for each of my 7 grandkids. He is not a toy for little children as he is made from mohair, which is hard to clean and he also has glass eyes that are not recommended for little tots. Got to go now as my tea is bubbling away on the stove and then an early night as tomorrow DH and I are of in the carasvan for a few days.   Jude

A LITTLE BIT OF SEWING

I have returned from Sydney and brought a virus with me. Felt down for a couple of days but better now. My two little girls were very excited to see their Nan and we did some sewing. We hand sewed some little birds in felt and silly me forgot to take a photo. We also made some bracelets and some hanging hearts out of fabric and beads, again forgot to take photos. Lots of playing and reading and playing CATOPOLY, just like monopoly but geared around cats. Also played the card game Go Fish and I could not win a game and this pleased my card playing GD`s very much. Did shopping and went to Darling Harbour for the day, will talk about that later. The girls also each made a placemat for their mum`s Birthday and were very pleased with themselves. We wrapped them and hid them in their bedrooms until the day. I must remember to ring and remind them the night before so they dont forget to give them to mum.

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 Here are Jade and Brooke displaying the placemats.

 Jade has always loved to sew with Nan and misses our sewing lessons since the family moved to NSW for dad`s work. Here she is happily sewing a placemat for her mum`s birthday later this month.

Brooke has only just started to sew and seems to enjoy it. She did lots of practice following lines on paper to learn to sew in straight lines. She picked it up fairly quickly and only needed a little help to turn corners when sewing her placemat. The sewing machine is a baby Elna that I bought and took over for them to practice sewing on. Luckily it was not heavy as I carried it my hand luggage. When I went through the Airport security I was asked what is it and told them it was a little sewing machine for my GDs and they just waved me through. I had been a liitle bit worried as to what I would have done with it if they said I couldnt carry on board. Bye for now Jude

TWO QUICK PROJECTS

 My daughter asked me to make a book bag for Brooke as she starts school this year, this is what I have made her, I hope she likes it. It is a piece of fabric that Dawn had passed on and I thought Brooke would like it with the dogs and angels.

I also thought it was time I covered my 2012 diary and I found this pretty piece in my scrap box. It was leftover from covering a book for Brooke so she will be pleased we both have a book the same. I wont be posting again until I return from my trip to Sydney  and now I am off to cook some more meals to put in the freezer for my dear  Hubby ( dont know why he cant do it hmself each day).
Bye for now Jude.

A WARNING AND OUR NEW BABY

Please be alert at this time of the year for all those little nasties, DH was moving stuff in the shed and came across this little beauty, it was one of the biggest I have seen in a long time. RIP little beastie.

Sorry always put the piccies on the wrong way. This is my kitchen, plenty of cupboards and the stove top has not been used before as it is in perfect condition. the fridge is to the left and the entry is next to it.

Here is my bedroom, finally a bed you can walk around. This makes it easier to make and now I dont have to put up with DH crawling across and treading on my legs when he gets up early to go fishing. Still waiting for a feed of fish but he has caught some squid, yum yum.

An outside view of the van. It is very clean and has been well looked after. I really like the pull down awning on the side, it makes a nice place for a cuppa and pice of cake when you need a rest from all the fishing and sight seeing.

I am off to Sydney next week to visit with Megan, Mark, Jade and Brooke and when I return home  DH and I will be going to Kingston SE for a bit to try out the new van. till then cheerio and all be good. Jude.

LAST OF XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all my Family and Friends and may it be a Happy and Prosperous one.

These are the place mats and drink coasters I made for my DD to adorn the Xmas table and luckily they were the last I had to do. There is 5 of each and unless we have more babies this will be enough for when her turn comes around again. Lucky for me my three DDs take turns to host Xmas and I just have to turn up and enjoy myself. I loved this Australian print and was glad I could make it up for us all to enjoy.  Bye for now and I will try to post more often this year, but not until next month as I am off to Sydney to spend time with Megan( my eldest daughter and Jade  and Brooke and their dad).