I fell in love.....

Delivered.

Oooooh what could it be..........

My NEW BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In action :o) I made a Sticky Date Christmas Pudding (mixed fruit and brandy to make it Christmassy - lovely)

Ever since I saw my first one, I knew I had to have one but deep down inside I didn't think I ever would. Then Special Edition, 90th Anniversary came to be and Candy Apple Red, it was made just for me! Yep, I licked that spoon he he he.

My blog is definitely going to include more baking from now on. I also received a pressure cooker from Santa (he looks a lot like my dad) so it's going to be a cookfest from now on around here.

Time to do some quilting on the Commish.

Abbe x

Almost too festive!

My dads wonderful tree by night -
The star of Christmas lunch who had present unwrapping down to an art form by lunchtime -

My 'tree'. I couldn't get into a whole tree this year so I bought a lovely angel and then my aunt Jude sent me this lovely wall-hanging that she made. Lucky me!

I have felt unbloggy lately. I think it was the result of too much Christmasness. I have been enjoying reading everyone else's adventures though.

I hope you all had wonderful festive days and enjoy family time, good food and fabulous gifts.

Abbe x

Basted!

I have basted the Commish - I used 505 Basting Spray which I like as you can see where it lands and get a more even spread. I've spray basted nearly all of the quilts I've ever made and never had a problem with discolouration or anything. I figure being a baby quilt this one will be used and abused and washed over and over which will eliminate any left over glue stuff.

I have also used bamboo batting for the first time. I bought it at the Drapers of Mt Macedon (which is actually in Gisborne, Victoria) which is a shop that I hadn't been to before. They have lots of fabric, patterns etc. I'll definitely go back again. The batting seems very soft and it will be interesting to see how it quilts and then how it 'wears'. I don't know the brand as it was last off-cut from the roll.

I hope everyones Christmas preparations are going well,

Abbe :o)

She's apples!

A productive day today. I baked yummy vanilla cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for my neighbours 2nd birthday. Blue icing to make them kid-friendly. They are definitely one of the best batches I've ever made.

I also had my first turn with the bread maker that my dad gave me for my birthday. I made a fruit loaf but I added a bit of extra fruit than what it suggested and it doesn't seem to have mixed in as well as it should have. I probably should have stuck to the recipe measurements. Haven't tasted it yet because I ate too much kiddie party food :) It'll be breaky tomorrow.

After that I got started on the one Christmas present I plan on making. Mr CP bought himself an Apple notebook laptop thingy so I've decided to make him a sleeve for it. I might also do a little on for his IPhone as well. Depends if he's good...

My curtain has a tail. No it doesn't, it's Miss Annabell. She likes to keep an eye on what is happening outside...her naughty catness wanting to go out and get up to nocturnal catty things.

Not a chance!

Happy sewing,

Abbe :0)

So much to say!

Righto, I've been meaning to post since the Market on Saturday but it just hasn't happened so now I have so much to tell you!!

The market was great, I bought a kit from Jodi aka RicRac so at some stage plan on making these. I had a coffee and chat with Julie from Provincial Patch. She has the most infectious laugh and encouraged spending - I like the girl! I met several other bloggers including Curlypops, PatchAndi and Mary. Was really great to see these ladies in the real world. Pretty good market too. Can you tell I was distracted by meeting people? :0)

I've also been stitching away and managed to finish The Commish (commissioned) quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now for some quilting....

I've been fabric shopping. Again. Bought some goodies from Ballarat Patchwork where they are having a sale. Oh, I love a sale!
The other week my sweet aunt Pam gave me some keys....
I love them. The new ones are second from the left kind of brass looking. They fit right in don't they?

AND.... I won a giveaway. Woo hoo!!!! Some Free Market Fancy fabrics are heading to me.

Right, I think I am all caught up. Til next time,

Happy stitching,

Abbe x

Puffolk Suffs!

I mentioned in my last post that Julie had the great idea of bloggers going to the Makers Market in Daylesford would wear pink Suffolk Puffs so we could ID each other without having to wander around staring at people, trying to work out if they looked like the one inch profile photo we'd seen....

Anyway this is my creation -

Not perfect but they will do, hence calling them Puffolk Suffs. I have stitched them together at the back and attached them to a safety pin. I do have little brooch pins floating around somewhere but....who the heck knows where.

I had never actually made Suffolk Puffs before so it was a bit of trial and error knowing how much to trim off before stitching etc but they are ok. At the AQM I saw that you can buy a butterfly shape. I can't imagine how they'd turn out, I thought getting the heart shape was tricky enough but maybe that was just me.

Anyway, hope to see some of you bloggy ladies at the market.

If you see a brunette wandering around, staring at peoples chest area...it's just me trying to see if it is you :)

Abbe

Crazy little thing called LOVE

Just to prove that I do actually do some patchwork from time to time, I thought I'd show some pics of the auspicious first commissioned piece.
Most of the material is cut out and after some pondering I've decided to go with the Disappearing Nine Patch (DNP) as suggested by my dear friend Sue at Quilt Times.

Talking about that lovely lady at Quilt Times....

Look at what she sent to me!!!!She'd told me expect something in the post and but I was blown away to receive not only some choccy (after a big call made by me that Aussie Cadbury's is better than the UK version), a wonderful chook, an English quilt mag with some 'real' tea to have a proper cuppa to go with it AND a stunning table runner. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm so flattered that my new friend Sue Poos (my name for her) went to so (or should that say, sew) much trouble for little old me.

She's a darling and becoming a true friend and just goes to show that quilting and blogging crosses age and continent divides with ease.

What a lucky girl I am.

Hope to see some of you at the Daylesford Makers Market on Sat. Julie has had a great idea to wear a pink Suffolk Puff to help ID us bloggers. I have to get making or I'll be left wandering around as an UFB (Un-Identifiable Blogger).

Happy sewing,

Abbe xx :0)

Delivered

The last week has been huge! I was lucky enough to go to Australian Quilt Market on Sunday. I met up with my friend Jenny, a long arm quilter and we enjoyed a talk by Victoria Textiles reps who gave out some great freebies and showed off some fab new templates. I met the lovely Kellie from Don't Look Now. I knew her work was special but up close - Amazing!!!! I can only hope to be able to machine quilt with half as much talent. There were also lots of wonderful new fabrics and products that I am sure we will see in our favourite quilt shops soon.

I had been waiting for a delivery from Hancock's and it arrived! I was so excited to hear the thump on the veranda - somehow one can sense the sound of fabric but maybe that just shows how addicted to buying fabric I actually am :)

Oddly it came via Swiss Post...

And these were the goodies inside. Dare I say there were another two deliveries a few days later with some Amy Butler Love and a few other necessary bits and pieces.

There were some great sale fabrics and combined with the Aussie dollar being so strong against the US...it was hard to resist. If nothing else it will all look great in with the rest of my stash.

Hopefully some sewing (finally) on Monday as I plan on heading to 'Finish' at Threadneedle Craft with the lovely Merrilyn. It'll be nice to have a chat if nothing else, but I really, really need to do some sewing instead of just buying and dreaming.

Happy stitching,

Abbe :0)

Squashed

My mojo was squashed by a mean person. I choose to focus on all of the fabulous things in my life - I will re inflate!

How can I be sad with a life full of fabric, beautiful sunsets, fabulous friends (both human and feline), and sunflowers. Life's good!

Sew well. I'm off outside to plant some seedlings - a bit of gentle therapy.

Ab x

I had a lovely walk on the beach at Phillip island with my mate Jess. She has bought an investment property and we were supposed to be painting her deck but somehow that didn't happen and we meandered along the shore instead..... This is the potential fabric for the quilt along project being hosted by Kellie at Don't Look Now. I am way behind already and haven't made a decision about what fabric I want to use. It's on the list!

This is my step-mums quilt on her bed. She was really happy with it and says she'll get a lot of use out of it.

I was happy with how the quilting turned out and it was good to see how I'd improved since the first quilt I pieced and quilted.

This is another project on the list. I have been commissioned to make a baby quilt for a girl I went to high school with. She wanted blue, orange and a bit of green. I still haven't decided what block I will use but I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. The fabric is washed but with 30+ degree heat I'm not up for ironing right now. Maybe later if it cools.

Lots of pics but not much getting done - I think that's a theme with my blog posts :) Oh well, no point in feeling guilty...it'll get done eventually.

Julie has done a great tutorial for a stunning little girls dress/top. We've had discussions about a big girl (29 year old big girl) dress and I'm going to give it a try soon. yep, that to is on the list!!!

Happy sewing,

Abbe :0)

I need help!

Okay, smarty pants people out there - yes, I need help in lots of ways but today, specifically, I need help with Liberty.

Several years ago I was given these Liberty fabrics. There is a fat 1/8th of each. Nine of the pinky warm colours and seven of the bluey cool colour way.

My question to you all is WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THEM? I need ideas. I have read before that Liberty fabric is more fragile so needs a lot of support in any blocks that it is in so I need to bear that in mind. I'm not sure if I want them all mixed up but I think at some stage I'd like to do a blue and green quilt so it might be better to separate the colour ways. I have a lot of doona/duvee covers that have a lot of pink so I was even thinking cushions...? I don't know but I'm well and truly open to ideas.

Let me know what you think.

Last little bit of binding to do today and a few ends to darn in and then the step-mums quilt is finished. I've been distracted by the garden over the last few days. Today it is extremely windy so it would be no fun out there. A good chance to spend the day in the sewing room and I might even do some baking later.

It's the Melbourne Cup today (a horse race for you out of towners) so I guess I'll watch that later and then I'm heading to Melbourne tonight and on to Gippsland to visit my folks tomorrow.

Better get out of bed I suppose.... yep, still on holidays.

Abbe :)

And the winner is....

JULIE!!!!!! From Julie's Provincial Patch winner of my first giveaway. Mr CP kindly drew the winner from a hat, saying he could barely handle the pressure :) Email me your snail mail Julie and I'll send the goodies your way.

Thanks to all of those who visited and commented on my blog and an especially big thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I hope all of your birthday wishes and dreams come true too.

I have had a lovely birthday...it's still sort of going as I haven't caught up with many people yet. (No money in Dad's card which is always a good sign....and I'm seeing him next week :)

Not much to tell in the world of sewing but lots of little ideas floating around my head as usual and still binding the quilt for my step-mum. Will have it done asap for when I visit on Wednesday. Finally got the pics to work. Above is Faith, stitching away and below is the lovely big pot of spag sauce. There's enough to cover about 6 single meals with pasta and a couple of lasagnas. Yum!Happy sewing,
Abbe x

She sews!

I have not seen my dear friend Faith at a sewing machine since Year 8 Sewing. The teacher, Mrs White who was Irish and had an amazing tongue curling way of saying Bernina.... Believe it or not, I got a D- for my pencil case I was making. She remarked on my report that my sewing way very accurate BUT my time management was very poor. I only got about a third of it done because I was being a perfectionist. I should have been like the boys who had sewing races, making the machines go as fast as humanly possible!
Anyway, Faith, my buddy since our inability to tell the time in Grade 3 (had to sit separately on the floor, far from the rest who were not destined to wear digital watches) we have been best friends. Months and months can go by without a visit or even a chat but when we see each other, it's still the same.
She came up to stay a few days and to my surprise said she's like to make something. We started with a cushion and that is nearly pieced and when we popped in here she actually bought some fabric. After seeing a quilt top attached to canvas as a piece of art in the shop, Faith realised that quilts weren't the only option. It's so exciting to be able to share my passion and my knowledge, as well as a laugh (there were some blocks sewn back to front amongst other learning curves).

I also made a huge pot of spag bol sauce the other day. We had lasagne that night and then next and I've frozen up lots of batches for easy dinners when I'm back at work. There is a meat works in the next town so I can buy premium mince in bulk. It's fun doing the big cook ups too.

Don't forget the GIVEAWAY with only 7 entrants so far.... there are big chances of winning. If you've already entered, refer a friend.

Pics won't work today so... there is none.

happy sewing,
Abbe :)

A Birthday Wish GIVEAWAY

Today is my 29th birthday. Woo Hoo!!!
Although it's a day that is all about me (or at least it is in my head) I decided to share and make some of the day about all of you in blogland. So I'm having my first GIVEAWAY.

Oh, and I wanted to celebrate my 20th post too!!!!!


I'm giving away a lovely Moda charm pack of stunning oriental fabric called 'Momoyama' as well as excellent quality Straw Needles from Jeana Kimball at Foxglove Cottage, a DMC cross stitch of blossoms which are very similar to the one in my front yard and some wool felt flowers which would look great added to a bag.

To win, all I want to know is.......what are your birthday wishes? Tell me about your top three birthday wishes. Just leave me a comment and flatter me by becoming a follower. I'll draw the winner on the 1st of November.

These are my three;

Kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.....


Lolling about with my best mate (or one of them anyway), sharing a laugh and relaxing.....

And..... glorious sunshine and blue blue skies, making my day just that bit brighter.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Sew happy!

Abbe :)

Hard work and big days out

It's starting to seem like I go away for mini-breaks all the time but I think it's just that time of year, birthdays and the end of the tether, I need to get away feeling. Some beautiful weather doesn't hurt either. This week I slogged away in the garden with lots of help from Mr CP and we got trees planted, mowed the grass and veggie beds weeded. We both felt sore and worn out by Tuesday afternoon but it's wonderful to look out the window and see things much more organised.

Wednesday we went to Melbourne and I caught up with 'the aunts' as I call them. My three aunts who are all sister's in law get together once a month for a chat and sew. It's through them that I really got into patchwork. I don't get there too often anymore as I now live 2hrs away and my shift work makes it tricky but it's always nice to catch up when I can. A few hours stitching and a bit of show and tell then I was whisked away by Mr CP for an early birthday escape (he's working on my actual bday).

We stayed at Ridges in Brighton and ate and drank at several lovely restaurants over two days including Richmond Hill on Bridge Street which is Stephanie Alexanders restaurant. Wonderful food. We had a day out at the zoo and met this chap who was playing to cool but keeping an eye on us....

and then we went and saw Julie and Julia which I highly recommend.

Back home last night and we did a bit more tidying outside, moving wood and burning off. I wanted to do sewing today but the weather is stunning so I'm going to sew some seeds instead. It sort of counts :)

I might do the last bit of quilting on my step mums quilt this evening.

Happy sewing and playing in the sunshine to all,

Abbe x

High tea for two

This was my day :)

Yep, that is copious amounts of cakes, slices and A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!! Yum yum yum! I took my dear friend Jo to the The Windsor in Melbourne for her birthday (this years gift :) I had been told it was rather wonderful but it was even better than I'd imagined. We ate SO MUCH! I had one cucumber sandwich but to be honest I didn't want to waste the tummy space with silly, healthy things. I can recommend it to anyone. The service was great and the food was even better.

I came home and got straight back into the quilting this evening. I have a little bit more to do and then the binding. I should have it in the mail and heading to my step-mum by Wednesday. Doesn't my white glove look sexy? They definitely make a difference and easy to get used to. I decided to cross hatch the patterned material and stitched a half inch in on the plain blocks. I'm actually quite happy with how it has turned out. I just hope my step-mum likes and gives it lots of use.

Time to darn in some ends while I watch some tv,
Abbe :P

2009 Fall Quilt Festival

Park City Girl is having a 2009 Blogger Quilt Festival. I thought I'd be a joiner :)

This is a quilt I made quite a few years ago, her name is 'Shabby Rose' (I find my quilts take on personalities of their own and therefore always need names). I had originally planned something else and was going to do the piecing by hand while training for my job. I managed about half of the squares by hand and then changed what I was doing and machined this instead. I have it on my bed most of the time and am really happy with it. It was quilted by Jenny Carmichael of Bayside Quilting.

It's my most favourite of quilts I've done for myself but maybe that's because I haven't finished that many for myself....yet.

I've been doing some machine quilting over the last few days. I'm making a lap quilt for my step-mum for her birthday. It's coming together well but I do wish I had a machine with a bigger throat. I hate having to shove (I don't do it delicately) the quilt through each time I change direction. Time for a hot chocolate and then back to the machine....

Keep smiling,

Abbe :)

'Feedback' and a bit of showing off.

As I posted yesterday, I have recently acquired a lovely antique Lone Star quilt. The week before that, during my forays on Ebay I purchased some antique Rose of Sharon blocks as well as a few others. There weren't many pictures and not many close-ups of the blocks when they were advertised. They were described as having a few small 'water marks and spots'.

When I received them I was extremely disappointed. They are splotchy and dirty all over and not worth the extra cost of postage from the states. I guess you win some and lose some BUT I was peeved tonight to find a very aggressive message from the seller. She has gone to town, yelling at me IN CAPITALS, telling me to change my feedback. It's kind of funny because the feedback I left - out of the choice of Positive, Neutral and Negative - was Neutral. I could have been negative but I thought it wasn't the end of the world so I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and be nice. Her email says that I HAVE to change my feedback to Positive and that I must be young and not know about Ebay.... All very strange.

I thought the idea of feedback was to garner an honest response. It kind of defeats the purpose if you try and bully someone into saying what you want to hear.

On a brighter note, Jo has been showing off her quilt and has sent me some better pics. The hands and other body parts hiding behind it are her folks. Apparently they like it :)
I'm so happy that she loves it. As tough as they can be to give away, when you know they are loved it all becomes worth it.
Happy quilting,

Abbe :)

Nearly a break. Nearly.

After a few weeks of frantic binding I am having a little rest from sewing. Instead I have been playing on Ebay and sifting through my stash. Only other patchers would understand the pleasure of unfolding, patting and re-folding pieces of fabric. Oh what joy it brings! :)

I have a few more shifts of work and then am having a month break and I can't hardly wait!!! During my time off I have big plans for lazy, carefree days at the machine, stitching and playing at some of those ideas that have been demanding to get out. It's going to be lovely.

Following are some pics of the first purchase for my collection of antique quilts - I have visions of a stunning armoire filled with folded quilts of all ages and designs.....Ah,

one day.....

The lovely Patch Andi is having a bloggerversary giveaway over here . I can't wait to reach such a milestone. I guess I'll just have to keep on bloggin.

Time for dinner but with daylight savings I'm more in the mood for a cuppa... I'll decide when I get to the kitchen.

Happy sewing,

Ab :P