School holidays

Spring, the sweet spring, is

the year's pleasant king....

-Thomas Nashe

I have decided to use as many bits of

scrap material as I can while I'm on school

holidays with the family.

I have been given so much material, it's coming

out of my ears and time has been against me.

So as I have a few days without two of my

darlings, I have been caning my sewing

machine.

This is a banner to hang in the library when I have

a dinosaur display up.

I thought I would applique around each letter..

oh and I also had on hand 2 little dinosaurs!!, added

some nice spotty material that will look great on the

pinup board and got some old material as a

backing.

 I'm getting very excited about the bits of material

finally finding a good home, it's great.

I have also made a clown cushion cover, found some

ancient egyptian material for the library as well. Still

digging through the material box, came across a

panel someone had given me and that will also come

in handy for displays.

In the daytime hours I am sewing and at night my

knitting needles are fiercely clicking away.

While at the library I picked up this little treasure

of a book.

I must say there are some beautiful baby patterns in

here and as I am knitting stuff for next year's annual

show (and finding patterns that 'show off' doesn't

have), I will no doubt be knitting from this book.

Well it's back to the sewing machine for me and

perhaps I will actually get my lovely cloth dolls

made!!!

Have a great week everyone.

Kind regards, Anita.

Been sick

Glittering garment

of the rainbow.

-John Audubon, Describing a hummingbird.

Things have been very quiet around this way, I've been sick.

I suspect my darling Pixie passed it on to me. Many thanks Pix!

Today at least I have enough energy to open my eyes and type.

Before I came down with whatever it was, I was well enough to go to the Toodyay wool

shop and buy some wool. Then I went to the craft shop in town (to make things fair) and

purchased some baby wool as well. Have to shop locally.

 As you can see I have already started knitting a baby jacket with the baby wool purchased. I am going to knit the jacket and the matching bonnet, then tuck the whole thing away in my storage box for next year's annual show. The other wool will be made into something nice but I don't know what that is just yet.

 After having a paper bag swap with Teresa and seeing the lovely santa decoration that she made for me, I just had to make some of my own. I think they look cute and easy to make. I managed to use some

scraps up and painted the eyes on with Jo Sonia paints.

 I have also cut out some cloth doll patterns and when I feel up to it, I will make some pretty dolls. I am on holidays with my three darlings, so there will be time for everything.

 I might just buzz off now and lay down for a while, I'm starting to run out of steam a bit. I hope you are all enjoying this glorious weekend, and will show you my finished cloth dolls when they are finished. Kind regards, Anita.



Big balloon!

There is memory

in the forest.

-Margaret Widdemer, The Factories.

What a surprise we had this morning, when the neighbour's dog kept barking

I went to investigate. I went out the back door and got the shock of my life

to see an air balloon so low down that I could see the people aboard waving to me!

I ran inside and shouted to everyone to come and have a look, they came running of course...

even Brandon, my teenage son who was awoken with all my comotion.

Unfortunately, by the time it dawned on me to get the camera, the balloon had lifted and this

is as close as I could get the picture. We could even hear the people talking  and laughing with each other.

I have had a few lovely surprises lately. A gorgeous parcel came in the post for me on Friday from Teresa. We did a paper bag swap and at the end of the month swapped bags. What a lovely surprise I got!!

Bright paper, lovely hearts...

A beautiful knitting binder, a santa decoration, lavendar hearts.

Don't you just love this design and three things I live by: laugh, love and create. I was just

already thinking how spoilt I was when....I opened the binder....

I was blown away when I opened the binder only to be bombarded with so

many other goodies. See the chocolate eclairs? They were yummy. Many thanks Teresa, I feel

like a spoilt girl. The gift I made for Teresa is an angel swag and angel doll, shown below.

I have already started on knitted items for the Annual show next year...yes I know, I'm jumping the gun and getting in early. I will show you next time what I have already made and by that time I will have

some more things to show as well.

I plan to start my washing now, with the change of weather comes the spring cleaning. All of my wall quilts

will come down and be washed, antique tea trolley needs a good dust. That will keep me out of

trouble for a spell.

Enjoy the lovely weekend and we'll get together again soon.

Kind regards, Anita.

Annual Show

A person who is happy must

actively enjoy his blessings.

-Cicero

Another Annual Show over for the year, and Heather

and I made our mark. I managed to get 1st, 2nd

and 3rd placings, along with Heather being the overall

winner and scooping up the trophy, highest points

and 1st place in her entries. Well done Heather!

I had a great time with my knitting and Heather and I both

made socks.

My socks are the buttercup ones and Heather's are the darker

coloured socks. I thought it would be interesting to

share with you what our over sixties are up to as well.

Except for the picture frame in this photo, everything else

painted are old saws and blades. My neighbour put 2 saws together and made a

shark. There is some talent in this wonderful town of ours.

I have been a paying member of our local Agricultural Society for a few

years but this year jumped on board and joined in. What fun we had. The

crowd I have joined are a bunch of hard working farmers and farming families who love a

good time. It is incredible how much time they put into making sure

the show is a success.

It was incredible to find out that before they start work over show weekend,

they first get up at the crack of dawn to do many of their farming jobs and then

stay at the show all day right through until the wee hours of the morning.

And the other thing I realized they are a real laugh, teasing each other

in the nicest possible way of course!

It is a pleasure to have found them all.

Just before the show I did manage to make a funny little felt creature. I do

remember enjoying the stitching that went into him.

I found him in a magazine. Do you love the bright colours?

Now that I missed out on knitting and crafting this weekend, I am now

going to make the hottest cup of tea and knit!

Later on I will put the roast on......today Pixie went out to get a load of wood, so

it is only fitting to make him a splendid night time meal!....then back to the

knitting. Hope your weekend was fantastic like mine was, enjoy what

is left of it.

Kind regards, Anita.

Happy Father's Day!

Happiness should be your life's work,

not a vacation that you postpone

until you have more time.

Here's wishing all the Father's out there

a wonderful Father's Day today.

Every day is special but we have one day

in the year where we really acknowledge Father's.

My boy will be home later on today so he

will get all the spoiling he needs then. I have had

a wonderful weekend of sewing, knitting and travelling.

Every month Bev and I do a challenge of some sort.
In August we decided to do crazy patchwork...needed
to get rid of some scraps. I found an unusual pattern
and had a play around.

I saw a quilt made with this style patchwork and the
whole thing was the American flag. It was very effective and
I also can't remember where I saw it!! I'm very helpful.

I'm not really into green that much, but I thought this
colour brought out the whole design. I am happy with
it and happy lots of my scraps have been used.

Yesterday Heather & I went for a drive to a small
country town called Meckering. Out there is a special farm,
with a special barn called Collingully Barn.....it is full of
material. Friends kept saying to us for years...go out there!

This unassuming barn is full of material!!! The best! The
security alarm are the two farm dogs who bark like mad
when you drive into the place. When you go inside....

Can you spot young Heather in the striped jumper? This is only

some of the inside, I couldn't fit it all in one shot.

To the back and side of me, whilst taking this photo is

another room and a stack more materials, patterns, books etc.

I didn't take a photo of upstairs, there are beds up there and

quilts everywhere!!!

Collingully is a patchwork retreat and you can spend the weekend

there. We will be going back....soon. This is my stash.

Now that I have all this new material I will have to make

some more lovelies out of it. Hey catch up with you all

soon, I'm off to plan my next project and need to put the

kettle on to do so. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Kind regards, Anita.

Gokarts = Sewing weekend

..The winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of singing has come.

- Song of Solomon 2:11-12

The coming weekend will be gokarting for Pixie and Cory....peace and quiet for

Brandon...and a sewing weekend for me!!

At work this week I spent lunch times knitting with a group

of interested girls and what fun it is. I got

to experience being surrounded by young 9 years old for

lengths of time. They talk about some funny things....or I'm just

getting older!

We have been knitting squares and they will be joined together. To

start with we were going to make a blanket but I am feeling that

the girls would like something to show for their hard work and it

seems that maybe they will all be getting a scarf each.

These are all the lovely colours knitted up so far....oh and still a bag full at school. The

girls have really enjoyed themselves and I am going to encourage them to

comtinue the craft.

At home however, I have started knitting beanies for the King Edward

Memorial hospital in our capital city of Perth. King Edward deals with premature babies.

These beanies are so small you could put an apple inside and it would fit

real snug. The wool I have used is the leftovers from my show

entries.

Oh yes.......

A spot of cooking as well. These sausage rolls turned out lovely, there weren't

too many left after lunch. The recipe is an easy and tasty one I found in the

Golden Wattle cookery  book.

Wishing all the Father's a wonderful Father's Day this Sunday and hope they all

enjoy themselves. Pixie won't be home most of Sunday but I'm sending

him lots of kisses and wishes for the day. I hope my 'Pixie the prancer'

has a lovely day.

Kind regards, Anita.