Merry Christmas!!

THANK YOU to all of you have visited my blog and also to those who have left supportive comments. They have really meant a lot! 

THANK YOU also to so many of you who have such wonderful blogs that inspire me greatly!

I've had a few ups and downs of late and haven't been seen much on the blogging scene. The issues with my camera have also been fixed, so I'll be back soon to show you what I've been up to recently.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and I hope that you have a wonderful 2011!

XO Amelia

That Girl ... Quilt Along: Part 2

My blocks are all pieced together ... and I must say that I'm pretty happy with it!

I love those Prints Charming fabrics!!

I've never done wonky before, but I decided to make it as wonky as I could ... and I really like it!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

Crazy Busy

Well the last week has been another very busy week. I've been out of town on business for some of it, so I haven't had a lot of stitching or blogging time, but here are a few sneak peeks of the little bit of sewing I have been doing.

I've been putting together my Red Centre blocks. I can't wait to get this one finished ... I love all the bright colours .... (Kate, I should have trimmed those couple of mm - it would have made piecing so much easier)

I can't show you much of this one either because it is a gift for a dear friend who sometimes visits my blog ....

I'm hoping things will slow down a bit, but realistically as Christmas is quickly approaching I know it will only get busier!

That Girl ... Quilt Along

When I saw Jennifer was doing a quilt-a-long, I knew I wanted to get on board. It took me a little while to get started, but I've finally made up all my blocks. I just need to square/wonk them up and piece them together.

I didn't have a charm pack so I used 8 different Prints Charming fabrics. The cars and the rainbows are my favourites ....

I picked the grey for the outer border because it picked up the colour of the cars, but I'm not sure if I'm loving it ... I'm hoping I'll love the grey once it's trimmed down to size.

Holiday Fun: Part 2

 ......... Kate and I didn't get to see each other for our birthdays so on the trip we were finally able to exchange birthday gifts and look what I got ....

Kate was so generous to share some of her Munki Munki stash! I have never owned a single print before so you can imagine how excited I was to receive these. They are so adorable and I must admit that I have spent a little bit of time just staring at the pretty bundle!

If you want to see the the cards and potholder I made for Kate, have a look here .... They were fun to make. I'm so glad that she liked them.

On Saturday I met up with 3 of my sisters that live in Sydney/NSW and their families and we spent the day in Sydney. It was such a beautiful day weatherwise, so we spent some of the time in the Botanic Gardens which is right on the harbour with views of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The kids played and climbed trees and the adults sat and chatted. It was a perfect gelati day.

I then went to my sister Rebecca's home for a few days. While she still lives close to town, she has the most beautiful country home on an acreage and I just found it so relaxing. Every window had such a pretty view. On Sunday I got to catch up with some lovely old friends at Church and hang out with my littlest sister Ellen. We all went to the movies together on Monday to see the Social Network which I really enjoyed.

On my way home I was able to spend a day visiting with my parents, my grandmothers and other siblings.  I love having a big family!

I also got to go the Craft and Quilt Fair for a few hours. Check out my loot ....

I am wanting to make a green and blue quilt, so I think these jelly rolls will be just the ticket.

I picked up a few more Emperor's Garden prints by A Day in the Country (I didn't have these 3) to finish my spiderweb quilt.

I had a wonderful time ... now back to the real world!

Holiday Fun: Part One

I returned on Thursday night from a fabulous holiday visiting with family in Sydney and I must say a big THANK YOU to my dear husband for organising the trip for me and to my wonderful sisters and their families for making the trip so special.

On the first day, Kate picked me up from the airport and we had a lovely day going to 2 of my new favourite places. First stop was Prints Charming ......

(Thanks to Kate for taking these photos.)

Both Kirsten and Cath were so lovely. I asked if they had any of the heart mobile panels left and they said that they didn't but that they could make one for us. In the end Kate and I got a green and a blue panel between us and we decided to go half and half.

They were so generous with their time and talents! 

I just love their bright and cheery fabrics. I am planning to make a little boys quilt out of these very soon.

Next stop, Material Obsession

Source

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the shop because I was too busy looking at their gorgeous fabric and quilts. They had such a great range of fabric and Kathy and her staff were so friendly and helpful too. I picked up a few Kaffe prints to go into my Red Centre quilt and I couldn't pass up these pretty solids .....

Then we headed back to Kate's and we got stuck into some serious quilting and chatted non-stop about fabric, sewing, quilting  .... get the drift. I think our husband's were both very glad to not be there :)

Here is a little of what I was working on .....

Part 2 coming to blog near you soon :)

Holiday

I'm in Sydney having a great time with my sisters. I've really enjoyed some quality quilting time with Kate and some R&R with some of my other sisters, their husbands and my nieces and nephews.

Anyway, these are some of the fabrics I've been playing with ........

I'm having too much fun to blog regularly ..... but I hope I'll have lots to share when I get back. Catch you soon :)

P.S. To all the robbers that may think my home is an easy target. Check out this post ..... and my husband is home too!

What's wrong with this picture??

Note to self: In future please make sure the fabric is not folded underneath before you start cutting ..... thank you.

Please tell me that I'm not the only one that has done something as silly as this??

You live and you learn! I ended up buying another panel because I thought it was cute,  so I have a few blocks free if I make any more mistakes learning experiences.

QAYG: Part 4

It's been a while since I've posted about my progress on my "Quilt As You Go" project. I've been a little slower than I'd hoped ... but here are a couple of new blocks .....

All of them together ...

This quilt is going to be 16 blocks (4 x 4) and I was thinking that maybe it needed a little more white. So I made this block .....

I was thinking  that every 2nd block would have a solid colour border followed by a white one. The picture below doesn't really show what I mean (because I've only made one block to try it). I love the look of this quilt and these blocks.

What do you think? White or no white??

Circle of Geese

When I saw this great tutorial for a circular flying geese block I bookmarked it right away and knew it was a block I really wanted to make. So when I recently saw Jessica's mug rug I couldn't put it off any longer.

This ...

Became this ...

x4 became this (approx 12") ......

I love the look of this block, but after making just one of them I can't see myself having the patience to make a whole quilt out of this block anytime soon .... Now I've just got to decide what I am going to make out of this one .... a potholder perhaps?!?


P.S. Hubby came home safely late Sunday evening after a very long drive ... glad to have him home :)

Meet The Family: Part 2

My hubby and the camera are still flooded in - so today I am going to share with you the other half of my family...

I have seen lots of pictures in blog land where man's best friend tries out the newly completed quilt .... this DOES NOT and WILL NOT EVER happen in my home.....

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2 beautiful dogs but they are not lap dogs!!

This is Uzi (and no we didn't name him). He is a 9 year old German Shepherd that we rescued when he was 2. He had previously been a working security dog, but his owner injured his back and could no longer work Uzi and so he was just left out in the back yard with no attention. He is protective of us and our home but has a such a sweet nature and is very friendly to anyone that we invite into our home. Uzi is obedient and easygoing and usually wants nothing more than a cuddle, a walk and some tasty food. He does a great impersonation of a floor rug don't you think?

Here he is doing some training in his younger days ....

This is Bella ....

..... our one year old Belgian Shepherd (Malinois). This girl is a sweetheart deep down (sometimes really deep down :) She has real attitude and loves to tease Uzi whenever she gets the chance.

In the 1st 6 months of her puppyhood she put a hole in nearly every article of clothing that I owned. She would get excited and jump up and her sharp baby teeth would catch in whatever I was wearing. I am happy to say that she no longer puts holes in my clothes. Luckily puppies grow up in more ways than one!!!

She has such a high drive, loves to play and can be very obedient when a tasty treat, toy or a cuddle is on offer.

They make me smile :)

Flooding

My husband is in Moomba (approx 7 hours drive away). On this map red means roads closed due to flooding .... I suppose it means he isn't coming home today :(

What is with this weather?? It is supposed to be Spring!! It was 30 degrees (86 degrees fahrenheit) on Sunday and today it is currently 9 degrees (48 degrees fahrenheit) and really windy and rainy ... crazy!!

Anyone own a helicopter (or maybe a boat) I can borrow??

Our Beach Friend

My husband is away on a business trip and took the camera with him, so I can't show you the blocks that I'm currently working on. He was meant to return today or tomorrow but the surrounding roads are closed due to flooding so I'm not quite sure when he will be home. At least he's taken the 4WD so he should be able to get home once the flooding subsides a bit.

I may have mentioned it before ..... quilting may be my thing, but 4WDing is definately my husband's thing. He loves working on his 4WD with one of his mates and we enjoy going for drives together on a Saturday when we can. A short while back we went on a day trip 4WDing in some amazing sand dunes and we came across this fella .

Nap time .....

A stretch and a scratch ....

On the move .....

We kept our distance and just enjoyed him from afar.

**************************************************************************

And this is what I'm hoping to work on this weekend.

I'll have more to show when the camera (and my dear husband of course) gets home.

Dandelion Windows

My Dandelion Windows quilt top is finished YAY! .... and I love it!! So girly and so Aussie with the Parrots. The pattern I used is Dandelion Windows by Kate Conklin. I had enough fabric to make more windows so I made it 4X4 instead of 3X4 and I have a few left for a pieced back too.

I loved Kate's version so much, I also used Saffron Craig's Field's Range of fabrics. I think the Parrots are my favourite, but I also love the squiggly flowers .... in fact I love them all!

Can you see the sparkle in the window frames?

Thoroughly Spoilt

This past week I've been thoroughly spoilt!!

I was given "Style Stitches" by Amy Butler from my wonderful parents for my birthday. I can't wait to make some of the bags ...

.My Nana gave me a bit of money which I put towards this Bliss layer cake .....

One of my sisters Rebecca sent me this cute pink journal - the leather is so soft and aren't those little black dress cards so adorable ....

My husband suffered a trip to a quilting shop with me so I could pick up some of these Kaffe Fassett prints ......

Don't they look good with my other Kaffe prints?

I find quilts only made from Kaffe prints can sometimes be a bit too overwhelming for me, but for this quilt I am planning on there being a fair amount of neutral fabric too. I was thinking maybe this quilt pattern by Material Obsession - still deciding....

I also got some makeup from another sister Kelly and some chocolate and I'm so excited that my husband has organised for me to take a trip to Sydney in a few weeks to visit 3 of my sisters and to do some quilting with Kate ... YAY!!

I told you, thoroughly spoilt and very blessed!!