Pattern Testing bag results.

Sometime ago, I'm not sure exactly when, I was blog hopping....yes shock, horror I know! Anyway, I noticed on someones' site that she'd like some interested people for pattern testing.....'goody goody' I said as I madly emailed her. Julie added my name to the waiting list, and even though I was excited, with all the happenings with the move, I hate to admit, but it completely slipped my mind....until yesterday when I checked my Yahoo emails and saw an email from her asking me, along with others, to test her "HEIDI BAG" pattern.

I was so ashamed that I had forgotten about the whole pattern testing thing, but thankfully, the email was less than a week old (I hardly ever check my physical Yahoo emails, preferring to have the ones for the groups I'm in to be forwarded to my Outlook Express account) so I contacted Julie and updated my details and promised to make the bag straight away.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, between a few domesticated stuff like cooking, and eating, I selected the fabric I was going to use, and whilst it won't be everyone's cup of tea, and no offence intended to Julie, I didn't want to use fabric that I could use elsewhere if I didn't like her bag.....now I'm kicking myself that I didn't use some of the cute owl fabric I got a while back off Etsy. Oh well, you live and learn don't ya? lol

Stop waffling Naomi, and show them the bag......*drum roll please* Picture heavy red velvet drapes slowly opening to reveal "Heidi" to you. Reality check...after you've looked at the gorgeous bag, have a word with the colour of the sky in the top left corner would you? Isn't it a magnificent shade of blue? I think it is anyway! Also, ignore the patchy lawn, we've had to severely weed spray it because of three corner jack weeds....they're real yowies when you tread on them, but I'll get some pics of those another time.

For those 'fussy' ones out there...no, I didn't stuff up with my cutting out, I meant the lining stripes to be different to the outer band and strap....honest!

Below is a close up of the inside of the bag.....showing the split pocket and magnet closure.

And the other side of both!

Now, I'm guessing you all want to buy this pattern, well you can't, not just yet anyway.....it's official release date isn't until February 20th 2011. If you'd like to purchase it, then head on over to Julie's blog, where you'll be able to find out more about the release date etc.

Just so you know, the pattern was very well written, and gave good explanations and had photos to show each step. I give it 10/10.

Look what I just did

Thought I'd show you the new block I just tried out.....sooooo quick and easy....this one has ended up just over 9" square, and I used 5 x 5" charm squares to make it.

The middle bit is square when you first open the block out, but I opted to sew the edges down in like a sort of mock cathedral window.....will make more of these for sure.

The above pic shows a close up of the centre square and what I did to make the pretty shape! It wasn't my idea, Suzanne McNeill mentions doing the exact same thing in her video on YouTube, which can be seen by clicking here. If you make some, please email me a pic or two of them, so I can see what colour schemes you come up with.

OWOH - One World, One Heart giveaway

It's that time of year again....but this year is the fifth and final year of OWOH...I've not participated before as such, only blog hopping...but as this year is the final one, I was going to be a part of it no matter what!

Please click on either the pic above to go check it out, or there's a link to the information page about it, in my right hand side bar.

Come back and visit me again, on January 30th, 2011 to see what I have to offer as my door prize. On February 17th, 2011, OWOH will sadly draw to an end, but hopefully I'll get to meet lots of lovely new friends, as well as hearing from old friends too.

So far....but not so good!

Above is my very very first attempt at paper piecing....experts would immediately have their eyes drawn to ALL my errors.....however, those not experienced with this technique will need to enlarge the pic and check out where I've put boxes around them....I didn't do a box around the bottom right hand corner muck up, as that sticks out like dogs wotsits! I did however crop the pic and upload it next, that shows what I did on the corner. Also, I forgot to point them out, but the little white triangles, just outside the centre pink bit (which is supposed to be the bit you write on by the way!), are actually supposed to be done in the dotty fabric, but by the time I realised, I'd done nearly all the top section, had had my first frogging session (between blocks 1 & 2...yes, the first seam I did!) and wasn't about to have another 'ribbet' - a - long.....lol

I can see why people like doing paper piecing, I just wish I lived near my friend Kath, as the poor thing has probably been pulling her hair out trying to help me via email. She's now suggested I check out Carol Doak's site....maybe she's too polite to tell me to pee off and quit bugging her! So, before I launch into block two of paper piecing to see if I get any better...I'm off to visit Carols' site.....oh, by the way, I hope you all give me some kudo's though, I enlarged the paper pattern from 6" up to just on 9 & 1/2" all by myself..(I put my big girl panties on Aunty Sharon!).

As you can see, I shouldn't have made the shapes the right shape/size for the hole it had to cover, as when I sewed it down, and flipped it over....it's not big enough....SOOOO lesson learned is to make the pieces WAY bigger than I need them, until I get the hang of this technique....off to make more now!

Well, what do you think? Do I show some promise as a budding paper piecer? All comments and criticism or offers of showing me how to do it, or blocks you think I should try out....are greatly appreciated....just send me the link.

EDIT: I've just made a different paper pieced block up....and here it is:

I'm a much happier camper now....will try some more over the space of the next few days, although not on Thursday as I'm off to the big smoke.....gotta go speak to my surgeons again...and to get the results of my endoscopy I had late last year.

One of my favourite things to eat is.......

Salt & Pepper Chicken....and today, I was reading through a magazine, and found a relatively easy and lowish fat version of it. Thought I'd share it with y'all so you too can become a S&P Chicken lover, just like me!

Prep - 10 min
Cook - 15 min
Serves 4

Preheat oven to 200'c (those overseas might have to convert it to 'f but it's about 375'f I think). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl. Combine 1/2 cornflour/cornstarch, 3 tsp Szechuan seasoning (this is the pepper) and 1 tsp sea salt flakes in a shallow bowl or dish. Coat 500g chicken tenderloins with egg and roll in seasoning mix. Arrange on prepared tray and spray with oil or non stick spray. Bake for 15 mins or until you believe it to be cooked through. Serve with rice or heaps and heaps of steamed vegies or asian greens.

I'm going to be trying this soon, and when I do, I'll edit this post and add pics....sorry though, I don't do home delivery!

Things that go bump in the night, and a couple of healing hearts blocks I've made

Ok, so it didn't exactly go bump in the night, but check out what Raelene just called me to look at in our mop bucket....yes, it's a scorpion....it's only a small one...or maybe it's a big one, I don't know, it's the first one I've ever encountered. It's sooo puzzling us how it got into the bucket....I mean, it has slippery sides and to my knowledge, they are burrowing bugs, so wouldn't/shouldn't be able to climb up the outside of a slippery bucket....oh well, another one of life's great mysteries.
Got a bit closer for this pic.....still finding it quite un-nerving that there's scorpions here....I don't mind seeing them on tv, such as in movies, but when you find one in your yard, boy, that sure races the heart beat along I can tell you!

This was as close as I could get, and get a clear pic of the scorpion. Both Raelene and I still can't work out how it got in the bucket...lol Since taking the pics I've read up a little on them, and YIKES, scorpions are arachnids....the hairs on the back of my neck haven't gone down since I read that....I have a fairly biggish fear of spiders, so finding out scorpions are related has done nothing for that fear now!

These are two healing heart blocks I've made for a quilt that one of the members of C-R-A-F-T is going to piece together for her daughter who has lost her house in the recent Queensland Floods. Khristina put a call out for blocks, and I managed to find the fabrics (amongst all my goodies!) to make them, hopefully the colours are ok, we got told pinks & purples and believe it or not, the top one is a bright pink, it just looks red in the pic. I'll send them off on Monday.

What's been occupying my time of late (Warning, contains a photo of some of my fabric!)

This is our new house, prior to us moving in...the windows now have curtains up at them....and the window on the left in this pic has some of the suncatchers I've made hanging on the left side of that window. I just noticed how funny our T.V. antennae looks in this pic....it looks huge, but it's not, so it just must be the angle of the dangle or the way I was holding my tongue when I took the pic! Moving here has been rather hectic, as we did it all ourselves, with the help of a few good friends. It's taken a few weeks to get the place to the stage we're at, but I'm really HAPPY to announce that I'm now back sewing....YAY.

This photo has been uploaded in the wrong order, as the description for it kind of merges with the one after the next photo....so scroll down a bit more to read where it is....but suffice to say, this is about half of the vine!

Between our front garden & the neighbour around the corners' back garden there is a huge passion fruit vine & we have been blessed with heaps of fruit on our side of the fence! But not only is it full of fruit, it has some really pretty flowers on it, which I managed to capture.

See the passion fruits peaking through the leaves? NOM NOM NOM!

OMG, fabric, fabric everywhere....I'm sure it multiplys when your back is turned....mind you, that could be a money saving thing if it did......I'm going to try and use alot of this fabric up this year.....am going to be trying to make a few quilts with it.....and I've talked one of my friends into letting me use her quilting frame and she'll show me how to quilt them.....not sure how good I'll be at it....but one can only but try hey?

Thought I'd better put another pic up of more of my fabric.....Yes yes, I know, I really need to use some up don't I? I plan on it, don't you worry.

A good friend of ours potted a couple of roses for us, and this one is doing way better than the other one...this one even flowered...I'm glad I took a pic of it, coz all the heat we had before the rain made sure it didn't last long. It smelt lovely....I tried to get everyone to have a sniff of it....guess I shouldn't have as only me and Raelene had the pleasure of smelling how nice it was. I can't wait for more flowers on it now.....I'm not sure, but I think it might be called Little Joey or something like that....will have to ask Mr Handsome (who was an absolute legend when he helped us move house just before Christmas) the next time I see or speak to him.

Just a small amount of my fabric collection.....I still haven't decided how I'm going to be sorting it, so at the moment it's just all on shelves, spread out between two rooms, but hey, it's nearly all out....so my fabric addiction isn't so bad is it? Oh ok, you win, hi everyone, I'm Naomi, and I'm addicted to fabric.....and it shows, doesn't it? lmao I've actually had to put shelving up in another room to accomodate my large collection.....some of which is in the photos above! I think there's still some in yet another room....not game enough to go searching though...not now I'm back sewing...maybe if I hurry up and use what's in the craft room, I can go on a search mission and see if there's more to replace it.

This is Scruffy at the new house.....he had a bit of female company that day.....but she's a bit camera shy, and asked that she wasn't put on my blog for everyone to see! Don't ya just love my left arm shadow in the right hand side of the photo? lol Scruffy handled the drive up here alot better than I thought he would....I thought I was going to have to fork out for Doggy Valium for him, but it all turned out well, and apart from learning how to bark off the neighbours yappers, he's settled in quite well...even comes out in the front yard with us, and touch wood, he hasn't run off yet....which reminds me, I need to go to the council to get him registered.

I haven't taken a photo of our cat, Blackie at the new house yet...but he has a fascination with jumping over the side gate and setting the neighbours yappers off at all hours of the day and night, the little booger head! He too has settled in reasonably well.....we didn't keep him inside for a couple of weeks like you're supposed to (apparently) and he hasn't run off....must know who feeds him and loves him hey?

Raelene took a pic of me yesterday....my first day back at sewing, didn't I look happy to be doing something that I enjoy immensely? And hasn't my hair gotten long? I'm soooo overdue for a cut and colour, but that'll come....all in good time my lovelies!



Just have to hand stitch the binding down on the back, and my first EVER mug rug will be complete. This is my first full project that I've made in the new place.....yesterdays sewing was just scraps to see if my sewing machine handled the move ok or not!

Hmmmm I'd done a signature for my blog and my emails, but for some reason neither are working right now....GRRRRRR I'm also not getting any emails from any of the groups I'm in, so I figure something must be up with the internet...here's hoping this post will publish or y'all will hear me scream and throw a full blown tantrum if it doesn't.

Well it's after midnight and I want to get up early as my friends' brother is bringing back our starter motor for the car early....the dang thing (starter motor) decided to play up on Wednesday, and luckily he lives in the next town over, and is an auto electrician by trade so has hopefully fixed it...not that he found anything wrong....hopefully it's not the solonoid...or else we'll be up for over $200, which is about $200 more than we've got at the moment....too close to moving!

Night night everyone/anyone reading this.

Until my siggy is all fixed up....Hugs Naomi

Signature test

I've just recently signed up at OurCraftForum and whilst I was sticky beaking around in the posts, I found one about signatures, and thought I could use one of those on my blog, and tah-dah, here it is. I even worked out how to put it into my dashboard so it automatically comes up with each new post...woo hoo go me!

If you'd like to make your own signature up, you can do so by clicking here and I suggest using the wizard, by clicking on Start Now! which should be near the top of the homepage. Good Luck and I look forward to all your signatures in the future.

I'd like to say thanks to Vicki of this blog as that's who gave such great instructions in the forum for us to get our signatures happening. Now all I have to do is find the post in there about putting their button on your blog and I'll be a happy little camper.

Happy New Year and I've added a page

I want to wish all my readers/followers a safe, happy and prosperous year in 2011. Just before Christmas last year, I moved about 213km's away to a place called Berri, South Australia. It's been very hot here the last few days, with NYE being stifling....was 110'f in the kitchen...and no cooking was done! The only other downside so far (apart from me not knowing where the fabric shops are) is the Mosquitoes...they're having a good attempt at eating me alive! I am having some kind of allergic reaction to them, but nothing is gonna convince me to pack up and move back to Adelaide...hee hee hee

Some of you may have noticed, some may not, but I've added another page to my blog....GIVEAWAYS....I thought it would make it easier for finding them...rather than having to scroll though piles of long winded messages of my rambling! Good luck if you go enter any of them....there's one in there already!

Hugs
Naomi

P.S. I've done a couple of sightseeing trips, and when I've edited the pics, I'll pop some up for you to see.