Nomes's brag-a-long!

My Sister Made Me do it.......: And The Winner Is.............

2012-01-29T00:07:00.000+10:30

My Sister Made Me do it.......: And The Winner Is.............: First of all I want to thank the Academy.....oh, wait, that's the Oscars........Seriously, I want to thank all my followers, old and new, fo...

Click on the above link and see who the winner of the giveaway is!!!! If you can't wait that long....it was me! YIPPEE Skippy!

Hospital for me, and a book recommendation!

2012-01-18T22:05:00.004+10:30

Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading off to Adelaide to go to have some further surgery done....I have some kind of infection in my stomach that needs to have a biopsy taken of and as I'm having some abdominal (no lipo though worse luck!) surgery done, and will be off my Warfarin (Blood thinners) they'll do that at the same time.....So, here's where I'll be at I don't actually have surgery till Friday (sometime) but have to go in a day early as I have 'difficult' veins and if I've been fasting, they're virtually impossible to find, just ask the lady on the left in this pic...her name's Catherine and she's one of the blood nurses at the hospital and she has fought with my veins on and off for just over 6 years!

(Photo stolen from Luckys' blog but only because I've never thought to take a pic of Catherine or any of the other lovely, patient staff at IMVS)

Apparently I will be in for two days after my op, but I've heard that before, so don't expect to get an update as to how things went (unless you're on my Facebook friends list that is - as I can update that with my phone whilst I'm in hospital) until at least this time next week...just saying!

Whilst I have your attention, please consider taking a look at this book: Click on the pic to go read about it....looks great....might have to add it to my birthday list!

OR, if you're not a fan of Barnes & Noble, you can also purchase the book here....same price. Thanks for looking.

Hopefully, I'll be back next week with some good news about my surgery. Gotta hurry and get better as I have a Birthday giveaway on the cards for next month.....and will need to finish off making the major prize....might have a few prizes this time....and then I also have another giveaway planned for March too....a sponsored one at that!

Cracker Swap & Surprise pressies - I got me two new OWLS!!

2012-01-11T23:08:00.009+10:30

Whoo couldn't love the following pic? I know I certainly love them.

Aren't these owls cute, especially the one on the left, although the one on the right (in real life, not so much in the pic though) is purple, so it's a bit of a dilemma for me as to which is my favourite! Anyhoo (hoo hoo - get it? lol) these were made for me by my next door ~~stalker~~ neighbours daughter, Kaitlyn.....what a nice surprise for me hey? Thanks heaps Kaitlyn.

I also went into a New Years Cracker Swap organised by my friend Lisa, and here's a pic of what I received from my partner De. Thank you so much De, I love it all and hope that you'll love yours when it arrives. Thanks also to the wonderful Lisa for organising the swap.....and a little birdie told me (aka Lisa) that she's got another swap idea or two up her sleeve for us...YAY Lisa.

I've been creating a few things, but can't show pics yet, as they're for swap(s) and I don't want to ruin the surprise for the recipients, so you'll just have to wait!

Have ya missed me? Have ya missed me? Well, have you??? lol

2012-01-03T19:05:00.024+10:30

Where to start......as I was waiting for blogger to open up the editor I happened to glance at the date of my last post....28th November.....just where did that month and a bit go? I'm sure you must've all liked the peace and quiet....but just like the proverbial bad smell...I'm ba-ack! I have heaps and heaps of goodies to share with you.

I haven't been totally idle in my absence though.....I did actually make some things, swap gifts for instance, and a pressie or two.....talking of which, the following is a pic of a tablerunner I made for one of our neighbours.

She seemed to like it, and had it on the table straight away, so she must've. I did plan on making her sister a table runner too, but my get up and go seemed to have gone on vacation the last month or so, hopefully I've got it back now though!

Backtracking slightly, a short while ago, I participated in a 'Mystery' swap in Vicki's forum. Check out what my lovely partner sent me.....*Shouting with glee at this end* my very own PURPLE dilly bag.....with owl appliques on each of the pockets......then inside she'd popped some extra owl appliques for me to adorn a project of my own making, some purple embroidery thread, some purple bling and a purple fq (I have a sneaky suspicion there were actually 2, but I used one already - yes bad me)....how lucky was I?

Back at the beginning of December, my friend Khristina flew the coop and has moved back to Qld, I was lucky enough to get to go back to Adelaide in November and spend a few days with her before she went. Whilst there, we had a Farewell/Christmas Luncheon and Khristina, bless her, made all us girls a Tablerunner and Coaster sets....spoilt brats aren't we? At least we have something practical that can be a reminder of all the fun times we spent with Khristina. Click here to view the post about the tablerunners on her blog. Thank you so much Khris for all our wacky and crafty times. Love ya girl.

In the pic, I'm the third from the left that looks like an upside down tomato on the vine....ie red face and green clothing! You can't really tell from that pic, as it was tied back somewhat, but the day after this pic was taken, Khristina and Amanda (far right of the tablerunner pic) took me for my hairdresser appointment in Adelaide City. They went off shopping (walked their feet off too!) whilst my hair was scalped and here's what I looked like in mid-December when I went to my quilting groups' Christmas break up dinner at Renmark Golf & Country Club.

Alas it doesn't look like this every day, as I missed out on the 'straighten your own hair' lessons when I was growing up, so have to rely on my new friend (she lives next door to us) Sharina to straighten it for me....Thanks Sharina xxx P.S. In the above pic, I'm not quite so red in the face...and I even had some war paint on!

Moving along, for the last couple of years, Khristina has run a swap in her Yahoo Group, C-R-A-F-T that is similar to her F-R-I-E-N-D-S swap, but being this time of year, it's a C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S swap, so you send your partner 9 gifts, starting with each letter of the word Christmas. I was partnered with Marion (From Western Australia) and here's all the goodies she sent me:

In case it's hard to tell from the pics, here's a cheats' guide to my goodies.

C = Calendar & Cream
H = Hoot Hoot fabric
R = Ribbon & Relaxation
I = Inspiration - Craft book
S = Sewing Tool
T = Tea Towels
M = My (her) favourite Christmas Chocolates - I've never seen them before!
A = Alphabet Fabric
S = Sleepwear - a Hooty nightie

Thanks so much Marion, I love it all, and now I've finally gotten the energy to take pics, I can wear the nightie, fondle the fabric, play with my new tool and eat the choccies! How cute is the nightie and the ribbons? Gosh, I'm going to have so much fun playing with the ribbon!

Next I'd like to share with you a private swap that my net friend, Jackie Stoltz and I arranged via a sew-a-long challenge at one of the chat groups we're in, which you can read about here. The challenge bag was the Mill House Inn tote bag from Moda Bakeshop, which you can go grab the tutorial here. My lovely friend Jackie sent me a box filled with goodies....not just the bag. Being that I'm a purple girl.....Jackie did a wonderful job working outside of her normal colour pallette, and came up with the following beauty for me.

Just in front of the owl calendar she made for me, is an exquisite bauble cover, but alas the bauble she had in it, got broken in transit, but that's ok, I can get another one to put in it. As they are a little hard to see in the above pic, I took close ups of the cute little name dangles she made for both Raelene and me.

Aren't they gorgeous? In fact, isn't the whole package she sent me lovely? I even have my own purse organiser now too....and it's purple! Thanks heaps J, I love it all.

Sorry to not write for ages and then hit you all with such a long post, but I really want to get up to date before I have a wee break whilst I'm in having some surgery in a week or so. Mind you, I'm thinking most of my followers will have given up on my by now, I sure hope not though. I have lots floating around my head that I want to share with you all this year.....such as more giveaways, and would like to do some tutorials and maybe a sew a long later in the year.

Now, getting back to all my goodies that I stockpiled until Christmas Day to open, was the Santa Sack Swap where you make a Sack and send it to your partner, and each month, you send two or more gifts to your partner that you aren't allowed to open until the official opening day, but I waited until Dec 25th. My partner was the lovely Anne of Annie's Dreaming blog fame. Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooo much for all my pressies hun, you spoilt me rotten.

There was also a huge box of Maltesers which, because of the heat here the last week or so, they were in the fridge and I forgot to take a pic of them....but let me just say, it's a BIG box!

So, without any further waffling from me, let me share with you pics of all my haul from Annie
Some close ups of individual items:
Annie has hazarded a guess as to which pressies would be my favourite (s) and after pawing at everything, several times over hee hee, the above two were the two things I kept going for the most. It's not that I don't love all my other goodies, but these are the ones that I put at top of the list......that sounds so ungrateful, but honestly, I am still overwhelmed/excited about it all.

The folding shopping bag not only has an owl on it, but it's in my favourite colour too....how special is that? The kilt pin rates up at the top of the list because it has an owl on it, a Tasmanian emblem (it's known as the Apple Isle and is where Annie lives) and a Babushka charm (I don't think I ever told her I like them too!) and whenever I look at it, I will think of her. So all in all......Spoilt brat lives again!

Lastly, a good friend of ours lives on her own and would be celebrating Christmas on her own (Her family all live over the ditch in N.Z) so instead of her doing that, she comes to stay with us....she also spoilt us....not only did she get us a $25 gift card each, she got us the following food basket/hamper. Thanks Shazza xxx

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and would like to wish you all a safe and prosperous New Year.

Ok, who forgot to tell me to lie down?

2011-11-28T00:06:00.003+10:30

Some of the emails I get are quite laughable, and the one I'm about to cut & paste is no exception. I received it about an hour ago, so if you were supposed to tell me that I have to lie down and not get back up again....you failed!

I've added a few comments within the body of the email, in purple so as to point out which bits that made me giggle.

Her Majesty Customs Revenue
Payment Certification Department
2 Marsham Street. London.
SW1P 4DFWLondon, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44-7005-961-487
Fax: 44-7005-961-752

Dear Beneficiary,

I am Gordon White of Her Majesty (I may have bottle blonde hair, but even I know that "Liz" is referred to in this case as Her Majesty's) Customs Revenue. Please be informed that there is presently a counter claim on your funds by M. Jutin Edward. The aforementioned person has presented a death certificate, claiming that you are dead (This sure made me giggle - I mean, seriously, who finds out they've died this way?). Consequently, he is claiming to be your next-of-kin therefore the beneficiary to your funds (Funds, I have funds? If that's the case, why didn't I know about them when I was still alive to have fun spending them?) Please be informed that Jutin Edwards has provide the account stated hereinafter for the receipt of your funds.

Bank Name: Bank of New York Mellon
AC/NUMBER: 6503809428
ROUTING/122006743.
Name of Beneficiary: Jutin Edwards
7 High gate Rd, Gansevoort, NY 12831
United States

Having exhausted other means of communication (Wonder if they tried a medium? lol), we have decided to send this message (Ummmmm HULLLLLO, you just told me you have a death certificate for me, why would you waste time emailing me?).

Do we release the funds as Mr. Jutin Edwards instructed? (Do we seriously think a dead person has access to their email account? Oh wait, we've emailed you, so obviously we do think everyone checks their emails, even in the afterlife) As a matter of urgency, you are hereby advise to revert to us within the forty two four hours (Forty two four hours??? WTF? Is that kinda like beer o'clock? ROFLMAO). On your failure (OMG, first they tell me I'm dead and now they're implying I'm a failure), we shall initiate payment.

We await your prompt response (And again I say, HULLLLOOOO you have a copy of my death certificate, don't be holding your breath waiting for my 'prompt response' or you too will be getting emails in your own afterlife!).

Yours Truly,

Gordon White
Her Majesty Customs Revenue

On that happy note, I'm gonna take my zombie body back to the cutting out table! Peace out!

What a deal......Special quilting service offer!

2011-11-17T00:23:00.002+10:30

Dawn Hay, who I had the pleasure of seeing over the weekend (and on Tuesday) has a special offer/deal happening right now for ***Australian residents only*** and that is that she's happy to do an all over stipple/meander on your quilt for an affordable price.

Up to 80" square for a price of $50.00. Yep, you read right, just $50, how cool is that? Takes all the stress out for you if you have any flimsies around the place waiting to be quilted. She does say "If you want a different all over design I am negotiable with the cost."

I've seen her quilting up close and personal, and she does a fantastic job. So if you'd like to take her up on this offer, please click on the photo above for further information and also links to see other quilts that she's quilted.

I'm not sure when this offer is going to be withdrawn, so please don't hesitate to get yours booked in....I'm sure some of you have quilts that you could give as presents this Christmas if you can get them quilted in time.

Hugs
Naomi

November Giveaway by QuiltJane

2011-11-10T15:26:00.003+10:30

Jane of Want it, Need it, Quilt it fame is having a layer cake giveaway for the above pictured range which isn't due to be released until my birthday month next year (February that is!)....but she's got her hot little hands on some NOW -Yay Jane, and you can have the opportunity, thanks to Jane's generosity to try and win yourself a layer cake....Just one simple, fun question to answer and you'll be in with a chance. Good Luck....ends on November 30th.

Announcing the winner of the Selvedge baggy

2011-10-31T09:25:00.002+10:30

I'm a little late with this announcement, but better late than never....I used the True Random Number generator at Random.org and he/it selected #32 (see image below), which is Jennifer Gail from Hoodies and Flip Flops. I have notified Jennifer by email and am awaiting her details now so I can send off her baggy of selvedges.

Please feel free to leave her a message here congratulating her on her win. For the rest of you, I wish I had a never ending supply of selvedges so I could share the love with you all, but my supply of selvedges relies on how much sewing I do! I have already started the next collection of them, and when the new baggy is almost full, I'll announce another giveaway for them.

Ok, back to sewing for me....it's a chilly day here this morning....I know why it's called Spring....so I can spring back into bed to keep warm!

Plugging some giveaways!

2011-10-23T01:55:00.008+10:30

Lila Tueller has redesigned her Peasant Top, and has a contest happening over on her blog....click on the above pic to go check it out.....good luck.

Silly Mama has officially had her launch party for the Quilted Fish's new fabric range "Delighted"....to help celebrate, she's having a giveaway for a few different things, one being a kit to make one of the cute wee bottlecap pincushions in the pic above....which is where you'll need to click to go enter for yourself.....good luck

Perri from Qld is having a giveaway for all the goodies in the pic above....you'll need to click on the pic to go over to her blog and enter.....you have roughly 24 more hours to enter. Good Luck.

Sue at Alderwood Quilts is giving away the goodies in the above pic. Click on the photo before November 1st to go enter. Good luck

That should give you a few prizes to chase.....just remember, I'm chasing them too!

The Pickledish Patch: Hear ye…..Hear ye!! EQ7 Giveaway

2011-10-20T19:24:00.000+10:30

The Pickledish Patch: Hear ye…..Hear ye!! EQ7 Giveaway: Vicki is such a lucky gal....she got a copy of EQ7 for herself, but even better, she has a giveaway so one lucky other person can win a copy of it for themself.....please let it be me! Good luck

A Recycling Giveaway

2011-10-20T05:41:00.003+10:30

Sorry it's not a very good photo of them, but I have a baggy with a whole bunch of selvedges on offer. I was going to give them to the first person to respond, but that's not really fair as y'all are on different time zones, so I decided to offer them as a giveaway.

There's no hoops, no hurdles etc to jump, other than you need to leave ONE comment under this post if you'd like to win them. You have until October 28th, 2011 to leave a comment, and I'll draw a name, using Mr Random.org on 29th October, 2011. I'm happy to send them anywhere in the world, so all my overseas friends can also enter.

Good Luck Also, I'll be having another couple of giveaways in the coming weeks so stay tuned....I'm sure you'll love them!

Whilst I have your attention, I've added a new gadget on my sidebar (after seeing it on the Pink Penguin blog a short while ago).....it's a conversion calculator for inches to cm and visa versa...handy huh? I thought so.

Gene's having a giveaway and a little something I made

2011-10-15T22:55:00.005+10:30

At about 2am this morning (as most crazy crafters do!), I had a brain wave and decided to try out a Plus Sign Mug Rug (Tutorial, albeit a bit scarce on instructions compared to some, can be found HERE) Obviously if you go over to the tutorial, you will notice that she's used much nicer colours....I just went digging in one of my many (don't we all have a few?) off cut (read Scrap) baskets and pulled out pieces that were big enough to make the right amount of squares, then laid them out in as pleasing a combo as I could muster!

Also, while I have your attention, Gene Black has a great giveaway for quilty read-a-holics, to go enter, click here. It closes on October 18th, 2011. Good luck.

While you're over at Gene's blog, take time to check out his video tutorials...he has a great one on cutting bias binding that seemed to be my light bulb moment with self made bias binding!

Oh and be still my beating heart, he also has a tutorial for a D9P but wait till you see it.....it's like he's re-invented the wheel as far as I'm concerned......I love D9P & D4P (maybe he'll reinvent that block too now!) so his version is B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T....to just check the D9P out, click here.

Jenny of Elefantz is having a giveaway

2011-10-14T22:28:00.002+10:30

Jenny now has over 1500 followers the lucky duck.....and to celebrate she's hosting a giveaway. There's 4 prizes up for grabs, 2 for us Aussies and 2 for overseas entrants. Easy to enter, and up to 3 ways you can enter....so not too many hoops to jump through! Entries close on October 20th 2011. Good luck.....as always, click on the photo above to go enter.

Spoilt brat alert!

2011-10-12T23:56:00.003+10:30

I go (when I can get there!) to a quilt group in the next town (Renmark, Sth Australia) over to where I live. They're called Evening Star Quilters....every year they hold a Brown Paper Bag Challenge, where you put some fabric and other bits n pieces into a brown paper bag (I've also seen these done on blogs too) and the bags are put into a central location after being numbered. Then, all those that are participating pick any bag but their own, and have a few months (I think we had about 4 months) to construct something with what's inside the bag. I had completely forgotten what I'd put in my bag....all I knew was I was intrigued to a) find out what my partner had made me & b) who my partner was, well tonight, my curiosity was cured.

I opened the wrapping paper that Kate (my swap partner who made for me) had wrapped my gift up in and immediately saw that it, whatever it was, had been exquisitely quilted, and when I took it out of the wrapping, I was busy 'fondling' it, when I realised there was something else inside it.....so I opened up the bag, the Mariners Compass bag pictured above, and I'm surprised I didn't scream with delight! Kate had designed a quilt especially for me.
It's extremely well quilted....Kate's lucky, she has a proper quilting machine (green eyed monster here is sooooo jealous!) so it has a lovely design all over it. Thank you so much Kate, it's gorgeous.

Aren't both my gifts lovely? I think so, and that's all that matters really, but if you think Kate did well, please leave a comment and I can pass them on to her at the next meeting.

Decorative Fabric Basket with Tutorial

2011-10-10T14:20:00.004+10:30

Recently, I was browsing Flickr.com and came across Paula's photos and in amongst them, I saw she'd made these cute baskets, which are a variation of others that I've seen (and made) and I left a comment for her, saying that I like it. Soon after, she sent me the link to her album that had the tutorial to make them. After making one, I decided I would contact her and find out if it was alright to convert her tutorial to English and publish it on my blog.....well she has been a busy bee, but today messaged me and let me know that it's ok for me to publish the tutorial right here for you all to download. Remember, I am in no way, shape or form claiming this as my tutorial....my only part was making the above one, translating the tutorial (ok so I tidied a few parts up that google didn't translate too well, but that's it!) into English and getting permission to share it. So, without further chit chat, if you'd like to make some Decorative Fabric Baskets for yourself, click on ANY of the words that are underlined, such as HERE!

Also, if you do make some, please leave me the link in a comment on this post so that I can check them out....I'd love to see the colour combo's you come up with. I'm going to make some in different sizes for Christmas Presents :o)

Edited: 13th October 2011.....I was alerted (thanks Kathy) to the fact that the original tutorial didn't tell you to turn the fabric through the hole you cut in the centre....so I've amended the tutorial...if you already downloaded the tutorial, you will need to download it again (sorry about that). As far as I'm aware, the above links will all direct you to the updated tutorial....I haven't tested that theory just yet, as I'm still uploading it (at the time of typing this that is!)

As seen on Facebook...lol

2011-10-09T00:57:00.003+10:30

I couldn't resist sharing the following explanation as to why some of us just simply cannot enter a fabric store without making a purchase:

A recent study indicated that fabric gives off certain Pheromones that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase unreasonable amounts. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the Pheromones (in the fabric) causes memory loss and induces the nesting syndrome (similar to the one squirrels have before the onset of winter i.e. storing food). Therefore perpetuating their species and not having a population loss due to their kind being cut into pieces and mixed with others.
Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics emit a very high pitched sound, heard only by a select few, a breed of women know as “quilters”. When played backwards on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants, “buy me, cut me and sew me”.

In order to overcome the so called “feeding frenzy effect” that these fabrics cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip. One must laugh, however, at the sight of customers in a quilt fabric store, with WWII army gas masks and headphones!

Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth, helping to spread the effects that these fabrics have on the human population. They are called QUILT FABRIC STORE CLERKS.

It’s also been experienced that these same Pheromones cause a pathological need to hide these fabric purchases when taken home (or at least blend them into the existing stash), and when asked by significant other if the fabric is new, the reply is “I’ve had it for awhile.”

~ Author unknown

I saw it on one of the groups I'm in on Facebook, and just had to share it with you all.

Quick & Easy Coasters using a Go! Baby Cutter

2011-10-01T01:03:00.001+09:30

Recently, I was a very lucky girl, no, an EXTREMELY lucky chick, and Accuquilt sent me a GO! Baby cutter and three dies to play with. I've been busy playing with them, and made the above coasters as part of the F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap. I have been trying almost everyday to upload this tutorial for you all, but Blogger doesn't seem to like me anymore...maybe I'm not posting often enough!

Anyway, if you'd like the tutorial to make these coasters, please click HERE. Also, if you'd like some free Go! patterns, then please click the button over on the right side bar.

The Scrappy Appleyard: Blocks Needed for Grieving Family

2011-09-27T01:01:00.000+09:30

The Scrappy Appleyard: Blocks Needed for Grieving Family John'aLee is asking for our (sewists/quilters) help to make star quilt blocks for a grieving family, and her own daughter who have lost their brave soldier over in Afghanistan a few weeks ago. I don't normally 'tear up' when reading sad things, but this bought a tear to my eye, and I felt compelled to share it with you all, in the hope that you will consider making blocks to help John'aLee out with her quest to make some quilts.

F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap Teaser pic

2011-09-24T12:06:00.000+09:30

What are swap partners for, if not to tease and torment you until your swap gift(s) arrive....well this is my teaser for Lisa....a pic of her F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap gifts all wrapped up ready to go to her...lol Hope ya like 'em Lisa.

I got spoilt rotten today

2011-09-19T23:25:00.002+09:30

A few weeks ago (at least it only seems that long ago!) I signed up for Khristinas' F-R-I-E-N-D-S swap, and check out all the wonderful goodies I got in the pics below....my partner and new friend, is Lisa from Western Australia....here's a link to her blog.

GRRRRR, Blogger doesn't seem to want to play the game tonight, and won't let me upload the pics I took, so please click the above link to go to Lisa's blog to check out the pics, but do take time to read what I wrote first....then whizz on over and check out the pics. I'll remove this if Blogger ever lets me put the pics up.

First up, I restrained myself long enough to take the following pic, but once the pic was taken, all bets were off and the scissors were cutting the mail bag open.....this was taken just before opening it.

Once open, I got 7 pressies, each one wrapped in owl paper, and the smell of the package....oh boy, I wish you could all smell it....it was a bit of a heads' up that something in there smelt good, real good!

F = Fabric, and not just any old fabric, it's the Melly & Me Hooty one....soooooo cute.
R = Ribbon - purple (my favourite colour, and even has green edging to it), and two different owl ones. Haven't seen either of the owl ones. I must have blinkers on when it comes to ribbons....I never check them out for owl ones.
I = Inspiration.....See what's on the cover? I have one of those owls.....one of my friends (Aunty Sharon) from Khris's Yahoo Craft group made it for me two years ago at the retreat.
E = Funnily enough, I was a little stumped at this one.....however, didn't really care....it's owls....lol I don't have one of these bracelets, let alone one with owls on it...but as Lisa emailed me a big hint (ie she gave me an explanation) of what the E stood for....have you guessed it yet? It stands for European beads.....no matter either way, they're owls...lol
N = Notions.....see what the scissor holder is??? Yep, another owl....and I love how when the scissors are in their holder, you can still see his eyes through the finger holes....cute huh? Oh I got pins too.....but for reasons only I know, I'm more excited about the owl scissor keeper....bad me, I know.
D = According to Lisa's blog, stands for Dark choccies ....ppfffft, I'm clever, and I worked it out before reading her blog.....it doesn't stand for dark chocolate at all....it stands for Diet Food! Yummmmm I got chocolates...Roses too....YUMMMM
S = Scrumptious Smelling Soaps......my whole room smells like a scent shop....it's brilliant.....wish you could all share in the smell of them......oh and did you see the labels.....Tree Owl....hoo hoo!

Wasn't I just spoilt rotten? I think so. Thanks for spoiling me Lisa, and I hope you like what I'll be sending you too.

Ya just gotta love Spam Emails

2011-09-15T12:50:00.000+09:30

I couldn't resist sharing with you, an email I just received....someone who wasn't 'net-savvy' could be taken in by this email.....but for us 'veterans' it's really quite laughable.....I mean I with all my blonde brain traits, managed to find out that if I clicked forward and checking the properties (email address) of the sender, the email would go to an address in the UK.....my Paypal account isn't in the UK for starters.....then another 'heads up' was the fact that the email said "Dear PayPal Costumer" does that mean that PayPal gets me to make all their costumes? If so, when will I be getting my pay cheques! What a loser (or perhaps bunch of losers) that try and set up a scam to obtain peoples' information, and they can't even be bothered to do a spell check before hitting send.....quite laughable don't you think?

World of Charity Stitching Giveaways: FAT QUARTER SHOP GIVEAWAY

2011-09-04T01:25:00.000+09:30

World of Charity Stitching Giveaways: FAT QUARTER SHOP GIVEAWAY: World of Charity Stitching is hosting an amazing Giveaway, sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. We have not one but TWO $50.00 Gift Vouchers.

Pattern & fabric giveaway

2011-09-03T01:02:00.002+09:30

Click on the photo above before Monday 5th September to go and enter the giveaway to win the above pattern and fabric....international entries are welcome. I noticed as I quickly read through the start of the giveaway post that she's going to be having a stitchalong soon....fun fun fun

Our Busy Little Bunch: Aurifil thread Giveaway . . .

2011-08-30T18:53:00.000+09:30

Our Busy Little Bunch: Aurifil thread Giveaway . . .

Rebecca has 5 packs of Aurifil thread that she's giving away on Sept 6th...click on the above link to enter. Good luck.

It's not all about the freebies...well it is kind of....lol

2011-08-28T11:35:00.003+09:30

Let me explain the title....well try to anyway....I don't want you all to think that all I'm going to have on my blog is giveaways, but I will try and save you money when I can....I'm going to start sharing tutorials etc that I find, or have found useful.....to kick things off, here's a good photo tutorial and pattern link on a simple paper (foundation) pieced heart block. Yes, I could've found a template and done my own tutorial, but why re-invent the wheel when it's already out on the www. Thanks to Mojoquilts for generously sharing the photo tutorial. Now off you go and create! I'd love to see pics if you give her tutorial a try....so please leave a comment with a link to wherever it is you've shared pics at. Happy sewing.

Love Affair With My Brother...: Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway

2011-08-26T12:26:00.000+09:30

Love Affair With My Brother...: Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway: Want the chance to win a Hometown by Sweetwater Jelly Roll? Then click the link above to head on over to the Love Affair with my Brother (Sewing machine not sibling!) blog to enter. Giveaway ends on August 29th 2011. Good luck

Its Sew Kiki: Giveaway Day!!!

2011-08-25T18:11:00.000+09:30

Its Sew Kiki: Giveaway Day!!!: Sew Kiki is hosting a giveaway for the Fat Quarter Shop....it ends on Monday August 29th, 2011...You can win a Sophie by Chez Moi for Moda Jelly Roll. Good luck

quiltscapes: "STASH"

2011-08-25T03:14:00.000+09:30

quiltscapes: "STASH": Deonn says...I won, you win!! Playing along with Madame Samm's " Wantobe Quilter " campaign!

For your chance to win, click on the above link and enter. Ends on Monday. Good luck

CricutLvr!!: 800 Follower GiveAway!!

2011-08-25T00:39:00.000+09:30

CricutLvr!!: 800 Follower GiveAway!!: Hello my bloggy friends!! Elsa has decided to have a giveaway when she reaches 800 followers!! She's getting closer, I'm follower 699...see if you can help her reach 800 and at the same time, you could win her great prize. Good luck.

More giveaways and a show 'n' tell by me!

2011-08-24T10:59:00.008+09:30

Moosestash Quilting is hosting a Go! Baby giveaway that ends on Sept 2nd, so be sure to click the photo above and enter...Good Luck. I really want one of these...especially now I've started doing more patchwork 'stuff' lol

No, I haven't made a boo boo, and no, you're not seeing double, well technically you are seeing double, but that's only because I'm sharing with you two, yes you read it right TWO giveaways for Go! Baby cutters. The 2nd one is at Red Pepper Quilts, and ends on 25th August 2011, so hurry and GO! enter. Good luck.

Don't forget, you can sign up below for the Accuquilt newsletter and get 22 free patterns, by clicking on the following image:

A Creative Grids Ruler Giveaway

Karen in Ireland is hosting an international giveaway for the above Creative Grids rulers and blade sharpener...who wouldn't want to extend the life of their blades? I know I'm one who definately likes to save a dollar here and there...more to spend on fabric! As usual, click on the photo above to head over to her blog to enter. Ends on 31st August 2011. Good Luck

Above is the Carpenters Star Block that I made after seeing a tutorial for one here. If you read all the posts associated with the tutorial, you'll find lots of hints that will be useful for patchworking/quilting in general....such as the one I found out.....oh, you want me to share that one with you.

You're going to have to ask nicely!

What you think I can just share my newly found knowledge at the drop of a hat?????

Oh, ok....I won't keep you in suspense any longer, here it is....if you're making half square triangles (HST's) and you want a 3" finished unit, then you cut 2 x 3 & 1/2" squares, place them right sides together and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of one of them.....then sew 1/4" either side of the line, cut (using a rotary cutter and ruler is the better method) down the line, press each of the units open, I chose to do mine towards the dark side Yoda! Trim them back to your 3" finished HST's and voila, 2 HST's with very little waste or fuss.

I know most of you veteran quilters and patch workers (is there a difference between the two?) are probably sitting there now, saying to yourself "Derr Naomi, that's such an easy one". Well no, it's not to me and probably not an easy one to any other newbies....please feel free to leave comments with any tips you have up your sleeves, such as the tip I shared above....or leave me a link for a tip or tips (see I'm not restricting you to just one!) that you found useful when you were starting out on your quilting journey.....or even a new one that you've just recently found out about.

Blended Fabric Quilts: Kaffe Fassett, Daisy Jane and Cloud9 Fabric Cotton...

2011-08-18T22:30:00.001+09:30

Blended Fabric Quilts: Kaffe Fassett, Daisy Jane and Cloud9 Fabric Cotton...: I'm in a quandary! I just can't choose from these backgrounds of organic cotton for the placement of my new Dre...

Shirlwin left a comment asking what I was placing....but the comment above was the part of the original post.....I swear it's not me trying to lead you all up the garden path this time....lol I'll make a concerted effort to edit any future giveaways that I share this way....don't want you all thinking I'm off with the fairies ALL the time.....coz I do go visiting them at times...hee hee hee

Samelia's Mum: Sally Giblin Stitcheries - Giveaway

2011-08-18T22:05:00.001+09:30

Samelia's Mum: Sally Giblin Stitcheries - Giveaway: The Rivendale Collection by Sally Giblin is full of wonderfully whimsical stitcheries and applique patterns. Sally is a truly talented des...

Edited to add that I was the LUCKY winner of this giveaway.....will take pics of what I get when it arrives.

F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap 2011 is about to start

2011-08-14T10:26:00.003+09:30

Just thought I'd remind you/let y'all know about Khristina's annual F-R-I-E-N-D-S swap. Sign ups are until 19th August 2011 and the deadline to mail off your package is 19th September. It's a fun swap to do, I think this will be my third year of being in it. You can read all about it by clicking on the pic/button above.

Want to win some goodies????

2011-08-06T02:28:00.002+09:30

You'll need to use Google translate, but you have until Friday August 12th to go enter to win the above pictured goodies. Good luck. Click on the photo to head on over to Britts' blog.

Another week flies by

2011-07-19T19:56:00.004+09:30

As much as I don't even want to think about it, with the way time is flying by me this year, it'll be Christmas soon, and what have I done about my big plan of making 'stuff' for people this year? Na-da so far, but have worked out a few gifts to make, which is a bit closer....right?

This week I've made more of the hexagons almost into coasters....which you can see below...a few chrissy ones and a couple of 'everyday use' kind of style ones.

Also, this past weekend, a friend came up from Adelaide for a couple of days....and she's making a couple of quilts (unlike me, she's a good girl and making them one at a time...I'd be doing bits of both, knowing me!). Sue had cut out 40 of each colour way, so she only had to assemble them, but she's not a very experienced sewist or quilter, so it was quite an achievement for her...and I might be a bit biased, because of the colour choices on this one...but didn't she do a great job?

Just F.Y.I, the other one is going to be turquoise and red. The name of the quilt according to the pattern she's using, is Garden Paths...but it didn't have a name of designer on it.

From Sunday 10th - Sunday 17th on my Facebook wall (or is it still called a page? lol) I held a 'poking' competition....every time someone poked me, I jotted down their name in an excel spreadsheet, and then on the 17th I got random.org to randomize the list of names and after reaching over 800 pokes, I decided to use the top two names....so tonight I'm making them something.....not sure what, and I won't be able to post pics on here, as 1) my blog is networked to my Facebook, and 2) one of them reads my blog too!

I've been naughty hey?

2011-07-12T16:34:00.026+09:30

I haven't been a good blogger lately, sure I've shared some links to giveaways, but I haven't really been sharing pics of things I've made, things I've received or caught you up on what's going on here in Icy Berri! Yes, it's Brrrrrrrrr here right now.....was so cold this morning, I thought I'd woken up in Iceland!

Where to start, oh I know, I could share with you something I got emailed today. Over on my right hand bar thingy (don't ya just love my technical terms?) Side bar on the right perhaps might be closer to the right terminology.....anyhoo....over there on the right, you will notice that I have a button for you to go sign up for Accuquilts newsletter and not only will you get all the latest 'sales' updates from them, you'll also be the proud owner of their 22 FREE patterns. Click on the button (please) and go get the patterns....before they run out...hee hee hee.

Now, for some pics. A bit earlier in the year, I signed up for the Santa Sack swap, and I got partnered with Annie (she's been a bit ~~slack~~ busy lately, and hasn't updated her blog for a while, but I'm sure she will be back on board again soon) and yesterday I received my first part of the swap.

I didn't think you'd want to see the parcel before it got to this stage of undress.....it was only a mailing satchel....I think I still have it here somewhere if you really MUST see it! See the Santa gift tag? If you were able to flip it over and read it, you would've read this........

YAY, rip rip rip....paper opened......big reveal...no wait Naomi, grab the camera, people will want to see....sigh.....grabbed the camera.....again.....and voila....a pic of my GORGEOUS Santa Sack. (Please excuse the mess behind the pic....I've officially run out of room, and become the worlds' biggest sloth)

But wait, the sack doesn't come empty....it has 'stuff' inside.....shall we take a look and see what kind of stuff is inside???? Ok, but sssssh, don't tell Anna I've had a peek, she might get cross with me and tell Santa I've been a naughty girl!

Awwwww, rats, she must've known you were going to encourage me to peek inside....can you see what she wrote on the gift tag? Bah Humbug.....and they're wrapped, so I can't even accidentally peek inside....BUT, I can take them all out the gift bag and take a pic of them to show you (read.... to make you jealous!)

How spoilt am I? Can you believe that this is her first swap....boy she's certainly set the bar high huh? How am I ever going to compete, I'm already going to be making her another sack, even though she says not to......but if you could see the pathetic attempt I sent her.....mind you, until I saw how great the one she sent me was, I wasn't too worried about mine....but I hate the thought that she might feel somewhat 'ripped off'.....would hate to get me a bad name!

I've promptly packed the pressies all back in the gift bag, and popped that inside the Santa Sack, and popped it up on top of the craft dresser/cupboard...so it's not in my direct line of sight, and I won't be tormented by it on a daily basis for the next 6 months! Thank you soooo sooooo much Anna....I love it....this is so much fun.

Yesterday was quite a good day for "Barry" my Parcel Guy, well ok, you got me, he's not just mine, I share him with the rest of Berri! He not only bought me my Santa Sack swap, but he bought me my Mug Rug Swap, from Sewing Steph.....OMG, I've been blessed with another great swap partner......quite a few times recently....need to post more often so you can see all the goodies I've received/sent.

As usual, I digress.....Steph sent a card saying this was her first mug rug....I am honoured...it's gorgeous....and unless I get a visit from Naomi Campbell or Naomi Will, I won't ever have to share this one...no one can say they didn't know whose it was hey? lol

I've taken a couple of close ups to show the gorgeous detailed stitching around the border and in the stripes.....you should be able to make it all out if you click on the pics to enlarge them. Did you also notice that the quilt being done on the sewing machine is PURPLE? Be still my beating heart!

Then, as if the gorgeous mug rug wasn't enough excitement, she sent me a fq of owl fabric...one I haven't seen before.....how hooty cute is it? She says that she too likes owls and that the fabric is from one of her favourite ranges.....I can see why it's one of her favourites, can't you?

I bought a couple, ok I can't count, there's actually three new patterns in my collection....The Quattro bag, Scrap Sack 2 and the Bow'led Over Bag. Aren't they nice? I think so, and as they're mine, I guess that's all that matters...right?

Last Saturday, my quilting group (Evening Star Quilters - Renmark SA) had one of their Saturday Sew Ins....they run from 10am - 10pm, but I only ended up going for about 7 hours. As usual, I spent most of that time procrastinating and noseying around at what everyone else was doing. Some of the ladies are doing D4P quilts...will get pics when they've gotten a bit further on. The president was making a lovely mixed Hexagon quilt, and I just had to grab one of the templates....it's called "Candied Hexagons", and on Sunday I made a couple of coasters using the templates.

The first one is for Raelene, as she's a 'pink girl' and the second one is for me, coz I'm a 'purple chick'. Mine actually looks a bit more purpler (is there even such a word? LOL) in real life than it does in the pic, in that it looks more blue than anything else.

Lastly, if you're a Facebook friend of mine, you might've seen me mention that our next door neighbours are fruit pickers and have been supplying us with lots of oranges and mandarins.....what to do with them.....well have been 'sharing the love' with friends, and have frozen a bag full.....but wanted to try and make a "Whole Orange Cake" but some that I found had 6 eggs in, or almond meal so I kind of made my own recipe up, and this is the resulting cake.

Recipe: Get two medium sized oranges and give them a quick wash....to get any 'heavy' dirt off the skin. Then place both whole oranges (skin & all) into a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to the boil and allow them to simmer for about 15 mins. Drain off the water (into a jug or another pan, and when cool, pour it onto your garden), fill the saucepan back up with cold water, and repeat.

At the end of the second 15 mins, drain the water, and allow the oranges to cool.

Once they're cooled, put the oranges into a food processor or large jug/bowl and stab blend/puree them (depending on which method you're following at this point) until all the skin is broken down. Put this mix to one side.

Preheat oven to 170'c.

In a mixing bowl, place three eggs and 1 cup castor sugar and beat with electric mixer until thick and light coloured. Add 3 cups SR Flour and the orange mixture and gently stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is combined completely.

Grab yourself a round cake tin (Not sure what dimensions mine was, but it's about an 18 or 20cm tin). Trace the bottom of the tin onto some baking paper and cut the circle out and place in the bottom of the tin, then spray the inside of the tin totally (including the baking paper) with cooking spray (I use homebrand canola spray).

Put your cake mix in and spread it evenly out. Place cake tin in oven for 60 mins or until skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.

Allow to cool for about 15 mins in the tin. Lovely on the day it's made, on it's own, or the following day you can slice it and spread it with a little butter.

Enjoy!

Ok, that's it folks, you're more or less up to date....have been making a wild flower pincushion ( from the BHG website I think!) today....hope to get it finished tonight....wish me luck! Pics of that tomorrow if I do!

Happy 4th July

2011-07-03T23:49:00.001+09:30

to my readers who celebrate this annual event. I hope Aunt Pitty Pat doesn't mind, I got this pic off of her Facebook wall *grins*

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting giveaway

2011-06-29T04:33:00.002+09:30

Cheryls Teapots2Quilting is hosting a giveaway for not only the above circle rotary cutter and demo disc, but also a quilt pattern, this pattern to be precise, 'Bundle of 12 - Beach Balls' by Amelie Scott Designs. It uses 12 fat quarters along with some yardage to make the quilt. It makes a 50" x 66" quilt, but wait, there's more she's also including another pattern, 'Gifts All Around' by Aarol Penny Pattenden. It includes a wall hanging, table runner and a gift bag instructions. A winner is going to be selected on 5th July 2011 USA time. Good luck, click on the pic above to go enter.

Wanna win some notions?

2011-06-29T03:58:00.003+09:30

Leona has reached 700+ followers (as at the time I wrote this, she was up to 727....YAY Leona) and to celebrate, she's giving you a chance to win a whole bunch of fantastic notions, which she goes into greater detail about on the giveaway post. You have until 3rd July to click on the above photo and go enter. Good luck.

FOUND EM!

2011-06-29T03:46:00.002+09:30

I found out what Blogger had done with my other two giveaway posts....I'm a member of another blog, and for some reason, if I click 'create a link' at the bottom of a giveaway post on someone's blog, it sends it to the other blog I'm involved in, and not to my normal blog (if I'm ever normal!)

So, without further ado..... I now present you with giveaway # 1

Our Busy Little Bunch: Accuquilt GO! Baby giveaway!

I'm still chasing one of these illusive Baby's (pardon the pun)....good luck if you enter, you have a day or so to do it!

And giveaway # 2

SEW FUN QUILTS: June's FREE Giveaway!

Oooooh fabric....gotta love freebie fabric hey? This lot is SOOOO my colour....purple (well lavender is a shade of purple right?) and a bonus colour of grey too! Good luck...be sure to tell her I sent you if you enter.

Wanna win a tablerunner kit and cute pair of scissors?

2011-06-29T03:31:00.003+09:30

Hmmmm, strange, this should've been post # 3 sharing giveaways with you.....rats, that narrows my chances of winning the other giveaways, and silly billy here closed the tabs with them on....as it's 3.33am, I'm not going to start going through my history now....sorry....I can say I got them from SewCalGals blog, you can check out her giveaway heads ups by clicking HERE....(Such a phrase/name exist?)

ANYHOO, I did name this post about a different giveaway.....who wouldn't want to win a kit and a cute pair of scissors? I know I'd happily give them a new home.

To enter, by July 3rd, 2011 click on the pic of the kit below. Good luck.

Go! Baby Go! Baby Go! Baby Giveaway!

2011-06-18T15:29:00.002+09:30

Samelias' Mum has gotten her lucky hot little hands on one of the baby's (pardon the pun), and is now being the hostess with the mostest, and has a Go! Baby & 3 dies up for grabs. You have until 26th June 2011 to enter. Good luck, although I'd really really like this one all for me! Click on the photo above to go straight on over to enter.

And yet another giveaway I've found to share with you

2011-06-10T00:14:00.002+09:30

Subee of Subeesews blog is giving away an autographed copy of Bonnie Hunters "Adventures with Leaders & Enders" book, as pictured above.....for a chance to win, click on the photo above before June 12th, 2011 to enter. Good Luck

A Desert Quilter: It's time for SUMMER TIME FUN!

2011-06-09T23:24:00.000+09:30

A Desert Quilter: It's time for SUMMER TIME FUN!

Would you like to win a couple of Moda Charm Packs? Then to be in with a chance, please head on over to the link above before Weds 15th June, 2011. Good luck, even though I'd love to win them myself!

1 Choice for Quilting is having a giveaway

2011-06-08T00:48:00.001+09:30

Isn't the Swell bag by Moda stunning? I'm hoping to become the new owner of the above one....not only is 1 Choice 4 Quilting giving away the Moda bag, but it's going to be chockers of goodies, such as fabric.....YAY....a pattern......YAY again......a few different rulers.....WOW & YAY.....and did I mention fabric? Giveaway closes 13th June USA time, so click on the photo above and head over to enter. I highly recommend checking out their shop, they have lots of goodies at great prices, and a really good price for shipping to Australia from USA. Good Luck

Roll Up Roll Up Roll Up

2011-05-20T09:07:00.005+09:30

I might have been a little absent lately, but I have managed to find a great giveaway for all you fellow "bag ladies" (and guys too sorry for only including women first up). Keira, AKA KiKi had some fantastic news recently, and part of it is that she's going to be a 'published bag designer'. To help celebrate, she's giving away a hard copy of her first pattern, which is the above bag....BUT, wait, there's more.....you'll also get the fabric to make one just like the pic *swoon* All you'll need is your 'hardware', like sewing machine, rotary cutter and ruler....she's providing everything else. As with all the other giveaways I share with you, click on the photo above, or either of the two links contained within this paragraph to head on over to enter.

Being that she's trying to promote herself, or her patterns, please share the love on your blog and help her get the word out.

Giveaway closes 8am (her time - US time for us South of the Equator) on Weds May 25th. As with all giveaways I blog about...I'd be happy to win, but wish y'all good luck as well. Having one of my lovely followers win is almost as good as winning myself!

Whilst I have your attention, some of you may know that my sewing machine has been a little bit naughty lately....the self levelling foot doesn't seem to be doing it's job, and if I'm sewing and am going from thick to thinner thickness, I have to turn the wheel by hand and hold the front of the foot up to stop the needle from hitting the foot....well it's cacked itself big time now, and the needle doesn't hit the foot now, but has taken to constantly hitting the needle plate.....what's with that.....maybe I'm due a big lottery win so I can buy the Janome Horizon or at least some other machine....but really, why does it have to give up now when I have a quilt to FMQ? I do have back up machines, but you all know what it's like, you have your comfy slipper machine, and nothing else quite cuts it does it?

Okay, off to see if unplugging the machine 'resets' the computer....much the same as unplugging a tv de-gouses the screen!

Edited to let you all know that the advice from Marilyn and unplugging the machine has worked.....but ssssshhh I'm not game to say it too loud.....off to sew again now :o)

Sewings version of the Willy Wonka Gold Bar

2011-05-04T07:57:00.005+09:30

I've just popped a couple of giveaways up on my giveaway page for Go! Baby cutters, and was rather annoyed to see that one of them is limited to people with a US or Canadian shipping address.....which has led me to think about this post.....some of you may remember a while back when I had my little sook (you can read it here if you didn't see it back then) about the amount of followers needed to 'host' an Accuquilt GO! giveaway, then there is also the chance to win one on Accuquilts Friday comp's in Facebook, once again, I found out that being in Australia I wasn't eligible to win (don't think that's an Accuquilt stipulation, think it's something to do with FB regulations about giveaways....but if that's the case, how to other people manage to give stuff away worldwide).....and now it seems Accuquilt is kicking all us non USA/Canada residents in the butt again.....on Blog giveaways.......I definately think I sound like a spoilt brat, but stiff.....I needed to get it off my chest and move on again....like I did after my sook before about them!

Onto the Willy Wonka Gold Bar part of my subject title......it seems like I've spent way too much time chasing the sewists version of a Gold ticket, so thought I'd pick one of the characters out of the movie and being that my favourite colour is purple....I've picked out......insert loud fanfare......

Who would you be????? Veruca Salt? Violet Beauregarde? Augustus Gloop? Mike TeeVee? or Charlie??? And WHY????? I don't have a prize to giveaway, I just think it'd be fun to see which character my followers/readers assimilate themselves to as we all seek out our own elusive Golden Tickets in/for whatever!

In closing off, I just have to decide whether a) I'll ever own a GO! or Go! Baby, b) Accuquilt is another name for Willy Wonka & c)

What's on my design wall

2011-04-30T13:20:00.006+09:30

Just thought I'd share a quick pic of what's on my design wall right now.......the starts of my first ever queen sized (or nearly!) patchwork Healing Heart quilt top. A huge thank you to Diana for the tip about how to make your own design wall using a few skirt hangers and a vinyl backed tablecloth! The quilt design is all my own, drew a rough sketch up on a scrap of paper, and have worked out sizes as I go.....using skills/techniques I've picked up along my crafting journey. I know it's a no brainer for all you 'seasoned' quilters, but for me, this is an achievement as I've only ever made a small cot quilt before, and I had help from Khristina for that!

This quilt is for Raelene who's off to Adelaide in a few weeks for some radiation treatment......she'll be gone for almost 8 weeks, so thought I'd make her a Healing Heart quilt to take with her......and thus far, it's all been made from my 'fabric collection' (Stash to most!)....I'm going to see how much I can make it from just what I have at hand......all comments welcomed. I'm thinking to help out with size....I'm going to put sashing inbetween each of the blocks....just trying to make my indecisive mind up as to whether I also put some squares at the junctions of the blocks....think they're called cornerstones???

Edited at 11.52pm (my local time) to add a second photo....this is where I'm up to as I head off to bed.....decided on the sashing etc to make it bigger than it was......am going to make another one without the sashing and cornerstones as I liked how that design looked too! I'm still not happy with the size of it, but it's a few inches bigger now and as I don't believe I've got any suitable fabric to add a thick border out of....guess this is as big as it's going to get! Went fossicking and found a pink & white (wish it was pink & cream, but white is close enough!) quilt cover that I'm going to use as the backing fabric......won't need to piece it or anything!

Does anyone happen to know where I put my quilting pins when I moved? I've tried to think if I've seen them since we moved, and I can't recall seeing them, or even what I packed them with....YIKES....will be hunting them down tomorrow for sure.....am itching to try out FMQ on a big scale!

Nighty night or good morning, depending on where you are in the world.

You should check this out

2011-04-28T10:50:00.002+09:30

I know there's not a pic of it here, but I suggest you click HERE and go visit JanDee's blog and see the lovely applique quilt she made just over a year ago....it's absolutely stunning....how intricate is all that applique work she did? Melissa H (Ardea's Nest fame) will love the profile pic.....a couple of puppies not too dissimilar to her own!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog for a 2nd time JanDee....at least this time I could respond to you via email and if you hadn't, I would've missed out seeing such a fantastic quilt.....I look forward to seeing more posts on your blog now...*smiles*

Great quilt kit giveaway

2011-04-18T09:50:00.003+09:30

Shawna is hosting a giveaway and online quilting book club.....great idea. Giveaway entrants, you have a chance to win a kit to make one of the quilts she's reviewing or a copy of the book. You even get a choice of three different kits, I've chosen Sunkissed, what will you choose?....lots of ways to enter...do all, do a few, or just do one, but whichever way you want to do it, entries close on April 24th USA time. Click on the photo of the book to head over and enter. Good luck (even though I'd really like to win).

My take on a Bowling Bag (from a recycled dress!) .

2011-04-17T11:21:00.009+09:30

Above in all it's glory, is my take on a Bowling Bag. To explain about the recycled dress comment in the post title, in April 1991, my then M-I-L (RIP Margaret) made me a dress for my new job that I was about to start (Telstra, although it was Telecom Australia when I started). Then a couple of days ago, I found the dress in a box (still unpacking from the move!) and the fabric is soooo not something I'd wear nowadays (don't know what my 'taste/trend' was back then by the way!) so, with it being cotton fabric, I of course envisaged a bag being made out of it.....I washed the dress yesterday, and un-sewed it (rippit rippit) and VOILA a bowling bag was born.

Above you can see a close up of how I attached the handles/straps (depends on which you prefer to call them!) They shouldn't EVER come off....they're also sewn into the seam just below the "X" too, so very sturdy.
It's kind of not that visible in the pics, but the tabs at the ends of the zips are triangular....coz I just had to be different! The above pic shows the end/side of the bag. On one end I put a pocket. On the next bowling bag I make, I'm going to shoot for the stars and put pockets all around! Think I'll make tabs or flaps over the pockets on the front/back though, as I've noticed the inside pockets gape a bit and that's not such a good look when it's on the outside of the bag...on the inside, I can close the zip and hide them....or I could sew press studs on them I guess...hmmmm I might just make that design alteration now I've said it...lol

So, as you can see from the above pic, if you look close enough, there's pins still in there....that's because I was too excited about showing the bag off, that I haven't q-u-i-t-e finished it yet...hee hee hee. Once I've finished this post though, I'll go do the hand stitching on the inside and plan what accessories I'll be making myself to go with it, out of the rest of the ex-dress. Any suggestions????

More things I've been making

2011-04-13T11:20:00.004+09:30

I may not have been posting on here, but I have been sewing.....and above is a little collage of some of the 'goodies' I've been making.

The free motion quilting isn't quite my first attempt, but it's probably my best attempt thus far!

The applique circles video tutorial can be found here. Mine don't quite line up, but my sewing machine is having 'issues' with thick seams and goes wonky when it hits thick bits....I shall be making more of these....once I've found my ultra thin interfacing....and I've sorted out the 'issue' my other machine has.....it keeps sewing after you've taken your foot off the pedal.....and it's a sealed unit, so I can't take it apart to clean it or see if a wire has come loose...so think it's going to need a wee holiday at the repair shop...or a new foot pedal.

The freeform crazy patch was me playing around with scraps....I just found a piece that looked like it would fit in the gap and sewed it on.....no stress, no worries, just mix 'n' match bits and attached them to a 9" square of batting. Not sure what I'll do with it yet....potholder perhaps.....suggestions????

The zippy pouch was the last of a scrap of fabric I had and Raelene mentioned she liked, and as she's going away soon for 7 weeks, I thought I'd make her a wee make up bag to take with her. I put an elephant charm on the zip puller as a reminder of her Mum who is now roaming with elephants in heaven.

My latest attempt at Paper Piecing

2011-04-09T11:59:00.002+09:30

Well I think I'm finally getting the hang of Paper Piecing.....YAY. The above block is called Mosaic Quilt and can be found here under free blocks and then select Blocks for quilts I. I had heaps of fun doing this one. I traced the block onto thin sew in interfacing.....only boo boo I made was to trim the outside to 1/4" but I should have made the borders a bit wider, such as 1/2" to allow for attaching sashing or joining to another block....OOOPS! Oh well, at least I got the hang of the centre bit. I know the purple polka dot looks like I missed a little on the bottom right corner, but trust me, I didn't, it's the edge of the next row of spots!

My latest Hooty

2011-03-24T15:19:00.004+10:30

As some of you would remember, I moved in December to a new home....I still have stuff to unpack, and the day before yesterday, I located some stretchy fabric and was in two minds whether it was staying or going, well some of it is definately staying now....in the form of Harriet the Hooty, seen in the above photo.....she's about 10-12" across and I designed her using both characteristics from several other owls I've seen about the place, and some I added myself. It's a bit hard to tell in the pic, but she has a stuffed beak to give it a bit of dimension. The reason the top half of her looks a bit fluffy is because it was a stretch towelling sort of fabric....worked in well with the other fabrics though......When I make more of these, I think I'll make them in 100% cotton....far easier to work with than stretch fabric!

What do you think of her? C'mon you know you love her, even if she's pink!

It's not too late to create.

2011-03-10T18:35:00.002+10:30

I was just perusing the Craft Forum I'm a member of, and after reading my post below, I'm sure some of you may just be feeling like me at the moment...no, not in the fat, bimbo, blobby way, but guilty....whilst I left a few stray healing heart blocks for Khristina to use on the C-R-A-F-T group quilts (she has a heart bank...awww ain't that sweet?) I didn't really do anything for all those gorgeous quilts they made and took up there and personally delivered....so when I saw Evie's post in the forum, and a subsequent link to her blog for the hearts, I thought I'd post about it here, so if you were wanting to do something for the people of Christchurch, you could...and how much more simpler could it get.....if you're not really skilled enough to make your own, or you're just not craft minded....then you can always send Evie some fabric, and she has ready and willing heart makers waiting to make some up on your behalf.....her mailing address is on the blog, and her target is 400,000 hanging hearts.....let's see if by word of mouth, we can help her over achieve that goal. If you want to join in, you can click on the photo above and it will take you to the Hearts for Christchurch blog. Happy hearting.

Internet C-R-A-F-T group in the news!

2011-03-10T12:05:00.002+10:30

I'm sure that no matter where you live in this large world of ours, you would've heard about the flooding that happened in Queensland a few weeks ago. Well Khristina (on the left in the pic above) rallied the troups, so to speak, and quilts and soft toys were made by members of her Yahoo C-R-A-F-T group.....in fact 16 quilts, and 70 or 80 Huggles (what Lucky calls her softies of love) were bundled up and hauled up to Queensland last week by Khristina.

If you click on the photo above, you can read the story that was in the newspaper up there.

Well done to everyone involved in the process. Isn't it wonderful how a bunch of women, headed by our illustrious 'boss lady', from across the globe, can make a change to someone's life who has had trauma in it....such as losing all their possessions due to the floods.

More Birthday Pressies, a OWOH win & a siggy block

2011-02-27T11:01:00.012+10:30

This past week, we had Marion (affectionately now known as Mazzie or Maz) and Grant (affectionately also known as Mr Handsome) come to stay with us for a few days....they arrived on my Birthday....what better gift could this spoilt brat ask for? I couldn't, but I did, however, receive some lovely goodies that they bought with them, which you can see as you scroll through this post.

Here's a group pic of the latest group of pressies I got, coz don't forget, I still have my birthday money fabric from the girls in the C-R-A-F-T group (link in my sidebar, you might need to scroll down a wee bit to find it though!) which is making it's way to me from USA as I type...hopefully it arrives this week sometime, so that I can show you all....I got HEAPS!

How cool is the owl mirror frame? The owls' front can only be seen if you look into the mirror. I've never seen anything like this, and Tarryn managed to find it somewhere in South Australia for me.....I'm astounded by how she managed to find it in sleep ol' South Australia! Thanks heaps Taz xxx

A close up of the set of three Hooties I got from James (a friend I've met through Maz and Grant).

Crystals (Amethyst which is my birthstone, rose quartz and a piece of clear quartz) from one of Maz's friends (and now mine), Karen, who's family is in Christchurch, N.Z. but thankfully are all safe and accounted for after the horrific earthquake they suffered on my Birthday.

Below is a close up of the matching fabrics....oilcloth and normal, that my friend Sandy (no blog yet, but I'll get her started on one soon) sent for me to see what I could come up with using it....kind of a birthday challenge present so to speak!

So yes, you could say I'm a spoilt brat, but you love me...you know you do...and if I tell you often enough that you do, you might even start to believe me...lol

You may remember just recently, I participated in Lisa Swifka's OWOH blog hop, well not only did I host one of the 'stopovers', I even went and visited about 100 or so of the other participating blogs....I even managed to win 3 of the door prizes....one I gifted to someone else (she knows who she is!), one is still on it's way to me, and the other, I got on Friday.

As you can see, I did take some pics of it, but if you'd like to see more, pop on over to Renata's blog and you can see it being modelled....woo hoo, she got her hubby to be her model for the camera.
This is the front of the bag.....gorgeous fabric and a cute bag to showcase it hey?

This is the back of the bag, or I guess it could be the front, but I think of it as the back, so that's what it'll be!
And lastly, I got a siggy block from Cat in N.Z. How cool are these things? I have no idea why I haven't seen any of these before or why I only have one, but if you are in Australia or New Zealand, Cat and I would be keen to do a Siggy Block swap.....seens as though her collection so far, is predominantly from the United States and she'd love to get some from here (my homeland) or New Zealand (her homeland) and now that I know how to make them, I wouldn't mind being part of an Anzac Siggy block swap too.

If you need instructions, I'm sure you could beg Cat for them...I did, and along with my siggy block from her, I got the instructions on how to make them....not that it's rocket science or anything, but I do like to know the 'proper' way of making something, before I butcher it and make it my own way...hee hee hee

Just so you know though, we haven't 'officially' started up the Anzac Siggy Block swap yet, we're still just throwing the idea backwards and forwards over the ditch right now! If you think you'd be interested in joining in on it, please email me or email Cat and let us know.

3 Parcels I got today & a Purlbee froggy & Happy Birthday me!

2011-02-21T23:40:00.020+10:30

A couple of years ago, well 43 to be precise, I was born into this crazy crafty world....one day I'll try and grow up, but until then, I'm afraid you'll just have to tolerate this dag and her warped sense of humour. I was born at 2.20 a.m. on February 22nd, 1968.

Today, well actually yesterday now, (due to the fact that our internet is soooooooo slow, I started uploading this post and all the pics on 21st February, but it's now 22nd February!) after being an info session/meeting for the Housing Co-op we are a part of (well almost, we've submitted our applications to become members, and are currently on 'probation'..lol) we came home to find Barry, our postal parcel man, had left not one, not two, but three parcels at the front door (between the two doors, so unless someone walked up there, you wouldn't know they were there!) and guess what? They were all for me.....YAY, I do love to get parcels!

I opened them in no specific order, and was in too much of a rush of excitement to do my usual slowly slowly photograph of each stage of the parcel unwrapping, sorry. First cab off the rank, was my Generosity Project gift from Marilyn.

Above are pics of the fantastic notebook, selvedge cover for it, and a PURPLE pen, which you can't really see as I quickly put it into it's holder once I unwrapped it! Didn't Marilyn do a lovely job of it? Thanks heaps Marilyn.

Whilst on the subject of the Generosity Project, I still have 2 spots left to fill on mine, and only 3 months to find people to fill them......please click Here, if you'd like to read about it, and perhaps sign up for it.

I got a freezer bag full of embroidery threads from my friend Mardi after I spoke with her on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that I now have my Mums' embroidery machine....but no embroidery threads were with it :o( Knowing it was my birthday soon, she sent me a little 'care package' of embroidery threads.

Would you just take a look at this variety of great colours....especially seens as though she even put some purple ones in just for me! She mentioned that she didn't have alot of purples to share, but having said that, she still shared some of what she had....awwww wasn't that sweet of her?

A close up of the netting stuff Mardi also sent...you put it over the reels of thread to stop them from unravelling and getting knotted up.

Thanks heaps Mardi xxx

Recently, I signed up for a Mug Rug Swap, hosted by Quilting Gallery dot com, and here's a pic of everything I received from my swap partner, Barbara, from Nyack, NY, all wrapped up...there were mug rugs, buttons, stickers, an owl cosmetic mirror holder kit, felt owl stickies & fabric...I don't think I forgot anything.....ooops if I did!

Front of the hooty mug rug.

Back of the hooty mug rug.

Front of the purple crazy patchwork mug rug.

Back of the purple mug rug.

Regular readers of my blog will know, I have issues with getting good pics...one day I'll work it all out, but until then, pics like the one above, will have to do.....in it you should be able to see the 'hooty hoard' I received along with my 2 mug rugs....bear in mind, the mug rugs were the only required items, the rest was a massive bonus on my behalf.

A close up of the "Hooty" fabric that Barbara sent me, as 'extras' in the Mug Rug Swap. How cute is that???? I love the one on the right, as I don't have any of it in my wee hooty stash of fabrics, but the middle one and the one on the left....I have not seen before and I just love it.....might have to have a look around and see if I can find more of it, and if I can find it in any other colours, AND if there were any other fabrics in the collection.....AND then, and it's a really big AND, sell my kidneys, the dog and the cat and get me enough to make a huge quilt! Don't want much do I? lol

Thank you to Barbara for sending me such sweet goodies, and also to Michelle from QuiltingGallery.com for organising the swap.

I'm not quite sure how long ago it was that I originally came across Purlbee's 'Purl Frog' tutorial, but just recently, a friend from Khristina's Yahoo group, C-R-A-F-T (link in my sidebar), bought it back to my attention! I decided it was time for me to make one, as I've just found out my niece loves frogs (hopefully she doesn't read my blog, as it's meant to be a surprise for her!) Anyhoo, I made her one, and when a friend came and stayed for a couple of days last week, she fell in love with Kaylenes' frog, so I made Sue her own one...hence the one pictured above, which was made from a vintage sheet I had near to me at the time! This pattern is VERY quick and easy to make....takes less than half an hour!

Hooty's new owner is.........

2011-02-17T20:51:00.006+10:30

As much as I hate to part with Hooty, I must be strong and watch as she flies away to a new home. I just went to Random.org and the following is a screenshot (cropped) of the number it selected/generated.
Congratulations to Aviya Glass, whose comment I've copied and pasted below.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit as many blogs as I'd have like to this year, but check out this post on Lisa's blog, which has some REALLY REALLY exciting news in it.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and I hope to see you all here again soon. I'm participating in another blog hop very very soon....so please be sure to come visit me, and read about it in the next couple of weeks.

Also, Lisa & Cat are hosting another swap...an Easter softie swap this time....click on the link for it over on my sidebar, or either of their names at the start of this paragraph.

OWOH - One World, One Heart giveaway Official posting

2011-02-17T19:04:00.001+10:30

Thank you to everyone who left a comment on this post, but I have now closed off the comments, and am about to go and draw the winner....well Mr Random.Org is! Stay tuned to find out who the new owner of Hooty is. Hugs Naomi

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog as part of OWOH. I'm Naomi and I live in a small country town, on the Murray River in Berri, Sth Australia. I've enjoyed hopping from blog to blog in OWOH the last 2 years, but have decided this year to fully participate....especially as it's the final one :o(

As far as craft wise, I've always enjoyed knitting and crochet, then about 8 years ago, I took up beading and when I realised that everyone else was doing that, I kind of lost interest....I've now been sewing for the last 3 years, and I love to make bags, wallets, raggedy style dolls, quilts, patchwork, tablerunners, etc etc I also really, really enjoy making softies, with my favourite type being Owls...HOOT HOOT.

Which leads me onto my door prize.

To be eligible to win the little Hooty pictured above, all you have to do is please leave a comment for me below, and make sure that I have someway of contacting you...if you don't have a blog, you can still enter...this door prize/giveaway is open to EVERYONE, no matter where you live.

On February 17th, 2011 I will use the auto number generator at Random.org to select a winner, at which point I will contact you via email to get your mailing details, and will post the winning name on a new post on my blog.

Thanks for coming and visiting my blog, and I look forward to getting to know a few more 'net buddies'. Once you've left a comment for me, don't forget to click on the OWOH pic at the top of this post to head back to the 'list' of all the participating blogs and find the next one to visit. Good luck with entering my door prize.

Mini Mystery Challenge I found

2011-02-15T08:00:00.003+10:30

Recently I joined up a craft forum, called OurCraftForum, which you can join too, by either clicking on the button in my sidebar, or just above where it says the forums' name. When I was perusing the forum, I noticed there was a thread called "Mini Mystery Challenge". Had to read about that one....didn't I? lol I thought it sounded fun, and I followed the instructions and selected a colour....purple, well derr! and mailed off a S.S.A.E to the person doing it. Olivia didn't know if I'd want dark or light purple, so she sent me the stuff to do either.....I couldn't let the extra fabric go to waste now, could I, so I made up both of them.

Here's the darker purple one.....and I made this one first....blind so to speak....isn't it a great idea? It's a pinwheel for when you don't need your whole pincushion, but you need to take pins out the house with you.

After making the darker one, and as I'd been sent two sets of squares to make the Pinwheel with....I made up the lighter coloured one, but this time, I added a key fob thingy and attached a pair of scissors to it....do you see the wee scissor button that I've attached as a charm?

I can definately see me making more of these as gifts. Thanks to Olivia for a fun mini challenge, and a fantastic idea.

I had originally posted these when I'd completed them, but had totally overlooked the fact, in my defence I was excited about them and wanted to show them off to anyone reading my blog, that the reveal date was today....15th February 2011....so here I sit excitingly awaiting any comments about my pinwheels.

Tilda Heart Valentines Secret Swap

2011-02-07T18:31:00.009+10:30

A short while ago, I signed up for the Secret Tilda Heart Swap and my partner is/was......muah-hahaha you're gonna have to wait for that, coz my swap gifties are still making their way to their new owner! But today, the parcel man, Barry is his name for those who might want to know! rang on my doorbell and handed me the parcel below...WOOT WOOT.

Picture me....on second thoughts, don't picture me doing it, but I was doing a happy dance today WHY? I hear you ask....that's because my swap gift arrived, all the way from Norway.....I know we were supposed to guess who our swap partner was, but being that it came from O/S, the name and address has to be written on the outside....so I kind of cheated by looking at the list of participants here. (Also, whilst you're there, check out the "Olivia Quilt" that Cat made for Tsunami, it's a real HOOT!....note to self, find out why said child has been named Tsunami!)

OMG, she's killing me....it's like the ad for the Sara Lee pastries (if you've seen them, you'll know what I'm talking about...which makes a nice change hey? lol) Layer, 'pon layer, 'pon layer...hee hee hee....inside the brown paper, was a taped up white box! Please excuse my fat arm...but I was hiding her address on the inner box....forgot I could blank it all out in Picasa...DERRR!

Boy, was the tension building in the kitchen at this stage or what? Then I saw that I had bubble wrap to play with....no Naomi, put the bubble wrap down and find the goodies, people are waiting to see what you got....TUT TUT pfft, ok then.....which leads me to the next picture.

And inside the bubble wrap, was this gorgeous Tilda Tin.

Is the suspense killing you, like it was me, when I was opening it? I mean, first was the brown paper around the box, then I had to contend with the tape on the box inside the wrapping, and then bubble wrap (pop pop pop!) then there was the delightful Tilda Tin inside....worth the wait though.

I got an owly pattern...for a tablerunner, it's in Norwegian, but she assured me I'd be able to 'wing it'.....lol Oh I'm such a hoot, joking like that hey? I also got some chocolate brown with pink dots on it...Tilda ribbon, and some pretty pink and white Tilda fabric, a Tilda Tin, some real yummy choccies and of course, my Tilda hanging heart. Just perfect, each and every item. Thanks heaps to Berit, who you can peruse her blog here.

Wasn't I spoiled with all the Tilda branded stuff? OMG I didn't know you could buy all those different things, I just thought it was patterns and fabric!

Here's hoping my partner likes her goodies when they arrive....wonder if she's worked out who it's all from yet....lol

Now, just a wee headz up.....I've heard a whisper, ok it wasn't a whisper, it was an email....telling me that there just might be a Tilda Easter swap in the pipeline, so head on over to Cat's blog and stalk her! Go on, do it, I DARE YOU!

Pattern Testing bag results.

2011-01-24T16:34:00.006+10:30

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

2011-01-23T22:25:00.004+10:30

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

2011-01-19T16:56:00.004+10:30

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!

2011-01-18T16:18:00.006+10:30

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.......

2011-01-18T11:29:00.002+10:30

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

2011-01-15T07:35:00.006+10:30

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!)

2011-01-13T22:53:00.015+10:30

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

2011-01-11T17:00:00.002+10:30

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

2011-01-01T17:40:00.004+10:30

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.

O lookie here.....a giveaway on my first full day back on the net!

2010-12-23T23:10:00.002+10:30

Hi honey's I'm home! And a new home at that.....I've just (along with the help of some lovely friends.....Raelene, Grant, Yvonne & Phoebie) packed up all my fabric into several (and boy, do I mean several...lol) plastic tubs, hired a truck, and moved about a 2 hour drive from where I used to live. The internet just got hooked back up today, and look at me having a break from settling in to find y'all a great giveaway....who could resist all that yummy fabric...thanks Retro Mummy for giving me the chance to win it. If you too would like the chance to win it, head on over (by clicking on the photo above....let's see if we can push the comments to over the 600 mark before it's drawn...which is taking place on New Years Eve....don't stress though, there's two names/numbers being drawn....hopefully they'll be you and me! Good luck

Hugs
Naomi

Holly Holly Blog Bingo

2010-12-08T08:57:00.000+10:30

CLICK HERE to go read about the Holly Jolly Blog Bingo

Just thought I'd spread the word about this, for anyone still reading my blog! Deadline to enter is Midnight tomorrow, sorry about the rush notice, but I do post about anything I find within time! Click the above link to head on over and read about how to enter.

Also....whilst I have your attention, I've been a bit quiet with posts lately, because a few weeks ago, I discovered that we're moving house.....it's to a nice 5 bedroomed house about a 2 - 2 & 1/2 hour drive away....but if you could see how much 'crap' I've accumulated over the years, you'd know why I haven't been blogging much. I still have alot left to pack, but some rooms are now done and I can't wait to get unpacked at the other end and start sewing again, I'm already having withdrawal symptoms!

If I don't manage to get packed & unpacked, and the internet sorted out in time, I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and an even happier new year for 2011 and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Hugs
Naomi

Accuquilts Black Friday Sale

2010-11-23T07:42:00.000+10:30

Click Here to go to the Accuquilt Sale

AccuQuilt’s Black Friday Sale – Lowest Prices Ever!

AccuQuilt is giving its blogger friends a sneak peek of their upcoming Black Friday sale! As you all know, Black Friday has become a great shopping tradition among Americans everywhere. However, a majority of consumers now prefer to shop online to escape the dangers of stampede and the hassles of long lines at stores. If you can’t find the items you want, it’s easy to hop from one store website to the next without being disappointed. Savvy online shoppers know how to get the most out of Black Friday sales by utilizing blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other websites to get the inside track on tremendous sales.

AccuQuilt is offering the lowest prices ever on some of their most popular items plus special Daily Deals you don’t want to miss! AccuQuilt’s Black Friday sale begins on Wednesday, November 24^th and ends on Cyber Monday, November 29^th! Don’t miss out – visit accuquilt.com starting Wednesday to place your order!

Just click on the link above (just below the picture) to go visit their sale page.

Hugs Naomi

Talk about skating close to the wind for this deadline....it's today!

2010-11-10T22:24:00.000+10:30

http://lavenderridge.blogspot.com/2010/11/go-giveaway.html

I can't believe I almost missed this GO! giveaway.....I think I've just made it in by the skin of my teeth, or butt, whichever tickles your fancy....if you happen to read this today, then you'll still have time to click on the photo above to enter to win a GO! and three dies. Good Luck

Hugs
Naomi

Not wanting to bore you with another post so soon, but I wanted to share pics!

2010-11-07T23:45:00.006+10:30

It was my friend Taz's birthday on 29th October, and her favourite colour is purple....so I based her zippered pouch/wristlet on a tutorial that you can find here. Taz loved it.....and she very kindly supplied me with the photos to share with you all....seens as though I forgot to take pics of it (ssssh don't tell Marilyn though, as I tell her off for not taking pics).

I have been making other things....some owls, some more hexagon keyrings and a patchwork coin purse....but haven't taken pics yet....will do that early this coming week though.

Hugs
Naomi

Fixing Vliesofix back to it's backing paper.

2010-11-07T10:32:00.002+10:30

Have you ever wanted to do some applique, and when you went to use your Vliesofix...it had separated from the backing paper? I've been reading some blogs/forums this morning, and found a method to fix it back on! WOO HOO paaaaar-tay!

To read for yourself how to do it, click here.

Once I've used up the vliesofix I have here, I'm going to be getting some of the more expensive one, of which there appears to be 2 brands of, which doesn't come off the backing paper....so I'm told!

Hugs
Naomi

Today would've been....

2010-11-07T09:57:00.002+10:30

my Mums' 87th birthday. I miss her more and more each day, sometimes more than once a day. Everytime I make something, I wish she was still alive so I could ring her and brag about it....she was probably my biggest fan!

Hopefully, she, my Dad and all my other relatives are having a HUGE party for her....coz she did love parties.

I love you Mum
Hugs
Naomi

Input.....need input....please!

2010-11-05T10:00:00.004+10:30

Hi guys and gals (if you're about my age from England, you'd remember that from tv!),

I'm hoping you'll be able to give me some help.....I'm wanting to know, what you think I should make as 'new' stock for the craft markets? Preferably nothing too fiddly and time consuming, but eye catching is good!

Is there a tutorial you've seen somewhere and thought you'd buy one (if you couldn't be bothered making it yourself that is, or don't have the time to!)....please share the link with me.

For those in the U.S. that may or may not have attended the recent market in Houston....what are the new trends in fabrics.....ie are owls still playing an important role (as they should *winks*) in designs.....are dots and stripes in or out? You get the picture....just want to try and get in ahead of trends falling down to Australia...lol What colours were on the agenda too?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.....and I look forward to hearing from you.

Hugs
Naomi

Who loves Strawberries????

2010-10-28T02:11:00.004+10:30

No, not the edible kind, although they are yummy, but I digress...as usual....Inspired quilter is hosting a giveaway of some yummy strawberry fabric, or some pear fabric....how healthy is that? lol Entries close on November 2nd so don't delay heading on over by clicking on the photo above.

Hugs
Naomi

P.S. You still have a day or so to enter, as I just went across to congratulate the winner, and noticed the date now says November 6th!

Awwwww I'm never gonna get there

2010-10-27T09:37:00.003+10:30

Sorry but this post won't have any pics, it's mainly just a sook post, and I didn't think a pic of me crying would look interesting anyway....lol

Why am I crying? A while ago, I read on someone's blog (sorry, can't remember whose blog though) that if she got 100 followers, she could sign up with Accuquilts Blog friends programme, and maybe get to host a GO! giveaway.....and win one of her own. So of course, I went and emailed Accuquilt to ask them about whether I, living in Australia, would be eligible as I had 175 followers.

I finally got an email back from them.....and the proverbial carrot has been moved, you now need 300+ followers....so my reason for crying is because once I get to (if I ever get there) 300, they'll have raised the carrot up to 500, and so on.

I think I've come to the conclusion that I'll never own one....so that's my excuse for not making another quilt yet....it's disappointment....at having to cut out manually with the spoils of a rotary cutter, still, I suppose that's still better than before rotary cutters were invented hey? lol

On a much, much brighter note though, my friend Melissa in Ohio won an Accuquilt GO! in Gene Black's giveaway....WTG Melissa. When I read that she'd won, I did a happy dance for her...it was almost as exciting as if I'd won a GO! myself.

Hugs from a grizzleguts
Naomi

P.S. After having my grizzle earlier, my bloggy friend Barb, very kindly gave me a head up about Micki's GO! giveaway....so I've been and entered...and if you'd like to win a GO! then head on off over to enter, by clicking here. Thanks for giving me the nod in Micki's direction Barb, and we'll talk turkey about the other thing in a few days hun.

Aren't these cutie pies?

2010-10-24T17:46:00.005+10:30

Above is the Little Wallet all closed up.

A short while ago, Vicki won the "Hot Potato" pattern that is doing the rounds. The condition of winning it, is that you get it for a month, then you have to host a giveaway on your blog for the pattern. Well I missed out, and didn't want to chance stalking the pattern to not win it, so I broke down and bought the pattern...lol. I love this pattern, they're so easy to make.

Above shows the Little Wallet, opened up....gotta love the blatant show of self promotion, by putting one of my business cards inside hey? lol

Have made more, but haven't taken pics of those yet.....this one has already gone to it's new home...a dental student, Justine M, at the Adelaide Dental Hospital, to say thank you for all the gentleness she's displayed when working on Raelenes' teeth 'n' gums.

If you'd like a chance to win the "hot potato", then any day now, at least I think it's any day now, Joy will be hosting her own giveaway...so click here to go stalk her blog. Good luck

Hugs
Naomi

GO! giveaways happening at Alderwood Quilts & Badland Quilts blogs plus a fabric giveaway at Joystudios' blog

2010-10-11T08:15:00.004+10:30

Hurry, and I mean you only have another day or so to enter....so rush rush rush on over, by clicking the photo above to enter to win some great fabric. Ends 13th October 2010. Good Luck.

Karen over at Badlands Quilts blog, is having a GO! giveaway....woo hoo, another chance for us to win one of these babies....click on the photo above to GO! directly to her giveaway post....BUT, don't forget to come back and enter the GO! giveaway at Alderwood Quilts. Karens' GO! giveaway ends on October 13th so hurry on over and get your entry in.

Sue over at Alderwood Quilts is hosting a GO! giveaway, and it's open until Nov 1st. Click on the above pic to go and enter your name in for this fantastic opportunity....and if you win, and by some crazy stroke of insanity, you find you don't end up wanting this nifty cutter....please feel free to send it to me! Sues' GO! giveaway is open to international entries....YAY. Good luck if you enter the GO! giveaway.

Hugs
Naomi

Want the chance to win a Bliss Layer Cake?

2010-10-03T11:06:00.002+10:30

As part of the Fall Into Fall blog hop giveaway, click on the link above to go enter Crazy Quilt Girls' Blissful (!) giveaway....make sure to tell her you saw it here first. Then once you've entered her giveaway, click on the scarecrow in her sidebar, and go enter all the other blog giveaways that are part of the blog hop. Good luck

Hugs
Naomi

Hi honeys', I'm home.....with news of another GO! giveaway!

2010-09-27T09:43:00.002+09:30

I had a wonderful time at the retreat. We ate, we talked, we laughed and we even managed to find some time to do some crafting too! What more could a gal want? An Accuquilt Go! would be on my list, that's for sure! And as luck would have it, I just found out about a Go! giveaway that I think I am eligible for.

Millie's Quilting has a giveaway on her blog for a GO! and 3 dies.....whoop whoop.....which 3 would you pick? I have decided on the 2 & 1/2 " strip, the 5" square, and I used to want the Dresden plate die, but think I'll have a change of heart this time, and see if greediness (for an expensive die) is what's prevented the giveaway fairies from taking pity on me thus far! So my third choice is the GO! circle.

Click on the above pic to head on over to Millie's blog and enter the comp for yourself.....I know that whilst I'd be jealous and GO! as green as the GO! with envy if you won, I'd be cheering at the same time, that one of my lovely readers won it. You have until October 2nd to enter.....so good luck, I'm back off over to her blog now, to complete my entries!

Hugs
Naomi

P.S. For those who are able to pick up on sarcasm in it's written form, that comment above about this GO! giveaway being one I'm eligible for, is because I'd been madly entering the GO! giveaway in Accuquilt's Friday Fun, only to find that I'm not eligible to win, as I'm not a legal U.S. Resident......SO, to win my GO! I'm making sure I keep an eye out for blog giveaways, as I believe they are open worldwide.....fingers crossed or I'll be upset again!

I'll be AWOL for almost a week!

2010-09-16T21:14:00.001+09:30

Why? I hear you say...well that's because it's my annual retreat with Khristina and some of the other gals from her Yahoo Craft group. We'll try not to have TOO much fun, but I'll have lots of pics when I come back.

Until then, stay safe and sew lots.

Hugs
Naomi

And the winner is.........

2010-09-11T00:12:00.006+09:30

Obviously the excitement of it being a "mystery" giveaway prize put alot of people off, but I'm sure that the winner will enjoy what I send her....yes, I'm still keeping it a mystery right up until the time that I know it's arrived at it's destination.

Oh, what's that I hear you say? Was it stop waffling Naomi and tell us who won? I thought so, and here I was thinking y'all might be patient with me...just in case you were the winner.

Ok, the winner was between commenter Number 1 and commenter Number 22..hee hee hee. Alrighty, I'll tell you now......I used the trusty random number generator over at random.org and here's a screen capture of whose number the generator drew out the hat for me...well actually not for me, for all you lovely people who entered my giveaway.
Now, if you care to look below, you would see that Kaye only entered an hour or so before I closed off the comments....talk about sailing close to the wind hey? Just goes to show, that sometimes first and last past the post do get called out!

So, as I'm in a generous mood, I drew 4 more numbers out of the hat, and they were 1, 21, 15 & 4......the four of you will be getting a wee package in the mail also. Congratulations to you all, I wish I could afford to mail out gifts to you all, maybe next time I'll put more prizes into the mix, or make it a bumper prize.....who knows, check back from time to time, and you may just catch hold of my next giveaway.

I've now emailed everyone to let them know they've won something.....so now I can publish this and go to bed....lol

Hugs
Naomi

Folded Hexagon Video Tute

2010-09-10T08:47:00.006+09:30

If you've been reading my blog lately, you would have seen the hexagon keyring I made, well I now have VERY blurry eyes this morning after sitting up late, scouting You Tube to see if I could find a video that someone had already done on how to make the origami hexagons.....and YAY, I found one. Although it's not in English, it's an easy to follow video. I'll take pics of what to do once you have 2 of them made to turn them into keyrings, although once you've got them made, it's fairly easy to see how I made mine....lol

Also, for those who were waiting for me to do my 'own' video, I cheated...lol

Please feel free to send me links to your blog if you make any of these.

Also, don't forget, today is your last chance to sign up for my giveaway....not many people have entered, so the odds of one of you winning, are pretty good! Click here to enter, if the comments are closed off, then sorry, you missed out. I'll have another giveaway soon, but for now, good luck to anyone who's entered.

Hugs
Naomi

P.S. Apologies for no warning about the dog barking in the background of the video...lol I didn't actually have my speakers on at the time I viewed it....lol It was only thanks to Aunty Sharon pointing it out and me watching the video again with my speakers on, that I realise how annoying the little yapper is...lol So, sorry about that, but if it's too annoying, and you don't speak Spanish/Portuguese anyway....just watch it with no sound...Big Hugs Naomi

A few things I've made in the last couple of days

2010-09-08T17:28:00.006+09:30

A friend of mine....Sandy, mentioned at Marion Markets once, that she wanted her friend Lois to make her one of these.....Lois told her where to go (but in a nice way) as they looked like alot of work. The other day, I found a blog that had instructions on it for making them, so on Monday, I made one.....think this one's a little big, especially if Sandy wanted it for a pin cushion....it's approximately the size of a soccer ball..lol Oh well, she's getting it whether it's the right size or not......I've already started a smaller one, but it's also not a Goldilocks one.....the 2nd one is too small, so once I've bought some more stuffing (the 1st one and the tree below have put paid to my stock of stuffing!) and finished the 2nd one off, I'll have a go at one in between the two sizes!

Remember the wee tree I made a few weeks ago? If not, see the post here. It was my entry for a challenge I'm in. Anyway, Raelene decided she'd like to try and make it in a bigger version.....so the above pic is what we came up with.....it's about 23" from tip to the bottom of the container it sits on...which was an old plastic container I'd gotten with flowers in a while ago...and I just made a black fabric (gotta love Homespun) cover and tied gold ribbon around it. We're going to use it on our table Christmas day....incidentally, the fabric we used for the tree is the same as the Tablerunner (backing fabric, that is) that I made here, not that I showed it in the pic of the runner...lol Can you believe that the tree took 500gm of stuffing, which is approx 1 lb of stuffing....alot huh?

I saw a tutorial on a site (I won't name it because the person has been known to 'steal' tutorials and claim them as her own....so if you happen to know where this technique originated from, please tell me, so I can link to that instead of where I saw it) for making folded hexagon flowers, and thought they'd be interesting to make. Once I made one, I decided to make a second one and turn them into a keyring. I made this side of the keyring (above pic), and then ironed it flat....but I'm thinking that wasn't such a wise move...see next pic!

This side I didn't iron it flat, and I think it looks way better, don't you? They're a quick and easy gift to make.

What have y'all been making? I've had a quick look around some of my regular blog haunts, but I'm sure you look and don't comment too, but I'd love to hear what you've been up to.

Hugs
Naomi

Mug pouch giveaway

2010-09-08T00:02:00.003+09:30

Rush on over to Susans' Blog as she's having a giveaway for a mug pouch just like those in the pic above.....giveaway ends on September 10th, so don't delay and go enter today! Either click on the photo to go directly to her giveaway, or where I mentioned her blog to go to her homepage. Good luck.

Hugs
Naomi

New BOM starting today

2010-09-01T09:45:00.002+09:30

To help celebrate Spring here in Australia, Fiona or Fee as she is known to most, has a wonderful FREE BOM on the first of the month.....this months download is available right now. If you're interested in completing the BOM, she even has a giveaway for one lucky person (will it be you? will it be me? Who knows, but you have to be in it to win it..lol) I'm going to try and make this up as I think it will be a nice gift and something that I have a month to complete a block before the next one comes out....in between ALL my other want to's! Hope you'll come join us.

Hugs
Naomi

Thought I'd try out a Blog Hop just for fun!

2010-08-30T23:50:00.003+09:30

I visited Robins blog earlier today, and saw she's having a mini giveaway, to be drawn this Friday (3rd Sept) and I thought it looked like fun, so I had to get in on the act....and tah-dah, I'm in...lol If you go to this post, you can enter my giveaway whilst you're here. Thanks for visiting me, I hope you either leave a comment on this post to let me know you dropped by, or you go enter my giveaway.

Also, please consider becoming part of the blog hop.

Hugs
Naomi

My August Challenge Item

2010-08-30T18:24:00.002+09:30

I signed up for Amanda's Christmas in July challenge, and here's my entry for August. I'm pretty happy with it, and it was relatively quick and easy, once I'd decided on what decorations I was putting on the tree! I kinda like working under pressure, as I only started to make my entry for August this afternoon, but managed to finish it with 1 day, 21 hours to go...lol

The decorations are just rose beads and tubular beads, with a hematite star adorning the top.

If you'd like to read a bit more about Amanda's challenge, please click here.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway.....by clicking here first though!

Hugs
Naomi

Celebrating my DGD's 3rd Birthday

2010-08-25T00:14:00.004+09:30

Firstly, Happy Birthday Chubba, Nanny & Auntie Raels love you lots. As I missed my 200th post giveaway opportunity.....I thought I'd find a date this month that represented something to me.....and what better date, than the above little darlings' birthday. (Sorry to disappoint anyone, but the above pictured cutie, is not the prize!)

I know a while back I said I'd have a 'just coz I can' giveaway, and have gone back on my word.....but the just coz I can part, is the actual prize....I'm going to make it a mystery prize.....or even prizes, if I have enough people comment, perhaps I'll throw another 'item' in for every 30 comments.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment saying you'd like to be entered....no hoops to jump through, no crocodile infested waters to swim across, just leave a comment, and please, make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win.......I will close the comments off on September 10th and announce the winner on September 11th.

It won't earn you an extra entry, but feel free to promote my giveaway on your blog....remember the more entries, the more prizes I'll be giving away....lol It's entirely up to you if you want to or not though, so don't feel pressured...that's not what this giveaway is about.

Good luck and I look forward to reading all your comments.
Hugs
Naomi

P.S. A big thank you to my friend in Qld, Diana, for sending me the cute pic of TaShie. Didn't she do a great job? You should see the others that she's done....they're soooo cute.

Just made this

2010-08-24T22:00:00.000+09:30

I was looking around blogs....well what a surprise that must be to you all hey? lol....and stumbled across a pincushion tutorial here....near the end of the tutorial, I saw coaster mentioned, and thought "I can do that" and VOILA one pizza coaster! I call it that because the segments of the circle, remind me of how a pizza gets cut. What do you think? Should I try and make a matching set? If so, do you think I should follow a colour scheme - 2 or 3 colours.....OR, should I do 6 different colours? Tell me, tell me, tell me...please!

Hugs
Naomi

Day out to the Whispering Wall

2010-08-23T09:11:00.015+09:30

Maz (my self adopted sister) came to stay at our place for the weekend, and yesterday I took her for a drive out to see the Whispering Wall as she'd never been there. Raelene couldn't come as she is still feeling pretty lousy with the flu.....I'm still trying, or rather my immune system, is still fighting it...fingers crossed I don't catch it.

The Whispering Wall is in fact the retaining wall of the Barossa Reservoir. Built between 1899 and 1903, the dam was a revolutionary engineering feat for its day and attracted attention from all over the world, even making its way into the pages of the journal Scientific American.

But what draws visitors to the Whispering Wall is its unique acoustic effects: words whispered at one side can be clearly heard at the other, more than 100 metres away. Children in particular love visiting the wall and testing its abilities.

Besides trying out the Whispering Wall, visitors can also learn about the history of the construction of the dam, take in the scenery of the water reserve and enjoy the colours and sounds of the peaceful bush setting. The information in italics is taken from this website

As we headed into Gawler, I noticed a sign at one of the roundabouts, advertising a LIONS club market.....and a slight detour down the next side street, voila, we were at said market (see above pic). It's a nice little market...more plants & Trash 'n' treasure than hand made goodies, but I did manage to score a big bag of poly stuffing that I can use in softies, and a basket I originally bought with the mind of using it on the stall, but Maz liked it so much, I gave it to her. I also bought Maz a sage plant from one of the stall holders.

Maz eating some hot donuts....I've read every page in the diet manual, and apparently if you buy hot donuts and only take photos of others eating them, then yours have no calories.....well I thought it was worth a try...lol I paid for it though....had a plus of 1.4kg on the scales this morning when I got on them, but my weight loss/gain yo-yo saga is a completely different story, and one I won't bore you with. (P.S. Maz will probably kill me for putting this photo on the blog, but I how could I resist...especially when there's no photographic evidence that I ate any? lol)

After our stop at the market, and once we'd eaten our yummy hot donuts, we finally made our way through Gawler, and off to the Whispering Wall.

The above three signs show information about the Whispering Wall and reservoir...unfortunately vandals and/or weather have obscured most of the information, but if you followed to above links, you will have been able to read about this ever so interesting landmark here in South Australia.

Anyone who knows Maz will know that she's just a little bit well known for her love of a bubbly called "Whispers".....how bizarre that of the three information signs, she just 'happened' to pose in front of the one with the word WHISPER on it...lol

This was taken from just near the carpark, to show the actual reservoir that the dam holds back.

This pic shows the view from the carpark end of the dam to the right.

This is a location marker that I was standing near, whilst I waited for Marion or Maz, to walk back around.

You may need to click on the above pic to enlarge it, but in case you don't have time, I told Maz to "wave for the camera" which she did...and you can just make her out waving at me.....bear in mind, that I told her this into the wall and it sounded to her like I was just near her....amazing!

If you look closely, you can just make Maz out as she walks around to the other side of the wall to give the acoustics a test. Hint....she's looking over the railing down the dam wall.

This was as Maz was walking back around to me. Notice I was kind and made her do the walk around the top of the dam??? lol

This was taken as we headed back to the car, to go back to Gawler, where we had a very filling lunch at Cafe Nova.

Had a quick trip to Spotlight on the way home, but alas they didn't have what I was after.....should've gone sooner to get the Minky fabric to make my DGD a pillow buddy that I saw on Elizabeth of twelvecraftstillchristmas blog.....I'll find the link for you so you can see what I wanted to make her.

Ah-ha, you can find part 1 of the tutorial here and part 2 of the tutorial here. Isn't it sooooo cute? So, as disappointed as I was to not have made it there in time to get the fabric to make her one of these, I did however get her some cute to hoot owl flanellete fabric to make her some pj's, some pretty brown pink and purple flowery cord fabric to make her a skirt and some folky owl chrissy fabric to make something for me! I'll edit this post a bit later today to add pics of the fabrics I got.

Hugs
Naomi

HURRY HURRY HURRY...GO! GO! GO!

2010-08-21T23:34:00.002+09:30

Jackie, and the fantastic people over at Accuquilt have got together to offer one lucky person the chance to win their own GO! I know I'd love to win it, and I'm sure at least one of you would too. So GO! on over to Jackies' blog to enter. The giveaway ends on August 26th so GO! GO! GO!

GOod luck

Hugs
Naomi

Jaybird quilts is having a sponsored giveaway from/by the FQS

2010-08-17T15:55:00.002+09:30

OMG how cool would it be to win the above FQ bundle? I know I would be having a "pure"ly joyous time playing with them all. The giveaway is sponsored by the FAT QUARTER SHOP, but hosted by Jaybird Quilts. You have up to 5 chances of winning....this is my last task to get my 5th entry.....good luck, you have a couple more days to enter, as it closes on Thursday 19th August to enter...hurry though, I'd hate you to miss out, that would just be a PURE shame. Just click on the FQ bundle above to be whisked off to Jaybird quilts to enter.

Hugs
Naomi

Ott Light special offer for Aussie crafters

2010-08-14T00:13:00.000+09:30

I'm doing a friend a favour and putting these lights for sale on my blog.....these retail for $130+ and as a special offer, Sandy has agreed to offer them for $65.00 AUD + Postage....or if you're in Adelaide, a pick up/drop off is a possibility. The ones I have here for sale are all grey, however, if you're quick, she may still have a pink and a blue one. If you're interested, please email me to arrange payment/postage.

***Please note, there's only one light left.....hurry so you don't miss out***

Hugs
Naomi

Melissa is hosting a Q.A.T.B swap

2010-08-10T08:30:00.003+09:30

Morning peoples, just thought I'd share with you about a swap my DQ (Dag Quad...long story!) pal in USA is hosting. I, yes wittle old me, was the inspiration for the name of the swap, so how could I not go sign up hey? I'm sure it'll be a fun swap....and you get to choose what theme your blocks are. Anyway, I won't prattle on about it here, Melissa explains it very well on her blog, so click here to GO! over and read about it and decide if you too would like to sign up. GO! on, you know you really want to...lol Sign ups are until 22nd August 2010.

As I once read it wasn't good blog-etiquette to have a post without pictures, I popped in the gratuitous cute kitty shot...lol Only to show that I do as I'm told.....some of the time...hee hee hee

Hugs
Naomi