A very SPECIAL Easter.

My special Easter began with a visit from a dear friend "Glenda" we have known each other for many years but we get a bit slack on the visiting side of things sometimes so it was just great to see her on Good Friday and I couldn't let her leave without a Faerie gift, one of the little doorstops I made a few weeks ago. It was terrific to spend the day with her.

Then things just got better after that day, my son "Rob" called with a lovely surprise, his son "Thomas" was coming for a visit from Sydney, we haven't seen Thomas since he was 18months old, reasons far too complicated to explain here. It was so good to see him with his Dad, he has only seen his Dad once in all that time so you can imagine it really was a great day for our family and of course they all came for Easter sunday, I was sooooo happy..... just fantastic. So now you have to see lots of piccies of my family..... sorry but I'm happy for us all, best Easter we have had for such a long time. Of course Thomas is a terrific little boy and seemed to be right at home with us all, we do hope that he will be able to visit his Dad more often in the future.

 Thomas, he's 9yrs old and he is on an easter egg hunt.

  Me ... Thomas, Dad and his partner Mel (she was trying very hard not to be in the photo)

 

 

Thomas with his cousins Clayton and June, they were all young when they saw him last but made friends as though it was yesterday.

 

                                             Jake, Clayton  (brothers) and Thomas.

 

                    Naturally all children have to have silly photos.

 

                                           Stacks on the Mill.

                                            

And of course you are never toooo old for easter egg hunting, Corinne is 19 now but she still loves to be a kid at Nan's. Corinee wasn't able to join us on Easter sunday so naturally the Easter bunny came on monday for her and she did get to visit Thomas at Rob's house which was great.

Thomas with his Auntie Heather and Auntie Liz.

As you can see my Rob doesn't like having his photo taken so this was a  " must I "  photo.

Do you like Liz's hair ?  You never know what to expect when you see Liz, its always different. hahaha

Another visit with Thomas before he goes home to Sydney.

Boys and their toys, never thought I would see these 3 together, its just great.

Pop, Dad and Thomas.

                            Playing with the remote controlled chopper.

What a super weekend and I even managed to fit in a bit of stitching too but that can wait for another post.

Finishes and other stuff

Its great to finish this project "My Garden" by Lynette Anderson as I joined the new "Christmas Fun" project and the first one has arrived from "Patchworks Plus" I promised myself that I wouldn't start it till the other was finished so far my  plan is working.

I bought the kit from "Homespun and Beautiful" and I'm very pleased with the lovely fabric.

The had painted buttons are so cute and really make the quilt come to life.

These are the fabrics and pattern for  "Christmas Fun"  , they are just waiting for me to start, I'd better get a move on as the next one is nearly due. Sarah  at "Patchworks Plus" has chosen lovely fabrics for this little quilt.

A great win for me from Michelle at " Rag-Tag Stitchin" in her March giveaway, love the pattern and the extas are adorable too, cute bear tag, thanks so much Michelle.

Mmmmm my g/daughter June cooked potato bake for us the other night and it was terrific.

What a ptiy she covers hers with all that sauce, doesn't really need it I don't think.

Another finish are these little baskets from the "Hatched and Patched" pattern "Lets Celebrate" very easy to make and I'm sure they would make great gifts with sewing goodies or choccies in them, its a sample for my friend "Tess" at "Raggedy Station"  for her new shop "Homespun and Beautiful".

And....... proof  the my friend "Teresa" is really still doing the "Gardeners Journal" quilt even though she has begun the "Tis the Season" project, I promise to keep her on track and make sure she finishes, you will find both these BOM's on the "Stitch-a-long" blog so pop over and have a look at all the wonderful progress the girls are making.

Another finish for OPAM

Another "Faeries in My Garden" Gift of the Month finish, this one is called "Parisienne"  a lovely cosmetics or shower bag. Its a great size and the fabrics are really beautiful.... can't wait to use it...... I will keep this one as a little pressie for me..... naughty but nice.

Ooooo a giveaway

 Tereasa is having a wonderful giveaway to celebrate the opening of her new shop "Homespun and Beautiful" and of course I had to enter, I was at the new shop today and saw the fabric in the flesh.... so to speak.... its beautiful and the lace button is something really different so if you want to enter then pop over to her blog... Raggedy Station.....and look for yourself at the wonderful prize.

A Faerie's finish

Not sure if I have fixed my problem with photo uploading ( with help from Chooky ) we will see ....

I have been working on this project for a little while now as it has a lot  of fiddly bits but has come together nicely in the end. Its from the "Gift of the Month" from "Faeries in My Garden" the pattern is called "Dee's Dressing Table Set" I love the fabrics ..... this will be my first OPAM for April.

Jewellery Box and Manicure case.

This is the Manicure case  lovely embroidery design.

Inside the case

A Picnic and a problem !!!!!!

Well its Teddy Bear's Picnic day again, these bears get more picnics than I do but they do love them so I guess its all good. These cuties I have had for a long time and they smell sooooo nice, the poor little things have aromatic oils poured in an unmentionable place..... tut  tut  tut.....  but they don't seem to mind      which is good .... they brought cake with them .... not a lot of cake but a small bite each. There are other friends joining them at the picnic so if you would like to check them out pop over to Melody's blog and you find other picnic links there.

Now for my problem, I tried to upload more piccies of finishes for OPAM but blogger won't let me, I get a message that I have used my piccie quota and I now need to pay to put more photos on my blog..... has anyone else had this problem ?..... so sad..... I guess my finish will have to wait till next month.

Does anyone pay for photo space on their blog ?

Kingaroy retreat and stitch-a-long.

Well here we are stuck in  traffic for quite awhile.... nothing going either way.... finally we were off again but we did stop for a little break.

We found this cafe so lunch was then the order of the day.

Teresa was trying to get out of the picture but she couldn't escape my camera, Laurel was a good girl though.

Happy hour at the "Quilter's Rest" at Kingaroy, fabulous place away from the world, no television or radio.... just stitching..... fantastic.

We thought this was very funny, Jenny and I had our little irons and were using the same ironing board for our bear clothes.... the table was very large ... thought it made a cute piccie.

Here we are with our bears, we both bought a kit at last years craft show and thought it would be good to make them together. The bear "Goodnight Irene" was already made... we only had to make the clothing and they look fabulous .... well we think so. 

We didn't know all the ladies but we all soon made friends quickly and heaps of laughing, chatting and sewing followed.

These are the goodies I bought at our retreat, there is a great little craft shop there as well so of course one can hardly leave without a purchase or 2.

I've also finished the first 3 blocks for the "Tis the Season"....   the "Stitch-a-long" group are doing this together this year, its great for motivation  with so many ladies doing the same thing.

Melody's Tuesday Treasures.....

Tuesday Treasure day again.... I wasn't sure what to show this week but after spending another great day with my crafty friends I thought these photos would be just perfect.  Times spent with these girls are so good, laughing.... chatting..... coffee.... more laughing and sometimes crying..... we share the good times and the bad, I know that they will be there what ever happens.... they are real treasures .....  to make good friends is a rare thing and these girls are the best..... luv ya girls and thanks for being my friend.

Me.... Laurel (blogless) and Tereasa

 Tereasa..... Teresa.... Laurel.

Don't forget to pop over to Melody's blog and you will find great links for more Treasures.

Well.... its Teddy Bear Picnic day again

 Gosh these picnics come around quickly but we are ready, this cute beary girl "Honey" that my special friend Tereasa made for me is really happy its picnic day and pinned to her is the little sign that was given to me by .... can you guess ?   No, then I'll tell you g/daughter ...Corinne.....  The doll behind I painted a long time ago and her little sign says " Your a Beary Good Friend" so I think they all go together very well, for them its only a very small picnic but a good one.

Pop on over to Melody's blog and you will get to see more links for other beary picnic bears, they are having a wonderful time.

Sorry this piccie is so small but I've been fiddling around for ages and can't seemto work out how to resize it. Teresa sent it to me in an email but I have given up so I will change it later when I find out what to do.

You will be happy to know I have a new quilt holder as the other one wasn't doing a very good job but ..... and thats a big  BUT..... this one is a bit naughty so I might have to give her the sack too.... can you imagine she tried to make off with my quilt oooowa , she does look lovely though.... thanks Teresa.

Well I'm off on a retreat this weekend to " The  Quilters Rest" in Kingaroy QLD with Teresa, Laurel and Jenny .... boy of boy am I looking forward to that, hopefully I will have something to blog about next week.

Happy Stitching to you all.

Melody's Tuesday Treasures

This Tuesday Treasure is beautiful but sad in a lot of ways. My g/daughter... Corinne... and her b/friend...Kenny... came back from a holiday in Japan 3 weeks ago, while away they stayed with Kenny's parents but then  the awful news of the earthquake and Tsunami in  Japan shocked the world, our thoughts are with Kenny's family and of course all the people of Japan.

While they were in there Kenny celebrated his 20th birthday and these are the photos of his special night.

Gosh they look wonderful.

Now this leads me to my treasure, Corinne gave me this lovely plate from Disneyland, its just delightful and has found a home in my china cabinet.

The detail is terrific, I love it.

Pop over to Melody's blog and check out the links for more Tuesday Treasures.

A March finish

I really do need a new quilt holder this one just isn't doing it right..... hahahaha..... I said " Don't stretch it when you hold it"   hmmmmm  and then the wind came so it looks a bit out of shape but you get the general idea I think.....   this is my "Friends in Stitching" BOM quilt and I'm very pleased with the end result even if I say so myself. I might try and get a better photo when my friends come on Tuesday, they know how to hold a quilt properly hehehehe.

I did the quilting with the new..... Flossie.....sewing machine  and it did make the job a lot easier, the large throat sure makes all the difference.

Here is the quilt label.... each of our members received one from Sarah who is the organiser of our online group and the lady who keeps us on track,  it also came with a tea bag and a little card with a beautiful verse (here), I posted about it earlier..... thank you Sarah it was a lovely surprise.

Teddy Bears Picnic and a late Tuesday Treasure.

                                                           Two for the price of one.......

 I'm doing a little bit of cheating this week as I missed Melody's Tuesday Treasures but I'm just in time for the Teddy Bears Picnic .... these little bears are now treasures so here I go. My lovely g/daughter Corinne recently went to Japan for a holiday and knowing I love bears .... especially Pooh ...... gave me these 2 little cuties. Love the bear in the Kimono, no name yet but I'm sure I will think of one soon. 

Pooh is from Disneyland in Japan.

                                                          Don't you love the feet !!!!!

Teddy Bears Picnic

   

Introducing  my firend "Chloe" she loves sitting here on the cupboard in the spotlight, shes a bit of a show off I think but she really is a very special girl and was made for me by "Teresa" as a gift for me last christmas, there was also a bit of a challenge with her too, Teresa gave me a doily and then I had to make a dress out of it, her little cat brooch was my sisters (who passed away some years ago) so she really is a very very special bear, I love her.

If you pop over to Melody's blog you will see  links for more lovely bears.

My first Tuesday Treasure

This is my first post for" Melody's Tuesday Treasures" , my friend Teresa has been urging me to join so here I am. My Mum gave me this bible when I was quite young but unfortunately she didn't write inside the cover so I'm not sure how old I was.... it just always seems to have been there..... we're not a religious family but like most people I did spend my early years going to sunday school and church on sunday.

Its a beautiful book with a few colour pages but most of it is in black and white.

So if you are interested in seeing other treasures pop over to "The House on the Side of the Hill" and you will see other links there.