Willowberry Designs ~ Alpaca Softies

Under the Sea block 8

Sharlene Shark

is now available for download from the link in the right hand sidebar under Free Downloads and other stuff

Although she appears a bit scary, her sparkling sharp teeth are merely an attractive accessory... she's quite the vegetarian :)  Morty the Mudcrab knows it and whenever she glides past he tries to kickstart a mexican wave... bit difficult when the crowd consists only of Morty....

Do these faces look like they trust Sharlene?  Stanley, Russ and Phil look a little frightened to me....

This is the design after colour shading and before the stitching has been added...

~not the best photos... today was a dull and rainy day... just perfect for sitting with the funny little man, watching some tele and stitching~

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It's been a BIG week!  Waterboy turned 30 so there was a big fun dinner to be had, complete with family and friends... he and his sweet country girl are down at the Gold Coast for the weekend

and our last little Gosling left the nest this week.  Yep, this Ma and Pa Goss are wombling around in our big house... just the two of us plus Ratty and Monty the mad cockatiel.  Blossie has always been a quiet little thing but now that she's gone the house seems even quieter.... and empty... and we now have two guest rooms, neat as a pin and ready for visitors

Who wants to come visit?  I have plenty of quilts to snuggle under and funny little man is a good cook :)

This episode of 'Under the Sea' has been released a day early because tomorrow I have to show off... seeya then

Cheryl xx

91 sleeps.... and counting.... Flights have been booked, accom has been booked, baguettes are baking...

Ethel Fleabite

made my fave pincushion.... check it out

told you it was clever :)  and it came with three friends ~ pin toppers... a cutesy bumblebee and two sweet mushrooms.  You untie the pretty ribbon, open it's gob and there you have it!!  A secret needle hiding place...

It sits on the arm of my stitching chair beside the big window... right near the sweet little thread catcher from my friend Fee :)  They're part of the Rouenneries gang...  (and did you know?  theatre seats have little hollows that are just the right size for a thread catcher... how clever...  apparently they're for cups but who would be that silly)

Go here to visit Ethel's blog... she's such a treasure!!

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Today... I might do something with this lot

Funny little man is on the deck making belching noises with the belt sander...  tomorrow he plays with decking oil... I might go out

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Pure delight :)

40 fat quarters... heaven.  It's becoming something

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and just in case you'd like to see... this is the corner of my 'White Christmas in July' design for the QFD Christmas in July event... it's not too late... it's still July :)  Still lots of delicious things to be had...

If you're busy and miss out, the pattern will be available for purchase on September 1st

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My sweet friend Marj - who will be 89 years young soon - makes gorgeous little patchwork pram quilts for her precious great grand babies as they arrive.  Marj is the dearest and most gentle little lady and I have the pleasure of quilting her creations

These are for two little great grand sons due in the next month or so - backed with the softest fleece to make them snuggly

Imagine little fingers clutching at the mushiness of this blinky...

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Countdown... 96 sleeps to go

seeya, I'm off to stitch an underwater discotheque....

Cheryl xx

Pincushions

A girl can never have too many....

I've been invited to tell you about the pincushion I designed for my friend Fee

Fiona is one of the Gum Tree Designers ~ you can visit her blog here and see all of her beautiful things and gorgeous creations.  Fee has a lovely eye for vintage treasures and often shares photos of her special finds.  I'd love to visit with Fee in Tasmania, I just know we'd giggle like ten year olds and then we'd play in her fabric stash... it's a pretty substantial fabric stash.... fun... :)

This is 'Fee's Pincushion' - a big sunflower from sunny Queensland

Our challenge was to create a pincushion from the bits n pieces left over after Dawn had completed piecing the 'Springtime' quilt.  (Read more about the history of this quilt here)  There were a couple of bigger bits, some middle sized bits and quite a few triangle bits.  I made a big happy-faced sunflower and the triangle bits became the little petals around the edge

I added a hexy scissor fob that can loop around the button and there's a 'moda' tape loop for hanging when you're not using it.  A little note written on French General stationary completed the picture

It was a nice thing... to make something special for someone special with special bits of scrummy fabric... left over from a really special project that you'll hear more about in the next couple of weeks

To see another clever pincushion swap creation, have a look at Vicki's blog

Tozz's Corner

The free tutorial for a similar pincushion will be available in August, I'll tell you more then

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The pincushion I received from another of the Gum Tree Designers is now my fave.  It's so very clever and it came with three little friends...  You'll see it in the next few days when the designer shares it on her blog.  I'll let you know when...

Cheryl xx

Two weeks of gossip...

You leave your camera at your sister's place for a couple of weeks and look what she does....  makes raspberry souffles, takes a photo and then eats them.  All of them.  Not fair!

Souffle.... sounds a bit French to me...

Been a bit absent the last little while so I thought I'd catch you up on everything with a gallery of photos.  Let's go backwards...

Last night's rain... after a warm winter's day

Yesterday's finish

Who says flowers need petals?  fluffy, smudgy wriggles of colour do the trick

Little Felicity Finefeathers... a new design for a workshop I'm teaching at the end of August.  Sweet pudgy little thing :)  Felicity that is... not me...

Looks like a good spot for a house.... with a quilting room.... overlooking the little creek.... facing the morning sun....

A stop on the way to Brissy.  I stood on his foot so he couldn't run... might keep him...

and behind us?  Lake Wivenhoe on a crystal clear Winter's day...

This little guy came for breakfast at tiffany's ... well, maybe it was breakfast at Bev's

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Last Wednesday I had a visit from the gorgeous Joy who drove up the big hill to spend the day with me out at Fresh Hope.  Lots of laughs and a very special morning tea with the girls, Karen & John and Mary.  We sat around the big square table while the girls shared their Fresh Hope experiences, all the while the little squeals of happy children filled the house.  Most of the kids were at school or day care but we got to know them through their Mums and the photos dotted around the walls... I'll share more of the reason behind this visit in the weeks to come

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Then we had a visit with Moo and a stroll around the lake near her home... another crystal clear Winter's day

you guys need to bust your cobwebs... and get a room...

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what's on today's plan?  Some quilting, some stitching, maybe a walk along a country lane (forgot to take the camera yesterday) and apparently the funny little man will be baking chocolate/caramel muffins.  Hmmmm, will let you know how that goes.  We're into week two of his 'at home' time... so far so good! 

Holiday happenings ~ a week at the beach in August with my sister and mad brother in law.  Chilling out and having fun... looking forward to that.  Our big holiday plans have been brought forward and we're now going to the land of croissants and souffles and chateaux and the big tall tower and looong bike rides at the end of this year...  101 sleeps to be precise :)

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The Springtime Hanging of the Quilts

Time for an update...

Commences - 1st September (my springtime)

How long - all of September

What - a showcase of our fave quilts, in exotic locations

Where - on our blogs, or right here if you don't have a blog but would like to show off :)

(note - showing off is compulsory)

More info in the next few days... in the meantime, have a scout around your area for an exotic photo shoot location

I think that's everything

except that this little wallhanging ~ 'Coming Home' ~ is in the latest issue of Creating Country Threads

Have fun stitchin'

Cheryl xx

 

Another finish

Well several really

Finished deciding what to do with my 'laugh... dream... create...' design

I'm going to make it into a decorator cushion instead of framing it... I like cushions... I was going to frame it and tried several different mat colours but nothing was right...

So it will become a cushion

Finished stitching one sweet little pillow front - it's number one in a set of four newbie designs...  One set colour shaded, the other done in redwork... so sweet :)

and finished my second project for the QFD Christmas in July event... it's not too late if you'd like to join.  I can only show a snip because it's top secret :)  But they're very tweet... I wasn't sure how big to make their bellies, so I looked in the mirror.  Hmmmmmm, round and cuddly, that'll do it!

and our final finish for now is that the funny little man will finish work on Friday... for good.... (well maybe for a year or two)  He'll be at my beck and call, catering to my every whim, and he'll try to keep me on track... good luck with that one my sweet :)

Have I bragged about our big holiday next year yet?  I promise to annoy the life out of you for the next eight months, really, I promise.  Only 246 sleeps to go...  I've started eating more croissants and saying things like 'merci' and 'je t'aime'... to my funny little man.  Did I mention he's a bit cute....  and his sugar snap peas are flowering... yay for flowering peas!

seeya

Cheryl xx

Christmas in July - more stuff

Just a quick note today... I'm really busy sitting around doing nothing... :)

but I thought I'd remind you all about the little christmas stitchery designs I shared last year - especially for the those among us who are trying to get organised for christmas this year!

Not me... always disorganised... always running around like a mad chook in the last few days before the event

go here for the pattern

Today I'm working on the sweetest little designs... I hope to finish them in the next few days

Here's a snip

seeya

Cheryl xx

'Under the Sea' block 7

Octavius' Speed Clean Service

 

 

is now available for download from the link in the right hand sidebar under Free Downloads and other stuff

He's a busy little guy, well armed with the necessities of his daily chores.... if you'll pardon the pun :)

This is where he sits in the scheme of underwater life... I think... maybe he'll move along a little... I'll let you know when I know...

Octavius is very popular... some of the critters line up for hours to have their barnacles busted... Can you see Nellie the Nudibranch sliding across his sign?

 

Fun!

have a fun stitchy day and if you've joined the Christmas in July fun over at QFD Creative, I'll see you in the chat room tonight :)

Cheryl xx