A Logo and working in Blues

I decided I needed a logo . My pattern designing started last year and was inspired after a positive response from a quilt I had designed and made,  appearing in the Australian Homespun magazine. That quilt was called  "A Day in the Country" and had sheep on a hill. So my logo has the sheep on a hill together with the flowers that I love to embroider. I may improve on it by adding colour etc-- but  I am happy with this for now.

My Logo



I am currently in a blue mood, and I am sewing a set of blue cushion covers and  a blue wallhanging.
I have been cutting and trimming and there were threads and bits of fabric all over the table. Of course I did not have a thread catcher-- hence the mess. So  I stopped everything and made myself a thread catcher-- like everyone else, I needed one. So now I have a thread catcher that matches what I am currently sewing and it has been put to use immediately.

 

 Thread catcher and a half finished wall hanging.

 



Thread catcher with a completed churn dash block



I have cut the fabric do do these churn dash blocks for the wallhanging-- they are always  a challenge to get the corners just right.



 

Many years ago, I made this English paper pieced quilt for my son. The whole top was done by hand, but I did get it machine quilted. It  had been in the cupboard for ages and I have brought it out again to be used.



 

An English paper pieced quilt



                                                                            

The weather has been crazy here. We have had heat above 40 degrees causing bushfires. Now we have a cyclone causing floods in Queensland and bringing rains further down the coast-- hence Sydney is being innundated with rain. It rained all day yesterday and it has been pouring all day today as well. The Pacific Ocean is wild and choppy and it is certainly not a day for the beach.

However, it is a good day for sewing.

 

Take care,

Yvonne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Buttons and Brooches Page

 I have been wanting to put my Buttons and Brooches and Patterns that I do on my blog with the hope that someone thinks that they are good enough to have. My photography skills are limited.

A family friend, who uses the pseudonym, Mongo, has been helping me by taking the photos for me  and he has placed the Buttons and Brooches in a grid format. This was what I was trying to download in my last Post-- and after help from my blogging friends-- here it is. So if you click onto the "Buttons and Brooches" page   you will find it. Thank you, Mongo, for taking the time and effort for making this possible.

I have yet to work on the  Patterns and Embroidery page, but hope to do so soon.

Until next time.

Cheers,
Yvonne

January 2013 and Help needed re adding photos

The New Year has come and it is now the 22/1/2013. It is well and truly summer here and we have had very hot days-- combination of hot days and no rain has brought alot of bushfires which have caused havoc, especially in the countryside.We have  had some reprieve a few days ago with some slightly cooler weather and a little rain.

We are a very sad household at the moment. Our beautiful dog, Tess, is no longer with us. She enriched our lives for almost 16 years. She was a great pet --- joined in the backyard cricket and frisbee games when she was younger, made us laugh with her tug of war games and chasings around the house, decorating the hallway with toilet paper from the toilet roll and strewn socks from every room in the house. She loved gardening and always knew when the carrots were ready to be picked-- she always got to them before we did! She knew when you were happy and she knew when you were sad. She was always there wherever we were. There was always her little "woof" if we were out of sight. All that is now a memory and I cannot believe how much I miss her cheery face.

I have been trying to add some photos to this post and when I clicked onto the picture-- it opened , but there is no "Browse" to click onto to get the photos that are in a folder in the computer. I am sure there was a word "Browse" there before to click onto that let you then enter the folders on the computer. There is nothing there and now  I don't know how to post a photo from my collection. It will not let me cut and paste either. I have not had this before-- has anyone else got the same problem and can I please get some advice as to how to overcome it.

I have decided to do some blue and white work--- have just started on a couple of pieces and am happy with how it is turning out so far--- must be OK as my daughter said that she thought it would look good on her lounge and she "would be happy to have them, thanks!" So it must be OK!! Sorry, I cannot show any photos until I get a solution to my problem.

A family friend, who goes under the pseudonym of "Mongo", is a great photographer. He has been helping me with creating a logo for the covers of my patterns,   and taking photos of the brooches, buttons, patchwork pieces etc. So the quality of the photos on the patterns will be much better than what I have produced before. He has photographed a few of my buttons and brooches and put them in a grid form for my "Buttons and Brooches" and "Patterns" pages. I had some time today and thought that I would get the pages all set up with his photos-- and lo and behold-- this problem has cropped up and I cannot download the photos to the blog. I do hope that someone will be able to advise me and that  I will be able to rectify the problem soon.

I look forward to advice and solutions.

Cupcakes and Christmas Decorations

I arrived at work yesterday and found these on my desk-- a gift for Christmas. They are so gorgeous, it will be difficult to cut and eat them.  I can imagine the amount of time it would have taken to decorate each cake, as each bit of icing has been coloured and imprinted to perfection.

Christmas Cupcakes

 

 

 

I have been painting lots and lots of these Christmas decorations. I had painted a few brooches in this shape and had put names on them. My daughter, who is a primary school teacher, saw them and decided that they would be great little gifts for her students. However, I thought brooch pins may not be a good idea for little 6 year olds. Next thing I know, I had these shapes cut out in a larger size and was painting 24  of them, one  for each child in her class-- each one with the child's name on it. I don't know how I got talked into it as it took me ages to paint them. After painting and varnishing and adding the ties to them , I forgot to photograph them before I handed them over to my daughter. Anyway, I was on a roll, and decided to paint a few more.



 





Christmas decorations

 

Melanie, I might use these decorations as my 3rd Olympic Challenge. I know that they are another painted item-- but they are decorations instead of buttons or brooches.

 



 



I would like to sew a couple of things as gifts, and am running out of time. I hope I will be able to achieve at least a couple of  items before the end of next week.

 

 

I had recently read a comment on a blog, that the blogger planned to make a  Christmas gift a month and hence by December would have 12 gifts ready without feeling rushed at the end. I don't recall which blog that was on. I have decided that I will try and do that starting from January 2013. ( Oh Oh! It does sound like a New Year's resolution--- have never made one before, and am told not many actually keep to their resolution!)

 

 

If I don't  manage another post before Christmas--- I would like to wish each and everyone of you a Very Merry Christmas and Best of Health and Happiness for 2013.

 

I would also like to Thank everyone who has taken the time to visit this blog and especially taking the time and effort to leave comments. I have made some lovely friends through the blog  and look forward to communicating with more in the future.

 

Take Care.

Yvonne

Jacaranda time and a day with a blogging friend

We have 2 jacaranda trees in our garden. The one in the backyard was already there when we moved in 26 years ago. The one in the front was put in by my husband some years ago and it is his pride and joy! This year, the flowers have been glorious and this photo does not do the tree justice. When one stands under the tree, it feels as if your world has a purple hue to it.

 

Jacaranda tree in front garden


 



 

Close up of jacaranda flowers



 

Last week I met a blogging friend. She was visiting Sydney with an overseas visitor and we decided to meet up for the first time. I decided that a walk along Sydney Harbour would be a nice way to see Sydney and also a visit to Nutcote ( May Gibbs' House) along the way . May Gibbs is Australia's  equivalent to Beatrix Potter. We met at Circular Quay and caught the ferry to Neutral Bay ( where Nutcote is)  and walked to Cremorne Point-- and caught the ferry back to Circular Quay.




2 visitors to Sydney 

 

 

 

View from Neutral Bay across to Sydney Harbour

 

 

 

A jet boat on the harbour trying to do a fast turn

 

 

 

A Masked Lapwing ( a new bird species that has come to live in suburbia in the last few years)

 

 

 

 

 

Kangaroo Paw Flowers ( an Australian native flower)

 

 

 

Kookaburra in the backyard

 

 

I enjoyed the day with a fellow blogger and we hope to repeat this meeting soon. We did conclude our time together by visiting the patchwork shop that I usually frequent. Of course a patchwork shop had to come into the meet.

 

 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Thimble No. 2 for the Olympic Challenge

Melanie, (www.houseelf-doings.blogspot.com) is hosting the Olympic Challenge and this is my attempt for the No. 2 Thimble.
Australian animals are quite unique and I have a few laser cuts that I have painted as brooches and buttons. The Australian flowers are also different and I have attempted the bottlebrush ( on the Australia brooch), Flannel flowers ( on the kangaroo and possum) and a small amount of wattle ( on the possum).

 

 

Kangaroo, possum,Australia, wombat, platypus,and echidna

 

 

Life is a little hectic at the moment-- painting these have been rather relaxing-- as it gets me into another space.

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog and will aim for  a longer post soon.

Take care,

Yvonne



Sheep, a tiny treasure chest and an overseas parcel

My daughter and I had a few days in the country, visiting my son. The country side was looking very pretty. The canola flowers had past their peak colours, but still looked pretty.  I just loved taking a drive and looking at the patchwork of colours around me, and of course, the cute little lambs next to their mothers--- some feeding and their little tails whirling around as they fed.

 

Lamb having a feed

 

 

This ram was standing in the shade

 

 

Ruins of an old corrugated iron chapel

 

Wildflowers growing on the side of the road

 

 

Pretty yellow ones

 

 

This tiny flower was growing in the dirt

Tha canola when I was there in September 2011

 

 

The scenery reminded me of the patchwork cot quilt and wallhanging I had made. It was difficult getting the yellow fabric to match the canola.

 

 

One of the panels of my wallhanging

 

Tatyana, (www.tatkis-mousehouse.blogspot.com)  a friend I have made  through blogging, makes lovely bead work. I bought these stitch markers that she had made from her etsy shop. But I also had a lovely surprise when they arrived, as they were accompanied by this gorgeous treasure chest. It is only 4cm x 3cm and painted in a similar style to the Zhostovo folk art. I had attempted painting this style many years ago, but found that I preferred other styles of painting instead. Tatyana had a recent trip to Russia to visit her family and bought this as a gift. Thank you very much, Tatyana.

 

 



4 little stitch markers and the tiny chest

 

 

 

 

 Recently, I received an email all the way from Norway. Asne, the owner of Quiltefryd in Tonsberg, Norway ( www.quiltefryd.no) contacted me to see if she could have some of my patterns for her shop. Of course she could! So I have taken a parcel to the post office and my patterns are winging their way to Norway.

 

 

The weather is warm and sunny today. Great day to air the house and dry the washing. I guess it is back to the household chores now.