Completed matching Heart Wallhanging.

We had a very windy and rainy night, but now the rain has stopped and I was able to go for my  usual Sunday morning walk. It is still rather overcast and  hence a good time to be indoors sewing. The varnish on the heart buttons is dry now and I have sewn the buttons onto the wallhanging. I chose to leave the butterfly/dragonfly buttons off this piece as I felt that there might have been too many buttons for the wallhanging. I have sewn the  light blue butterfly button onto the cushion and will use the dragonfly on the second cushion cover which is also just completed.

Heart wall hanging

 

 

Now I have the wall hanging and 2 completed cushions-- a finish for February. In the New Year, I decided that I would aim for at least 1 thing a month. Hence 1 cushion in January and now another cushion and the wallhanging for February. Hopefully, I am on a roll and it will continue!

 

 

Cheers,

Yvonne

 





Heart Cushion-- I need help to decide which button to use.

I cannot believe it--this is my second post in 1 day!

The weather is miserable today with lots of  rain, and wind blowing the rain in all directions. So a good day to stay indoors. I went to the gym this morning . I usually go to a Zumba class on a Saturday morning. However, this morning I just felt tired and I thought that a yoga class would be better for my aching joints and muscles. Along I went to the yoga class and the group was all assembled and waiting to start the class-- and no teacher arrived! The usual teacher was away on holidays and there must have been a mix up with the replacement teacher. What a disappointment. I did some stretches on my own, did the shopping and now it is best to just stay indoors and do some craftwork.

I had completed the cushion and have been painting some buttons to go on the cushion. I cannot decide which button to use for this cushion-- would love your opinion.

Bumble bee button

 

Dragonfly button

 

Butterfly button-- light blue butterfly

 

 

A different butterfly button-- slightly darker blue.

 

 

 

Would like some help making the decision as to which button to use.

 

 

I have a matching wall hanging ready too-- just waiting for the heart buttons to dry so I can sew them onto the wall hanging, so may be able to do a post on that tomorrow.

 

 

Cheers,

Yvonne

Caring with Quilts.

As we all know, there have been devastating fires that have caused people to lose their homes and belongings in January. Chooky -- www.chookyblue.blogspot.com.au-- had sent out a call for quilts to be collected  so that they could be distributed to families affected by the fires.

 

 

I looked at my pile of UFOs and found a quilt I had made--it had come back from the quilters, but I had not completed the binding. So I proceeded to do so and this is the result.

 

 

Hand appliqued hearts

 

 

I have packaged it and posted it off to Chooky. I did feel a pang parting with it, but I know that it will be appreciated by someone who has been through difficult times.

 

Many years ago, we lived in a house on the edge of a National Park. To prevent devastating bush fires in summer, the bush fire brigade do some back burning prior to the bushfire season. On one occassion,whilst they were doing some back burning,  the winds changed direction and suddenly the fires were whizzing up the valley towards our homes. It was scary watching the bushfire brigade standing in our backyard fighting the blaze. Fortunately, all ended up well that time. Many years later ( after we had left that area years before) another fire came through the same valley and many of the neighbourhood houses were burnt. So I can imagine how more scary and devastating it could be when the fires win out.

 

It seems odd that I am posting about bushfires, as the weather is so unusual for this time of year-- it is actually pouring with rain at the moment and rather cool for February.

 

Have a peaceful weekend.

Cheers,

Yvonne

 



 







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