What lunacy is this?

Anina of Twiddletails has generously offered to guide us through the making of a Dear Baby Jane quilt & has set up a blog especially to plot the progress of those brave (or crazy!) enough to join her in making this magnificent quilt. The original Dear Jane quilt was stitched by Jane A. Stickle in the United States in 1863:So, in a momentary lapse of reason, I have decided to join up! Pick yourself up of the floor - yes, I can see you falling about laughing hysterically at this point! Just humour me a little! The aim is to complete two blocks each week, which sounds quite reasonable until you realise they are but 5 inches square. Yikes - must brush up on some foundation piecing! Anina is being kind, and starting off with some simple blocks. Here are my first two:

B13 Four Corner Press

C9 Jane's Tears

Bright, bright, bright ...

My mum is is visiting for a few days & has brightened up the house in more ways than one! She is working on a shaggy quilt for one of my nieces. The request was for "a rainbow quilt please Grandma"! Notice Mum conveniently disappeared for the photo?

Oh, the serenity ...

Went for a peaceful walk in the beautiful local botanic gardens on the weekend. Well, peaceful except for 9-year-old son racing around & yelling like a wild thing! We keep reminding him we live in town now & must be quieter but he still uses his 100 decibel farm voice! The first autumn chill has hit our district & nature is responding:

the last of the roses for the season, a valiant final bloom ...beautiful Japanese windflowers ...

... true to their name, swaying gently in the breeze ...

tiny crocus bravely popping their heads up into the chilly autumn air

the glossy, sumptuous red of autumn berries ...and a shock of brilliant yellow, radiant in the face of impending winter gloom!

Late summer in the city

I finished the bag I vowed to myself I would make over the Easter break:My new bag is being modelled by my daughter who is young, slim & beautiful (a leap of logic would surely make you wonder if perhaps I am old, fat & ugly?! Don't you love the mystery & anonymity of the Internet!). The pattern is 'Ready for an Outing' by Melanie Hurlston of Melly & Me fame. It was published in Australian Country Threads Volume 7 No 9. The fabric is mostly 'Summer in the City' by Urban Chiks (Moda). I wasn't able to find the linen webbing required by the pattern for the handles, so I had to improvise & make my own. I added some hand stitching just to jazz them up a little! Great pattern - I love the shape & size of this bag. And I reckon anything made with these fabrics would be cute!

Giveaway winner

Continuing the childhood stitching theme, I decided to use a little bag stitched by my 12 year old daughter to draw the giveaway winner from ...The kids have been having fun with some simple blackwork designs.And the winner is ...... Pipany who commented on March 19. Congratulations Pipany. Please email your address details to me and I will post your gift very soon. Thank you to all the lovely girls from all over the world who left comments and wonderful stories from their childhood. It has been very special to share in your memories. And to everyone who has supported my blog in it's first 100 posts, a heartfelt thanks - you make every day a happy day as your comments come in on my email.

'Antique' stitching?

Over the break, I managed to find my very earliest piece of embroidery. This was started at school when I was in kindergarten. We were given a piece of huckaback cloth & instructed to weave patterns of our own design through the little loops on the cloth.

If you look carefully, you'll see that the first few rows are standard public school issue perle thread. Being a bit enthusiastic, even at that age, about embroidery, I took the piece home and raided Mum's stash of stranded embroidery flosses to complete the stitching. So stylish!

I am stalling for just a little bit of time with this post as I am still finishing the prize for my giveaway - no, it won't be a bit of huckaback with gaudy patterns on it! So this is the last chance to enter the draw by leaving a comment. Hoping to announce the winner in my next post.

Chocolate or fabric - a tough choice!

Instead of spending money on chocolate eggs for Easter, I thought I would buy fabric instead - won't the kids be pleased? No, I'm not that cruel - I only spent MY Easter egg ration, on this:I am hoping to use this fabric to make one of these over Easter:I found the little ten commandment charm bracelet I posted about yesterday - tiny, tiny writing that only a child's eyes could read: Don't forget to leave a comment on my 100th post for your chance in the giveaway. Thank you for all the wonderful comments so far. I am really enjoying your great stories. I will sign off over the break to spend time with my family. Wishing you all a very special Easter ... Bloom.

100 blooming posts!

Thank you to all the girls who commented yesterday on the 'indulgence' of stitching time. The general consensus was: "Forget the housework & stitch without guilt"! I knew I was asking the right audience for feedback! I can happily sew today without justification. It seems this post is my 100th - how did that happen? To mark the occasion, I was hoping to find my very first piece of stitching to show you, done in kindergarten. Unfortunately, it has gone missing in the move - I am hoping it is back at the farm. However, these photos are of little embroidered doilies I did in primary school. Don't you love the gaudy seventies colours?! I do have a soft spot for the little bluebirds all these years later. Do you remember the little bluebird signet rings & lockets we all used to wear?As you know, any blogger worth her bandwidth should have a giveaway to celebrate 100 posts of rabbiting on. Please leave me a message on this post, perhaps even with an early stitching memory or a childhood jewellery story. I remember having a charm bracelet with ten tiny scrolls inscribed with the ten commandments! Think I still have it somewhere ... Please feel free to leave a message even if it's your first - I would love to hear from you. I will do a random draw after Easter sometime for a little something handmade from me. Don't get too excited - after my last post, it will indeed be something small & quick, but lovingly crafted nonetheless!

The indulgence of stitching?

I am finding very little time to stitch at the moment - very frustrating. I keep falling into the trap of thinking the house must be tidy & life 'under control' before I can indulge in some stitching. Since the housework is never ending and our life is far from 'under control', it is little wonder I'm not getting to the sewing machine! I'd be happy to hear your best 'excuses' for finding time to sew - surely life has not reached such a frenetic pace that stitching time cannot be justified?

Pins & needles

There are a lot of pincushions being revealed all over the world in response to Blueberry Lane's pincushion giveaway. Some of them are just too sweet to ever consider sticking pins into. This is my everyday pincushion on the left & my well used needle book on the right. These were an experiment in foundation piecing & were made years ago. They are looking a bit dated, really should make some new ones!My absolute favourite pincushion though is this one, made for me by my precious boy when he was in kindergarten. He was so excited to give me this, because "I know you'll just love it Mum"! And I did. He even insisted that I take it to my quilting group & show all my friends, he was so proud of it. And I did! It's wonky stitching & googly eyes will be treasured forever. I have lots of pincushions on my 'to do' list, but I particularly love this one (nice & quick), and also this especially gorgeous one (not so quick, but surely an heirloom in the making). I have just discovered two Aussie girls new to blogland tonight so please be sure to visit & say a big 'gidday' to Vintage Lane Stitches and Ohsewbusy.