Antique Rose Designs

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-28T17:25:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone I hope you all had a great day.

I haven't had much time to blog I've been busy working but I did manage to get some sewing done. I finished a custom order just in time for Christmas.

I have 3 weeks off work........yippee!!!!!

All the best for the New Year.

MORE BUDGIES

2011-12-09T21:44:00.002+11:00

Well mum and dad have been very busy and we now have 4 more babies. Here they are with Charlie. Charlie is a girl she is sitting at the back. They are 7 weeks old and very cute.

We are going to keep the yellow one sitting in front of Charlie. She is a girl the kids named her Lulu. The other 3 have already been sold. They are being picked up tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

NEW ADDITION TO THE FAM!!!!

2011-10-20T21:30:00.000+11:00

We have a new member in the family. Our budgie Penny had a baby and it came out of the nest last week but for some reason she attacked it so we took the baby budgie out and we have been mothering it since. The mother is nesting again and I've been told that is probably the reason she attacked it. This is our first time with breeding so we are still learning.

It is 6 weeks old and we don't know if it's male or female yet so the kids gave it a name to suit both male or female. It's so cute and loves lots of cuddles. It has it's own little blanky to snuggle with and it spends most of the time snuggling with the kids inside their jackets on their shoulder or inside the hood of their hoodies.

Actually as I type this post it's sitting on my shoulder snuggled inside my jacket. A very spoilt little bird.

It hasn't learnt how to fly yet so it spends alot of type running after us to get back onto our shoulders.

Meet Charlie.

Charlie on the right snuggling with it's mother. They look like twins.

More snuggles.

Snuggled in her blanky having a sleep

Snuggled in Julia's jeans

Have a good week.

BUSY SEWING

2011-09-23T21:43:00.001+10:00

Finished a few more orders. The first was a custom order for a personalised name cushion with an Essendon Football Theme. I was told to only use red and black. I found the perfect red and black stripe in my stash and used red for the background and black for the letters. I used fabric from a Pillowcase for the back. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope the new owner approves.

Next up is a bag and zipper purse I made for Julia's teacher for her birthday. Julia chose the fabrics. Cute birdies and red polka dots, too cute. I had the A+ teacher button in my stash and Julia wanted to put the teachers initials on it which we found at Spotlight. Her teacher loved it.

Next is a bag I made for a friend. She requested red and paisley. I found the red fabric on Etsy and I had the stripes in my stash. I love how this turned out it has that vintage look about it. I think I will be making one of these for myself.

School holidays are here again. I took a week off work and I will be busy entertaining the kids and hopefully doing more sewing.

Have a great weekend.

OH BETTY!!!!!

2011-08-30T19:54:00.001+10:00

Finished some custom orders last night. First is a baby quilt with the cute little babies name on it. I used Riley Blake fabrics cut up into different size strips. Quilted with an all over stipple on this one.

The other custom order is this cute little girls bag and matching zipper purse. These bags are great for keeping the little one's busy while out shopping or out for dinner. Use it to hold colouring books, toys or use it for library books. The zipper purse can be used to hold pencils, crayons or hair ties and brushes. Lots of uses here.

Now that they are out of the way I'm off to work on my next custom order. A personalised name cushion for an Essendon fan. I've been told to only use black and red fabrics and anything to do with Essendon Football Club.

Have a great week.

BLOGGER FRIENDS

2011-08-26T22:19:00.004+10:00

Recently a lovely lady who's blog I have been following bought a few fabrics off me. And how funny is this after she received my package and saw my address she emailed me and told me that she used to live just around the corner from me about 6 years ago. It made me laugh and think that we may have crossed paths at our local supermarket or even on the street. What a small world. She has used the fabrics to make some gorgeous items and I love those cute little dolls. Go and see them here.

I also caught up with some other blogger friends last weekend at The North Melbourne Craft Market. Natasha from Artistic Creations by Natasha Burns. I bought some of her cute cupcake cards and Julia bought a cupcake plaque for her bedroom.

I also met Alison from Alison by the Bay. She was selling her gorgeous handmade jewellery.

It was great catching up and I hope the market went well for them.

I've been busy working on custom orders and I did manage to make something for my shop.

It started with Julia wanting me to make her a pencil case and this is what I came up with.

I have one listed in my Etsy shop and also in my Madeit shop. It can also be used as a makeup purse or a purse to hold all the bits and bobs floating around in your bag. Pencil cases for boys coming soon.

You can see more photos on my Flickr. The link is on the right side of my blog.

Have a great weekend.

FOR ME

2011-08-11T17:12:00.000+10:00

Found these on the bench Sunday morning. I had a great day got lots of pressies and flowers.

Have a great week.

WE ARE GOING TO THE ZOO

2011-07-29T17:17:00.000+10:00

Well, I'm not really going to the zoo, it's the name I gave the lastest quilt I made. I didn't just want to call it green and yellow baby quilt that's pretty boring. It has cute baby zoo animals on it so I thought the name suited it.

I made this quilt for a friend for her baby shower a few weeks ago. I needed to make a gender neutral quilt as I didn't know the sex of the baby. I think green and yellow is perfect for a girl or boy. She loved.

I tried different quilting on this one and did some loopy type quilting. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Front of the quilt

Back of the quilt

I've also been busy making market bags and pouches. This one is for Julia she chose the fabrics.

I made this one for my mum. Her favourite colour is purple and she loved it.

This one is mine. Love these fabrics.

A few custom orders for some little girls. I love red and blue and anything with polka dots.

Pink polka dots and cherries so cute.

I also made a matching pouch to go with the cherry bag. I need to make one to match the red and blue bag too.

Back to the sewing room.

Have a great weekend.

BIRTHDAY QUILT

2011-06-27T09:02:00.003+10:00

I finally finished my brothers quilt which I gave to him for his birthday on Saturday. I've been working on it for over a year inbetween all my other projects and it's the biggest quilt I've made to date.

I decided to machine quilt it myself after almost having a heart attack when being told how much it will cost to have it done by my local quilt shop. They quoted me $150.00 which is crazy.

At first I wasn't too happy about having to quilt it myself. I was worried that it was too big and I'd have a hard time quilting it and that it would turn out horrible but I took my time and it turned out perfect no puckers at all. I did have a few needles break on me and thread breakage which was very frustrating but I was so happy with the result it was all worth it. I'm already planning the next one.

It measures 180cm x 230cm. I was going to add another row to the side to make it big enough for a double bed but I had enough of those blocks and just wanted to get it finished. It's a great size to use on the couch on these freezing cold nights. Anyway my brother loved it.

Front of the quilt

Back of the quilt which I almost like more than the front

I was inspired to make the quilt after seeing this quilt made by the very talented Jacquie on flickr. I emailed her and she was very nice and told me what fabrics she used. I love reading her blog she is very talented.

Ok back to sewing. I have a few cushions to do for a friend and a baby quilt for a baby shower that is coming up in July.

Have a great week.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2011-05-09T10:21:00.002+10:00

Hi everyone. Happy Mothers Day I hope you had a great day and got spoilt. My day was good, had dinner with all the family.

A little bit of sewing going on here. Another personalised name cushion that was a custom order. She loved the "MIA" name cushion I made and wanted something similar. This one is rectangle and very large and I trimmed this one with fluffy pom poms.

Also forgot to post about this way back in February. We have a new addition to the family. No no I didn't pop any babies out.......lol. It was Jarrod's birthday in February and he has been asking for a pet so we gave in and got him one. She is so cute and her name is Fergie.

Look at that cute face.

I bet you were expecting a dog or cat.

Still working on my brothers quilt which I hope to finish soon. I'm over it and need to start something new.

Have a great week.

FINALLY SOME FINISHES

2011-04-25T17:25:00.001+10:00

I've been doing some sewing. Here are a few things I've finished.
I showed you this WIP a while ago and now it's finally finished and living at it's new home. I love how it turned out very cute and girly.

A friend had a baby boy a few weeks ago so I made him a cute little quilt. I used a mix of reds, blues and greys. I decided to keep it simple and do a strip quilt to show off the Robots and Stars fabrics. I quilted it with straight lines to keep with the strip theme.

This the back of the quilt. I love how the straight line quilting stands out on the back. The binding is in a solid red which I think finishes it off nicely. Irena if you are reading my blog please look away now. I will be taking this to her next week.

Have a great week.

HAPPY EASTER

2011-04-24T21:19:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone it's been a while since my last post...........again. I have been really slack.

Anyway I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. Hope the easter bunny brought you lots of yummy chocolates. I got heaps and ate way too many today and now I'm feeling quite sick.........blahhh!!!!!!

HAPPY 2011

2011-01-27T22:05:00.002+11:00

Happy 2011 to everyone in blogland.

It has been a while since I last posted. 6 months to be exact. The last 6 months I have been busy working almost fulltime and spending time with the family and keeping up with the everday madness. With all that happening I haven't had much time to get on the computer so my poor little blog has been neglected and so has my sewing. Hopefully with a new year started I can get back on board and start blogging and sewing again.

I took off 4 weeks from work over Christmas and we went away to our beach house. Lots of reading and relaxation happened there and I also managed to get some sewing done.

Here are a few things I have been doing over the last 6 months.

A cushion for a friend that had a baby over 3 months ago.......better late than never!!!

A quilt I'm making for my brother which I was going to give to him for his birthday in June last year but I didn't get it finished. And then I was going to give it to him for Christmas but surprise surprise I didn't get it finished. So it will be done for his birthday in June this year.............fingers crossed.

A few blocks I made up because I love these fabrics and colours. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet.

Before Christmas I taught my friends 8 year old daughter how to sew by hand and she made herself a cute little cushion. After she got the hang of it she wanted to learn on the sewing machine so I got her started on a quilt and this is what she has done so far. She picked up sewing very quickly and has done a great job.

Another baby quilt I'm working on.

Jarrod starts his first year of high school on Monday so I have been busy contacting and labelling these.

Well that's what I've been up to since July. I'll try not to neglect my blog for that long again.

I will be around to visit your blogs soon. Have a great weekend.

BLUE AND GREEN BABY QUILT

2010-07-24T20:16:00.004+10:00

I finished the quilt for Julia's dancing teacher and I LOVE IT!!!!! I don't want to give it away. This is the first time I've done free motion quilting and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I really enjoyed doing this type of quilting compared to straight line quilting, no stopping and starting all the time just non stop quilting and it didn't take very long to do either.

Here it is. The photos aren't the best it was a horrible rainy day today.

( The front)

(and the back)

I really enjoyed working on this and I will definately be making more of these baby quilts.

A big thank you to Julia for holding up the quilt for the photos. Being a cloudy day today I had to take alot of photos to finally get a good one and her poor little arms were hurting after holding it for so long. I think she deserves a chocolate after her hard work.

Have a great weekend.

GONE QUILTING

2010-07-21T21:45:00.002+10:00

I finally got the courage to do the free motion quilting on the baby quilt I spoke about in my last post. They say practice makes perfect and that's what I have been doing for the last week and it has paid off. This is my progress so far and I'm pretty happy with the result.

So for now I've gone quilting and I'll be back soon with a finished quilt.

Have a great week.

BABY QUILT TOP

2010-06-28T16:45:00.005+10:00

The quilt top for baby Sebastian is finished. I love how it turned out and how well the fabrics all go together. It was a really quick and easy quilt to sew and I love how the fabrics stand out on the grey background. I was going to use white as the background but the fabrics just didn't look right, I'm happy I went with the grey. I have decided I'm going to get out of my comfort zone of straight line quilting and give stippling a go. Stippling is an all over squiggly, swirly type pattern. I'm going to have to do some practicing before I work on the real thing so for the next few days I will be practicing and hopefully I master the technique. Be back with a finished quilt soon.

Have a great week.

YES I'M STILL ALIVE

2010-06-22T16:21:00.006+10:00

Hi everyone time has flown by so quickly. I hope you are all well. I will be around to visit your blogs soon and thanks to the lovely girls who emailed me to check if I was ok. Yes I'm fine I've just been very very busy sewing, renovating and spending time with the family.

Just want to share a few things that have been happening around here the last few months.

The renovations are still going. Finally the study is finished. We still have to furnish it but that has to wait for a while because I will be moving my bed in there while my bedroom is being renovated. I will post photos when it's all finished.

The kids now have their own bedrooms. Jarrod's bedroom is not finished it needs to be painted and the floorboards need to be replaced to match the rest of the baltic pine in the house. That will be done after my bedroom is finished.

Julia's bedroom is finished well sort of. I still have to paint her dresser and sew some cushions and decorate it.

Anyone recognise the fabric in the curtain? That's the Cabbage Roses fabric that most of us all bought and used a few years ago. I bought several metres back then and put it away, I'm so glad I did as I love how it turned out. Her bedroom was our old dining room that had a brick fireplace in it. We wanted to keep that feature in the house so we installed a cast iron fireplace and timber mantle. I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

I'm hoping by Christmas the inside will be all finished. Fingers crossed.

Jarrod had his Confirmation a few weeks ago. We had a small party for him at home. 46 kids got confirmed on the night and the church was packed and noisy. We couldn't see or hear much but it went well and the kids enjoyed themselves. Here he is with his mates outside the church. That's him on the end with the striped shirt.

Now that all my custom orders are finished I can get back to my usual sewing. At the moment I am playing with these fabrics.

I'm making a baby quilt for Julia's dancing teacher who had a gorgeous baby boy a few weeks ago. Just two more rows to sew on and I'll post some photos hopefully tomorrow.

Have a great week.

CHOCOLATE YUMMY!!!!!

2010-04-04T09:46:00.001+10:00

Wishing you all a

Yes I can finally eat some chocolate. I gave it up for lent even though I'm not supposed to eat it (not included in the diet) but I do cheat sometimes. I gave it up for lent and it has been so hard. The kids bought me a tiny rabbit and it's all mine today.

Have a great day and eat lots of chocolate for me!!!!!!

BUSY BUSY

2010-03-30T22:50:00.009+11:00

Hi everyone just popped in to say HELLO!!!! It has been so long since my last post, where has the time gone. I've been busy with the family and working on a few orders and presents, and of course buying more fabric.........naughty me.

Thanks for all the comments about Julia's finger. Her nail is fully grown and her finger is still a bit swollen looking but the doctors said it's all good.

Got the results for the Colonoscopy I had weeks ago it's all clear nothing wrong with me.

I had my 6 week weigh in and I lost 3kg so in total I have lost 9kg to date (16 weeks). I feel so much better and I'm motivated to lose more.

And yes it's that time of year again..........."I'm bored"...........who invented school holidays!!!!

Have a great week.

I LOVE FABRIC

2010-02-18T22:30:00.002+11:00

I love fabric and I have way too much and I shouldn't be buying anymore but I couldn't help myself. I bought a kit to make this gorgeous quilt. When I saw this quilt I fell in love and had to have the fabrics. I will make it one day after I have finished all the other projects on my list.

Had a busy weekend it was Jarrod's birthday on Saturday he turned 11. He invited a few friends over and they wanted KFC and pizza's.......yummy........there goes the diet again.

and speaking of diets. I forgot to post about my weight loss after my 6 week check a few weeks ago. Maybe because I wasn't that excited about it I didn't lose anything. Well I lost half a kilo which is nothing to brag about. Too much eating while we were away on holiday but at least I didn't put anything on. I have dropped a dress size which I'm happy about and I feel alot better and have bought myself some new clothes. I've been really good the last few weeks so fingers crossed I have a good result next weigh in.

The quilt I posted about in the previous post is now at the quilters and I started on some orders. One down........

Friday is my hubby's birthday we are going out for dinner.............oh no more food!!!!

And I forgot to post about Julia's birthday. She was upset with me that I didn't post about her birthday so here she is. Her birthday was January 14 and she turned 9 years old. We celebrated while we were at the beach house.

Ok back to more sewing. Have a great weekend.

MY BABY IS BACK AND HOLIDAY PHOTOS

2010-02-07T17:33:00.003+11:00

I finally got my baby back. She is all fixed and has been working overtime. Now I can visit all your blogs again.

I'm late posting about our holiday but with no computer I have a good excuse.

We have a beach house in Rye and from Christmas to the end of January almost every man and his dog are on holiday along the peninsula it's a great time to be there. We went up a few days after New Years day and stayed a few weeks. We had great weather and spent alot of time at the beach and had lots of breakfasts, lunches and dinners at the cafes in Sorrento, Rye and Rosebud. Not good for my diet. Here are a few photos. I'm not in many photos I was the photographer.

On the beach

At the Rye Carnival

Walking along the pier

We had a great time but we also had some dramas. Julia got her little finger squashed in a foor at the Rosebud Plaza. It was cut open so we had to call the ambulance and we ended up at the emergency department at the Frankston hospital. They told us that it was broken and badly cut and that she needed surgery. So a few days later we went back to the hospital and she had the surgery done. It all went well and her finger is starting to look normal. She will lose her old nail but a new one will grow back in a few months. Here is a photo with her bandage a week after her surgery.

We also went strawberry picking at Sunnyridge Farm and visited the Maze but I forgot to take the camera with me.

Now it's back to routine again. I have a few orders to do that I got before christmas so I have been busy with those and also making this quilt for my good friend and neighbour. She has helped me so much with looking after my kids and does so much for me. I'm going to give this quilt to her for her birthday in March.

Here it is on my design wall before piecing

Here it is after I've pieced it with the sashings

These are not fabrics I normally work with but I love them and they remind me of the sea. They are called Daisy Chain by Amy Bulter. She designs gorgeous fabrics. This quilt will match perfectly in my friends house.

I just have to make the back and then it's off to the quilters to be professionally quilted. I've decided not to waste time quilting big quilts as I hate the process of basting and quilting. Baby quilts are ok but after tackling the large one I made for her daughter I decided I was not going to do it again and that way I have more time to sew.

As I sit here typing up this post I have been drinking this disgusting drink that you have to take before having a colonoscopy which I'm having done tomorrow morning. If you have ever had one done you will know what I'm talking about and if you haven't the drinks are disgusting and I don't want to have them again.........Blah!!!!

Hope you are having a great weekend. Hope to visit you all soon.

My computer has died again

2010-01-30T23:50:00.004+11:00

Hi everyone we are back from our holiday and back to the everyday routine now that the kids are back at school. My main computer has died again and is in for repairs so I can't do a post with photos. Hopefully I will get my computer back next week and I'll post photos of our holiday and other stuff I have been up to. I'm using the laptop which is so slow compared to my computer so I will try and get around to visiting all your blogs soon.

Carol

Just noticed after I published that it's showing a background colour don't know why and can't fix it. I hate this laptop I want my baby back............waaaaaaaahhh waaaaaaahhhh!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-04T21:02:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone. What a great day we had. We talked, opened presents, ate, relaxed, ate again and played with the pressies. The kids loved all the presents they got. It's kept them very busy and quiet. Sorry no photos I'm still waiting on my brother to send them to me. So this one will have to do.

New Years Eve was spent at home on the couch I was too sick to go out (story below) and the kids and hubby played all the games they got for Christmas. Scrabble, Monopoly and Cluedo they had a great time. At 12.00 we went outside to watch the fireworks that were in our street. I hope you all had a happy and safe one.

We were supposed to go away to the beach house for a few weeks but I came down with a virus the Sunday after Christmas and by Wednesday I felt like I'd been hit by a bus so I went to see the doctor who informed me that I had a chest and throat infection. I got some drugs which really didn't help that much I'm still feeling pretty crappy so I went to see him again today and he has given me another course to take. It has really knocked me out. I have just been spending my days on the couch and not doing much else I haven't had the energy. My hubby said I must be pretty sick to not even get onto the computer.............lol he knows me well.

As soon as I feel better we will go to the beach house it will be great for the kids to get out of the house and we are going to have some great beach weather this week.

I'll be around to visit your blogs soon. It feels like I have been away for months.

Take care.

SANTA CAME EARLY

2009-12-24T00:00:00.003+11:00

Santa came early for us this year. We won this gorgeous fireplace off ebay for a bargain price of $872.00. The guy bought it over 17 years ago to install in his house but he never got around to doing it so now it's going to live at our house. We priced it at Agnews for over $3,000.00 so we got a bargain.

We are going to install it in the study which my hubby has finally got around to doing. I posted about him starting the renovations back in April but he got too busy with work but now he has finally decided to start......yippeee!!!!! He says by the end of January it will be finished...............mmmmmm heard that before.

I finished the cushions for my friend for Christmas. She loved them and they look gorgeous on her bed. They are alot different from what I'm used to making with all the shabby chic and vintage decor I make but I must say I really love them and I think I will be making more to sell. I did them patchwork style and quilted them. One I quilted with straight lines and the other I quilted in squares. You can click on the photos to see close ups.

I'm also happy to tell you about my weight loss. About 8 weeks ago I was told by my doctor that my sugar levels were too high and if I didn't lose some weight I could end up with diabetes so I decided to see a doctor who designed a low carb diet for me. I started on the diet 5 weeks ago which I didn't post about incase I failed but now I am happy to shout it from the roof tops. I had my first weigh in today and I have lost 5.5kg to date. I'm pretty happy with that and my sugar levels are ok now. My next weigh in is in 6 weeks I will post my results then. It will be hard with Christmas and all the yummy food around but I'm going to stick with it. I need to for my health.

It has been a great year and since I started blogging back in March this year I have received some really nice comments and made some really nice friends. I thank you all for visiting my blog and for your friendship. We are going away to our beach house over the break and I will be taking the laptop with me so I will try and visit your blogs when I'm not lying on the beach.........aaaahhhhh!!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2010.

BABY QUILT DONE

2009-12-13T20:47:00.002+11:00

Hi everyone I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. I finally finished this quilt on Saturday for my friend Jenny who had a baby 9 weeks ago. Her gorgeous daughter Grace was born 6 weeks prem and weighed just over 1kg. She had to stay in hosptial for 6 weeks and it was a bit touch and go in the first week but she survived and is now very strong and healthy, weighing 3kg now. I gave the quilt to Jenny last night and she loved it.

I personalised it with her name and quilted it with straight lines. Here is a close up of the lettering and quilting. I love these fabrics and I love that crinkly look it has after being washed.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these quilts for your little one or as a present I am taking custom orders. Email me for the price and details. I can also make it in boy colours or any other colours if you prefer.

Here is baby Grace lying on her quilt she is soooooooo cute and tiny like a little doll.

The next project I'm working on this week are some cushions I'm going to give to a friend for Christmas. I'm going to use these fabrics. She has a plain creamy/beige doona cover on her bed so I'm hoping these fabrics will match nicely. I will post photos when they are finished.

Before I start any sewing I need to tackle this pile of ironing that has been neglected for the last week. So I better stop staring and start ironing.

Have a great week.

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE

2009-12-08T16:49:00.007+11:00

Hi everyone it's been so long since I last posted and the weeks are flying by too quickly. I have been busy with sewing, sewing and sewing. I finally finished the last custom order last night and that's it for me until after Christmas. I need a break and now I have to start thinking about Christmas.

The kids did the christmas decorating on the weekend. Our big tree and all the decorations are still packed away somewhere so the kids were happy to put up the little tree and I bought a few decorations for them to hang up. I think they did a great job.

I went to see New Moon from the Twilight Saga again today with Natasha from Artistic Creations. She is as obsessed as I am. It was even better the second time around. Can't wait for it to come out on dvd or maybe I'll have to go and see it again. Natasha do you want to come..........lol. Go team Edward!!!!!

Have a great week.

NEW MOON

2009-11-21T00:18:00.004+11:00

The countdown is finally over for NEW MOON from the TWILIGHT SAGA. Last night I went to see it and it was fantastic. It was even better than what I saw in the trailers.

I'm going to go and see it again hopefully in a few weeks. I went with a few friends and we were like school girls. Actually we weren't the only one's most of the people waiting in line to get in were acting like school girls too........lol.

Go team Edward!!!!!

But after seeing the movie I now feel sorry for Jacob.

So go team Jacob!!!

We had a great night just waiting in line to get in was fun. I forgot to bring the camera along to take some photos. I haven't been this hooked on a movie since I was a teenager..........lol.

If you haven't read the books or seen the movies I highly recommend them. I've read the books 3 times and watched Twilight more than 10 times. I've now seen New Moon once but I will go and watch it again at the movies and then watch it on dvd over and over until Eclipse comes out.

Here's the trailer for the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q58iQSHhZGg

Have a great weekend.

SLOW INTERNET

2009-11-08T23:24:00.005+11:00

Hi everyone I hope you are all well. Sorry I haven't been around to visit your blogs for a while but I do have a good excuse.

For the first time ever since I got my internet connected which was almost 8 or 9 years ago I reached my download limit. I couldn't understand why because I really don't get on the computer that much....who am I kidding....lol. And then I figured it out, my son has been downloading games on his PS3. Once I reach my limit it runs on dial up speed which is so slow and very frustrating it took about 10 minutes just to open explorer so I just gave up and didn't even bother to try and get on. Natasha if you are reading this now I understand when you complain about reaching your limit. I have upgraded my plan to the big KAHUNA and hopefully that won't be used up too quickly so I will be over to visit you all soon.

We have had some great weather over the weekend We went to a friends today and all jumped in the pool. The water was so cold but it was better than being out of the pool and putting up with the heat.

Had to do alot of this today and we still got some colour.

Do you remember this little guy do they still play the adds?

Not much has been happening around here just working on some orders and trying to keep up with all the craziness that is happening around this time of the year. Christmas decorations are already in the shops and I can't believe christmas is only about 6 weeks away. Where has this year gone.

Have a great week.

"LAURA'S QUILT"

2009-10-23T09:19:00.006+11:00

Hello everyone I'm so happy I finally finished "Laura's Quilt". I love how it turned out. I'll be giving it to her tomorrow for her birthday she is turning 9 so I hope she likes it. This is the first time I've quilted a quilt this large and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It was a great learning experience.

I found a blog of a lady from the US she is like a machine producing quilt after quilt. She is a very nice lady and she gave me some advice and her tutorials were very helpful. Go and visit Amandajean's blog she is very talented. Her blog name really suits her Crazy Mom Quilts.

Here it is freshly washed and hanging on the line.

Now for my next project. I have so many custom orders I still haven't had a chance to work on my quilt for the "It's All About Me" party Natasha was hosting. I'm too late.......bummer but I will make it and show it off soon. I better stop staring and start sewing!!!!!

Have a great weekend.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

2009-10-19T12:08:00.005+11:00

Spring is finally here. Well it started a few weeks ago but I've been too busy to notice. On the weekend I had some time to relax and take it all in. I picked these gorgeous roses from my mum's garden which were grown from a cutting from my uncle's garden. I have put in my order.

And I picked these Birds of Paradise from my garden.

I have about 20 Iceberg Roses planted in my front garden and they have lots of buds so they should be blooming soon. I love my roses I'll take some photos when they have all come out.

A few weeks ago my hubby finally hung this gorgeous painting up that I bought from Gail. I love it displayed above my crystal cabinet. Gail is a very talented artist go and check out her website.

Hope you all have a great week.

ALMOST DONE

2009-10-16T17:05:00.009+11:00

Hi everyone I hope you are all well. I haven't had a chance to blog for a while too busy sewing.

Just wanted to share some photos of the Oh Cherry Oh quilt I've been working on. I've finally started quilting it and I'm really happy with how the quilting is turning out. I've done a simple quilting pattern of wavy lines down the quilt. You can click on the photos to get a closer look.

I'll be back in a few days to post photos of a finished quilt.

Have a great weekend.

SEWING SEWING AND I'M BROKE

2009-10-02T23:46:00.007+10:00

Nothing new has been happening around here just lots of the same old same old....SEWING. I have received a big custom order so I have been working on that and I am trying to get the quilt finished that I blogged about in my last post. Haven't even started sewing my quilt for the "It's All About Me" party. The fabrics are all cut but I haven't even had a chance to touch them. I will try and get at least a few blocks done before the deadline.

Here is the quilt so far with sashings.

Cushions I have been working on.

School holidays are over YEAH!!!! As much as I've loved having the kids home and the sleep ins I'm glad they are going back on Monday I am exhausted and broke!!!!!. Everyday there have been lots of activities. Movies, cooking sessions, visits to the park, Sovereign Hill, Old Melbourne Goal, Shrine of Rememberance, walks around the block, friends visiting and don't forget McDonalds and Subway. I need a holiday.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Quilt blocks

2009-09-14T12:43:00.007+10:00

I have been busy working on a quilt for a friend's daughter. The fabrics are by Moda called Oh Cherry Oh. I love how they turned out the colours are so bright and cheery perfect for a little girl. Next I have to sew on the white sashings and join it all together. There are 42 squares in total. Here are some of blocks.

I want to hurry and get this one finished so I can start on my red quilt which I'm going to get done for the It's all about ME party. See post below.

Have a great week.

It's All About ME!!!!!

2009-09-10T12:42:00.021+10:00

Hi everyone I hope you are all well.

I lost one of my blog posts. What da!!! I posted on Sunday wishing all the fathers a great Fathers Day but when I got on that night it was gone. I couldn't be bothered redoing it so anyway I hope all the dad's had a great day with their families.

Now down to business. I read Natasha's blog the other night HERE and thought what a great idea. I've been wanting to make a quilt for myself using these gorgeous fabrics I bought a few weeks ago so I decided to join in on the party.

I'm not sure if I will be able to get it finished completely by the reveal date but I will try. In between doing the quilt I also need to get a quilt done for a birthday present for my friends daughter by the end of October. I'm really pushing myself here but I'm going to try my best.

The fabrics are all washed and ready to go so I better get off the computer and start cutting.

If you want to join in click on the link on my sidebar.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

MY PRINCESS

2009-08-30T23:31:00.007+10:00

On Saturday we celebrated Julia's First Holy Communion. She was so excited and I was so stressed. With my son, 2 years ago it was easy he put on his suit, used some wax to spike his hair and he was done. With Julia there was so much to orgainise, dress, shoes, hair and more. I was so stressed I don't know how I will cope when it's her wedding. Thank goodness it's way way down the track.

After the mass we celebrated at the Essendon Ballroom with 10 other kids and their families, 370 people in total. I think half of them were kids it was so noisy I needed some earplugs. She had a great time and it turned out to be a really good night.

Here is my little princess.

Below with her best friend Olivia.

Some of the other girls celebrating on the night.

Have a great week.

JULIA'S QUILT

2009-08-27T13:07:00.011+10:00

Finally Julia finished her quilt with some help from myself. For her age 8 years old I think she did a great job from choosing the fabrics and to sewing most of it together.

I started out teaching her to sew by hand but she got sick of that and wanted to learn how to use the sewing machine so I taught her and made her practice and practice. Here she is on the machine. Lucky there is the slow speed on the machine or she would have lost a finger she got very excited over using the sewing machine.

After calming her down and telling her that there is no rush she concentrated and took her time and sewed the squares onto the background fabric. I showed her how to baste it but she kept pricking her fingers with the pins and gave up so I did it for her.

She then thought she was a professional sewer by this stage and wanted to machine quilt it by herself but after all her hard work I couldn't let her go nuts on it. So I did some of the maching quilting and let her do a few of the straight lines........ well more like wonky lines but I left them as I wanted it to be her own work that she can say she made herself.

She has chosen fabrics for her next quilt she wants to make and she even wants to buy her own sewing machine.........mmmmm lets see how long this hobby lasts.

Now that this project is over I can get back into some sewing. Lots of time was lost supervising her but it was well worth it.

Here it is.

Hope you are all having a great week.

SPOILT

2009-08-17T22:50:00.014+10:00

Hi everyone I hope you are all well.

I have been very spoilt this week. My good friend Maria made me this lamp for my hallway table it is gorgeous. She is very talented and I love all her work I have a few of her lamps around the house. You can find her lamps on ebay click here.

Not much else has been going on trying to finish a few orders and catching up with the housework.

My daughter has been working on her quilt which I blogged about here. It's looking really good. I'll post photos as soon as it's done.

Have a great week.

NEW CUSHIONS

2009-08-05T22:22:00.006+10:00

Hi everyone I hope you are all well. I finally got around to visiting your blogs sorry I have been busy with orders and trying to keep up with everyday chores. My orders are now finished and I managed to get something done for ebay. To see my listings click on the link on the sidebar.

I love this Laura Ashley fabric I could have it all around the house. These cushions look so nice on my couch I would love to keep them but they wouldn't last 5 minutes with my kids.

Ok back to the ironing basket..........aaaaahhhh!!!!

Have a great week.

STILL HERE

2009-07-21T16:29:00.006+10:00

Hi everyone just letting you all know that I'm still around I've been busy with lots of orders. I'm trying to get to everyone's blogs so I apologise if I haven't visited for a while.

A friend of mine sent me this poster. I'm not at the teenage years yet with my kids but I'll be printing this off in a few years and sticking it around the house..........lol. Might stop them from complaining!!!!!

Have a great week.

LOVELY BLOG AWARD

2009-07-07T18:12:00.019+10:00

What a surprise thank you to The Handmaden for the Lovely Blog award. Oh my what a hard decision to pick only 10 blogs there are so many lovely blogs out there. Sorry if I missed you.

Here are the rules of this award :

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 10 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are the blogs I'm passing the award onto:

1. Artistic Creations by Natasha Burns
2. Chantilly Cottage
3. Life's Moments by Ali
4. Mariondee-designs
5. Originals by Gail & Tony McCormack
6. Our Shabby Cottage
7. Shabby Dreaming
8. Shabby Raggy Roses
9. Time Worn Style
10. Tulip Rose Quilt Shoppe

Now to go and visit these lovely blogs and tell them they have been tagged.

Still very busy here sewing and entertaining the kids. They have so much but all I hear is "I'M BORED". 4 more days to go. Yippee!!!!!

Have a great week.

NEW EBAY LISTINGS

2009-07-01T20:57:00.009+10:00

I have listed these cushions on ebay tonight. I love how the "VINTAGE" wording one turned out. I think I'm going to have to make one for myself.

I started making one with the wording "SHABBY" on it but that has been put on hold for the moment as I now have a few custom orders from ebay after last nights listings ended.

To go to the listings click on the link on my sidebar.

Ok back to the sewing.

Have a great week.

FINALLY SOME CUSHIONS LISTED

2009-06-24T10:22:00.009+10:00

It's been a while since I've listed on ebay. I have been busy with custom orders for name cushions they seem to be very popular for the kiddies at the moment.

And then with getting my new sewing machine I have been doing some quilting. Basically getting nowhere fast. Well I decided I better get some cushions listed on ebay so the quilting has been put on hold for the moment.

Here is one of the cushions I have listed on ebay. Click on the photo to see my listings.

Ok better get back to sewing again.

Have a great week.

Baby quilt

2009-06-08T20:01:00.013+10:00

I have been busy making a baby quilt for a friend who is having a baby in a few months. Now that I have my new sewing machine I've been trying all sorts of different things. I love these fabrics and the colours they are so girly.

I'm going to try and machine quilt it myself. I did a few classes last year so I know what to do it's just a matter of practice, practice, practice so all weekend I have been practicing my stippling. I hope it turns out nice I will post photos when it is finished or maybe not if it's a disaster.........lol.

My daughter has got the sewing bug too. She has been watching me over the weekend making the quilt and decided that she wanted to make a quilt for her teddies. She is only 8 years old so she is too young to use the sewing machine so I taught her how to sew by hand it didn't take her long to pick it up.

I cut out some fabrics for her and she has been sewing away all day which is a good thing it has kept her out of the pantry. Don't know about you but my kids are always in the pantry drives me insane.

Once she has sewn all the small squares onto the bigger squares she is going sew them onto the white fabric and then I will machine quilt it for her. I got the idea for this quilt from here.

Here she is at work. She has pieced it all herself I had no say. I wasn't allowed to go near it she said to me "it's my quilt". Thinks she's a professional now............lol. Will post some photos when it's all done.

Gail if you are reading this yes that is the gorgeous painting that I bought from you against the wall. Don't worry it's not staying there my hubby needs to hang it up above my crystal cabinet. One day.............

It is freezing here in Mebourne so it has been nice staying indoors over the weekend with the heating and my quilting.

Thanks for stopping by I hope you all had a great weekend.

NEW SEWING MACHINE.....FINALLY

2009-06-01T21:47:00.029+10:00

Yippy I finally have a new sewing machine. I have been very busy playing with it and finishing off some orders. I'm loving this new machine I wish I had bought it sooner instead of putting up with the old one.

Thanks everyone for your advice on what machine to buy. I decided to stay with the same brand as my old one. Janome were having a big sale so I got it for a very good price.

Hopefully I will be able to get back into the sewing inbetween doing the household chores and sorting out the front room.........I know I know I still haven't cleared it since I posted about it months ago. I have been slack and was just enjoying being back in the house and decorating but now it's time to get back to more renovating.

Here are a few things I have been working on with my new machine. A name cushion for a friend.

And this cute little monkey which is made from a pair of socks. I found it at this very talented lady's blog here and decided to have a go and make some for my kids. All she needs is eyes and a mouth and she is done. Then I have to make one for my son and my neighbours kids have put an order in too so I'll be sock monkeying for a few days.

Have a great week.

SHOPPING

2009-05-20T20:08:00.004+10:00

I went out with my friend Maria last week to Brand Junction and we were so excited to find a Laura Ashley store there. I went crazy and spent up big. I bought 3 of these throw rugs for my couch to match the one I already had. Got them for half price so why not.

And then we both bought for our daughters these gorgeous eiderdowns. We got them for $100.00 very cheap and they are so snuggly and warm and we couldn't resist buying the matching pillowcases which were also on sale. I would have bought one of everything if I had the money there are so many gorgeous things in that store. After all that shopping we went and had a nice lunch.

Thanks everyone with help for naming my mum's kitty. She liked the name my kids chose for her Milly. She came and picked her up on the weekend and she loved her. She is going to be one very spoilt cat.

Thanks for dropping by have a great week.

SO CUTE!!!!!

2009-05-14T13:55:00.007+10:00

Is this just the cutest face you have ever seen. OOOHHHHHH!!!!

My brother and I bought this kitten for mum for Mothers Day. She wanted a ginger cat so I contacted the RSPCA and Lost Dogs Shelter. After waiting for weeks one finally became available yesterday.

She is so gorgeous and cuddly. She is 8 weeks old and so tiny. I am babysitting her until the weekend until I go to take her to mum's. Mum left it up to my kids to give her a name. So far it's between Milly, Missy, Marmalade, Ginger and Pooki. I really like Missy but we'll let mum choose out of those names.

What name do you like or any other suggestions.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2009-05-10T10:03:00.007+10:00

Wishing you all a very Happy Mothers Day. I hope you gets lots of hugs and kisses from your kids and lots of pressies too. I already got mine perfume and flowers.

I'm being very spoilt today first we are going out for lunch with my mum and then we are going out again for dinner with my mother in law.

Tomorrow I will have to do 10 laps around the oval instead of my usual 5 laps................lol.

Have a great day.

NOT HAPPY JAN!!!!!

2009-05-06T21:19:00.007+10:00

Well I finally got my sewing machine back yesterday after paying $70.00 to have it repaired which I wasn't happy about because I paid $90.00 a few months ago for it's 1 year service but it needed to be done.

Well anyway I was happily sewing away today and it died again!!!! I was so mad and swearing at it lucky the kids were at school. I took it back to the repairer today and they are going to have a look at it again. This sewing machine is my mum's which is over 25 years old so I think maybe it's time to update to a new one. I'll find out tomorrow the verdict and then I will go from there.

I'm very excited about buying a new one. I have been searching the Janome website and getting advice from people. Thanks Kathryn for your help. If anyone can give me some advice on a good sewing machine to buy please let me know.

I did manage to finish one cushion for one of my lovely customers before the sewing machine died.

Something I'm not angry about. Our leadlight got installed last week and I finally got around to taking a photo. I'm very happy with how it looks. I have this pattern on all the windows around the house. The guy we used did a very good job I highly recommend him. I couldn't get a good photo the sun wasn't out today.

As you can see I don't have much of a backyard left now that we have extended. My hubby wants to put in a swimming pool. You are probably thinking there is not much room for a pool but if we pull down the gazebo there will be room along the back fence to put a pool. Otherwise if we don't put in a pool we will make a nice outdoor entertainment area. We are still undecided.

Well can't do any sewing so I might go and tackle the big basket of ironing that has been sitting there for over a week.

Thanks for stopping by.

BUSY SEWING

2009-04-25T13:31:00.014+10:00

Haven't been on the computer much lately I have been busy with custom orders and cushions for ebay. Thought I'd share some photos.

I'm loving these vintage style printed panels and they seem to be very popular with my customers.

Hopefully I can finish these by the end of the week and get some listed. I was happily sewing along last night and my sewing machine died so I will have to take it in for repairs on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

AMAZING!!!!!

2009-04-17T19:13:00.005+10:00

I found this on Youtube. It is very interesting and a little scary too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

CUPCAKES

2009-04-16T14:35:00.007+10:00

What do you do to keep the kids busy in the school holidays?

Make CUPCAKES.

All school holidays the kids have been hounding me to make cupcakes. So today we decided to make them. They worked out what they wanted to use to decorate them and off to the supermarket we went to buy supplies. $20.00 later and lots of supplies in hand they decorated them. I think they did a very good job with a little help from me.

Nowwwwww who is going to clean up the mess........mmmmmmmm I wonder who but not until I have had my very own cupcake with the yummy peppermint crisp on top. YUMMY!!!!!!

HAPPY EASTER

2009-04-13T22:23:00.005+10:00

Happy Easter to everyone. I know it's late but I was so busy yesterday. I had Easter dinner at my house with my family and inlaws so I was busy on Saturday and Sunday preparing the feast. I hope you all had a good day and got lots of choccies. My kids got way too many the last count down to even the tiniest eggs was 60 eggs. I think today that figure has been reduced............lol.

2009-04-07T20:25:00.008+10:00

NEXT ROOM READY FOR RENOVATION

Today I have been busy packing away, throwing away and cleaning out our lounge room which we are going to renovate and use as a study.

What a mess as this room was the only room that we could use besides our bedrooms to store everything while the rest of the house was getting done. I still had my christmas decorations up......lol too busy to take them down I had other rooms to organise. Everything is now in one of the new bedrooms until it is done.

My husband will be doing it all. Good thing he's in the trade to save us some money. New plaster, cornices and the painting. I'm looking forward to decorating when it's finished. I'll post some photos of it's progress.

2009-04-03T21:19:00.015+11:00

Decorating

Love this clock. I just bought one for my kitchen. Check out the website they have some gorgeous items.

http://www.frenchdressing.com.au/storefrontprofiles/default.aspx?sfid=98118

2009-04-03T10:49:00.016+11:00

NEW BLOG

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I've been wanting to create a blog for a while now but just haven't had the time with the extension and renovations that have been going on in my house. Finally most of it is finished so now I have time to do lots of sewing and blogging.

We now have a new bathroom and my old bathroom will become an ensuite and I have a nice new large kitchen family room area. I'm waiting on the leadlight windows and curtains for the back doors, fingers crossed they will be ready to install in about 3 weeks. It's taken over a year to do with lots of dramas but it's all been worth it after seeing it all finished.

Here are a few photos of it so far. I will share more photos when the rest is finished. The kitchen and furniture were all custom made in solid Jarrah timber. It was very expensive but worth every cent. The bathroom cabinets are also Jarrah and the bath is over 100 years old which I bought off ebay for a bargain price and we had it redone.

Thanks for dropping by to read my blog.

2009-03-31T22:41:00.000+11:00

Decided to set up a blog not sure how it all works yet still working it out.