Friendship Day

Today Sally and I travelled to Devonport to attend a Friendship Day and despite the weather, the attendance was great:

There wasnt a seat left when everyone arrived. Everyone was eager to work on their projects and some of them were just amazing:

And show and tell was fantastic!!! So many lovely quilts, so much inspiration (and regretably I forgot to get permission to use some of my photos of my personal favorites.....so i better not show them here!!) especially the quilt made by an 18 year old boy for his girlfriend....amazing!!

This was our little cosy corner of the room:

It was so wonderful to meet so many of the ladies and its amazing how much you can learn just from watching others work. So many time saving tips that make some of the tedious jobs, far more efficient......like holding down binding with hair clips....simple yet effective!!!!

I just love these, we all got them:

Our own handcrafted nametag and a little scissor hanger thingy (ok you know what i mean , im tired lol)

Simply, Simplicity

In total contrast to my Autumn post, I have been working with the Moda Simplicity Jelly Rolls and I have a new pattern release, just in time for the Friendship Day in Devonport this Saturday (more on that next post!!):

This gorgeous bag has plenty of pockets and is a very quick and easy project. I have mentioned before how much I love Hemingworth quilting cottons, so I used "Snowflake" on this one. It worked beautifully, just subtle through those wonderful soft colours!!

Ive also been working on a quilt, but progress is a little slower:

The blue Shangri-La fabric works well with this range. Its not too overbearing!! Not sure where Im going with the borders of this one yet, so stay tuned!!

Ive loved working on these projects. I guess its not always about the colour.......its really about playing with the fabric!!!

Mother Nature

Autumn is its full glory at the moment. The days are glorious and sunny, the nights are cool and the colours are wonderful.....my colours!!:

The gorgeous oranges beginning to turn that wonderful brown!

The beautiful shades of green.....I love this lime green!!





















And how amazing are these reds and golds against the bright blue sky!!

















And the wonderful creams and beiges........a perfect Mother Nature palette.

These strong, warm colours are always my first choice for my own projects, as you can see from the latest DJ blocks added to my tally:

And also for the quilt top Anne Ida and I worked on while she was down here:

Gorgeous Autumn colours!! I just managed to get the final borders on today (I know Anne Ida has finished hers!!!) , so now its all ready to be quilted and will be perfect to snuggle under during these cool Autumn nights!!

Treasured Memories!!

I have been absent from blogland this last week, Cohens gastro has made its way through the family and its been really nasty, but I want to share something the postman delivered which brought a "ray of sunshine" to a not so great week:

To recieve a parcel from Norway means a special gift from Anne Ida and how frustrating is it, when you are all excited, that the envelope wont tear!!!!!

Lots of yummy stuff, a Hera marker, a leather thimble, a fridge magnet and some gorgeous Tilda ribbon.........I love Tildas stuff and I was really upset I had to use some of her ribbon to hang Family Values at the February Workshop, so the sweetie that she is, Anne Ida sent me a whole bunch to replace it...............maybe thats why i wont use her fabric or her buttons lol!!!!

Plus..... and this is the most amazing pressie ever!!!!!.........Anne Ida had a book made of her trip to Australia and she also made us a copy:

Its full of beautiful glossy photos (plus Anne Idas blurbs) beautiful memories made to treasure, with all the family (including the dog!!) and all of the special people in my life that she met.....


plus some of the amazing places we visited!!! We truly appreciate our copy sweetie!!! Is a fantastic way to journal your visit to Australia!!!

I have so much to share and promise to blog more frequently over the coming weeks. There is so much happening for me and for Threadbare over the coming weeks, months and a very special date late next year!!! Im loving it!!!

A Winner!!!

Thank you to all who entered my pattern giveaway. As promised we had a draw tonite and the lucky winner of my two new Xmas redworks is Leanne:

I really hope you enjoy these designs (please just email my your snail mail address and ill pop them in the post!!!)
I'll be playing in the studio, Moda-Simplicity:

Im thinking a quilt and maybe a bag............ohhhhh endless possiblities!!! In between looking after Cohen, who has an awful gastro.....hope your feeling better, little man!!!!

Giveaway!!!

Ive been meaning to do this post for weeks, but life gets in the way sometimes. These are the two latest patterns (all in the new look packaging!!):

Just leave a comment on here and we will draw the lucky winner on Monday night!!! And yes Julie, that fabric is the one you sent me......im just about ready to cut and make myself a bag!!!

Back to work, its so wonderful being the "local designer", I had a call tonite from one of my ladies wanting help with a quilt for her son and DIL (to be's) wedding............i love my job!!!

Cross Country

Cohen had his first school Cross Country Event this morning......because they are just little people, it was more like a huge obstacle course but they had sooooo much fun!!!

Thats him in the red hat!! And you know, if you turn the hat around.....

.....you go faster!! lol Must be something to do with aerodynamics!! And if you hold onto the beanbag firmly.......

...it doesnt fall off lol. Of course at the end the kids were asked to go find their parents to partner them around the course a few times (thanks for finding me Cohen!!!) Nothing better than being outrun by your 6 year old lol!!!! I actually had fun, we ran, we laughed and we both got tangled in the parachute and................

.........we both got a ribbon!!!! How special is that??

Weekend Project

I came across a free pattern for a gorgeous bag, here. Of course I just had to try it out this weekend:

Its made using Charm Packs.....I use a couple of Moda's Nells Flower Shop and it uses about a metre of lining material It was quick and easy to put together.....a great weekend project!!

I did deviate from the directions a little....I wanted to add pockets and I also quilted it a little differentley:


Its a wonderful, generous size (18") bag which will be sufficent for me to pack all my needs for my Saturday classes (plus I always seem to come home with more!!!) Give it a try, Im sure you will love it too!!!!

Block 4

Its been awhile since I showed any sneak peaks of the new BOM so I thought Id share some from Block 4 (just so you know Im still working on it lol). Im currently working on Block 6, so I promise to catch you up!!!

The Ladybird (or Ladybug) block and a section of the "Right Hand of Friendship" Star.

There can even be beauty in the common old Garden Snail!!!

I really enjoyed appliquing this Four Leaf Clover block!!! Alas I still use the old freezer paper method but Im happier with the points and the curves!!

I also want to share a special gift I received in the mail yesterday:

This gorgeous parcel came from Julie. I sent her a copy of my Summer Garden Tablerunner pattern and as a "thank you" (which was unexpected) she sent me this and I just looooooooooooooove it!!! The fabrics are devine and I already have plans!!!.........im picturing a bag, the cottons will make a great stitchery and the little Quilters clip can be stitched inside to hold my scissors!!!!

Thank you sooooooooo much Julie!!! You made me feel so special!!!