Ric rac, buttons and fabric.....

A bit of ric rac, a couple of buttons and a piece of hand dyed fabric.......along with some machine embroidery, hand embroidery and freemotion stitching and this is what I ended up with........I must admit that I was inspired by a photo I saw in a Quilting Arts magazine from earlier this year....but I don't think my bag looks anything like her work........sorry will post ladies name later.......I have tried to keep it very individual and unique.........

I really enjoyed making this bag......my machine only does about 25 embroidery stitches and four of them are for the button hole.....so I did a little hand embroidery with different threads to fill in a few spaces.......the last strip I was going to do some heavy freemotion stiching around these circles but decided I like it as is.......it's a bit rough and ready......but that's ok......

I showed the ladies at work the other day and they have started their own panels........so check out what they have been doing at...... http://itchintwostitch.blogspot.com.au/.........

I have been quilting a little panel for my great niece...Isabelle....it has been a lot of fun..........I have to fix the threads and then do the binding...hope to get it in the post on Monday........

I will post a photo when it finished......

Hello.....what are you doin.......

I have planted out the new shrubs and vines that I bought at the Expo on the weekend.......

I follow the moon guide planting system so I had 2 days to get them in the ground......and since then we have had a couple of good heavy showers.....so they are off to a good start......

over the last two weeks I have been painting two of the small fences white.....they are so bright and clean it makes the rest of the house look grubby........when it fines up again will have start scrubbing the house and studio down to get them ready for a tidy up too.......

You can see part of the big fence in the background.....it has been undercoated and is ready waiting for me to paint......it is about 12m long so it's going to be a big job..........have to wait for good weather now....

Matilda is getting a little better........you can see how big she is these days...

always on the go......does not leave Koda along......

Until next time....happy stitching -----------Cathy

I went to the Garden Expo yesterday with my friend Sandra..........we headed up to Nambour on the back roads through Eudlo and Palmwoods.......to get away from the traffic on the highway.......and spent the most of the day in the Kitchen Garden.......

listen to a couple of talks on growing garlic and potatoes........

we also spent an hour with Costa (with 200 other people) when he spoke about Why Food Matters.....

 There were some great displays, I really enjoyed looking at the natives gardens also.....

The colours in the native flowers are just beautiful...

Check out these Macaws......they were so cheeky.......one lady was talking to them and the Macaw on the left started posing and opening his wing up to show off....I could have watched them for ages......

We went back to the Kitchen Garden, not so many people around then and I managed to get a photo with Costa.........

Sandra and I were so inspired by some of the Garden Clay Art that we enrolled in a pottery class at Eudlo in August......something a little different, I'm looking forward to that.......

I about to get out into the garden to plant the vines and shrubs that I bought yesterday..........I feel all inspired again and have a few new ideas for our garden.......

until next time......Cathy

Matilda......ummmmm

Well, a six month old pup gets into just about everything.......

Today I left the cord box thingy that we bought on Monday to convert the LED lights for the longarm....l had put it in the middle of the table to take down to the studio......and while I was packing the car for tomorrows class.......I forgot it was there and Matilda found it.........and half an hour later hubby found it in the middle of the back yard.......the cord has been chewed in half.....not a happy Jens......Matilda has gotten into this very, very bad habit of jumping up and putting her paws onto the side of the table and reaching in to grab whatever is there.........

I would have thought that after chewing on one packet of incense sticks would have been enough, but to go back and eat the other packet and demolish a box of matches....I just shook my head.....the other day she found a ball of Pearl cotton that I had washed and was drying on another table.......I could hear her barking and saw that she was barking at the flowers in the garden (well that's what it looked like from the kitchen).......later on we went outside to find that she found the ball of pearl cotton and had been playing with it around and around the outdoor setting......I think we unwound about 50 meters from the table and chairs and around the potted parsley and the grapevine......

My friend Sandra has been making bold colourful dog coats to sell.......as she has a whippet she asked if she could try them on Koda to make sure they are big enough for a larger dog........

 An Airedale in a spotty coat looks good.....and Matilda looks so cute here.... but a few minutes before she was sticking her nose where she should not have been when you are taking a photo......

So life has been a bit busy with a six month old puppy........

Cathy

Oh boy there has been so much going on......

Today's event started about a month ago when my cousin and his wife from Victoria drove to Queensland to visit Mum and Dad. On their way back they called in to say hello and have a look at some family photos that I have.......during this time Geoff mentioned that two ladies who are sisters have been in contact with him....they believed that we were related, but Geoff did not think so........so I started looking through my minimal family history information that I had collected way way before I had ever heard of Ancestry.com...... I had spent hours at the local Library looking through Micro fish films......anyway in my papers I had the missing link that connected us with these two lovely ladies........my father Hilton and their father Martin are cousins........their mothers were sisters.......and through some unknown issues Martin's mother lost contact with her sons when they were very young........no-one knows what happened as everyone who could have told us has passed on.......

So today we all drove to Esk, us down from the Sunshine Coast and the others up from Ipswich to meet at a coffee shop.....the lovely ladies Robyn and Sharna found a great cafe that had a couple of small rooms and a very wide veranda with all these over sized table and chairs out on the front lawn......and antiques everywhere.......

It was great to meet these beautiful people......we had a little room to talk and show photos, drink coffee, eat yummy cakes and get to know each other......and to laugh at Marty's jokes. It has taken 86 years for Marty to meet someone from his extended family.....it was a special day for all of us........ 

 I hope you enjoyed looking at our family day out.........will catch up with other events from last weekend in the next couple of days........

Happy stitching - - - - - - -Cathy

This past week like most weeks has just gone by in a blur.........I just don't know where the time goes........I bought seedling on Monday to plant this week and there still not planted....have to make an effort today other wise I will be planting in the wrong moon phase.......I was going to go to the market this morning to get some more herbs........but I think I will wait until next month.......I was also going to try and do some fence painting this week too, but that didn't happen either........my week started with Monday going to the Caloundra Textile Group http://www.caloundraartsandcrafts.org.au/ and we did a paint workshop with Anne from Toowoomba......we learned a few different ways of making patterns on fabric, fabric folding and scrunching to get unusual patterns, it was like painting with dyes......

On Tuesday I had a Doctors appointment, so that took half the morning and the rest of the day was washing walls..........I had a visit from Hans Martini ( Nolting Aust ) to service and check the longarm, and to put new Headers and Leaders on.......the others were original so that meant they were 20yrs old......so now the machine is ready to go......just need to set aside some time to practice now....... Mum and Dad came down on the train on Wednesday afternoon to visit for a couple of days as Dad had a Doctors appointment in Brisbane on Thursday.......and Friday they caught the train back..........a short visit .........great to see them.....

On Saturday Sandra and I went to the Peachester Quilt Show........saw some beautiful quilts and the work the textile and art quilters do is just amazing..........following are some photos of Bernardine's, Barb and Alwyn work........

Here is Bernardine blog http://bernardinehine.blogspot.com.au/ it is being updated at the moment.......so check it out soon........

The Guide Dogs of Queensland was also there with a stand and one of their dogs in training........this is Chap ....

Both Chap and I got into trouble..........because when Chap come over to me I patted him......and as he is in training ( he had his L learners coat on ) he has to learn not to go looking for pats....he was such as beautiful puppy it was hard not to pat him..........

Ok......suns up and it's time to head outside and plant those seedlings so until next time......

Happy stitching - - - - - 

Cathy

I am generally not  lucky at winning at raffles, lotto or even arguments. once every couple of years I might win something........earlier this year I entered my name on Leslie Blog Love list ...check out her site here........http://marvelesartstudios.blogspot.com.au/ and I was the lucky winner for April.......my parcel turned up yesterday.......look at this gorgeous fabric.......I will have to think of something special to make with it.......Thanks Leslie........

 

Last Sunday after I rang my Mum for Mothers Day, Jens and I drove down to Brisbane to visit  the Open Garden of Jerry Colby Williams.....we got there quite early, and had a lovely time exploring the garden.......within a hour there was a line up.........

I always try to watch Gardening Aust episodes when his garden is featured and to my surprise it is very productive for such a small garden.......it has lots of nooks to grow interesting potted plants with splashes of colour.....

love the colour blue used around for lattice and pots.......

information cards and labels on plants....such a good idea for the novice gardener

Jens relaxing and enjoying the garden

Photo with Jerry

It is the first time that we have visited  an Open Garden.......always on the gunna list ( going to do) .......we saw some great ideas and interesting mixture of plants to have in the garden.........and it has given me some new ideas for our garden........

Have a great day.......

Cathy