tarnyiamarycatherine

2012-01-26T04:39:00.000+08:00

I am Sad...

Last night we had to put Joe down as he had picked up a bait...

miss you "Dawg"

2012-01-24T06:04:00.000+08:00

Still Here...

I am here and I am looking at your blogs each morning then I am sewing

and making more b*##@! scraps hahahaha

cutting out lots of 6.5 in blue and green squares...

and getting more scraps...

how am I ever going to get those scrap boxes down

heeheehee well at least my blue and green stash has gone down...

making room for some more maybe hehehe...

I also got some mail...

two blocks from my swap partner from May last year hahaha poor girl was in the middle of moving and life got in the way but she never forgot me...

and

seeing I had changed from the star block which she had made

she made me another for my new wish block... log cabin...

and this is my January block from my swap partner Sue in Western Australia...

lovin' the blue and yellow in each...

2012-01-15T05:55:00.000+08:00

TaDa... Everyday Angels Is Finished...

After 18 plus hours of quilting...

an hour or so trimming off threads...

and then the binding...

then about 4 hours of choosing and adding buttons...

40 buttons were needed...

oh and adding blush and mascara to make the angels oh so beautiful...

its finished...

loving the quilt...

so happy that I did it all in pinks and purples and the only thing I did buy was the purple for the binding... everything else came out of my stash, scrap boxes, batting box and backing stack...

ssssssoooooo pretty....

my first finish for 2012...

my first PIPs for 2012...

2012-01-13T05:29:00.000+08:00

On A Roll...

Since Monday I have been madly quilting the angle quilt and yesterday I finished...

I have free motioned around all the appliqued angels and stars...

then stitched in the ditch of all the seems... lucky we have had some cooler weather this past week mind you yesterday was a little muggy at times with the cyclone brewing of the coast...

binding all made... so you can see that is what I will be doing today... then all the eyes need to be done and the buttons added...

stay tuned...

2012-01-10T05:23:00.000+08:00

At 5am....

As I was walking to the sewing room/computer room this morning this is what I saw...

so clear and perfectly round..

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000+08:00

Angels...

Yesterday I spent the best part of finishing off adding the rest of the embellishing stars

to the Everyday Angels quilt then I stitched the blocks together...

I have the backing all ironed and the batting ready... so today I will pin it all and hopefully start some quilting on it later today...

2012-01-08T06:16:00.000+08:00

A Few Things You Should Know...

The ''wonderful, kind, generous, awesomely talented, queen of fast''

Jan-Maree of Cherry Red Quilter

has been tirelessly making quilts and laundry bags with her group of friends for the Aussie soldiers serving in Afghanistan... I myself have helped as well and she would love all our Aussie quilters to get involved if they wish to... Jan-Maree has started a blog about this project called ''Aussie Hero Quilts'' so go look and if you are interested in helping out jump in ''blocks, quilts, fabric or if you are living close to her maybe helping with the quilting or binding''...

I can tell you the emails that Jan-Maree has been getting back from the soldiers is just wonderful...

go look she what a wonderful job she and her band are doing...

also

Bunny Hill have a new freebie

so check it out also...

Cheryll over at Gone Stitchin has a new swap starting...

so go get blog hopping...

2012-01-07T06:18:00.000+08:00

I Have Made A Start....

I took the pledge on Loft Creations "PIPS 2012" and the first thing I am finishing is

''Everyday Angels"

I made all the blocks about 4 years ago and then put it away... this past few weeks I have been stitching the writing and the faces using a Perle no8 in purple...I used only fabric's that I had in my stash and scrap boxes and while in Perth earlier this week I did buy some purple homespun for the binding... yesterday I finished all the faces so today I should start stitching the blocks together...

This is my January block for Sue from Western Australia...

Sue wished for any bright star on a white background...

Oh My Stars quilt along has started...

This are my fabric's that I will be using...

my stash of Amy Butler and a chocolate brown homespun...

two 6.5in blocks...

and a 12.5in block...

my goal (well I will try) is to do at least 3 a week... but I am not looking forward to doing those weeny stars hahahaha....

2012-01-01T06:04:00.000+08:00

Wishing All My

New Blogging Friends

Family

and

Friends

A Wonderful New Year

May 2012 Bring All That You Wish For In

Happiness

Health

And

Sewing

And

Family

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000+08:00

I Have Joined This...

You can find it here

just scroll down until you find it... it is one of those ''no obligations or deadlines'' so go check it out...

I am going top use my Amy Butler stash with a chocolate homespun for the background...

Hubby and son have headed off to fight a fire on an other station west of here... there are actually two fires not far apart and one has gotten away over night... if they join there is going to be on hell of a front to try and contain... it is overcast so hoping for some rain to help and not storms with lightening in it as these were started by lightening strikes...

2011-12-30T05:54:00.000+08:00

Sausages... Cows... Water Babies...

Oh... and none of these cows in the following photo's were used in sausage making...

these sausages are all sheep...

so seeing we had some children home we made ''sausages''...

with about 90kg of meat to be minced up

then to be weighted and keep cold ready for the flavourings to be added...

then the ''long'' sausage to be twisted into sausages... which was my job and there the photo's end as my hands were yuck... I think we did five flavours... bush tomato... lemon oregano... herb and garlic... Roma tomato and mountain pepper leaf... Merlot and cracked pepper...

and seeing we had children home...

we marked some calves...

these are from the south end of our place and there were four newbies 3 boys and 1 girl...

not impressed at all...

this one came to see what I was doing and to check the 2 dogs out that we had at our feet...

Hubby in the race... son passing the tagging equipment to his Dad... oh and you can just see future SIL's arm he is loading the equipment... and Joe making sure it is being done right...

all marked and waiting to go back to Mum...

hot feet for Joe... do you see his collar hehehe lime green hehehe...

and his sister Cleo is joining him....

after a ball game time to cool off again...

so what have you done with your week so far?

2011-12-28T05:47:00.000+08:00

Catch Up...

Hello out there hope everyone has the best Christmas they could have... it wasn't too hot here the coolest Christmas we have had for a while... actually I don't think my kids have ever had a cool Christmas day... 36* is what it got to and Boxing Day was about 34* so unusual.... yeah I know some of you will say that is far to hot but for us anything under 40* is a cool change hahahah....

this is our Christmas tree this year

this is a little wall hanging that I found free at Red Brolly I was actually making it for a friend but the coloured pencil ran in one of the birds and I just didn't have time to fix it and get it sent so she had it for Christmas.......... so I will do it again and be a little more careful....

this is a table topper that I made for my middle daughter as part of her Christmas parcel... the stitchery was at a blog site which has now shut down... funny she picked the fabrics out when I was starting the BOM...

I also made her a set of placemats and a table runner with the leftover fabrics... the runner has heat stuff in it so she can use it for hot dishes on the table for self serve...

This is the runner that I made for my Santa Sack partner Michelle

very pretty...

it is called ''Rambling Rose'' and it can be found in

Country Thread vol 11 no 1 a stitchery issue...

this week my Moonflower had 17 more flowers...

Hope you are all enjoying your time with family and friends...

oh we did talk to our daughter and her partner who is in Africa on Christmas day... they are coming to the end of their trip and still having a wonderful time... they should be at the Serengeti now...

2011-12-24T05:40:00.000+08:00

To All The Wonderful Friends That I Have Made

Through Blogland

Wishing You All An Awesome Christmas

With Family And Friends

May You All Have A Safe And Happy Holiday

And See You All Back In Blogland In 2012

For Another Year Full Of Sewing And Your World...

2011-12-21T05:38:00.000+08:00

A Few Things To Show...

Wow what a week we have had... firstly I am starting to feel a lot better... I haven't felt that ill for quite a while but I do think I have passed it onto Hubby (oops)...

he isn't to impressed at the moment (oops)...

Last Thursday we had rain and I mean rain... 77mls in 3 hours...

on the Monday night before we had 32... so for the 3 days we had 109mls....

my front lawn was like a running river..

some one thought it was fun to play in even with the thunder and lightening all around...

starting to fill up...

a river running past the house...

still raining and still running...

and none of our neighbours had any of this storm it just sat over us and rained basically from our boundary lines in...

and when a girl isn't feeling so good what does she do.... sew...

Jan-Maree and her band of friends have been making quilts for the Aussie soldiers serving in Afghanistan oh and they make them laundry bags as well... Jan-Maree had mentioned on her blog that they had 5 girl soldiers that they needed to make quilts for so I asked if I could help out... so here are is my contribution...

15 purple nine patches...

20 girly nine patches...

and one girly quilt top...

all will be in the mail today so Jan-Maree and her band of friends have them for when they start sewing again in very early January... so please go and check her blog and see what they have been making...

and...........

..............................................................................

.............................................................................

we had an engagement in the family on Saturday... our middle daughter Lauren was asked by her partner Shane.... and of course she said yes....

2011-12-15T07:28:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas

HoHoHo

Jingle Bells

and

WOW oh WOW

yep I have I have I did I did

I opened my Santa Sack.. (well it is the 15th in Aussie)

look at it bulging with surprises...

looky looky all just for me...

now Michelle has labeled all the parcels with their months of being sent.... but me being me mixed them up and just opened them... and I must say Michelle was making sure that I WASN"T going to open them before hand hahahaha she used a ton of tape on them hehehehe...

first 3 patterns and 2 are Michelle's own designs...

some gorgeous fabric's and limeys you will notice
and a gorgeous Amy Butler (I do love her)

and look at that gorgeous snowman fabric...

some threads and yes limeys hehehe

and

some snowman ribbon

and

a very cute snowman Xmas tree ornament...

and look at this gorgeous note pad set with poppies

and a beautiful lime note booklet with butterflies (another fav thing)

and a new handbag diary for 2012...

beautiful serviettes... something to save I think for a special occasion...

tea towels, cupcakes and very cute heart cutter

and the tongs...

now how did you know how I wish I had some of these... do you know how many times I have gone to the draw and wished for them... as the bigger ones just look silly in a small dish...

and last but not least...

this beautiful Christmas runner... just gorgeous Michelle...

I will iron it and display it in my home and take another better photo later...

Thank you Michelle for all the pressies and thoughts each month and the gorgeous cards and post cards... you have been a wonderful partner...

and also to Cheryll for a fantastic swap...

2011-12-14T05:26:00.000+08:00

Woe Is Me...

feeling blue I am... feeling like crap I am...

I have the flu and I hate having a cold of any sore in the summer all you want to do is curl up somewhere but it's too hot to....

poor me... not sleeping... sore throat... nose running... eyes weeping

Oh and lets not forget the peeing of ones self when we sneeze...

dam those pregnancies that weakened my muscles

Ok whinge is over... what to do when feeling so YUCK????

SEW of course...

two mug rugs from made from bits left over from various projects...

these will go to me two fellow craft ladies in town with some homemade cookies or if still feeling crappy a box of chocolates...

and four ''Blankets of Love"...

Cheryll has been making these for quite awhile for her local hospital and it got me thinking that maybe there is a need here in WA so I made a couple of enquiries... not only do maternity hospitals need the blankets the state children's hospital does as well and small cot quilts are needed... so I have started a box and once I have a few in it I will do a delivery...

and

for the month of December my QBSA is Michell from New Zealand...

Michell wished for either a Pinwheel block or a Sawtooth blocks in Civil War fabric's or Reproduction fabrics... this is my block to her...

and Jan-Maree is always so busy making quilts for charity so I have started some nine patches for her in pretty purples...

so this is what I did yesterday from 12.30am as I couldn't sleep... I did go back to bed about 7.30am until 9.30am then started sewing again... hopefully today is a better day...

2011-12-11T05:45:00.000+08:00

A Sneak Peak and Oldie and Joe....

How come days or weeks seem to go by before I write anything and I am here looking at all your fabulous blogs each day.... maybe I am just slack or boring hahaha...

I am sewing though and doing stuff...

I did make the "Christmas Ice-Cream or Granddad's Ice-Cream"...

and I have made 4 "Blankets of Love" tops...

I have decided to be on a mission with doing maybe 4 a month but no promises my plan is to share them around... I need to stitch around the appliques before I can put them together... photo's soon..

Meanwhile I have finished a Chrissy pressie...

can't show you anymore just yet as this person looks here...

This is something I made about 5 years ago and I even had the binding half sewn down and it just sat there on the arm of a chair for years... yes years???? then I moved it to a box in my sewing room and it sat there for another year.... shame shame shame...

especially when only half the binding needed finishing...

I had so many charm squares from a place called ''Chooky Friends''... you would get a newsletter and recipes and patterns and charms squares each month... I saved and saved them then the place decided to close down and the charm squares just sat there... until I decided to sort through them...

I had quite a few with chickens on them and thought I'd make a country table cloth...

and I did a wider binding as I wanted it to sit a little flatter than the usual bindings we do... but... I couldn't quite mitre the corners well... they seem to curl a little and I really don't care as I love it...

and I am so glad I pulled it out last week and I am kicking myself for not finishing it earlier...

while in Perth the other week we took Joe to the park and threw a ball for him so he could get rid of some of his energy before dinner...

he was quite hot from his chasing and this is where he cooled off...

DD2 has this for her dog to cool off in and she just isn't interested in it... maybe now that Joe has shown his siter what it is for she will use it....

2011-12-05T05:45:00.000+08:00

A Few Things To Show...

I have been busy sewing... some are Christmas pressie's so I can't show you just yet... but with all this sewing my strip containers have become full once again so time to do a little more ''scrap busting strings'' and still those ice-cream containers never seem to go down much...

6 1/2 inch string squares...

some spider webs to go with my swap blocks that I am wishing for at QBSA

they aren't sewn together yet just playing with them... this one is going to be quite bright hahaha it seems I don't have a lot of those duller fabric's in my stash...

and looky what came in the mail...

my last parcel from Michelle...

and so beautifully wrapped

and looky how full my Santa Sack is looking

so tempting to squeeze and maybe oops tear a little big

hahahahahaha

no I haven't I am very well behaved (most of the time)...

thank you Michelle for being a wonderful partner...

had a very quick trip to Perth and a little stop at Spotlight...

and just had to have some ric rac especially that rainbow roll...

and has anybody tried these????

I see them all the time in the magazines and have wondered if they work or really help???

can't wait to try them to see if they do make free motion quilting not look so messy in parts on the back of my quilting projects...

and while there....

I just had to take a photo of this road with a power pole right in the middle of the new road... I am wondering "what'' they are going to do about it???? town planning at its best????

and the reason we were in Perth????

to see our eldest daughter off on her month long trip to Africa with her boyfriend...

hopefully she doesn't fall over or she will be like a turtle on it's back...

it is with a Safari Tour so exciting for them...

2011-11-26T05:59:00.000+08:00

Night Flowers a Finish and Swap...

last night as I was going to bed I could smell a wonderful perfume and then thought I must get the camera... this is my Moon Flower plant it only flowers at night so mostly I miss them... it is the most ugliest... huge plant in my garden and I have had it for many many years... but when it flowers they are so beautiful and this year it is covered it flowers...

just wonderful

the perfume is wonderful

and they are so beautiful...

and

I finished my '' Christmas Sew a Long Banner"

I must say I am very pleased with my finished project...

since starting in blogland and a few swaps via sites I have started to get a few christmassie things to put on display...

I never really worried to much about things around the house as we have so much red dust that clings to things...... but what the hell it's Christmas...

and this is the block I wished for from Cathy...

Cathy is my November partner for QBSA

I just love it... thank you Cathy for being my partner...

2011-11-25T05:12:00.000+08:00

Bits and Pieces...

Seeing I can't show some of the sewing that I have been doing this past week I have a few photo's of around the yard....

but first

here are my December parcels to go to Michelle my partner in the Santa Sack Swap organized by Cheryll... this has been a great swap and I have loved thinking of what next can be in a parcel for Michelle... the only downside was that I live on a sheep station 72kms from the nearest down and it is a bush town with not much to get in the way of gifts... so most of mine I have made and the others I have purchased while in Perth...

This bougainvillea has the biggest brackets of flowers on it...

it is called Snow Cap as it changes from pink to white

This is my favourite tree in the yard...

when there is a breeze the leaves look like many fingers waving...

at the moment it has little yellow flowers on it

one of my pet sheep "Lucy" just loves eating the flowers as the drop down...

Remember that wee puppy that I got back in March...

well here he is with my Hubby...

and this is Barney who stepped into my view as I was taking a photo of another cat hiding...

2011-11-22T11:25:00.000+08:00

Working On...

this

that goes with
this

for????

2011-11-21T05:00:00.000+08:00

Quilt Top Half Finished...

All I need now is for the baby to arrive in February to complete the quilt with

a row of hearts and her name...

when the quilt is totally finished you will have better photo's to see...

be aware if you would like to make this little quilt there is lots of cutting out of shapes to be appliqued...

however I do enjoy applique and I save my cutting out for nigh time in front of the TV...

I fussy cut the flowers so I wouldn't have to make centre circles...

I am very pleased with the finished effect...

2011-11-16T05:26:00.000+08:00

Working On A Baby Quilt...

One of my eldest daughters friends is having their first baby in early February and there is much excitement as they had been trying for awhile and there were health issues for the expecting Mum...

I told her once ''you will be a Mum and you will hold a baby of your own'' and it has come true for them... so we are all very excited...

here is the start of the quilt which will be a floor quilt

nice and bright... and Mum doesn't want to much traditional baby colours...

there is to be a row of hearts towards the bottom but I am going to replace some of those with her name once she is born... and you can find the pattern here

2011-11-14T05:36:00.000+08:00

No Room In The ~~Inn~~ Bush...

This year due to the heavy rains and a wonderful season the birds have been very busy breeding...

but

there isn't room in the bush so the next best thing is....

the toilet stack

a hanging shell basket

and the chimes on the veranda...

I put the hose in the garden bed to water and some one else thought it was bath time

a baby Willy Wag Tail... the parent didn't like me getting to close and was swooping my head...

My partner for November at QBSA is Cathy...

and she wished for any block in gold, red, brown, creams or soft green...

the red fabric had most of these colours and the background is a gold like fabric...

2011-11-12T05:28:00.000+08:00

Yesterday...

the weather was telling us that it had been kind to all in our region for long enough and was time to get the heat cranked up for summer.... 38 it was!!!! but the next few days it is mid 30's... the heat doesn't bother me that much and as long as I can go swimming in the pool I am a happy girl (mind you the pool needs water) and last night the first sarong came out for the days ahead...

even though it was that ''warm'' I still did a little sewing with my trusty fan blowing on me BUT if the heat is here the little air conditioner for my sewing room will be starting its summer run...

yesterday I made this little wristlet bag

this one I made a lot quicker than the first so now I am thinking I could probably cut a few out and do them all at once now...

and I made my first apron...

this fabric is so gorgeous... and the pattern was so easy... just plain no pockets...

I have been thinking as to why we stopped using aprons... I tell you they would save our clothes from all those food splatters while cooking... this one is a pressy and I will be making one for me as well...

2011-11-11T11:26:00.000+08:00

11-11-11

2011-11-09T05:15:00.000+08:00

Still Here...

WOW it's into November and no post yet... I have been away in Perth for a few days spending time with my kids and a doc appointment and a hairdressing appointment...

I did blog surfing while away to see what you were all doing... lost of ''secret squirrel sewing'' going on around the world... and right here in my sewing room as well... a table topper a runner and placemats so far and more to do but blogland will have to wait to see those creations...

I have also been working on these

Christmas banner stitcheries found here and if your interested you must rush and get last weeks as they disappear each week and the event is nearly finished...

I received this block from my QBSA partner Cathy from Canada...

scrappy spiderweb with a grey centre... not sure what I will be making with these ones yet and I only have 3 so it will be awhile before I need to decided...

The great season that we have had this past year has made the bird life quite prolific in their breeding... the zebra finches have nest absolutely everywhere even the handle bars of the motorbikes in the shed... the Willy wag Tails have nested 3 times in the Fiddle wood trees... and I seem to be rescuing baby finches off the ground and finding new places for them out of harms way... the wind is blowing their nests out of the trees...

Budgerigars have nests right out side the laundry entrance and making plenty of noise...

2011-10-27T05:27:00.000+08:00

I Have Never...

Yesterday we had an unbelievable storm come through here... well several storms... they started about 3 am and went until 9 pm last night... the clouds rolled on and big and black and loads of thunder at and at times the lightening was spectacular... at the same time hoping the lightening would go away as there is so much feed around that bush fires are going to be a horrible thought this summer in this area... there have already been a couple of fires north of us in the Meekatharra area...

The I have "never" is these????

when I was a child in and lived in the city area I did see hail stone that were huge but these and look how different they are... does anyone know why???

they look like crystals???and these were falling in the front yard?? where as these bottom ones were falling in the back of the house????

the different sizes were unbelievable... we stayed inside as they were hitting hard as they landed and shooting off in all directions...

and on the sewing front this little bag...

I added some machine embroidery as the buttons didn't appeal to me...

and this is the pattern I purchased from the ''Fat Quarter Shop"...

2011-10-25T05:09:00.000+08:00

Spiderwebs...

Yesterday after I finished sewing down the binding I did a little photo shoot...

the meandering represents spiders dangling from their webs...

there is quite a bit of machine quilting all over the quilt top... pity the webs quilted onto the actual web block don't show up...the thread used is a variegated grey...

even the blue border has little webs and the odd spider stitched on it...

even my models behaved themselves...

and finally I have made a quilt for our bed... in all these years I have never made one...

I think Leonie did a fantastic job with the machine quilting...

even people who came to look at the place yesterday were impressed with it on our bed...

2011-10-24T11:05:00.000+08:00

BUGGER POO BUM...

I have to share this one!!!!!

Vicki at The Pickledish Patch

has a GO! Baby to give away...

and how I wish I didn't have to share hahahahahaha

only joking my friends

and this is what you need to do...

Now you can have a chance to win your very own Go! Baby Fabric Cutter and 3 dies of your choice.

I will give you a few chances to be in the draw to hopefully win your very own

Go! Baby Fabric Cutter.

Here’s all you have to do……….

1 entry - Leave a comment telling me why you would like to own your very own

Go! Baby Fabric Cutter and 3 dies.

2 entries - Become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment telling me you are or have become a follower

3 entries – Visit Accuquilt and see which dies you would like and come back and tell me.

4 entries – Blog about it on your blog and come back and tell me you done this.

Please don’t leave any comments on Accuquilt’s Facebook page for my giveaway. I have been asked to tell you this by Accuquilt.

That's all…easy peasy! Of course you don't have to do all four but of course you want to have as many chances as you can right?

Ok…this giveaway will go from now until Sunday 6th November 2011. AEST and I will announce the winner on the 7th November 2011 , you need to make sure I can contact you via email.

Also check out the Get 22 Free Patterns Button on the left side of my blog, all you have to do is sign up with your email and you can download 22 free patterns. Awesome patterns too!

so ladies go do it and good luck....

2011-10-24T08:22:00.000+08:00

Field of Colour...

I have finished the mug rugs for my SIL's birthday...

TaDa

a stack of ten...

two stacks of five...

a field of colour...

I know some feel ''mug rugs'' are a waste of time!!!!!!!

but they are a quick easy gift and you can do so much with them...

and?????

I had been thinking??????

that they could be made more ''manly'' by doing them in..........

football colours and appliqueing the teams name or nickname on them...

so then Dad or Grandad wouldn't feel so left out while sharing a cuppa..... so stay tuned over the summer that is what I could be doing ready for the footy season...

I had won some Christmas fabric last year and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with one of the pieces and while digging through my draw with all my ''off cuts'' of heat and bond I came across a piece that was for ''heavy'' projects... so I made Christmas parcel tags

all I did was put calico on the back and cut the edges with my zig-zag scissors...

OH......... my spider web quilt is back from the quilter...

stay tuned...

2011-10-17T10:48:00.000+08:00

I am here...

just busy sewing... blog surfing... and have been busy here and there...

first off I have been doing the ''Christmas sew along banner'' found here

block two

block three

and if you would like to do some of these you had better hurry as block pattern four will disappear from the site on Friday and block five will replace it...

I have been making mug rugs for a birthday present using some Kaffe Fassett fabrics...

these will be getting a chocolate binding on them...

and look at all the goodies in here...

my Santa Sack is filling up and looking quite special..

thank you Michelle...

and my October partner for the block swap sent me this fantastic star block... just love how she has used all different reds for the star points and the blue is just gorgeous...

thank you Jane...

well we can tell summer is coming here as there have been so many snake tracks around these last few days... so we are being very watchful as to where we are walking and what may be lurking...

at the moment we have the dreadful October winds... as soon as the bottle brush start to flower you just know the wind is coming and what a mess it makes with the flowers...

2011-10-04T05:42:00.000+08:00

At Long Last She Will Say...

Nah she wont hahahaha.... a while back my middle daughter showed me a photo on her phone of a cushion she saw and said ''can you do this as I really like this one''....

well I didn't forget I just didn't get around to it until now and yes those are all red buttons...

I couldn't quite remember what the photo looked like and she has a new phone so I just guessed the look...

I quilted the background with line drawn 2 inches apart then chose various round bottomed things around my sewing room to draw the circles... and I used a red Perle 8 for the stitching...

and seeing I was in the mood for cushions I made her this one as well...

I saw it on someones blog awhile ago and for the life of me I can't find that blog to give the credit (if you know let me know)...

and her is block one of the Christmas SAL and block 2 is up so go get it here

before it disappears for block three this Friday...

I am using a blue thread just to be different...

we have had some unexpected rain this last couple of days

which will me a major bug hatching once the warm weather comes back

Luv T xxx

2011-09-26T05:28:00.000+08:00

They Are Mad...

Yesterday we had the Australian Safari Race come through the bottom of our place so we went and set up with the billy and some fruit and waited...

there were motorbikes and quad bikes and a couple of times as they were coming down the fence line we didn't think they were going to turn and come straight for us hahahaha...

we came home around lunchtime then heard the helicopter come past here not long after heading towards Meekatharra to the hospital... we heard that someone came off their motorbike and broke his collar bone...

mad mad mad

and the cotton bush looks fantastic out there...

and look

another

sew a long this one is for Christmas...

sew happy me is where you will find the patterns which will appear each Friday for the next 8 weeks...

2011-09-24T06:24:00.000+08:00

Bits and Pieces...

Once again it has been a little while but I do have a good excuse...

about 7 weeks ago I had terrible chest pains while sitting here in my sewing room doing a little hand sewing which scared the absolute living ^%$# out of me...

So this week I had to go to hospital to have an Angiogram and OMG are they horrible I would rather of had another baby than go through that.......... but in saying that there were no blockages but my heart decided it didn't like it to much either and I can say my life didn't pass by me it just felt very peaceful... I have one more test to have in a couple of weeks to check my cholesterol... the reason the Cardiologist is being very thorough is that I have a HUGE family history of heart disease around me ... 7 family members... so he is pretty concerned to get this sorted as to why I had the chest pains... I myself have lost 7kgs and have a fair few more to go best to get things in place to slow the disease process down...

ANYWAY

we have 6 new baby lambs that have been added to the house paddock pets

all girls

this one is called Betty as her mum is Brooke and she is named after our eldest daughters boyfriend (his last name is Betty)

This is my replacement block for block 6 of Little Miss Shabby... sheep as I live on a sheep station...

and block 9 all done...

and 2 wonderful friend have made me little pressies...

this pin cushion is done by a friend who

''doesn't do hand sewing at all as she has a sewing machine why hand sew''

it is beautiful...

I love cross stitch but do not do it myself...

and this pin cushion

was made by a friend who is traveling around Australia and she delivered it herself...

you can't see the bottom very well it is blue and how about that lime my absolute favourite colour and the beads are lime as well hahahaha...

these pin cushion are so gorgeous I don't want to use them...

2011-09-17T17:32:00.000+08:00

Their Together...

my spider web blocks that is...

all I need to do now is get some border fabric's and some backing and make a couple of phone calls to get it quilted as there is no way I am going to tackle this one under my machine...

2011-09-13T06:26:00.000+08:00

Birdie Stitches....

I have been behind in my Birdie Stitches BOM from Little Miss Shabby

but I have caught up to block 8...

this is block 6

and I have decided that I am going to use this one as part of my label on the back of the finished quilt...

and I am working on another to replace this one in the quilt...

block 7...

block 8...

still using my Amy Butler fabrics... trying to decide what colour to use for the sashing... any idea's???

2011-09-11T06:19:00.000+08:00

A Finish... Some Swap Mail... Santa Mail

I do wonder how so many days can pass from one post to another and it's not because there is nothing to write or tell you about as there is always something happening around here...

first we had six calves to mark

as you can see they had plenty of feed in the cattle yards if they were hungry

but I can tell you they were pretty frisky and didn't want to do that or any thing we wanted them to do

one of the little females just wanted out and tried so hard to do so...

and they are so strong and have grown pretty fast with all the feed they have this year...

for the month of September at QBSA I have two partners...

Linda wished for the ''blazing arrow' block in blues and white

and I wished for a red and aqua star or a scrappy spider's web

and Linda chose the star... the photo doesn't do the red fabric justice as it is quite unusual

thank you Linda for being my September partner...

and for August Dallas was my partner and she sent me this star block...

I love it... Dallas wished for an Autumn tone star block... must find the photo hahahaha

thank you Dallas for my block and for being my August partner...

and

Santa Sack mail for September arrived from Michelle and Michelle's parcels are in the mail too

oh yeah I did squeeze and sniff but no scratching hehehe

and these are my ''block lotto's'' for here

this month it was ''crazy fabric'' for the centre...

and I have a finish WOOHOO

#7 off my side bar list

Home Sweet Home from IFQ I think this was a BOM for 2009 or 2008

and I made a change... the block with the sheep and windmill had two birds on it so I move a bird to the house block

I felt that the sheep and windmill represent my home better...

I did all the quilting on my domestic sewing machine most of it was free motion and in the ditch...

and around the border I decided on free motion gum trees

and geez that took me a while...

but I am really happy with the look and so glad to be able to take a finish off my list...

2011-09-02T06:18:00.000+08:00

OH MY GAWD...

Yesterday in my mail box was a parcel card...

Vanessa from Piecing, Patching

sent me a RAK (random act of kindness)

the reason I am blown away is not just because this is my 2nd one and that someone would think of me twice but the parcel from Vanessa was full of beautiful gifts...

firstly a beautiful bag with embroidery along the from and buttons...

the biggest box of Maltesers that I have ever seen...

I am a "sucker" are you a "sucker or a cruncher"...

just love the malty flavour...

and another sweet treat...

aren't they just "yummy''

I have checked these out on the net quite a bit now I have some

and they even come with a pattern... just wonderful...

and what about these...

they are just so special hand made and the sachets smell so good...

the needle case is just gorgeous and has lots of pockets...

and

this beautiful card and the bag of sweet smelling pot pourri

so as you can see lots and lots and lots of specials from Vanessa...

thank you so much Vanessa for thinking of me you are so sweet...

2011-08-23T14:07:00.000+08:00

Ugly Fat Quarter Challenge...

My friend Bobbie held a little challenge on her site a few months ago... (I am late with mine)

you sent her what you considered and ''ugly fat quarter'' with a return address envelope inside and she sent you one back... now everyone knows I love ''lime green'' and the ugly I got was lime woohoo... and Bobbie says she didn't peek either so how lucky am I...

I decided to make myself a plastic bag holder...

as you can see I appliqued butterflies to my fabric...

and I heavily machine shadow quilted around the 3 butterflies...

I just love it...

and who says lime is ''ugly''

the pattern is in

Handmade Patchwork Annual Vol 29 No5

I have changed mine as I didn't use their applique but used the butterflies that are on the pattern sheet also and chose to make a handle instead of drawstrings...

I still love it...

2011-08-21T05:49:00.000+08:00

The Gums...

We have tourists at the moment and one of them is a keen photographer... so just before sunset we took them for a drive to what we call ''the Gums'' which is and area of Gum Trees that always has plenty of birds nesting especially the pink and grey Galah...

there were several ''cockies'' about and they were keeping a keen eye on us... we found a few hollowed out dead branches with evidence of a nest being built in and some could of had eggs in... if there were any babies they were being very quiet...

but..............

the surprise was this Eagles nest... I have never seen one before...

there were plenty of photo's taken of this

today they are going to take a ladder down there so the photographer can get some shots of in the nest... we don't think that there is any activity from eagles using it but we did notice a Galah being very protective of the nest area.... which would be so funny if they were using it...

2011-08-15T08:19:00.000+08:00

CupCakes...

Hubby is away doing a course and he is going to stay the night with a friend of ours who use to live on the neighbouring station... she has two little girls who I use to cook cupcakes for when I visited or they us...

sooooooooooo I made two batches yesterday for him to take one container for the girls and he is to drop off another container to his cousins kids on the way past... those poor little ones are having a rough time as Mum has been away having a baby and the baby has been sick so Mum and baby have been in hospital for 3 weeks and Granny has come from South Africa to help Dad BUT............. now Dad is terribly sick and in hospital in the city and Granny is on the station with the two kids!!!!!!!!!

I tell ya if it ain't raining its POURING...

hopefully Granny will have some ''bribing food'' in the next couple of hours dropped off at her door...

pink and purple and orange and flowers and butterflies and blue and green and dinosaurs

and

chocolate and plain

2011-08-13T06:24:00.000+08:00

Roses For A Friend...

I have been having ''applique withdrawls'' I seem to have been doing a LOT of piecing of late and I do love doing applique and after doing the mug rugs I was itching to do some more applique...

I had been thinking about a friend and what I could make her so........

I made this

and a closer look

there is some hand stitching in the cream I used a variegated pink and it's not showing to clearly might be something to do with the time I took the photo...

The rose pattern can be found at Fat Cat Patterns

the fabric use for the rose I dyed myself with procion dyes...

and I am not saying who the friend is as I think she drops in every now and then...

2011-08-12T11:43:00.000+08:00

I've Got Mail....

What a lovely lot of mail I have had these past couple of days...

some have been swaps and others purchases...

this block I received from Ann my June swap partner over at Quilting Block Swap Australia...

Ann is from Canada and I just love the cherry fabric

thank you Ann...

Now Ann and I are good friends as well... we met via another website a few years back and have stayed in contact via msn ever since and for my birthday in this same parcel was this

a gorgeous little bag that I have put to very good use with my hand stitching project... it is the ideal size and very portable around my home and out into the sewing room when I am up before dawn breaking... I sneak out of the house so I don't wake anyone else up as I am sure that they don't want to be up at 4.30 hehehe...

the fabrics that Ann used are so me as well.... thank you thank you Annie Mac xxxx

I also received my August ''Santa Sack'' parcels from my partner Michelle... I promise I didn't squeeze toooooooooooooo hard

I am very curious about the one with the long bit added to it????

Thank you Michelle xxx

My shopping was at Vicki's Pickledish Patch... go to her blog and the click the link on her side bar to go looking or shopping...

I purchased some Aurifil as there is so much talk about it and I have been wanting to try it out with my piecing to see if there is a difference as I generally use Gutermann poly and have been trying different brands of cotton thread to find which one I prefer better... so when I use it I will let you know what I think... does anyone else have a brand they prefer to use?... Vicki also had the cutest cotton reels of ric-rac and I couldn't help myself... actually I would love to have all the colours and have them all lined up on a shelf for display only hehehehe....

I also have a splurge at the Fat Quarter shop...

a pack of Jelly Roll strips ''Delilah by Tanya Whelan"... these are destine for a baby quilt for one of my daughters friends that's if the baby is a girl which we are hoping for as they have a boy already... and if it's not a girl that doesn't matter as I am SURE I will find something to make with them...

and also these...

as I needed/wanted some more darker blues and hey at the time the Aussie $ was looking very good...

this was only one from the shop still waiting on the second parcel which should have the Kona Solids in it mmmmm... might have to do some chasing on that one...

2011-08-09T06:55:00.000+08:00

A Few Things To Show You

Last week we did go to Perth for a quick trip because

this girl

was entered into the Barr... she is now a fully fledged Lawyer

WOOHOO

very proud moment for all of the family...

5years of University and 2 years of Legal Aid work a very long haul for her

well done sweetheart...

I must share this recipe with you too as it tasted so good... I made a pot of this to take to Perth as I knew that after we had lunch to celebrate... and yes we did have champagne... dinner would be the last thing we would be wanting...

Creamy Chicken and Cauliflower Soup...

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 chicken breast fillets chopped

1 onion finely chopped

750g cauliflower chopped

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup milk

3 teaspoons chopped tarragon

sea salt and cracked black pepper

Place a saucepan over high heat, add half the oil and the chicken and cook, stirring for 4 minutes until the chicken is well browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the remaining oil and add the onion and cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Add cauliflower, stock and milk, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until cauliflower is tender. Use a blender stick or blender to process until smooth. Return to saucepan add tarragon, salt and pepper and the cooked chicken cook until heated through.

I thought this was so easy and very very yummy so did everyone else... we had ours with crusty Sourdough

I have also made some rug mugs for a friend who is Auctioning them on eBay for Mission for Life Mums

I just used up some of my scraps that I had cut into strips...

thoroughly enjoyed making them...

I have been trying to make a start in sorting some of my craft books and magazines out... which I thought would only take me an afternoon hahahahahahaha... in between going to town on Thursday a meeting on Saturday friends turning up on Sunday and another trip to town yesterday it was still in chaos yesterday afternoon...

but I have now sorted those books and magazines into 3 boxes that I am keeping and 2 piles that I am donating when I next go to Perth or Geraldton... so now I can do some sewing as the machines I can get to and the table is cleared well sort of cleared... cleared of magazines and books anyway hehehehe...

Next I need to start sorting some of my woods and paints?????

2011-07-31T06:49:00.000+08:00

Busy Busy Busy...

We are having such a wonderful winter this year plenty of rain and green feed everywhere... even our summer season was full of rain so we have a LOT of feed everywhere and not much stock to eat it... but it is not the same everywhere in Australia... Chookyblue is having a terrible time and having to feed her cows along the road sides... feast or famine to live on the land.

I took this one foggy morning... the dog was barking at it as it was moving in the breeze...

I have been doing some knitting this past couple of weeks making ''snoods'' well sort of ''snoods''

my model was very well behaved... I used a ''yarn'' from Spotlight called Moda Vera "Hope'' it is very thick yarn and knits up so quickly... this one was for my SIL who lives in Victoria on a hop farm and it gets very very cold in her area... and I have knitted myself a long long scarf and sewn the two ends together... photo soon of that one.

these blocks I made for my friend Bea in France... Bea made me some aqua and red stars a couple of months back so we have done a swap... these blocks are 6 1/2in... if you have time pop over to Bea's blog as she is always busy sewing and her work is just gorgeous.

sneak peak.... hehehehe

and

I am busy making mug rugs for a friend who is selling them for "Mission for Life''... I think that is what it is called... photo's of those later as some need bindings done on them today...

and

I am working on another sneak peak show you some of that next week...

we are off to Perth tomorrow... our eldest daughter enters the Barr on Tuesday woohoo... so proud are we and I have promised I will be on my best behaviour no cheering hehehehe...

Luv T xxx

2011-07-28T06:30:00.000+08:00

I am here...

I am busy knitting sewing and

doing things around the homestead as the station officially goes on the market today...

fingers crossed we start to get people interested in looking...

photo's soon of my sewing and sneak-peaks...

2011-07-18T07:14:00.000+08:00

On Saturday...

Well what did we do on a cold wet day???? well we went to our neighbour property and sat at one of their windmills for 7 hours in the cold and wet and mud and occasional shower... why you ask???... don't worry as I did ask myself that as well especially when I don't do cold weather very well...

Our neighbour (bless her heart and lucky we like them) is into ''endurance racing'' with horses (which is another thing I don't do ''horses'') (lucky I like her)... they held one of these last year and had about 20 odd horses and riders... this year they had 60 horses???? so well done for the neighbours just a pity it was crappy weather and so wet... we were lucky to have some others at our check point with us and they were wonderful company and the two little girls kept us entertained... I don't know much about this endurance racing thingy... I do know that it is all about the horse and the fitness of the horse when vet checked at the end of the race or you are disqualified if the heart rate is over 55 beats and the horse mustn't be lame... the leader did get disqualified and so did the last two riders as they came in over time... apparently you MUST finish with in a time frame... there was 3 stages 20km ride... 40km ride and 80km ride... you can only do the 80km after the horse is vet checked at the 40km... so I did take some photo's

I did say it was cold and wet... so was the wood and we needed a fire... a big ragging one

with out it we wouldn't have had a very nice day plus the little girls had to roast their marshmallows...

the first rider on our checkpoint... we had to take their number and the time they arrived then it was radioed into bass...

food and water is provided for the horses...

while waiting for our last horses to get to the next check point the sun was going down and this tree was looking like it was on fire as the sun was capturing the light in the bark

this was as good as I could get as the sun was right in my camera... the tree is a Minerichea... not sure on the spelling will change it later when I find out...

back at he station homestead I went for a walk around the riders camps... WOW they are pretty organised

and on they way over to our neighbours we saw our cows in for a drink

that was my Saturday....

2011-07-15T16:01:00.000+08:00

A Birthday... Snail Mail... Swap Blocks... Plus an Update...

Phew... a few things to show you...

firstly today is my Hubbies birthday ''Happy Birthday Honey Bunny"

and he got breakfast cooked for him

also lunch...

which was

Pork Fillet with Brandy Cream Sauce and a Garden Salad

it was yummo especially with the lemon squeeze over the top...

then we had

Flourless Chocolate Dessert Cake with softly whipped cream and a Berry Coulis..

once again very yyyyyuuuuummmmmoooo

and al this was washed down with a glass of white wine...

Hubby has now gone off to a meeting and maybe a few beers with some friends...

I had another bounty of mail yesterday... we only get mail once a week...

in this was...

not just one

but two swap blocks

from Alicia in the USA... she is my partner for July here

I had changed from my blue and red star block to the spiderweb... just because I am into that block at the moment hehehe... and Alicia made two for me as she was concern that the spider web was a smaller block... isn't she just a sweet heart... thank you partner

I also received three more ''birthday fat quarters

and these ''block lotto's''

this months theme was ''a day at the beach''

and

I won woooohoooo

I have 12 blocks in this picture plus the six I made and I still have 3 more parcels to come...

I have been busy sewing spider webs...

there is about 24 blocks in this pile

so I decided to have a little look at how they showcase on my bed

and I worked out that I may need 56 blocks...

which isn't to bad... I would like the blocks to hang down the side a little and then I will add a couple of borders...... BUT............. I will need to find THAT JUST RIGHT fabric.... hahahaha

2011-07-09T05:40:00.000+08:00

A Swap Block And A FNSI....

hahahaha not really party of the "Friday Night Sew In" group

but the football was on and that is just something I am really really really just not into... so I chose to hide in the sewing room and sew some more of my spiderweb blocks... well some more triangles

my pile is growing

I counted 60 triangles... which is 30 halves which is 15 blocks... not sure how many blocks I will need but I woulds like it to cover my bed and hang down the side a fare way and I will add a border... these blocks finish up 11 1/2 inches... might make a few blocks up over the week and put them across my bed to give me a rough idea... we have tourists in the quarters so I could be limited on the sewing time over the weekend ''sniff''

I also received this fantastic spiderweb block in the mail

this one is from Carmen... I have changed from the red star aqua background... now I am wishing for a grey center and scrappy points... thank you Carmen...

2011-07-08T06:37:00.000+08:00

I've Got Snail Mail...

what a little bounty I found in my mail box yesterday...

I received my ''santa sack'' from Michelle...

just gorgeous and in my favourite colours ''lime''

and the stitchery on the front is just beautiful...

look

thank you Michelle I love it and yes I did have a little squeeze of the two parcels...

I also received a RAK from Pat in New South Wales

a tote, a pattern from Hugs and Kisses and a very much need make-up purse which will replace the zip lock bag that I have it in now hahaha...

the work on this is just beautiful and Pat does beautiful work and you can see more of Pat's work here

thank you Pat for thinking of my in the RAK event that Maree organised...

I also received some birthday fat quarters from ladies around Australia and Canada

my chosen colour was orange or purple and of course my favourite lime...

along with this stash came a wonderful needle keeper from my gorgeous friend Val in Victoria

beautiful Amy Butler fabric...

and look at the gorgeous stitching inside...

I feel very spoilt and very very lucky to have such lovely friends...

if you are looking around blog world and you see some of these events organised by ladies...

join up and make a new friend...

Luv Tarnyia xxx

2011-07-06T06:18:00.000+08:00

Scrap Busting...

Well trying very hard too...

the lid of my blue scrap bin wouldn't stay closed and even after I did manage to get the lid on with in two minutes I would hear a ''pop''.......... so time to do something about those blues... oh and greens... which weren't as bad as the blues I must say...

I keep ice-cream containers on my cutting table and fill these then once full tip them into my colour bins... yes I do have an ice-cream container for each colour and I do have a scrap bin for each colour.... ''anal some would say''.... oh and my kids would say... especially my eldest daughter...

so with a hot coffee at my side

and my two containers of sorted random greens and blues

and some grey homespun marked with lines...

off I go just choosing at random but starting with a blue strip then a green...

I start creating these....

and turning them into these... (not sewn together yet)

I just love the colour combo... "who said blue and green should never be seen"???

I have always wanted to try the ''spider web'' pattern and I found this great tutorial for this one here

the only part that I didn't like doing is measuring and drawing the lines

''time consuming'' but well worth it for the accuracy...

so while in Perth last weekend I went to Spotlight and purchased another 5 metres of grey... yeah I know a lot but I live 7 hours from Spotlight and even if I don't use it all for this project it will get used... and I have decided to make a quilt for my bed with these and I have a queen size with a high mattress... last night I spent an hour drawing lines on some more cut out triangles... and I had another little sort through my blue and green bins... this could take me a LITTLE while to make to so don't expect a quilt in a week...

I have also caught up on my block swap...

this one ''Castle in the Air" is for Carmen in Australia...

this one "Abstraction" is for Alicia in USA...

2011-06-27T09:24:00.000+08:00

To Me

yes today is my birthday

I have received some lovely fat quarter from ladies I am in a ''birthday swap'' with

this year I chose ''orange or purple''...

I have noticed quite a few projects in magazines have orange in them and they look so bright and cheery

so thank you girls...

when I have some more I will post a photo of them all...

and I got a beautiful card from my Hubby...

no plans for today well none that I know of... but I will do the usual housework and spend the afternoon sewing...

I am working on some ''spiderweb blocks''...

For June in the ''Aussie Block Swap'' I have two partners

this is the block I have made for one of them

Ann from Canada wished for a ''blue and green'' log cabin...

her wish was my command...

I do hope you like your block Annie Mac...

and this week I must get my other partners block finished as the July partners are out hahahaha

2011-06-19T11:24:00.000+08:00

This Morning....

we had ''fog''

this one was taken at 7.46 am

this one at 8.25 am...

its creeping in slowly

and didn't clear until about 10 am... and what a pain as I had the dishwasher to put on plus I had towels in the washing machine that needed to go out and I really would have like to have washed the quilt on my sons bed... those bloody cats had been on it and left their bloody black fur over it even though I have a sheet on it for them?????? GEEZ

so with the lack of sun today I have put off washing it.... we are have solar power so I didn't want to use those big power hungry things hahahahaha

I have also done another batch of Marmalade

and this lot set a lot better than the other...

yesterday I spent the afternoon sewing the 4th row of my "row by row" which was themed ''birds''and joined it to my other rows

I am quite happy how it turned out...

I think this will end up a single bed quilt for a future Grandie maybe hahahaha no pressure what so ever on my kids at all hahahahahaha...

2011-06-18T07:18:00.000+08:00

In The Kitchen....

I have made some marmalade.... Cumquat Marmalade to be precise....

I had trouble with it setting and I don't normally but the seeds that I soak from the fruit weren't formed properly... as it has cooled over the past couple of days it seems to have thicken up enough to be used now... the worst part is the cutting up...

I have a miniature Cumquat tree it comes up to my shoulder and it is laden at the moment... this is the most fruit it has every had on it due to the good rains we have had... I will probably get two more lots of marmalade off it.... I did bottle some one year for Christmas but nobody ate them so not wasting my time there again hahahaha

2011-06-15T06:43:00.000+08:00

A Little Bit Of Crocheting...

A few weeks ago my sister asked me if I could crochet a throw rug like hers for a friend who was celebrating her 40th birthday... she wanted to give her friend something that she would have forever and usable... and her friend liked her throw...

the request from my sister was for chocolate brown and cream...

so I did 4 rows of each round and round and round...

actually it is a great time of the year to make a granny rug... you keep warm as it grows...

this will be in the mail tomorrow to the friend who lives in Sydney and I am sure she will be snuggling up under it that night as I see it has been quite chilly there...

I used wool which isn't wool so the rug can be machine washed over and over...

and I live on a ''sheep station'' a breeder of wool hahahaha...

2011-06-13T07:24:00.000+08:00

In The Kitchen...

Yesterday it was so chilly in the morning that I decided to do some baking

to warm the kitchen up and myself...

first off some

Sticky Date...

I did muffin size so I could freeze them and bring them out as needed...

and these are so yummy especially with the sauce!!!

Icky Sticky Pudding

2 tsp bicarb-soda

1 tsp vanilla

400g self raising flour

4 eggs lightly beaten

500 ml water

120g diced butter

340g brown sugar

340g chopped dates

In a saucepan add chopped dates, bicarb and water then boil until dates are soft. While still warm add butter and brown sugar. Stir until melted and dissolved, leave to cool. Add lightly beaten eggs, sifted flour and vanilla, beat well. Grease and flour a 24cm tin, pour mixture into tin. Bake in a moderately slow oven 140* for 1 hour. Serve warm with Hot Toffee Sauce

Hot Toffee Sauce

200ml thickened cream

dash vanilla

400g brown sugar

250g chopped butter

Dissolve butter and sugar in a small saucepan, add cream and vanilla and gently bring to a simmer.

Note... this makes a huge cake I usually half the recipe but keep the sauce at the same measurements..

I also made Choc Chip Cookies...

to fill this

this recipe makes about 100 cookies...

Choc Chip Cookies

500g chopped butter at room temp

1/4 cup caster sugar

400g tin condensed milk

5 cups self raising flour

3 packets choc chips... 1 white 1 milk 1 dark

Beat butter, sugar and condensed milk until light. Add the flour one cup at a time... add the 3 packets of choc chips... Set oven at 150*... place heaped spoon on a greased tray and lightly press with a fork... when lightly browned remove from oven loosen and allow to cool..

I also made this

Five Minute Orange Cake

1 navel orange
175g butter at room temp
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
2 cups self raising flour
double cream to serve

Grease and line your cake tin.
Cut unpeeled (top and tailed) orange into 1/4's and place in food processor... process until chopped. Add butter, eggs, sugar and flour process until well combined.
Spread into cake tin and cook in 180c for about 45 minutes or until cooked when tested.

and wow my kitchen was busy/messy

and look at this

this is hubby's ''tea cup'' that he uses all day while he is out working around the station... it is so YUCK and he wont let me bleach it eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww

in the afternoon I was working on these

I am doing a row by row with another group and I have got slightly behind so I am playing catch up before the next theme comes out in a couple of days...

these are the 2nd and 3rd rows... flowers and nursery rhymes...

once I have finished sewing them I will show you a better photo..

2011-06-10T06:52:00.000+08:00

Catchin' Up....

Before I rushed to Perth for my son's emergency surgery I was catching up on a few swaps... one was my

Santa Sack Swap organised by the gorgeous kind hearted Cheryll ....

she is turning out to be the "Swap Mama" hahahahaha...

with this swap you make a sack and you add two presents wrapped and send this off to your partner on the

1st July and there after on the first of each month you send two more wrapped presents for six months and along with the last presents you send a larger or more substantial present... each present should be under $10 and can be bought or handmade...

this is the ''sack'' I have made

my partner Michelle asked if I would mind if she made a ''tote'' instead of a sack...

and I thought what a great idea... so I have done the same for her...

the pattern is in Australian Country Threads Vol 9 No 1... I did make a couple of changes...

and these are the first pressies to go into it...

Michelle likes shabby and vintage and teddy bears and roses... oh and tea parties...

I have also caught up with my Birdie Stitches Bom

and the next block in ready to start stitchin'

2011-06-09T10:08:00.000+08:00

RAK's

My RAK has been received by Vanessa over here

and I think she liked it....

I am home now and my son is ok and has this week off work also and his sister and her partner have been so good to him and I while staying with them... thank you...

now back to my sewing and sorting crap out for the tip and OP shop

hahahahahaha

2011-06-01T07:29:00.000+08:00

No Sewing Happening......

Had an emergency rush to Perth... last months birthday boy had emergency surgery to have his appendix removed on Monday night...

so I am in Perth for a week or so...

he was very lucky as a ''trainee doc'' said he was ok and and could go home... so we turned around and headed back home then we get a call that a head surgeon just saw him and said it was his appendix and they were coming out now... lucky as they weren't very nice when he went in...

he is now out as they need the bed hahaha

Luv T xxx

2011-05-27T08:35:00.000+08:00

RAK's

Random Act of Kindness...

I joined Maree's RAK swap in January and I was given the month of May to send out a parcel to a ''bloggy friend'' who had also joined this swap...

well mine is in the mail to someone????

I do hope she likes her parcel...

Luv Tarnyia xxx

2011-05-25T16:53:00.000+08:00

Finally Finished...

Yes the belated birthday present that seemed to be taking me so long to get done is finished...

6 mugs rugs for my MIL

I just can't remember where I got the stitchery from but it is in blogland somewhere from a talented fellow blogger...

and Kaffe Fasset fabric...

I can just see them on her table with a few friends having coffee and cake... now just to work out how to get them to her... the contracted ''parcel delivery'' just can't seem to find her street in the retirement village???

and a few parcels have been sent back undelivered??? no such address??? yet her letters get to her???

hohum...

2011-05-24T13:01:00.000+08:00

In The Kitchen...

The day started off quite chilly here... and I know for some of you our cold is NOTHING like what you get

but

I DISLIKE the cold and DO NOT like to feel the slightest bit of cold...

if I get cold in the morning that chill stays with me all day...

YEP I am a sook...

This morning I decided to make some Banana Bread to get the chill out of the kitchen...

Can you smell them mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Banana Bread

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup self raising flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

125g butter melted

2 eggs

3 ripe banana's mashed

Pre-heat oven 180*... grease loaf pan... combine sifted flours, sugar, cinnamon in a large bowl... whisk butter and eggs together... stir in mashed banana... add this wet mix to the dry ingredients until well combined... spoon into prepared pan... bake for 40 - 50 mins or until a skewer comes out clean...

I do add walnuts to mine about 1/2 cup or more if you wish to...

Now back to some sewing...

2011-05-22T17:30:00.000+08:00

OH WOW....

I knew that I hadn't posted for sooooooooooo llloooonnnngggg

but

I didn't realise it was THAT long... and a friend told me my blog looks ''lonely'' OOPS...

but

I have been REALLY busy

honest...

with shearing, Easter, birthdays, mustering goats and a 21st to organise

and having the real estate people here for two days...

but

during all of that I was making this

red and grey was the theme and for the party we stuck to that as well...

it is quite big as he is really tall...

the close up of him is one of my favourites...

all I need to do now is finish the quilting and make a bag for it...

the 21st went well... we had it at a bowling club and we had security which is to go now and I don't blame places for insisting on it either...

Dad telling stories...

Big sister telling stories...

other big sister helping little brother out...

they get none of this behaviour from their Mum either...

He did have a very good night and it was so good to see so many friends celebrating with us...

but

I am so glad that is the last 21st for us...

Now that shearing and goat mustering is over I can catch up on

swaps and RAKs and BOM's and fat quarter swaps

I have started one ''belated'' birthday present

these I am turning into mug rugs for my MIL's birthday...

she gave me some beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabric a few years ago so time to use them I think...

The weather has turned chilly here this last few days and yesterday we lite the fire for the first time this winter and I have had it ticking over all day today... I HATE THE COLD... but I love rugging up and I love fires and I love lots of rugs on the bed...

Luv Tarnyia xxx

2011-05-08T11:02:00.000+08:00

Happy Mothers Day

to all those wonderful ladies out there

wishing you all the best day

and

enjoy being who you are...

2011-04-26T15:43:00.000+08:00

Progress Update...

well as you can see I am still working on it and have now decided that I need to add another row

I have photo's drying at the moment...

2011-04-22T17:04:00.000+08:00

Happy Easter

wishing you all a

fantastic Easter time

with

family and friends

may your Easter basket be full

to the brim

with

happiness

and chocolate of course...

2011-04-19T08:08:00.000+08:00

Today...

this baby was born

and grew

into this

Happy 21st Birthday Liam

we are so proud of you and your wonderful achievements

and

the outstanding young man you are turning into

we wish the world for you

love Mum and Dad

2011-04-17T10:54:00.000+08:00

Shearing Is Over...

But was it the last one for us???

It's the pets turn in the shed to be shorn...

Our classer of the wool...

Naked pets...

Our middle daughter and her partner were up for shearing and they have Joe's sister...

she has longer hair than Joe and her coat is so soft...

Cleo is her name... and they have had the best time playing and over in the sheep yards...

Cleo left this morning to go home to Perth (and have a bath)... Joe is so tired he is under my computer table on my feet sound asleep...

Below is the start of my son's 21st memory quilt...

I have been doing a little each day during shearing when I have had a spare half hour here and there...

at the moment I have it pinned onto a sheet... my make shift design wall...

now I can see how it is looking and will be able to play around with it as I make stars...

today I will print out more photo's...

the larger stars are 12 1/2in and the smaller are 6 1/2in...

2011-04-16T07:01:00.000+08:00

WooHoo It's Here...

My ''colour swap'' parcel that is... so exciting and do you know it has taken ONE MONTH to get to me...

how ridiculous is that... generally mail from one side of Aussie to the other should or does take one week... mail from me to England takes five days????? go figure that one......

Anyway

My colour choice was ''lime''...

on opening the box the most wonderful smell came from it... there was a sachet in there but there was also a sprinkling of something else lavender I think...

beautifully wrapped...

two pieces of wonderful lime fabric... variegated thread and a stitchery...

a mug which I just love... a pencil case or it could be used for threads and things for a small project... yummy mint chocolate and THAT sachet that smell glorious..

aaannnnnnddddd three tea towels and these will be getting put away for my new home and I will be trying out that ''apple pie'' recipe on one of them...

so you can see I have been terribly spoilt and it was so worth the wait...

Thank you Carole for your wonderful generosity...

2011-04-13T07:21:00.000+08:00

An Award.... For Me

The lovely Jan-Maree at Cherry Red Quilter has awarded me this

Thank you and thank you for thinking of me...

you need to go check out her blog as she is one of those ladies who is always busy and this past few weeks she has been make quilts for Queensland along with a few of her friends... and some of them are just gorgeous and cute...

I now need to choose 6 other bloggers who I think have ''stylish blogs''

and there are soooooo many of you out there...

the chosen ones are

Shauna... Hobbies with a Little Bit of Life

Cathy... Cathy's Sewing Room

Bobbie... Its All About Me

Jolanda... atelier-arte

Sue... http://quiltedhugsandothernonsense.blogspot.com/

Leah... Quilted Delights

Now some of these ladies might not want to follow on with the award but that is okay... I just want them to know how much I enjoy there blogs...

Now I must tell you 7 things about me...

WOW

1. I taught my children via School of the Air

2. I was born in England and came to Australia when I was 6 months old...

and I am still not Australian hahaha

3. I love swimming... especially naked hahahaha

4. Chocolate is my biggest downfall

5. I have taught myself to patchwork... no classes out here

6. I did gymnastics as a child and loved it and now I can't do any sport

due to bad hips and operations on them

7. I wish I lived in blogland then I could visit you all in person and have a cuppa

geez that was hard...

2011-04-11T07:23:00.000+08:00

Blocks blocks blocks...

This month I have been very lucky to have had to swap partners with Quilting Block Swaps Australia and both my partners are Aussies...

This is the block I made for Rosemary who requested a log cabin in greens and autumn colours...

I hadn't sewn a log cabin for so long and it was great to do one...

My other partner Debra requested a wonk y house or tree in bright/modern colours/fabrics...

now this was a challenge as when I searched the web for a pattern they were either to small... wrong shape block... so I found a bit of a tutorial on how to do your own... and this is the end result...

I do hope that it is what Debra wanted and I must say it was fun to do...

And...

this is my block from Rosemary

a wonky star

and I just love it... thanks Rosemary...

Today we start shearing... we only have 3000 to shear which is pretty sad considering we generally shear between 6000 and 7000... dingo's and drought have not been good for us...

and sheep are worth so much at the moment and we have a heap of green feed..

2011-04-04T06:32:00.000+08:00

A Finish...

Last year I participated in Vicki's ''Flirting With Flowers'' BOM

and I got behind with it as I always do when I see so many other wonderful things on offer

through out ''blogland'' and all those great magazines out there...

Well the last 2 weeks in the early hours of the morning while watching something on the net I have been finishing the last of the hand stitching...

and

yesterday

I finished the hand sewing and put it altogether...

its not like the actual finished wall hanging that Vicki had designed with borders and all.....

I am thinking this will be a table centre or maybe a change mat???

anyway it is in my ''finishes box''...

Meanwhile Vicki has another BOM happening this year "out of the box'' go looky...

2011-04-03T05:53:00.000+08:00

My It Has Been A Little While...

But I have been busy even though when I look around here it doesn't appear to look like it....

My ''mexican rose'' outside the dining room is in flower and has butterflies all over it...

Trying to get a close up of the butterflies is a bit difficult with them moving and the closer I got they would move...

I have several ice cream containers near my cutting table table

so that I can add strips from projects that I work on...

the aim is to make strip blocks out of them...

I also cut up used computer/fax paper into 6 1/2 inch squares to use as the foundation

every now and then I spend a couple of days trying to decrease the containers... but they always seem to be overflowing... especially some colours... orange doesn't seem to be a colour that I use much? these are all then put away for a future quilt... and I feel better that I have recycled the paper and used up some more of ''those scraps'' and haven't wasted any fabric and eventually I will have a quilt or two....

someone wants to say hello

and here he is with his Dad

he annoys him all the time... Baz jumps up onto the tray of the work ute to get away from him hehehe

but he is really good with him... he doesn't bite him just grows when he has had enough and Joe knows its time to ''back away''

Hubby is busy mustering sheep... we start shearing on the 11th... we have plenty of feed not enough sheep the dingo's are closing in and now they poor sheep have fly strike... can't win...

ho hum...

2011-03-22T06:31:00.000+08:00

Swap Block

This is the beautiful block that I received from Crafty Pug

for the

Quilting Block Swap Australia

red and aqua... I am getting quite a collection now...

Thank you Crafty Pug for my block and for the extra bit of fabric...

2011-03-21T17:07:00.000+08:00

MMMMM Who Is Naughty...

who did this?????

and this????

I think I have forgotten how naughty little puppies can be...

oh well...

he so cute and he does like a cuddle and he keeps us entertained ''big time''....

I have taught him to case the ball and he is bringing it back to me... we even play chasey which is very funny and is very tiring...

I won a raffle of charm squares in brown and green

and a bonus piece of fabric which seams to go quite well with the charms...

to win or be in the next raffle we are making a place mat with a matching coaster

I chose to do Christmas themed ones... one set gets you six tickets... but.....

seeing I have won the last two raffles I am not putting my name into this one..

The weather is so much cooler here today 25* and overcast unbelievable... will have to put a rug on the bed tonight.... or cuddle ''nudge nudge wink wink'' hahahaha

2011-03-15T08:10:00.000+08:00

Teddy Bears Wash Day

Now if I had of done this

or this

several years ago...

I would of had these three (this is the only pic of have of the 3 of them together) walking underneath crying and trying to reach them all...

Lucky they are all not here to see.... but they will see this posting hahahahaha...

I thought it would be a good time to get them all washed and dried while the weather is still warm...

then they can be sorted out to who's is who's and packed up ready for our "sale and move"...

Back to washings teddies and there are heaps still to wash...

2011-03-12T07:49:00.000+08:00

Colour Swap

Just letting my ''colour swap partner'' know that if she has sent my parcel it hasn't arrived yet

BooHoo

and it will be another week before I go to town to shop and get the mail...

so don't worry yet if you are checking here to see if I have it...

2011-03-10T05:56:00.000+08:00

I Have A Name...

Meet "Joe''... yep just ''Joe''

I like to chew... I like to jump up at Mum's sarong as it moves...

most of all I like the floor in the sewing room near my Mum...

He was so timid and a little frighten of raised voices even though I wasn't... but yesterday he was coming to me when I came outside... another few days and I will start him on some sitting...

Yesterday I started cleaning up my cutting table as I haven't seen it for a few months... and I have started cleaning/culling my magazines you really don't realise how many you have and there were even double copies of some which was from buying them in newsagents and you get 2 or 3 in a pack... now I subscribe...

today will be another cleaning/culling day...

10 Years

Today is 10 years since my little brother died... he was 29 yrs old...
still loving you and missing you...

2011-03-09T06:06:00.000+08:00

Look What I Have...

He is 8 weeks old... border collie... and mine...

He doesn't have a name yet... our border collie is the father...

there were 6 puppies and this is the last of the litter...

our middle daughter and her partner have one... a little girl ''Cleo''... I took her down to them 3 weeks ago before her partner went back to work on the oil rig so he had a week with her...

this is to be my guard dog when we move and hubby is away...

he likes being in the sewing room with me so he will have to have plenty of baths so there is no ''doggy'' smell in the ''special room''...

more photo's later when he is more settled in...

2011-03-08T05:39:00.000+08:00

Lots To Show You...

Well you know how we had all that rain a couple of weeks ago???

Well someone got bogged

and

I mean BOGGED and that someone was going to have to walk a long way...

well we went up there to get it a couple of days later to get it

but due to all that rain we had on a Friday it had become surrounded by water...

looked liked a mini lake...

well we did go back again and get it out

BUT

it took over 2 hours to get it out...

all the wood is from when hubby tried to get it out

as you can see ''truly bogged'' lots of digging and collecting rocks... one attempt with a rope that snapped then a chain then more digging then an attempt from the from but the ground was to wet still that way and we would have got the other Toyota bogged...
With all the rain the country side is looking very very nice

green feed everywhere

even things that looked dead have green growth over them
and the sheep are so enjoying the change...

This week I received some beautiful ''aqua and red'' star blocks from my beautiful friend in France Beatrice
she saw that I was doing these blocks in a block swap and said she would do some for me
Bea is such a generous hearted lady...

aren't they just gorgeous
thank you ever so much Bea...

I also have done another ''birdie stitches'' block using my Amy Butler fabrics...

2011-03-01T06:54:00.000+08:00

Colour Swap

I have done the colour swap that Maree organised...

so much fun me thinks...

what you had to do was...

some thread

a fat quarter

something pretty... bought or handmade

something yummy

and

my partner ''chose purple''

easy peasy...

for my something pretty I bought a jelly roll...

but then I thought why not make something pretty instead...

so I did...

I must say I am very happy how it turned out...

lots of machine quilting all the way to the end...

I do hope my ''purple gal'' is pleased with her goodies...

I thought I'd post a pic as I am sure she has them by now...

2011-02-27T07:00:00.000+08:00

Blocks and More Rain...

On Friday I was feeling so much better and after spending most of the week in a bean bag hand stitching finishing off blocks....

and

the sky looked lovely and blue...

so I decided to make some room in the sewing room so I could do a little sewing.... just enough to use the machine, cutting board and iron...

So put the 2 1/2 inch squares around my ''Birdie Stitches Bom'' found at littlemissshabby

Blocks one and two...

I am using Amy Butler ''Soul Blossoms'' range ''joy... passion... bliss'' just love Amy...

I also finished blocks 1 and 2 of ''Retro Nine Patch'' found here

My middle daughter helped chose the fabrics for this table cloth... they have purple, lime, aqua, yellow in them... so those are the colours of the threads I am using...

The photo doesn't bring out the background colour all that well...

I have also received 2 blocks from fellow swappers in the QBSA both are just perfect...

This is from Sue my February partner and the most gorgeous wee pin cushion made from the cut offs...

thank you Sue...

This one is from Marie and she was my January partner... for some reason the post decided to let this one go the long way around... it's a great block and I just love the pattern... thank you Marie...

With Marie's block came this most cute wee owl... he is so weeny and I love him...

don't you think so too...

AS I said the sky was blue... but come around 4pm the sky started to darken... and at 5pm the clouds let loose... in half an hour we had 57mls of rain...........

I thought the roof was going the fall in it was so heavy... and it did run down the wall above the stove and got into the power point there and smoke poured out and smelt so foul and then blew the fuse and then we had no power in part of the house... not much you can do in the middle of such a storm...

MMMMM what caused it.... ANTS....

they made a nest in there so when all their ''nesty stuff'' got wet it blew it up so to speak...

and because the rain was so heavy and we have the gates all blocked from the flowing water surrounding the house to stop it coming in... the inside water has no where to go...

poor quality but it is night time and still spitting...

this is us pumping it out...

that building is my sewing room which always goes under first from the outside water...

so everything is back up on tables... and the room smells musky BOO HOO...