Rain on the mountain...

On Friday Heather, Barb and I braved the freezing cold and non-stop rain to head up the mountain for some country cooking and stitching.

We have a special room we 'take possession' of at the Heritage Tea Rooms whenever we're up there but in order to secure it we have to be early. Once taken it is ours for the day!

Most other visitors to the Tea Rooms that day sat on the verandah and watched the rain...

...but we stayed dry in our den.

After a hearty breakfast and more than a few hot chocolates (brimming with marshmallows)...

...we cleared the table and brought out some stitching.

Heather was all smiles, her effervescent humour keeping Barb and I in stitches - the kind that makes your tummy muscles ache!

She's working away on the last few Gentle Domesticity blocks for this year's BOM which is why I had to hide part of her handwork for this photo. The block Heather was sewing won't be shared for a few months yet...

Barb has been stitching a set of Rosalie Dekker blocks 'forever' and we can't wait to see them all finished one day. Her smile lights up our gatherings, which is no surprise as she has the same natural humour of her mum, Heather! 

I stitched away on the August block for Gentle Domesticity so I guess as it's only a couple of weeks away you can have a peek?

Lunch was a simple shared plate of scones, jam and cream, served beside a pot of hot English Breakfast tea...

Not used to such cold weather in the tropics of North Queensland we hugged every hot drink that day close to our chests and inhaled the steam. It was just 10C (50F) at 1pm, and as I thought back I realised the last time I'd been in such a low temperature was June 2009 when we lived in Esperance, Western Australia. 

Keeping a promise to my husband I rested most of Saturday, and apart from a relaxing drive out to Charters Towers this morning with Mr E I've rested today as well. 

Recovery from pneumonia is slow but I am feeling a tiny bit better each day. Friday with Heather and Barb was definitely good for my soul, and continued rest at home will complete the healing. 

Do you have an extra few minutes right now? Heather has shared a tutorial for recycling old candles on her blog and it's really clever! I have plenty of candles with only a bit of wax left which would be perfect for THIS.

I hope your weekend has brought smiles and laughter to your soul as well.

hugs

Barb's birthday...

My dear friend Barbra turned 40 this week, and today she and Heather came over for a few hours of stitching and feasting!

I think Barb has the most beautiful smile. She lights up the room...

I baked a moist chocolate cake...

...and served it with vanilla cream, berry coulis and cappuccinos.

Tastebuds satisfied, we sat back and watched a couple of episodes of Kirstie's Handmade Britain while trying to stitch - I say trying because when our eyes weren't glued to the screen we were pausing the DVD to chat about all the ideas that were running through our three minds.

I think next year we're all going to have a wonderfully 'domestic' crafting adventure - but more about that when it happens!

I designed a little stitchery for Barb and embroidered it with variegated Cottage Garden Threads on cream hanky linen. With some pretty Tilda fabric for backing this became a lavender sachet. Barb spent most of today holding this near her cheek, inhaling the relaxing scent - in fact my living room smelled amazing...

One can never have enough lavender sachets, and they make lovely gifts, especially if you add a small stitchery to the front. 

 Perhaps you have some orphan blocks you could use to make some sachets as Christmas gifts?

Hope you have a lovely weekend,

hugs

Something special...

Last Friday I packed some sewing and headed out of town to spend the day at Heather's.

It had been about 7 or 8 weeks since we'd last caught up face to face due to puppies, spring colds, school holiday child-minding and work...but once we're face to face over a hot cuppa it's as though our last catch up was only yesterday. Isn't it a blessing to have a friend like that?

Heather's daughter (and another of my close and treasured handful of friends) is Barb, and as it was her day off work she was visiting too so all three of us spent the day laughing, chatting, sewing and eating - Heather is an awesome cook! 

I can't show you what were stitching at the time because Heather is working on a design of her own for Christmas which you'll see soon (check her blog HERE regularly) and I was working on a new Club pattern for November - but I can show you what Heather made using four of my blocks from The Christmas Wreath!

It's gobsmackingly gorgeous... 

 I'm so glad she used the blocks completely different to my wreath because it shows how versatile they are.

Has Heather's table runner given you a fresh idea on how to use/display The Christmas Wreath blocks?

(the first five blocks are HERE as free downloads until October 31st - final block next Monday)

 Yesterday Heather dropped by my house for a few hours between errands in town, and I showed her a new design I'm working on as a freebie to share later this week.

  "Free To Be Me" will become a stitchery you can make as a gift for those you know and love who  have been through, or are currently facing, breast cancer. Heather was keen to get stitching on this too so she chose a skein of thread and needle while I traced it up for her on hanky linen.

  As we stitched through the morning we chatted about how very blessed we are.

We realised that the trials we both face in life may seem big to us, yet in reality some of them can be let go of and others can be calmly accepted and walked through over the course of life.

 This means when we come up against the true biggies we will have a greater internal and emotional strength to draw from.

I'm going to ponder this more in coming months because I sense there's a wonderful unburdening waiting to happen by examining the depth of what a true trial is, and what's simply a bump in the road. 

 Here's a couple of sneak peeks of "Free To Be Me" in variegated pink on cream hanky linen as I was stitching  yesterday...

The plan is to finish it today and have the pattern ready for you late Thursday.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the idea to offer a free stitchery to support this cause was prompted by a slightly different request over the weekend from Kerry Smith and her sewing group here in Townsville.

I thank the Lord for all these design 'nudges' because they allow me to use the gift of creativity He gave me as a blessing for others.

Drop by late Thursday to grab the pattern, ok?

hugs

Family tea-time and one last free design!

It's funny how life turns out.

I've been good friends with Heather and Barb for a couple of years now, sharing many a stitching day with a few other friends but also enjoying the odd cuppa on the spur of the moment when the mood strikes.

I love that - having a friend up the road to just 'drop in on' and there's no effort or planning involved. Just "pop the kettle on and I'll be there soon" kind of thing. 

Having no family here apart from Mr E and Blossom, and still feeling rather 'foreign' after 3 years in Townsville, the comfortable pleasure of friends close-by is a true delight.

But then you start to talk and share about the wider family you've both got and a surprise pops out you never imagined!

You see, about four generations ago three brothers left Teglio in Italy and arrived in Australia.  

Heather, Barb and Mr E are all descended from those brothers - maybe the same brother, we're still working that information out.

So here in a place I never wanted to live, but which has now got my heart, we found 'family'.

Probably second cousins twice-removed (ha ha!) but family none-the-less - and I cannot tell you the depth of joy that has filled my heart at the discovery of this connection.

And that is why the title of this blog post is "Family tea-time".

Whilst whiling away a few hours over coffee (yes, it was coffee in the tea cups...but I LOVE pretty much anything in a tea cup!), Heather brought out a project she'd been working on and seriously I wanted to stuff it under my blouse and run home with it!!

You would have too, right?!

 This gorgeous little pouch is a heart stealer...

In fact if you head over HERE to her blog you can see a second version she made in greens (equally divine) and Heather also has a link to the pattern in her blog post so we can all make one.

 Today is the 31st March, and that officially ends my 9-day Tea Week!

I hope you've enjoyed all things TEA with me?

Of course there was one more design that wouldn't leave me alone so I had to make it for you, didn't I?! 

It started like this...

....and became something rather lovely.

This pattern is free to download HERE until after Easter (April 7th) at which time it will become purchase only, so you'd best hurry over now to claim it...

I think these fabrics make The Tea Lover's Pot sing!

They are a mix of "Wiltshire Daisy" and "Tilda".

BLOG HOP!!

Drop by tomorrow because there's a blog hop and I am part of it!

I'll have a list of all those involved so bring a cuppa to the blog with you 'cause you'll be here a while.

There's a lot of lovelies to swoon over...and it all has a tea theme...well, what do you know about that?!

hugs

The girls come to stitch!

On Friday morning I prepared the table for a visit from Barb & Heather who were coming over to stitch for the day. You see, Wendy has been away living the high life in Brisbane with lots of friends at Let's Get Stitched so we three left behind decided to have some sewing fun ourselves!

It's been ages since I brought out this treasured vintage table cloth...

...but I knew the girls would appreciate the beauty and fine stitching displayed across it.

In fact Heather kept putting her glasses on for closer inspection.

This exquisite cloth was a $3 purchase years ago from an op-shop. It was badly stained with large yellow areas but Blossom gave me some wonderful stuff to soak it in and the cloth returned to almost 100% white in the un-stitched linen areas.

Isn't it precious?

Well, we girls did exactly as I predicted in my post the other day - we laughed ourselves silly all day long...

...but we truly did achieve some stitching between coffee, biscuits, tea, lunch, and 'afters'.

Barb is stitching a whole pile of Sparrow blocks for Operation Sparrow (learn about that HERE)!

She started this one in gorgeous Cottage Garden "Tulip" thread...

 

...and only needed to add the wording by the end of the day.

Heather was also stitching with the pretty "Tulip" thread, and she too had an almost completed project by home time...

I was working on the final design for next week's Stitchery Club patterns, and this is as far as I got by mid-afternoon...

As always, stitching, laughing and sharing a meal with my friends is a true tonic for a joyful heart!

NEWS: Visit Heather's blog HERE because she has a giveaway!

Today I'm back to work on the "HOME" design. 

If only I could keep my eyes down and my mind on track, but I'm watching the Great British Sewing Bee while I stitch and my attention strays...oh, but the fun! I love that show!

Have a brilliant weekend!

hugs