Hmmm, what am I doing with those CDs???

So you are wondering what I am doing with the pile of CDs Slicer gave me, are you?

Well, I am using them for a secret project, but I'll share some sneak peeks just so you know I really do have an idea brewing. ;-)

On the kitchen front I made these Rock Cakes for morning tea yesterday, and today I baked an Orange Madiera Cake (but they ate it before I took the photo!)...

...and guess what I found when I was cleaning up the book shelf in my sewing room?!

A DVD on domestic machine quilting!! I never realised I had it...but maybe that's because it came free with a magazine a while ago and I wasn't into machine quilting back then. Now that I am I'll get around to learning some smarter techniques.
And look what other DVDs I came across...

...I have no excuse not to learn new techniques now! The hard part is sitting down to watch them - because I have to WATCH, I can't stitch at the same time. Very hard for me. Is that hard for you?

Have you signed up for the Hug Swap yet?

How is your August Sewing Machine Cover Challenge coming along - you only have a few days left in August and the giveaway prizes are wonderful if you finish in time to enter the draw! Remember, the idea is to dress your machine-friend and not have her naked anymore...it's not about having the perfect cover or the prettiest. :-)

And lastly, don't forget, next Tuesday I'll be sharing block 9 of my Shabby Roses BOM ( and it's gorgeous!) I will also be sharing the cutting instructions for your fabrics - if you need the yardage measurements to purchase the correct amount of fabrics you will find them HERE. Have you stitched the first 8 blocks yet?

I must away now and finish more of my CD project...can't wait to show you!!

Happy hugs,
Jenny
xxx

Mail, a machine cover finished, and that shop AGAIN!

Two of those beautiful giveaways I won arrived in the mail yesterday!
Terry sent me these really pretty fat quarters and matching thread...now you know I love roses so I've already started dreaming up ways to use these fabrics! Thanks SO much Terry!

And then there was a big bulky package from Brenda!
I am so excited about making this felted wallhanging, but Brenda has the experience so she shared some very helpful tips in her card and added a few extra pieces in case I make a boo boo. Thank you Brenda!! She also added in a couple of American quilting magazines, and wouldn't you know it, I already have my eye on one of the quilts featured!

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Remember the applique rose sewing machine cover I was making? Well, after I shared the applique pattern with you I promptly put the cover aside because I just couldn't decide how I was going to finish it! When I'm not sure on a project I stop working on it and move to the next one...this tends to free my mind to be more creative and when I come back to the project a week or so later I have a brainwave. So this is how the machine cover was finished today...

On the first cover I made (the one with Blossom's design on the front) I tied the sides with bows. For this one I simply buttoned 8in strips down on the sides so the cover slips over the machine, but I chose to make those buttons a feature of the machine cover. I used large and small mother-of-pearl buttons on top of each other with tiny seed pearl beads across the holes. Aren't they so sweet!?

Now my machine is dressed very prettily! The first cover, with the embroidery Blossom designed and stitched, has been sent off to one of the magazines I contribute to - it's being photographed and will be published later this year or early next year. I'm so proud of my girl! :-)
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Speaking of my girl....this morning we went out for coffee and to visit THAT shop again! We thought you may like to see our purchases?

This bowl will hold my ruby red ceramic pomegranates...

...and this set I bought for Blossom, for our High Teas. Isn't it stunning?

I loved this sweet little hanging photo frame....perhaps to house a tiny rose stitchery?

Do you remember the beautiful milk jug from my last visit to the shop? This was the matching sugar bowl, but it does not have a lid (someone must have mishandled and broke it in the store), so rather than use it for sugar I intend to fill it with dried lavender and place it on my bedside table. Such a gorgeous piece to wake up to each morning. :-)

Now I'd best get back to a project I'm working on for Blossom. She really loved the bag I made Sarah in Hawaii, so I'm making a similar one for her to use on sports days at school. :-) She's chosen the embroidery and fabrics she wants and I'm half-way through it...hopefully it will be finished tomorrow and I can show you.

Have a lovely weekend!
Hugs
Jenny
xxx

A little green visitor, a sneak peek, and a GIVEAWAY!

It's VERY hot here today, and I am sweltering in my sewing room...too late we remembered to put the air conditioner on. I am still in shock that it's 32C (90F) in winter! I wonder how many years it will take me to get used to this? How does one quilt a quilt in such conditions?? I think the air-con is definitely going to know it's purpose in this house. ;-)

I've been busy working on the project for February's Homespun issue...there is a lot of embroidery on it, but it's gorgeous. I'm sharing a sneak peek....

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As you know my laundry is not really a laundry at all. It's a cement tub outside the front door of the house, and my washing machine sits next to it facing the street. Surprisingly I'm getting used to doing my washing out of doors, but I have also found a good use for the double cement tubs. They are great for leaving pot plants in overnight to soak up enough water for the following week.
This morning when I went to bring a plant back inside I found a little green visitor hiding in the plug hole...


...it seems we have more than one Green Tree Frog making its home with us. :-)
~~~
A new book arrived in the mail on Friday...

...I LOVE Tone Finnanger! Her designs are quirky...

...sweet...

...and altogether a picture of simple delights!

I have her Sew Pretty Homestyle and have been waiting to buy this new one as well. It was well worth the wait and I think you'll see a few cows, hens and angels appearing in my blog photos soon. Blossom wants the slippers, I'd love her bags, and I think we're both keen on the little beach houses... there is just so much in this book to have fun with!

SOOOOOOOOOOO.....I had a thought.
Cheryl and I are joining together for the August Sewing Machine Cover Challenge GIVEAWAY, and whilst I knew what Cheryl was contributing it was my own gift to the winner that I was stumped with. But not anymore!

The first name drawn in the August Sewing Machine Cover Challenge GIVEAWAY will win Cheryl's gorgeous pattern for her "Sewing Companions" set...

AND...a copy of Tone Finnanger's "Sew Sunny Homestyle" from me!

Two fantastic prizes!!

Now what do you need to do to be in the draw?

1. You MUST make a cover for your sewing machine by August 31st. No entries will be accepted after that date.
2. You MUST share about the giveaway on your blog.
3. You MUST put a photo on your blog of your cover, with a link back to this post.

ONLY when you've done all that can you leave a comment on this post so we know you're in the draw. Your name will go on my sidebar so everyone can have a look at your sewing machine cover. :-)

The draw will take place on September 3rd.

If you do not have a blog, email me with a photo of your cover, but please make sure the photo is no bigger than 150kb.

Okay, no excuses....go and sew!!!

Hugs
Jenny

A new baby....a new book....a new use for some scraps...and a sneak peek!

Remember I told you about our nightly dinner guest, Maggie the Possum? She never misses a dinner date with us! Sure as eggs she arrives every night at 6.30pm for an ear tickle and a piece or two of fruit. But last night she brought a gift to us....her new little baby!

What a sweetie. :-) Now we need another name...well, that's Blossom's department, so as soon as I know, you'll know!

Another new gift in the home is this FANTASTIC book!!! I have the first Material Obsession book and loved it, but Material Obsession Two is even better...I am SO inspired to make more quilts!! For a year or so I've stuck with embroideries or small items (apart from my Shabby Roses BOM quilt) because I had lost the inspiration to make big things, but that missing excitement came rushing back yesterday as I drooled over the quilts Sarah Fielke and Kathy Doughty have designed and made! So watch this space, ladies...I feel a quilt madness approaching. ;-)

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So what else have I been up to?
Working on my second sewing machine cover for the August Challenge!

I started this one by emptying my bag of green and pink scraps and choosing the ones I'd like to use...

...then ironing each piece...


...before stitching similar sized scraps randomly together.


Once that was done I began to join up sections to make rows 15.5 inches wide, the size needed for mine or Blossom's sewing machines.

Once I had the rows joined and trimmed I added the wadding and backing and I machine quilted it - I told you I am now hooked on machine quilting didn't I??

I am really pleased with the back of this one having avoided the ripples that marred the first one I quilted last week. YAY - I am learning!

And of course, this is ME we're talking about so I HAD to add a rose....I drew up a Shabby Rose in applique, cut out the pieces, then mixed them around until I was happy with the layout. If you'd like me to share this with you as a freebie just let me know in the comments. :-)
I haven't finished the machine cover yet, though, because.....

...I'm busy with a magazine project that will be published early next year. :-) Here's just a wee sneak peek.

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FABRICS! Where do you buy yours? Maybe you live local to a great quilting shop? But what if, like me, you don't?
I have found some excellent shops online to shop for my bits and pieces and I thought perhaps I'd share a couple today in case you too need to shop from your laptop like me.

Kerry at Bella & Vintage has some fantastic designer fabrics and patterns (Anna Maria Horner, Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey and more) and her fabrics are all $7.50 per half-yard which in Australia is EXCELLENT!! She is also the sweetest lady who loves my Shabby Roses so I can call her a kindred spirit. :-) Go and treat yourself by having a look at her online store today!

Fiona at Mothers Cupboard is another kindred soul who stocks those soft and sweet fabrics my feminine self craves, but she also has some bright and beautiful prints that you will have to fight yourself not to purchase too much of! I am eyeing off a fat quarter bundle of Santorini right now....oh my, I am so very tempted!! Fiona also sells sewing notions and patterns so you should click on the link and visit her this weekend.

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Right now I'm after white quilters muslin, so if you're in Australia and know a good online store where I can purchase some could you email me and let me know, please?

Have a restful and blessed Sunday my dear friends!
Hugs
Jenny
xxxx

PS: Are you participating in the August Sewing Machine Cover Challenge? If you finish your cover before September 1st you may find yourself winning some fantastic prizes....just dropping a hint. Cheryl will be a part of this surprise too....
More news on that in a few days. :-)

Blossom designs too....and what a response to the challenge!!

What an amazing response I have had to the sewing machine cover challenge for August!!!
I had no idea there were so many of you out there in Crafty Blogdom who shared my sorrow at having an undressed machine. You've made me feel so much better now! ;-)

I am also thrilled that some of you are wanting to join the challenge so you can update your sewing machine cover, but there are others among us who would like to stitch up a more extensive wardrobe of covers for their machines! What a great idea! One for every season perhaps??

So have you begun? Are the fabrics chosen?

I have finished my first cover, but I won't show you the finished project just yet. These are the sweet charm squares I began with, Whisper, from Sentimental Studios out of Moda. I bought 3 sets from Fiona (I think she may have some more if you check her online shop!) and mixed and matched the squares until I had what I wanted - lots of pink, a touch of blue, and a smattering of green.

I used 20 x 5 inch squares, and after stitching them in 5 rows of 4, I added the wadding and the backing fabric and did something I have never done before!
Like most quilters I can stitch in-the-ditch to quilt something, but that is as far as I have gone. On Wednesday I decided to try something different as this was only a small piece and not difficult to manoeuvre through my machine.

It's not perfect (as you can see from the back) BUT, I did it better than I thought I would and now there is the distinct possibility that I am going to machine quilt everything I can get my hands on - it's addictive!

When I'd finished the quilting I just knew the cover needed something 'more', something sweet and pretty.
Who came to my rescue?
Blossom!!

She had designed, stitched and coloured this delicate garden angel a little while back and added it to my 50th birthday presents earlier this year. I had been waiting for just the right project to use it, and what lovelier way to display her talent than to have it looking at me each day from my sewing machine table.

Isn't she talented!!?
I showed it to the editor of one of our Australian stitching magazines and it looks as though they are going to publish it. :-) I'm so proud of her!
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Today I'm starting on another sewing machine cover...yes, I am definitely addicted! I also need a cover for my bread machine, my toaster, my mix-master.....wow, all these excuses to machine quilt. ;-)

I may start a Flickr group so we can showcase our sewing machine covers at the end of August - what do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Have a wonderful day (or evening if you're in northern hemisphere!)...I'm off to sew!

Hugs
Jenny
xxxx

PS: There are a couple of lovely giveaways at Faithful Quilter, and Bluebird Quilts ! Run on over and leave a comment for your chance at winning some beautiful gifts!

Anyone for a challenge??

Yesterday I showed you the sad and sorry plastic cover that houses my sewing machine.

I thought it was just me who neglected to dress my constant companion in deserved finery, but no! Quite a few bloggers have 'fessed up to not having a cover for their own machine.

So my brain began to tick over with something other than swirly designs (hey, that is a miracle!) and I wondered if perhaps some of you would like to join me in a challenge to dress our beloved sewing machines before the end of August?

I saw Peg's cover a little while back and loved it because it was just what I was wanting myself - simple, pretty, and do-able in a short space of time. It's really nice don't you think?! Her colours are gorgeous.

She had gotten the idea from a tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew - the tutorial is fantastic if you need help or are new to sewing and need step-by-step helps along the way.

So....are you up for a challenge??

Hugs
Jenny