She sews!

I have not seen my dear friend Faith at a sewing machine since Year 8 Sewing. The teacher, Mrs White who was Irish and had an amazing tongue curling way of saying Bernina.... Believe it or not, I got a D- for my pencil case I was making. She remarked on my report that my sewing way very accurate BUT my time management was very poor. I only got about a third of it done because I was being a perfectionist. I should have been like the boys who had sewing races, making the machines go as fast as humanly possible!
Anyway, Faith, my buddy since our inability to tell the time in Grade 3 (had to sit separately on the floor, far from the rest who were not destined to wear digital watches) we have been best friends. Months and months can go by without a visit or even a chat but when we see each other, it's still the same.
She came up to stay a few days and to my surprise said she's like to make something. We started with a cushion and that is nearly pieced and when we popped in here she actually bought some fabric. After seeing a quilt top attached to canvas as a piece of art in the shop, Faith realised that quilts weren't the only option. It's so exciting to be able to share my passion and my knowledge, as well as a laugh (there were some blocks sewn back to front amongst other learning curves).

I also made a huge pot of spag bol sauce the other day. We had lasagne that night and then next and I've frozen up lots of batches for easy dinners when I'm back at work. There is a meat works in the next town so I can buy premium mince in bulk. It's fun doing the big cook ups too.

Don't forget the GIVEAWAY with only 7 entrants so far.... there are big chances of winning. If you've already entered, refer a friend.

Pics won't work today so... there is none.

happy sewing,
Abbe :)

A Birthday Wish GIVEAWAY

Today is my 29th birthday. Woo Hoo!!!
Although it's a day that is all about me (or at least it is in my head) I decided to share and make some of the day about all of you in blogland. So I'm having my first GIVEAWAY.

Oh, and I wanted to celebrate my 20th post too!!!!!


I'm giving away a lovely Moda charm pack of stunning oriental fabric called 'Momoyama' as well as excellent quality Straw Needles from Jeana Kimball at Foxglove Cottage, a DMC cross stitch of blossoms which are very similar to the one in my front yard and some wool felt flowers which would look great added to a bag.

To win, all I want to know is.......what are your birthday wishes? Tell me about your top three birthday wishes. Just leave me a comment and flatter me by becoming a follower. I'll draw the winner on the 1st of November.

These are my three;

Kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.....


Lolling about with my best mate (or one of them anyway), sharing a laugh and relaxing.....

And..... glorious sunshine and blue blue skies, making my day just that bit brighter.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Sew happy!

Abbe :)

Hard work and big days out

It's starting to seem like I go away for mini-breaks all the time but I think it's just that time of year, birthdays and the end of the tether, I need to get away feeling. Some beautiful weather doesn't hurt either. This week I slogged away in the garden with lots of help from Mr CP and we got trees planted, mowed the grass and veggie beds weeded. We both felt sore and worn out by Tuesday afternoon but it's wonderful to look out the window and see things much more organised.

Wednesday we went to Melbourne and I caught up with 'the aunts' as I call them. My three aunts who are all sister's in law get together once a month for a chat and sew. It's through them that I really got into patchwork. I don't get there too often anymore as I now live 2hrs away and my shift work makes it tricky but it's always nice to catch up when I can. A few hours stitching and a bit of show and tell then I was whisked away by Mr CP for an early birthday escape (he's working on my actual bday).

We stayed at Ridges in Brighton and ate and drank at several lovely restaurants over two days including Richmond Hill on Bridge Street which is Stephanie Alexanders restaurant. Wonderful food. We had a day out at the zoo and met this chap who was playing to cool but keeping an eye on us....

and then we went and saw Julie and Julia which I highly recommend.

Back home last night and we did a bit more tidying outside, moving wood and burning off. I wanted to do sewing today but the weather is stunning so I'm going to sew some seeds instead. It sort of counts :)

I might do the last bit of quilting on my step mums quilt this evening.

Happy sewing and playing in the sunshine to all,

Abbe x

High tea for two

This was my day :)

Yep, that is copious amounts of cakes, slices and A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!! Yum yum yum! I took my dear friend Jo to the The Windsor in Melbourne for her birthday (this years gift :) I had been told it was rather wonderful but it was even better than I'd imagined. We ate SO MUCH! I had one cucumber sandwich but to be honest I didn't want to waste the tummy space with silly, healthy things. I can recommend it to anyone. The service was great and the food was even better.

I came home and got straight back into the quilting this evening. I have a little bit more to do and then the binding. I should have it in the mail and heading to my step-mum by Wednesday. Doesn't my white glove look sexy? They definitely make a difference and easy to get used to. I decided to cross hatch the patterned material and stitched a half inch in on the plain blocks. I'm actually quite happy with how it has turned out. I just hope my step-mum likes and gives it lots of use.

Time to darn in some ends while I watch some tv,
Abbe :P

2009 Fall Quilt Festival

Park City Girl is having a 2009 Blogger Quilt Festival. I thought I'd be a joiner :)

This is a quilt I made quite a few years ago, her name is 'Shabby Rose' (I find my quilts take on personalities of their own and therefore always need names). I had originally planned something else and was going to do the piecing by hand while training for my job. I managed about half of the squares by hand and then changed what I was doing and machined this instead. I have it on my bed most of the time and am really happy with it. It was quilted by Jenny Carmichael of Bayside Quilting.

It's my most favourite of quilts I've done for myself but maybe that's because I haven't finished that many for myself....yet.

I've been doing some machine quilting over the last few days. I'm making a lap quilt for my step-mum for her birthday. It's coming together well but I do wish I had a machine with a bigger throat. I hate having to shove (I don't do it delicately) the quilt through each time I change direction. Time for a hot chocolate and then back to the machine....

Keep smiling,

Abbe :)

'Feedback' and a bit of showing off.

As I posted yesterday, I have recently acquired a lovely antique Lone Star quilt. The week before that, during my forays on Ebay I purchased some antique Rose of Sharon blocks as well as a few others. There weren't many pictures and not many close-ups of the blocks when they were advertised. They were described as having a few small 'water marks and spots'.

When I received them I was extremely disappointed. They are splotchy and dirty all over and not worth the extra cost of postage from the states. I guess you win some and lose some BUT I was peeved tonight to find a very aggressive message from the seller. She has gone to town, yelling at me IN CAPITALS, telling me to change my feedback. It's kind of funny because the feedback I left - out of the choice of Positive, Neutral and Negative - was Neutral. I could have been negative but I thought it wasn't the end of the world so I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and be nice. Her email says that I HAVE to change my feedback to Positive and that I must be young and not know about Ebay.... All very strange.

I thought the idea of feedback was to garner an honest response. It kind of defeats the purpose if you try and bully someone into saying what you want to hear.

On a brighter note, Jo has been showing off her quilt and has sent me some better pics. The hands and other body parts hiding behind it are her folks. Apparently they like it :)
I'm so happy that she loves it. As tough as they can be to give away, when you know they are loved it all becomes worth it.
Happy quilting,

Abbe :)

Nearly a break. Nearly.

After a few weeks of frantic binding I am having a little rest from sewing. Instead I have been playing on Ebay and sifting through my stash. Only other patchers would understand the pleasure of unfolding, patting and re-folding pieces of fabric. Oh what joy it brings! :)

I have a few more shifts of work and then am having a month break and I can't hardly wait!!! During my time off I have big plans for lazy, carefree days at the machine, stitching and playing at some of those ideas that have been demanding to get out. It's going to be lovely.

Following are some pics of the first purchase for my collection of antique quilts - I have visions of a stunning armoire filled with folded quilts of all ages and designs.....Ah,

one day.....

The lovely Patch Andi is having a bloggerversary giveaway over here . I can't wait to reach such a milestone. I guess I'll just have to keep on bloggin.

Time for dinner but with daylight savings I'm more in the mood for a cuppa... I'll decide when I get to the kitchen.

Happy sewing,

Ab :P

Finished and gifted!

Finally finished the quilt on Thursday and was able to hand it over last night. Woo Hoo!!! It was not a year late :)

It turned out really well and I must say I didn't want to let it go. It was four years from collecting fabric to culmination which made it very hard to let go.

Now onto the next project.....

Abbe :)