Dragon flys

My finished Dragon fly peice from Pams workshop.

Today I was lucky enough to attend a work shop with a lady named Pam. She is so talented and an amazing lady to work with. She share lots of techniques and advise with us today. Above are some of the techniques she taught us. We dyed the fabrics, stencilled with real leaves and plastic stencils, got advice on drawing and painting on fabric and also practiced some pen and wash work

The return of my creative bug

I thought I would spend my two days off getting back into crafting. Wanting to be organised I thought I would finish the one or two UFOs and then attack my scrap fabric bin and make a scrap quilt. BAD mistake. I now have found about 8 to 10 ufo's that I started working through today. I also sorted all my scrap fabric into colour ways to make a scrap quilt, after the UFOs are finished. I finished satin stitching the dragon below.

Made the little girls quilt, pictured with some embroidery that I finished yesterday (the colour looks terrible in this photo, it is really purple and turquiose,) I finished 2 hand towels for my mum, and decided on the layout for the black and read ufo above. I have 3 embroideries that I need to decide what to do with and have about 20 coasters waiting to be pinned and sewn. I also have 3 other small quilt tops that need to be finished. No wander I am tired. I will post as I finish each UFO. Wish me luck, Im going to need it.

New quilt for my boy

This is the first stages of the dragon applique quilt I am making for my eldest son. Its all beautifully ironed down ready for the hours it is going to take to satin stitch it. I have decided to use gold thread which should hightlight the dragon. Fingers crossed. He has been warned that he wont be receiving it until his birthday next year as I am going to enter it in the local show in July. I have been very slack over the last few months and have not done any craft work. Working full time, exercises and planning the 50th birthday seemed to take every spare minute. Hopefully I can get back in the swing now.

belated birthday gift

This is the beautiful belated birthday gift my in laws had made for me. Each charm letter represents the initial of the first name of one of my sister inlaws, brother inlaws, neices or nephews. The heart represents my mother inlaw who I love dearly but she sadly passed away a year ago. Isnt it stunning.

Levi

Today I had to have my beautiful little dog Levi put to sleep. I took her to the vet thinking she had teeth problems that had become infected and it turned out she had a tumor. She turned 12 this month and I know I have done the right thing and not let her suffer but it is such a hard experience to go through. She really has been the sweetest girl and I am going to miss her terribly.

My 50th

These are a few of the photos from my 50th birthday. I have never felt so loved and special, even after my sister inlaw dress me in bunny ears and tail. I had an amazing night with family and friends who travelled from all over Australia.
My boys Roland and Scott did a fabulous job and worked extremely hard to make this the night of nights. The pictures above are the venue, my gold chain from the Flanagans that has a photo of my 2 boys lasered on it and the last ones are some of my family and some of the special kids in my life.
My two special boys, Kadyn and Kane helped me cut the cake.
My very good friend Annie Dejong made my signature bear which has travelled to Brisbane to have Chrissy sign it.
Chelsea did a great job of the delicious cake.
I received many other well wishes from family and friends that were unable to be with me but were definately in my heart.
Roland my son flew from Adelaide to Darwin with adopted son John then drove to TC with my other son Scott, Mum travelled from Mackay,sister Pat and husband Heinie flew from Melbourne to Alice Springs then drove 515 kls to TC, brother David and wife Beth drove from Mackay, Aunty Dot and Uncle Jim drove from Mooroopna, Aunty Marian, Uncle Fred and Catherine drove from Jimboomba, The Henwood family from James Town, Russell, Zoe my adopted daughter and Kane the adopted son from Brisbane, Trish and Charlie from Borroloola, Penny, Eden and baby Kiari drove from Darwin. Of the 6 kids that I refer to as my children 5 were able to attend. There was also a number of local friends who attended to make it a perfect night. Naturally there were those that couldnt make it and I missed having them with me. Chrissy, Beau, the Green family, Yvonne, Patrick just to name a few.
One huge highlight was my very first card from my English Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

Tennant Creek Show

This is a couple of photos of entries from the Tennant Creek show. The purple quilt is the one I made for my sister inlaw and it won Champion exhibit in needle work and also needle work best sewing....yes i am still feeling very pleased with myself. The red quilt I actually sold to a lady for what is was worth. I am absolutely soaring...........Also pictured are some of my pen and oil paintings. It was a great compliment to sell the quilt and also get the champion exhibit. I also had a very high offer on the purple quilt but would not sell as it was a present. Do I have a big head. Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

inexpensive place mats

I made these two simple inexpensive place mats today. The pink one is simply some wrapping paper with the childs photo place in the centre and the motor bike is a peice of fabric. I have then laminated them. The only caution I would add is to not add layers as if wont laminate if it is to thick.

table runner for my new/old buffet

I finished quilting this table runner tonight and have decided it will look lovely on my new/old buffett that my friends have given me. I still need to do the binding before I can use it though. Maybe tomoorow.

Finishing projects

This is three of the 4 paintings I finished today and a place mat that I made for a friends daughter.

frogs, frogs and more frogs

As I am currently on 3 weeks holidays, I am taking the opportunity to practise my folk art. I decided not to go away but stay home and do some craft and gardening. I spent 2 full days working on these frogs and Im really please with the results. The set of three I have completed two sets as I wanted one for myself and one for my sister inlaw Robyn. The pattern came from Wendy Groves in Mandurah WA. The frogs get mounted to the wall and look stunning. Well at least Wendys did ggg

cannot decide which way to do the quilt

I cannot decide which lay out to chose for this quilt for my sister inlaw Carol. I have made it up to 4 panels and keep playing with the layout. I have recently done a red around the world so Im keen to do a different one. The above 4 pictures are my choices.

I have been busy just not at taking photos

These are the some of the projects I have been working on over the last few months. The first is a quilt that my sister inlaw Robyn asked me to make for her sister and my sister inlaw Carol. It is showing a little blue in the photo when the fabric is actually purple. I have decided to do a couple of quilts using the round the world techniques, however each one will have a different lay out and colour way. I have completed a red one that can be seen in earlier photos. Photo number 2 are the finished fabric bowls that I am putting away for birthday and christmas presents. The last photo is of some pen and ink drawings I am working on. I will publish close ups when they are finished. I also have some embroidery on the go. I must say I like having several different projects on the go at once. It allows me the freedom to relax and enjoy all my favorite crafts.

pay it forward

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