Here she is!

My favourite part of making quilts, I have decided, is being able to give one to someone special and they don't get much more special than this.   

What a little angel and the apple of her Daddy's eye.  

Her Daddy was recently in Afghanistan and received two Aussie Hero quilts made by me.  One was for him personally and the other one is hanging on the wall in the Headquarters Building!

At one point in our email chats he asked if there was anything he could bring back from me.  How sweet.  At first I just asked for a key ring (more on that tomorrow night) but then I said more important would be some pictures are can share on the Aussie Hero Blog.  Well he said he would come and see me when he got home and give me some photos and today was that day!  

And this is little darling is his little girl, born in January this year.

 Who could resist those big beautiful eyes!  Not her daddy that is for sure!

Yep, today was a good day!  Hope you had one too!

Till next time................happy stitching!

So excited!!!

Good news - I get to give this to the little angel it was made for tomorrow!  Hopefully I will be able to take some pics of the two of them together!

I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!

Till next time............happy stitching!

only a little time.......

I only have a little bit of time available today and I need something easy to do.  I have a busy long night ahead of MUM DUTIES so I just want to play this afternoon.

I could piece the backing of the Special Quilt that I have been working  - not in the mood.

 I could piece the binding and sew it on this Aussie Hero Quilt - nope - not today!

 I could make the last few nine patches for the quilt I am making for the International Charity Bazaar - maybe on the weekend...

 I could fiddle around with the track suits I am making for my niece but too much fiddling needed to cut the ribbing the right size etc and fitting it etc ....

I need something EASY!!!

Ahhh - I can sort through the scraps!

I sense a scrappy project coming up!

Till next time..........................happy stitching!

Two and three bound....

I finally managed to get these two quilts - two of the ones that the Gumnuts are making for the Women's Refuge - bound and ready to hand over the Del for hand sewing!  

It is so nice to see this first one almost finished after having it sit as a UFO for a few years.

 And this one is lots of fun after all the "grown up" quilts I have been doing.  Love those bright colours!

 This is the backing - love this - nice and bright and only $5m!  Bargain!!!!!

 And finally two more napkins!  Yummy scrummy donuts except that they are iced and I am a cinnamon donut girl myself - but my boys will like them!  Which are you?  Iced or cinnamon sugar?

 And a few healthy mushrooms - just know my boys won't like these ones at all - too healthy!!!

I still have cake, junk food, cucumber and corn napkins to make up. Maybe by the end of the week and then I will have to work out if I have enough.   I think maybe I need a few more wacky fabrics don't you?

And finally for Sandi who wasn't feeling too great this morning!  Maisy and 

 Snickers!

Not sure I will get to post tomorrow - I will be running about after the kids from 230 till ten pm.  Fly Boy has his assessment performance for his drums tomorrow night and I am hoping to get there.  He has practiced more at home in the last couple of weeks than I think he has done in the last three years.  As loud as he is he sounds really good and I actually enjoy listening to him.

Till next time..............happy stitching!

Today was brought to you by the letter L

Well today was a big day!  Look who had his first driving lesson ever!

Guitar Hero!  That's who!

 One and a half hours with a driving instructor equates to four and a half hours out of the 120 hours he has to do over the next 12 months before he can go for his licence!  Oh boy!  Only 115 and a half hours to go!

:-O

And now for something completely different!

I wonder what Snickers is doing here...

I wonder what Maisy is waiting for.... Oh, is that a blue dog bowl I see?

Ahhhhhh food! 

And talking of food but this time of the human kind........Last week Retro Mummy shared a yummy scrummy sounding Easy Muesli Bar Slice recipe!

I thought it sounded delicious and quick so I thought I would give it a try today but I added some choc bits to it as I think there is a better chance of my boys eating some. 

I tried some tonight and yep! they are yummy!  I hope the boys like them because they are not on my diet.

For kids though, these a stacked full of oats and coconut and goodness!Here is the only sewing I can show you from today although I got heaps done.  These are two more napkins finished off.  Although you won't ever catch me eating anything with chilies in it I just love the colours in this fabric.

As well as these I managed to finish quilting my Bright Boy Quilt and my Pink Aussie Animal Quilt, both quilts the Gumnuts are making for the Women's Refuge and I also managed to quilt a strip quilt for AHQ.  I hope to get the binding on all of them tomorrow.  Then I can pass them on to someone else for hand sewing!

Till next time.............happy stitching!

Award winning quilts.

One of the loveliest things about starting Aussie Heroes has been all the lovely people I have come to know, both the serving members and those who sew.  Yesterday one of them, Liz, shared with me that she had won a prize in the huge West Australian Quilt Show called Quilt West.  I am so glad that she did!    Liz sews the most gorgeous original quilts for Aussie Heroes so I knew whatever she entered in the show would be wonderful but I had no idea!!!  And what Liz didn't know till she got to the Show was that she had won more than one Prize!

Check them out!

Liz received a First for this one in the First Time Entrant category

and a third for this one in the same category!

 The theme of the exhibition  was "Going Round in Circles" and this stunning quilt one came 2nd in that section and also won the trophy for hand applique.  Is this not stunning? So pretty and so much detail and don't even get me started on the quilting!!!

If you want to see more of Liz's quilts you can check out her Aussie Hero ones here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.  Liz is a very modest lady - but I felt her quilts needed to be shared and I knew you would like to see them with her permission.  Now I just need to convince her she needs a blog!

Till next time.................happy stitching!

Baby quilts

It has been ages since I have made a baby quilt and I have to say they are so quick to make and often more whimsical than other quilts.  Fun, Fun, Fun!

This is one of the Gumnuts Women's Refuge Quilts.  I managed to get it quilted and have the binding all ready for hand sewing.  I have two others to do and hope to complete them on the weekend.

 And this 1930's baby quilt is finally finished.  My friend, Audrey has done the hand sewing for me and now I am all ready to hand it over to its new owner.  Can't wait!!!

 I stippled it - first one I have stippled for public consumption!  It has confirmed for me that this is as big as I am prepared to stipple as it is just too hard on my hands and my machine (a Bernina Aurora 440) just doesn't have enough room for me to work comfortably.

 Got to love ed checked binding and I think the puppies on the quilt are too cute!

Now you can see the label - this will give you your first clue as to who it is for.   

This is an Aussie Hero Quilt for an Aussie Heroes Little Angel - Welcome Home Dad.  

This is for a soldier who grew up locally and requested a quilt for his area in Afghanistan to brighten up the Headquarters Area.  Of course I sent one for him.  He is going to bring me some photos that I will be able to share on the Aussie Heroes Blog.  When he said that he said he might bring his three month old daughter who he is yet to meet - oh my goodness - a baby he hasn't met?  Well, of course I had to make a baby quilt!  Who wouldn't!

Now comes the best part - giving to the owner but the hard part is waiting till they contact me!  Oh dear.  Patience has never been my strong suit!

Till next time..............happy stitching!

A Gathering of Gumnuts

The Gumnuts met today and the task for the day was to layer and pin all the quilts we are making for the Women's Refuge.   I think we have ten quilt tops so far underway.

Most of them got layered today

some of them got pinned (we ran out of pins!)

About three of them didn't have a backing but backings for two were found during the day and Irene tool the last one home to find a backing from her ginormous ample stash!

I brought two home to quilt - that makes three all up for me given that I already had the bright Boy Quilt at home waiting to be quilted.  The rest of the quilts went home with Andrea and Irene.  

Other girls have volunteered to do the hand sewing and make the labels!  

And just before I go - way back when I showed you Sharon's Circle of Friends.  They will all be cut into wedges and joined in a circle like a giant dresden flower and something needs to go in the middle - well here is the centre!  Isn't it gorgeous!  This was appliqued by Glenys!  The tiny little centre bit was part of a doillie.  Cute! 

And that's all folks!

Till next time..........happy stitching!

It is a flimsy!

YAY!  Not much time to sew today as there was lots of MUM's TAXI duties but I had just enough time to get the borders made and then get them on the top.  There is a quiet satisfaction in bringing a quilt to this stage isn't there but when I am making a quilt for a specific person the whole time I am making it, no matter who it is for, I am envisioning myself giving to them!  That is always my favourite part of making a quilt and I get SO MUCH PLEASURE from actually giving a quilt that I have especially made for.   I won't be giving this one away in a hurry :-) but it will be worth waiting for.

This is the border fabric and I have enough leftover to put some on the back too.  That will require some piecing but I am hoping to have some fun with it!  I based the whole quilt around this fabric as I think it will be meaningful to the recipient - but I can't say more!

 And now for some pictures of two of the world's most spoilt dogs - because someone said to me today "more photos of Snickers and Maisy please".  Just don't tell Snickers this is a command performance - she is DIVA enough as it is!  This spot is just outside the kitchen and Snickers usually lies down but I was chopping up chicken!  She is sitting very hopefully!

You woke me for that?

 This dog likes to snuggle!

And she also knows how to S-T-R-E-T-C-H

  Ahhh life is tough!

 But of course Maisy will always be my (shhhh) favourite girl.  She is the one that wags her tail as soon as she hears your voice!  

 I mean look at that face!!!!

 She is saying "Mum I am really tired, can I go to sleep now?"

 "Night Mum!"

Till next time...............happy stitching!

A little more progress

Oh boy! I had hoped to get a lot more done on this quilt today but it wasn't to be.  I had too many errands to do this morning and then I came home and rang a friend and had a lovely chat.  Also last night Aussie Heroes went nuts on Facebook and we ended up with FIFTY new followers and some of that lead to messages and emails that needed answering.

So, all I managed to get done is the next border... but at least that is something right?

Yup!  and I am happy with the burgundy.  Next comes the border fabric and I think it will really make this quilt come to life. I can't do it tonight though as I have out put a join in it and it is a picture print so I want to think about where to join it.  Not a job for tonight!

This is just a simple nine patch but I really enjoy the secondary patterns that you get.  I did a similar one for Aussie Heroes using donated blocks and really enjoyed the results.  Imagine how different this would look with lights where the burgundy is and darks where the other squares are.  

Till next time................happy stitching!

Coming together

Before I talk quilting tonight I have to share a little story about my hubby.  He is a sweet, funny, kind of shy guy who has done very well in his chosen field.  He is an engineer - heaven help me!  Only an engineer's wife will understand!  He has always been conscious of his thinning hair and receding hair line, even though I tell him he stills looks good to me!  This weekend he attended a reunion of Engineers from the RAAF.  It was 6 hours away and I had to be here with the boys so he went solo.  He had a blast catching up with lots of old buddies and acquaintances.  So, what was the first thing he said to me this morning?  It appears that he still has a reasonable amount of hair in comparison to most of the others, which someone accused him of dying as it is not completely grey AND much to his delight, he is much trimmer than many others!  And that includes a number of those younger than him.  Yep!  He was pretty pleased on the drive home and I am pretty pleased for him!

I guess I will soon find out if he reads this blog as he will hat me posting this pic because it is in his office (it is ok honey, you can't see most of the mess!)  Mwah!  You are just perfect to me!

Okey dokey, now on to my sewing.  Can't tell you who this is for yet.  They don't read my blog but someone who knows them and might give it away does so you will just have to wait till they have received it before I tell you.  I had a free few hours today while my boys were away Paint balling!  of all things.  I just sewed and sewed until I got this top together.  I added one side of the first border but I am not sure that I like it - I am thinking of getting some more of the burgundy instead and then I have a fabulous border fabric that will tie it all together.  Any thoughts about the burgundy versus the cream stripe? 

Big day tomorrow - Fly Boy resits his test for his L plates!  Ugh!

Till next time...........happy stitching!

And the winner is!!!

Finally the winner of my Give away is .........Ta Da.......

Alison who said 'Oh yes please. Pure cute all around!"   

I sent her an email and heard back within minutes!

Okay, so what was the excitement of yesterday?

About 200 hundred posts ago - just when I was celebrating my 300th post,  I told you about my plan to send quilts to Aussie Soldiers serving in Afghanistan.  You can read all about it here.   As I explain in that post it all started because a lovely blogger called Posie wrote about her handsome soldier husband having left for Afghanistan.  To cut a very long story short (which you can all read about if you go back to my 300th post or go and check out the History page on the Aussie Heroes Blog) The Gumnuts joined me in sending laundry bags and quilts to Posie's husband and his team of 15.  Everything was so well received that I couldn't help myself and I set up Aussie Heroes.  

Posie and her handsome soldier, who I call the Friendly Warrant Officer or the Lovely Warrant Officer have been there all the way.  I have been thinking about them all week as I knew that he was on his way home.  For security reasons you don't know exactly when they are going to arrive but I knew he would be home this weekend some time so last night I sent her a cheeky text wishing them a wonderful weekend and saying I was happy he was home.  The next thing I knew my phone rang and it was Posie's number!  

Except it wasn't her - 

it was the LOVELY FRIENDLY WARRANT OFFICER HIMSELF!  

I was so excited and pleased to hear from him that I almost screamed!  Luckily for his hearing I didn't but I think that was only because somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain I was telling myself to try and act mature as this poor man has never spoken to me before and might think he had rung a crazy woman!  

It was so lovely to be able to chat to him and ask him questions that I couldn't ask him while he was away.  It was great to fill some of the holes in what each of us knew and to share all sorts of things about Aussie Heroes.    We must have talked for at least an hour and I really felt I could have talked for ages but he needed to be with his family and it was so generous of him to call me at all.  But what a buzz!  It was such a nice surprise and it really made my night!

By the time I got off the phone from him it was time to take Fly Boy to Youth Group.  By the time I got home my own handsome hubby had arrived home from work interstate and I had to tell him all about it and then cook dinner for the two of us.  After that there were a couple of other phone calls to make and then it was time to collect Fly Boy from YG.  And time for bed when I got home.

So, now you know why I was a little distracted last night! 

 No distractions tonight just 30 new nine patches for a secret project.  

I managed to get this lot ironed but the rest will have to wait till tomorrow - too late tonight!

Till next time....................happy stitching!

Give Away Draw.

I am sorry but I am going to be a day late with the draw for the give away but I have a really good excuse. I just can't share it yet as it is not my news to tell.......but as soon as I can I will let you in on it.  Let's just say that I got a really exciting surprise phone call tonight that lasted for about an hour or so - could have talked for ages longer but didn't want to b a hog!  I have been on a buzz ever since then and not able to remember to do any of the things I was supposed to do tonight!  At least I remembered to collect Fly Boy from Youth Group.  

But back to the Give Away - I promise to draw it tomorrow and let you know who the winner is.

And Maisy said she will make sure that I do too!

Till next time.................happy stitching!