For Mairead

Don't you HATE it when you plan how to work on a block,and said block develops a will of its own!
This is the block that came to me from Mairead,a 12 y.o. British girl who a group of us are enveigling into the joys of CQ.
I planned to "garden"on this lemon patch:My idea was to have two Norfolk pines framing a pond(the shisha mirror) and have a garden path leading down to the other blocks.
I think that the sun (made with an art doll mold and framed with bugle beads needs more beading.............. 

Misty morning in Moodlu

Another view across the paddocks.
Summer in south east Queensland is the "wet season" and with the rain,heat and humidity, the paddocks are green and succulent. 

Misty morning

This was the scene at 4.45 a.m this morning.
I don't normally get up this early but when I saw how serene it was when I let the cats out for their "wee walk" I just had to get my trusty digital into business.
This is the view on the southern side of the house looking to the east!
Why would you want to live anywhere else? 

Looking back.......

">Link Checking through the archives of KenmaursCorner,I see that I'm 10 days short of my first(Blogging) anniversary.
As I said back in January, "it's all SharonB's fault" ...Meeting her at Can-Bra October 2003 has opened such a new and ever widening learning curve for me and I frequently despair at my lack of knowledge and expertise.

Anyway,onwards and hopefully upwards!
Yesterday I went back to working on a CQ block for Mairead:
it has been shamefully neglected the past month or so as other deadlines assaulted me.
Hopefully it will be in the post back to you by New Year

Blog cleaning

In the process of attempting to tidy up my "favourite Blogs" list I re-found
Valeri's Dyeing 2 sew Blog
and thoroughly enjoyed the visit;particularly when she made tantalising comments about designing "buttons" to use for links.

Joyce of Chief Ten Bears also employs this method.......
so,the question is: HOW do I get one?
Truth be told,I desperately need a web maker/designer(?) who can instruct in one syllable words to sort out my mad woman's breakfast!
Any offers??

Swingle #3

 
Using up some of the denim off-cuts from my various BoF(three of them..........there's still one to complete)
This Swing purse was for Colleen.
Give me another day to veg-out after Christmas,and I'll be back working on Mairead's block,I promise! 

Hohoho

 

For my friends in the northern Hemisphere..........I HAD to find a Christmas cat! 

Cadbury

 
Our little Princess.....well,she thinks so!
Cadbury,named for a very popular brand of Australian chocolate to which she is partial(if she can get it)is going on for 13 years and still thinks she is a kitten and the princess of the family.
A domestic long hair,my daughter found Cadbury being displayed for sale in a glass fish bowl (no water!)at a market one summer.
The up-shot was that the man paid Colleen to take the poor little kitten because she abused him for his cruelty.....it was HOT summer's day.The little furry scrap survived and has ruled us ever since! 

Jesse

 
Jesse is never quite sure whether he's human,dog or cat!
One thing for sure,he's foreman material.....has to supervise any activity whether out in the sheds,in the house or visitors.
Here is taking his leisure using the treadle of a machine as a pillow 

After the haircut!

 

We've just come home from the "hair dresser" and Poss is showing her displeasure at her visit to Mandy.
As she was pefectly behaved whilst there...........No sedating,no yowling,hissing or scratching;(And there were several dogs watching from cages)
I ignored her cold shoulder treatment....told her her name should be Honey(for her sweet nature and her colour and she forgave me!
Today was 38 deg C so I think she enjoyed being a cool cat for Christmas! 

Introducing Possum!

 
Meet Possum! The sweetest natured roly poly puss you could ever meet!
I'm sure Andrew Lloyd Webber had her in mind when he came up with Jenny Any-dots when he wrote "Cats"..........my favourite musical.

One thing wrong with Poss is that she's cursed with a very thick coat (she's a short hair domestic tortie ex street kid)
And the coat sheds and tangles something cruelly despite using a stripping brush on her.
So.........twice a year she visits Mandy at Doggie Hair Dooz for a "short back and sides"
This is the BEFORE look! 

A Swingle for KJ

 

Not as fancy as I planned it to be,but unexpected guests upset my (sewing) timetable and this was completed just before midnight Christmas eve!
Kayla my 9 y.o. grand daughter loved it......and that's all that matters! 

Two down,one to go!

 
The second of three Swingles (Swing purses) .This is for a special "someone" who was disappointed that she didn't get a Red Hat "Bag of fun" last month 

Another Swingle completed

 
Apart from the main present for each family member,I like to make an "extra" surprise.
This is for...........who loves shoes;
So now,she can wear one around her neck.
Just realised that I haven't added a cat ,so i'd better go find one to add. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

(I realise that not all who visit "KenMaursCorner" are Christian,
and as I respect your beliefs ,I ask that you return the courtesy)

On a lighter note,because Christmas is during the summer months in Australia,we do things a little differently to the Northern hemisphere,so go check out the link to KenDuncan's site and enjoy!

ahref="http://www.kenduncan.com/echristmas"

Unexpected visitors

 
To set the scene:We have a garden shed that has been adapted for use as a cattery when we're away over night ,or we have visitors that the cats are uncomfortable with(read little kids!)
I went out this morning to clean up the cattery and prepare for the Christmas weekend:
went to reposition one carton and found it surprisingly heavy!
Glancing down,my immediate reaction was
"I don't recognise that fabric"
(Now remember that I'm an obsessive CQer,patch-worker and home dress-maker----)
Closer scrutiny showed me it wasn't fabric but a Carpet snake/python.

Grabbing Jesse,our feline foreman I made a hasty retreat and returned with my trusty digital camera............the cats will be sleeping some-where else this christmas! 

Secret Santa

 
In one of the online crafting groups I belong to, I put my name down for a secret santa swap...I duly assembled and posted away to my swappee and then forgot about it.Yesterday a parcel arrived from Oklahoma,from a lady I don't think I've met before....Helen who organised the swap certainly matched us well.i got a fellow cat-lover!!
Included in the parcel was a selection of FQs,including one I'd receieved a six inch square of in an Ast/USA CQ swap some three years ago,and been never able to acquire more of....stylised cats in bright colours .I was so happy,........I'm gonna have Fun!!
And this pic shows all that I received in the parcel.Thanks Jan,I loved it all 

Christmas booty

 
Wednesday morning our little "Stitchin 'n bitchin" group met for apre Christmas lunch.
Unfortunately,because Ken needed to have a CT scan and I was designated driver,I could only manage to be there for morning coffee and a chin wag!
Peter,our fifth and only male member had to work so he missed out to!
We had a Secret santa and I received the FQ and serviette ring from Sue and the temari ball and angel came from Shaz and Lisa her daughter.Thanks to all! 

Kamikaze Rainbow

 
Just as I clicked the shutter to capture thetwo sulphur crested cockatoos having a drink,one of the many Rainbow Lorikeets that visit our yard flashed by!
I'd gone out with the camera to try and get a pic of an adult Lori feeding a juvenile,but this is what resulted! 

CQ Crazy: Back to the drawing board

CQ Crazy: Back to the drawing board

Completed!

 

Well, here's another swing purse ready for its new owner.
The cord is plaited bunka cords to tone in with the autumn shades of the kimono fabrics.I've done a little SRE and added a few beads and some knitting yarn.I didn't want too much embellishment to distract from the fabrics used. 

That kimono fabric...again

 

Earlier in the year I took up the Challenge of a Very Tiny Block;It was to be shown in the ( sadly, now defunct) CQNewsletter and I have no idea what has happened to it,so I feel free to show it!
That said,the completed block is 2 inches by 2.5 inches and the fabrics used are all silk: from kimono off cuts.
To keep weight and seam allowances to a minimum,I also used a silk as the foundation fabric!!
(Talk about slip-sliding away!)
Anyway I had in mind,red hills recovering after a bushfire.......the location of the first Australian CQ Retreat outside Canberra might have had something to do with that!
The black frame around the landscape is a template I use to check how my layout is going............I guess I'll just have to attempt to make me another one! 

CQ Crazy: Work in progress

CQ Crazy: Work in progress

Front and rear

 
This shows the front and rear joined together;
I'm not doing any embellishing on the rear portion.
I must keep some of this fabric aside for my journal quilt projects for 2006 as I feel it has possibilities for landscapes. 

Another work in Progress

 

It's time to construct something smaller.....and easier on the hands than re-cycled denim!
This is one of three I currently have under construction and I'm using some kimono offcuts. 

Possum

 

Doesn't her coat look like a fur seal!
Possum is cursed with two coats,both of which are very thick and in this climate,most uncomfortable I reckon,as the shedded outer coat matts and tangles faster than I can brush it out.
She's due again for another clipping,but before I do that I must update the albuim with a pic.The one included here was taken late January after a visit to "Doggie hair Dooz" 

Success!!

Link


Don't laugh at me,laugh with me!
I finally managed to get Chief-ten-bears link into my side bar!!
Who says (that) you can't teach an old dog new tricks!!
All I have to do now,is to sort out the mad woman's breakfast that I've reduced my CQCrazy blog to.(
Yeah yeah,BAD grammar)

You've got mail!

One thing about my internet connection is the thrill of receiving "something" via the postie:
Yesterday,my thrill was receiving a tote bag and button from Joyce
(aka Chief-ten-bears) ........and I must take a pic and share it with you too!
Today I opened a NZ franked envelope and found this ATC from Evie!
Evie knows I want to try my skills at ATCs next year,hence the gorgeous card
(my photographic skills don't do it justice,SORRY!)and a blow by blow description of how she made it.
Between polymer clay faces,angelina fibres,heat guns.....my life has changed since Evie entered it.
Thanks a bunch,Evie! 

More than one way........

To skin a bear.
Or in this case,feature the URL!! 

Chief Ten Bears

">http://chief-ten-bears.blogspot.com/"

Woohoo!
The postie has been,and today there was a parcel from Chief Ten Bears in Whistler,Canada.
Joyce said that she'd give me a totebag featuring her "ten-bears.blogspot" label if I linked her Blog with mine.
I still haven't got the linking in the sidebar right,yet.But I will!!
In the meantime,go visit with her and see her mossy roof and the chimney cleaner at work.
Oh! did I mention the bears?

Some eye candy

">Link
http://www.pirnie.org/christina/CQUnderseas.htm"

Haven't got much time to blog today..
cakes in oven;
Windows need cleaning----read this as an excuse to cool off!
It's about 32 deg C at the moment,my rainwater tanks are full so I don't feel so guilty about doing all the windows.The downside is that all our (wild) bird visitors can't see "clean windows" and tend to have a few collisions,but luckily no fatalities result.

In the meantime,do check out the Link included for Christina Pirnie's work and her whimsical cat-fish!

Pussy-cat,pussycat,where have you been?

 

I've run out of Time!
I feel disappointed that this bag is lacking "something";particularly over near the black cat and the hollyhocks.
To my mind there's a gap in the display and I have insufficient time to fix it.
(Maybe the birthday girl will lend it back to me for an upgrade)

In the meantime,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY,KJ!!! 

Cats on bags

Link

Ingredients:
Cat fabric,Vlisoflex,sharp scissors,thread to tone

Take one piece of cat fabric
select the cats you want and cut it from fabric.
Iron vlisoflex (double sided fusible) to the wrong side of the fabric,then peel off paper backing and iron cat shape in position.
I generally draw and cut rough outline on Vlisoflex first,so none gets wasted.......and I also use a sheet of ovenbake to prevent vlisoflex STICKING to iron,ironing board,other fabrics,etc!
I generally prefer to satin stitch around the shape by machine and because of this I like to leave about 1/8th inch "seam allowance" around the shape.
The cats are actually hand stitched buttonhole because the sewing went with me this morning to Oncology clinic where it was difficult to take my Janome!

The flowers on Kim's bag were machine appliqued.....faster & neater!

Another bag;another deadline

 
This is for my youngest grand-daughter whose birthday is.....tomorrow!
Now that the Christmas Ornie swap is out of the system(all posted off this morning)
it's panic stations to complete this by tomorrow evening.
I promised to construct a bag for Kayla,and she wanted cats,flowers, hearts,a butterfly.........
My butterflies are too big to add to the front,so maybe I'll have to cheat and use butterfly beads among the flowers .when I get 'round to adding them.The midnight oil will be burnt tonight!