oh dear.....

There are some things that you just hope will never happen.....


And there are some things which I am sure the neighbours at the back ( down the hill) wish would never happen either.

But some things just happen anyway.....

It didn't take long for 36,000 litres to empty out.

I was quietly doing something inside when I heard my husband say...."That wasn't meant to happen."

I agree.

( Thankfully no neighbours or neighbour's houses were harmed during this event.)

Last Day in January - something finished!

One of the lovely things about keeping a blog is that you can put dates to events and remember when things happen. However... there is an embarrassing side as well. I found the first post I made about this project back in December 2007. There is another one a little bit later and then a third one in January 2008. In that one I said I wasn't going to put it away because it won't get finished. Well guess what? It didn't ....until today. I put the last stitch in today. And here is my version of Trees on the Table, designed by Marcie of Patchalot Patterns. You can find the pattern and a gallery here. The lovely thing about this pattern is that it has a variety of different borders. It is just lovely and I am cross with myself for leaving it so long.

I also want to issue a warning about leaving things so long as well. I made the top back then and misplaced it for a while. Then I found it, sandwiched it and did a bit of quilting on it, probably about a year ago although it could be longer. When I got it out to finish I found that there must have been some damp and some of the pins I had left in there ( yes, I know we are told not to do that) looked like this.......

They were hard to remove and one or two just broke when I tried to get them out. In most spots it is okay but there is one which is a problem. These holes are not made by the pin but the corrosion from the pin has eaten the fabric.

So I hope this is giving you a little bit of incentive to get things finished. Not only do you prevent bad things happening over time but you also get to actually use them ( I would have loved to have used this last Christmas).

And finishing also gives a sense of achievment - now I feel all fired up to finish some more of my older projects.

My lovely little wallet...

I apologise to Stacy about the lateness of this blog entry. Before Christmas I won this lovely Little Wallet and pattern (by Valori Wells) from a giveaway on the Circle Retreat Quilter blog. I love that there was not only the pattern but a beautifully made example as well. How lovely is that?

Stacy owns the Circle Retreat in Buderim ( to the north of where I am) and it looks perfect for some time away. Now I just have to find some.... time,that is.......

Camping by the river....

After packing up our camp in the bush we set off further south to Yamba which is on the mouth of the Clarence River. This time we were at a caravan park where the children could spend hours at the provided water park and giant jumping pillow ( meant to take a photo of that).

We had a view of the Clarence River

And a good space to play cricket.

And a perfect place to go kayaking.

There was still no stitching going on but I did find some places to go shopping. So much for trying to keep the spending down in 2012.

Camping by the creek...( no stitching content at all)

In the past post I mentioned that we were going camping. For the first two days of the year we were at Stinson Park at Christmas Creek.

It really is a beautiful place and the creek is so much fun for the kids.

The next photo is looking up the creek to the edges of Lamington National Park and the rugged area you can walk to go to find the Stinson Wreck. Some of the family did a tiny bit of the walk ( it certainly isn't a walk for anybody who isn't experienced at bushwalking).

Now doesn't this look fun?

and here's how my daughter chose to spend her time.

Lucky her.... I took stitching and a book ...... and nothing saw the light of day except when we needed a pair of scissors.

Hopefully I can achieve more now that we are home.

SSCS and 2012...

Happy New Year! Here's a wish that 2012 brings you everything you hope for.

My eyelids are drooping as it is now New Year's Day where I live. I should be in bed but I need to post this because we are going camping for the next four days and I won't really have internet access. (I might try again with my phone though).

The photo below shows what I received from Gracie in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap. The main present was a cushion with a beautifully stitched cactus on it from Arizona. Now I've seen this type of cactus in real life and I don't think I would want to decorate one of them, so this must surely be the next best thing. There were some useful things as well - some needles and cottons, some pretty tissues and a chocolate Santa which of course is very necessary.

At the back of the picture you can see a pretty shopping bag - I think Gracie must have been stalking me as I remember saying that I liked shopping bags a few months ago. Thank you so much, Gracie. I loved everything you sent.

And talking of bags, here is what I sent to Ulla. I fell in love with this bag pattern when I bought it back in March from Anni Downs. When I cut this one out I cut out a second set of strips so I can make one for myself. Ulla likes knitting and I thought it might be a great bag to hold whatever she is working on. 

I sent a few extra little goodies as well.

Thank you to Gracie for your gifts and thank you to Chookyblue for running the swap for another year. Check out her blog ( if you haven't already) and see all the wonderful gifts which were travelling around the world.

Summer and Winter...

My Secret Santa Christmas Swap parcel has arrived over at Ulla's house safely and she has been able to open the decorations I made. ( The pattern is Mini Merry Stockings from The Birdhouse)

Here's the photo I took before I sent them - hanging on a bright green tree in my garden. Very Summery!

 And I borrowed this photo from Ulla's blog showing them hanging in a very different tree. Having only seen snow four times in my life I can only imagine what it would be like to have Christmas in Winter.

Tahks you Ulla for putting this on your blog - I have just loved seeing it.

Stitching by the pool...

For the next week (and maybe more) I will be spending two hours a day at the pool with Colly doing some swimming training.

I've picked a project to work on - it's actually one I was working on waiting at piano lessons. I wonder how far I will progress this week?

I am also trying blogging from my phone. I am not sure how the picture placement will work out. But anything is worth trying.

Edited to add the name of the design. It is Rosalie Quinlan's Christmas Treasures Wreath.