'Tis The Weekend.......Again

'Tis the weekend.......again. This past week was a busy one lost in a flurry of creativity. Each day seemed to pass in a blink of an eye. Busy though it was, I had a lovely week filled with stitching and a little painting.

What did I stitch?? Pretty much the same ol' same ol'. That's right, nothing new.......just some bags and some cute Scottie dogs. There are a couple of ladies who asked if I might like to sell some of my creations in their shops, so I thought why not. Perhaps some others might take a shine to a few of my pretties; perhaps they won't. Anyhow, not to worry, I could always do with a new bag or two. =)

Over the last couple of months I have happened upon some really lovely vintage blankets. Blankets of the prettiest colours which I have not come across before. Vintage, pure wool blankets of these glorious hues are hard to come by these days. Though it was hard to cut into some of these woolly lovelies, cut into them I did; to fashion some cute Scotties.

Are not these blankets the prettiest of colours??

Oops....there is a rogue puppy dog in a brightly coloured, knit fabric.

Now for the bags. One of my favourite things, as you already know, is to fashion bags using some of the pretties that I have collected over the years. I always relish diving head first into the bottom of my many holdalls, in search of the perfect piece of lace, the perfect vintage trinket, the perfect braid or fringing for each bag.

Let the hunting and gathering begin. My treasure trove of pretties never fails to come up trumps.

The blue bag.

The purple bag.

The pink and orange bag. I am not really a fan of orange per se, but the combination of bright pink and orange in this bag does make me smile.

Three bags, all different, all colourful, all brimming with my collection of pretties....all a joy to stitch.

I did a little painting this week, as well. One of my sewing girls has started a little enterprise where she makes pretties and takes her creations to markets and sells them. One of the things Holly makes is headbands, so I designed and painted some 'girls' as props, on which Holly could display her creations. After all,  presentation is everything.....right?? My husband cut out my designs in MDF and I painted them. They took an age to paint as each part e.g. the eyes, the mouth, the hair.......required many coats of paint.

It has been a very long time since I have put paint to wood or paper for that fact, so my painting skills are a bit rusty (oh alright....very rusty), but all in all I am rather pleased with Holly's girls.

Scottie dogs, shoulder/cross body bags......... really are the most enjoyable pretties to create. I had the best fun fashioning pretties from these lovely vintage, woollen blankets. I wonder what colour blanket I will unearth next??

Just before I say goodbye, let me leave you with a bunch of Wisteria, Azaleas and Dutch Irises to bring a smile to your day. And......you thought I had managed to write a post without even a mention of a flower or two......wrong!! =) These are the flowers that have popped up in the garden this week. Spring is truly getting into the swing of things down here.

Until the next time............

Spring Blossoms

As I stitch my happy quilt it strikes me that the pretty hexie flowers are mirroring what is happening in the garden. As I stitch my quilt it occurs to me that perhaps I should call this quilt, Spring Blossoms. I know, I know such a deep and meaningful name (NOT) but as I gaze at the pretty hexie flowers and as Spring is " 'bustin' out all over" down here..........Spring Blossoms it is. Rarely do I give my quilts a name. I don't know why. Perhaps because something brilliant never seems to drop from my brainpain. Sometimes, oh alright most of the time, the obvious is not so obvious to me.

I have been toing and froing with how to border this pretty.  For the past week I have pulled out fabric after fabric to audition as a border. One of those long country drives even landed me at  a fabric store where I purchased a fabric with butterflies fluttering all over, but alas, when I got home the fabric, pretty though it is, didn't really sing the happiest tune on the quilt.

I thought perhaps a trailing vine with little hexie flowers dancing around the border would sing a merry tune, but alas......no! The song it sang was too loud and raucous. Though I love the trailing  vine of hexies, they detracted from the hexie blocks. It just looked too busy, even for me. No matter what I did, nothing pleased my beady little eye. Also, as this quilt is going to rest atop my bed, the trailing hexies wouldn't be visually pleasing at the foot of the bed. They would become all scrunched up in the wrought iron bed head. Though, because I love the hexie trailing vine  idea, I will file this concept away in my brainpan for another day, for another quilt.

After much belly button gazing and even more deep, deep contemplation, I decided to fence the flowers in with a pretty, scrappy fabric border. Decisions, decisions.......sometimes these earth shattering  are deeply troubling. =)

So, in repect to my Spring Blossoms, the alien thought to me that "less is more" persisted with an alarming intensity. What??? "Less is More"?? Really??? Yes, I speak not with forked tongue. In the case of this quilt less is definitely more! Who would've thought, me, who more often than not is of the opinion that "more is never enough" has uttered such a statement! I am that gal who always adds an extra something to whatever she fashions. An extra flower, an extra embellishment, an extra button....an extra this...an extra that........more, more, more! I am that "this pretty needs a little something more" kinda gal.

Before that quizzical look on your faces becomes a deeply furrowed brow at my out-of-character utterances, let me assure you that it is only with the finishing of this quilt top that I have decided that less is definitely more. As each hexie flower is bordered with strips of fabric, the addition of scrappy strips around the border seems a perfect fit. I rather love the simplicity of my Spring Blossoms. I think it is reminiscent of those 1930's quilts, which I adore.

Sweet Maisie wanted to show you her coiffured locks. She has been primped to try to tame that wild and fuzzy hair of hers. So, so much easier now to chase ducks through the ponds and paddocks and up dem dar hills......and back down again. No more bad hair days.....at least for a little while.

Happy with my finished Spring Blossoms quilt top, I now have to decide how I will quilt it; by hand or by machine. I rather like the idea of butterflies fluttering amongst the hexie flowers but I might put it aside for a little while for more belly button gazing and deep contemplation. These things cannot be rushed. =)

With the chatting of the progress of my Spring Blossoms' quilt finished, let us now chat about the Spring flowers that have slowly unfurled in the garden this week. Yesterday morning as the garden was slowly being illuminated by the awakening of a beautiful new day, I picked a bunch of  Waratah flowers. Waratahs are native to the southern eastern states of Australia; New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

They are beautiful flowers ranging from pink to red. The flowers are large, brightly coloured and very showy, consisting of many small flowers densely clustered into a compact head or spike. The Waratah bush we have is a very pretty, mid pink.

So.....with my pretty bunch of Waratah flowers clustered together, I began to play. =) Oh, and by the way, before you scroll down and down and down......to gaze upon the pretty Waratahs, let me assure you, the "less is more" concept does not enter into the equation of  the number of photos. When looking at photos of florescence delight, more is definitely more. What can I say. As ever, yet again I got carried away......just a little!

Looking through the front window reveals pretty blossom trees and Camellias blooming.

A black enamel bucket and a vintage Italian coverlet shows off the pinky red Waratahs perfectly.

An overload of pinky red sumptuousness! I must admit, my heart is skipping a beat or two. =)

Isn't the  Italian, velvet coverlet divine?? This luscious pretty normally keeps the floor of our guest room snuggly warm. =)

The Waratah bush truly does gift the prettiest of flowers.

That's it for playing with pretty flowers for now. Time waiteth for no man........nor this woman. As ever, thank you so much for visiting my colourful Spring place. I wonder what pretty flowers will pop up in the garden next week??

Aah.....Spring blossoms inside, Spring blossoms outside.....such is my life!

Until the next time............

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

I don't know why, but I am always amazed at the beauty of Spring. Year after year Spring never fails to delight and astound me. I suppose, because I find Winter rather tedious and ho hum and the long months of dreary and frigid landscapes rather bleak, I wonder if Spring will ever visit these shores once more. Just as I begin to think Winter will last forever, Spring magically appears and begins to dust the landscape with beautiful colour. Down here at the bottom of the world Spring is sprinkling new life and beauty to the landscape. Spring is weaving it's colourful magic with cheery profusion.

In our little plot of earth the Daffodils and Jonquils pop up with cheery abandon. Year after year the Spring bulbs multiply with very little effort from my green-fingered gardener. =)  Every year each bulb gifts me with another and another and another bulb. 'Tis magic really.

Sweet, sweet Maisie......doesn't she adorn the countryside beautifully! She is incorrigible, always ready to smile at the camera.

Whilst Spring has been doing it's thing outside, I have been doing my thing inside. I have been whiling away many Spring moments stitching my hexie flower quilt. Each hexie flower reminds me that Spring kisses the earth with sweet flowers.

I have bordered each flower block with strips of  fabric to give the quilt a scrappy aesthetic.

In each corner I appliqued the smaller hexie flowers onto polka dot fabric.

I was going to applique each small hexie flower onto white fabric but I thought the dotty fabric would add a sense of fun and cheeriness. I love these little hexie flowers. I think the addition of the snippets of embroidered doilies in the middle of each flower adds a touch of whimsy.

The quilt top thus far is the size of the top of a queen bed. Now I have to decide how I will border the quilt. I like the thought of fencing the flowers in with scraps of fabric. I am thinking of incorporating some small hexie flowers; how, I am not quite sure but I am hoping something brilliant will metamorphose. =) I will play around and see what imaginations my muddly brainpan will conjure up.

It is school holiday time down here at the bottom of the world so I am going to spend the next couple of weeks stitching this pretty quilt......amongst enjoying other pastimes. I can see in my crystal ball, the enjoyment of many a country drive through this beautiful Spring paradise, drinking in the glorious sights and scents that Spring always magically gifts us. Tassie in Springtime is truly a sight to behold.

Now that the days are getting longer and becoming warmer I might even find myself in my garden, sitting amongst the Spring bulbs enjoying a cup of tea.

Aah....the beauty of God's masterful brushwork is truly magical!

And......of course pick overflowing baskets of Spring bulbs.

Just playing. =)

Enough of this chatting and playing with pretty flowers, there is a li'l stitching to be done!

Until the next time.........have a beautiful day!