Weekend Garden Makeover

The Weather over the weekend was perfect in Orange....

I am officially on School Holidays for 2 weeks and as with all

 holidays I have set myself far too many goals and

may be lucky to achieve only a few of them.....

With that said I have one of them ticked off the list...

My side garden bed makeover....

Here are some before pictures, I have removed everything except

 the hot water system and the Crepe Myrtle tree...

I already had a foam box full of Daffodil Bulbs that I had dug out

of the front yard in a previous makeover and 5 Rose Bushes...

I then took a trip to Bell River Nursery and came home

 with 18 English Box Hedge plants....

Had some Mini Pine Bark delivered.....

I planted the Roses across the back of the bed and spaced out my

 hedges(this involved a tape measure so it's almost like quilting)

Then it was plant plant plant and mulch mulch mulch....

I know it is not the time to be planting bulbs but they

 haven't flowered yet so I am hoping they will be happy.....

They have survived on the verandah steps in a white foam

 box for about 15 months with little TLC so

I hope they will be happier in the ground....

I will now have to be patient and wait a few years to achieve

 the look I am wanting but I think you will get the idea.....

Rose bushes across the back bordered with a nice formal hedge

 and daffodils popping up in the centre for seasonal colour......

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.....

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my journey of

 making my little patch of the world my home....

 

PS I hope to have some progress to show you

 this week in my Sewing Studio....

All going well walls and ceiling will be lined...

Yay! Happy Days!

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

 

13 Year Ride Ends!

13 Years ago I took my baby to "BIG SCHOOL" for the first time....

Fast Forward to last night(And it really feels like it has all happened in fast forward, if only we had a rewind button) I attended his Graduation Mass.....

And today I watched him walk into his Graduation assembly and stand tall and proud(not quite as proud as his Mumma)

He stood before the school and spoke beautifully

 for the last time as the Vice Captain.....

Presented a parting gift to the Principal.....

Received his Graduation certificate and a folder full of other

awards and a reference that I could only dream about.....

The whole school formed a guard of honor and one of

the teachers sang The Sheahan song as the

James Sheahan Year 12 Class of 2014

 exited Mercy Hall for the final time.....

By this time I was quietly standing taking photos

and sobbing like a baby, wishing mine back....

But as you can see by this pic my babies are all grown up.....

They couldn't teach him to totally behave because in this photo he

 had just licked the side of his sisters face....Ha Ha

 Secretly she loves it!!!!

So tonight I am exhausted, happy, sad, excited, terrified

 but most of all extremely proud of the gorgeous young man

that my little Jacky Mister has grown into....

Excluding the last pic!

 

Off to bed for a much needed sleep.....

 

Thanks for reading and indulging me in a proud Mumma moment....

 

Kate

My Cadence Shawlette

My needles have been busy clicking this week....

This is the first time I have used the Noro Taiyo yarn and I love

 the soft feel of it and the fun of watching the colours evole....

I put my cute little stitch markers to use that Jodie included in

one of our Winter Yarn Club mail outs....

They are just a bit adorable...

Such pretty colours were unravelling before my eyes....

I did have a bit of trouble with the yarn breaking but was

 lucky enough to hide the joins on the back....

The Cadence Shawlette pattern I used was a free download

 from Ravelry but the size was a bit on the small side so I just

 kept following the pattern until I ran out of yarn....

And ran out I almost did when I was casting off.....PHEW!

Made it by that much....

This is my shawlette all ready and waiting to be blocked

 which will stretch it out a little and flatten the rows

 so the eyelet feature shows up better.... 

Yay! I can't wait to wear it :)

A perfect choice for our first spring Yarn club package....

I think I have all the colours of Spring in this one....

Until next time, Happy stitching

Kate

Ironing on wadding and procrastinating.......

My first attempt at Iron on wadding....

Kerry from Cottage on the Hill told me she gets good

results by spraying the wadding lightly with water

 so with the essentials supplies on hand I gave it a whirl.....

I put a folded table cloth over my table and positioned the

wadding and quilt top and ironed to my hearts content....

I then had a dig around under my bed in some tubs(I will be

so glad when all my sewing things are set up in my little

"Sewing Studio" and not stashed in various places around the

house) for some backing fabric that would be a suitable match...

This was perfect for my little project and hopefully

will hide a multitude of hand quilting sins....

A quick flip over and another light spray....

And then some more ironing to adhere the backing....

The great thing about this wadding is that you can

 peel it back and reposition if need be....

So there we have it....All sandwiched and ready for quilting...

So here's the question....Do you think I should also

pin through the layers before I start quilting?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated because this

 is my first experience with iron on wadding....Eek!

I am a little bit spooked by this project re the

wadding and wether or not to hand quilt....

Too much procrastination and not enough Mojo....

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

Spring Yarn Club...September

So much excitement when I arrive home and find a little box

waiting for me from Jodie at Jellywares on Marshall....

My First of 3 Spring Yarn Club packages....Yay

And once again Jodie has carefully selected a yarn and shade

especially for me and it is gorgeous!!!

With a little extra skein of Cotton for another project that I

 am planning and will show you another time...

Jodie has also include a generous size project bag that has been

 hand stamped with little hearts by Jodie herself....too special!

First job was to grab a cuppa and print off my pattern choice...

I have chosen the cadence shawlette ....

It is a free download from Ravelry...

This pic was taken from the website so not the best

 but I think you will get the idea...

I hope mine ends up looking like that....

Until next time, Happy stitching

Kate

Rosalie Quinlan...Xmas Wreath

I spent a bit of time stitching this

little cutie on Sunday afternoon.....

I love how the red thread looks on the white linen....Hmmm

I wonder if this one will be finished for this Christmas?

It's been a 2 year WIP....Can't rush these things!

Only 1 hoop full of stitching left and then some

 satin stitching for berries and buttons....

Not sure if this will end up stretched

 on a canvas or as a table topper....

What do you think?

15 weeks until Christmas....Yikes!

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

Final Month..Jellywares Winter Yarn Club

Winter is over in my part of the world and so is

The Jellywares Winter Yarn Club....

This post is about the third and final installment.....

I was pretty excited when I opened my last package.....

it contained some lovely Malabrigo yarn in a gorgeous shade....

Thread clippers, super size buttons and stitch markers

 handmade by Jodie.....too Cute...

Once I got my Yarn wound into a nice big ball

I set about deciding which pattern to use.....

I chose this slouchy hat with cable detail....

And so the fun began, this one was a much quicker knit

than the shawl because it was a nice worsted weight yarn....

And this is the finished product!

Not the best pic as it was a selfie taken at night

 but I am sure you get the idea.....

It may be Spring now but my hat has been nice and snuggly

keeping me warm from the chilly September breeze

we have been having here in Orange....

So what was a girl to do but sign up again for

The Spring Yarn Club....

Waiting impatiently for the First installment to arrive!!!!!!

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

 

To Hand or Machine Quilt My Garden? That is the question!

Good Morning and Happy Fathers day to all the

 wonderful Dad's out there....

 I hope you all have a wonderful family day.....

I would like to be out in my very own garden today but

 there is a chill in that breeze out that I am not too keen on so

 I thought I would have a play with my Lynette Anderson

 wall hanging "My Garden" This sure has been a long winded

 work in progress, my first ever self taught needle turn project....

I am about to use iron on wadding for the first time so

wish me luck that it all goes smoothly....

I then need to decide if I am going to hand

 or machine quilt this little lovely.....

I so love the  colours and the cute little

 blocks that make up this quilt.....

I am looking forward to the end when I can finally stitch on the little

 hand painted buttons that will make this little quilt complete....

Wish my mojo would get out of bed so we can get stuck into it!

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate