Natalie Ross in Stitches

My weekend at Nowra - Part one

Well, what can I say................ what a fabulous weekend it was at JukeJema's annual stitching retreat at Waterslea. Monday and Tuesday for me has been a blur, nearly lost my voice, suffering lock jaw from laughing, ran out of Tena Lady's and just starting to feel my wacky normal self again. LOLOLOL Janelle and I had a great trip down. A bit of drizzly rain here and there but overall a great run. Talked non stop. Not even the radio stood a chance!

We taught along side Annie Downs and the three of us have done this gig before so it was special to be able to do it again.

 

All the ladies who attended the retreat were particularly special. Great to see familiar faces and to have some new ones too. A gold star goes out to Shiree & Colleen who came all the way over from New Zealand. Hope you had a wonderful time girls, it was great to finally meet you :) So who was the Captain of this ship?? Well THE most gorgeous girl.....Kim and her second in charge THE most cheeky Carol...........! You never disappoint girls. You are amazing! Thankyou :) MWAH

Carol on the left...Kim on the right :)

 

Kim's mum, a lady who is wrapped in loveliness, every year makes all the amazing gifts that the ladies get in their gift bags, was once again THE winner of the hardest working stitcher there. Here we are.................snuggle snuggle.

 
 And here is just one of the gifts that Margaret stitched. I think about 70 of each and there was one gift representing each of the tutors so quick calculation.........de dum de dum.....210....YOWZA!   or there abouts.

 
How cute hey! I am going to give this to my sister Mel as I have one that I made from my copy of Janelle's book. And last but definitely not least for part one of my weekend show 'n' tell is my project.

 
OOOHHHH! Just had to sneak this in first........Where have I seen that chirpy little chap before??? Of course, my Woodland Magic quilt. He was made and presented on the goodie bags representing me. What a gentleman... :) 

All the ladies loved it and that's what it's all about. You always hope that your projects you design for retreats are going to be received well and it was. So here is "My keeper of all things lovely" which is a 2 piece set consisting of a block keeper and something a bit fancy shmancy. What I like to call a retreat seat.

 
This is such a versatile project. You have the nice soft pillow to keep your bottom happy and 3 side pockets that hang at each side for your sewing needs. Saddle bags I like to call them, & pretty good lookin' ones at that! hehe Threads, rotary cutter, scissors, glasses, the list goes on. You could have one in your sewing room, take it to the footy, on a picnic............anything goes!

This was inspired by a friend of mine while we were at this same retreat last year that I should design something that you could hang off your chair and keep all your bits in that you would normally have on the table. So think of how much more space you will have now ladies at your next retreat.

I just have to put some finishing touches to the pattern cover tonight and the pattern is ready for release to the shops. Now the block keeper speaks for itself. A sweet stitchery on the front of one of my garden girls with some fun easy piecing, measuring in at 14 inches square. Perfect for the next quilt or to keep your stitcheries safe and secure!

Now before I go I shall leave you with a pic of Sandy G's completed retreat seat from the weekend and I shall return in a few days with part two!

Sandy used batiks and it looks sensational! Isn't she gorgeous :)

 
I have heaps more to share and lots of show 'n' tell. That is just awesome so stayed tuned folks and I will see you in a couple of days!!

Happy days & Tena Lady's "in stitches"

               

Road trip!

In the words of Willie Nelson....................."On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again".......... can you hear me singing??? with a twang of course....LOL

As you read this I am already there and well and truly into my weekend of stitching and splendidness. This is JukeJema Quilting Barn's annual weekend stitching retreat at Waterslea in Nowra. I was lucky enough to be invited again by the beautiful Kim to come and teach and be a part of the weekend along with Janelle and Annie and all the wonderful girls that attend each year and some newies as well, so that's great to see.

I taught with Janelle and Annie in 2009 so we are back together again.......sort of like Charlie's Angels...LOL....I'll be Jacklyn Smith. The gorgeous leggy brunette. We'll go with the 70's version and Janelle and Annie can fight as to who will be Farrah Fawcett...LOL.... don't fancy myself as a blonde! Don't have the complexion...that's all...hehehehe!!

I have designed something quite different, interesting and a little bit fancy for the girls, I must say! So as soon as I get back I shall reveal for you all :)

So until then have yourselves a fantabulous weekend!!

Thellie & Lou Lou hit the road "in stitches"

                 

Renoir, Picasso or Monet?

Or how about Charlie!

My cousin's eldest boy Charlie who is only 6 yrs old went along to some art classes last Christmas school holidays. Jeepers it could have even been earlier and I have been meaning to share his artworks with you all for ages now.

Very very impressive I must say. He had never been and it seems that it runs in the family. We have a lot of creative relatives in both the artistic and musical fields and Charlie has definitely inherited one of these traits.

Check out these pieces.

Firstly there is the "Ship". What I love about this piece the most is that he has painted the ship from a head on view and most children if not all would have drawn and painted a ship or boat from a side on view. That's how they would have thought about it. Most interesting!! The colours are awesome too. Love the water.

 

And "The Wolf". Very abstract and the teeth are a bit scary too. This guy looks like he should be in a childrens story book. I can't make up my mind which is my favourite. Hmmm I think I will have to say both of them because they both "ROCK"..... well done Charlie :)

 

Well it certainly looks like the little man has some talent and he's pretty good on the footy field too! This is his first year playing rugby league and he is loving it. So I just had to share these awesome artworks with you all. I always love seeing what the little ones draw and paint. Artworks from the innocent...................priceless :)

Picasso eat your heart out! hehe

With paint brush in hand "in stitches"

             

@home with Katie

It's been difficult lately to add "must blog" to my "To do" list but I am happy to say that it has been on my mind so that's a good thing!

Just a quick update on what my Katie girl has been up too since joining our family. It has been 8 months now if you can believe that and she has made herself quite at home thankyou very much!

She is my little shadow and quite the bed hog as well. Morrie and Katie have become quite good friends although I think that Morrie just goes along with all that Katie asks of Morrie due to that fact that her claws are sharper than his......LOL! They do compete for my lap AND Morrie has taken to leaving the bed in the middle of the night and bunking in with Jack because fo Katie........BOO HOO.....very put out indeedy doo!

Gus on the other hand is a different story all together. Katie has not taken to him at all and gives him what for, whenever, for no reason. My poor big marshmallow is very unhappy about this. Gussy is such a softie. I think it's because he is so big and has a lot to say. What's wrong with having a lot to say....I say?  hehe

Katie is however such the woman and does quite a good job of getting the washing sorted....... we have had quite a bit of rain lately and I hate using the dryer so I put the clothes on the hoist in the kitchen under the air con. Katie is straight on it.......like walking a tight rope........and has a ball. It must be so uncomfortable but she seems fascinated by it.

 

And there's nothing like having an assistant to help with the pegs!

 
And guess what????????????????????????????

She can cook too!!  big smiles! big smiles!

 

Her favourite...... Steak and Kidney pie.........and what's that I see????? Is that a Ladybird?........... awwwwwwwwe ain't that sweet.........Thanks Katie girl! My clever domestic Kitty Chef!

Time for a cap nap? "in stitches"

         

Way too cool!

I just received an email from an animal loving friend with a link to a video that is just way too cool!

If you love animals, especially dogs and you have a dog that you think is the coolest.......like I do......LOL.

Then check this out..... Clever 4 paws!!

Just had to share. Have a fab day!

 http://www.wimp.com/boardsports/

Man's best friend "In Stitches"

          

And the winners are..........!

What on earth happened to me on Friday night??? Oh I so want to know.........I was down the street running some erands, came home cooked dinner, sat and stitched while watching a movie THEN I got THE worst indigestion. Out of the blue around 10pm. By 10.30 I was in bed feeling so dreadfully sick on the tummy. From there on I was up every hour or so with my head down the toilet.   eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Tummy cramps.........OMG, you don't want to know about them. Funny though, everyone in the house ate the same thing as me and they are fine so not sure what I picked up down the street but it can catch a taxi next time.........!

So today is the first day since then that I am out of bed. Feeling better but still with mild tummy cramps and not a particularly good appetite either so I do apologise for the delay in announcing the winners to my pattern giveaway.

Now in my dilerium as I called upon the Random number generator for our winners I requested 4 numbers instead of 3. Which one was to be the one that was left out?? and how could I request a new set of numbers?? that's not fair...so we have 4 winners...that's easy isn't it :)

Before I announce the winners I would like to thankyou all for joining in. Your comments are always so inspiring to me and make my day!

So in no particular order the winners are:

AMELIA SMITH

TRACEY MCCOMBE

OGGI

IRIS HERZBLATT

Congratulations ladies. If you could please email me your posting details and which pattern you would like I shall get Postman Pat dressed and ready to go.... I can hear the van warming up now!   splat splat putt putt pooooof!!! (kind of sounds like me...LOL)

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

 

Inspired together in stitches

          

Let's have a GIVEAWAY!!

You know, I love seeing what others' create and what really tickles my fancy is when someone has taken a shine to one of my designs, made it and then sent me a piccy. I just love that.....I really do.

It makes what I am really passionate about so much more worthwhile and what I hope for is that you enjoy making my designs as much as I do! So the ever delightful AKA. "Mama bug Lady"........LOL! Amanda (Lucy's mum) who I must say is one my biggest supporters......your a treasure Manda, made my "Jitterbug" quilt and has sent me a piccy. Well the piccy is not just for me.... but for all of us!! YAY...

 
 What a picture of loveliness. Isn't she clever!!

Now seeing that I have been so, so SO very slack in catching up with everyone lately I want to bring something to the table. No it's not a tea cake......How about A GIVEAWAY........................!

I have 3 patterns to giveaway. Each winner can pick 1 pattern of their choice from this range.......

 
                                      OR

 

                                    OR
 

I shall announce the 3 winners a week from today....might be a day late for our overseas friends!

Now you know that all you have to do to be in the giveaway is just to leave a comment. You can just say Gidday! OR you can tell me what it is you really like to make....or would like to make....quilt, bags, etc:

See you soon

Friendships are created "in stitches"

           

Christmas Candy!

How sweet it is to have a billion things all having to be done at once, all happening at once, and managing to get them all done at once......LOL!     well, not sure about the done all at once but certainly getting through my massive work load without having a severe mental breakdown...hahahahaha!! Must be my new exercise plan, that is still going strong..........hehehehehe. I am going great guns and doing a yoga class tomorrow morn at 7.15am if you fancy joining me. Better wear a Tena Lady, it can get quite comical! LOL......

How sweet it is to have "Christmas Candy" available to make right now with this month's issue of "Homespun" magazine. I was asked to contribute and happily did so by designing a bit of Christmas Candy for ya all!

 

You get in the magazine the bag and a little matching coin purse. catherine Sanchez, the Editor of Homespun rang me the other day to chat about magazine and to let me know that it is going "Digital". Yep, digital. What that means is that you will still be able to purchase your copy of the magazine in hard copy. So you can do the touchy feely thing over a cuppa and have it for a keepsake but for you can also subscribe to having it delivered via the net. This is optional but for our international readers this is ideal due to shipping costs and so forth. So you will be hearing more about this in the very near future.

Just a bit of quick show n tell. The lovely Liisa (with 2 "i's) from The Quilters Corner has made some samples of my Lou Lou bag and I had to share.

 
 
 
I adore the 3 versions. The bright pieced one, the evening one and one made out of just one fabric looks gorgeous!! If you have the Lou Lou pattern, perhaps try making one out of just one fabric. Now that's a quick easy project!!

Have you made a "Lou Lou" bag??? If so you simply must share....OKAY!!  :)

Sew until next time......

How sweet it is "in stitches"

        

My "Inspired" weekend!

WELL, what a fantabulous weekend I did have I did I did...... as did many others........and where did this fantabulousness occur????? "Inspired Stitches" in Adelaide of course!! LOL...... YAY, YAY & YAY again. :)

My trip started out with meeting my travelling partner at Sydney airport and who could it possibly be??? The effervesant Sandy N. Yep, Sandy and I flew down and back together and it was great to have someone to chat too as I am normally all by myself for the journey to retreats. I know Sandy very well too so it was great to catch up. I am thinking it is safe to say that the whole plane flying down now knows us too. Both of us suffer with the whole snoz thing so when we were decending both of us went quite deaf. Seated right at the back of the plane yakking away like fog horn leg horn, I think they were glad to see the back of us...LOL!!! It was good fun hey Sandy. Nice cheese and crackers too!!

Sandy was especially happy as we had the "Sydney Swans" AFL footy team on our plane. Celebrities...how excitement!!  hehehe A photograph and a autograph and Sandy was tickled pink!! :)

We landed, were picked up, taken to the hall, hugs and kisses to all waiting for us at the hall for setup. Sarah, Gail & Janelle. Helen wasn't too far behind us. It was so great to catch up with the girls and we had so much fun working together which was just wonderful!

 
All my goodies on show ready for the weekend!

We launched into our intro's to show the ladies what we all had designed for them for the weekend and here is mine. Called "Spring Market", this designed was so much fun to make and I used the fabric range called "Central Park" by Kate Spain. Sarah made up finishing kits which proved very popular so if you are interested in getting a kit, contact Sarah. The pattern comes with full instructions for a sling bag, purse & glasses case. Quick, easy projects with a sweet stitchery design that you could do in an afternoon!!

 

Sarah had organised some wonderful giveaways for the ladies for over the weekend so I found myself with microphone a few times.....must be all those Karaoke nights!!  LOL........

 

Look who I found??

 

Gail.........AND you should have seen the chocolates she had stashed in her suitcase....freckles, chocolate apricots, the list goes on..........  LOL!!  Busted Gail...hehehehehe and here she is with our gorgeous friend Alison. See you in October Ally!!

Now if you want to see more fun pics of us girls and all the fun from the weekend pop on over to Sarah's blog. She has heaps of good pics and the batteries went flat in my camera........! Managed to get this one though..... 8)

 
This is Sarah. She was fighting me for the  microphone............... hahahahahahahaha!!

I did knick a couple of pics off Sarah's blog....hope you don't mind Sarah xxx :)

Check out the BEAutiful table centrepieces Sarah made.........simply divine!

 
So I have 2 projects yet to make for my next 2 retreats and after coming home from Inspired Stitches on a massive high, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with some wonderful designs. Thanks to all the girls that attended. You made my weekend so much fun and I have to say a gidday to my mate Rozzy from Perth. Moments Rozzy..... :)

See you all soon

Bathing in a pool of inspiration "in stitches"

              

Friends in stitches

It has been just over a week since my arrival back home from the Sydney Trade Show. Straight into it I was, unpacking my suitcase and packing orders!! As always the show was so much fun and I had an absolute ball spending the weekend with so many of my friends in stitches....that would be in more ways than one! The occupational type and also the laughing kind!

My mate Gail drove herself aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllll the way up from Victoria to set up shop and hang out with me at the show. We shared a room for the weekend with another partner in crime, Catharina. Late night laughs???? you bet! Thanks for a super dooper weekend girls!

Here is my booth all set to shine for the weekend!

 
I was told that I had the best chocolates there. I would not know this as they were all consumed in a very short amount of time.........and not from me! Gail?? Gail?? was that you?? Told you she is bad when it comes to chocolate.......I found a huge bag of Cadbury Timeouts hidden under her pillow in the hotel room..........LOL!!!!!!!

I wonder what she will have stashed this weekend when we catch up to teach together at "Inspired Stitches" retreat in Adelaide........"Twirls" Gail...OKAY!   hehehehehe Don't forget your joggers!!

What I also love about Trade Shows is the customers you get to meet in person. Gail and Liz found this young lady floating around the show. Sandy from Cookies & Cream Craft. She is a real sweetie! Great to finally meet you in person Sandy.

 
and of course there just had to be a pic of the motley crew!

 
From the left. Sandy, Me, Gail (chocolate trafficker..hehe) and Lizzy. Now unfortunately I don't have a piccy but it was great to meet up again with the lovely Lynn from Li'l Blokes. Lynn came up from Victoria to do some shopping. I usually catch up with her at the AQM so it was great to see you again Lynn. Lynn has a blog & also designs so why not pop on over and see what goodies she is whipping up!

Speaking of designs, last week saw me multi tasking enormously. I think I out did myself!! Or did myself out....of my mind!!   LOL....... With all that had to be done from the show I had a very important deadline to meet. I am happy to say that I am involved in another Quilt Aid project for 2011. Can't say too much just yet until we get the go ahead but can share this installment of deliciousness with you. These are the fabrics we are using. My design for the Quilt Aid is complete so will share more with you a.s.a.p.

 
Photos courtesy of Teddlywinks!   Scrumdiddlyumptious...............!

That's it from me for now. Better go and rustle up some grub!

It looked like Barry did a great job while I was away girls??? Perhaps I should delegate more jobs the Dame Edna's way more often......... did the Dame share the biccies at morning tea??

Take time for a twirl "in stitches"