Happy Birthday To Me!!

Yes, today is my 44th Birthday and it has been a completely lovely day. The lead up to it, not so good as we have all been sick with a horrible virus and I'm still no where near back to my normal self.

But today was about being spoilt, having lots of visits from gorgeous family and friends and loving every minute of it.

And to share my joy I thought I would show you all my wonderful presents.

My husband is giving me a new sewing machine but I need to investigate the best options first. So as a little surprise for the day he gave me some fabulous books. The apron one is a copy of an old apron pattern book and is amazing.



Chloe gave me a beautiful locket.



Lucinda gave me a wonderful new CD and some of my all time favourite chocolates from little Daphne who really wanted to keep them for herself!



Some gorgeous kokeshi girls from my gorgeous girlfriends Christina and Daphne. You can pose their little heads - aren't they adorable!



A completely brilliant teapot and mug in my favourite red spots from my sister Michelle.



An amazing orchid called Dancing Lady (oh yes that is sooo me) and vintage treasures from one of my oldest and dearest friends Michelle, who also brought over some yummy lunch and the biggest lemon meringue pie I have ever seen.





And as if that wasn't enough, she is also making me a little quilted sewing bag which I promise to show off when she finishes it.

I told you I was spoilt didn't I.

Then my lovely Mum and Dad turned up and they had been trawling the local antique stores in the rain and came up with these.





A totally stunning Royal Crown Devon Art Deco vase and another little matching one.



I'm in love..... aren't they fabulous. My Mum and I found another Royal Crown Devon vase at a market once and we have been interested in them ever since. So the collection is well on its way now!

What a truly lovely day. Thanks everyone for all the visits and the cards and the phone calls. I feel very loved and not too, too old!

Now crafting.... hmmmm have been living in a sinus pain blur with sick children to entertain. Sooooo, over the next couple of days I should have two finished quilts to show off to you. One for the Four Seasons swap and the other for the Doll Quilt III swap.

In the meantime here's another little teaser of the Spring Four Seasons Quilt Swap quilt.

Thanks!

Just a quick post to say thank you all so much for your good wishes on my blog anniversary. It is so lovely to think that there are people from all over the world popping in to read about my latest creations. I wish I could send you all an apron!

But there can only be one winner and this time it is:

Lindsay of Today we are reading.

Congratulations Lindsay, email me your address and give me an idea of the sort of apron you would like - half, full, modern, retro, frilly pink, blue - whatever!



Do you like the tissue box? I cut up all the names and was looking for something to put them in when I found this on our table. Perfect for the job I think - thanks Lucinda.

And I leave you with a little sneak peak of my latest Four Seasons swap quilt for Spring which is due very soon!!

A toast to Lululollylegs!

Yes, raise your glasses (or cups of tea depending on what time it is in your part of the world) as today is this blog's first anniversary.

At the start of last year I participated in a mini-swap and was lucky to be matched with Ali. Being the endlessly encouraging person that she is, she finally convinced me to take the plunge and start my own blog. Well thank you Ali as it has certainly been one of the most rewarding and personally satisfying projects I have ever undertaken.

It has been an amazing year and I have achieved such an enormous volume of work, made some fantastic friends, been offered a wonderful job and now I'm even starting up a business with a fellow blogger!



A little while ago I was tagged by Florence with this archive meme. I thought it was a good opportunity to save it for today and go back over the last year's posts.

So here goes:

Archive Meme Instructions: Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. … but there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.Link 2 must be about friends.Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are… what you’re all about.Link 4 must be about something you love.Link 5 can be anything you choose.

Family: Post Holiday Chaos. I know that the start of this post indicates much madness and mayhem, but I think it's a good reflection of just how crazy life with three young children is. One minute you can be enjoying a lovely holiday and the next you've got twenty different activities to go to and a sick child. The holiday was really lovely though and it's about time I started planning where we're off to this September.

Friends: Friends+Fabric=Fun. This post describes my first meeting with my gorgeous friend Cathy. And now here we are both working at Amitie and starting up our own business together. It's such a lovely rewarding friendship and it's all because of blogging and an apron swap!! And did you know that we just discovered that our Mothers went to primary school together - I just knew we were meant to be friends.

Myself: A day for Me. I have realised looking back through my posts that I don't actually write a lot about me and what goes on in my head. I tend to just show you things I make or write about my children. I think this post describes how I feel a lot of the time - way too busy. I don't get a lot of time to do things for myself or indeed time by myself and this was such a lovely day. I have to admit I have not made time to have a hair cut since and it is well overdue again.

Love: Cheers! A celebratory post about my darling husband's Birthday and our wedding anniversary. It was fun to post those photos as I so rarely get to see them. It's a fun time of the year for us with New Year's thrown in for good measure.

Random: Party Time. The reason I chose this post is because I can't believe how much my life has changed since I started this blog a year ago. The stitches and craft show left us all on such a high and I realised how wonderful it is to be a part of such a lovely on line (and off) craft community.

It's been a pretty good year I think and I can honestly say I'm quite proud of myself. I have made stuff all my life but hadn't done much at all since I had the children. Now my head is just bursting with ideas and every day there is something new and inspiring to be seen on someone's lovely blog. So even though I probably spend far too much time reading blogs, I think it has definitely made me much, much more productive.

Anyway I don't think I'll tag anyone with this, but if you are keen to give it a go - be my guest!

Now to a bit of crafty eye candy. Look what arrived in the mail for me today from Amy at Lucy Kate Crafts.



How completely adorable is 'Rosie' and she is so beautifully made. Amy also included some divine fabric which is perfect for my sofa quilt fabric stash. A lovely and generous prize Amy - thank you so very much!

And I will leave you with a few photos of my latest finished project. The wedding quilt is finished except for the label.



I'm really happy with the quilting. It is a blossom pattern and a great overall pattern for this quilt.



When I first chose the fabrics I really wanted to add a black and cream striped binding. Luckily I found just the thing and I absolutely love how it has come up.



It looks quite nice in my house - hope the newly weds like it for theirs!



So thanks to everyone who reads my blog wherever you are. It is so rewarding to receive feedback about my creations and you are all a real inspiration to me.

I think that means I should do a blog anniversary giveaway!!! Leave a comment by this Sunday 13th and I will pick a winner on Monday which allows for the time difference. I think it has to be an apron - don't you!

Looking forward to the next year of posts.

Eggs, chickens, rabbits and leaves!!

Here I am..... over here, yes it's me - I'm back!!

Actually I haven't really been anywhere. It's school holidays and I have been just a tad busy with the children. And we haven't really done anything in particular but I do have a few bits and pieces to share with you.

First of all I have a couple of Easter photos.

The Easter Bunny left lots of yummy chocolate in the garden........



.. which Daphne thought was completely fantastic!



Then we enjoyed a delicious lamb roast and chocolate cake at Mum's with the family.



And speaking of bunnies, our friend Sophia got a lovely white rabbit for her Birthday so we decided to give her a little soft one.



The pattern is from here. Very cute and very easy! Happy 8th Birthday Sophia!



On the sewing front I have been mainly doing some hand quilting on the train quilt. As the lovely recipient's Mummy reads this blog I can't show it to you. Hopefully they won't have to wait too much longer.

I also made some aprons for the Stitches and Craft show to demonstrate how one pattern can be done in several different ways.



And for any Melbourne people who would like to know how to make a simple apron - look here. I'm doing an apron workshop!





Cathy is also running a workshop for her lovely children's clothes which is going to be hugely popular if the interest at the shop is any indication.

So did I tell you it's the school holidays?

Did I tell you it's Autumn?

This ......



...... is what you do when it's school holidays and Autumn!!



And Florence and Kathy who tagged me recently, I haven't forgotten and I will get to them soon I promise!

Party Time!

Wow, so much to tell you but where do I begin?

I think I will start with the slumber party on Saturday night.

A cherry themed slumber party. Five eight year old girls and my two oldest daughters. Fun!

They arrived at 5pm, made pizzas, ate icecream, played outside, watched a movie and giggled endlessly.



Their party bag was a little denim tote lined with cherry fabric with their initial on the front in more cherries.



In it we put cherry earrings, cherry lollies, cherry note pad, pen and a little elephant stamp and stamp pad.



The girls were thrilled.



The earrings were a big hit and apparently make one look like a teenager! They even got teased by the nine year old boy next door over the fence.



They thought it was 'the best party ever'!



I have also had the most wonderful few days at the Stitches and Craft show. The stand was amazing and the staff just fantastic!



I got to meet so many of our clever local crafty girls who were not only inspirational but just completely lovely.



And I can't believe how many craft bloggers came in for a visit over the four days. Friday was like a huge ongoing blog meet and I was able to put a face to so many of my favourite reads.



We saw Jo, Tamara, Stacey, Corrie, Jodie, Annie, Donna, Tracey, and Kellie. And we shared the stand with Jenny, Fiona, Angela, Kristin, Kris, Amelia, Virginie, Bianca and other amazing crafty girls.

We were even brave enough to be interviewed on stage every day and some of you may have even caught us on Kerri-Anne Kennerley on Friday morning.





It was a really wonderful and rewarding experience in so many ways and I'm just so glad to have been offered the opportunity. We also got such positive response regarding 'Audrey and Maude' our new sewing pattern concept and loads of inspiration for patterns. Better get on with it then!!

Some stuff to show before the Show

It's a busy time and I haven't really had time to post. There is so much happening at once. First let me show you some finished work.

Being a lover of all things aprony I decided to participate in the Sassy Apron swap. The first theme was Spring.

I finally got my apron finished after being interrupted by several family illnesses and other dilemmas. I have had this gorgeous fabric for ages and always wanted to use it for an apron.



It makes me think of the green of new growth, the beautiful pink blossom trees and the blue, blue skies of Spring. Teamed with the teapots I think it's quite a cheerful little apron. I sent it off with some cute Easter cookie cutters.



I finally get to show you a bag I made for my gorgeous girlfriend Ros.



It's similar to the one I made my sister-in-law for Christmas except I used linen, rounded the bottom and added some yummy liberty and spots.



Happy belated Birthday my friend!!



And now I have some special news! This is a very exciting week and I have been madly sewing in preparation for the Stitches and Craft Show where I am joining several other craft bloggers on the Living Creatively stand.

I'm joining forces with the very lovely Cathy of Miss Marzie fame who works with me at Amitie every Tuesday sewing up gorgeous samples for the shop.

And why are we there.............?

Cathy and I have decided to get together and develop a range of simple sewing patterns for aprons, bags, children's clothes, and quilts. I know a few of you have discovered our venture via Miss Marzie but to all those that don't know.... look out for AUDREY and MAUDE.

You can come and see us and lots of other local crafty ladies demonstrating various craft activities. Cathy and I are also being interviewed about the concept of Audrey and Maude, craft blogging and how we met through an apron swap.

So if you are a local pop in and say hello.

Stitches and Craft Show
Caulfield Racecourse
Thursday to Sunday 10-5
Living Creatively Stand on Level 1

My lucky leap day girl!

Yesterday Chloe had a Birthday.



And she doesn't get many of them being born on the 29th of February.

Yesterday she turned 2!



No really, she had her 8th Birthday and I can't believe it's been 8 years since this beautiful little person entered our lives.



She is such a sweet, clever, generous and kind girl and we're so proud her.

Happy 8th Birthday gorgeous girl.