Watch This Space - More Quilts to Make

How lucky am I? I have two beautiful grandsons and a third is on his way. No secrets here - my family (brothers included) are destined to be male dominated. My eldest brother and his wife have one son - probably thought that was enough and stopped. My own family consists of two boys and then lucky me, I had me a girl. My youngest brother has six - yes that's right - 6 boys!!! And now my own children look destined to follow suite. My father was one of three boys and Mum one of two girls, so you would think there would be some fairness and sharing of sexes. That is, at least some girls would come about - alas - like myself, there is one female per generation. My youngest son has two boys - both pictured, and suprise, suprise, there is another little boy is about to be born. He is coming to us next month!

Jordan's Donkey :))

This is JB - my eldest grandchild, who at 6 - almost 7 (not till December 10th) Nanna. He loves everything his Daddy likes. That is cars and motorbikes. He also loves hats - again like his Dad, and has amassed an amazing collection of them and little cars. The picture below shows him in his bedroom at Dad's. I started him off with some pirate things, and he seems to have got carried away with those too....or more probably his Dad. LOL.  He loves coming to see his Daddy and I think his favourite food is Mcdonalds, though he does adore chocolate milk and icecream. Have all the bits and pieces to do a Donkey quilt designed by Hot Possum for him in his favourite colours. Even though he is a big boy now, he still loves colour and animals !

This cheeky little chap is MJ, who will be two on November 1st. His smile lights up any room, and his enormous blue eyes which are exactly like Mummies, are gorgeous. Not sure why the car is in his mouth, probably cause his Mum calls him motormouth :)) Always welcomes his Nan and Pa will a cuddle and kiss. Runs to the door and swoops on us - just lovely !! The photo above shows him in his element, he also loves cars and is always mucking around with Daddy while he paints and fixes up mini-trucks. Dad is like his own father - they both love motorcycles - seems to be a thing with all the makes in my family! Think little MJ may talk his Dad into getting him a motorbike, quicker rather than later. This little man loves his food - anything at all - and everything is his favourite. The kind of kid everyone loves to have around too. If they can make more like him, I'll take six - LOL. MJ's new quilt is half way finished and features stars and stripes in the brightest of greens, blues and a bit of red thrown in for impact.



This is the latest little man on the right in his latest scan. Due in August and we can't wait to meet him! We may not be able to wait, but mother nature says we have to, so we will wait till Mummy obliges. In this image he is waving to his Daddy LOL. Now I will have to get busy and design another quilt for this little fellow. Have pretty well decided on wild animals. Have a great quilt to complete and a Giraffe Sketch to embroider on another blanket. Any ideas on some simply made toys would be appreciated as I know little presies from the baby to the big boys will make having a new member of the family more welcome by them. Have thought of toy bags, but maybe someone has some other great ideas they want to share with me.

Chat again soon - Quilty Hugs - Dee :))

There's a Storm coming

hmmmmmm. Just heard on the news channel that the mountains of NSW are going to experience a storm. DER. The television is already mucking up, so we are getting our candles and torches to the ready. Water in the jugs - yes its electric but I have a gas stove and pans to boil water LOL.. And a large bucket or two of water for the loo cause that also requires water - funny that.

So have had dinner and a nice cuppa and might have to go to bed early, cause as soon as there is any thunder - the electricity will be turned off so as not to blow up all our electricals. That has happened before.

Only last week whilst  we were off enjoying ourselves the power went out due to trees falling on lines and an accident on the main road. Unfortunately that buggered up the fridge/freezer and we came home to a mess. A smelly trully awful mess, meat was soooo off and everything else in fridge disgusting too - luckily for us, garbage day was the following day. So there wasn't anything left to eat other than what we keep in cans, luck has it I have rice milk and that is in long life containers and hubby drinks his tea black :)) Have to make a claim on the insurance - about time I got something back after decades of payments.

These pics above were taken during and after the last been 'storm' we had. A carpet of white made it look like the Snowy Mountians instead of the Blue Mountains.

Going to investigate getting some more stuff for the puta and so I can blog more - you know it's old age - you know - the gigabyte thing. I only have 3 gigs a month and the way I am writing and using the computer I will need to increase it as soon as possible. Maybe I should send hubby to Telstra again as when he went today he got positive results after complaining of the 30 messages from Telstra saying his credit was less by the call, though they promised him a longer usage time. Although I reckon I can rock this little boat all by myself. I said to him, behave yourself and you get good results. LOL.  He came back and the first words to me were - I behaved myself and I got results. He was only gone 25 minutes too :)) So we are hoping in 21 days time we don't get messages all day long about running out of credit - cause I know he will do his block.

Going off so my puta lives to tell another blog tomoz

Nite all - Dee

Friendship Swap 2012

Woohoo !! I have a new friend Illene in the 2012 Friendship Swap run by Sew Phrim Kris :)) Am so looking forward to chatting, swapping emails and little tokens of friendship over the next year. How great is that ? You can check progress on this blog or by going to http://sewprimkhris.blogspot.com.au/

I have some great ideas on what to send in my parcels, but am always happy to receive information on other ideas readers may have - so send via a comment or email me. :))

Today is beautifully sunny and a tad cool to the face - but a wonderful day anyway. Even after inclement weather most of our Great Ocean Road/Victoria trip, nothing could take away the memory of the coastline and the wellbeing we feel.. The weather added to the excitement with Mother Nature crashing waves against the coastline.

To everyone - enjoy your Day - Quilty Hugs Dee

Day Four - Into the Hinterlands

Its still dark! So we snuggle back under the covers and wait till the light comes through the curtains. What's that you say? The curtains at my window seclude one inside and unless you open them, you don't know that its 5am or 7am. Woke up to birdsong amid the howling westerly winds. So, I opened the curtains and was happy that it definitely was a gale and not rain :))  Trips planned today was from Skenes Creek to Colac and back via Triplet Falls and Apollo Bay. There was a bit of rain along the way, but the day grew dryer as it went on. A little warmer in Colac than we thought it would be too.

At the top of Skenes Creek is Cape Otway National Park

Stephenson Falls were closed  :(  Flooding had almost ruined the camping area and is closed off till November 2012. Repair work is being completed for the Christmas rush I suppose. Well there was another we went to see as well, but the weather had beaten us. This caused Sabine Falls walk to be extremely wet and dangerous and was too difficult to traverse for me and another sign said a three hour return trip. So we headed to Colac Information Centre where the staff advised me which other falls were still open. Thanks to you both :)

At this juncture, we travelled towards Colac to see what it had to offer the traveller. Not quite what we expected - a big town but a quiet town - though we don't know what that was exactly. His Lordship went off to look at some things that he has a hobby with while I went looking for Patchwork or Craft outlets. Only found one in town - McMahons. You walk through the door to be greeted by window dressings, a little further in is the store and toward the back or is that side, I found what I was looking for.  Two more bits of fabric for my Victorian GOR Hexagonal Quilt and a pack pf lovely Moda Antiuque Rose coloured fabrics for similar...... not sure what to do with them at mo - just divine fabric for the stash :)) I also found a lovely pattern too!! The lady who served me said it was the last one and she was a little disappointed that I wished to buy it. Should have put that one away methinx.

McMahons Colac - Patchwork

After a bite tp eat we headed off back towards Binn Road to the GOR. So Triplet Falls was the destination and the advised time to complete the track to see them was a  2 hour trip! .  The sound of the water cascading downwards was amazing. To walk or not to walk? My head said maybe but the body said you have to be joking.!  So we set off, amazed by the scenery, and the coldness of the dampened forest. Guess what ? We finished it in two hours 15 minutes. Not bad with dicky tickers, and back and knee surgery go wrongs. I am very proud of myself that I did it and so is Lord Steve. Even he with his current medical woes was happy to see these beautiful falls. Mother Nature in her fury gave us such a show to behold. Well worth the trek. Can't believe how well this photo came out as I was a little tired with the ups and downs of the track. Invigorating really. Triplet Falls in all their glory though today there was actually Five seperate falls.

I found a very large tree and just had to give it a hug. Reciprocal really. It was begging to be hugged and I just had to oblige. The aroma of the eucalypt was truly uplifting. Around this area a gent called Mr Knott was the owner of a mill which he and his employees fell an amount of huge eucalypts for building.

You just had to be there and look up towards the sky. These trees are wonderful.

Heading back' to our accomodation we stopped to take in the vista of Apollo Bay - from the western side this time. The sun was abating though it gleamed upon the sea as I took this photo. Lovely huh?

Markets to come this weekend -  hope I can see and purchase some lovely local crafts and foodstuffs tomorrow. Then heading off to see some more of GOR coastline and probably the lighthouse at Cape Otway. We also have plans for seeing the remnants of the Twelve Apostles, a cheese factory and a chocolate factory. Will tell you more tomorrow.

Nite from the weary bodies - Dee

Day One of " The Trip"

Leaving Sydney at 8am

Silly really. Fancy leaving from the Sydney end of the expressway at almost peak time. Soooo much traffic boths ways - going up to the expressway to travel toward the City and Coast or southerly to places like Epping  and Parramatta (no way) . Thank goodness we had to turn off onto the M7 to go south after what we saw and sat in below. This, the shortest of trips took over an hour when normally its about 15 minutes travel.

Bumper to bumper, pouring rain. What a way to start a holiday. Figures though for the Lord and I to always pick such glorious weather to travel in. Should we be lucky that the weather would grace us with a peak of sunshine? Maybe.

We luck out most times - Hurricanes in Queensland - Bush Fires in Perth (never got there), chose Hamilton in New Zealand - earthquakes, Kobe in Japan - tsunami and Fiji - flood time but before we could book on our first ever (never gone now) holiday overseas, Mother Nature took her temper tantrums out in mega style. Sigh. Is it our lot in life to stay close to home?

Well not this time! It can rain all it likes. We have umbrellas, warm Ugg boots, jackets, and many layers of clothes to see us through whatever Mother Nature wants to send to NSW and Victoria. We even have a gas stove, kettle and tea bags so we can have a cuppa whenever the time arises that we require one.

So many photos to share but thought you would like to see what happened when we stopped at a little town called Jugiong in NSW. There had obviously been a flood in the township in the prior few weeks. The barrier rails had been lowered. This is to facilitate any debri being able to float across the bridge without etting stuck on it and the railing that normally protects cars from driving off it!

Bridge to Jugiong.

Before we actually got to the bridge we happened on a man riding an unusual mount !!!!!

Jack on A Roo :)

A rather old rusty man and his mount - a very large red kangaroo. The original Jack on a Roo..... a pun here ok??? Jack a roo.. Okay some won't understand but those who do should have a great laugh.

Happy Oxen :))

You can see the grass on the legs of these 'oxen' how far the water rose from the river to the old Truck Service Station.



I am sitting in a motel room at the mo, with the air conditioner on warm - actually very warm. The dial says 30 degrees celcius. Methinx not. We also have the advantage of electric blankets - something I normally don't use. Overheats moi and his Lordship. So I may have to turn it on to warm those blinking cold cotton sheets as the temperature is supposed to be zero tonight. But as the ever so bright and cheerful if somewhat unhelpful (Paris Hilton type) weather girl stated tonight - bright and sunny tomorrow at 17 degrees. Haha. Thanks for that - we are travelling farther south tomorrow.

I had to go out from the motel to purchase a meal. Round and round a growing city - that is Albury.

As I was driving I happened to glance to the left - a sign said PATCHWORK !!!! My 4WD took itself around the road to the left and then up Macauley Street, Albury to the patchwork shop - Avonleigh Country Quilting.

I just happened to 'require' some fabric to do some hexagons with while I am away - uh huh - and purchased three fat eighths of pink and rose print type quilting fabrics for $9.00. Served by a lovely lady who gave me their business card. 

If you would like to see more have a read of their BLOG at http://www.avonleighcountryquilting.com.au/

Had to add the following pic for all to see. This is the Albury Information Centre. Very helpful staff :)

And the very beautiful and well looked after Albury Train Station in its sunny glory. Gorgeous huh.

Now this weary traveller is off to shower and have a well deserved rest. Goodnight and Adious till the moro my friends - Dee

Swaps - For Friendship and Kinship Patchwork

I have always wanted to be involved in a swap with someone else. Maybe even become great penpals or rather emailbesties :)
One I have been reading quite a lot about is Sew Phrim Khris.
Khristina - Khris has been doing this for some time coming up with words which initials are used as things to swap.

For example :-
C - Chocolate - this can be chocolate coloured fabric, chocolates themselves,  always appreciated by patchworkers/quilters alike, chicken - a pattern perhaps
B - bag pattern, blue fabric, bugs

You must be vigilant though - because YOU chose to join a group means YOU must follow through. Swap packages must be sent by the dates given, Packages themselves to include useful and thoughtful things that YOU yourself may like to receive from someone.

I can't wait to 'meet' my swap partner and have already got great ideas for this years SWAP :)) So excited

You can follow Khris's great blog for yourself even if you don't wish to join a Swap Group - you might like to purchase one of her patterns, read her blogs or just write a note and say Hi!

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I am off to Victoria's Great Ocean Road tomorrow - we have waited so long to visit. After cancelling a time or two, we get to actually travel together. So close before yet so far .... could have travelled by myself but what fun would that be when two people have been waiting to do this trip for quite some time to do this together. Would be a little cruel to blab about the great time one's had - would it not?

Great Ocean Road - towards Lorne

Aerial View - Great Ocean Road

Hope I can get some great photos like the above ones from Victoria Tourism :))) Looking forward to seeing whats left of the Twelve Apostles before there isn;t any left to see.

And whilst travelling, t'would be a true shame not to stop and peruse some Patchwork shops - now wouldn't it? LOL. I beleive there is 180 shops throughout Victoria.  Threadneedle Craft at Daylesford,  The Patchwork TeaHouse at Warburton,  South Fabrics at Euchua, Riviera Patchwork at Bairnsdale, and any others I am almost driving past - watch out - I'll be visiting :)))))

Till I'm back to you - Cheers Dee

September is Spring in Australia

And Spring starts an onslaught of birthdays.. My daughter has her birthday next Wednesday 14th - Happy Birthday KB. My adopted 'granddaughter' Stephanie is 5 two days later and I have made the little lap quilt in the picture for her. I was to have finished it ages ago - but she had a thing for Dora Explorer so my quilt idea didnt fit in at the time. The red and white theme came about because thats one of her favourite colours. The little Redwork ladies where done by a lady named Maureen from eBay. I should have asked my Mum Anne to do them I suppose because she has embroidery sewing machines that would have done these. She is so busy making things for her market stall , ahe doesnt have much time. I hope she will soon complete some so I can sell them on http://www.ebay.com.au/ or http://www.oztion.com.au/.for her. As you can see they are so appropriate for a little girl. She has had a party every year - as an only child her Mum spoils her so much lol - so I will give it to her on the 18th, If you have an queries on how to obtain the pre embroidered machine stitcheries - please dont hesitate to contact me.. Again I did some stippling at the Quilting Mouse at Worrigee Nowra.

Until tomorrow - nite all Hugs from Dee

My Quilt Diva Wall Hanging

This is m,y beautiful Quilt DIva made in my image LOL. Made with purple hair, pink glasses and many add ons not originally on the pattern - thats poetic licence for me :) Found some wonderful charms in the shape of hands with Hand Made wrtten on them, these can be bought from me on http://www.ebay.com.au/ under my.hummingbird.   I managed to track down some extremely small cotton reels too from http://www.oztion.com.au/ for the necklace, the smallest buckles ever from a quilt shop in Nowra, NSW for the shoes and a gorgeous badge stating I Love Quilting which I found on eBay too. I did all the stipple quilting at The Quilting Mouse in Worrigee, NSW. You can contact Di via http://www.facebook.com/ under the Quilting Mouse for costs.
The designer of this ecletic wall hanging is the wonderfully talented Amy Bradley at http://www.amybradleydesigns.com/. There are many quirky and fun projects for you to enjoy, so please have a look on her website for more. You can follow Amy's pages for photos of the same hanging in other quilters interpretations. Amy would love to see what you have come up with.       
Chat again  soon - Hugs Dee

One Day Dry the Next its a Wet Spring Day

Can you believe it was a sunny two days ago in NSW, and yesterday was overcast. Tonight its wet wet wet and we certainly need it up here in the Blue Mountains. We havent had a decent pour for a while. Unlike our city neighbours we are on tankwater and look forward to the rain. Our tanks were down quite a bit and our neighbours main tank was empty. Thank goodness they have two smaller spare ones. My hubby - Steve - picked up a new pump and installed it last night for them. They were very happy not to have to go without showers for long. He got a couple of our spare water containers and filled them for them as they are elderley and couldnt climb up to the top of the spare to get water out. At the picture left is two of my very nosey chickens - who normally do chicken like things and amaze our visitors when I call them to go into their pen area like I would my dogs. Here, we were taking some pictures of metalwork that my hubby had made for a nursery. We had to hold the items in front of the white board so they would show up in the photos. Then Mrs Nosey and Henny Penny decided they should have their pic taken as well. They really are amazing creatures, even following the horses around to pick through their poop without getting crushed underfoot. I would have thought the horses would be annoyed by they weren't. So you can see no sewing was done today, but I did manage to knit three pair of boottees whilst sitting as a passenger for the delivery. I shall put up some photos of them once I have sewn them up. Hopefully you are enjoying the weather that you need and creating something that gives you pleasure - Hugs Dee



A New Beginning

The very first blog for Quilt n Craft Diva starts today - a glorious Spring day in the mountains of NSW. Hello and welcome. My name is Dee (Diane) and I love crafts of many kinds. I have so enjoyed reading some wonderful Blogs by amazing Craftswomen on the internet and wanted to be able to share some great links, ideas and craft that I have found by sharing what I have learnt and I am learning all the time! I have wonderful friends who love their crafts and have great creative abilities, and hope they will add their tidbits to this blog as we go along, I love to learn and believe we can all learn more each day. I have resurrected my knitting skills and am currently knitting Boottees and Beanies for our two local hospitals premature 'Premmie Babies' wards. My current patchwork creation is for a 9 month old boy's cot - a quilt and cot liner in stars, stripes and dots in a lime green base. As I go along I will take photos of the fabrics I am using and share the design with you as well. My Bead work is fairly new as I have only used this medium as an add-on my wall hangings so far. I also do stitcheries too and love the idea of a single colour being used as an emphasis. Freebies are another fav and I hope to offer them from time to time.