:: boo ::

Halloween has been and gone.  Lots of fun, lots of lollies, lots of chips, lots of fakery fake skeletons, bats and scary things.

Plenty of bubbles for the adults.

Not so much of the watermelon was eaten ....

Phew.

Hope your Halloween was fun.

'til next time      xoxo cat

:: to market, to market ::

Yep, to market, to market. But not to buy a fat pig.

Vee and I not in the market for pigs, thanks so much.  We are all about the sewing kits, the made by mee cushion kits, the fancy-that jewellery kits, card packs (yes, you didn't know about them), and cushions.  And maybe a throw or two.  Maybe.

I've finished six cushion fronts today.  My plans to take lovely pics of them altogether on the clothesline were thwarted by actual washing hanging on the line.  I figured no-one needs to see that, least of all me.  

Here's a sneaky peek of all six of them separately ... or at least, parts of all six of them:

 This one started life as a log cabin with a Melody Miller Ruby Star Rising viewmaster slide in the middle.  But then I found the MoMo Hoot owl in my stash, so it morphed into something else.

I am so happy with this one!  It's my first wonky star, made following this excellent tutorial.   I used a 4.5 inch square quilting ruler to cut all the squares out.    The grey square is surrounded by the aqua and red egg fabric, from the MoMo Hoot range.

And now here are the scraptacular trio - I do love a scrappy cushion or quilt - too many colours are never enough.   These three use (nearly) all the fabrics in the first three cushions.  And let's be honest, they introduce a few more fabrics too.  Why not throw some more colours into the mix?

Due to my entirely lacking photograph-taking-and-editing abilities, it's really hard to see where these scraptastic cushion fronts start and finish (sorry, Vee, so much to learn, so much to learn).

The first is totally scrappy, then the second two are alternating columns of grey/white spots and scappy columns.  Feast your eyes ... and your imagination ... possibly squint if you have to, to try and work out where the cushions start and finish:

.

I love a 'plus' or 'cross' block - this one is black Echino cars and the fabulous Melody Miller Ruby Star Rising viewmasters.

                                                     

The yellow/orange fabrics sneaking their way into the pics are actually part of the quilt my Mum made for my significant-0 birthday last year (this was my photo-taking Plan B - "lay the cushions onto Mum's quilt" - when my Plan A clothesline idea went down the tubes).   

And that's it!  I'm off to keep working on the cushions.  And then have a glass of wine.  OctSober so didn't happen in this house I'm afraid.

'til next time    xoxo cat

I just don't know when to stop!

The very trusting Cat has left me to my own devices to do our 'cat and vee' sign for our  Xmas Market stall.


Firstly....I reclaimed a big frame from Ikea (about 1m high x 70cm wide) from some of my earlier (and somewhat dodgy) artwork.


The sign started out very sedately.....a mock-up emailed to Cat using one of our all time favourite 'moda sweetwater' fabrics and some wool hot pink and charcoal felt.

Then - in my usual crafty manner....you know...that one when you can't leave something alone....hey....why play safe...let's go something a little more vibrant....

Gorgeous hexagon patchwork background ....should be happy right??


Noooo....one of my favourite decorating mantras is 'more is more'....so....here is our final market sign below.

....at least we won't be missed!!!


xoxo vee

:: o happy day ::

I love a day when the plan comes together.

All ten of my zip pouch sewing kits are now finished for the Christmas Twilight Market.  I've very happily crossed them off the list.  Here are the fronts:

And now the backs:

So love them all, but my two favourites are the grumpy Alexander Henry owl, and the Heather Ross horse girl I blogged about yesterday.  I've always loved that grumpy owl - it's like he's saying "what?  there's nothing to see here, keep it moving": 

I found a parcel from Fabricworm in my letterbox yesterday, containing a fat quarter set of Prints Charming's new Daisy Chain line for Kokka - how gorgeous is it!

I bought a yard of the pink birds too (well actually they're orange, but I think the colourway is pink):

My happy day continued when I logged on to pay the newspaper delivery account, and thought I'd do a quick click around my favourite blogs (may as well, since the laptop was up and running...).

I saw Rita's gorgeous placemats using Melody Miller's Ruby Star Spring fabric, and was lucky enough to nip across and put them into my Etsy cart and check out!  This photo of the placemats is from Rita's blog, Red Pepper Quilts.

I so love Rita's work, and Melody Miller's fabric, so I'm feeling super lucky!

Roll on the rest of the day, I say. 

'til next time         xoxo cat

:: to-do lists, the Queen and mother-guilt ::

Oh I am loving the sewing, since I am finally FINISHING some things, rather than being ALMOST THERE on a whole heap of things.  I so love ticking things off the 'to do' list - how good is it to cross things off a list?

Today I've finished five little zip-pouches, which will live their lives happily as homes for our sewing kits (and I've 'almost finished' another five):

My favourite so far is the little Heather Ross girl playing with horses.  Check out the lining:

Are you making the connection?  Stay with me.  Horses + rodeo kid? Oh yes, love it.

And I've finished 30 little drawstring bags for our fancy-that made by mee jewellery kits:

Look at that stack piled high on the Bernina.  Oh, so high. 

Despite this sewing-high, I am feeling a tiny bit of mother-guilt that I didn't take the kids and sit on the riverbank for hours on end to catch a glimpse of the Queen and Prince Phillip as they rode along the river to Southbank ... a historical opportunity wasted, and all for the sake of ticking things off my list.  How will that conversation go in years to come: - 

Adult child: "oh Mum, could we REALLY have seen the Queen when she made her 16th (and possibly last) visit to Australia?!?"

Elderly Mum: "well yes, we COULD have gone and seen the Queen in her very lovely pistachio coat, but I was busy sewing".  

Whose side will you be on?  I do love the Queen and think she has amazing stamina, but I just didn't make the effort today.  I was busy at the Bernina. 

To my credit, I DID watch the live Channel 9 coverage of the Queen today, while I was sewing. But I don't think that will stack up as an excellent argument in my defense. 

What did you do today?  Did you see the Queen?  Or did you cross things off your list ...

' til next time    xoxo cat

Edited to add: mother-guilt?  what mother-guilt?  My oldest child, on seeing a news ad on TV just now, of the Queen's visit to Brisbane today, just said "why is everyone flocking to see the Queen?  You can see her on telly."  Thank you and good night. 

This is what the inside of my head looks like!

As the lovely Cat has just revealed.....we are busy, busy, busy sewing our butts off for our market stall on the 18th of November.  I was going to say 'sewing our little butts off' but let me tell you...sewing makes you fat so I am really going to have to fit in more exercise this week as I don't want to have to go out and buy bigger jeans.

I have whipped up these 'little numbers'  over the last few days and am stuck choosing a name for this range.....'crazy-ar$e cutesies' is what springs to mind but as we are family friendly I shall have to come up with a name that contains no rude words.


Yesterday my lovely hubby Doug took me to the Eagle Farm races in Brisbane and we had a gorgeous afternoon at a function in 'The Laboratory' chatting, betting and sipping 'bubbles.  


Now...call me old and I haven't been to the races for a year or two - but  I was absolutely 'gobsmacked' when we walked through the main gates at around noon and I noticed quite a few 'young ladies' missing the bottom half of their dresses and performing gravity-defying-stunts by teetering on REALLY high heels.  


Sadly I do not have any photographic evidence as I did not want to be exposed on the evening news as some kind of pervert who takes saucy photo's.


Anyway...6pm and leaving the track bought a whole new realm of 'entertainment' and what I also want to know is......... Are there are a bunch of 'adult entertainers' running around Brisbane looking to get their outfits back!?


have a fabulous week all.
xoxo vee 


p.s....Kim, Khloe and Kourtney.....you have ALOT to answer for!

:: cross-eyed ::

union jack for lovely K, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

I am going cross-eyed from the amount of 'production-line-sewing' I've done this weekend, so am taking a computer+wine break. Ah, quality time.

No one loves a post without a pic, so here's one I made earlier ... totally unrelated to this weekend's sewing ... a Union Jack cushion made for our lovely friend K. I so love it, particularly the Sweetwater Authentic text fabric. Vee and I are both hoarding that fabric and hoping our stash never runs out ...

We're on track for the Christmas Market being held at a local school on Friday, 18 November. This weekend has been all about coasters, sewing kits and drawstring bags for our made by mee cushiony friend kits, and fancy that jewellery kits.

I haven't run a needle through my finger a'la'Vee (so loved the pic of her band-aid finger, with wine lurking in the background), but I have burnt my thumb on the iron, and broken a needle courtesy of the zipper foot.

And now it's back to the sewing ... as soon as I finish my wine.

Happy weekend everyone xoxo cat

Don't drink and sew!

A word of advice AND I know this 'goes without saying'....but unless you intend to cause yourself a small injury .... don't drink and sew.  

It was late(ish) on a Tuesday night (last night in fact) and I thought it would be a fabulous idea to have a glass of red (or two....bottle empty this morning??....how??) whilst I started sewing together some cute retro zip sewing purses.  


All in all it was a very successful sewing session with only a couple of mishaps.


One being my middle finger....which I accidentally ran over with the machine (ouch) and the other two found only this morning on close inspection of my handiwork.....Nothing a quick unpick couldn't fix.


On the upside though......sewing late at night with wine is just way more enjoyable and my finger didn't hurt nearly as much last night as it did when I woke up this morning!


On the downside....have eaten 3 chocolate muffins, a marshmallow chocolate 'fush' and a bag of salt and vinegar 'chups' today. (all before lunch)


Today, however is a new day....a cancelled exercise session (too tired) and couple of coffees this morning (thanks to a rescue coffee pod pack from our girlfriend Evelyn) and I've been sewing up a storm....10 purses finished and now only 50 or so pincushions to make!!


.....so much too for my fabulous willpower to commit to 'Octsober'.....I can safely (and sheepishly) say that I lasted all of 2 days. (My mum Marilyn has been a great support commenting on the fact that if I give up wine I just won't be as creative....thanks Mum, wise words)


xoxo vee

:: dream on and other things ::

We had a pupil-free day today, and wa-hoo, we love them.

Here's what we got up to:

:: we went and saw this movie:

and I've got to admit, I was a little dubious about the '4D' promise.  We saw a few 4D mini-movies at Disneyland a couple of years ago - we're talking water squirted in - yo' - face, supposed-mice rippling around under your seat, and puffs of air ruffling your hair.   

Quite disconcerting for the parents (one of the water-quirts was actually 'acid' in the movie ... didn't like that moment), but the kids loved it.  So - what to expect, what to expect with this 4D? ...

... not water, not air, not undulating seats, but ... aroma-scope.  A-rom-maaa-scoooope.  What?  We're talking scratch'n'sniff in the dark.  While wearing 3D specs.  Our verdict?  Totally unnecessary.  All 8 of our scratch'n'sniff numbers smelt like bubble-gum.  Not a bacon, vomit or fart smell amongst them (though, having read that back, should I be complaining?).  

I should say, we all loved the movie in all its 3D glory - no need for the 4D extra mile. 

Though I did enjoy watching people (me included) scrabbling in the dark for their aroma-scope scratch'n'sniff moment.  Nothing like a deep-inhale of bubble-gum smelling cardboard.  Ah, good times.

:: When we came home, I started on the looong-promised quilt for our bed:

Oh, yes.  Lookin' tiny at the moment, but one day it will cover a king-size bed.

I've been hoarding Dream-On layer-cakes and some extra yardage for ages, and finally cut into it today.  I'm not following a pattern, but was inspired by the 'Crimson Cross' quilt in this fabulous book by Kathreen Ricketson (of Whip Up fame).  I do love a '+' quilt.  

:: I did a happy dance in the driveway (how sorry are you, that you weren't driving by at that moment) when this arrived in the mail:

It's direct from the super fabulous Dottie Angel, and this is where you can buy your very own little tea-tray.  It is so sweet and I love it a lot.  And when one of my children asked "you are my happy what", I simply replied "everything". 

:: and finally, much fun was had running round the backyard during the overcast, windy Brisbane afternoon with Teddy (and his favourite toy, a squeaky tiger thong):

Teddy looks quite windswept, don't you think?  Here he is catching his breath.  It takes a lot of energy to run up a slippery dip, and then tackle a tiger.

To come clean, I actually did zero running around the backyard.  I left that to those with younger, more springy legs than mine.  Surprise.

Lots more sewing to come this week.  Hope your weekend was a good one.

'til next time     xoxo cat

Finally!!! Cushions for Marilyn.

Letter to my mum.....


Hi Mum,


It's your slack daughter here.......yes, me, the one who has been meaning to make you cushions for the last year!!   


I know you thought I had forgotten, but the truth is, every time I looked at all that white in the cute owl fabric I struggled with sewing you some plain cushions to match your stylish bedroom. 


I know you really LOVED that Alexander Henry Hoot fabric....so - I started with that cute little owl in the centre of the 'London to Paris' cushion and voila...this is what you've ended up with.  


A word of advice - pack a bigger suitcase when you come to visit and if you don't love these cushions I shall sell them at our Christmas Markets and buy you some from Pillow Talk!!


We can't wait to see you in two weeks.
Travel safe.


Love and kisses, 
your 'slack ar$e' daughter vee
XOXO

:: fabric love ... a confession ... ::

We are trying to slow right down to a halt on the fabric purchasing, given we are both so busy sewing for the upcoming Christmas Market and have plenty of gorgeous fabrics in the cupboard ... however ...

I did see that Sweetwater's Reunion has been released in pre-cuts, and so snapped up a FQ set from this lovely online shop - it arrived overnight, which made me very happy indeed.  I do so love the bunting fabric ... and, as always, the text fabric.

And then I saw Rita's gorgeous quilt using Prints Charming's new Daisy Chain range for Kokka.  Rita very kindly mentioned that Fabricworm had Daisy Chain in stock, so it was a few clicks of the mouse 'til a pink FQ set was in my cart ...

I should confess here that my fabric-purchasing willpower is much weaker than Vee's ... at least now though I'm slowly making a dent in the stash.

Sorry there are no actual pics of these gorgeous new fabrics, but I haven't yet worked out how to post pics from other websites ... a bit of blogging 101 is in order.  But please do click on all the links, so you can have your own little stickybeak at the lovely fabrics.

And so to end with a photo, here's a very fab cushion made by Vee last year and which now graces my lounge - I'm thinking that the segue is "oh deer, did I really buy MORE fabric ...!":

'til next time    xoxo cat

:: happy birthday weekend ::

Well hello and happy Monday.

I took off for a quick 24 hour round trip to Sydney for my gorgeous nephew's first birthday over the weekend - I do love me a piece of dinosaur cake with my champagne ...

While I was snaffling cake and champagne with the 1-year-old crowd, a birthday party was happening back up here, for an older crowd - think jumping castle, rather than plastic-rainbow-ball-playpen-pit.

Vee and I shared some fabric to make a quilt and Pipsqueak cushion as our birthday pressies - we used gorgeous Heather Baileys, with a bit of hot pink AMH and some precious Sweetwater Authentic:

The quilt binding is scrappy (our favourite kind!):

And the quilt-back is made from a fabulous Ikea house print that we both love:

Pipsqueak has been fancied up with some wool felt, fabric and perle 8 thread, to look super cute inside her little patchworked house:

Most of the fabrics were purchased from this gorgeous shop, and of course the sweet Pipsqueak is a screen-printed panel of our own creation (pop across to our very own shop to have a look at all our little screen-printed Pipsqueaks and her friends).

Vee and I are now back to sewing for the shop, and the looming Christmas market, which is being held on November 18.

Hope your weekend was a good one.

'til next time       xoxo cat

:: sometimes, we make quilts ::

Helen's 40th throw., a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

A super quick post. My lovely friend Helen is coming to stay overnight, so I thought I'd post a pic of the little throw I made for her 40th last year.

It's only little, and mainly in shades of green. Can you spot the tiny detail in the middle - the Heather Ross cat on hot pink, called 'Helen'? I would so love for Heather Ross to have called one of her animals 'Cat' ... even if I ended up being one of her goldfish, I would be totally fine with that.

Vee and I are taking lots of photos tomorrow, so look out for some pic-heavy posts coming up.

'til next time xoxo cat

:: made by mee cushiony friends - Millie Mischief ::

Millie Mischief, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

Here at last is our final made by mee cushiony friend for you to meet (we thought Finn McTrickster was the last one, but Millie Mischief was waiting quietly in the corner, counting her tiny-treasures collection).

This is the gorgeous Millie Mischief. She loves to collect tiny treasures and carry them in her tiny handbag. She also loves to create fabulous imaginary worlds, and populate them with her tiny toys, who all talk in very high pitched voices. A lovely tea party never goes astray either, and Millie is quite the tiny food gourmand - think meringue mushrooms and fancy chocolates.

Do you have a Millie Mischief in your life?

Millie Mischief can be screen printed in hot pink or charcoal onto calico. Her made by mee cushiony kit lives inside a matching drawstring bag, and contains a patchworked cushion front, a cushion back, instructions, wool felt and embroidery floss for your crafty kid to embellish. She is suitable for crafty kids of all shapes and sizes, within an 8 to 108 age range. An adult should be on hand to wield an iron and sewing machine.

Pop across to our shop to have a look at Millie Mischief and her mee friends. The Millie photos in our shop, show Millie with some felt and floss embellishments, unlike our pic here. We can package her up and send her flying straight into the arms of your crafty kid.

'til next time xoxo cat

...shame oh shame....i see the end of school holidays!

....... don't want to appear too overjoyed but the end of school holidays is TOMORROW!


I must say though, that we did have a lovely break in Sydney and hopefully next time I go back will be with Cat,  to do a workshop with those creative, clever Prints Charming girls.


Here's a couple of holiday snaps that especially 'tickled my fancy'!!!

 

Must be off now as i have 'a million' things to do and sew!

xoxo vee

p.s.....am starting Oct-sober today so will be interesting to see if my willpower is as fabulous and I think it is!

p.p.s......'You are not drinking alone if your children are home!!!'

made by mee cushiony friend 'Finn McTrickster'

...and last but by no means least! we would like to introduce you to our fifth and final mee cushiony friend.....a total little mischief maker and his name is Finn McTrickster.

Finn McTrickster loves to 'hoon' around on his scooter and skateboard, he enjoys talking (or perhaps the sound of his own voice!) and asking lots of questions.  In his quiet moments, Finn loves to invent wonderful, far-fetched stories to whisper to his made by mee friends Pipsqueak, Millie Mischief, Lisey-Lou and Bela Blue.

Finn McTrickster is one of our limited edition screen printed (on calico) made by mee cushiony friend kits. He comes in his own little drawstring bag, and has been designed for crafty kids aged 8 to 108.

All of the hard work has been done for you.  Inside his little bag, you'll find easy to follow instructions, a patchworked cushion front - already sewn together and ready to embroider, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery floss to decorate Finn to your heart's content. For younger kids an adult should be on hand to wield an iron, and to sew Finn together.

Finn McTrickster can be printed in chocolate, orange or grey.

Does the crafty kid in your world have a place in their room for Finn McTrickster? 

Pop across to our little shop and sneak a peak today.

xoxo cat&vee

made by mee cushiony friend 'pipsqueak'

..so...o.k...here is our next adorable made by mee cushiony friend and her name is Pipsqueak.

Pipsqueak loves to sing and dress up in her mum's shoes. She is easily distracted by all things shiny and enjoys playdates with her made by mee friends Finn McTrickster, Lisey-Lou, Bela Blue and Millie Mischief.  When Pipsqueak is tired from all of these awesome activities she loves nothing more than to curl up in a patch of sunshine for a dreamy afternoon snooze.

Pipsqueak is one of our limited edition screen printed (on calico) made by mee cushiony friend kits. She comes in her own little drawstring bag, and has been designed for crafty kids aged 8 to 108.

All of the hard work has been done for you. Inside her little bag, you'll find easy to follow instructions, a patchworked cushion front - already sewn together and ready to embroider, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery floss to decorate Pip to your heart's content. For younger kids an adult should be on hand to wield an iron, and to sew Bela Blue together.

Pipsqueak can be printed in chocolate or grassy green.

Does the crafty kid in your world have a place on their bed for Pipsqueak? Pop across to our little shop and sneak a peak today.

xoxo cat&vee