Winter’s ‘magic’-al coat, FQ swaps and reminiscing.

  I know I shouldn’t complain because we don’t get it as cold as some but….for us, 11 degrees in the morning is FRRRRREEEEEEZING!!!! I know, I know…..but remember….I do live in ‘Tropical’ North Queensland, home of swaying palm trees, blue skies, sandy beaches, you know….beautiful one day….perfect the next!!!  But it seems someone forgot to tell good ol’ Mother Nature…..chilly toes and chattering teeth every morning for the past five days or so…..veeeery unusual…..I mean, our winter generally lasts a maximum of about 2 weeks a year and it doesn’t usually begin until June so……….what does a girl do apart from don the daggy tracksuit pants, sweatshirt and fluffy slippers???? Well, my poor naked girl………received a brand spanking new ‘magic-al’ coat to keep her nice and warm…… totally inspired by Bloom and her ‘Beyond Measure’ sewing machine cover but with an individuality that’s oh so ‘girly’!!! Here’s the front…. the beautiful mother of pearl buttons and ricrac to match her piped edges and frills……. and as she does a little twirl……you can see the back…. You can see Bloom’s version here and you can even buy her pattern too, or if you have a copy of Australian Homespun 10th Birthday Issue, Number 90 Vol 11 Number 11.  And you’ll notice, just like I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve added my free “Mothers Make Magic” Mothers’ Day stitchery, which you can still download from here Now my lovely girl is all snuggly and warm, ready to stitch some new ‘magic’ at a moment’s notice and not frozen to the core!!!! LOL (and I have my first OPAM for May…yippee!!!) I thought I’d have heaps of time whilst I was recovering, but you know, time is like wages…..the more you’ve got, the more you seem to use and it never seems like you’ve got enough….just slips through your fingers!!!!….can you relate????  Anyway, with ALL this time I have, *wink* I’ve been reflecting on how my hobby has developed over the years.  I am a stitcher from way back.  In fact, I think I was born with a needle in my hands but quilting only came to me via a very good friend about 13 years ago.  She was an avid quilter and had 4 young daughters so was making them softies and quilts all the time.  I admired all her goodies and she promised to help me with my very first design of my very first ‘quilt’ What lessons I learnt, blanket stitch around curves need care, it does look much better when you match corners and make sure you use good quality fabric!!!! Despite that, it still gets good use on my stitching and recovery chair in front of the tv and it certainly started a lifelong love of quilting. The reason I’m reminiscing is whilst I read Jenny’s blogpost about her quilting journey, I noticed her and I had made the same table topper early on in our journey.  In fact, it was the second item I made.  Here is hers….. …and here is mine…. …and like Jenny, this remains my favourite piece too!  Visiting blogland over the past couple of years, I’ve found many of us share such similar tastes, choosing to do the same projects without ever being aware of other’s until much later…..must be why we all love this bloggy culture so much!!! Last month I decided to join a fat quarter swap with Cathy over here April was swapper’s choice and I was Chris’ partner.  She chose blue and yellow as her colours and, silly me, forgot to take a photo so hopefully she posts a piccie.  I chose blue or red and look at the goodies I received….. How wonderful…..Chris, you even got the ‘kind’ of blue right!!!!   Absolutely love it…thank you so much! This month is yellow and my partner is Cathy, so Cathy, I’m on the look out for some ‘yummy yellows’!!!!! Hope a wonderful week is in store with lots of magic-al moments! sugary hugs Wendy  :0)