Green Tea & Sweet Beans go traveling

What a week I have had, I have made lots of progress on

Green Tea and Sweet Beans

I had my haircut off and now its uber curly

I travelled to Nowra for a soccer meeting,spent the night

in a lovely motel and got to visit Spotlight 

Some hotel room sewing

I had to redo this block because i cut the background the wrong way

my first mass drop purchase

Pink Clover wonder Clips

today I am doing a Working with children check webinar

can I just say its really really really boring, so I am 

multitasking and cutting blocks out for the next

section of Green Tea & Sweet Beans

I will also be packing a suitcase and my sewing ready

for tomorrow, when I fly home to see my daddy and to help

my brother celebrate his 50th birthday on Saturday night

I'll be home on Tuesday, and I am very excited

Green Tea and Sweet Beans

Was a BOM offered by Amitie Textiles way back in 2008/2009

I was very new to the quilting world but I knew that

one day I would have to make this quilt.

Early last year I was alerted to the fact that the

GTSW BOM patterns had been made into a 

retail pattern booklet and it was on sale

I jumped in and bought the pattern, once it arrived I had a 

read saw that it was a hand pieced mammoth and filed

the pattern away into the way to hard basket, as there was

no way I was going to be hand piecing a whole quilt

unless it was 100% appliqué.

Over the weekend, I found myself home alone (very unusual 2 on a cub camp

the other at a birthday sleepover, the hubster at golf) and as I had spent my

morning decluttering, cleaning and scrubbing, I wanted a new

hand project to work on, my options were 

Gossip in the Garden by Annie Downs

or 

Green Tea and Sweet Beans by Jen Kingwell.

I phaffed around unable to make up my mind,  then while

dinner was cooking I decided the GTSW was it, so I prepped 

appliqué block 1 and voila

 Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Arrrgh hand piecing time, I had a practice and made a 4 patch

block so I was certain I could do it and yippee those little 

pinwheels are last nights achievment, the bottom one

does need a press.

 and the reverse side

here is the start of the day lily block

and that is where I am up to, I am trying to get a few of the blocks ready 

to stitch because in 2 weeks I am off to see my daddy and 

my brother, my brother is turning 50 and that is a milestone

I need to celebrate with him. He doesn't know I am coming

we told him that it was just too expensive 1 month out from

Santa visiting, but we would be thinking of him, 

but my daddy knows and I can't wait to see his face when 

we arrive at his party......

(I have been collecting text prints for the backgrounds, and it

will be made up from my stash, I may or may not

buy some different lush fabrics to add in)

11/4" hexagons are on the way so are 3" clamshells

they are looking like great things to stitch while

flying.

Long Post

I must say its always nice to come home after a short holiday,

home definitely is where my heart is.

the day before we left Miss S needed a bag to take her

bits and pieces in the car, so I gave her one of mine and checked the

pockets before I handed it over to her and look what I found

My Grandmas Sapphire ring, I thought it was gone forever,

its been in the bag hiding since Aug 2011 when we moved.

I found 'that safe place' wish I could find the rest of my

safe places ;) 

We left early in the morning headed for Melbourne, pit stops

required in Cann River, Orbost, Bairnsdale & Sale

along with lunch in Trarlagon made for a LONG drive

we finally made it to our accommodation in St Kilda and

then meet up with the eldest child for dinner.

Thursday was another early start as we had to be at the

ship around 7am. The sailing was a tad rough & rolly

but there was no need for chicken bags, the girlies enjoyed

the free activities they had, watched a movie and I just chilled

out and read my book

Miss I and Miss E in the conservatory in City Park

Miss I at the museum after the planetarium visit

on our last day

even dh had a turn

some fabrics for a quilting Bee

and the most divine sunset in Devonport while we waited for 

the ship to set sail for Melbourne

the naughty puppy got a t shirt, although he needed the xxl

size

some yummy annie downs fabric

a bundle of Lynette Anderson fabrics to make

the cat quilt

I also bought some new embroidery scissors and another pattern

which I can't find, dh bought me a new handbag which I love

and we all came home with new clothes, the girlies especially

and my hexagon project, this is what it looked like

before we left, i stitched in the car on the way to Melbourne

and that was all the sewing I did

and this is what it looks like now

there are 100 flowers, in total I used 850 individual

hexagons. I am now working on the side pieces.

We had a great time, it was nice to catch up with all the

family and to see those I hadn't seen for years, I was 

fabulous to see my mum and dad, especially as mum is so

very ill at the moment, thanks to her chemo treatment and the growing

tumor in her lung.

we didn't go and see our house, I couldn't do that and I am pleased

I didn't because I wouldn't have been able to hold my tongue 

my beautiful, expensive, established cottage garden is no more

there is nothing left, except for the hardiest of plants.

7 plants in total remain. So sad to see the photos even the front yard 

hasn't been spared.......

Its school holidays here, not much on our agenda except to relax and

do not much, kids are busy with their friends, I am busy with my hexagons

and I need to dust off the sewing machine and make some bee blocks

and I have 8 days to do this month SAL project, no pressure at all :)

A Big Finish

Ta Da

Tail Feathers 

designed by Natalie Lymer of CinderberryStitches

using Butterscotch & Rose fabrics

dodgy photo but the holder uperers are at school

now I need your thoughts and opinions

remember I cut up 4 jelly rolls to make a hexagon quilt

well I pulled what I had done off the wall on Sunday and

started sewing the hexagons together

and yesterday it hit me as to what I should do with all those

hexagons

I will add another 2 rows to the outside of the uber large diamond

then appliqué it to the centre of the background fabric 

then I thought I could make 2 half diamonds to appliqué

to each side of the background fabric 

sheesh here is a really bad diagram of what I mean

will that look ok or should I make 4 half diamonds and

have them appliquéd top and bottom also??

I am open to suggestions, please

and yes I have more than enough hexagons to create this

big quilt for my bed

we are going away next week, home for my mama's birthday

can you guess what I will be doing as we drive to Melbourne

on Wednesday and then as we sail across 

Bass Strait on Thursday

go on have a guess :)

and big congratulations to 2 of my girlies who are 

SSC reps for their classes with badges!

A Flimsy, A Finish & more

Tail Feathers is now a flimsy

I need to wait for the holder up-erers to get

home to give you a full photo, Henry's legs just aren't

that long :)

 the backing fabric & wadding

Butterfly garden is underway

Block 1

Block 2

some close ups of the stitched patchwork blocks

I lost count of exactly how many french knots

(I actually do candle-wicking knots, much easier)

Block's 3 & 4 are waiting for me to prep them today

My Stitch A Long Tote bag for Feb

and news on my mum.

Hmmmmm, I had a very sad day on Thursday but I was

blessed to spend it sewing with good friends which kept me

from wallowing in sadness

Mum underwent a CAT scan 2 weeks ago, to see what was happening

with her lymphoma and to make sure her treatment was working,

she had an appointment Wednesday for the results well

I forgot about the scan results appointment until late Wednesday night

so started calling her at 8:30 am Thursday, no answer, 8:45am no answer,

I called my sister, no answer, I called mums mobile, no answer

then my daddy called me from the doctors rooms and told me that

her lymphoma was under control and she needs 12 months of

1 treatment per month 

BUT

 the scan showed that the lung cancer was active again so its

more radiation treatment and nasty chemo for her.

We aren't to sure when her treatment will start, and we are all

going home at the end of March for her 70th birthday which

I am really pleased I am doing now. 

Cancer Sucks, it really really does

Happy Mail Day

I love happy mail days, just seeing the parcel

man arrive at the front door gets me excited.

Today he bought me some delicious fabric that I purchased 

last Friday

All Riley Blake designs

and he delivered a delicious parcel of love

all the way from Miss P at 

Calico Crossroads

I miss visiting Miss P and her gorgeous shop

block 1 of Tillie's Lane, Annie Downs new BOM

the last 4 buttons for Fernhill by

Lynette Anderson Designs

some uber yummy background fabric and a 

gorgeous fat quarter which was a present

and of course all had to be examined by

Henrycat who is currently sitting on the ironing board 

behind me, he doesn't like to miss out

I have more Happy Mail in the mail, which I will share as soon 

as it arrives.

Tail Feathers is almost done, I am working on Block 9

the last stitchery block, I do have the birds to appliqué 

onto blocks 7, 8 & 9 and then I will sew it together

and make the logs cabins. 

I can feel a finish coming on.

My next project is 'Butterfly Garden' I can't wait to make a start

I am saving Tillie's Lane to start just before Easter as we have a night in

Melbourne and then a 9+ hour trip on the Spirit of Tasmania + a week 

with my sister and her family as its Mums 70th birthday & then an 

overnight trip back to Melbourne and home.

Tillie's Lane and my Hexagons will be my silent travel buddies :)

Going Home

I am going home towards the end of the month

as my mum isn't doing very well at all.

At her last PET scan after the treatment for her

lung cancer finished she had a few 'hot spots' appear in
her chest, spine and liver

the doctors were unsure if it was because the LC had spread

or it was the Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.....

fast forward 12 weeks

She has just finished her treatments for the NHL

and has her next PET scan in 3 weeks, and the final

results a week after that, which is when I will be there.

My sister rang tonight and said that she wasn't doing to

well and that our gorgeous dad is very worried about 

mum...... and if dad is worried we know something big is up
neither of them are eating properly as mum has 

significant problems with her hands and feet due to the LC drugs,
she is permanently cold, and is having issues with her
breathing sounds really wheezy all the time and I noticed
when we Skype that she has a constant cough, not good stuff
to have when you have LC

If you are the praying kind could you please pray for

my mummy, that her Pet scan gives us the news that we

all desperately want to get, and for my daddy who has had to
take the journey with mum over the last 10 months all the while
constantly reassuring us that she is ok I worry about him too

So I am feeling a little blue tonight, I had a little cry on dh shoulder
and I really just want to go home tomorrow and give my
mum and dad a big old hug. The last 10 months have been hard because
I haven't been there for any of it.

Life can just be so cruel sometimes!

Hug your loved ones close and let them know that
you do love them..... because you never know what is
around the corner

In 24 hours

I will be home with my little family

and I can't wait.

Don't get me wrong its been fabulous

here with my family but I miss

my little family so very much

and my Henrycat, mums cats are so

anti social its just plan annoying

We went up the coast yesterday and I bought

2 patterns (1 Anni Down's and 1 using 1930's prints)

 and 2 fat quaters for my Stitch A Long quilt

thats it

today however I have bought internet security

dog medication, pressies for  my girlies

and a cookbook oh and another yummy quilt pattern

we have been out for dinner, and I have checked in

for my flight to Melbourne, my case is packed

except for my jammies and bathroom bag

I am so ready to go home lol

My gorgeous man sent me roses for Valentines day

they were sitting on mums doorstep when we got home

from our drive I felt very special lol

so the morning will be full of going to town,

& drinking yummy coffee until its time to go to the

airport....

Hoping to come back after her treatment has finished

she has had another pet scan and to go to the dr for the results

my sister and I decided today that it is exactly what we will

do, get straight from the dr this time.

Fingers crossed, it all starts Tuesday

I am a homebody

and I miss my babies and Webby. I am happiest at home surrounded by our 'stuff' my little family and Henrycat and Frank the quilty beast

I could happily be an agoraphobic and never leave home lol even Webby said yesterday he was surprised I was still here as a week is my usual limit for being away, with or without him and the girlies 1 week is my limit lol when I am home I go out once a day to pick the girlies up from school and I leave Eden only to do the groceries in Merimbula it's pathetic really

So I am keeping busy until I head to the airport on Thursday, tomorrow I am meeting a girlfriend for coffee then going to town with my parents, visiting my sister and her family we will do coffee and then some sewing with mum to finish off the last grand child's quilt. We are going out for dinner too.

Thursday I need to go to the vets to collect the naughty puppies ear medication, office works to get our updated Internet security, Kmart for a new book or 5, and to a local newsagents for a cookbook I have been looking for in NSW and not found. Then it will be back to mums to pack my bags and head off to start my journey home to my little family and Henrycat I can't wait :)

See I am a total homebody but by Monday I will probably be wishing I was elsewhere lol no doubt the girls will think I have missed their constant fighting and crank it up a notch just for my benefit!

2 more sleeps

Until I fly home to see my

mummy, I am very excited to be going home

I just wish it wasn't because she cancer

anyhoo

hubby and I went to Merimbula on

Thursday I needed to get

wadding, backing and binding fabric

for mum's quilt

the backing fabric, a bargin at $10 pm

the binding

Something to watch while I was quilting on the quilty beast

aka Frank

not that you can actually watch a dvd and quilt

at the same time

and on tomorrows to do list because Scouts starts back on

Thursday and I have double to sew on, the pressure is

building.

Tomorrow you can see mums Chemo Quilt, quilted, washed, dried, full

of love, its in the dryer right now

The girlies had a great week at school, they all have lovely

teachers, re connected with their friends, all are happy

so far.

Next trip is being booked when I get home for late April returning to NSW
mid May, she will be mid chemo then and dad will be needing a break.

I need to join frequent flyers I think  :)