A Trip Up To The 'Big Smoke'...

Mr Armchair commutes to work and one day a couple of weeks ago JoJo and I went with him up to Canberra for some shopping and a dental appointment...

We left the Bay...some of the scenes just before we crossed the bridge...

and headed up the Mountain...

One of my favourite shops...The Essential Ingredient at Kingston and not far from the Dentist and when we come up here we always call in and get a little something...

Beautiful timber boards...

Colourful tagines...

French cheeses on offer...

and Cornichons...we bought a little cheese and 2 jars of these Cornichons!!!

Later on JoJo had a chocolate biscuit...

and I had the best breakfast

Home made Hash Browns...the best scrambled egg...and tomato topped with rocket lettuce...

just perfect on a cold winter's day...

This is the cafe...as you can see not much action outside due to the cold day...

but lovely and warm inside...it will probably be busier later on in the day!!!

After that we headed off in to town to meet my Daughter and 

Grandson who both had a ride on the merry go round ...

a must do while up here!!!

The original organ, the hand-carved woodenThe merry- go-round started life in Melbourne in 1914. The fifty two hand carved wooden horses and two elephants were specially imported from Germany. 

The twisted brass upright poles came from Scotland. 

After extensive restoration work, the merry-go-round began operating in Canberra's Petrie Plaza in 1974. TTTThe ed wooden horses iand the two elephants were imported from Germany, while its twisted brass poles came all the way from Scotland.

And here's a big wave from Ryan!!!

After that we wandered around for a bit and then headed off to have a coffee...hot chocolate and chat before going in different directions and then finally back home again...

A Great Day!!!

It's been quite cold here this Winter although not as cold as where we came from inland...

Keeping warm and cozy inside and not venturing out too much is what's happening here...

Getting JoJo off everyday on her programme and being here when she comes back...

and of course too many stitching projects to do...

How come I keep wanting to get more!!!

A litte bit of baking and cooking been happening here too this week...

All good for the Soul!!!

Keep warm...Dzintra

OPAM (One Project A Month)...June and Block B, A Gardener's Journal!!!

Hasn't OPAM come around so quickly this year...

at least I am managing to complete 1 item a month!!!

Thank you Peg and Kris for organizing this wonderful project!!!

This one a little Travel Case by Pearl P. Pereira of P3designs.com  for my Friend Fiona for her recent birthday...

Fiona loves her garden and her plants so I chose a gardeny/floral theme...

Happy Birthday Fiona!!!

These are so handy...they can be filled up with your needful things ready for your project!!!

And much excitement here...I have completed Block B of A Gardeners Journal by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched...YAY!!!

And here'tis joined onto Block A...and such fun to put together too!!!

I have used as many of Anni's fabrics as I could to make this quilt a little more special...

Anni is in Bathurst (where I used to live) and I remember sitting at my friend Geo's house doing some stitching and Anni came along...

She mentioned she was opening a shop soon...and the rest is history!!!

It's been quite cold here and my arm is feeling it...

planning to stay warm and get some more stitching done this weekend...

Bring it on...Dzintra aka Ingrid

Quilt of Stitches...FUN FUN FUN

A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop at Steph's on doing a Quilt of Stitches (Bernina)...

a perfect way to learn more about my (nearly new) Nina and create a quilt at the same time...

The Quilt of Stitches lets you experiment with various decorative stitch options and interesting thread colours...no expertise required, just some curiosity and a spirit of adventure...

Why not I thought!!!

I chose prints from the Civil War range...

Collections for a Cause - Hope by Howard Marcus for Moda...

At present we are doing stitches on square solid fabric to cut up later to look like this...

This one was a completed one...

some of the girls are using darker solid fabrics...

Some of my stitches are a bit wonky...

Using some ribbon here (and getting better ha ha)

And these are some of the ribbons I may use...

This workshop is such FUN FUN FUN!!!

Thanks so much Steph for organizing this and also Jan for teaching us...

next time we have a lady from Bernina to come and chat!!!

And arm update...still CAN'T do apron up...

Physio said yesterday I should notice a lot of difference by Christmas...

so all sounds good, right???

The Captain's Cottage at Long Beach...

A couple of weeks ago my very good friends Geo and her DH came to spend a week down the coast in a beach house at Mollymook...on her agenda (must do!!!) was to look at a beach house at Long Beach further down south in Batemans Bay!!!

Quilts have been featured in this gorgeous beachside house in Homespun magazine...

This cottage faces the beach...

has a little boat in front of it...

it also faces the street 'round the corner...

after having a walk along the beach side I asked if we could go back to the street side and take a pic...and blow me down, as I was about to do that the owner Lynne came out...

after chatting she graciously asked if we would like a tour...

WOULD WE EVER!!!

Entering here on the street side...

very nautical quilt on one of the beds...

Up the steps and a ship's wheel...

A little bedroom...

In this bedroom in the ceiling is a door and a fold out ladder...

up the ladder (not me) and Geo took a photo of the light up there...

from here you can look out to sea...

And check this out...one is the sink...the other is the loo...

How cute!!!  These were featured on the cover of Homespun magazine N o 91 Vol 11 No 12!!!

Complete with pirate flag (what fun)...

Add on lighthouse...

Staircase...we have a staircase and often wonder if we should do this treatment to it!!!

And downstairs complete with buckets for children and boogey boards...

And here's Geo looking wistfully at the house...

and wondering if she should gather the family together and spend a special birthday there in a few years!!! 

 Of course you should Geo...and we will visit (a lot)!!!

Thank you so much Lynne and Brian...we thoroughly enjoyed this tour and feel very privileged...

To check out the Captain's Cottage further go over here

I'm doing a workshop at Steph's and have chosen these Civil War fabrics to play with...

learning to use the stitches on my machine...all fun, fun, fun!!!

Till next time...

The sea, once it casts its spell,

holds one in its net of wonder forever...

~Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 1910-1997~http://www.universalmagazines.com.au/_webapp_118012/Homespun

OPAM...a workshop and Needlework Group Quilt

 Not a lot done for OPAM

 (One Project a Month) this month...

just these 2 little wallets...ideal for coffee cards and various other shopping

cards we all seem to accumulate...

This one was made for my dear Friend Geo as she had said to me that she would like one when I blogged about them for a previous OPAM...

I decided to put a little timber button on her one...a little angel as she loves angels!!!

Button is by Barb of Theodora Cleave...

Thank you to Peg and Kris  for hosting OPAM...a wonderful idea!!!

At the end of the week I am off to a workshop at Steph's...

called Quilt in Stitches...a workshop run to learn more about the stitches on my (nearly) new sewing machine...Only 2 fabrics required, a solid and a patterned...

I have chosen a tea dyed look homespun and Civil War fabrics...

Above right from left to right...

first one will be with the solid (also above left, in the centre)...the brown one also above left will be inner border...(1st left above)...the teal colour will be the outer border (above left, 3rd) and one of the other 2 will be binding...

And while on the Civil War I have received my copy of The Union Quilters, the latest book by Jennifer Chiaverini in the Elm Creek series...

thoroughly enjoying these books, especially the ones that talk about the Civil War/Slavery/life in the 1800's...all of which I find fascinating!!!

And here is a quilt top put together by Jenny from my Needlework Group which I have recently gone back to...still not driving though as arm is still a bit stiff and I don't feel confident...

All the stitcheries were done by ladies in the Group and the quilt will be raffled off later in the year...

Thank you to Fiona for organizing these stitcheries and quilt for us all...

Wouldn't it be lovely to win...it's oh sooo pretty!!!