oh Boy oh boy, it's been a little while since I posted,

opps....OK quite awhile then. I seem to have been in a bit of a slump since my Mum passed away unexpectedly at the end of March, and it's been terribly hard to get back up and move onto a life without her in it. To all those that have lost their Mum you will know where I am coming from. Moving on is something we all have to learn to do and we each have to do it in our own way.

   I am so blessed to have become good friends over the last 5 yrs or more with the girls from the yahoo C.R.A.F.T  group who made me this fantastic Healing Hearts quilt in memory of my Mum, isn't it just gorgeous, it is called 'Hearts and Kisses' so fresh n pretty. I'll never forget the day the parcel lady delivered it, I cried so many tears from receiving such a wonderful gift. The hearts in the quilt are so special as they were made by the girls in the group from the world over and then sent to Khristina our list mum in Adelaide who chose the rest of the fabrics and designed the quilt to incorporate the hearts, pulling it altogether in this fabulous quilt. Now that's pretty special hey! Thank you my dear friends, you helped me get through a tough time.

Sooo.... there's not been much craftin' going on here but I did manage to finally finish this scrapping page of my 2 grandchildren who were visiting from faraway last Christmas... photo taken in my Mum's yard by my son with his fancy new camera.

  and just the other weekend I had so much fun going to my very first Stampin Up workshop. I think I am hooked, what a lovely relaxing creative day, our hostess Bronwen did such a great job looking after us with a scrummy lunch and she even bought her cappuccino machine and made us all one and I felt very creative making the two cards, a Christmas gift box and a sweet fridge magnet, love learning new crafts.

 

But the best is yet to come, Woo Hoo on Sunday I am off to meet up with some of the girls from C.R.A.F.T at Mt Alford Lodge for our yearly retreat, can't wait, the bestest company, food is deli-sh, accommodation is perfect, views are fantastic, the odd bottle of wine.... oh will be so relaxing and peaceful and to top it off no housework, no cooking etc, oh yes...roll on Sunday can't wait. Perhaps we might even get to do some sewing,lol.

Hope I have made up a bit for being MIA for so long, will be back in a couple of weeks to show off the pics from the retreat.

hugs

Diana

Finished a little project last night

 remember the bear quilt  I made for granddaughter Monique last year.....

well I was able to use up some of the scraps to make her a runner for the top of her chest of drawers......

now don't look too close, the 3 foot rule applies here as I actually had a little go at FMQ on this project.... so stressful, lol.....but once started I had to keep going, lots of points instead of curves but as it will be covered with DGD's trinkets hopefully nobody will notice  too much, it was a good size to have a practice on, hopefully being not quite 3 yrs old yet Miss M won't be too much of a quilting critique'.

hugs

Diana

Feeling pretty good

"Sew Easily Charmed"

this sunny Sunday afternoon.

Finally finished DD's and SIL's belated Christmas gift a "Sew Easily Charmed" quilt and it will be in the post and on it's way to Mt Isa tomorrow. "Hooray at last" I can hear my DD shouting, lol.

The quilt is a pattern designed by my friend Khris, love this pattern, great instructions and easy to S.I.D. After all my procrastinating about how to quilt it I was glad I had chosen to K.I.S.S.

Now I need to start on the wall hanging requested by DD, same pattern but a smaller version in matching "Freebird" Moda fabrics.

Also wanted to ask you that if you have a minute, pop on over to Khris's, Lucky and Dawn's blogs and check out how hard the girls have been working on quilts for victims of the floods. Lucky has also been making and collecting from other generous ladies lots of "Huggles" which are going to the HUGGLE FOR KIDS Flood Appeal  for the Grantham School.
What's a "Huggle" I hear you ask, check out Luckys blog to find out. Such a worthwhile cause for littlies children of Oz.

Hugs

Diana

I should be

machine quilting the lap quilt that is a gift for my DD and her Hubby, but I got a little side tracked with finishing this scrappin page.

Now that it is done I will have to stop procrastinating and just go for it. You see I have this inkling to be a bit more adventurous and instead of just doing the Stitch in the Ditch version I would love to FMQ (free motion quilt for those who aren't quilters) it, but alas I lack confidence in that area of quilting and do not want to stuff it up, so I guess tomorrow instead of just walking past it as it sits on the table looking at me I best put my big girl panties on and just deal with it, or it will be next Christmas before DD gets to put it on her bed. :-).

hugs,

Diana

I enjoy sewing Healing Heart Blocks

knowing that they are going to be made into a quilt, to be given to somebody that needs an extra hug at a time in their life when things are extra tough, as well as being able to wrap the quilt around them and feel the love and friendship we offer we hope it reminds them they are not alone and others are thinking of them when they can't be with them to help share in their time of grief or hardship.

and these 6 blocks I have just finished will be added to other blocks to make three Healing Heart Quilts for Aussie flood victims who are friends and family of members of the "CRAFT" yahoo group I belong to. 

I will post pics when the completed quilts are done.

In the meantime below is a pic of a Healing Hearts Quilt that was made for a group member who recently lost her Mum, it was put together by Marilyn and she's done a fabulous job on behalf of all the members.

Since I have been talking about these special quilts and their purpose I'm going to pop up some pics of some of the other Healing Heart Quilts that have been given to members over time. How talented the ladies are, who give their time and skill to put together hearts of all shapes and sizes into the quilts on behalf of all the group members, there was also a baby quilt made for a young members first bub. 

Pop over here to my Picasa Albums to see them.

hugs,

Diana

What do you do

on a really hot day in the Queensland outback town of Mt Isa.......pack up the kids and dogs and the 4 wheelers and head for the river of course....

 

more pics HERE

On a more serious note I am guessing that most like me, have been watching the TV and seeing all the devastation that the floods have caused in QLD and now also NSW and Vic.
I found it hard to pull myself away from watching as it got worse and worse and then as the cleanup began it brought tears to my eyes and made my heart swell with pride seeing how many willing people answered the Premier's call for help with the massive task of clearing out the mess and helping to get families back into their homes.
There is lots of ways the rest of us who cant physically be there to lend a hand can help out, I have seen many blogs and websites offering so many helpful ideas as well as the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal. 
In case you are still deciding how you would like to do your little bit I would like to guide you over to two of my friends blogs, Khristina and Lucky where they are providing a few different avenues for you to consider.

And from me personally I would like to say a big thank you to all those who have got in and got dirty to help those in need, you have my utmost admiration and Thank You for making me so proud to be an Aussie.

hugs

Diana