How excitement!

I have two bits of very exciting news!

First off, I won/bought Acute in Melly & Me's auction for the Bushfire Appeal.  I've posted a picture below for anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about.

Acute is my fave Melly & Me softie, and that is a big call coz I love them all!  I actually just starting making my own Acute a couple of weeks back; he's still in pieces so I really should rectify that .  My original Melly & Me "Acute" should be arriving any day now - how excitement!

Sooooo..... as if that wasn't enough to have me jumping for joy (it was!), I got an email last night from the fabulous Trash, and guess what she told me????  Did you guess?  Yes, I won something in her fantastic Bushfire Appeal raffle, but do you know what I won?  

I won the poster girl!  

Yes, little ol' me won the gorgeous Annabelle, handcrafted with love by Julie from Little Cotton Rabbits.  I'm surprised you didn't hear me squealing with glee and clapping my hands together with delight like a two year old at Christmas!

I got this news via email in the wee hours of this morning while I was piecing blocks for the Bushfire Quilt Project.  I'll post my blocks soon so you can have a look see and suggest what borders might work.

THANK YOU to Melly and Rosie; and to Trash and all the generous contributors to your rafflle. I'm sure those who survived the devastating Victorian bushfires would be truly touched to know how many people are thinking of them and doing what they can to help them out at this terrible time.  

There is still plenty more to do to help those who have lost everything.  To see how you can help, please take a look at the Handmade Help site!  It really is a small world after all!

Guess wot?  The postie just arrived with my little friend and he's sitting here with me right now. Oh, happy day!

Hugs

Kelly & Acute :-)

International Women's Day FQ Swap - Let's Swap!

Hi swappers and THANKS for signing up to take part in my first ever swap!  

We have 18 participants (which is a lovely, even number) from Australia, Canada, UK and USA - so we can definitely say that this is truly an International Women's Day event!  

I have two "no profile" participants (Linny & M) so I can't get back to them and are hoping that they read this post. Linny & M, if you do read this, please email me at kfiedler (at) tpg (dot) com (dot) au and let me know how to contact you.  If I hear from one of you and not the other, I'll do a swap with you.  If I hear from both of you, then you will be paired up.  If I don't hear from either of you, no harm - no foul!

Okay, so that leaves 16 of us.  I put our names in a bag and drew them out two at a time, and this is what I ended up with:

1.  Debbe (Pink Mucky Boots) & Marian (Marian Edwards Dreamweaver)

2.  Vicki (Felines & Fibre Arts) & Beth (Modern Jax)

3.  Katy (I'm a Ginger Monkey) & Kelly (Purple Paisley Patch)

4.  Kylie (Kylie's Stitch'n Sew) & Kristin C (Quilts in the closet)

5.  Nichole (Nichole's family & crafty blog) & Shean (Dairy of an unconscious mind)

6.  Esther (Jumping from One Idea to the Next) & Tammy (Home in Virginia)

7.  Jules (Sew Bull Sew) & Mandy (Manda-a-lin)

8.  Trasha (Trash can) & Quilty Gal (Quilty Gal)

I'll send you all an email to let you know your partners email details so you can organise to swap addresses.  I don't have email addresses for Tammy & Kristin, so I'll post a comment on your blogs to let you know who you are paired with and to ask you to please email them and me.

Please let me know if you have any issues contacting your partner.  I have plenty of purple and green fabric to go around so if you don't hear from your partner let me know and I'll do a swap with you.

All the blogs for those participating (except for Linny & M) are listed above with links so you can check out everyone's purple and green fabric on/after 8 March.

Thanks again for taking part in the International Women's Day FQ Swap  - let the swapping fun begin!

Hugs

Kelly :-)

International Women's Day FQ Swap - contact details

Just a quickie post as I must away to work.

If you are signing up for this swap, PLEASE ensure I can contact you to let you know your partner's details.  

I can't contact you if you don't have a blog or an email address listed on your profile.  

You can email me your contact details if you don't want to post them with your comment.

Thanks! :-)

Sunday Stash

I'm keen to do a little sewing before bed tonight so will make this post brief.

First up, some sweet reproduction vintage florals.

You might need sunnies for the next print, it is from the Beatles range of fabrics and is VERY bright.  I love it!

Before I go, there are a few buttons to the right that you might like to click on.  They are links to the International Women's Day FQ Swap I'm hosting, and the fantastic Bushfire Quilt Project and Handmade Help websites both in assisting those affected by the Victorian bushfires.

Hugs

Kelly :-)

Kylie's Stitch'n Sew Great Give Away Week!

Bet you're all saying, "Oh no, not ANOTHER giveaway!" - NOT!!!!!

I know you love em, and Kylie knows too and that's why she's celebrating her 100th blog with a whole week of giveaways from 11-17 February.

Check out Kylie's Stitch'n Sew everyday to see what's on offer.

Don't forget to see what snippet of info Kylie wants you to comment about, it is great to read your comments and learn a little more about all the crafty folk in blog land (sung to the tune of Noddy's "all the little toys in toyland).

Oh, one last thing - I've got dibs on today's retro scraps and kindred spirit bag giveaway - OKAY! LOL :-)

Victorian Bushfires - How we can help!

The devastation from the bushfires that are still burning in Victoria almost defies belief.  So far almost 200 people are confirmed dead, and the police are expecting this number to increase to around 300 when they are able to inspect all the affected properties.  Many have lost everything except the clothes on their backs, but they are thankful to be alive.  

The hearts of Australians and of many others around the world go out to those affected by this gut-wrenching disaster and we all want to help in whatever way we can.  At the moment the best way to assist is through financial donations.  

If you would like to make a donation please call 1800 811 700 or give online at: 

Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal

Another way you can assist is by buying or bidding on some of the handmade goods up for sale/auction on the sites listed below.  The proceeds of these sales will be donated to the Red Cross Appeal.

http://mellyandme.typepad.com/melly_me/2009/02/bushfire-appeal.html

http://sillygillykids.blogspot.com/2009/02/raising-funds-for-victorias-bushfire.html

Go to Silly Gilly Kids to get the html for the button above so you can add it to your blog and promote this worthy fundraising effort.

If you are not in a position to donate $$ but have some fabric or batting you would like to donate, check out the link below.

http://www.mrsmartinsquiltshop.typepad.com/

Thank you

International Women's Day Fat Quarter Swap

Hi all, after many attempts I have created a button for the swap, please feel free to copy this to your site to spread the word. Hugs, Kelly :-)

The swap is on!  Most of you preferred the idea of swapping fat quarters, so we'll stick with that.  

Okay, so here's how this will (hopefully) work:

1.  People can join the swap until 20 Feb.

2.  We'll each purchase, or dig out of our stash - 4 FQs - these will be purple, green &/or white, or a combination of these colours - these colours have been chosen in honour of the suffragettes.

3.  I'll draw swap partners on 21 Feb and let you know who is with who.

4.  We'll all mail our parcels by 23/24 Feb - this should ensure that our swap partner receives their parcel on or before 8 March.  

5.  If we receive our parcel before 8 March, we'll put it aside and wait patiently until 8 March to open it.  [I'll struggle with this one]. 

6.  On 8 March, we'll open our parcels and put a post up on our blogs with a photo of our lovely purple, green & white fabrics.

I'm still working on creating a button for this swap so you can put it on your blog.  In the meantime, I'd love it if you'd tell others about the swap so they can join in if they're interested.

Hugs

Kelly :-)

Sunday Stash

Today I've got a mixed bag of goodies to show you. Some bright/psychedelic fabric, some yummy pink, purple & green Happy Go Retro fabric, and some irresistable Paisley fabric that I just HAD to have! LOL

I had a few issues getting the photography done, firstly, I had to move some kitties off the ironing board (aka the kitty sleeping platform), they weren't impressed at all!

That's Mia shielding her eyes from the bright light, and Sass hanging out down the other end.

Here's Zeek - he really didn't want to move - "I'm comfy mum"

Mia completely ignoring my attempts to coax her off the board.

Then the batteries in the camera went flat and needed to be recharged.  I finally got the photos taken, but they're a bit glary, sorry about that.

Here's the bright/psychedelic selection.

Now for the Happy Go Retro.

And last, but by no means least, some of my lovely paisley fabric.  You know I have more paisley don't you.  I'll have to show that to you another day!

Mission accomplished, even if it is technically Monday now - shhhhhhh, don't tell! :-)

Looking for a giveaway?

Pink Petunia is having a Fabric Freeing Giveaway, interested?  Click on the picture below:

This giveaway is for some yummy fabric and handles to make a bag.  It closes on Friday, 13 February 2009.

Good Luck!

International Women's Day - FQ/Bag Swap

Want to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March 2009, by taking part in an International FQ/Bag Swap???  

Interested?  Well, the idea is that we each send our swappee 4 FQs that are purple, green, white and/or mixtures of these colours.  These are the colours of the suffragettes, so very appropriate for this occasion.

Once we receive our goodies, we turn them into a bag and post them on our blogs for everyone to see - what do you think???? Alternatively, we could make it a bag swap and actually make a bag to send to the swappee.

Let me know if you're interested and if you think we should make it a FQ swap or a bag swap. I'll tally up the votes and let you all know.  

If anyone would like to volunteer to help me out with a button that would be totally fantabulous!!!!

Big hugs to all wonderful crafty/quilty bloggy women everywhere!

Kelly :-)

PS:  I've posted some info about IWD below if you want to know more.

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

The history of International Women's Day is a history of taking action. The event originated in 1908 when women garment makers in New York demonstrated to demand better working conditions. They worked in appalling conditions, earned half of men's wages, died prematurely from poor health and didn't have the right to vote.

In 1910 an international conference of women resolved that each year a day should be set aside to press for women's demands. Since then International Women's Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the world each year on March 8. From its inception International Women's Day has stood for equality between women and men.

At the same time in England, women were meeting and marching to demand the right to vote. The Suffragettes adopted the colours of Green, White and Violet to stand for their slogan "Give Women the Vote". Since then these colours have been used to symbolise the struggle for women to obtain equal rights.

In Sydney, IWD was first celebrated in 1928 at a rally that called for equal pay for equal work, an eight hour day for shop workers, no piece-work, a base wage for the unemployed and paid annual holidays. Rallies and marches have been held throughout Australia every year since.

Of course, much has improved since then, but we still have some way to go to achieve equal opportunity for women, not only in Australia but throughout the world.

So IWD is about remembering the battles long fought to build a society that is just and fair to all its members a society in which diversity, tolerance, safety, social justice and equality between women and men is a given. And its about celebrating what women have done, are doing and can do.

Want to know more?  Check out the Official Website for International Women's Day 2009.

Giveaway Winners

Random Winner

Okay, I went through all 106 comments and took out any double ups so everyone was only in once, this left me with 102 individual entries.  I fed this number into the Random Number Chooser thingy and it came up with number 42.

So, the lucky winner of the random draw is Debbie from the Sunshine Coast.  

Debbie, please email me your address details so I can send you your prize.  I don't have any way to contact you so I hope you read this post!

Favourite Comment Winner

Yeah, great idea Kelly - NOT!!!  I knew it was going to be hard to pick just one favourite comment.  I gave up, I have three.  The first will get some of the yummy yellow and blue fabrics and the second two will get something else that I'm sure you'll both enjoy.  Drum roll puhleeez, the winners are:

1.  sfer - coz you gave me lots of good book tips and you made me laugh with "Anyway. Am I talking too much? Well... you shouldn't have asked!"

2.  Vicki - coz my kitties like to hang around when I sew as well...seems to be a kitty thing.  I have a moggie and two gorgeous ragdoll kitties and they all love to harass me when I try to sew!

3.  Esther - coz you share my love of purple which is the bestest colour there is!!!

Thank you all for your comments, I LOVED reading them all!

Random "Giver" Winner

I used Katy's alphabetical list to give you all a number, I took myself out and that gave me 54 entries into the draw.  The Random Integer Generator said that the winner is number 39

So, the mystery prize winner is Quilty Gal!  This prize is a mystery to me too, I'll pick some yummy things out of my stash over the weekend and they'll be in the post on Tuesday!  I have something in mind, I hope you like it! 

Well, that's all folks!  

A Heart for Home Giveaway!

The giveaway fun continues with a fabulous giveaway from A Heart for Home, generously provided by Jen from Down Shadow Lane.  

The giveaway is for 4 fat quarters of your choice from the Down Shadow Lane etsy shop.  Go to A Heart for Home to check out all the details.

This giveaway closes at 12pm (EST) on 6 February, so get in quick!

Giveaways Galore!

Hello lovely bloggy people, my portion of Katy's TGISBG is now CLOSED.  I'll post the winners tomorrow night, so check back then.

I've REALLY enjoyed this giveaway, it has been fantastic reading all your comments and blog-hopping around the place to look at the blogs of the other participants - and enter some giveaways myself!  

Soooooo, because I'm having soooo much fun, I've decided to give some more!!!  I'm now giving away two lots of the fabric I've shown.  The first giveaway will be a random pick, and the second will be based on my fave comment (that is going to be truly difficult).  Plus, I'm going to enter all the other GIVERS participating in Katy's fab TGISBG into a draw for a mystery prize - coz I think one good turn (or in this case, giveaway) deserves another! LOL :-)

Lastly, coz I know that you all LOVE giveaways (both giving and receiving), I'm going to list all the giveaways I find out about on the right side of my blog.  Please let me know if you are hosting any and I'll be sure to put them up.

Oh, and one more thing - I'm sure to be giving away more stuff, so pop back from time to time for a visit and say hello!

Okay, so there is something else I wanted to say.... you might have seen this already, but if not, check out this cute piccie of a KOALA taking a bath to cool down - it's been extremely hot in the Southern parts of Australia recently!

Happy blogging!!!

It's a small world after all!

Hi everyone

Someone asked if I'm including folks from outside of Australia in my giveaway. The answer is YES!

Everyone is welcome. Just be sure to let me know how to contact you so I can get your address details when you win!!!

Oh, please don't comment on this post, comment on the GIVEAWAY post below - okay?

Good Luck! :-)

Let the GIVEAWAY fun begin!!!

This Giveaway is now CLOSED!  

I'll post the winners tomorrow night as it is after midnight now so I'm off to bed!

Well, it is twenty minutes to midnight here in Brisbane, Australia, so by the time I finish this post and upload a photo it will probably be 4 February.  

So....... (drum roll please), It gives me great pleasure to declare that the Purple Paisley Patch contribution to Katy's Great International Stash Busting Giveaway is now up for grabs!

This giveaway will be open until midnight on 6 February, so that should give everyone enough time to get an entry in.

The fabric below is up for grabs, together with what other odds and ends I find to add to the parcel.

To enter, just comment on this post, but make it interesting for me by telling me something about yourself.  Tell me anything you like, it might be your favourite quilt block, favourite fabric designer, favourite colour, how many and what type of pets you have, favourite book, favourite movie, something about yourself that you think is interesting - whatever you like!  Please make sure I can get in touch with you if you are the lucky winner.

When the clock strikes midnight on 5 February the Giveaway will be closed and I will draw a winner when I crawl out of bed on 6 February.  I'm hoping to do this using the random number generator thingy that I've heard about, but failing that, numbers will go in a hat (or some sort of container) and I will referee a fight between my two children to see who gets to draw the number out.  Of course, then I will have to have another giveaway in the near future so the other child gets to draw a number out of the hat.  Not that they are at all competitive!!!! LOL

All right, enough of my rambling, it is almost midnight!  Don't forget to go to Katy's blog to see who else is taking part in the Giveaway.

GOOD LUCK!

Sunday Stash

Welcome to my Sunday Stash Premiere!

For my first showing I've decided to share a lovely collection of thirties prints that I had been eyeing off for well over a year at my local quilting shop - The Quilters Corner (Keperra, Qld).  I kept saying "one day".  

Finally I took the plunge and bought this lovely set of 18 FQs.  

Don't forget to check back here on Wednesday, 4 February to take part in The Great International Stash Busting Giveaway.  I (along with many other bloggers) will be giving away some lovely goodies - but there is no chance I'm giving away these thirties prints! :-)

WIP - Quilts for Jelly-Bean and Sweet-Pea

I have two minkee baby quilts on the go atm.  One is up to the quilting stage, and the other is still being pieced.  They are for the adorable babies of two of my dearest girlfriends.  I actually bought the kit for the first one before my friend Katie was even pregnant (I knew she was trying)!  

This is the one that is ready to be quilted, but is now going to be for Em's baby as Katie had a boy so I bought some space-type fabrics to do up a second quilt for him.  

I'm determined to get both quilts completed in time for Jelly-Bean's and Sweet-Pea's first birthdays - March and April respectively.  Wish me luck!