That’s what friends are for…..

Can you believe it?  Nine finishes on Friday night!!?? 

Ok, they weren’t the trendiest or the most attractive finishes (and neither was the model….selfies are AWFUL aren’t they???), but they did draw the most attention on Saturday night…….

nine mop hats ready for our Relay for Life team…..and they were grabbed and worn by everyone!!!!   Here they are at about midnight, having the elastic threaded through the casings….

they look like giant pizza bases, don’t they???  Armed with the 9 hats and my huge pot of pea and ham soup, I toddled off to the Relay.

Why the hats??   Our team was called “Polly Put the Kettle On”…..figure out the theme for the relay this year yet????  Hmmmmm????…..our tent was appropriately decorated and we were the ‘official’ cappucino and hot chocolate tent, with all funds raised from sales going to the Cancer Fund

I lost count of how many cuppa’s I made but we were going practically all night so I imagine it was well over a couple of hundred.

Well I couldn’t really walk with MY knee, so I was designated……barista?!

Temperatures were cold on the damp grassy football field and by 5am it was 9 degrees….I really wish I had brought more warm clothes and quilts……but I did manage half an hour’s sleep and a couple of 10 minute shut-eyes.  Despite that, Sunday was a complete wipe out!!!!   Hubby says I snored the roof off!!!!  

I don’t snore!!!!!!! LOL 

Today was a perfect get together day for our Monday stitchery group…we started off at the Palmetum tea garden and blew the diet out the window!!!……

(My barista skills didn’t extend to New Zealand ferns!!!!..think I needed more lessons! )

before heading to one of the ladies’ houses for stitching…..I did some power stitching to work off some of those calories!!!! Nothing like the support of friends to motivate you!!!

I’m nearly finished Jenny’s “In an English Garden” stitchery….it’s so sweet, I’m loving it!

Hope you’re getting some time for stitching too!

sugary hugs xox :O)

Sugar crush…

Nooooo, not the game!!!

Winter in North Queensland signifies the start of the sugar crushing……known locally as ‘the crush’, it starts usually after the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, which is the first weekend in June, but this year it started a couple of weeks early.

Sugar is one of the major agricultural crops around where we live and much of our economy is fuelled by the ‘black snow’ or ash that falls during the canefires.  I do love the smell of cane burning and the sweet scent of sugar filling the air  (although the ash settling on the car, covering washing on the line, and every square inch of ground does get to me a bit by the end of the year!!!)   Still, I always look forward to the first fires of the season, and this year, it happened close to home early…. 

You can always tell when there’s a fire starting…..the loud crackle is a dead giveaway…….

They’re not very far away…..

…and start with a roar……

but within a few minutes, they dwindle away and are gone.

Sometimes, like this one, they’re at night…..but sometimes……in the early calm of morning…..

Why burn at all, you might ask?  Well, where we live, we are blessed with a natural aquifer that gives a plentiful supply of water…..no such thing as water restrictions here, although we pay for its use.  Sooooo, the cane is thick and also plentiful of green strappy leaves, so to ease wear on the machinery and to cut costs and for numerous other reasons, (such as vermin) they burn the ‘trash’ away prior to cutting.

And the cycle continues, year after year………what was once a thick crop has been cut and cleared to bare flat earth…..

…and the ground is levelled ready to be planted with a new crop

and the cycle continues……

Sugary sweet hugs xox  :O)

It comes in threes….

This morning I headed off to a Cancer Council “Biggest Morning Tea” fundraiser organised by a friend’s mum at a local church.  I love attending these events whenever I can… you see, as some of you know, I lost my Mum to cancer 24 years ago, my father had bowel cancer and has survived, one of my brothers, melanoma and another, testicular cancer…..both survivors, due to the amazing work and commitment of everyday people who raise funds for those who have the skills and knowledge to research a cure for this dreaded disease. Only two of us have remained cancer-free and we’re very conscious of regular testing, that’s for sure.

I always swore, after Mum passed, that I’d do everything in my power to help out, but as time went on, and life took over, I didn’t quite get there.  This past year a very, very dear and special friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and this was the push I needed to get involved again.

It was an amazing morning, with yummy foods and a gorgeous vintage fashion parade and lots of raffles, of which I was the lucky winner of one…….icing on the cake really…….this amazing oil painting is now mine

I think it needs a good damping down and stretching over a frame but it’s amazing….the colours are so bold, honestly….the photo doesn’t do it justice!

Tomorrow I’ll be making a pot of pea and ham soup to take down to the Relay for Life fundraiser over the weekend……the temperatures have really dropped here of a night-time so I can imagine we’ll be needing some warming up in the wee hours!!!! 

I’ve joined the local Cancer Council committee, so we’ll be looking at what else we can do to help!

On my way home, I dropped into the post office to pick up the mail and look what arrived…….

I won Natalie’s competition she held last week and look what goodies she sent me…..

In Nat’s words…..”gobsmackingly gorgeous”, and YES it is!!!!  But wait, there’s more……(heeheehee)

I also received a copy of her very first, and very new book, “Cotton Floss”   It’s just wonderful……and surprise surprise…..as I’m flicking through the pages, drooling all over them, what do I see??…….

One of my favourite quotemasters….Mr Feather……is in Natalie’s book too!

I’d never even heard of him before I ‘borrowed’ his saying for this wall hanging a month or so ago…..  

….is it coincidence?????     I wonder!  hee hee

Another yummy, squishy package arrived, the third in a run of yummy squishy-ness…

Perri from Stitches from the Bush bundled up this little parcel of goodness so that Jen and I could each start making Mrs Beasley’s sampler quilt next week!  I’m sure you could hear my squeals of delight from wherever you are!!!!  

But before I get too excited, I’m off to draw up a new design this afternoon……it’s been rattling around in my head for weeks now…….the time is right!

Hope you have lots of stitchy goodness around you today too

xox sugary hugs :O)

Times, they are a’changing

Today was a lovely day spent with good friends…….chatting, laughing, eating and just being together……the best of days!

Yep, Jen and Bloss came for a visit…….and we had a grand ol’ time….I had made some little pressies for Jen to take home….

…lavender infused pears…….that I made with instructions from Tilda herself…… because pears and Tilda…..what could be better?

We never did get any stitching done, but we reviewed all our latest projects and as times, they are a’changing,  Jen offered to come and help me with a makeover……..have you noticed the gorgeous new dress they helped me choose???  I know I say red is my favourite colour, but it always followed my super-all-time-favourite…..cornflower blue!    Now I can dress in it every day!

Sugarlane Quilts is taking a backseat…..I’m now Sugarlane Designs…..I’ve been sneaking it in over the past month or so, on photos, just to see how it looks!!!  You see, behind the scenes, I’ve been designing some stitchy things and some are coming up in Patchwork and Stitching really soon……  I’ll still be releasing Dawn’s and my free ‘Seasons Of'” BOM and other little goodies, but there’ll be lots more new things happening too….keep watching to see it all unfold! 

I always thought I was a quilter, a patchworker, a lover of all things pretty….and I am, BUT when I really analysed what I did most…it was stitchery and stitching designs……funny how you evolve and don’t even notice it.  So watch me changing, firstly with my pretty new cornflower blue dress, and lots of new accessories will be added as the time is right!

I’ve got a few new designs just itching to come to life, but tonight,  I just needed some stitchy therapy with a good friend……..

 

Sugary sweet hugs xox :O)

A few new friends…

I was joined by a few new faces tonight…….

yep, three more additions to the Birthday-Love Stash!

You can welcome them at your house too…..or friends of theirs, at least!  Visit Lisa Pay HERE…….she’s sure to introduce you! *wink*

Sugary hugs xox :O)

Some winter fun and block 6 ‘Seasons Of’ Freebie

Yesterday was a miserable day, weather wise, dull and overcast, but what a perfect day for stitching!!!! 

I got some well-needed catch up time on my North Pole Quilt-a-long blocks…

I’m not caught up yet, but getting there!!

And some preparation work for catching up on my framed hexies…

These should keep me busy, snuggling in front of the tv at night!

And I drew up this gorgeous design by my beautiful friend, Jen…..

…it’s in her latest e-mag, Elefantz Home.  You can get your own copy HERE….such a pretty garden…..can’t wait to stitch it!

And, seeing as today is the 10th, today is the day for the next block in our free Block of the month ‘Seasons Of’….’

In Australia, June signifies the beginning of winter, and already the snow is falling on our southern mountaintops, so Dawn had designed this gorgeous snowflake stitchery for you to stitch.

You can download your copy over on the sidebar, and any of the previous month’s blocks, or click on the link HERE.  I’ve seen a few of these around Blogland already, as some of the girls from the Sew It’s Finished blog have made some wonderful things from them. I’d love to see yours when you stitch them out.  Send me a photo and I’ll post a picture on my blog….I’d be as proud as Punch!

There’s still a little bit of time left to our long Queen’s Birthday weekend, so I’m off to the sewing room to finish off some more!!!  Hope you’re fitting in some stitching today too!

Sugary hugs xox :O)