See You In 2 Weeks!!!

I'm off to Orlando to check out what Mickey Mouse and his mates are up to. See you in a couple of weeks!!!

I'll leave you with a pic of when we were there last...when little Miss G was almost 5. Bless her. Look at that face! What a ridiculous grin.

Whilst I'm away, and you will no doubt be missing me - why not sign up to a couple of FQ swaps?

Head over to  Darci's and Kelly's and get signed up (be quick - Darci's closes today).

PLUS Trash is having a raffle for the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Go and donate pennies (minimum of $5) for a chance to win all sorts of super duper goodies.Go on, what are you waiting for? Get yourselves off!!!

Ha. Gotcha

The zig zags thought they could phase me, they thought I could be broken easily. Not so easily, Mister. This Monkey is one tough cookie (actually, I'm not, I'm a complete wuss...but work with me, ok?)

But in the future when I try something I will not enter into it thinking 'oh that's sooooooo easy'. Because then things get complicated and you mess up. A lesson to be learned, kids - use your brain, don't think you can sew a zig zag block whilst singing loudly, the unpicker and you will become incredibly closely acquainted.


So that's the blocks done for Tine. Nice work, if I do say so myself.


And another little accomplishment of the week is this doll quilt I have made for a swap with Anita (who has 2 flipping great massive zig zag quilts on her blog today - don't look at them, it will make you realise my little 15.5 inch block is quite amateur).

I heart Liberty. Indeed, and so does she.





Ok, back to the machine. I have one more doll quilt to finish and mail before I go away on Thursday. I started it, I got it almost done, I hated it. So back to the drawing board and some late night sewing for me tonight, I think.

Zig Zags Hurt My Head

Tam suggested I do a zig zag block for the fabrics I had shown for Sunday Stash yesterday. 'That's nice and easy' I thought. 'I'll nail that in a matter of minutes'. Pah. Not so fast, Missus Monkey. Getting all ahead of yourself, aren't you?

So I have started the pesky zigzag block, I am 3 rows down, 1 row to do, but I have sewn the rows on the wrong way each and every time, unpicked them, sworn at the little buggers and sewn them on the right way round. I had plans to make a whole zig zag quilt. Maybe not. Or maybe when I am not feeling so tired. Ginger has impetigo (nice) so he's off nursery and playing alongside me. Which is lovely...but Mr Mammoth keeps creeping onto the sewing machine and making mammoth noises at me, and Mr Tiger thinks it's hilarious to sit on top of the thread spool whilst it moves round. *sigh*







But to cheer me up no end, the other block I made for Tine is a BIG success (so says me anyway) although blogger is being a cowpat and won't let me upload the pic I want of it. Plus, to make me extra especially happy, I am going on my holidays on Thursday for two whole weeks, to go and visit Mickey Mouse and his friends in Florida. whoo!!!! And when I get back I should have a nice new bathroom, and a freshly painted house.  Life doesn't get any better, does it?

Sunday Stash

8two8 February - for Tine
Originally uploaded by imagingermonkey

I bought these pinks and oranges for Tine as this month is her month in my 8two8 quilting bee. There are 8 friends, we make 2 blocks a month, for 8 months. My month was February...but everyone was so darn fast, we bumped the months up and now February is Tine's month too! I chose scrappy log cabins - and I've started to receive my blocks already, so I can't wait to get them sewn together and show you my finished quilt, which is to be used as a picnic blanket - should we ever get any Summery weather this year.

Tine has requested any blocks, but they have to be in pinks, oranges and white. I have almost finished one block off, in different fabrics, but these ones have stumped me completely. The block has to be 15.5 inches in size - that's one big block, lemme tell you. So what should I do with these? Any ideas?


Want to see more stashes? Head over to the beautiful Tam's blog and she'll hook you up with stashes galore.

drum roll please....

And the winner is....number 96. Which after discounting Kitty's comment as she has enough stash (apparently - although I am loathe to agree) and one from Diane who left two comments as she forgot to tell me something the first time ;) it's Claire from Dolly Dollop, who just so ever so weirdly comes from my neck of the woods originally. East Anglia. She probably used some of her East Anglian charm on the random number generator. Claire said;

In my house of boys I could make lots of things with Robots...but I'm thinking a patchworky(ish - with my ish talent :)) chair storage type bag so my dining table can be clear....or a floor cushion so bums don't get cold on my hideous playroom floor.
X

So my giveaway was not so international, after all. Claire, I'll be contacting you soon to find out where to send this parcel full of roboty fabrics. She is a deserved winner - Mum to 4 (yes - that's right FOUR) boys. Crikey. 

I am having another secret surprise giveaway for everyone who took part, and generously offered up gifts. Wanna know the winner for that one?

Ok. The list is alphabetical, and the random number generator picked.....

12

My camera battery died, and I couldn't figure out the screen grab thing on this darn computer, so heading back to the list I see that number 12 is.....

Debbe Sunshine

I need to go stalk you now to see what kinds of things you use, and I'll be contacting you for your address soon.

Whoo.

That was fun. But now I feel a bit like I do on Christmas day, after the presents have been unwrapped, the bin is overflowing, and it's still 365 days 'til the next time. 

Well, didn't we all have a lovely day?

Living proof that the world is teeny tiny. I had a wonderful time yesterday for the International Stashbusting Giveaway. I am totally wowed by the number of comments I got - 282, I had 2 pages worth!!! Thank you all for taking the time to visit the other blogs, leave lovely comments, and play along in my little exercise in reducing stashes around the globe.

So now for the winner...well, you have to wait until tomorrow. I need to keep the suspense going for a touch longer, sorry ;)

And the biggest thanks go out to every single blogger that took part in the giveaways, sharing your stashes, offering up some truly wonderful prizes. I am touched, I am honoured to have 'met' you all, and I hope to see you all again in the near future. Should we do this again? I think it's worth another round, don't you? Sometime later in the year, maybe?

So be back tomorrow for the winner. For now I have to decide whether to use the random number thingy or cut up 282 pieces of paper. Hmmm......decisions, decisions.

It's Giveaway Time!!!!

So, here we go. The Great International Stashbusting Giveaway begins.

Leave a comment on this post here for a chance to win a collection of 6 David Walker Robots FQs plus a co-ordinating Prints Charming stripes FQ and 3 metres of giant ric-rac. Just tell me what you want to use it for.

There are over 50 giveaways going on today, all over the world, so don't forget to visit every blog on the list up there in my sidebar, say hello and get your greasy paws on some new stuff!!!

Good luck, and have fun.

Phew. Comment are now closed - thank you so much for playing along!!!!

The Great International Stash Busting Giveaway

It's Tuesday over here in the UK, but in the lands down under (yes, Geography geniuses - Australia and New Zealand) it's almost Wednesday, which means it's almost time for the Great International Stash Busting Giveaway to begin!!!
I feel like I should be cutting a ribbon with a giant pair of scissors, but as I am seriously lacking in giant scissors I shall say this instead....

Are you ready? Are you steady? Then GO!

All of the blogs taking part are to your right. Just there, on my sidebar, right at the top. See them? There's a lot. That's a whole lot of countries. We have the UK, Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore (2 from Singapore in fact), Bulgaria (yes, that's Europe, but it sounds very exotic), Canada (they don't like to be lumped in with the Americans - and rightly so).

I am overwhelmed by the response and the generosity of the world of blog. I don't know why, I shouldn't be overwhelmed at all. I mean, we all know how great this little world of ours is, don't we?

So start clicking, go and visit the blogs you have never been to before, see what folks in other parts of the world are up to. And whilst you're at it, try and snag yourself some free stuff.

I will back in the morning with my own giveaway, I hope you like it, I hope you want to win it!

Have fun, everyone!

Sunday Stash and Happy Mail

This week's Sunday stash comes with compliments from others. Yep, it's a happy mailbox Sunday Stash post. Oooh, I like those best, I think.


First up a lovely parcel of my favourite fabrics (Liberty prints, of course, what else?!) from Sara (thank you, Sara, you're fab xxx) And do you know what else? She sent them to me for no other reason than she knows how much I love liberty, isn't that wonderful?




Next up my FQ swap parcels arrived (yes, I did have a couple of partners, I am a greedy little bugger)

This delicious set of goodies came all the way from a land down under, from Kylie. The animal print fabric is really really cute, I'm looking forward to using that one soon. And those little buttons are wonderful - so cute! Thank you Kylie, LOVE it!



And these beauties are from Heleen. Fabric from the room seven and oilily outlet shop (I dream of visiting that place!), frily trim, and a lovely heart from Heleen's shop. There were some chocolate hearts...they didn't last long enough to be photographed. Oops.




Summersadie had some pieces of Prints Charming left over from a project, and offered them to me as I am using the same prints in a quilt. Imagine my surprise when this huge pile (probably enough for a quilt itself) arrived. And some lovely pencils and all sent in a pretty bag too.




And finally, just to top off my love for the land of blog, and all things bloggy. Jodie, who doesn't have a blog but was part of the FQ swap sent me a little thank you for being host. How sweet is that? And how lovely is this trim?



Want to see more stash?

Go see Tam, she'll sort you out with your voyeuristic desires ;)


So the countdown for Wednesday begins. I have decided what the giveaway will be. I have the full list of players just there, on the right. It's going to be FUN!