From my family to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and heres to a wonderful New Year!

Cheers and big hugs Paula

The year that was 2011

Wow What a Year!

Thats got to be the understatement of the century!

I have gone from being on a disability pension and in a wheelchair (I thought for the rest of my life) to starting my own business, having one last surgery and getting out of my chair, and then working a few days a week at an awesome fabric shop!

It not all been good though, I have had too many deaths in the family and many ups and downs in my marriage, but all in all, I think that this year has been one of my best ever!

I have 4 amazing children who make me smile everyday and a job/hobby that has gotten me through some tough times! I hope your year has been a good one and that the next is a winner for all of us!

Anyway, onto the show and tell. I have had a fantastic few days in my sewing room, I have made sooo many gorgeous gifts for my babys and just couldn't help but try a few on my baby girl.

 I fell in love with the Bubikini from Little Bird Designs and so I am making them for all 3 of my girls and my neice as well, sooo cute! Unfortunately I had run out of the polka dot fabric, so the ruffle on the top was a bit too thin, but still cute.

 Sorry about the flash, but this is one of my favourite pics of the year. My Hubby and Bubby watching telly last night, the only way it would be more realistic would be if Daddy has his bottle next to him too ;)

 Heres my baby boy, his favourite thing is to put a sock on his hand and put on a funny voice, the cheapest puppet you've ever seen tehe. It's funny how the Sit Me Up Donut has taken a major roll in our house this year. All the kids love it and somehow the insert just never stays in it, they love sitting in the middle or reading in it, or Emmas favourite new thing is doing Belly Flops onto it :)

 But a great way to finish the year is with, I think my best work yet! This one has been months in the making from tiny little sketches to a full single bed sized sensory quilt.

Tummy Time is my newest pattern and is heading to shops as I type (thanks to Pattern Press of course). Tummy Time recieved a huge reaction at the Australian Quilt Market and I'm just so proud of it.

 As most parents will know, we are encouraged to lay our babys on their Tummys for a little while each day so they can strengthen their necks. To make this more interesting for little ones, the 'Tummy Time' quilt has lots of different textures for them to play with.

Buttercup the Kitten has a faux fur chest and tail, Madeliene the Sheep is made from chenille. Mr Toucan has a flappy 3D wool felt tail. Ralphie the Elephant has suede feet and ears, as well as a flappy ear, Ted the turtle has metalic spots while Denis the Duck has a minky wing and a squeaky toy and finally Pickles the Puppy has a 3D tongue that is also crinkly.

I hope you like my newest pattern! Wow who would have thought on the 1st of Feb this year that by the end of the year I would have released 9 patterns!

The kids are screaming so I best go, but I hope that you have an amazing holiday season and whatever you do I hope you are safe and happy!

Hugs Paula xxx

AQM and a trip to Tocumwal

I have had a crazy few months! As well as working on a new pattern (pictures soon) I took a quick trip to Tocumwal to visit my dear old Dad. Dad has Leukemia and has had a tough few months with Chemo so we thought a visit with his girls would be the best medicine.

Heres Poppa with his best girl, my Molly.

 We had a great time in Toc, we went Koala spotting and got so close to them it was fantastic! Chloe also had a ball in Nannas garden, she loves picking flowers and putting them in her hair.

 Another reason for the trip was to head down to the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne.
I had a fantastic time even though I had no kids with me for the first time in 7 years, I missed them terribly! The Pattern Press Stand that Helen and Melissa set up was so fantastic! I had so much fun talking to everyone, new and old friends, a fantastic weekend!

Heres my section of the stand, almost all my samples made the trip and they looked fantastic I think.

 One of the highlights of the weekend was heading out for dinner on the Saturday night with some of my favourite designers. The cameras all got pulled out when it was desert time. Natalie Ross was there, a big fan of chocolate as you can see ;)

 Helen was a good girl and settled for a wafer from her daughters desert :)

 Melissa Grant and Gail Pan shared their chocolatey Orange yummyness.

And me, well I just had a Hot chocolate, so no pictures of that :)

After having trouble getting my car started tehe I finally got back to Tocumwal on Sunday night and remembered oops the girls had been invited to a birthday party for their new friend Alice. So I whipped up a cute little party dress for here from some of my favourite new fabric that I had scored at the AQM. The lovely designer is Tammie from 'Buddies Coirner'

The dress I sort of made up as I went along, but I got the bodice pattern from here.

 The Fabric has such a high thread count that I raw edge appliqued the flower without even using any fusible webbing... I'm in love with Tammies fabric, can you tell :)

Finally I decided, no more work and we had a great time, we went sight seeing and visited some more new friends on their property, they had this massive tree on their property, which takes about 12 people stretched with their arms out to reach around it!! My Dad is over 6 foot tall, so can you imagine how big this tree is!!

What a fantastic week we had! Hope you have a great one too!

Hugs Paula xxx

Winners

Oh dear, I have been feeling soooo guilty, It has been forever since I mentioned my new pattern giveaways and I haven't had 2 seconds to get organised to announce the winners.

I have finally drawn the winners though and congratulations go to:

rosewendy said...

I am a follower. I love the Kids sewing book. It looks bright and fun- a great way to interest young people.
wendyhatton(at)yahoo.com.au

Quiltin' Sandy said...

Hi Paula I am a follower. Your patterns are really lovely. :0

So Ladies send me an email and let me know which of my patterns you would like (You can choose from any of my patterns not just the new ones) and I will post them out ASAP.

I will hopefully find 5 minutes to get back here to fill you in on the excitement of the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne last weekend. OMG it was awesome!