***Words of Wisdom Wanted***

Okay so how many of you have teens living in your house? Well here's one teen that wants some tips on how she can keep her bedroom tidy. Bloghop your way to MissM's and leave some words of wisdom, who knows she may have a little surprise for someone.

Bits 'n Pieces

Mother's Cupboard is having a sale and a giveaway so get in quick for some bargains!

Big Thank-you to Jenny for picking me out in her giveaway, I won Tilda's Sew Christmas Homestyle Book. It's certainly bought a big smile to my face.

Edit: Nearly fogot to mention A Little Bird Told Me's 1 year Blogoversary and Giveaway so bloghop your way there and say gidday!

Update on DS, he's still home, he's now on his third round of antibiotics and trialling cortisone cream on his legs. His face seems to be getting better but his legs haven't improved much. If there's no improvement by Friday he'll refer him to a Dermatologist....I feel my purse getting lighter and lighter each day!

Incoming Mail and finishes

Some lovely surprises arrived in the snail mail this week. The first was a thank-you gift from Cathy, a gorgeous needlecase, a good sample of Whisperweft (not shown) and a box of Darrel-lea chocolates that didn't survive long enough for a photo. Thank-you Cathy!Second was from Karol-ann, a belated birthday gift, one can never have too many hanging hearts around the place and they're a lovely additon to my craft room. Thank-you Karol-ann.I've been very busy on the stitching front. These two samples are from "Christmas Truffles" by Helen Stubbings, if you're going to Houston Market keep an eye out for them on Helen's stall and if you're quick enough you might just be able to own these samples.They're quick and easy projects to whip up in time for Christmas.

I'm also busily working away on gifts for the Stitcher's Angel, Xmas Advent and Rainbow Swaps but no sneaky peaks just yet.

Also thank-you to everyone who left lovely comments about my DS, he's improving slowly, he hasn't returned to shool today with everyone else but he won't be far away.

Teenagers

I don't normally post about my family and what's happening but I had to share this with you, especially Mum's of young teens.

My DS, whose nearly 13 has been wearing long trousers through winter and hadn't told me about a sore on his leg, well after catching a glimpse I asked him about it and he didn't know how he got it, it looked like a graze and we thought nothing more of it.

Fast forward a week later and the sore had become a festering mess and not only that he had the same on his other leg too, he hadn't told me it was changing. A trip to our local doctor and a swab test soon revealled it was Golden Staph, big problem is it's gone rampant and is now affecting other areas and it's now moved to his face, arms and torso. His face has copped it pretty badly. He's now on his second round of antibiotics and creams and I'm hoping he can stop it from spreading and getting any worse. His only dissappointment is that he's on school holidays and has been quarantined to the house. School goes back on Monday and it's unlikely he'll be going for at least another week.

Here's a pic of his face, I won't show you his legs, they're not very pleasant!

So to all those Mum's of young teens, make sure you get your kids to tell you about any sores on their bodies and keep an eye on them, they can turn quickly into something much worse!

Colorque for the masses!

Guess whose DVD is out now with the latest issue of The Quilter's Companion....

......it's none other than my lovely friend Helen.

And doesn't she look gorgeous!!

Now if you want to learn how to Colourque, then this is the DVD for you so you better get out and grab yourself a copy!

P.S. If you look closely enough she's even wearing the button necklace I gave her for her birthday!

My Space

Today I thought I'd share with you my creative space, it's looking a little bit tidier than it usually does. I did some scrapbooking over the weekend and made a huge mess but that's all away now so I can get back to stitching.
It's a huge room and it's a bit cold in here during winter so I don't normally sit in here in the evenings but it's a great spot in summer as it stays at a pretty constant temperature.
One day the fake wood panelling will be replaced with lovely white painted walls.

Edit:
Now remember this little sneak peak I gave you, well pop over to Helen's and you can see the finished quilt in all it's glory. I stitched 6 of the circles and Helen did all the rest. I don't know how she manages to do everything she does, she's a pocket rocket! You also get a chance to name her second quilt, it's more beautiful than the picture depicts so make sure you check it out!

Keeping Up Appearances!

Since my last few posts were a bit pictureless I thought it was time to show you what I've been working on.

Firstly I've completed Helen's Quilt Aid Block

and I've done the stitchery for Natalie's

I've completed Gail Pan's Noel block

and here's my mystery quilt (still in pieces) from last Saturday's big Quilt In held by Helen and Miss M.

I'm lacking a bit of contrast in the bottom blocks but I don't care as the fabric is gorgeous! The fabric range is called "Blessings" by Moda. If you're looking for it then head over to Mother's Cupboard!

Happy Birthday to my Mum

I just want to wish my Mum a wonderful 70th Birthday!

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM***

Love you heaps

Jo xx

Another Free BOM

For those of you that love Free BOMs here's a lovely one that I've found, bloghop your way over to Val Laird's blog, she does some lovely work.

MissyMack's 100th Post

Bloghop you way over to MissyMack's blog and congratulate her for reaching 100 posts, you might just win a little something too! While your theck check out her free BOM too.

Mystery Marathon

What a huge day we had Saturday at the Quilt In arranged by Helen Stubbings and her daughter MissM for the World Youth Challenge. I must apologise as in all the rush to get myself packed in the car I forgot my camera. Helen did an amazing amount of work for the day and even had it available for onliners and shops to take part. Hopefully we'll see some pics pop up around soon from these two groups.

Cathy had come down from Launceston and stayed at my place, her poor DD was concerned that we might be axe murderers; a product of being told not to talk to stangers and be careful on the internet, you never know who you are talking to. Cathy and I had met before at other Quilting events so we sought of new each other well enough. We also met up with Fiona and Ange there too!

We had a choice of participating in either two of the Mystery Quilts or doing our own thing, a last minute decision and an email to my mate Fiona and I had the fabric to do the Traditional Quilt.

Well we cut and we stitched, ironed, chatted, ate, shopped, we cut some more, played some games, won some prizes and stitched more, ate even more and we still didn't manage to finish the quilt top in the 12 hours. I also had to spend time unpicking pieces due to a lack of concentration on my part...gggrrrr. I was totally knackered by the end of the day but it was worth every minute!

It was an awesome day, MissM and team did a fabulous job keeping our bellies full and I believe the proceeds from the day has made a sizeable dent in the $6K that she must raise to enable her to go to Namibia.

I plan to finish my quilt next weekend soI'll put a picture up when it's complete!

A Giveawy by Thea

If you love gorgeous prints and tablerunners then bloghop you way over to Thea's for a lovely giveaway.