Saturday 11 February 2023

Progress!

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a fabulous day. It’s a hot, humid & sunny day here on our ‘hill’, so I’m happily settled in under the ceiling fan, playing with ideas about how to make stitcheries into a finished “something” …

… and remembering why I usually just work with simple squares for my patchwork. 🤣😂 I’m not really a patchworker or a quilter … I’m a stitcher. 😜 I needed to play with coloured pencils & grid paper to get a better idea of what fabric to put where. I think I’ve got it worked out. 😜 

Remember the gum leaves I teased you with last time? Well … someone has been munching on them …


And since we heard one of our local grumpy male koalas grunting & roaring last night, I’m taking it as his unique approval of my design. 🤣 We’re so fortunate here on the edge of our forrest to have at least four or five koalas that visit our big eucalypt trees periodically … they seem to have a bit of a rotation around the area to allow the fresh leaves to regrow between their visits. 

And now it’s that time, when I boil the kettle & enjoy a cup of tea whilst watching the test cricket … the Aussies need all the help they can get cos the Indian team is trouncing them. 😜 Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Take care, stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling. Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS 



Sunday 29 January 2023

Exciting Plans & Sunday Stitching!

Hello, hello! How are you all doing today? I hope you’re enjoying a restful weekend. It’s a hot & humid day here on top of our ‘hill’ today … & while I like the heat, I’m not at all fond of the humidity. My Grandma used to call it ‘knickers-sticking’ weather. 🤣

So after some grown up chores, I’ve happily settled into our living room to do some planning, some design editing, some sketching & once I make myself a cuppa, I’ll pick up my needle to do some stitching. The year may only be a month old (YIKES! The year is already flying by! 😳) but there are some exciting things happening in 2023 for Tag Along Teddies that have got my stitching & designing motor humming. While I can’t tell you too much at the moment, I can share a sneaky-peeky of what I’m currently stitching …



… celebrating the forest/bush setting we call home. Stitching is almost done & then it’ll be time to play with fabrics … YUMMY! 😁🥰

Right now though, it’s time to boil the kettle, make myself a cup of lychee flavoured tea & stitch in front of a fave movie. My creative heart is happy! 🥰🥰 Wishing you all a fabulous week … hope it includes time doing whatever it is that makes YOUR creative heart do a Happy Dance. 😉 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS 

Sunday 15 January 2023

Baby Steps!

Do you sometimes find that when you’ve lost your sewing mojo for some reason, it’s really tough to get going again? I confess I’ve really struggled over the last year to get into a creative habit. Between crazy Covid, topsy-turvy grown up job conditions & extra grown up job workload, my brain has been a bit full. So I was excited over the Christmas/New Year break when I heard the whisper of my designing muse & got sketching with some new stitchery designs. Then came the many hours of editing my sketches in photoshop to smooth out the bumps & get the sketches to publishing standard. Fun Fact: I fully edit my stitchery designs BEFORE I start making the pattern sample so that I’m working with exactly what you will be working with when you purchase one of my patterns.

I printed out the designs … And then … the edited stitchery outlines sat on my dining table for a week or two. 😜 I would stop & look at them when passing by, but somehow couldn’t take that step to trace & get stitching. Then on Friday I spent the day with three of my creative tribe members, got a sneaky-peeky at the soon-to-be-released Tilda Range “Pie In The Sky”, received some encouragement … & a giant nudge! 🤣 … & yesterday …

… I traced off the stitcheries, chose some threads & after I finish a few house chores, I’m planning to stitch in front of a fave movie for a couple of hours. 😊 And THAT’S why we need our creative tribe around us! 😉 I know it’s probably still going to take a bit to fully rediscover my mojo, but I’ve taken the first step. What do you do to help kickstart your mojo when it goes AWOL? I’d love to hear some ideas. 

If you think some fabric admiring might help get YOUR mojo motor humming, pop across to The Quilter’s Angel website to get a sneaky-peeky at Pie In The Sky … OOOOHH! & there’s a fabulous pre-order offer on this yummy range, too. But if your hubby asks, it wasn’t me who told you! Tee! Hee! Hee! Enjoy your week! Take care, stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling! ☺️ Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS 

Sunday 8 January 2023

Another Year Of Possibilities!

Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳 I know we’re over a week into 2023, but I’m already running behind … story of my life! 🤣 How did you celebrate turning the calendar to a new year? Things at the Meares’ Madhouse were very low key, just the way we like it. 😜 

We don’t really do the resolutions thing, but we did finally start a home decor project we’d been planning for a while … we started tackling the Sleepout. You know how most people have a room in their house that’s a bit like a black hole? It’s the room that seems to magnetically attract all items that don’t really have a proper place, are awkward to store or are only used every five years or so & it’s usually complete chaos? Or is that just us?!? 🤣 Well, our black hole has been our sleepout … a portion of the wraparound verandah enclosed to create a narrow room. When we moved into this house eight & a half years ago, we said we’d make the sleepout into GB’s office … one day. 😜 Well, GB decided this Christmas/New Year break was the time. He disappeared in there for some time & after hearing thumping & bumping I decided to see what he was up to …

This is what the sitting room usually looks like … that door in the middle of the pic goes into the sleepout. What I discovered GB had been up to …


EEP! The sleepout threw up! 🤣😂 This mess enabled GB to paint the sleepout walls the same warm sage colour as the sitting room & we’re now slowly sorting through the flotsam & jetsam to either get rid of what’s no longer being used or finding proper storage for things we’re keeping. Having made the switch to reading on my iPad through kindle …


… I’m sorting through my book-books … I’m channeling my decluttering Mum & being quite ruthless … these boxes are all going to Lifeline. Good progress has been made, but there’s still a lot to sort. We really do have too much ‘stuff’. 🙄

And in between sorting books etc., I actually found my design mojo that has been AWOL for most of last year & began working on some new stitchery designs. Stay tuned! 😜 No actual stitching was done, though. However … I enjoyed blog hopping to collect the OPAM tallies for the last three months. There sure are some clever crafters out there! The monthly totals were:

OCTOBER - 103 FINISHES 

NOVEMBER - 37 FINISHES 

DECEMBER - 101 FINISHES 

2022 TOTAL - 979 FINISHES 

WOW! Well done to everyone who contributed to that impressive total. And well done, too, to those who made some good progress on some longer term projects. OPAM has always been about encouraging busy gals to take some time out of their crazy schedules to spend some time relaxing & creating, some ME time. Over the last 14 years of hosting OPAM, I have been blown away by the skills & creativity of the hundreds of crafters around the world who have joined the challenge to try to finish at least one project each month. I’ve also felt privileged to be allowed into your craft rooms & your lives as we’ve  ‘chatted’ through blogs & emails. It’s been especially wonderful to meet some of you in real life … & I look forward to continuing our cyber friendships even though this is the end of OPAM. Big thanks to my original co-host May-Britt & my longer-term co-host Sweet Peg. But without further ado, here are the last three random prize draw winners …




Congrats, gals! Send me an email & I’ll send you a PDF pattern prize to get your creative juices flowing for 2023. 😉 Again, thank you to everyone who has joined One Project A Month over the years … especially those of you who have been with me from the start. And even though I won’t be hosting OPAM anymore, I will still be popping in semi-regularly to share my stitching, designing & general craziness that is my life, so I hope you’ll keep ‘tagging along’ to visit me. 😉

But right now I think I hear the kettle calling my name, so I’m off to have a cup of tea & help the Aussies bowl out South Africa in the test cricket. I hope the first week of 2023 has treated you kindly & sets the pattern for your year. Stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling. 😊 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS 







Saturday 31 December 2022

Ring Out The Old!

Well … it has been quite a long time between posts! Life sure has a way of getting in the way of the best intentions, doesn’t it?! 😜 There has been so much going on here with grown up work, family commitments, end of year gatherings & Christmas stuff that I’m not even going to try to catch up. I’ll just say that GB & I are very much enjoying this week between Christmas & New Year at home … apart from a few family gatherings & emergency-work-call-outs. 🙄 GB has been brave & decided it’s time to tackle tidying our sleepout … it’s where everything without a proper place languishes before being sent to the tip. 😜 And I’ve picked up my designing pencil & paper for the first time in months. 😁 Not a bad way to see out what has been a challenging year. Here’s hoping it’s a sign of what will happen in 2023. 😉

For now, though, it’s time to give OPAMers their last ever reminder to update your sidebar lists & email me your December tallies. I’ll be doing three random prize draws for October, November & December to catch up. For now, it’s time for me to sign off for the last time in 2022 & make myself a cup of tea … you shouldn’t really be surprised that that’s my ptrferred New Year’s Eve tipple! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks for hanging in with my erratic posting … I’ll try to get back into a more regular routine next year. Wishing you all a safe & peaceful start to 2023. Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS 





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