Super-duper sized catch up post !!

I was horrified when I saw the date of the previous post !
Very neglectful of me. So, in no particular order , a glimpse of what I have been distracted with for the last 4 weeks.
A birthday party for Emily, 45 people at our house on a cold, miserable day.
We had the usual party food fair plus games. I made a piniata.Which held together really well. Too well. Note to self..next time use less packaging tape LOL...I think Arny Schwarzenneger would have had a hard time busting it open !
We took some fairy cakes to share as her birthday cake at pre-school. All gobbled up rather quickly...3- 4 yr olds are apparently ravenous by morning tea time when they have been climbing , running and chasing !
Emily is putting the candle in her playdo cake...you know..the one they have at child care and pre-schools to "blow out "the candle...so they don't spit all over the cake that is to be shared !

I was lucky enough to win a few giveaways happening in blog land..and "meet"some lovely crafty types along the way!
These toasty warm, knitted/felted wrist warmers from Miss Muggins , love the wrapping !


and this stunning quilted pillow pattern from Kellie at don't look now.
I was in the newsagent this morning and spotted the latest issue of Australian Homespun..and there was Kellie's gorgeous quilt on the front cover ! She is one talented lady !
We had a trip to my Dad's orchard...Emily follows him around like a puppy dog, chatting incessantly ( NO idea where she inherited that trait from ! ).
She helped Pop in the packing shed...and found a few apples to bring home !
Blake enjoyed riding the motorbike and tractor , then whining all the way home about how hard done by he is , having to live in the city ."why can't I live on a farm ? "
Geez...give me strength !!

Then there's the stitching projects...Amy from Seven Stitches...all the way over the ditch in NZ kindly organised a virtual quilting bee for Aussie and NZ participants,and she called it what else but the ANZAC quilting bee.
Here is the fabric she has sent .Plus her lovely Gee's Bend postcard ! Very Amish inspired colours. We are to construct 2 x 12.5 " blocks using string piecing. I plan on sitting down tonight to complete mine , but Nova was on a mission and had her's finished in record time ! And they look great.

This is my piece for The Quilt Project. With a little extra added !

A big thankyou to Kirsty at kootoyou , for organising this group. I can't wait to see the final result. I must admit I procrastinated so long over my design but I was happy with the final result. I haven't done much stitching before, other than blanket stitch for applique, so the craftmanship may be lacking..do not look too closely !
Do pop over to the flickr group , make sure you see this particular piece..totally inspiring !

This mumma can't do much without her little helper wanting to join in, so here is Emily working on her stitching...she really did quite well for her age..stitch spacing a tad uneven, but she concentrated SO hard on staying on the line !

Last but not least, I found this at my fave op-shop last week. A classic vintage print , the girl reminded me of Emily..had to grab it ..for a princely sum of $2. Yay !
x PJ x