Don't look now!

A weekend in Hettie's Patch!

But first the giveaway winners ...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

191	62	107	179	164



Timestamp: 2009-10-26 14:59:48 UTC

So these are the names that go with the numbers .....

Sylvia from Sylvia Stitch (62)

Jeannet from Serendipidy Designs (107)

Blogless Dianne left the 164th comment

Blogless Lyn Smith left the 179th comment

& Blogless Lisa left the 191st comment

Oh so frustrating ... so what to do about the other two parts of the giveaway? ..... I collected the emails that were sent to me telling me of their link to the ppost and pulled out ....

Cass from Cass's craft room who linked to the giveaway post. I will be sending Cass the Wish you were here cushion. Thanks Cass for going to the trouble of linking!

Likewise, I did the same for those who notified me of a pattern purchase and ......

Blogless Amanda who had bought both of the new patterns last week has now desided to also collect Oh Christmas Tree.

Both of these two extras winners will also recieve the 2 giveaway patterns. Thank you so very much everyone for joining in!

Now, as I was saying .... the weekend before that I spent in Adelaide really was a spectactular weekend! Lorraine together with her wonderful staff really put together a weekend with the lot for those who came along for the ride!

Back row (left to right); Sandra, Glenda, Andrea, Emma, Kris, Kate

Middle row(left to right): Leslie, Lorraine, Lorraine, Margaret, Dawn, Amanda, Debbie, Viv, Di

Front (left to right): Me, Gillian, Judith & Natalie

I desgned this little cushion top called Wish you were here to use as practice to get the raw edge technique right before jumping headlong into the class project which of course was Willow.

Each of the girls recieved a Goodies bag....

.... & a spectacular name badge .... (eat your heart out Linda & Sue!!!!!) .... these were all expertly made by Leanne ... she has also kindly put together a tutorial so that you can make your very own!!!!!

Thank you so much guys for a brilliant time and for working so hard! You all achieved a great deal!! Make sure you pop around and visit all of the girls blogs to see their finished projects and their works in progress! ...and guys don't forget to add your pictures to the Flickr album!

This amazing quilt top is being lovingly put together BY HAND!!!!!!! The most beautiful Karen, who played 'runner' for the Hettie's Patch weekend, is finishing the edges of her version of Meg's Garden using a blanket stitch!

... an amazing effort and absolutely beautiful work. You are my hero Karen!!!

I also have another version of Meg's garden to show you all ...

 
... this quilt was made by Roma, who attended the Ballarat Patchwork class earlier in  the year! I love this quilt with my favorite coloured background! The class project Sweet Little Garden pillow is also sitting there on the bed! Well done Roma!

Jacob's Coat Quilt Along ...

Thank you to everyone for bearing with me and filling out the Mr Linky thingy ... you have saved me hours and hours of work!!!! At the time of posting this entry there were 164 people signed up! I also appreciate everyones understanding regarding the incorrect naming of the Floriani stabliser!

I have had a few questions that I am sure there are more than a hand full of you wondering about ... so I have started a Frequently Asked Questions page - there is a link to this page on the main quilt along page ... hopefully Typepad doesn't have a limit on pages!!! I have also included an option for those of you, and there are a LOT of you, that want to join in and don't have a blog.

*****************************************************************

This year Homespun has run a spectular block of the month program that I am sure you will all be famillar with. THis quilt has been donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to raise much needed funds for this amazing organisation. Please take a peek at the Homespun Blog to see how you can also help. Homespun will be running another block of the month program next year ... I have a block that is going to be included ... I can't wait to see how the quilt looks as I am among some pretty amazing designers!!

OK I'm off to bed as I have managed to pick up a bug that is making me feel totally crap ... but I will be back on Sunday with the first tutorial for the Quilt Along!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Kellie

PS. Thanks to all of you who attended the workshop who allowed me to use your photos in this post! Much appreciated guys!

Teeth in ... teeth out ... and lots of other stuff too!

I have had the most wonderful week ... dear Anna who won the Lilly Pilly quilt has just delighted me time and time again with the most wonderful emails this past week ,,, I get the feeling that she is generally quite pleased with her win! I have enjoyed it so much that I would actually highly recommend that you go right now and make something ... anything and gift it to Anna you wont regret it I promise!

I also found my ... oops ... Anna's quilt over here this past week ... thank you guys! And here too!

Apart from all of this excitement we have also had some excitement in our house ... little people generated excitement that is so delicious that it is contagious!!!

Our Benjamin lost his first top tooth ....

...now he looks like a dero!!! Apparently, according to Megan, there is a rumour going around the playground at school that the Tooth Fairy isn't actually real ... apparently some of Megan's friends think that it is actually their Mums and Dads who take the teeth and leave the money .... my little people thought that they would test this theory and hide Ben's tooth ... the hypothesis being that if the tooth wasn't gone and no money was left then it would definitely be the the parents as the Tooth Fairy would obviously know where the tooth was, even when it was hidden! Luckily our Tooth Fairy is a Super Sleuth!!!! Ben's tooth was gone in the morning and his nett worth was increased by $5!

Little Miss sweetie-pie Jessica ... is yet to loose a tooth. Poor Jessie has sat by and watched as her twin brother has lost 5 teeth and has added to his money box time and time again. Not even a hint of a loose tooth I'm afraid ... no instead Jessie has decided to do things a little different to the normal population ...

...she has decided to keep her baby teeth .... puts a whole new slant on hoarding doesn't it????

So other than these things what have I been doing? I have finished my little project that I showed you a peek of last week ...

This is Willow!

Willow is the project that we will be working on over here next month! I have bigger plans for Willow ... but you will need to wait a little bit for more on that. By the way Lorraine ... Joshua would like to know who Hettie is?

I also finished a little pillow ... a variation on Just for me ... from Pretty 'n Pink.

Poor Kitty has been waiting on this one for way too long now! It will be in the post on Monday Kitty!

I met a terrific group of girls on Thursday for day one of my second Patchwork House workshop.

 I thoroughly enjoyed the day! I am really having fun with the workshops! 

Now that I am doing things that finish past school pick up time the kids have have had to go to After School Care a few times ... they have been mostly very excited about this and have even asked if they could go on days when I'm home!!! However I think that the novelty has worn off for my Miss Jessie as she packed up, collected her backpack, donned her hat and sat waiting for me 1/2 an hour before I collected them this week ... mmm nothing like a little Mummy guilt!

And just to reek havoc with my girl's psyche I have taken on new teaching dates at Patchwork House for term one next year ...which will be on the 11th & the 25th of Feburary. The waiting list is almost big enough to fill the class so if you are interested make sure you give Kylie a ring! Garden Party, Love Birds & My Sweetheart are visiting Patchwork Hose for the next couple of weeks if you would like to take a peek and do some shopping at the same time :)!

I am also going to be visiting the Sunshine Coast in March of next year for a two day workshop at Patchwork Angel. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! If you are interested in coming along then please give Penny a ring! Also if you find yourself at the Patchwork Angel over the next month you will find Meg's Garden & Oh Christmas Tree visiting the store ...

  

... make sure you say hello!

Peggy& Bev's Place in Emerald which is in central Queensland, 3 hours west of Rockhampton have now started selling my patterns in their shop. They have a terrific blog so make sure you take a peek ... looks like lots of fun way out there in the middle of no where! If you happen to be reading this after purchasing a pattern at Peggy's & Bev's place make sure you be the first one to let me know and I will send you a free pattern.

 

Last but by all means not least I can now tell you all that Anina over at Twiddletails is now stocking my patterns!!! Wooo Hoooo!!! So there you go ... all of you US peeps that have asked so many times if I have a retailer in the US ... well yes I do!!!! Go now and get yourself one  ... and then pop back here and be the first one to tell me that you have bought a Don't look Now!pattern from Twiddletails and I will send you one of the giveaway pillow patterns ... you will need proof of purchase! 

There has been lots of finished projects added to the Flickr group since it started a couple of weeks ago so make sure you take a peek! Thank you everyone who has joined in I am really loving seeing your creations!

So that's it ... I now only have 6 days to finish off the space suits and build a space shuttle ... may the force be with me ... or should that be live long and prosper or ... maybe make it so number one! Or should I be looking for some help from the Ancients this week? ...Oh God someone stop me!!!!

Have a great week guys!

Kellie

PS. Before you all go ... I was asked on Thursday to sign a copy of one of my patterns and a copy of the Homespun Magazine that featured Love Birds... and I had no clever little quip to add to my scribble. Apparently there are other designers that have very clever little ditties that they add when they sign their patterns. Help me out guys because I have now totally over thought this and I have NOTHING! Whoever comes up with an original, catchy, relevant, short comment for my to use in these situations will not only get my eternal gratitude and a big cyber hug ... but I will also send them the very first copy of Lilly Pilly once it is released next month!!! You've got until I next post ... so no pressure! :)

Winners, Book Week & new beginings ....

The response to the giveaway was fantastic! Thank you all for getting involved and particularly to those of you that took the time to post about & link to the giveaway. My emails have run hot this past week!!! Once I had deleted the few double up comments & included all of the extra entries, there were a total of 783 entries.

I am so pleased that you all like the quilt ... as I have said, I just love it! With every comment I received telling me how crazy I was to be giving it away the more I thought ... what the hell am I doing?? And you know it looks pretty good hanging in my family room ... but I made this quilt with the intention of giving it away ... and I am happy to be doing so as you all have given me so much encouragement over the last year and a half that I am happy to be giving something back!! Some of you who know me will understand when I say that this little place here in cyber space has been a healthy distraction during what has been a very difficult time for me and my family. 

So who won my Lilly Pilly ...

I am very pleased to say that my quilt is going to live with Anna from Thimbleanna ...

... who actually won a pattern last post as well ... no better a home could Miss Jessie have picked out! Anna has commented on most everyone of my posts since she found me over a year ago. She always has an enthusiastic, encouraging ... and often hilarious comment to share with me. Thank you Anna you are a sweetheart! 

The 10 winners that will receive a copy of the How Does Your Garden Grow pattern are ....

Anna from Quilt Mom's Journey

Blogless Michele

Lynn from Soukies

Patricia from Con Aguja de Plata

Blogless Marie Leduc

and ....

Blogless Barb

Blogless Adrianne

Blogless Jennifer

Blogless Kylie

Blogless Jemima ... I am pretty sure you have a copy of this pattern Jemima so I would be more than happy to send you Love Grows Free if you would like it ... just let me know :)

 

The winners of the Love Grows Free pattern are;

Vicki from Tozzs Corner ... Vicki won with one of her extra entries because she blogged about & linked to the giveaway

My dear sweet friend Andi from Patch Andi 

Blogless Chiss Jasper

Vreni from Oops La

Blogless Wendylou

The blogless certainly did well this time round!!

Congratulations everyone! Thank you all again for taking part! For those of you who asked ... yes Lilly Pilly will be released as a pattern ... probably in October ... I hope!

This past week has been a busy one ... not only with sorting giveaway entries! Last Thursday the little people celebrated book week at school with the annual parade which meant crazed late night costume creating ...

 

Benjamin went as Tashi from the spectacular Tashi series.

Miss Jessie went as Angela Throgmorton who is eternal mother figure to the very naughty Old Tom from the hilarious Old Tom series

and of course Miss Megan went as Meg from the classic Meg & Mog picture books

I made a start on a new small project ...

... that may well become a big project ... but more on that later.

Patchwork Collections a lovely shop in Healesville, here in Victoria, have started stocking my patterns. We are also planning classes for next year ... more on that once the dates are confirmed. 

Several other packages of my patterns are also winging their way to some new retailers ... I am very excited about this because my first US retailer is among them!!!! Woo Hooo!!! I will let you know the details once they arrive!

This coming week I'm off to Hawthorn on Thursday for my second Patchwork House workshop but other than this there is going to be some serious birthday party preparations going on!!! 

That's it for me tonight ... I'm off to make a start on 6 astronaut costumes ... and a space shuttle ...

Oh and I almost forgot ... thank you to everyone who has joined the Don't Look Now! Flickr group! Make sure you take a peak there are some really great projects to look at!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

Kellie 

PS. Last post I neglected to add that this elusive woman in the red gloves is Lisa ... Lisa has been practicing heaps since the class at Ballarat Patchwork and she tells me that her raw edge is looking pretty good! Send us some pictures Lisa!!!! Sorry for missing you out last post!!!

 

Life's a circus ... and a celebration!

We finally celebrated Ben's 7th birthday on Sunday ... and what a whole lot of exciting fun it was too!

We took Ben and a few of his best friends to the Circus!

There were loads of amazing magic tricks, stacks of scantily clad women who appeared and disappeared from various different boxes,  jaw dropping acrobatic feats, a woman who managed to balance on a over-sized disco ball while dancing with more hula hoops than I have seen in my entire life time and three totally loony motor bike riders that all rode around together, at great speed, in a metal sphere!!!!!  

... and then we had cake!

Happy 7th birthday ... yet again my sweet boy!

While I'm reflecting upon late celebrations there is one more that needs to be addressed ... that elusive 100th post celebration that I have been putting off for the past 7 posts ...

I finally put on my skates and finished my new tree quilt ... that I have called Lilly Pilly.

I just love this quilt ... it has turned out even better than I had hoped that it would ... sorry about the photos it is a little gloomy here today and I didn't want to wait any longer!

One person who leaves a comment to this post will get to take this quilt home with them ... but there is one catch ... if you want to play along you will have to agree to wait a little while before it comes to live with you as I need to have it to display on my stand at the Australian Quilt Market in November of this year....

So do you want to play along ... are you prepared to wait to collect the quilt? Cool!

To enter the giveaway you must leave a comment on this post between now and midnight Australian EST on 2nd of September. As always there are a couple of extra ways that you can rack up extra entries ...

• if you purchased one of my last batch of patterns during the preorder period you will receive an extra 10 entries (please note preorder in your comment)

if you link to this giveaway in a post on your blog then you will collect an extra 3
entries ... if you do this please let me know by emailing me here and noting Giveaway Link in the subject field.

If you have included a picture of something that you have made using one of my patterns on the Don't Look Now - your take on my designs Flickr group page (more on this a little later in this post) then you will rack up an extra 5 entries - let me know by emailing me here and noting Flickr Picture in the subject field. (this includes pictures from my old album that still lives in my side bar - if one of these pictures are yours that I have already downloaded into Flickr please make sure you email me and let me know because I have a feeling that collating these entries is going to be a headache!)

As promised if you have left a comment on any of my last 8 posts and you win the quilt you will receive an extra little something ... these posts have now had the the comments closed during this giveaway period to make sure that the regular commenter's aren't disadvantaged.

In addition to this ... if you have purchased a pattern from me or any of the retailers who stock my patterns and you win the quilt you will also receive an extra little something. The pattern needs to be purchased before the end of this giveaway & you will need proof of purchase. 

Just a word of caution though ... if you happen to claim any of the extra entries and you aren't entitled to them then you wont be able to play along! Fair is fair! I will be checking!

In addition to the Lilly Pilly Quilt I will giveaway another 10 of the How does your garden grow patterns

and 5 of the new Love grows free patterns. 

Other than this bit of excitement I have a heap of other things to share with you all about the past weeks happenings ....

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon with the NOTY Quilters Guild last Saturday! I loved sharing my quilting experiences with such a receptive and friendly bunch of women! Thank you all so much for making me feel so welcome! Unfortunately I don't have any photos just yet of meeting but I will post them once I do.

This past Saturday I got up supper early ... early for a Saturday that is ... packed the Bernina in into the Mazada and zoom zoom zoomed ...

across Victoria to Ballarat Patchwork... 

... to teach 6 keen women some of my techniques.

 

Poor Pam soldered on despite ill health and did incredibly well considering she could hardly breathe! Have you checked your stash Pam to make sure I didn't make off with piece of fabric you have there!

 

This is Keri and she is a Sewing Machineaholic ... I wont tell you how many sewing machines she has at home just in case I get it wrong ... I wouldn't be surprised if she bought another one on the way home from the class ... no only kidding ... you know I'm just jealous! Keri also picked up the technique incredibly quickly and hopefully you all will get to admire her version of Oh Christmas Tree on the Flickr page very soon! 

Katrina is the most delightful girl who sells hand made clothing among other things at local markets. She hadn't done any quilting to speak of before the class ... and although she wouldn't admit to it, she worked really hard at getting the hang of this skill and did some fantastic work!

Roma, who is a seasoned quilter and is accomplished at hand applique, took to raw edge like a duck to water!! I am really looking forward to seeing your version of Rainbow Lollipops & Garden Party Roma!!

And for some reason or another, Yvonne you managed to escape the focus of my lens ... I'm so sorry! Please send me a picture Yvonne so that I can share your project with everyone! But for now my sample will sit where your work should be!

 

Thank you so much guys for a lovely day! It was great to get to know you all and to meet some people who found me through other sources other than my blog!

Ballarat Patchwork are also now stocking my patterns if you are over that way make sure you drop in ... it is well worth the trip ... once you peek inside you will understand why I drool over this shop! Just in case you are looking for the Hankie Linen that I use alot in my projects they keep a good range of the colours in stock. They also have a great on-line shop as well for those of  you that a just too far away to drop in.

.. that's my fabric Emma's cutting up! Oh and by the way Jodie I'm still more than a little bit pissed that I didn't get to see you!!!

Creative Quilting a UK based shop in Surrey in the UK has also just started stocking my patterns this past week! Make sure you pop in if you happen to be in the area ... and don't forget to say I sent you!!!! They also have a beautiful on line shop!

As always with new retailers if you happen to be the first person to contact me after purchasing one of my patterns from either Ballarat Patchwork or Creative Quilting then I will send you out a copy of either How does your garden grow or the Love Grows Free pattern ... your choice :)

I also received a lovely comment on my last post from Sarah from Sewn & The last piece on Saturday morning...

Hey Kelly - NOT entering the competition, just letting you know that I am at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, and what did I see today? A stand selling your patterns, with samples made up looking very nice, and lots of ladies poring over the selection! Most exciting for Don't Look Now!

Posted by: Sarah | August 22, 2009 at 03:48 AM

     

... the stand belonged to Dungarees & Daisies you made my day Sarah! Thank you so much for letting me know! I have asked Jen to send me some pictures of her stand to share with you ... apparently she had Kaffe admiring her samples!!!!!

Finally the giveaway winners from my last post ...

Marie Joze from Handmade by Mai left the 5th comment ... Mai has just finished some very nice bags and she is a Bernina girl so well worth a peek ... Mai also won some of my pattern a few weeks ago after leaving my 3000th comment!

Anna from Thimbleanna who left the 8th comment .... I owe you more than a pattern Miss Anna!!! If you don't know Anna then really you can't be a serious blogger! Go take a peak at the life of Anna ... I dream of being Anna's sister, or her daughter or daughter-in-law or even her cat!

Blogless Leanne who left the 63rd comment ....

Mary from Mary on Lake Pulaski left the 75th ... Mary must be on a winning streak as she just won one of Melly & Me Bon Bon bag patterns ... very nice bag Mary!!!!

Lora Lynn from My Art, My so called Life who left the 78th comment ... happy Wedding Anniversary Lora!!!

Larissa from Flutter By Corner left the 80th comment .. Larissa has been working on her free motion stitching skills and things are looking great over her way ... but if you scroll down the page you will see why you must remember to remove your safety pins!!! Close one Larissa!

The gorgeous Sandy Gray from The Silver Thimble left the 95th comment ... Sandy stocks my patterns and is now an expert at inserting zips with a flap!!!

Last but not least blogless Julie Anne who left the 117th comment.

Congrats guys! I will send out each of you a copy of the How does your garden grow pattern as soon as I have your snail mail details.


One more 'final' cool thing from my last post, that I just realised, is that blogless Tammy Spencer left my 4000th comment ... I will send Tammy both of the giveaway patterns to celebrate! Thanks Tammy and to all of you for taking the time visit & to leave a comment! I very much appreciate it!!

Enjoy your week and good luck with the belated 100th post giveaway!
Kellie

PS. Remember I mentioned the Don't Look Now Flickr group page earlier on .... well it is up and running. I have transferred all of the photos from the old album in my side bar to the group page. Make sure you take a peek and make sure you goin the group! If you leave some photos please make sure you let us know which pattern or tutorial you used and any other information you might like to share - such as the fabrics you used, quilting pattern etc. I hope that this place will become a source of great inspiration for us all!

****Edit September 3 ... just after midnight ,,, thank you all for entering this giveaway! What an amazing responce! I am so thilled that you like this quilt as much as I do. The giveaway is now closed & I have closed the comments for now. I am going to need a day or so to sort out all of the entries ... so see you back here Friday or Saturday. Kellie ****