Little Bunny Ears....

I have been sewing like crazy to get this quilt done for a magazine deadline. It's confidential but I can show you the offcuts...

Lots of little Ruby bunny ears..... there is more where they came from

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo



A family Christmas....

What a fabulous 5 days we have just spent with family.

We 5 headed to Collaroy to my Sister, Monique's, place for Christmas. There were cousins galore.

5 Boys waiting patiently for presents....

Ethan....

Oscar....

Archer....

Mum and Monique were surprised with a quilt each from me. Neither of them knew about it so it was fun to see them so excited when they unwrapped them.

Mum very excited about her new quilt.....

Monique LOVES her quilt soooo much....



All the boys were so excited. There was wrapping paper flying everywhere.

We had 29 for Christmas lunch. Monique and I were chef's extraordinaire.

 The lamb and pork were in the oven early, Elise & Ben cooked the ham and Ben & Chris brought the turkey. Vegetables were bountiful. Roasted potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, greens& carrots, all the homemade gravies and condiments. Then to top it all off I made the best pudding I have ever made. Teamed with ice-cream, custard, whipped cream or all of the above.

Our HUGE Christmas table...

Yummmm....

Even yummier.......

Oh Wow... were we all stuffed full....

There was so much laughter that the neighbours must have thought we were crazy.

It's so nice to spend time with our family. As the kids are getting older they are getting on fantastically. They all spent the day playing together, scooting & playing totem tennis. They are all really good kids.

Well that was our crazy Christmas, I hope yours was just as much fun as ours.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year...

Leanne xo

This Month....

 This month has been all go around here. Earthworks to tidy the place up and also for the pool. Although the pool has been a bit slow going due to the enormous amount of rain we have been having.

We went to a family reunion at my Aunty Judiths place. It was great to see all my Uncles & Aunties. Some of my cousins were there too. We promised to stay in contact from now on....

Uncle Brian in his train shed 

Oscar in Uncle Brians train shed. I used to come to the train shed when I was just a child. It is so much fun driving the model trains through the tiny towns....

 Archer playing trains too....

Time with our oldest friends. All the kids get on so great. We hadn't seen them for so long. Catching up is always full of laughing and doing crazy stuff. The "Dads" rigged up the dodgiest flying fox/zip line and sent the kids flying down it. Just call me when someone needs a ride to the hospital.... They had a ball...

My middle boy Oscar has just finished year 6 and is heading off to High School next year. When did THAT happen!!!!

Just before they finished up the Year 6 boys entered the Hunter / Newcastle Engineering Challenge. They had to design a mini catapult at school. On the day of the challenge they had to demonstrate the distance and accuracy of their mini catapult. In the overall point score the Mulbring Mangoes WON!!! We couldn't believe it. Out of 49 entries our little school with only 6 Year 6 boys won the day....

To celebrate the end of Year 6 their teacher organised to play laser tag. What a fantastic time they had. Look how grown up they all are.....

The only thing left was Presentation Day at school.

Oscar was presented with DUX of the school. That is the award of all awards. Boy are we very proud parents!!!!!

Congratulations Oscar!!

Amongst all the socialising I have also had to get the last of this years customer quilts out the door before xmas.

This is quite a big quilt. It was made by Lee for her son's 50th birthday. I custom quilted it. In the setting triangles I free- motioned a swag of gum leaves and the rest of the blocks were stippled. each border had a different continuous pattern in it.

Lee really loved it.... 



 This cute little guy is the last thing I need to finish before Xmas. It is for my nephew Remi. He absolutely love pirates. I am making it into a cushion for his room...

Now you can see why I've been slack with my blog. This time of year is just nuts. It's fun catching up with everyone and watching my kids achieve well at school. The Xmas break will be nice to relax for  a few days with the family....

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo



Crazy Busy....

It's all go around here at the moment. Paul has been preping the yard for our new pool, other earthworks to tidy the place up have been underway and then the rain arrived. OH what a mess. We are lucky that it dries out pretty quick.

On the sewing front it's been a bit slow this week. I have had a virus that causes extreme vertigo. I felt so dizzy, and I couldn't be upright for too long. It was horrible. It's getting better each day.

Before I got sick I had been working on samples for next years workshops that I am doing at the shop.

Here's a little taste of what I'll be doing.

These 2 blocks are part of an improv wonky sampler that I'm designing.



There is also a couple of quilts in the works for magazines that I would love to show you but unfortunatley you'll have to wait til they are published.

I should be back at the long arm tomorrow getting the last of the customer quilts out the door well before Chrissy.

I'm linking up at Freshly Pieced for Wip Wednesday...

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

She Loved the Quilt...

Yesterday was my niece, Charlottes, 16th birthday. I gave her the quilt I made for her and she was so excited. Apparently in the days leading up to her birthday she had mentioned to a few people that she was hoping for a quilt from her Aunty Leanne. You could say I made her wishes come true. She didn't even know I was making it!

Happy Birthday Char....

Love Aunty Leanne xo

Not much to talk about this week. I have just been getting stuff done. Above is the quilt for my Niece, it's quilted and just needs to be bound. I machine quilted it in a swirl pattern.

A close up of the quilting. This is a really fun and quick design to quilt. Of course it is easy for me quilting on Dudley the longarm....

The back of the quilt. It really shows up the swirl quilting. Purple is my Nieces favoutite colour, so this wideback was perfect for her.

This is a little something for my Mum for Xmas. It is made from Loulouthi by Anna Maria Horner. My Sister sent a bundle home to me so I could make this for Mum. It is actually already together but I haven't taken a photo yet. More of this to come soon....

I am linked up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced... go check it out...

Keepin' on Quiltin'

Leanne xo

Wot up! Wednesday......

I have been so slack with my blog. Sorry if you have been checking in to find the same old thing.

I have been really busy. So busy, in fact, that I have only had time to get on the computer to check & send emails.

I have been crazily machine quilting, writing patterns, doing samples, making a birthday quilt for my niece and setting my calender for classes/workshops next year.  Not to mention the start of Xmas shopping!!

Below is some photos of what I have been up to....

Jan's yummy little quilt that I machine quilted with the giant paisley....

Giant Paisley...

This bundle is going into a quilt for a magazine.....

A birthday quilt for my niece's 16th .... Quilt top done, now I have to quilt it...

Better get back to it. I am linking up over at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday...

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

Ruby & Some Feathers....

Look who's come to live at my house......

Ruby by Bonnie & Camille

I just love it soooo much. It's a perfect companion for Bliss....

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Today I have been doing some custom quilting. The quilt is another doilie quilt but this one has some great borders to do some pretty stitching in.

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There hasn't been much personal stitching going on but I do a little bit every chance I get, like when the dinner is cooking and I have 2 minutes. It's amazing how much you can get done with lots of 2 minute spurts. I am fortunate that I have my machine set up all the time so I can just jump on.

(oops, this photo is a bit blurry...)

These fabrics have been cut into 10 inch blocks to go into a quilt for my niece for her 16th birthday. I have had the fabric for her for 3 yrs so I thought I had better get it done before she can vote.... ha...

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I got the binding on this quilt. It is being raffled at the moment for a beautiful family that our Modern Quilt Guild has been doing some fundraising for. We are having a Sew-A-Thon on Sat Oct 29. It should be a great day with lots of prizes & games and also as much sewing you can fit into about 12 hrs. Maybe we should get a massage therapist to come along, some of us may need it by the end of the day.

Hope you are having fun  whatever you are up to..

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

So Busy.....

Soooo busy....

I have been machine quilting non stop for the last 2 weeks. It's not a bad thing and I love doing it but it's hard to be working at home and being able to see everything else that needs to be done.

Oh well, i guess the house work will be there no matter what... So on to what's important...

I have finished a quilt for my bed. It's really nice and Paul really likes it...

Sarah's quilt. It is massive and took 2 days to quilt. Although we did have a blackout at the end of the first day I was quilting so I didn't get as much done as I could have....

A nice all over leaf pattern....

The weekend saw Australia's favoutite car race, Bathurst, on the TV. Paul parked his butt on the couch for 2 days to watch it. This gave me time to catch up on some Farmers Wife blocks. I love doing them. I have heaps already cut out so I can just sit and sew them up when I get a chance...

Saturday was also Paul's birthday so I made his favourite, carrot cake, for him. It was so yummy!!!

I'm  busy but that's good.

I'm linked up over at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

A Helping Hand....(Machine Quilting)

The quilt I'm helping my friend with is almost done... It is all pieced, quilted and ready to bind. I can't show you the front but I have permission to show the back....

It's a great quilt, but you'll have to wait til March to see the front...

I love light quilting on a dark background. It looks really classy...

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo



Charity Quilt.....(Machine Quilting)

I have had a hugely busy week.... Most of it was spent custom quilting  the Guilds charity quilt.

I am so pleased with how it turned out. It was worth the extra day it took, I love it....

Feathered background and scrolls on the kaleidoscopes

The person who wins this is going to be very lucky.

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

Fun, Fabric & Friends......

Last Thurs I attended our monthly Central Coast Modern Quilt Guild meeting. We have been making a quilt to raffle for a very special little girl and her family. We are having a sew-a-thon on Oct Sat 29, to raise as much money as we can and the raffle will be drawn that day.

The quilt top is together and I am now custom quilting. It looks fab !!!

Kaleidoscope Quilt.....

Yummy Quilting.........

( just noticed in the photo that a bit of stitching is missing. Turns out the bobbin must have just run out. )

To continue the guild theme, on Saturday some of our guild members headed off up the Pacific Hwy on a bus trip to visit Belmont Patchwork Heart, round the lake to Patchwork By the Lake at Boolaroo and over the mountain range to Harrigans Pub in the vineyards for lunch. We had an absolutely fabulous day!!

Hand over that cash Jane.......

Rhonda, Josie, Yagoda & Jane enjoying a cuppa...........

A shopping frenzy.........

Beautiful new growth vines.......... 

Lunch was awesome..........

Last stop, the chocolate shop.............

I have also been real busy doing my good deed for the year helping out a friend. She has a special project due for a magazine that I have been helping with as she is unwell. Shhh, it's a secret. It wont be published til next March so you'll have to wait til then to see it. Feel better soon B :-)

I'm linked up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo