A Successful Year at the Show

This si going to be a photo-heavy blog - just a warning!

This week was the local agricultural show for our region, which is a chance for the young amongst us to make themselves sick on junk food and show rides, and all that.  It's also a chance for people to show off their skills and talents - whether it's show dogs, cattle, horse riding, cooking, flower arranging, or hand crafts.  

This year was the first year my parents entered anything in the show - Dad in the woodworking section, and Mum in the patchwork.  They both took home prizes in their novice sections, which was very exciting.

 Mum's quilts received a few awards, including the Debbie Bell Memorial Award.  Dad's "Retired" clock received a first in its section, and the Tardis cupboard he made me received second in the furniture section.

I entered some of my cross stitch in a few different sections, and some of my photographs, and was very excited/happy/thrilled to win several prizes of my own.

My Once Upon A Time design took out first place!!

Most exciting of all was that my own design won first prize in the cross stitch section!  In fact, I took out 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Highly Commended!  There may not have been anyone else in the section, but that doesn't matter - I still kicked butt!

 Scarlett by John Clayton took second, and another of my designs, Geeky ABC took third.  Woodland Fairie by Mirabilla received a Highly Commended.  Go me!

I managed to get my pieces entered into a few different sections too to spread the love (and chances of winning!).  I entered this cushion in the "A piece for the Lounge Room".  I can't remember who the designer was - I stitched it back in 2005, however it was only this year that I asked Mum to turn it into a cushion for me.  

 Oh, and my biscornu took first in the pincushion section.

Oh, and the wall hanging that mum and I made took out third in the special challenge Anzac-themed category.

I don't have a better photo as Mum took the wall hanging
home to her place

This is the first year I entered my photos in the photography section of the show.  Of the 10 photos I entered, I received a first, two seconds, and three highly commendeds!  These were much more competitive sections (quite a large number of photos in each of the categories) so I was really really chuffed!

A closer view of my pics:

Well that's it for another year.  Time to start stitching for next year!

Happy Stitching

Gotta Stitch'em All - Pokemon memories and a new cross stitch pattern

Pokemon dominate a lot of my teenage memories, in particular family holidays.  Bare with me - there is a stitch-y point to this blog I promise.

When I was growing up, my father's family lived an 8 hour drive north of us, and my mother's family lived a solid 2 day drive (as in 10 hour days) south of us.  So any holiday involving visiting the family meant a lot of driving.  Flying wasn't an option to visit Dad's family (cattle station in the middle of nowhere), and with a family of 6 it would have been too expensive to fly to visit Mum's family.  So we drove.  We got good at driving.  In my memories we were pretty good travellers - it was just what we did on family holidays.  We learnt to entertain ourselves.  I tended to stitch, my three brothers tended to read or play Game Boys.

Family camping holiday 2004
Mum, Dad, Grandma, three brothers, and exchange student
from Japan

 The game of choice tended to be Pokemon.

In fact, I don't remember their Game Boys being used for anything else.

One particularly strong travelling Pokemon memory is in 2004 when we went on a four-week driving holiday around Central Australia.  Dad had fitted cigarette lighters in the back of the Landcruiser and the boys (my three brothers plus our exchange student from Japan) had adapters so they could run their Game Boys through the cigarette lighters and charge their Game Boy at the same time.  This did mean though that as soon as Dad turned off the car, the Game Boy would shut down.  The catch-cries of the camping trip quickly became:

Family camping holiday 2004
All 8 of us (I'm taking the photo) crammed into the car
Game Boys were down long enough to smile for the photo!

"Don't turn off the car, I haven't saved yet" and "I can't save, I'm in the middle of a battle".

"I'm in the middle of a battle" is still the catch-cry of our family, particularly when someone doesn't respond immediately!

At Uluru (Ayre's Rock) 2004

Although they are now all in their 20s (or almost - 2 months to go for the youngest), Pokemon is still a favoured game amongst my brothers and I.  My eldest brother recently loaded a version of Pokemon onto my iPad... not a lot else was accomplished for a good few weeks!

To celebrate this awesome, long-lived, much-loved game I have designed some cross-stitch patterns (I told you there was a point to this ramble!)

It started with a Pokemon Alphabet.  This is the Pokemon Alphabet as determined by my youngest brother.  I tried to get my brothers and sister-in-law to collaborate on designing the perfect Pokemon Alphabet but that proved too much of a challenge!!  To make everyone happy though, custom orders are available for this pattern - choose your favourite 26 Pokemon and have an alphabet designed just for you - check out the Etsy page for details.

For all those people (like me) who never managed to catch all 151 Pokemon, there is now the "Gotta Catch'em All" cross stitch pattern, featuring the original 151 Pokemon.

It is a massive pattern, fitting into an A1 frame, but how cute are they?!

While I was looking out mini sprites to turn into cross stitch patterns, I became a bit overwhelmed with how big the Pokemon universe has become!  I tend to only think of the original 151.  No - now there are over 700 Pokemon!  719 to be exact I think.  Well, I can't stop at just 151, now can I?

So now there is the Generation II Pokemon cross stitch pattern, featuring the Pokemon from the Silver, Gold and Crystal versions of the game - numbers 152-251.  This also fits into an A1 frame.

Generations III, IV, V and VI are in the planning stages and will probably be finished over the Christmas holidays when I have 4 or 5 weeks off work :)

Happy Stitching, and remember - Gotta Stitch'em All!!

Happy Mother's Day plus a free pattern!

The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day in Australia, so happy mother's day to all the wonderful mums out there.

Ozzypip and I - Germany 2010

In particular, Happy Mother's Day to my own wonderful mum, Ozzypip from Ozzypip Quilts.  My mum is a pretty amazing person - she's very generous with her time, and volunteers a lot around the community, particularly for our Church - leads the singing, teachers RE (religious education), helps with the service at the Aged Care Home in town, was coordinator of the Sunday School.

With Ozzypip in Scotland, 2013

She's also on the committee for her patchwork group, used to be involved in the school P&C (when she still had kids at school), was a breastfeeding councillor for 19 years.  Most recently Mum agreed be prompt for the play I'm directing after the girl who was going to do it had to pull out due to a clash of dates - no small task when you consider the number of rehearsals we've been having lately!

   

Doctor Who Spectacular - 2014

More than all that though, Ozzypip and my dad raised four awesomely geeky kids, and put up with us quoting movies and books at every given occasion.  She and my father got me hooked on reading, introduced me to Harry Potter and Doctor Who, showed me the world of British crime drama, taught me the value of audiobooks on long car rides, and showed me how much fun theatre and musicals are.

At the Harry Potter Studio Tour -2013

She instilled in me the value of family, friendship and my religious faith, gave me the confidence to be myself and to know that I could succeed in whatever I wanted to do.  Lately she's been supporting, pushing, and promoting Fangirl Stitches, again showing me that I can do what I want to do if only I strive to succeed.  We've travelled around the world together, and she is my closet friend and confident.  Love you Mum!



To celebrate Mother's Day, I've got a free pattern for you:  the most amazing mum in the Harry Potter series - Mrs Weasley, who went down in history for her line "Stay away from my daughter, you bitch!"

Happy Stitching, and Happy Mother's Day!!