Having Fun in the Sun - Spring is Here Yipee!!

I have to confess to spending time at the beach in the last month. As you can see the sun is shinning the the weather is beautiful heralding Spring. Below is a picture of my sister Sue, who took time off from her duties as a consulting Doctor (up in Brisbane) to have a long week-end at the beach with me. We had just finished our morning walk on the beach and believe it or not, as there was no one on the beach, I stripped off and went for a swim - it was magic.

Sue loves to pose for pictures so here she is on a rock platform with the beautiful sea behind her taking time out after one of our morning walks. Cleo, Kirstin and gorgeous Harvey came down to visit on Sunday and of course Noo Noo had to get Harvey a present - he chose a Wheelie Bin (Trash can) only pint sized - he would not let it go and would let no one touch it - even took it to bed with him. He had to practise taking it out to the road and back again in anticipation of trash day!

Spring is now finally here and I am so happy, I am a true Sun worshipper and just love the warm sunny days. Below is a picture of my daughter Sam and myself at Cockle Bay, (opposite side to Darling Harbour), last Sunday having lunch - the weather was glorious and the harbour sparkling blue with the sea gulls enjoying tit bits that were thrown to them. The food is always perfect at Nick's Seafood restaurant not to mention the Mojito's! I got into trouble from both Simon and Sam as I had not up dated this blog for a while - imagine my surprise when I realised my last posting was on the 20 of August. I have been spending more time at Toowoon Bay taking a week off enjoying the first day of Spring which was 24 degrees and the water is 18 degrees so all was perfect. Robbie was also up at the beach so we enjoyed leisurely strolls along the beach and a coffee at a little cafe that overlooks the bay. This became our ritual with our little white companions Honey and Mitzie - we never take this amount of time off, but we thought it time we stopped and smelled the daisies.

On the home front, Simon is home for a brief period, (check out Simon's teaching schedule for October on our web site) during which we celebrated Harvey's second birthday up at the beach. We all had the best of days, and could not believe that it was two years since Harvey was born. He is such a bright little thing leaving me saying, 'Talk to you on the phone Noo Noo, luv you.' Quite the little charmer like his father!

Yes we have been working, the Special Edition project based design CD's have been an amazing success and everyone has loved them so thank you for your support.

We have finished CE 29, which looks fabulous - this is our Christmas edition so is filled with wonderful holiday ideas and projects, not to mention Christmas gift ideas. Jazzy & Me patterns are now released and only cost $12.95 each, with the projects being so much fun and so easy - perfect if you just want to sew for fun or to start someone sewing. Kirstin, Harvey's mum came down one day and made an owl pillow had it finished in under an hours and she is just starting to sew.

Well will save the cover of CE 29 for the next blog and some teaser pics. I have caught everyone up to date and now do not feel so guilty for not being for punctual with my blogs - hope you are all well and happy and God is smiling on you.

Jenny

Special Edition, Project Based Design CD's

SPECIAL EDITION PROJECT BASED DESIGN CD'S OUT NOW!

I cannot believe it has been over a month since I up dated my blog - sorry everyone, my life is over whelming me at present. I am sure you all know this feeling - and I had another birthday which at my age is very depressing - not sure I like the alternative as yet.

Well we have been very busy with new products and ideas, but firstly check out our new web site design and all the new products. I am sure you will all love our new Special Editions project based design CDs. We now have complete directions plus all the embroidery designs to make many of our out of print most popular quilt patterns.

http://www.jennyhaskins.com/special_editions.php

The Jazzy and Me patterns are not quite ready, but we are close to it, hopefully they will be available in early September - it is me who is holding everything up, as the the covers are complete and the pattern sheets done, I just need to write the directions, but I have been busy with CE 29 - which by the way looks amazing with over 40 holiday gift ideas in it.

In the meantime here is a preview of the one of the Jazzy & Me pattern covers. hope you like it. I had Kirstin test trial one of the patterns and she just loved it and had a T'wit T'wit Tawoo owl pillow done in around an 1 1/2 hours - she thought herself just so clever and that she was!

I have had a tiny break - went up to my beach escape for an extended week-end and did have some much needed time out. The weather was magic and I had my first swim for the season and it is still winter!

My special project has been to put a Gazebo in my front lawn - it looks so cute and perfect for sitting in the winter sun reading a book, watching Cooper-Jay and Honey having a play in the sun. It was lovely getting out in the garden again planting pansies and polyanthas and their bright little faces seem to be smiling!

Well I shall leave you with a picture of what it looks like and a promise to try and keep things more up to date in the future.

Jazzy & Me, Simple Creative Patterns

Mr and Mrs Twitt-Twitt-Twoo door stop OWLS.

Group picture, from left to right:

Mrs. Twitt-Twitt-Twoo, Toby and Tessa Teddy, Mr. Twitt-Twitt-Twoo with Dilly Dolly Dandy in the front.

Well they say as one gets older one reverts back to childhood - well this is what Robbie and I have been doing in our Sewing Studio. Now having grand babies in my life and being accurately aware that there is a whole generation out there that have never sewn, Jazzy & Me patterns are designed for the young first up sewer of the more experienced one who just wants to have fun. Robbie and I have enjoyed just 'playing' with simple creative projects that use our When Dreams Flower fabric collection - which by the way should be available in the US NOW!!

We have quite a few great ideas for more patterns, but so far we have the ones shown above along with three pillows and a bag - but lots more on the drawing board! Let me know what you think of our Jazzy and Me patterns idea - of course for us who still love to embroider all these patterns would be beautifully enhanced with our embroidery designs either straight onto the fabric or using my Embroidered Decoupage technique to embroider and apply embellishments to any of the patterns.

Have you tried our Peaches' Purses designs yet - you will just love them and they are just sew perfect to leave on your embroidery machine just stitching away - and not only that they are great to use and give-away - dare I say Christmas is not that far off!!

Looking forward to hearing your comments on our new pattern range - am off to dinner with my daughter Sammie.

Thank you and moving along

Thank you to everyone who emailed me in regards to my beautiful baby Zoey - your emails were so appreciated and I am happy to report Zoey is getting more beautiful on the outside everyday. Here round of specialist appointments start tomorrow with the Cardiologist and then the Neurologist, EEG's and so on. As Zoey's mum said 'I can only think in the moment anything else is just out of my mind space.' I have to agree with her and so we take it hour by hour day by day.

As you can see, here is the cover for CE 28, which is at the printers as we speak - it is simply the best and we are thrilled with it. There is just so much in CE 28 with heaps of new and different things to make, inspire and challenge you.

We have finally finished our black, white and red quilt War of the Roses which we will feature in CE 29 and Simon is working on a fabulous new quilt and technique. Peaches' Purses is finally released and can be ordered. Of course go to our web site for more information.

Simon is off to BU in Orlando on Friday so that is exciting and Robbie and I get to play - we have some exciting ideas for which to use our new fabric range -When Dreams Flower which I plan to share on my blog so there will be lots of new things coming up. I also want to have Simon redesign the blog layout so I can make it more interesting.

Well it is Monday night and my girlfriend Sandy is making a quilt and she is up to the cutting and piecing stage so I must go and check on her. I will try and be more regular with my postings in the future.

Life, love and grandbabies

How do you like Robbie's Melbourne Cup Race outfit - hat and hand bag - the hat features designs from Margaret's Magnificant Melody Design CD and the hand bag is hot off the press from Peaches' Purses - the directions for the hat will be in CE 28 and the directions for the purse will be on the design CD along with directions to make all the purses etc that are on the design CD - it is truly a beauty!

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words - well this is it - I don't want the yogurt and you are wearing it - and that I am right on the middle of the nose with one flick of the wrist - baby Cooper-Jay hit the spoon flying with the yogurt in it and I copped it - I had forgotten how to wear food but soon got back into the swing of things.

Well our lives will forever be changed since the birth of our beautiful baby Zoey Ruby-Rose (Cooper-Jay's baby sister) has Tuberous Sclerosis Complete a rare genetic disease which can be inherited if one parent has it but in her case it is a spontaneous mutation. This horrid disease allows non malignant tumors to grow on vital body organs like the kidneys, heart, eye and brain - all of which she has. The main concern is the brain and due to the fact that the tumors die and calcify electrical currents get blocked and cause little explosions which result in seizures - she has started at eight weeks. (I was hoping for an up dated picture of our little Zoe but the DVD my son Jason gave would not open!) The picture will have to wait for next time.

A week in Westmead Children's Hospital is a lesson in love given by the parents and amazing nurses and doctors, acceptance for parents and grandparents and a total new perspective on life. Seeing this apparently perfectly beautiful baby girl with electrodes covering her tiny head for an EEG - not once but twice, learning she is on a strong anti-seizure drug with the edict being given that from now on we all will follow the path her tiny body leads us truly makes one realise you don't have a choice but to be strong. When I consider my life is nearly over and what can I do to be there for her and her parents and please God let it be for a while! (One good thing has come out of this I have discovered I can still cook on a regular basis - I have become a real soup kitchen!

Zoey is home now, doing all the wonderful things a 9 week old baby does, smiling, laughing, gurgling, kicking and bring a wonderful joy to us all, always tinged with the sadness of reality - but today is a good day and we are grateful for that.

Our beautiful Harvey is growing in charm, looks and chatter - he is like a sponge soaking up everything he sees and hears being the total little mimic - this we have learnt he is very good at too!

On the work front which has taken a second place we are still all on track with CE 28 being just completed and now we are up to our next projects - we have three new quilts in the making and a new design CD coming along - and yes Peaches' Purses will be out by next week - it is quite a large project, but we know you will love it.

On that note I must away and get back to work, forgive me Erica I am trying to be faithful in my blog up dates, but life has thrown us all a curve ball and it is a little hard to catch at present, love you all Jenny.

When Dreams Fabric launched at Spring Market

Well I have been lax - it is over two weeks since my last blog - my life and time have been so taken up with editing (we are working on CE 28), being creative (we are working on a new quilt - The War of the Roses) as well as still working on Peache's Purses - and yes it is coming one cannot rush amazing things. By the way I trust you all have CE 27 we were out on time with it this time - yippee!! It has been out in Australia for just over a week so it should be in the US soon.

Simon is in the US for Spring Market - Minneapolis and our When Dreams Flower fabric range will be launched there. Robbie and I have been busy finalising projects using our sample fabrics and are now anxiously awaiting seeing pictures of the Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie... quilt quilted. Hopefully we will get a report and maybe a picture tomorrow.

We have also been very busy making hats, bags and skirts for our Melbourne Cup special for CE 28 - for those who are not Australian's Melbourne Cup is Australia's most prestigious horse race and it is 150 years old this year - unfortunately Simon and I will be in Houston when it is on this year. Melbourne residents in Victoria actually have a holiday the day it is run. Everyone all over Australia gets dressed up and goes either to the races in their city or out for lunch and everyone has a bet. It is a great day and so we thought we would create our own accessories - they are really fun and quite gorgeous - they will have to wait for my next blog.

Zoey is doing well and growing fast - but is such a dainty little thing. Cooper-Jay, her big brother is not exactly liking not being the centre of attention - but he will get over it! Poor little Harvey broke his collar bone, but it is mended now and we are told the large mending lump will disappear with age.

My dad turned 97 on the 13th of April, Sam, by baby 31 on the 29th of April - it is the most popular month for birthdays for our family.

Well it is nearly winter in the southern hemisphere and we are all starting to heat our homes and rug ourselves up - Honey and I are still walking/jogging every morning which certainly makes one feel alive.

So this is my last committment for the day, and now off to bed. Promise to try and keep this up every week - I know Erica I am slack!

Ringa-a-Ring a Rosie...quilt and pillow and Noosa Girls

Sunset over Noosa and girls night out!

How lucky were we to meet two absolutely gorgeous young girls up in Noosa, Katlin and Megan - we met quite by accident and had a great first night out till late and then the second night danced on the balcony until very late - there was a wedding below our balcony so we pirated our very own private DJ. I learnt Blame it on the Boogie with actions and the Nutbush both of which were fun and exhausting - and yes at my age perhaps a little too many cocktails which we were happy to find out hit the young things the next day as much as it did my girlfriend and I. Never mind we had a great time - better late than never!!

RING-A-RING-A-ROSIE A BASKET FULL OF POSIES

Well before I left for Noosa on the Thursday after my last post - Simon, Robbie and I had nearly finished our Ring-a-Ring a Rosie... patchwork quilt made from our sample When Dreams Flower fabric. Laura - the marketing and advertising mistress of Windham Fabrics - asked us to make a quilt to have on their web site with free directions - so this is it! (Laura may be small but she is feisty)! Laura is having it quilted in the US and it will be on display, along with the original When Dreams Flower quilt at Spring Market in a few weeks.

We are also making two pillows to go with the Ring-a-Ring a Rosie quilt - this is the pink story of the fabric range embellished with Lottie's Poppies embroidery designs. If Laura gives us more time we may make a couple of other items as well!!

The fabric will not be available until July 2010 in the US and September in Australia - this is just a teaser - by the way the directions to make the quilt will be on my web site as well as Windham as a free download once the fabric is released.

Well I am working on another pillow tomorrow and am in the middle of another quilt (red, black and white this time - very different to anything we have done before- so it is time to sign off - still keeping up Erica aren't you proud of me. x x x