Thank you to Rachael of The Floral Suitcase who hosted Sunday Stash last week.
Next week Lisa in Port Hope will be hosting.
The Sunnyside of the Matter
The past six months have been difficult for me. My near ten year old son Duncan has Aperger's Syndrome. He was diagnosed 4 years ago. He finds it hard to socialise, coordinate his body in sports and he asks a lot of strange and unrelated questions of people.
Until this year he has been oblivious to the fact that he is different from his peers. But he is certainly aware of it now. Being deliberately left out of play by his own soccer team, realising that even the new boys in his class are accepted into the group even when he still isn't, not being invited to parties or over to other people's houses to play have all taken their toll. We 've had a few tear-filled talks these past two weeks.
As a parent it has been so heartbreaking to watch. I feel broken myself because few of the parents have been willing to include him either. They are my peers. They have made me feel stupid for even getting upset about it. I hate the injustice of it all.
So here is my attempt to lighten my heart. With a little of Kate Spain's Sunnyside line in four mini charm packs.
Out of all of her lines, this is the one that is most ME. I love the designs and the colour scheme - orange, dark blue, grey and blue/grey - in particular.
Thank goodness that fabric can be such a ray of sunshine.
Linky Party below.
Marieka and I have been friends since we met at Breastfeeding Group in late 2007. We had both just moved our families to the town of Tumut. We both had infants and preschoolers. Both of our husbands were engineers on a bridge project in Gundagai.
Then both of our husbands took jobs elsewhere at the start of 2009. Marieka's family moved to the gorgeous Barossa Valley in South Australia. My toddler daughter and I went for a week long visit in early 2010.
Then Marieka's family moved to Coffs Harbour in 2011. But the love of the Barossa stayed with them. They have just moved back to the Barossa permanently. They are restoring an old bluestone cottage on acreage and planning on raising fruit trees, grape vines and chickens.
I cannot wait to visit them again.
Marieka loves the colour purple and Kate Spain. So her pouch was easy for me to put together.
So the Free Motion Quilting on the back of this pouch was my most ambitious yet. But I had such fun. You can see the grapes of the Barossa, the waves of Coffs Harbour and the sweep of the Tumut River between the Snowy Mountains.
And who can resist purple polkadots?
Linking up to TGIFF and I Quilt.
The Kate Spain Edition
A lot of you have been Kate Spain fans from way back. Many of you are celebrating all things Kate Spain with Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts this month - The Kate Spain Blog Hop.
I have only a small amount of Good Fortune - bought from Alyce when she was de-stashing (maybe she regrets that now?)
I am hoping to use some of it for an upcoming project in the Zakka 2.0.
Last year I used a tiny bit and made something for my Kate Spain loving friend Kristy of Quiet Play. This is just one side of the pleated coin purse I made as her Secret Santa.
And look what Gemma of Pretty Bobbins made for me when we exchanged gifts in Noumea last September.
I use it to carry tea bags in my bag. Just perfect. Thank you Gemma.
Thank you to Allison of Dreaming in Patchwork who hosted Sunday Stash last week. And how wonderful to have nearly 20 link ups for her post.
From next month, July, Sunday Stash will be hosted twice a month - the first and third Sunday of the month. I will post an updated Hosting list soon. If you would like to host then please sign up below after these lovely hosts.
Now it's your turn to link up (not just Kate Spain fabrics, mind!) your Stash additions.
A Bit of Good Fortune
Today Sunday Stash is being hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. So make sure you head over there to link up this week. Alyce is an ex-pat Aussie who has been living in Chiba, Japan for the last few years. She is a quilter, blogger, pattern designer and fabric seller (lots of cute Japanese fabrics in her Etsy store). Look how cute my bundle card is.
About 2 weeks ago she listed some of her precious Kate Spain scraps for sale in her store. I have NO Kate Spain anything. I know, shocking right? I am Wombat Stew friends with Kate Spainoholics Alyce, Gemma, Marieka and Kristy. So I finally bought some of her gorgeous 'Good Fortune' and once it arrived I wondered why it took me so long. It is full of lovely colours and designs.
Now Alyce managed to grab Kate Spain as a judge of the current 'Sew Seasonal' Blog Hop contest (details here). Are any of you entering? The winner scores some Kate Spain 'Joy' fabrics so it would be worth it. I am going to try and enter something.
I also bought this sweet little FQ of 'Farmdale Blossom' by Alexander Henry off Alyce as well. I love orange!
This is a sweet little pouch made for me by Gemma of Pretty Bobbins. She gave it to me when we were in Noumea late last month. And look! Kate Spain dragonflies feature.
I have had 4 inquiries to host Sunday Stash in 2103, so thank you very much. So far we are set for Dec, Jan, Feb and March. If you are interested in picking a later month please let me know below or pop me an email to findingfifth@gmail.com.
See you over at Blossom Heart Quilts for Sunday Stash today.
