Got a book full of half ideas and a heart full of wonder

So here it is - the new blog. I had started to write lengthy prose on the reasons why I've switched names, but it would have bored you to tears. I was certainly feeling dozy writing it, and I'm sure the glass of wine I'm currently drinking had nothing to do with it. So the abbreviated explanation is : community, continuity, branding, not-just-about-quilting, pretty name, ooh look sparkly new banner!

(You got bored at "branding" but perked up at "sparkly new banner", right? I know you people too well).

To celebrate the new blog I'm going to have a giveaway in a week or so, as part of the Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway Day. So make sure you add Buttontree Lane to your blog readers to keep up to date with the giveaway!



I promised to show you the Saffron Craig fabric I recently bought.



Pretty, no? The owl panel will go into a quilted satchel for Brown Owls meetings, and the other fabric will go into a quilt. I'm itching to get started on both projects.



And from Japan, I received the most gorgeous little boxes of stamps. Isn't that box in the photo above the cutest thing ever? It's taking a lot of self-control not to jump back online and buy the box of letters.



From now on, people who buy stuff from me are going to get the cutest paper bags as packaging!



It's going to be a very crafty week for me. Today started with breakfast with the Canberra Souther Cross Quilters, followed by a lovely walk in the sunshine to the Old Bus Depot Markets, where they were having a wool day. There were some really lovely things to see there and much smooshiness to be felt. I was tempted to buy some Burrawool, but then realised I had a lot of undyed alpaca at home that I should use first. But instead I succumbed to some Glenora Alpaca/Silk laceweight and Waratah Fibres Wensleydale.





A friend and I decided that it was OK to buy these things, as they were special and didn't come along every day. Do you like our reasoning?

Tomorrow night we have our quilting group, where we spend more time reading magazines, talking, eating, drinking, knitting and crocheting than we do quilting. But it's always heaps of fun and having it on a Monday night puts me in a better mood for the rest of the week. And on Saturday is the Handmade Market, as well as Brown Owls, where I'll be hopefully making this pincushion, and trying not to die from the cuteness.



I'm going to leave you with a photo of my crabapple tree, taken this afternoon as the sun started setting. It finally lost it's leaves a week ago. This tree is beautiful no matter which season we are in - from the beautiful flowers in spring, to the lush green leaves in summer, the startling yellow in autumn and the stark sculptural branches you see here. If only it fruited so I could make crabapple jelly! That would be only complaint, and it's a tiny one at that.