Flowery Quilt Top.

I made a flowery quilt top this weekend. I bought a Lecien "brick" pack at Hettie's patch a while ago. ("brick" because they are rectangles - that's my name for it anyway!) I really love all those packs that Moda and Lecien have at the moment. Jelly rolls, layer cakes etc, etc. I just love having a little bit of an entire range! I tend to buy them because they are pretty and I don't think much else about it. On Thursday I visited Jane at my favourite patchwork shop (the patchapple) and she had the same Lecien packs which was very helpful because I was able to choose some fabrics to go with my pack. I had an idea of this quilt and managed to find a couple of toning spot fabrics and now the top is finished!

I am crazy for spots and stripes at the moment. Now I just have to find some backing fabric and I can start quilting it. I am thinking of doing some free motion quilting on it. Hopefully it will be pretty!

Bicentennial Conservatory Visit.

On Saturday Miss 11, Mr 8 and I went to the botanical gardens. Regular readers of this blog will realise that the gardens is one of my favourite places in Adelaide. We go there quite often. So on Saturday we decided to do something different and have a wander through the Bicentennial Conservatory. So, after parting with $9.50, we entered the conservatory. I must be a cheapskate because Mr 8 didn't remember having ever been in there before! It's very green, very warm, and we even saw the conservatory producing mist.

They also have some wildlife. Not long after entering we heard bird calls which didn't seem right. I thought the conservatory was all about plants. And so it was, but they had an insect (or should I say an invertabrate) invasion and two types of birds were introduced to the building. We also saw a couple of fish in the pond and they have all kinds of bugs in perspex boxes for you to look at too. Obviously bugs don't interest me that much, because I didn't take any photos of them!

However, I couldn't resist this flower. Isn't it magnificent? Gorgeous colour and just beautiful. Well worth the $9.50 I think.

SSCS Update!

I am finding this very difficult! I have just finished my Chookyblue Secret Santa Christmas Swap and I badly want to show you the blurry photos I took. But I will be restrained! Instead I am showing you a photo of the sky from my backyard as it becomes night. I'm sure that swaps are different for everybody, but I just get so excited by what I am sending! What do you like about swaps? What has your favourite swap been?

Awards!

Well, this year has been one of the most amazing blogwise for me.

• I have enjoyed blogging much more this year. I think I am much more comfortable with the technology of blogging now!
• I have been inspired to create much more this year than last year.
• I have found some of the most amazing, inspiring blogs this year that have influenced me to take on challenges and create things I never would have previously. (Thank you all!)
• I have been able to share with you and also to find out, via blogging, what direction I want to head in creatively next year.

It has been so much fun for me! And now this last week I have received two awards from two bloggers that I enjoy very much. The first is from Jantine. She was my Stitching Angel recipient and is from the Netherlands. Thank you Jantine! I hope you all go and visit Jantine to see why she has received and passed on this award. (And to see her amazing stitching and quilting!)

The second award is from Pip. Pip is a New Zealander who is now a South Aussie. There are many bloggers that I love, but I must admit that I have a great love for South Aussie bloggers. I love the net and the blogosphere, but there's nothing like having the chance to meet a fellow blogger in the flesh! I always thought that this was not very important to me (Afterall, we love the net because of it's anonimity, don't we?). That is until I met a blogger. She was so amazing and such a nice person I thought, "Wow! What a great idea meeting is!". I have only met four or five bloggers in the flesh, but I liked them all and enjoy South Aussies so much more now 'cause I might just bump into one accidently. (Don't laugh! It's happened to me! At a quilt shop of course!) Pip has an amazing blog. I love all of her garden posts especially. I used to be a gardener (Before water restrictions, don't ask! It's a long story!) and love to read Pip's posts. She also is an awesome crafter! Go visit Pip to see why she received this award!







So, I am happy to receive these awards. They have made me contemplate my blogging which has given me all sorts of insights! I appreciate them and appreciate Jantine and Pip for giving them to me. As for passing them on, I love all of your blogs! I visit everyone who leaves a comment and all of your blogs are amazing! So, if you want to contemplate your blogging and post these awards on your blog, please do. (And if you want me to visit your blog, leave a comment!)

What's going on at my house!

We put the Christmas tree up last week. I had bought new lights for the tree from Dick Smith after Christmas last year. They were very cheap, but I didn't really look at them when I got home, just put them away with the Christmas dekkies. Then when we put the tree up none of our lights would work at all! (Do you suppose that they knew there were new lights and they were upset and therefore would not work for us?) So, we got out the new lights. They are fantastic! They change colour (LED) and are just beautiful. These photos are something else going on at my house. Miss 18 is studying Art at Uni. This is all part of her final piece for sculpture. Her first year is nearly over. She has been collecting green things.

To go in her fridge (of course!) Miss 16 is busy studying for her year 11 exams. They start tomorrow. She has two days of exams this week and then two more days at school in December (Awards presentation day and report card day) and year 11 is all over for her.

This is the fake grass that you put your fridge on (again... of course!). Our Christmas week diary is filling up with family celebrations and other Christmas activities, so December seems like it will be as busy as November! We are all having a great time. So many milestones being achieved at this time of year. So many exciting Christmas plans to look forward to. Can't wait!

My Studio

I have been very busy. I guess its that time of year. We're all busy. My Bradley has devised a way for me to get my very own studio! I am very excited!!! It is a work in progress at the moment. This is my half-a-room. My sewing space. Well, on the weekend I got the other half of the room (It's only a small room, but in a house with nine people living in it you are grateful for every little space.)

This is the other half of the room. This is going to be my painting room! At the moment I am working on getting everyone else's things out of my studio and then I will be able to set all my things up. I'm hoping to be somewhere near organised at the end of the week. Hopefully I will be able to show you my photos of the finished room soon.

So tired.

This looks so relaxing, doesn't it? Miss 22 and Mr 19 at the Botanical Gardens on a day unlike today. Today is a cold and windy day with what the weather bureau would call "a few showers". I call it "spit spotting". Today was also the Fullarton Market. What a contrast! Last month it was 38 or 39 degrees, today was forecast to be 17 degrees. Very chilly. For us anyway.

I sewed last week, a little.

I sewed some more makeup bags which I am hoping to sell at the Fullarton plant and craft market next Saturday. (If you are in Adelaide come see us!)

And I did the binding on the "Daisy Blue" doll quilt. This was fun. I used cotton batting in this little quilt and fell in love with it. So nice to work with!

Not sure what I am going to sew this week. Bunting has been on my mind (strange statement! I love bunting and I do spend time thinking about it, strange to say.). I have my SSCS (secret santa christmas swap) to finish off and send. (BIG SECRET!) I am desperate to show you some bits, but this must remain secret until after December 25th! (And I can't be trusted! I'm not good at sneak peaks!) I also could sew for the market on Saturday. So I have lots to sew. It's not so much if, as what I will end up sewing. I also have a million emails to catch up with and a trillion posts on bloglines that are screaming at me. And my blog needs updating. I have discovered heaps of really exciting blogs lately that I read all the time, but haven't put in my blogroll yet! I need to share them with you! Hope your week is as wonderful as mine appears right now! A week of sewing and internetting! (Who could ask for anything more?)

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas!

Here in Adelaide we have a Christmas pageant in the beginning of November. It's been running since the depression and is a great Adelaide tradition. It was started by a department store (which has since closed down) and is run now by the credit unions. It is the day that Father Christmas comes to Adelaide and we all start thinking "Christmas" very early, which stores like a lot! It is a tradition in many Adelaide homes to put the Christmas tree up after coming home from the pageant. Well, our tree isn't up yet (Mr 8 is not happy!), but I sewed these Christmas aprons yesterday. So, it's looking a little like Christmas at our house, and now we can start baking Christmas goodies!

A Giveaway at Picklesticks!

This is the dragon that Mrs 24 made to giveaway to celebrate her 75th post. You should rush over here and comment for a chance to have him live at your house! Quick!

This week.

Ahh! I finally finished my Stitching Angel post and posted it. I started on Monday night and didn't finish it until tonight because I have been doing headaches all week. (I think it's all to do with this virus we are suffering from) Mostly this week we have just been resting and recovering. We are all feeling much better now. The piece of fabric above is some that Julie sent me. This photo does not do it justice. The colours are all wrong. In real life it is just delicious! I have done a little sewing this week (small bags) and will post some photos tomorrow.

Stitching Angel Packaged Arrived!

On Friday when I came home (From where I don't remember. Being Mum's taxi somewhere!) this box was waiting for me. My Stitching Angel gift from Julie. My second box from Julie. (See the first box here.)

She sent me great "extras". I am so spoilt! (Blogger thought this photo needed to be side-on. Blogger so doesn't know which way is up!) The snaplock bag contains foldover elastic, something I have been dying to try. Haven't seen any here in Australia, but now I have some, so I will have to find an FOE tutorial. (Love the net!)

This is the stitching caddy Julie made for me. I love the fabric (Kaffe Fassett! One of my favourite designers!) and the embroidery. I love it so much I decided to show it up close too.

It is just so pretty!

Julie also stitched a sweet sissor holder for me, with sissors in fact! Which is possibly why Australian Customs wanted to open my package and have a little look! My box was so hard to open, with plastic ties and fabric tape holding it shut. I figured that Julie didn't want me to get it open! I started thinking she was pretty mean as I took my gifts out, then I saw an Australian Customs' pamphlet explaining that they had opened the box (Ahhhh.. no wonder it was so hard to get open!) but hadn't removed anything.

And a pincushion too! I do feel very lucky to have had Julie as my Angel. I have really enjoyed this swap because I have had the privilege of getting to know Julie and Jantine (my angel recipient) and their blogs are some I visit regularly. Thank you Helen for organising this swap!

I quilted.

First doll quilt quilted. I'm calling this one "daisy blue". I quilted in the ditch and put a daisy in each square. I'm pretty good at quilting in the ditch (my quilting stand-by!), but the freemotion daisies were the practise pieces! They're not too bad.

Bunches of people at our house are sick. We spent the weekend in bed wishing we could get up and do something! Sore throats and headaches, tonsilitis, and one glandular fever wannabe. (We find out the blood test results this afternoon.) Today I have felt well enough to sew, so the world is improving!

More doll quilts (and no quilting yet!)

Okay, is anyone else having problems with blogger uploading photos, or is it just me? The photos were published in this order: 2, 1, 4, 3. (I uploaded them 1, 2, 3, 4.) Kinda hard if you're trying to tell a story. I'm not, so it's all good, just confusing! I have pieced another 4 doll quilts. Three of them look the same, but are three different quilts. Now to stretch them and quilt them! (wish me luck!)

Miss 11 is quilting too!

I have spent most of this week piecing which has inspired Miss 11 to get out her sudoku quilt and work on it again. She kind of came to a standstill and packed the quilt away. Dangerous really, because then you forget about it. She had unpicking to do and I snapped her unpicking. (Miss 11 and her new hairdo. It just got too long so I cut about 20 centimetres off yesterday.)

It's looking good and she made more progress than this! She's looking forward to stretching it now!

Doll quilts

I have been busy piecing these four doll quilts. I really need to practise my quilting and had a brainwave that it would be much more managable to practise on small quilts, so I made a bunch of quilt tops. Next is to quilt them. (I love putting off what I'm not so good at! Ahh, tomorrow!)

It's November!

Mr 19 flinging his 6 foot 4 inch frame into the air. "Almost like flying " is how he described it. Well, this is how I feel about the end of this year. Like I'm being flung into it before I'm quite ready. But now that I'm airborne, it's almost like flying and I don't mind it at all!

I have lots of projects on the go at the moment. I've been doing the colourque thing and just bought some Derwent inktense pencils today to give some 'wet' colourque a go. I have also suddenly become terribly interested in doll quilts. (Not sure why) Anyway, I need to go to sleep now so that I can sew tomorrow!