Red Club!

This is a photo of the patchwork apple's red club no 4. The one I have yet to complete. Today was red club no 5. Another one I have yet to complete. No 5 is a house. I prefered the small houses, but they didn't prefer me. We had trouble putting them together. Just couldn't get them to fit! Oh well, another day! Not tomorrow though. I am off to the patchwork apple for a layer cake class. Should be fun!

Sneak Peek and Lego

I set out to design and make a new handbag today. This is as far as I got. It took all day. I think I was tired! The outside is made. The lining is made. The handle is made. But I can't get them all together because I am too tired and keep making mistakes. Ahh well. Tomorrow!

The boys amused themselves whilst I sewed by building with Lego. They had a blast, so I thought I would include some of their photos to keep you amused!

Blow!

Last week Mr 9 turned 10. He is pretty excited to have hit double digits. As the youngest he is always wanting to catch up to everyone else. It's a hard ask when you become a brother-in-law at 3 and an uncle at 7. He is a great brother-in-law and a magnificent uncle though, so he's doing pretty well. The in-laws both love him and his niece and nephew are passionate about him. We had a great night together with all the kids. Lots of fun!

To Market, To Market.......

But not to buy a fat pig! This is how our stall looked on Saturday at the MarionLIFE market. (Yes! That is grandson peeking out between the table and Picklesticks' great bags on the righthand side!) It was a great day weather wise and thanks to my Bradley we were well set up with shade for the day. (Nevertheless, I still managed to get burnt! No-one else under our shade did. I just have very fair skin I guess) Grandson only lasted about an hour. Markets are NOT for 2 year olds. Not for the grandson kind of 2 year old anyway! He went home with an Aunt to spend time with his Pa. (My Bradley)

A closer look at our wares! Mrs P from Quilting in My Pajamas came to visit and bought a monster (My only sale for the day! Thank you Mrs P!) I, of course, had just gone to the supermarket in search of lunch and missed her. My girls thought that was really funny! Both Picklesticks and Miss 24 made some good sales and were pretty happy with the day. I was also pretty happy cause I did get to meet Pip from Rest is not Idleness! She is a lovely person. Not a shock really cause I think most craft bloggers are the best kind of people!

These are Mr 16's birds that he made. People liked them and touched them, but nobody bought them. It was a really interesting day to people watch. So many people touched our handmade things! They really were drawn to them. We had lots of compliments which was a real confidence booster for us all. Picklesticks has already loaded some of her market extras onto her etsy shop and I will be doing the same later this week. I am glad to have done the market, but also glad for it to be over! This week I will be sewing whatever I want!

Stitching on the road!

I stitched Leanne Beasley's Merry and Bright whilst we drove on the weekend. May I just say that not all roads are stitch friendly!

Sunday Afternoon Drive.

So, yesterday afternoon (Sunday) Bradley and I went for a lovely drive. Along the Great Ocean Road. See, photographic proof! Ocean. Road. (Isn't it Great?)

It really is the Great Ocean Road! More proof is needed I see. Well, how about those 12 Apostles? (You can google them if you like!)



It was so windy out there on the lookout that I could hardly hold the camera still to take these shots! I had never been on the Great Ocean Road before and fell madly in love with it. There is soooo much to do and see there! Of course, not when you are just out for a Sunday drive. There just isn't time. We left home on Friday afternoon and started our journey to Melbourne. We slept in the Dandenong Ranges on Saturday night and on the Great Ocean Road on Sunday night and now we are home. Oh I am tired! That was a big drive. Goodnight!

Spring.....

Our weather is a bit topsy-turvy. It's spring! The beginning of the week saw the first of the very warm temperatures, and right now it is raining and promising to be chilly for the end of the week. This is our beach at the other end of the week, when it was warm. The beachcombers are four of my children picking up shells to decorate the sand sculptures they had just finished making. The beach is just a 5 minute drive from our house. The closest I have ever lived to the beach. I will miss it when we move.

Market Monsters Today

No, this isn't a monster! This is grandson at sewing day today. Miss 24 and I went to Picklestick's house for sewing day. We all sewed monsters for the MarionLIFE market we are going to on October 23rd. Grandson drew while we sewed. Granddaughter played and was juggled between us all. (Seven month olds are like that!) It was a lovely day. I managed to sew three monsters. I came home and stuffed and stitched up the six monsters that we got finished.

These are my three monsters caught in the garden in my parsley. I don't have much of a garden, but I can grow parsley anywhere. It seems to be a talent of mine.

So, if you are in Adelaide and at a loss on Saturday October 23rd come to the market, introduce yourself to me and maybe pick up a monster or two!

Gypsy Rose Finish

Finished! This one was harder to finish. Just couldn't get the quilting right. Three attempts and unpickings later...... I put it aside for a day, then finished it today. Everything was better today. What was the difference? I don't know! Anyway, it is finished now and I like it. These latest two quilts are just small quilts. (32ish x 42ish?) Quite achievable, if you don't throw them across the room and lose them or stash them in a box because the quilting just doesn't seem to be happening. (This is my latest helpful hint for quilters. If you want to finish a quilt, you have to work on it. Obvious to some, but a helpful hint for others!) This was the second quilt I basted last week and now I need to baste some more. (I have two waiting next to my basting table) I want some other finishes to happen this week too. Aprons? Softies? Dresses? Bags? Hmm.......

A creative weekend

I have had a pretty creative week this week, but so far the weekend has been totally devoid of creativity for me. I had bunches of things to do like washing, and shopping....... you know how it goes! (Apparently we had no conditioner in the house Saturday morning! Complete disaster! We have girly girls here you know!) As I cooked dinner last night and mentally bemoaned the lack of creativity in my household I looked around.

Miss 13 carving her first piece

Mr 16, her guide, working on his 6 millionth piece

Finished swords (? I know, but they love them?)

Miss 18 and her friend from Uni busy making up a storm

Wow! So much creativity in one space! It actually made me feel really positive to know that creative things were happening even though I was having to tend to some of the day to day mundane aspects of life. Today I hope to get a little creative myself!

My Bradley doing my dishes as I cook

This photo is for Mrs P from Quilting In My Pajamas who asked if my Bradley was always so dapper? Not sure about the dapper, but he does dishes which pleases me enormously! He's a keeper!

Burning the midnight oil.

I didn't baste all four quilt tops. I got two done and decided that was enough! I thought I just might be able to finish one of the two today if I got on with the quilting this morning. I picked the red scrappy quilt to start on and just finished the binding a few minutes ago. Fortunately I had the Commonwealth Games to keep me entertained whilst I sewed. The quilt is grided in the centre (using the blocks as a guide) and I have quilted some free motion flowers on the border. Done!

Confession.......

I am a topper. Starting is the best part for me. Looking at and choosing fabric is so much fun! I love to start on a quilt - it's so exciting! I even love the piecing. But from there it's all downhill. I really hate basting quilts and quilting........? I'm not sure. I haven't got past the basting stage that often to really know. At the moment I am working on two quilt tops and I thought that I would baste both of them after dinner tonight. As I collected them together I found another two quilt tops floating around.

Pile of three quilts, ready to baste.

That's when I realised that I really am a topper. I have quilt tops just lying around in my sewing room! So, no basting was actually done. (I'll have to do another post entitled "Confession..... I am a procrastinator"!) Instead I collected together and cut out tops, backing and batting for four small quilts. Once I had done that it was really bedtime.

This is the fourth quilt spread out on the table in front of my Bradley. (Lucky we have a huge table! Room for everyone!) It wasn't until I put it on the table that I remembered that I need to piece the back for this quilt. The back is pieced now, so tomorrow morning I will be basting. And basting. And basting. And basting.

Scrappy Quilt

I have been working on this small scrappy quilt. I was unhappy with it's size/proportions and so started on something else (After throwing this across the room of course. Gosh I'm grumpy sometimes!) which is how I like to do it. I work on something until I strike a problem. Then I start something new! Today as it hung over my ironing board I looked at it and thought about it. See, it's a scrappy quilt and this is all the fabric I have, cause they were just scraps. Anyway, I decided to put a border on it and even found a fabric to do it. I have cut the border out and will probably sew it on later tonight. So, scrappy quilt resolved. This happened because the other quilt struck a problem too. I so badly wanted to start a third project (starting is THE best!) but thought I should probably finish something! Anyway, the second project is a scrappy one too. I spread that one out on my bed this morning and after much thought have resolved that one too! I feel like a miracle worker today, although I am not any further advanced physically than I was last night. See, perception is so important! So tomorrow I can sew and sew and sew and sew.....

Mt Bold

Today was a public holiday here in South Australia. Labour day, which commemorates the introduction of the 40 hour week I think. (Hey! You don't have to know what they are for to enjoy them!) We decided to go to the Mount Bold Reservoir and take a look around. We haven't been there for such a long time. (I seem to remember sitting in the car breastfeeding some child last time we were there and I haven't done that for a very long time now!) It was a favourite trip of ours because the reservoir is quite close to the town of Clarendon which has a delicious bakery. So, on the way we stopped at the Clarendon Bakery. Yum!

The reservoir

The swing bridge

Last time we were there these steep stairs allowed you to access the swing bridge from the carpark side. Not any more!

The blocked off stairway

The dam wall.

Flowers beside the reservoir.

The bold amongst us walked over the swing bridge. The scardy cats stayed far away from the swing bridge and took photos of flowers. Aren't they pretty flowers? When we came home I actually got into the sewing room and sewed. I didn't manage to finish anything though. Maybe tomorrow!

Both ends of the spectrum.

My Dad (Puppa) and Grandson.

You tend to get images like this at family events, don't you? We were waiting around for our turn to "star" in the newly-weds' photos. Puppa and Grandson played a game together. Grandson found sticks. (He's a boy. He has a natural affinity for sticks. They seem to call his name.) He broke them into short sticks, gave them to Puppa to hold, then slid them down the leaves of the clivia one at a time. Who knew that sticks liked sliding? Well, perhaps it should have been obvious. Who doesn't like sliding really!

An October Wedding

It's October!
We celebrated the arrival of October by celebrating the marriage of Mr 21 (my Joseph) to his new bride Amy. Yesterday was a beautiful day and they were two very happy newly-weds.


The newly married Mr and Mrs Paton

The wedding party. All three of my boys are there. Mr 9 is the short groomsman and Mr 16 has his hands in his pockets on the end.

The reception and speeches. (Lots of speeches!!!)