life at rosemaryhill

Can't believe it's February!

2012-02-03T08:53:00.000+10:30

Not only February, but it's the third already!!! Well, that's what happens when you are toiling away in the salt mines, I mean moving house! It was not our intention to move house, in fact not our plan at all. We have only had our furniture and been unpacked at this house for six months so as I pack I am very disgruntled. Everything I put in a box I can remember taking out of a box and I keep wondering why I am not psychic! Life would be so much easier if I were psychic. We are in the inbetween phase of the move. Some of our stuff is there, and some here. "There" is just two streets away. Some of the kids are really keen to walk there whilst carrying something to the new house. I am of the opinion that it's not that close! (It's not!!!)

Meanwhile I have been ignoring the blogosphere (and all who sail in it), but woke up this morning feeling distinctly uninspired and feeling a need to catch up with all the latest. And the latest is just lovely! People have been making little blankets of love, showing off their January accomplishments, their flimsies and their newly finished quilts! There have been more monthly milestones met in the Some Kind of Wonderful stitch-a-long and my flickr groups are bristling with new things to catch up with! Life isn't so bad after all. I can't wait till this move is over (Monday night?) and I'm possibly not worth speaking to until then. So, here's something lovely to look at until I can be civil again.

My baby the uncle, Mr 11 with grandies!

Tuesday

2012-01-31T13:52:00.000+10:30

Miss 19 dueting with her Dad

I'm packing and dreaming of the time that such musical soirees will be happening again at my house. Packing just makes the house so upside-down. So many harsh words and disagreements! We all must be out of sorts here at the moment. Let's hope we are back to normal by the weekend! (I wonder if our landlord will be bothered by the fact that I. Never. Want. To. Move. Again. Ever.)

I guess I must be moving.....

2012-01-30T22:02:00.001+10:30

.... because I packed today rather than sewed. It took me a while to get into it. I had to watch the rain first.

It was pouring! After a couple of hot days here in Melbourne it was lovely to see. Then after I had packed one box I had to tweet about it.

Then check twitter. Then my email. Then I had to have lunch. Then find a DVD to put on. You know how it is. Then finally I really started. So the most important rooms are packed. The sewing room and the lounge room. (Where all the hand stitching happens!) Tomorrow more packing awaits. Perhaps if I get stuck into it early tomorrow I might have time to sew a little!

Feeling a bit restless today...

2012-01-29T22:03:00.000+10:30

... and wondering whether it is because I haven't really sewn anything for the last couple of days? But sometimes it's like that. Perhaps I am just anxious for our move this week to be over. Anyway, had a huge lie in this morning, then church, and then I couldn't seem to settle to anything. I have looked at a lot of beautiful things on blogs though! Tomorrow the packing begins in earnest! (Or maybe I'll sew?)

my workspace, and it's view

A drive in the country...

2012-01-28T22:52:00.000+10:30

... was what we started out on this morning. Warburton was our destination. We had heard that the Patchwork Tearooms there were just lovely. And they were. On our way back home we saw a sign pointing to Mt Baw Baw and couldn't resist taking a peek. After all, it wasn't far away.

View from Mt Baw Baw

I think we are quite used to distances between Melbourne and Adelaide, but this wasn't like that at all. Ninety kilometers on the Western highway are not equal to ninety alpine kilometers. We drove on a narrow windy road until we got to the top. The view was amazing. The bucketing downpour even more amazing! We got drenched, but weren't too worried because it was 35C back home and we knew we would dry off.

It was all so green and pretty

Not sure what I would think about it if it was covered with snow. Especially since I have never seen snow. Perhaps now that we live in Victoria I might even get to see snow, now that I know where to go! Of course, there are other snowcovered places here too. Who knows where I will end up on my next fabric hunting trip?

White chocolate and gingerbread slice

2012-01-27T11:00:00.001+10:30

A couple of you thought this sounded delicious so I thought I would share the recipe with you.

100g unsalted butter, chopped
3/4 cup golden syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup milk
2 cups plain flour
180g white chocolate, chopped
icing sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan. Grease & line a 19cm x 29cm slice pan with non-stick baking paper. (You can see I used a disposable pan with no greasing or lining. I saw Nigella do this with a similar slice & figured it would work for this. It does!)

2. Place butter, syrup, sugar, ginger & cinnamon in a saucepan. Stir on medium heat for 2-3 mins, until butter has melted & mixture is well combined and smooth. Remove from heat & cool slightly. Add eggs & milk & mix well.

3. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add chocolate. Fold through egg mixture & mix until combined. Fill pan. Bake for 30-35 mins, until firm. Cool in pan, dust with icing sugar & cut into fingers to serve.

I have made this a few times now & my kids just love it! It was the "tundra" for my Christmassy deer/moose installation you can see here. I use white chocolate melts or choc chips to make it even easier. (I'm all for easy here!) Of course, I always make a double batch. (There were 14 of us for dinner last night) I'm not sure how many you need to have in the household to only make a single batch!

It's Australia Day!

2012-01-26T21:11:00.001+10:30

Have you had a great Australia Day? In true Aussie style, it is mostly considered to be a great day off here. I spent most of today baking. White chocolate & gingerbread slice, choc chip cookies, cup cakes and lots and lots of pasties. This was all in aid of Miss 14 and her friends who love to eat yummy things!

The only sewing I did today was the final three seams on this star flower block. (Hope you looked away Shay!!!) I am thinking of basting some quilt tops tomorrow. And packing some stuff. Moving will begin next Thursday I think, but since we are not moving far (two streets) we will probably move over several days rather than packing it all into one day. Hey! We will be moving seven people's stuff. It's not going to be quick!!! Catch ya tomorrow!

My new system

2012-01-25T22:46:00.000+10:30

When I sew I like to work on more than one project at once. Sometimes people who work this way are thought to be easily bored, or procrastinators, or really just lacking commitment of any kind. (In my case all of those are probably true.) In the big "think about the new year" process I have been indulging in this month I have thought that possibly this could be quite a positive way to work, if only working on several projects at once didn't physically sabotage your work. So I have devised a new system to keep all the stuff from several projects under control.

the star flower project bag on my desk

I am calling it the "snap lock bag system". (Shhhh all of you who thought of this or similar systems a really long time ago! I just thought of it and the system and I are still in the romantic honeymoon phase!)

Some Kind of Wonderful project bag on my stool

You see, I have done the stuff in the box/container systems before, but they never really worked out for me. My latest system involves big snap lock bags into which you place everything for a particular project. Everything in the bag is visible and the bags themselves can be put on the floor, under your sewing desk or even chucked across the room! (Which has an amazing therapeutic effect!)

the Kate Spain good fortune project bag (clearly this project has outgrown it's project bag) under my desk

And you don't get fabrics mixed up or lost in a mess of stuff on your desk! So far it's working for me. At the moment I am working on three projects. Today I managed to work on all three and my desk is still clear! It's been a good day! Swing by tomorrow to see if the system and I have managed to finish anything!

Kate Spain Good Fortune top finished!

2012-01-24T20:26:00.001+10:30

Let's just say at the outset, that I love these girls, even though their quilt top holding abilities are not that good! Who am I to complain, they were actually the only two willing to come outside and help me photograph this monster of a quilt top. (It's big for me! 80"x88", I think.) And that's saying something because there are seven of us living here at the moment! Miss 19 and Miss 25 even left the "Project Runway"-athon we are running at the moment at a crucial moment. (Who's in? Who's out?)

Kate Spain good fortune top finished.

And there it is. I love it! I love, love, love this range and I'm pretty happy with this top too even though it just kind of evolved as I went along. Next is to get a back made up and then the WORST BIT of quilting. The basting! One of my goals in 2010 was to get over my unfounded fear of quilting. I had some instruction and practiced a lot and feel pretty good about quilting now. I did think that was my main problem regarding finishing quilts. It wasn't. My goal for 2011 was to get over basting. I didn't. Perhaps I should flag that goal again for this year too! I badly want to finish this quilt. I have a birthday party to get ready for this week. (I'll have a 15 year old next week!) Oh. And a little packing to do for next week's big move. Can't really see anything that might prevent me from finishing this baby, can you?

flowers in my garden

*sigh* I'm trying not to think about everything I have to do tonight. I leave you with a photo of some flowers in my garden. Not sure what they are. (Nicotiana?) The flowers don't open until evening and these babies are self-sown! Gotta love flowers that do all the work for you! Now, if only that quilt would baste itself.....

Record Keeping

2012-01-22T10:01:00.001+10:30

I have a lot of ideas. Mostly though they just float around in my head and just remain ideas because I never actually make a plan for them.

In the past I have bought all sorts of wonderful books to record my ideas in. Mostly they are empty. Whenever I plan a quilt I usually do it on a scrap of paper, which promptly gets lost. This year I have decided to use the time I have more wisely, so I got my books out and I'm recording my ideas, my goals, and my progress.

I started out with the scrap pieces of paper for my Kate Spain Good Fortune quilt. I've stuck them in my book now and have further workings out in the book now I have decided how I want to finish it. It's all dated too, which I am hoping will make me more accountable.

I tend not to use patterns very much. I usually design my quilts myself, but with the scrap paper method of design if I ever want to replicate a quilt I have to design it all over again. So I'm hoping my ideas book will make things easier. And keep track of my projects and help me finish more. Here's hoping its a magic book!!!

Star Flower Blocks

2012-01-21T09:36:00.001+10:30

I had so much fun with these the other day that I decided to make some for me. That's after I saw a pack of "a stitch in color" charm squares by Malka Dubrawsky.

Charm squares are perfect for the star flower because there's a little less cutting! My 5" charm squares mean a 16.5" finished block, but big is beautiful, right?

This is the first block and it's still fun, so I think this will definitely be a quilt. Of course, I have to get the Good Fortune quilt finished before I do any more.

I know. We'll see!

Sewing desk mess

2012-01-20T20:57:00.000+10:30

My mess

I took this photo yesterday thinking that today I would clear the sewing desk because I couldn't possibly be creative in this messy space. This morning I had forgotten all about that resolve and my desk still looks like this. Sort of. Since yesterday I have been to the patchwork shop and bought some fabric to finish off the Kate Spain Good Fortune quilt you see so prominently on the desk. (I dreamt about how I would finish it off last night. I guess that's the thoughts my head were full of when I woke up!) So now there is even more fabric on the desk. Oh. And I accidently bought a new project while I was there too and that is sprinkled liberally over the desk now. So liberally in fact that you can see very little of the Kate Spain project. When I bought the fabric for the new project I did think that I wouldn't touch it until I had finished the one on the desk, but I was already planning out the new project on the drive home. Once I got home I did a couple of chores and then looked at my fabric some more and then BAM! I was hit with inspiration and the determination to start my new project. (That particular inspiration did require me to go back to the shop and purchase more fabric, which I did.) So I've started a new project today! (So much for my assessment yesterday that what I really needed was to finish something!) Photos to follow.

Oh. And there really is no such thing as a sewing desk too messy to create on. If you are ever in that situation, what you really need is a new project!

Sewing for do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee}

2012-01-19T22:54:00.001+10:30

Star flower blocks, my first for do. Good Stitches

Some time last year I came across the blog Stitched in Color. I was fascinated with the charity quilting groups that Rachel ran and thought I might like to join one when I heard that there may be an Australian group being formed. I was too late to join that group, but my name was placed on a list and I am now part of an International group. You can read about do. Good Stitches here on flickr. We are in the midst of making our first blocks. I am pretty excited about this endeavour and have just finished stitching these beauties. They have yet to be pressed and have a decent photo taken of them, but I figured you would want to see them anyway! They were fun to make. I really love making half square triangles and this is an interesting block I wouldn't mind making a quilt from. I will put it in my book of quilts to make (it's getting quite full!) and see how I go. I also spent more time sewing my Good Fortune quilt today. I had no plan for that at all and today I worked out that it is big, and possibly too narrow for it's length. (How I know this I don't know. Miss 25 thinks I am crazy, but I feel I need to do something to the quilt top to widen it a little. Right now the top is folded up on a shelf. I will have to think about it a little more.

Full Circle.

2012-01-18T22:10:00.001+10:30

About twelve months ago we were preparing to move to Melbourne from Adelaide. Some 700-odd kilometers away. Today's discussions brought all that back to me. We were discussing Miss 14's upcoming birthday and what the celebrations for that birthday might include. Last year was very different. Both Miss 14's and my birthday were celebrated in a tent, not while we were on holiday, but while we were looking for a home in Melbourne.

Miss 14's birthday cake 2010

Almost twelve months later we are preparing to move again because our landlord wants to sell the house we are renting. My Bradley joked that we would be fine no matter what happened because we could always put the tent up in a caravan park again. (I think he found that thought comforting. I told him it wasn't funny!) Anyway, the tent just won't be happening because we have found a house!!! It is only two streets away and hopefully we will be able to live in it longer than twelve months! We like the area and the kids wanted to stay here. Miss 14 loves her school and is planning to finish her high schooling there(two more years) so we needed to find something close by and we have done it! So now we have to begin packing in earnest. A friend suggested in jest that all we need to move is a wheelbarrow. We are hoping that our trailer will suffice.

Today has been a slow day. I did do a little sewing, some preparation for a scrap quilt that is calling my name, and working out what fabric I will need to back a quilt top that is almost finished. (You'd never know I had done two maths subjects in high school AND passed!) More about the sewing stuff tomorrow. Tonight I am just being happy that I know which roof will be over my head during 2012.

Jiggety jig

2012-01-17T23:56:00.003+10:30

Home again. Another long drive today. This time away from this face. He helped me take this photo. My camera has a display that can be turned to the front so he could tell me when he could see himself and then I "snapped" the photo. I find driving from here to there very tiring. Goodnight!

Good Guessing!

2012-01-16T10:34:00.001+10:30

Lots of you worked out where I was. We are in Adelaide for a day or two and then we will be going for a long drive home again. My Bradley will be working, but I will be looking at this for a day and a half.

And this

And taking lots of photos too I think.

My Day...

2012-01-15T19:30:00.001+10:30

...looked just like this.

We went for a little drive. It wasn't what we were planning when we woke up, but we're flexible. What does this week hold for you? I'm never quite sure at my house.

He's taken an interest in photography.

2012-01-14T17:20:00.000+10:30

Photography by Mr 11

Over the past few months photos I haven't taken have been appearing on my camera. Just one or two at first. Now there are a dozen or more at a time. I think Mr 11 has taken an interest in photography. My camera is usually not far from my sewing desk, pretty easy to find! I love digital cameras. They have made it possible to click as many photos as you like without it costing you. They also deliver the image instantly, so you can monitor how you're going. I love seeing what he thinks is photo-worthy.

She made covers for her folders.

2012-01-13T11:44:00.001+10:30

Miss 14 believes that every folder deserves a fabric cover. So far three of her five folders have one. Some even sport pockets for books. Much sewing happening here!

Fabric and thread.

2012-01-12T22:01:00.001+10:30

We went to Spotlight today so Miss 19 could pick up some supplies for the new bag she is making. On the way out Misses 25 and 14 noticed the wheels on Spotlight's trolleys were suitably covered with fabric and thread. Don't you just love fabric and thread?

I have done a little more on my "Good Fortune" quilt today. Honestly, it seems to be taking THE longest time!!!

Here it is right now. I finally have two rows together! Hopefully I can get the others together tomorrow. So tired right now. Goodnight!

It has begun.

2012-01-12T13:16:00.001+10:30

Days when I spend most of my day out and don't sew much at all (there are very few actual no-sew days in my world) I don't seem to be able to remember to blog. I am thinking of having dictionaries around the world change the word "blog" to "brag" because it seems that that's what I do here rather than blog. Now I have no record of a day spent at the Caribbean Gardens and Warrandyte.

Then, when we came home, Miss 19 and I began the packing. Yes, it seems as though we have barely unpacked (our stuff did only arrive here six months ago) and now we need to get everything back in those boxes! Well, possibly not everything. Moving is a wonderful opportunity to sort and discard, if nothing else. So we started on the books yesterday afternoon. Eight boxes were packed, and we had two boxes of discards. We are probably half done. (I know! We have a lot of books! My excuse is that we are homeschoolers and need a lot. Perhaps the real reason is that we are hoarders!) Anyway, we have begun packing and still have no idea of our destination. Moving day is less than three weeks away. Today I am hoping to sew my cares away!

Gingernut Biscuits and Painting.

2012-01-10T16:54:00.000+10:30

Gingernut Biscuits

They look much more delicious in real life than in this photo. It's a bit overcast today, perhaps that's why they look so insipid in this photo. I was madly sewing away on my Kate Spain "Good Fortune" quilt today when I felt the need for sustenance of a sweet, crunchy type. (And a hot milo.) So I made gingernut biscuits. A double batch, of course, because there are seven of us living here. The recipe said a double batch would make 100 biscuits. I got 90-odd. I was quite pleased with that. They must be close to the suggested size! They are yummy. (So was the hot milo.)

Miss 19, on a chair, painting.

I am sewing today. Miss 14 is sewing. (Covers for her folders for school. She believes every folder deserves a fabric cover.) Miss 25 is doing the work I should be doing (yay her!) loading items to eBay. My Bradley is busy working. Mr 17 is playing x-box. Mr 11 is alternating between shooting hoops, watching iview, playing xbox, wandering and eating. Miss 19 is painting something mysterious in a corner of the kitchen. I haven't looked because she doesn't want me too. It's a busy day here with lots of creative energy!

Managed to sew some more today too.

2012-01-09T21:25:00.000+10:30

Lots of 9-patches now

I have had a busy day. I spent the morning straightening up the house (sometimes it just has to be done), then off to the shops to do some chores. (Post office - that's what happens when you sell something on eBay! Spotlight. Coles - there was no milk for breakfast this morning!) This afternoon I sewed a little, visited a sick friend, wrote a letter to my Mum (it will still be a surprise because she is internetless), packaged up a parcel for my grandchildren, sewed some more, prepared dinner, and then sewed some more. It seemed like I got a lot done today. I was able to finish the 9-patches and am now working on some sashings to go around them. I have no idea whether I have enough fabric to finish this quilt top or not. I also have no idea about what I will use to back it. It seems not to matter right now. I just want to get the top finished! Never mind that I have a box full of tops waiting to be quilted. Well, basted and then quilted. I do plan to work on that box of stuff this year, just not right now obviously! Anyway, right now I am loving this quilt-to-be. Oh. And my Bradley.

Fabric and my Bradley *sigh*

Inspired by Kate

2012-01-08T16:01:00.000+10:30

SKoW fabrics sorted and waiting for me to sew them.

I had already begun cutting out my squares and strips for my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt, and then I saw this post by Kate on the stitch-a-long blog. Now I am organised too!

Some sewing

2012-01-07T23:57:00.000+10:30

It has been a week pretty much empty of sewing here. I sometimes wonder where all the hours I have at my disposal go. That's something I want to concentrate on this year. Making the most of the time I have. This week has been devoted to trawling realestate.com.au and looking at houses and thinking about how I really don't want to move. A bit self-absorbed and pointless! So today I decided to get stuck into some sewing. I started working on my SKoW (stitch-a-long) but that just wasn't cutting it today, so I got out a fat 1/8 pack that I bought from Hettie's Patch last time I was in Adelaide.

Good Fortune by Kate Spain

I was looking for something fresh and "Good Fortune" by Kate Spain caught my eye. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but when I was tidying my sewing desk one day before Christmas I saw some Moda Bella grey in the fabric cupboard. It reminded me of good fortune immediately. So I put it in the Hettie's bag to wait.

As you can see, I got it out of the bag today. Ironed it. Cut it up and started sewing it into some nine-patches. (I really love nine-patches for some reason. They always come to my mind.) I thought I might get the nine-patches together, but didn't quite get that far. Tomorrow.

Veggie pancakes

2012-01-05T22:40:00.000+10:30

Last veggie pancake left.

Had a not terribly productive day today. Well, if you measure it by things. If you measure "productive" by more esoteric measures it wasn't too bad. I hit a bunch of secondhand shops with two of my daughters today. They really enjoy secondhand shopping. Miss 19, who has lived on her own this past year, and survived, loves clothes. She mostly only shops in secondhand shops because they have the prices she wants to pay. So she had a lovely time today. I tried to hit a couple of patchwork shops, but they were closed. I was a bit disappointed because I had checked out the website of one in particular and there was no mention of being closed. Of course, it meant that I saved money which can't be a bad thing!

Whilst out shopping our thoughts turned to dinner and Miss 19 declared a want for veggie pancakes. I hadn't made any for ages. I think all my veggie loving kids have moved out and the others are not usually very receptive to such veggie delights. Anyway, I cooked two large stacks and this was all that was left. Definitely making these again soon! While I am on a cooking/dinner track I must mention Frogdancer's latest post. You can read it here. What a bunch of inspiration she has for eating well, but for less money. The amount of money we spend on food has been on my mind a lot this year. Not that it is wrong to spend money on food, but (as Frogdancer points out) do you really want to pour a lot of money down your throat? Would it be better spent elsewhere? I'll leave you to ponder that...

Rhythm.

2012-01-04T20:21:00.000+10:30

I think this posting every day is beginning to form a bit of a rhythm for me. Whilst my "resolution" only started January 1st I have been posting daily since December 12th. I was inspired and intrigued by blogtober, although it took me a little while to begin to post every day. Tonight my words are all jumbled and I am having to use the delete button a lot. Yes, sure sign of a headache for me. Not to worry though. I am off to bed as soon as I have posted this. I did go to bed about half an hour ago, but couldn't settle because I hadn't blogged. Weird, huh? You see what I mean about a rhythm!

Grandson waiting on the stairs for his foph (aunt) last August.

We went to look at the house this morning. It is great. Not the colours I like or anything like that, but it is BIG. I really want BIG just in case anyone wants to pop in and stay for a little while. You know. Anyone like the guy above who we are all missing terribly at the moment. (And his sisters of course!) We have filled in the application forms and now we just have to wait to hear whether we get the house, or not. We shall see I guess. So, the decluttering and destashing has begun. (What else would give me such a headache!) I guess going to look at a house made the whole moving thing seem real. I have made a bit of a start today uploading ~~junk~~ great stuff to eBay. Hopefully tomorrow I will begin to add the destash to etsy. As soon as I do I will let you know.

Results of today.

2012-01-03T21:01:00.000+10:30

Today I actually used the needle I threaded yesterday. The raw edge applique was done some days ago. So believe it or not, I actually have some of my December SKoW finished. My umbrella is back to front because I didn't remember until too late that I should have reversed the drawing for fusible webbing applique.

And I'm not much of a singer. I prefer to walk in the rain. I have also spent time cutting out teeny tiny squares for the filler patchwork that goes in between my December blocks of applique. Now there's a tedious task! It looks good though so I am happy to do it. I have also spent ages drawing ideas for my own favourite things. Not sure if I have quite enough ideas of my own yet, but there are enough to carry on with. And now, last of all, I will show you the grandchildren block. I hate it! I loved it right up until I did their faces. I'm not sure whether I will be able to salvage it or not. I am posting it here so you can see it, but hope you don't cringe too much. (Or laugh too much!!! It really is terrible!) It may be that I will start again on this block. It's funny, because this block is "blocking" me, so I have decided to post it here AND get over it.

Ugly Block

Tomorrow we go to inspect a house. It is two streets away and a similar size to the one we currently live in. Right now it is the only house that suits us sizewise and suburbwise. Wish me luck! I hope it's great and I hope we get it!

Here's Something I Prepared Earlier

2012-01-02T20:55:00.001+10:30

This is a bag I made at the end of November last year. It sounds so long ago when I say last year! I made it for my mum for her birthday and was able to hand deliver it to her when I visited Adelaide. The stitchery is a Gail Pan design that I stitched at a Port Pirie stitching weekend at Country Hart. The fabric was some country checks I bought years ago from the Patchwork Apple. They just scream "patchapple" to me. (My nickname for that favourite shop!) Today has been a hot one here in Melbourne. We made it to 39.6 officially I believe. I seem only to be able to do headaches when it gets hot, so that's what I've done today. I did tidy my sewing desk and thread a needle with some red DMC too, then it was all too much and I gave up. Which turned out to be a good decision really because two of my nieces turned up with two friends looking for somewhere to stay tonight. They are on their way home on a road trip and know they're always welcome at our house. (It's kind of a tradition with us. If any of our kid's friends need somewhere to crash they give us a call and show up. The nieces must not really know the tradition part, cause they got their mum to call!) So I mostly just visited with them this afternoon, hearing all about their trip. A fun time!

So hard to post today!

2012-01-01T21:14:00.001+10:30

So I make a bunch of goals on December 31, not sure whether I will be able to accomplish them, but I'm hopeful. Then January 1st arrives and I have no internet.
None.
*sigh*
Blogging is so hard without the internet! Luckily I have a smartphone, I've never blogged from it before, so this is an experiment!

Today has been a pretty slow day here. We spent New Year's Eve at a friends house. The plan was to be home just after 10pm, but inertia set in. We were sitting, we were comfortable and suddenly it was midnight. So I have done very little today. Tune in tomorrow for some finished stitching!

2011 in review.....

2011-12-31T17:04:00.000+10:30

.....it's been a good year.

We moved to Melbourne, and survived.
I drove to Adelaide and back too many times to count, and survived.
We lived withoutout our *stuff for 6 months, and survived.

*furniture and things

Are you sensing a theme here? Yep. We survived! Survival is important. Certainly basic, but neccessary. I am hoping for a little more from 2012. I have done a little blog hopping today and already there are people in blogland flagging their 2012 goals, and ticking off their 2011 goals. Sometimes I marvel at bloggers' bravery in putting themselves out there, but if you don't aim high I guess you may never get off the ground. (Gosh this post is hard to write! So many edits. So many cliches!!! I wonder if I really talk like that in real life?)

So, goals for 2012

Blog more often. (I love this record of my life and what I'm doing! I loved blogtober and the challenge to blog daily, I learnt quite a bit from doing it. I would like to blog every day, but don't think I will be able to do that. Couldn't even do it in October! Ideally I'd like to blog more each month than I did in that month in 2011.)
Finish the quilt tops I have lying around.
Make six quilts. (This year I made 3, so double that would be good.)
Make things for my home and family. I really want to have a handmade Christmas in 2012. I got close this year. I'd like to get closer next year!

Four goals, enough I think. I have lots more ideas in my head and also more personal goals that I will record elsewhere. Roll on 2012! Let's get started!!!

Oh. And Happy New Year to you all!

My Favourite Things.

2011-12-30T19:18:00.001+10:30

my favourite things

The quilt that we are working on in Chookyblue's stitch-a-long this coming year is from Anni Down's book, "Some Kind of Wonderful". The quilt itself is called "My Favourite Things". I say this coming year as though none of us have yet started. What I actually mean is I haven't really started. Most people started in October and tomorrow is our first deadline. *sigh* Already aggravating the Chook I think! I did get immersed in this quilt yesterday though and I am really looking forward to it. It is a thing of beauty and I have the opportunity to concentrate on and wallow in all my favourite things. The first block we are supposed to make is one of three patty cakes. (Cupcakes) Now, I am not a cake person. (Hard to believe when you see the size of me!) So I began to think about my favourite things and what might be a suitable replacement for three patty cakes. Then it came to me. I have three grandchildren! (Go here to see them doing awesomely great things!) I have to confess here. The patty cakes block reads "patty cakes and other delicious things". I immediately thought of my grandchildren when I read the "other delicious things". This is not because I have tried to eat them up, but because Miss 19 many years ago declared herself to be delicious in answer to the question, "Why do you suck your thumb?".

So I have spent today committing some sort of likeness of my grandchildren to applique. I am quite happy with the block so far. Not finished, but happy. A little more raw edged applique to go and then some drawing to make their faces come alive (I hope!) If it all turns pear-shaped tomorrow you can expect to see a patty cakes block here and me swearing black and blue that I love cake. The raw edged applique on my umbrella block is done, now just a little hand stitching to go. Miss 19 commented that now that I had immortalised the grandchildren I had better be planning to name her as one of my favourite things! I think this quilt may take some time to finish. Of course, it will be all the better for it. I think I'm going to like being wrapped in my favourite things!

Some finished blocks tomorrow I hope!

Another book...

2011-12-30T09:28:00.011+10:30

Miss 19's book

I am having fun making these books. This one is for Miss 19 to use for note taking at uni. She likes to draw as well as take notes so I included some cartridge paper and some canson paper. It is her Christmas present, but I didn't finish it till yesterday. Ooops!

And inside.

Next up I am working on my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt (this year's Chookyblue stitch-a-long quilt) and writing some goals down for the new year. Lots to do!

De-stashing...

2011-12-29T06:24:00.000+10:30

Some of the fabric I found this week.

I discovered a box after Christmas. It had fabric in it. I think I have been in denial about how much fabric I have. I have been inspired by Kim and Kate to do something about my fabric hoard. Yep. I am going to de-stash via my etsy shop. Not just fabric, but books and patterns too I think. In about a week I'll post a link to my etsy shop so you can make the most of the lovely fabric I have that someone else should use! Off to sort through stuff. Do you think there are any more boxes? (Yes, I am moving in a month or so. Trying to make it an easy move!!!)

Christmas Present

2011-12-28T18:23:00.000+10:30

Picklesticks sent me this for Christmas. I love it, and it really is my mantra. Sewing is what I do to keep calm. It seems to make worries evaporate for me and I am a black belt worrier! (Well, we all have to be good at something, don't we?) So, I am keeping calm here by sewing!

SSCS, what I sent to Melinda (USA).....

2011-12-27T13:22:00.001+10:30

Sideways blogger, again! I think it only happens on this computer? It's a book!

I made the book and there is machine embroidery, applique and beading on the cover.

Inside, good for drawing or writing.

Bag, with some colourque and embroidered gum flowers.

Up close and side on!

This is what I sent to Melinda for Chookyblue's SSCS. I had so much fun making these! I also sent some Aussie choccies and some chiccos. (Which are chocolate flavoured jelly babies. This description doesn't do them justice. When my daughter lived in the USA these were the treats she missed the most!) Thanks again Chookyblue! I think you are awesome!

SSCS opened on December 25th!

2011-12-26T13:20:00.000+10:30

This is what was in my package from Laila!

I hope you all had a good Christmas day! Ours was a good, but busy one and I was so tired last night I put this post off until today. You might remember that Laila was my SSCS partner, and this is what she sent me for Christmas. Fabric, a tape measure, and a gorgeous table runner! I am soooo pleased with this. Thank you Laila! The table runner will live on this table. (Still tidying after Christmas day here!) Thank you also to Chookyblue who did all the hard work and whip-cracking for this swap. Great swap guys!!!

I made a bag.

2011-12-24T13:05:00.002+10:30

I made a few bags similar to this. Ikea fabric, with great things in it. I think I need more cloth bags in my life. In fact I will go as far as saying that I need more purpose-sewn cloth bags in my life. Obviously that's why I sewed them for others for Christmas, because they are necessary and wonderful! Expect to see more purpose-sewn cloth bags from me in 2012. Amongst other things of course! (Goal setting happening here people!)

I Baked Today.

2011-12-23T16:26:00.000+10:30

I wanted reindeer, but all I could find were moose!

Aerial shot.

I baked gingerbread today, to be the tundra for my "Frozen North" Christmas gift. Moose, forest and snow on the tundra. My Bradley has just left to deliver them. A bit of Christmas fun from Nigella Lawson's Christmas special. I will make up ours tomorrow for Christmas Eve.

It's the summer holidays!

2011-12-23T09:41:00.000+10:30

For those who don't know, we have homeschooled most of our kids. Some of them however like to go to school. Miss 14 is one of those school goers. Today we popped in to school to pick up her report card because today was officially the last day of school. (Goodbye year 10, hello year 11!) We also had an awards night this week. Miss 14 played with the band in the foyer and then during the night won the music award. She was pretty amazed to win an award. (The photo below shows her being amazed.)

Miss 14 gets her award

I forgot my camera and had to take this photo with my phone. I have been pretty forgetful lately. It will be Christmas in two days and I have actually finished all my Christmas shopping. (Wonders will never cease.) I'm pretty happy about that. I have been getting into the festive spirit by watching Christmas shows on iview. (catch up tv for the ABC) I loved some of the things Nigella made on her Christmas special so I am planning to do some cooking ala Nigella later today. If it turns out as pretty as Nigella's food I will definitely take a photo and show you. Off to the kitchen!!!

I made a bag.

2011-12-22T06:51:00.000+10:30

"Bee Happy!"

And the back.

This is one I started oh-so-long-ago. In fact, I can't quite believe that I have finished it! It stayed fairly true to the original design with just a change to the handles. Yep, they are purchased handles. I like the look of them, and they only cost me a dollar. I have taken a new interest in bags in thrift shops, (these ones came from the Salvos) checking them out purely for their handle value!

Made for Granny Loz

2011-12-21T13:39:00.001+10:30

Bird book

Loz recently celebrated "The Festival of Loz". A week-long celebration of her birth, an hommage to another year of Loz. (You can read about it here.) Quite a good idea really, because I think the world is a much better place because of her. This year I had to celebrate from afar. (Well Melbourne actually.) This is what I made for her.

Marg Low bookmark

Frothy...

2011-12-20T13:27:00.000+10:30

I thought I was making a petti-skirt, but it's definitely a tu-tu I think.

It's very frothy. And very orange. And very spotty. And frothy. Did I mention that it's frothy? And it's made by me, seemingly accidently, because this is not really what I intended at all. I am sure that a very small girl will love it however. Back with more things we made tomorrow.

They made earrings.

2011-12-19T09:39:00.000+10:30

the earrings on "cards"

Miss 25 and Miss 14 (who is now on the countdown to being 15!) have been busy making jewelery. They like to make it because it's fun and I like them to make it because I am wanting to use it as Christmas gifts! I carded up all the earrings they have made so far, which I thought would be a boring job, but it was actually pretty fun. They have made more than this, but I had already wrapped quite a few before I thought to take a photo. They are having so much fun doing it that Mr 11 has joined in too. (What's not to love about a craft that uses pliers!)

Baking

2011-12-18T16:00:00.001+10:30

Banana cakes

Yesterday I did some baking. We wanted to give a few of the people who have been kind to us here in Melbourne a little something sweet for Christmas. In my head I had visions of gorgeous Christmassy cookies arrange beautifully on plates... hmm... But there were six bananas needing something done with them (either a trip to the bin, or to be made into cake) so I made a triple batch of banana cake. Quite often tripling a recipe makes it not quite so good, but this one was fine. (As the mother of eight children I have had much experience doubling and tripling (sometimes even quadrupling) recipes!) So, once I got over the visions of ~~sugar plum fairies~~ gorgeous cookies in my head, I knuckled down to rescuing the bananas!

White Chocolate Gingerbread Slice.

Then I decided to try something new. I think that the white chocolate gingerbread slice I made (double batch, in a roasting tin) was a little overcooked. The white chocolate was deliciously caramalised, but I don't think that was the effect the recipe writer had in mind. Nevertheless, it was proclaimed delicious by my boys and looked pretty good once I had dusted the top with icing sugar. We ended up filling six paper plates with sweet morsels and my Bradley and I (along with the boys) went for a drive to drop the plates off. Everyone was suitably impressed and grateful (I did mention that they were the kindest people in Melbourne, didn't I?) and I think the boys really enjoyed giving the plates to our friends. (I was careful to save some for them too!) We also planned today what we will bake for our Christmas celebration. I think all the fun of baking is in the planning, the boys think it's all in the eating!

SSCS Received!!!

2011-12-17T21:20:00.000+10:30

Yesterday I went out to check my letterbox and my SSCS was there!!! Much excitement here. And it was from Laila. (You can check her blog out here.) She sent me two beautiful ornaments, which are now on our tree.

up close

the two together on my tree

Laila is from Norway which I found pretty exciting. Mostly because I don't really know anyone from Norway! She also sent me two packages to open on Christmas day. I am looking forward to opening them. They are under our tree.

they are the red packages in the center

Ahh... So all is right with the world. I managed to wrap three gifts for my family today. The first ones, so I am on my way to being ready for Christmas. Not bad with a week to go! I quite often don't wrap the first gift until Christmas Eve so I am feeling organised! (Stop laughing you truly organised people!) More to do tomorrow though!

Favourite Things Friday

2011-12-16T11:05:00.000+10:30

I love looking at everyone's Favourite Things Friday posts. They have cheered me up immensely today! So thank you for FTF Shay. (The infamous Mrs P. You can go here to see more FTF posts.) In fact, I was so touched by the posts that I have decided to do one of my own. My favourite thing today is my sewing room.

Here it is, just as I left it last night. A bit messy, but basically usable.

I love this room. It is the "dining room" and is connected to the "formal lounge room". Of course, there's nothing much "formal" about my set up of these rooms. It's a pretty good sized room and is right next door to the kitchen too which means I am in the center of everything going on in our house. I like that. We can all hang out together while I am sewing!

My sewing machine area. "The hub".

I love my sewing machine. My desk is a little messy here, but not too bad because I had a quick "putting away" session yesterday arvo. I finished off a couple of projects and put away all the paraphenalia to do with those projects. Well, most of it.

Our family computer.

There is even a spot for a computer in here! Great for surfing those blogs (I'm sitting there writing this now!) or playing those dvds which I love to sew by. Right now I am having a "One Foot in the Grave"-athon. It was "Rumpole of the Bailey" earlier this week. It is also excellent for playing Minecraft, Runescape, The Sims, and for doing all sorts of computer animation. (That's what the kids do on it.) Certain kids also spend hours here looking at Lego and Magic the Gathering cards.

Spaces for other people to work along with me.

And there are spaces to have "guest" sewers! Recent guests have included picklesticks and various other children. So you see, it really is the best sewing room I have ever had. Oh. And if you are worried that there is very little stash storage here, it's ok. I have my stash in Ikea billy's (with doors) either side of the tv in the living room. I also have a table in there for additional guest sewers, and to cut out clothes.

I love this space! Even out the window is great because we have a creek behind the house. Right now I can hear kookaburras and cicadas. Is now the right time to tell you that we have to move in seven weeks time? *sigh* Just when you get everything good, someone wants you to move. (That would be our landlord. Anyone would think the house belonged to him!) And we have no idea where we will be moving to! It's a bit too soon to look yet, plus there is nothing suitable to rent at the moment. (I'll admit it. I looked!) So right now we are just going to enjoy this house while we can. I'm planning to sew non-stop for the next three or four weeks. Then I'll start packing.

I made books.

2011-12-15T19:42:00.001+10:30

Handmade Books

With cartridge paper inside.

These were inspired by a book Miss 19 has. She is completely in love with her book. Hers looks handmade, so I thought I could make some myself too. They were a lot of fun to make and involved two of my favourite things, paper and fabric. I just love sewing through paper on my sewing machine! Not sure if it is the element of the forbidden that thrills me so much, or not. I must have a lot of rules and regulations in my head I think. Some that I don't even realise are there. One of them must read: "Never sew paper on your sewing machine". A few years ago I was reading through a Leanne Beasley book which had some paper and fabric sewn together in it. As I was admiring it I said to Mrs 27 that I would have to buy or designate a "paper" sewing machine. She just looked at me blankly and told me I could just use my machine, she does. What a bombshell! It took me ages to get my head around that concept. Now I sew paper on my machine as if it is nothing. (Just another of the many things I have learnt from my children.)

I made bags.

2011-12-14T19:41:00.000+10:30

Moda Bakeshop bag.

I have been busy sewing all week this week and yet it doesn't seem as though I'm getting very far. I thought perhaps it's because I haven't really posted anything finished here, so I've decided to post. Three bags finished, all bar the snaps on the front and that will require some thinking because I haven't used the snap machine for about 12 months I think! The thinking is the hard part, best saved until morning. Now I'm debating whether to sew some more this evening. Unfortunately tired = mistakes for me. Perhaps not!

Three of them.

The Christmas Ornament I Sent

2011-12-13T09:19:00.000+10:30

A tree for a tree!

Is anyone else having problems with blogger putting their photos sideways? Yesterday and today I have had this problem. I feel a genius today though because I tipped this one on it's side before blogger did and da-dah! Photo right way up!

This is the ornament I sent to Melinda (visit her here) for Chookyblue's SSCS. I am still waiting for my SSCS to arrive. While I wait I am busy sewing gifts. Some may make an appearance here, I have to consider whether my recipients read my blog or not!

I have also made some progress on my Some Kind of Wonderful (SKoW) quilt for this year's stitch-a-long. (Visit the stitch-a-long blog here to see everyone's progress!) Yes, I now have fabric so I can begin. I probably won't start until after Christmas though. I have a bit to do until then!

Think I spoke too soon!

2011-12-12T11:00:00.000+10:30

Gosh, I have been a slack blogger! I can't believe that it is almost halfway through this month! Last time I posted I mentioned that I was starting to feel better, but the next day was feeling sick again. Just a cold, but I ended up with a sinus infection that I am still struggling with. (Sooo much discomfort! Even my teeth are hurting!!!) Of course, since then I have had good days and bad days so there has been making going on here, although much of it is secret! I also managed to travel to Adelaide to see Miss 21's gallery opening for her grad show. She has just finished her Honours year in Visual Arts and there was much excitement on the weekend when she discovered that she has received a Distinction for her year's work. Much excitement because of her achievement, but also because it almost certainly means she will get an offer to study some more next year. She is hoping to become an art teacher eventually. Who knew that Art teachers had so much training? So far four years, with another two to come!

Miss 21 with her sculpture of her and me.

So now my shape has been exhibited in a gallery! (Thanks for that darling!) Better than a photo I guess. Must get back to the making. (Less than two weeks till Christmas you know.) I am still waiting on my SSCS package, but the one I sent to Melinda in the USA has arrived, thank goodness! The wait for your partner to receive their package always seems so much more streesful than waiting for your own to arrive! I will show you the ornament I sent next time!

I'm back in the land of the living, unlike this softie.

2011-11-29T22:41:00.000+10:30

Dead lizard.

I have been sick, and busy. You know how it is. I have been working on some lovely things, but can't share them with you because they are part of Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap. (I'm actually really pleased with the gifts I made. Can't wait till Christmas to see how they are received!) I managed to send my parcels off to somewhere overseas today. (Yes, a bit late, but last week was a dreadful week! Couldn't go anywhere or do anything!) So, since I can't share the lovely things I thought I would share a gross thing that Miss 25 made last week. A dead lizard. You know you want one! Of course it is her own pattern. The dead lizard is the first in a series of softies that Miss 25 and Miss 19 are collaborating on. They have been working on a dragon, a cupcake, a snail and a pocket watch today. My sewing room and lounge room (which are connected) have been filled with making and doing the past few days. It has been lovely as we each have been working on our respective projects. There is fabric everywhere, and beads, and embroidery threads, and three sewing machines set up on three tables. Hmm... perhaps I need to do a little tidy tomorrow morning. And then on to more sewing. (I have so many things I want to make at the moment!)

Exposed guts and ribs.

Bluebirds of happiness.

2011-11-18T19:28:00.000+10:30

The bluebirds

Longtime readers of my blog may remember my bluebirds of happiness. Or not. I haven't featured them for a long time. They are lights that I bought from Ikea (<3 Ikea!) and attached to some good old Patchwork Apple pipberries in my sewing room at Holden Hill. They didn't make it out of the box at the last house, but I have put them up in my lounge room today. Aren't they pretty? I feel happy just looking at them! We are starting to get our house Christmased-up ready for December. Miss 25 decided that our brown glass light fittings needed some Christmasing-up and instead of brown glass we are now looking at this...

We Christmased-up the light fitting.

Muuuuch better! As for sewing, I sewed the other footstool cover yesterday and I spent today tidying my sewing space. My desk was shoulder high in some places with "stuff". As I cleared the desk I also repaired items I found. Cushion covers, trousers, you know, all those things that a sewing desk accumulates. So now I'm am ready to sew! A lot! When I get back from my long drive this weekend that is. I'm making a flying visit to Adelaide to pick up Miss 19. Uni is over for the year and she is coming to visit us for the summer! Hooray! Catch you when I get home!

A better day.

2011-11-16T21:46:00.000+10:30

It was a better day today. My head felt much better. So much so that this afternoon I made a footstool cover.

new footstool cover

I bought these footstools from Ikea in Adelaide some years ago now. They were flatpacks from "As Is". A discontinued item and there were no covers for them so they were very cheap. It took years for us to get them out of the boxes and quite some time for me to make these covers! You can see an uncovered footstool to the left in the photo. The second cover is almost finished too. They are great footstools, with storage under the cushion. I keep the spare covers from my Ikea Ecktorp sofas in them. (Gotta love a sofa with washable covers. Especially at my house!) I also did some secret sewing too. (Shhhhh!)

Struggling this week...

2011-11-16T08:51:00.001+10:30

... because I have been doing those headaches again. Who knows why. If I was really serious about getting things done I would just stop having those headaches I think! So, no sewing done (Although I did go visiting teaching and gift some ornaments.) and no decorating for Christmas done either. (But we did get our piano delivered from the prison they call storage this week. I personally feel the piano is really just an oversized Christmas dekky. Christmas tunes, singing around the piano...) Last night I was pretty much over the whole headache thing and decided to just do something and pretend I didn't have a headache. The something that I felt I could do was painting, so I dragged out my easel out of the garage and my acrylic paints out of the cupboard. Actually it was an episode of Australian Story, "When William met Sarah", which is about actor William McInnes and his producer wife Sarah Watts who recently lost her battle with cancer. She was a remarkable woman, which got me to thinking about women in general. Most of us are pretty remarkable. Most of us are also remarkably hard on ourselves. We need to be kinder to ourselves! We are remarkable! (More on this theme here from President Uchtdorf.) Anyway, so I painted a little last night and plan to paint some more today. I haven't painted for sooooo long, I thought my paints may have dried up and been completely unusable, but they were fine. So the list for today so far reads:

Paint
Sew
Decorate
Clean house
Wash clothes
Change rooms around

A snap I'm sure! Oh. And the "change rooms around" relates to Miss 19 who is coming to spend the summer with us in Melbourne. Woohoo! Happy dances all round here! (We can't wait!)

Ornaments

2011-11-13T21:57:00.000+10:30

A variation on a Christine Book design.

The kids and I made a whole bunch of these Christine Book hearts quite some time ago now. (Years in fact!) In some ways it seems like just the other day. Anyway, I discovered some of these felt hearts cut out in a box whilst searching for Christmas bells the other day and decided to stitch one up for another friend. Miss 14 made one for our tree too. I know it was a long time ago that we made the originals because I still have hers and the difference in ability is amazing!

Not much else was accomplished this weekend. I seem to have had a lazy weekend with quite a lot of time spent at the shops! Gosh that eats into your day! I even managed a bit of a sleep in this morning. (Perfectly allowable because church doesn't start till 11am.) This week we are planning on moving more furniture and changing some more rooms around. It will have to be finished off this week though because the kids are hosting a farewell party on Friday night for some of their friends who are moving to the Gold Coast. So, I'm not sure how much sewing will get done this week. We will see!

Finished!

2011-11-11T08:34:00.000+10:30

Funny colours! Those pink squares are not so pink in real life.

I finished the snipping on Mr 11's quilt yesterday, which was a very good thing because he had already been using it, he was so keen to have it! I spent yesterday evening stitching some more Christmas dekkies. One of Miss 25's friends popped in and sewed with us, making a star to take home to make her place more Christmassy. (You can see her star in the photo below.) I can't show you exactly what I was stitching last night, because some things just have to be secret! (Especially when you are involved in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap!) There is quite a bit of secret sewing going on here at the moment! Christmas is a wonderful time! I was going to start decorating for Christmas yesterday, but just didn't get that far. Then in conversations with two of my Adelaide kids discovered that they had both begun Christmas decorating already! I felt proud. I have taught them well! Don't know if I will get to the decorating today or not. I have lots of chauffeuring to do today. (Some days are like that when you have kids.) And some secret sewing. (Shhhhhh!)

Another star!

PS Don't forget to check out picklesticks' giveaway!

Christmas Stitching and a Giveaway!

2011-11-09T20:05:00.000+10:30

So I started snipping Mr 11's quilt today, I really did, but Miss 25 started sewing Christmas decorations. How am I supposed to resist that? So I didn't. This is the table she set out in front of me to tempt me.

Our stitching table

I decided to sew a heart for a friend of mine. It was so much fun. Beads, sequins and embroidery threads are some of my favourite things!

Heart (mine)

Miss 25 decided to make a star just because. We are going to start decorating for Christmas at our house any minute now, and we probably need a few more stars!


Star (hers)

We had so much fun today with this Christmas stitching. It is so much fun to be able to complete a project in a day. It makes you feel so productive! As for tomorrow, I'm planning to continue the snipping. Really, I am!

Two Christmas Dekkies!

Now for the GIVEAWAY. It's not mine, but my daughters. Pop on over to Picklesticks and have a look!

Just snipping left!

2011-11-08T17:55:00.000+10:30

It fits!

Here's Mr 11 laying on his new shaggy flannel quilt. I think it's big enough for him to enjoy for a while. I just have the snipping left to do. That's slated for tomorrow. I am having "sewing day" at my house tomorrow. I have to admit to sewing every day at my house, but Wednesdays I invite others to come sew with me. I have only had two people pop in to sew with me so far, but I am quite happy with that. I am here sewing anyway! So tomorrow my sewing will be snipping!

Do you like books?

2011-11-07T22:04:00.000+10:30

I do. I have always loved to read. Ever since I got the hang of reading in my head (without saying the words aloud) I have loved it. It was such a significant moment for me that I remember it distinctly. I spent most of my spare time in childhood reading. I used it to pass the time, to cheer myself up, and to distract myself from pain and it worked brilliantly for all those things. It was also fun. My brother and sister were regularly sent to their rooms for time out or for a punishment. I never was because my mother recognised that I was never as happy as when I was alone in my room reading. I read everything. Even labels. It was all fascinating to me.

My local Lincraft store has craft books 3 for $20. This is one I bought today.

I love to look at quilting and craft books. Mostly I don't make anything from them, but I love to look. I guess they are all inspirational. This is one I am looking at tonight. I love the piecing in these blocks. Piecing is one of my favourite parts of the quilting process.

So after today's jaunt to the shops I have three new books to read. All with fantastic photos too! Oh. And an update on the shaggy flannel quilt - I have got it half put together. A little more work tomorrow and then it will just need snipping. I am off to read and then hopefully dream of piecing fabric together!

Machine piecing is my favourite!

Shaggy flannel quilt progress

2011-11-06T18:26:00.000+10:30

Pinned, ready to be put together.

I have had a busy weekend. Friday Mr 11 and I drove to Adelaide with Mrs 27 and the three grandchildren. It's an all day drive, especially with a three month old in tow. Saturday we got to go op shopping with Miss 19 (Gosh that girl can shop! We had a lovely time with her.) and then we attended an 80th birthday party. After the party we drove home, arriving in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Today has been a go slow kind of day. Too much driving this weekend I think. Anyway, this afternoon Mr 17 and I laid out the shaggy flannel quilt for Mr 11 on the lounge room floor. (Mr 17 has a good eye for these things you know. I have to think less when I have his help. I definitely needed that today!) We fiddled a bit with the blocks and then we pinned it together. Now it is ready to sew! It's tomorrow's project I think! (tired, tired, tired.)

A post with a photo!

2011-11-02T22:51:00.000+10:30

I have been thinking today. Thinking about how much I have learnt in the past couple of years. This line of thinking came to me because of a discussion on ABC radio. Some study had shown that the first three years of a child's life are vital to their learning and someone had posed the question, "Should we be starting children's formal education earlier?" I thought all the discussion would be agreeing with the question, but it wasn't. In fact a couple of people pointed out that learning is not confined to institutions or certain periods of life and that it should be a lifelong thing. And then I began to wonder just what I have learnt of late.

How to use a computer and how to blog topped my list. Blogging, and the contacts I have made because of blogging, is one of my funnest things! My eldest child taught me everything I know on that score! And whilst she has been visiting with us she has taught me something else new. I can now sell things on eBay! For those of you who are very computer literate this may not sound too impressive, but I am impressed! I sold something this week and posted it off today. (Hopefully it will arrive at it's destination!!!) Nothing can stop me now. Decluttering, here I come!

Uncomfortable. Grandson napping when he really didn't want to. Curse that DVD and that comfy quilt!

Hello November, a Public Holiday, and a Transformation.

2011-11-01T22:25:00.000+10:30

Today is a public holiday here in Victoria. A public holiday in honour of a horse race. I was happy to have the holiday although I didn't watch the horse race at all. Oh. And it's November. Hard. To. Believe. Christmas is almost here which means that 2012 is just moments away. Oh well, this year has just flown for me. I am going to take a leaf out of the "Blogtober" book and attempt to blog more often so I can remember better all the things that just fly by! Today has been a day of buttonholes for me and hopefully this evening will be an evening of buttons! Mrs 27 has been busy sewing whilst visiting and I am doing the buttons and buttonholes for her. (You can see her sewing here.) Oh. And I did finish the lounge room transformation. Here is the proof!

The new sit and do space. Mr 11 was building a flat pack for me. I stapled fabric to the inside of the "Billy" doors to hide the stuff. I like the cupboards much better now.

The TV and sitting area (with the superhero, The Blur!)

The TV and sitting area without The Blur. My sewing room is to the right of this picture through a large opening. It's floor space and the sitting room's floor space combine to make it feel like one larger space. It's not for everyone, but having my sewing area in the center of our family living seems to work best for us.

Blogtober - the review

2011-10-31T18:04:00.000+10:30

Tired.

Well, I didn't manage it. Blogging every day in October I mean. I only managed 24 posts. Of course, that was a lot more than I would have done otherwise, so I think I am happy with the outcome. I would like to blog more often than I do (I love having a record of my life!) and I think that blogtober has helped me focus more on blogging, so that's got to be good! Today I am feeling tired. Still getting over this wretched virus. Mr 17 who was sick much worse than me is now starting to feel himself again, so I'm sure I will be tip top by the end of the week! Of course I did shop till I dropped today at Spotlight, Patchwork with Gail B, and Ikea. I should be tired! I did go and get more fabric for Mr 11's shaggy flannel quilt. Now I have all the ingredients and I have a deadline. Thursday night. (It's a race Sarah!)

Sewing a shaggy flannel quilt - blogtober

2011-10-30T21:38:00.000+10:30

Today I started sewing another one of those shaggy flannel quilts. I cut the flannel out sometime last year and cut out just over half of the batting last month, so I put a little over half of the quilt together today. I made a goal to make a shaggy flannel quilt for each of the kids who lived at home last year and this is the last one. (You can see the others here, here, here and here.) I figured Mr 11 won't be leaving home any time soon, but he is yearning for his very own flannel quilt. I am beginning to think though that his quilt may need to be a little bigger than originally planned and I might have to go to the fabric shop to purchase more flannel. Both of his brothers were 6 feet tall when thirteen which isn't all that far away now. Oh well, if I must go to the fabric shop, I must!

A yellow dress this time - blogtober

2011-10-28T17:52:00.000+10:30

It looks a little yellow here, but in real life it is a buttery yellow.

It's hard to believe from this photo that this dress is the same as the one in yesterday's photo, but it is. Here it looks to me like a doll dress and like it wouldn't fit that granddaughter of mine at all, but it does. I haven't done much else today. A couple of school runs. That's about it. My Bradley even had to go off to the fish and chip shop to procure some dinner for us tonight. Chips and dim sims which caused a cry of glee from the very young here. Maybe I'll go look at the gleeful chips and dim sims.

OK. Back in the land of the living - blogtober.

2011-10-27T18:51:00.000+10:30

I'm still sick, but have been pottering around at home this week. I felt I really didn't have anything to blog about, but Mrs 27 (picklesticks), who is still visiting with us, figured I should blog this. In fact she even took these photos. (Thanks Jess) This is three month old granddaughter 2 wearing the new dress I managed to finish for her this week. I also managed to finish sorting and tidying the sewing room and the lounge room revamp is just one area away from being finished too. Actually you can get quite a lot done pottering around I think. My Bradley celebrated his birthday this week and I decided to make him a sticky date pudding in lieu of a birthday cake. I had never made one before, but managed to find a most delicious recipe which was also extremely easy to make. It was so easy I made two of them and we have been enjoying the leftovers. Mr 11 has a birthday party with his friends coming up and he has requested the sticky date pudding as his birthday cake for that event. (I know! You know your kids are all grown up when your baby requests a sticky date pudding for his birthday cake!) Anyway, back to the sewing. I have another little dress cut out so will try to finish that tomorrow. Hopefully I will be feeling much better then! (I needed two naps today to get through the day. Bring on tomorrow!)

grandson showing his sister how to smile for the camera

Oh. And notice the Tis the Season quilt. That's what we have been doing with those quilts this week!

Sick...

2011-10-23T21:45:00.000+10:30

... and miserable. *sigh* Mr 17 has been sick since Thursday and now we are sick together. Mr 11 joined in first and now me. I'm planning to have the most awesome sleep ever tonight and wake up tomorrow morning fully recovered! (Well, you've got to have a plan.)

Saturday's Post - blogtober

2011-10-22T22:58:00.000+10:30

Grant's Picnic Ground

A busy day. We stopped off to see Puffing Billy at Belgrave this morning with our grandchildren and then I spent the rest of the day sorting, sorting, sorting.

Older - blogtober

2011-10-21T20:59:00.000+10:30

Happy Birthday!

Mr 10 became Mr 11 today. We had a birthday dinner with him this evening. It's quite strange to think that my baby is 11. It seems like just the other day that we went to the hospital so that I could push him out. It didn't take long actually. We were only there for a couple of hours before he arrived. All 11 odd pounds of him. Of course, a lot has changed. When he was born all my children were children. Now some of them have children! Only half of them are left at home and even they are old! I think he had a good evening. He is downstairs watching an action movie with the others. (I don't know. Action movies are just not my thing.)

Happy Lights

This is the only bit of the lounge room reshuffle that I feel happy to show you. My one year old granddaughter calls these happy lights. No, it doesn't need subsequent trips to Ikea, I am just not finished yet. Maybe I will be done sometime tomorrow. And when I am done. There will be photos!

A partly finished dress - blogtober

2011-10-20T21:49:00.000+10:30

I seem to talk about long term projects here quite a bit. This is one you may not have thought of as a long term project. A tiny dress that I cut out in 2010 for a granddaughter, that I am sewing in 2011 for a different granddaughter. I started sewing it yesterday, and whilst there has been progress today, it's not finished yet. I am using a seersucker fabric. I love seersucker! So soft, so cool in the summer months. Anyway, my fairly ordinary amount of sewing achieved today was because I embarked on a bigger project. I decided to shift my living room around. Something I have been thinking of for a while. Bam! I was hit with inspiration today and decided that THIS was the moment! It's not quite finished yet, but hopefully that will happen tomorrow. The shuffle neccessitated a visit to Ikea (of course) to pick up a now urgently needed item. All I can say is thank goodness Ikea is open until 9pm every week night here in Melbourne! I took "before" photos this morning, so if it turns out beautifully tomorrow I will show you. If I don't post it you can assume another visit to Ikea is in order!

My how the weather has changed! - blogtober

2011-10-19T21:22:00.000+10:30

The coldest day ever!

You know I'm struggling for blog fodder when I start talking about the weather, right? Well, I have done some sewing today, but there are no photos! So perhaps I am struggling for images. Today was warm. My Davis weather station told me it got to 30 degrees celcius in my backyard today. Our first really warm day for the season here in Melbourne. The photo above was taken in August when our grandson came to visit us for a little holiday. It was soooo cold that day at the playground that immediately after this photo was taken he agreed to put a jumper on! (Something that has only happened a couple of times this year.) Well, two months later and he is visiting again and it is hot! He has had to eat several ice blocks today to keep cool. In fact, we all have!

I managed to sew a little of a dress for granddaughter two today. This morning we had a friend come by to learn to sew. She is determined to sew clothes for her daughter. She started by learning to thread the machine and do a little sewing. Then she traced a pattern and cut it out. I think if she enjoys the sewing she will actually do it because she is very determined. Next week she will come back to learn how to put the shorts together. I have decided to sew one day a week and invite others to come sew with me. I so miss my sewing groups that I sewed with last year that I decided I should make my own happen. I'll let you know if anyone turns up next week!

Pinboards! - blogtober

2011-10-18T21:24:00.000+10:30

Three pinboards in the sewing room.

As part of the tidying process I have been putting pinboards and pictures up. (Five pinboards yesterday. No wonder I am in love with pinterest. Pinboards feature largely in my life!) I use the 3M removable velcro hooks to hang pinboards. It works wonderfully and really is removable! (I actually reused the velcro hooks from the last house, just with new adhesive sections.) Today I started pinning up some of my favourite things. My sewing room just keeps getting happier!

A closeup of my favourite things!

Tidying the Sewing Room - blogtober

2011-10-17T21:08:00.000+10:30

grandson

One of the things my daughter and I plan to do whilst she's here is sew together. Of course, it's never quite that simple, is it? My sewing room is messy. The pinboards aren't on the wall and my cutting out table is piled high. Then there's the washing, meal preparation, and child tending. Let's just say that we haven't started sewing yet. However, today we did make a dent in the mess and the washing. Oh. And the pinboards are finally up. Tomorrow looks like more of the same and then Wednesday we should be sewing!

Visitors! - blogtober

2011-10-16T19:37:00.000+10:30

daughter-in-law, along with her nephew (grandson)

granddaughter

my Bradley along with granddaughter 2

picklesticks and granddaughter 2

It's a family kind of weekend here, with picklesticks (daughter) visiting with her three children and our daughter-in-law visiting on the tail end of a business trip. So, a full house today and a busy one at that. We have grand plans to spend a week or two sewing. We'll see how we go!

Black Cockatoo - blogtober

2011-10-15T21:58:00.000+10:30

I had a great day today! Not sure what it is, but not having a migraine today really gave me a zest for life. Everything seemed impossibly wonderful. Then late this afternoon I saw three black cockatoos and I knew it was a wonderful day for sure! You see in Australia we have lots and lots of cockatoos. Mostly they are the white, sulphur crested cockatoos pictured below. They are everywhere! (And noisy too! Of course, I can forgive them that because they are beautiful.)

regular

ordinary

run of the mill

But black cockatoos are pretty rare so it really was a special day today! The cockatoos I saw looked something like this. (Not my photo)

black cockatoo, wikipedia

We actually have a sulphur crested cockatoo featured in part of our family folklore. When Mr 17 was just 18 months old we went to visit one of my Bradley's cousins. They lived on a farm and apart from dairy cows the farm was also home to rescued wildlife. They had a cocky in a cage and for some reason as my little boy toddled across their grass the cocky opened it's cage (have I said they are pretty smart creatures?) and went straight for my boy. It got in his face and then bit his top lip open. They have very strong beaks! There was blood everywhere and our visit was cut short so that we could race our 18 month old to the hospital. Apparently cocky's beaks are not only strong, but also full of germs so in addition to having to have plastic surgery on his lip to sew it up (general anesthetic) he also had to have an IV of antibiotics. It made for an interesting weekend and makes a pretty interesting story too. I still love cockatoos, but Mr 17 is not so sure. He doesn't really trust them!

Wishing for a grey day - blogtober

2011-10-14T13:29:00.000+10:30

... but not getting one. I have had a migraine the past couple of days and missed posting. I love grey days, especially grey, wet days because they make your aching head feel better. Maybe this is why I am a winter girl rather than a summer lover. Anyway, winter appears to be over for sure, even here in Melbourne. So, in order to simulate a grey day, I close the heavy curtains at our windows and sit in the dark. I have sat at my sewing desk going through my scrap basket, touching all my scraps and even ironing a few really crunkled pieces. I have a pattern in front of me along with the fabric and yet still nothing has eventuated. Maybe tomorrow. (I'm hoping for a grey day tomorrow too.)

Ten days is all it took - blogtober

2011-10-12T08:32:00.000+10:30

fingernail art, Miss 14's latest obsession

two penguins, three snowy scenes

Darn! Missed posting yesterday. I had one of those days (spent doing nothing much more than housework and chores!) and then spent the evening out at Young Women's (church youth group) helping 20plus 12-17 year olds with a charitable sewing project. The girls were all very fun and some of them even wanted to sew! Some of them could sew even! I was most impressed with my own young woman who took one of the newly turned 12 girls under her wing and helped her. Oh. And here are the results of her latest "thing". Picture nails. Cute penguins. I took these photos before she'd had a chance to clean her fingers up, but they're still cute!

I finished a quilt today, how was your day? -blogtober

2011-10-10T19:55:00.000+10:30

the back

second Tis the Season quilt

closeup of quilting

more, because I like it so

Yes, I finally finished my second Tis the Season quilt this morning. I like it. After finishing it I started writing my "This Week" list. That's because it was on last week's "This Week" list. It doesn't do to mix your weeks up you know. Are you a list maker? I have been writing lists of late. I'm not sure whether I get more done or not, but it feels like I do. I very bravely put a more than three year old quilt on this week's list this morning. I know how old the quilt is because it was intended for a grandchild. I have dragged it out previously and that ended in tears, so I feel brave today. I unpicked some quilting-gone-wrong on it last week and am hoping that I will be able to finish it and send it to a young man. We'll see if the list works!

PJ day - blogtober

2011-10-09T20:44:00.000+10:30

Lego dude by Mr 17

We managed a pyjama day today. Well, I did anyway. I love days like that. And then dinner was a roast. Easiest dinner ever I think, a roast. Just get it all ready, stick it in the oven and then disappear. Dessert was fairy floss courtesy of the recent Melbourne show. A good day all round. See you tomorrow!

Some Kind of Wonderful - blogtober

2011-10-08T23:30:00.003+10:30

This year I have been busy stitching along with about 90-odd others. (That sounds like an insult, doesn't it? None of the 90-odd are "odd". Just not sure exactly how many of us there are!) We have been stitching Natalie Bird's "Tis the Season" and it has been a joy. We share our progress with each other via a Stitch-a-Long blog. It is an encouraging place to visit, and fun too! I enjoyed stitching Tis the Season so much I stitched two quilts worth. I finished the quilting on the second quilt today. That just leaves the binding and I'm sure I will finish it in the next couple of days. So this post is about our next stitch-a-long. It comes from Anni Downs book, "Some Kind of Wonderful".

The quilt is called "My Favourite Things". The first fabrics have been shown on the blog tonight. (Check it out here.) Many thanks to Chookyblue for such fun! I'm off to think about fabrics for the new SAL!

A week of pies and tarts - blogtober

2011-10-07T23:59:00.000+10:30

A couple of pies, and some tarts from this week's sewing. I tend to do this stitching in the evening, when I can't possibly concentrate on anything else because I am just too tired or too done with the day. No such stitching this evening though. I did a little quilting on the red and white quilt this afternoon (3/4 done now) and then developed a headache so promptly took it off to bed. That's where I am now, contemplating sleep. (And wondering if I know how to turn my Bradley's phone sounds off because he is asleep and keeps getting SMSes. I'll have to work it out or wake him up I think!)

Quilting, quilting, quilting - blogtober

2011-10-06T19:16:00.000+10:30

second Tis the Season tonight, half done

I spent another day quilting today. Well, some of today that is. There was some housework/chores that needed attention too. I am quilting my second Tis the Season in a similar manner to the first (lots of squares) but the quilting will be heavier on the second one. I tossed up whether to free motion quilt it, to go all curvy and flowery, but Mr 17 convinced me to go with squares. I am glad he did, because I am very happy with it tonight. Six of the twelve blocks are quilted. They feel great! I really love a heavily quilted quilt. They just feel so wonderful. Hopefully I will finish the other six blocks tomorrow. Then I will have to think about the binding. Red? White? A combo of the two? Or some of the stripey backing fabric?

beginning this morning

Today I quilted - Blogtober

2011-10-05T21:45:00.000+10:30

Just beginning to quilt

Quilting in progress

I basted my two "Tis the Season" quilts this morning and then began to quilt. It is school holidays here, which means no school run and friends over to amuse the kids. Well, the boys had friends over and played Yu-gi-oh and Magic the Gathering card games. Miss 14 amused herself with some homework and some jewellery making. My Bradley had a country trip to do, but said he would shop for and make dinner for the 10 of us who were eating here tonight. So I just quilted and quilted! It was a lovely day!

A pieced back

The finished "Tis the Season"

And I managed to finish my first Tis the Season quilt. I love it. I am really pleased with it. The second quilt is sitting on my machine right now waiting for me to quilt it tomorrow. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a fun day too!

Today I sewed - Blogtober

2011-10-04T18:51:00.000+10:30

I have been sewing today. These blocks are from my second "Tis the Season" quilt. I finished the stitcheries quite some time ago and the blocks were all half done until today. I had been thinking that I would use these blocks to make table runners and other such Christmassy items, but despite making that decision some time ago nothing much happened. I decided that perhaps that wasn't what I really wanted to do with them, so today I finished the blocks and turned them into a quilt top.

Rather than just bordering the blocks I decided to do a bit of a log cabin thing. I like it very much and can't wait to finish it! Miss 25 was assuring me today that it is time to start getting Christmassy because there is Christmas stuff in the shops already. I am disbelieving of this, but can't wait to finish my Christmas quilts so they can decorate my house! So today, sewing 1, decluttering 0. Roll on tomorrow!

Our Pods, Blogtober

2011-10-03T22:14:00.000+10:30

I am still busy organising things here at Rosemary Hill. (Rosemary Hill is what our home is always called. Mostly because no matter where we live one of the first things I do is plant a rosemary bush. Love rosemary!) This is what one of the pods that held our stuff for six months looked like.

Mr 10 in superhero mode

It was kind of nice living in our house without a lot of stuff. There was sooo much room! I don't want you to think that there weren't upsides to having no stuff. Space is lovely. Of course, I am a stuff kind of person (You don't become a patchworker with a stash without an appreciation for stuff!) but I am beginning to wonder if we perhaps have too much stuff? So last week I got Mrs 27 (picklesticks) who was visiting with her bloke and three gorgeous children to photograph the kid's artwork from 2006 so I could get rid of it. (Great idea, right?) Now I am one folder down (It doesn't sound like much, does it?) and I have actually looked through the artwork too!

left to right, Miss 14, Mr 10 and Mr 17

Speaking of those visitors, we had picklesticks and her family and we had a surprise visit from Miss 19 as well. It was a lovely time and we are all missing them (especially my Bradley. He is "Pa" to the grandchildren and he is missing them mightily. He is missing that Miss 19 too of course. He had the privilege of driving her home to Adelaide and so got to spend nine hours with her in the car. Driving long distances can be fun!) Anyway, back to the sorting. And maybe to some throwing out? We'll see...

Blogtober Fest

2011-10-02T09:31:00.000+10:30

It's the second of October, but here goes. I am going to join in with Blogtober Fest, which means a post a day in October. I saw it here on Sarah's blog first and if you click the button to the right you can find the links to everyone participating. A great way to discover new blogs and to find more inspiration!

Gluing paper and fabric together

I did spend most of September working on my Pies and Tarts quilt. Mostly it was just a little each evening and there has been progress from a little each day. Some of the progress has been physical, but some has been mental too. Yes, I made a decision about the quilt. I decided I wasn't completely invested in a 100 pie quilt. So at the moment I am planning to make a 48 pie quilt, which means I am only eight pies away from a complete quilt. Eight pies and 30 tarts. Maybe one day I will pull the other five months of the BOM out and make a second quilt. Maybe.

36 pies joined together

I am still working on my Tis the Season and am up to basting the quilt. I have pulled out two other quilt tops to baste when I do it tomorrow. So this week should be a week full of quilting! (I love quilting!) I am also planning to keep working on the pies and tarts each day. Oh. And I'm planning to blog every day. (That means taking more photos, something else I love!) See you tomorrow!

Secret Sewing

2011-09-28T20:16:00.000+09:30

Quiltaid, Brenda Ryan

Quiltaid, Natalie Bird

These two blocks are the secret sewing I was doing this month. They are part of the Quiltaid quilt. If you want to see the other ten blocks go here. I sewed them for Sarah from Quilt Fabric Delights and Janelle Wind is busy turning the twelve blocks into a quilt for Sarah. Quiltaid is for an excellent cause so make sure you go check out the Quiltaid website!

In other news, I got the back for my Tis The Season quilt pieced today! Much excitement. I was determined not to buy more fabric and it turns out the leftovers were more than I needed even. So tomorrow the plan is to stretch the quilt and start some quilting. I might just make that September 30 deadline!

Another month...

2011-09-27T21:11:00.000+09:30

... that I have struggled to post on this blog. Just been busy? Or unproductive? Not sure what. Perhaps I am just uninspired at the moment.

Melbourne, from a bridge.

Had a great afternoon today catching up with Loz and Gail at my local shopping center food court. There's nothing like meeting up with fellow stitchers! (We're an extremely wonderful bunch of people!) I have projects on the go. Chookyblue is encouraging me to finish my "Tis The Season" quilt by the September 30 deadline. (So far it's not happening.) I have also found (whilst unpacking) a bunch of tops, along with their corresponding battings and backings that just need stretching and quilting. So I could finish something, I just haven't yet. It could happen. Stay tuned to see if I make Chookyblue crack her whip at me. (Or not.)

Rainbow

2011-09-20T16:53:00.000+09:30

This rainbow was so brilliantly coloured I just HAD to take a photo of it. The photo is somewhat disappointing, but take my word for it, this was the biggest, brightest most irridescent rainbow I have ever seen. Not a beautiful scene, but I was driving at the time!

We heard late last night that our fickle landlord has changed his mind and will not be selling our house. (His mind has been backwards and forwards on the issue several times over the last three weeks or so.) Apparently this is the final decision. (Uh-huh!) Part of me is outraged that he just can't make up his mind and leave it at that, and part of me is happy not to move. (After all, the sewing room is nearly finished!)

I am busy stitching here on a secret project I can't show you. (See, that's why I needed the pretty rainbow!) I am almost done and itching to get to my tts and finish it! And to get some progress on the pies and tarts happening!

We are also having an invasion from Adelaide later this week. Some of our favourite people are coming for a holiday. Can't wait!!!

Favourite Things Friday

2011-09-16T09:47:00.000+09:30

Just went to Amanda's blog and read her ftf post. (See it here.) I know her beach and I miss it now that we have moved interstate. I thought I would post about Amanda's beach (I have photos of it!), but then I thought to post something I like here in Victoria. And here it is.

Tall Trees

Tall trees. We have trees in South Australia, but none like this. I love to drive in the Dandenong Ranges and see tall trees. (Brings to mind a Crowded House song actually!) Maybe I'll go do that right now.

Catch up with all the other FTF posts from here, on Shay's blog.

My sewing room...

2011-09-11T18:11:00.000+09:30

... has been in use today. It's not completely finished, but is set up enough for me to use it. I have been working on my Tis The Season quilt top which you can look at here. My sewing room is technically the dining room in this house. It has two eating areas though and we eat in the meals area next to our kitchen which leaves the dining room free for me to use.

Of course, the photo above shows just one side of the room. The other side is in the photo below.

Yep. It's a mess! The last few things to sort out. To find a home for. On Thursday I had the great idea of dealing with 5 items each morning before I start sewing, and had I done that the pile would be much shorter than it is. As it is... Perhaps I will start tomorrow morning!

In less than perfect news, we found out last week that our house is to be sold and we will have to move. (Whaaaaat??? I just got the sewing room set up! *sigh*)

I won a give away!

2011-09-07T12:30:00.000+09:30

the sweet package Marg sent me

The other day I had a dream that I had won a blog give away, so I woke up all expectant. I am an eternal pessimist (We really are happy people. We spend most of our time being right, and the rest of the time being pleasantly surprised!) and dismissed the dream as soon as I was truly conscious. Later that morning as I checked my favourite blogs, there was my name! I won two patterns in a Marg Low give away! (Check out Marg's blog and all of her pretty things here.) Today I received them, along with a couple of trinkets to use with the "Festive Trinkets" pattern. I am looking forward to using that pattern. I did a class with Marg in Adelaide last year and had a wonderful time making a bookmark for my daughter. I am planning to make Christmassy stuff in October and November, so look out for my trinkets!

two patterns, as well as the trinkets on the ribbon

In other news, I seem to be distracting myself from finishing the sewing room (Visits to Ikea... blogging... ). Must. Go. Finish.

First hexie!

2011-09-05T16:57:00.000+09:30

I finished my first hexie from the new block of the month "This Goes With That" today. I was quite surprised when I received the BOM because the finished hexies are bigger than I had realised from seeing them on Hettie's website. (You can see a reference for size below) This one has been fussy cut. The instructions tell you not to fussy cut too many, because "less is more". I love that whole cliche thing. Cliches must have started somewhere. I wonder just who was the first person to say "less is more" and what situation was it first uttered in? (On the whole "less is more" tangent, I love the quote from the modern Sabrina: "More isn't neccessarily better Linus. Sometimes it's just more.") I started thinking about this whole cliche thing after reading Loz's latest post here. Her son has been "calling" football for the local radio station and he has been nicknamed "Captain Cliche". I think that must mean he is doing a good job because most professional sports commentators are full of cliches! Anyway, back to the hexies. I have no idea how many I "have to" make each month. I think that the idea is to be fairly flexible so that you can come up with a design and possibly even a size that suits you. (Unless I have missed something, which could well be the case!) I think that probably you are supposed to make many more than one hexie per month, so it's not like I am close to exceeding my limit or anything! I will just keep plodding along I guess! The sewing room is still in disarray, but I am inching closer to the finish! Wish me luck!

So you can judge the size. They're quite big really.

Little Birds (make me happy)

2011-09-01T02:23:00.000+09:30

I am still sorting through my sewing room. I emptied the last box today. I am getting pretty excited about the room and about all the projects I have started and can start! I came across this book today. It was gifted to me by the lovely Loz when I visited her in July. (I had the best time hanging out with her! She is one of my favourite people. That's the only downer about our move to Melbourne. I see some of my favourite people less now.) I love that she knew just how much I would love this book. I still claim to all and sundry that I am actually not that crazy for birds, but I must be because this book is just divine. Full of inspiration! Check out some of my favourite pages...

Love this sweetie and her shopping

A journal cover (love journal covers!). Absolutely love this applique.

Love, love, love this guy. Love also the gone over a lot lines. That's my kind of quilting!

I'm not that into the current owl craze (yeah, denial again lol) but who wouldn't love these guys? Owls with attitude!

So, will there be some birds featuring soon on my blog? Probably not (yeah, denial!) but will I be reading this book over and over? Yep. It makes me feel so happy! Hope it made you feel happy too!

Mail, it's a new Block of the Month!

2011-08-31T18:37:00.001+09:30

Mail from Hettie!

So I guess I am a little crazy, but I have signed up to a new BOM from Sue Daley. (She is the pies and tarts designer) Here it is newly arrived from Hettie's Patch. It is more English paper piecing and is another one of those long term projects I am sure. It's called "This Goes with That" and involves fussy cutting, hexies, and (for me) contemporary fabrics. (There is a reproduction option too!) I am itching to get started on it and am hoping that it will complement the pies and tarts. (You know, when I am sick of the pies and tarts out will come the hexies!)

Pies and Tarts (an update)

2011-08-30T16:26:00.002+09:30

Tarts at the top, pies newly appliqued in the middle and pies waiting to be appliqued at the bottom.

It turns out I am still doing the pies and tarts quilt. (See posts in 2009 and 2010 to see my previous struggles!) My excuse for not having finished it is an interesting one. I lost them. In April 2010, I think. The pies and tarts that is. I took them away with me and promptly lost them when I returned home. I searched high and low for them (A little frantically at times! I had spent so much time on them!) but to no avail. Then, in January 2011, as we packed for the big move to Melbourne, I found them in the bottom of a bag I was sure I had searched a million times. (I am nothing if not an exaggerator!) Phew! What a relief! Then I packed them, little knowing that I wouldn't see them again until July 2011 when I finally unpacked them in Melbourne. I am not quite halfway there yet with the pies, and as for the tarts, I am barely started. So this really is a long term project. L O N G T E R M!!!!!!! Anyway, I took heart from all those people doing the 15minute per day sewing challenge and other such similar schemes and thought, "You know what? I CAN finish this!" Of course, I have set no date. (I am still me you know) My goal though is to work on them a little each week. I have set up a stitching basket which lives in my bedside table and I am ready to go! I'm sure I will do more some weeks than others, but my plan is just to plod along. I will update you with my progress as I make some!

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

2011-08-29T21:04:00.000+09:30

Captured!

Look what Miss 14 caught tonight. Yep. Cookie Monster! One of her school friends is selling cupcakes at school tomorrow to raise money for the RSPCA and Miss 14 promised to make cupcakes to help out. She announced her intention just as I was looking at Pinterest. (What's the odds of that happening? I'm hardly ever on Pinterest! Lol!) So I showed her some Cookie Monster cupcakes and she went for it!

Aren't they cute?

See, who says nothing good comes from surfing Pinterest?

I finished something!

2011-08-26T16:43:00.000+09:30

A table runner for a round table

I had a goal this week to finish something, and I did! This table runner is something I started last December. In fact I had nearly finished it, but then I made a mistake. I layered my top, batting, and back in the wrong order. (I was just sewing it around the edge and then turning it through. No binding.) I didn't discover this mistake until I had clipped all the corners and trimmed all the seams and was actually turning it through. Of course, I couldn't simply unpick it and carry on. It just made me mad and I was completely over it. Then we moved and my sewing things went in to storage for six months. I was sooooo glad to see it when I unpacked it at the end of July! So this week I unpicked it, repinned it, sewed it again, and then today I quilted it. I'm pretty happy with it.

Up close

This was made completely with scraps and there was no rotary cutting involved. I just used scissors to cut up the fabric and I just kept sewing strips on until the blocks were about the right size. I did trim them a bit to get them together (with the scissors). Do you have problems layering things? I often do. I'm at my worst with bags. Linings are a nightmare, but I have trouble working out where and how to put pockets and handles as well. I often get muddled and then have to unpick. I'm sure I have quite a few projects in this muddled and needing unpicking state. (I get too mad to work with them!) Of course, after being separated from my sewing stuff for six months I have had time to cool down and may even finish some more things next week.

On our letterbox

I am not yet finished unpacking or sorting out the sewing room. It seems that this may never happen, so I have finally begun to sew in the middle of the mess! (The best alternative I thought!) I haven't done any sewing since the end of July when I altered Miss 14's new school skirt. And that hardly counts as sewing! After today's quilting I can tell you without hesitation that my sewing machine is just perfect (I love to use it so much) and I have many, many good things that enable me to sew with ease. Gosh I missed my stuff!

Hahndorf - Battle of the bands

2011-08-16T11:09:00.000+09:30

Saturday, whilst we were in Adelaide, my Bradley and I wandered up to Hahndorf with grandson to check out the battle of the bands. That title makes it sound just a tad more adventurous than it was, because they were brass bands, not rock bands. It was a really fun family day with free face painting and balloon animals. The local school was open and the kids had a wonderful time in the playground there. Of course, the bands were in competition and took it seriously, but we had a lovely time.

Balhannah Road, closed for the bands to march later in the day and the results of the free chalk!

Grandson once he had warmed to the idea of drawing on the road.

Drawing!

We met up with my Bradley's sister and our niece and nephew.


A band marching (they were judged in lots of situations)