Breaking news! She's here!!!

Mrs 25, her bloke, grandson and the very, very new granddaughter. She was born in the wee small hours of this morning. (Like all good babies!) She is infinitely more beautiful than these tawdry representations. So tiny! And she has that newborn smell! We are all madly in love with her already and we only met her for a moment or two. I am busy cooking food for this little family to eat over the next few days so all they have to do is eat and sleep. Then it's back to the retreat at Wallaroo! I have a quilt for a certain young lady to finish off!

Some people are so random! (and we love it)

One day this week I received an envelope with these beautiful ribbons in it. I was really surprised, because I wasn't expecting anyone to send me anything! I was also really surprised because Sarah doesn't even have my address. Sarah is smart. (She found it out) Sarah is also kind and generous. And random. She made my day! Thank you Sarah!

Laptop bag finished!

It has been a busy week. It always is. I am happy though to have this finish to show you. (So nice to finish something!) I am very happy with it and Miss 17 (whose computer this was designed for) likes it too. It has already made it's first appearance out in the big wide world when it travelled to Uni earlier this week. Just been too busy to blog about it. For those who are interested, we are still waiting for Mrs 25's baby to arrive. As soon as she does you can be sure I will be telling the world about my new granddaughter! I am away on a quilting retreat this weekend. Much R&R. Looking forward to it! Of course, I will have my portable internet with me so I can blog about all the excitement. Roll on weekend!

It's a bird, it's a plane.......

The last time I was on a plane was in 1991. That's quite some time ago. Even so, planes feature in my life. In 2000 we moved to a house that was under the flight path. During the middle of the day the house would suddenly be dark for a split second and then not. That's the moment the plane would be between us and the sun. In summer when we floated in the pool at the end of a hot day we would watch plane after plane travel to the airport. Now we live very close to the airport. So close in fact that I no longer have to drop my Bradley off there when he travels for work. Now he walks. We no longer have the pool to float in and watch planes at the end of the day, but we see them when we float in the sea at the beach. Just like this plane. (No, I haven't been swimming with any expensive electronic equipment this week. That was last week.) I watch planes. Just saying.

Sit and Sew at the Patchwork Apple

I am making a laptop bag for Miss 17. Amy Butler's Daisy Chain. Isn't it just beautiful fabric? I finally took my little machine to a sewing group! It worked wonderfully. And it's light. As a feather. A very good day all round.

The thing with patchwork and quilting

Can you believe it? I finally got some pies together!!! I am strangely excited by this turn of events and have done a little dance in the hallway even. It is starting to look like a quilt and even starting to feel like a quilt. I am really crazy for fabric, I just love the stuff. (Yeah, I know this isn't news to anyone, but go with it.) Fabric shops are my best thing. I love to touch fabric, drape fabric.......are you getting this? Fabric is good. Really good. But then you add patchwork to the equation. You get some really good fabric and you cut it into little pieces. Common sense here tells me that if I start with something good, then cut it into little pieces I'm on the wrong track. It's not good. But with patchwork it is good. You take your little pieces and arrange them, then rearrange them and finally you start to sew them together. Sometimes by hand. Sometimes with a machine. You work on those little pieces until they are one piece of fabric again. One piece of fabric. Like it was before. And not like it was before. Patchworked fabric is better. It feels better. Drapes better. Looks better. It's almost as if patchwork is a magnifier.

• fabric + patchwork = much more than you started out with

Can you tell I have been helping Miss 13 with her maths and science homework? Then you take your patchworked fabric and get the quilting process going. Same thing. Quilting is another of those magical magnifiers. So you end up with a quilt that looks and feels more than two times better than the sum of it's parts. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why I quilt. Cause everyone needs a little magic in their life! This is one fifth of the pies together. I actually put the first tart together today and plan to get them attatched to my better than fabric fabric over the next few days. C'mon magic!!!

"Give me a home among the gum trees......."

These leaves were part of my view through Cheryl and Ian's window whilst away. (They are friends of Loz and I loved being able to stay in their pretty cottage while we stitched! Thanks guys!) I sat and stitched and loved the gum trees outside the window while I stitched. So very Aussie to me, but I think Cheryl and Ian's neighbours have made their gum trees look even better with their paint job! The green and blue just looked so wonderful together!

Whilst we were there it rained. Not much. But when you live in South Australia, you enjoy every drop of rain that comes your way. We listened to the rain on the roof and ventured outside to smell and feel the rain too! I'm off to sew!

Last week, in which I sewed, swam, and for a little light relief, killed an iphone.

Loz and I spent the last few days on holiday. (Read all about it here!) It was very fun! Our main reason for going was to SEW, SEW, SEW, which we did. (And here are the photos to prove it) First up for me were some overalls for grandson. Finished relatively quickly actually! Then I started stitching the pies.

I stitched, and stitched, and stitched. Spent hours stitching in fact! Not sure if I am doing these pies correctly cause they seem to take me forever to stitch them! I am happy with what I got done however cause now I am almost finished month two. (Did I mention I am slow?)

This was our first sunset. Isn't it pretty? I was so overcome I decided to take a dip, which is how the iphone was killed. Dead. *sigh* Oh well. It is now part of Rosemary Hill's folklore. (Translation - all the kids laugh whenever the story is told.) Hmm, a new week lies in front of me, here's hoping it will be full of sewing and relatively few technologically murderous situations.

Look at this!

So, you should all rush right out and buy "Homespun" so you can make one of Mrs 25's dragons. Yes, my talented designer daughter is featured in this month's Homespun magazine and her dragon is on the front cover. If you want to see a better picture of the said dragon visit her blog at picklesticks. Grandson just loves these dragons. He calls them "rrraahhhhhhhhhhh!!!". Okay, not so much a name as a sound effect, but you get the picture! Even when his Mum showed him the magazine he still said, "rrraahhhhhhhhhhh!!!". She is pretty excited to see her dragon in print. She is also pretty excited about her baby countdown. Just two more weeks till her baby is due. Congratulations Jess!

I live with crazy people!

Crazy people I tell you! Whilst at the beach last night Mr 15 found a "beach tree dude". He had a wonderful time walking the dude on the grass and introducing him to everyone. I have to mention here that the dude had a very strange voice! Earlier this evening I made good a promise to Mr 15 that I would play our new game Saboteur with the kids today. It is a fantastic card game. We were all dwarves digging for gold. (Except for the saboteur!) We were actually great dwarves and we even found gold (three times in fact). A terribly fun game that caused everyone to lose their marbles. Much loud laughter and squealing. I had to go lay down in a quiet room for half an hour afterwards! Hamburgers cooked on the barbie were dinner tonight. Today was a hot day and I definitely didn't want any heat from cooking fighting with the air conditioner. A busy week coming up. Busy, and then not. Can't wait!

Sunset

Family activity tonight - sunset watching at the beach. Whilst watching the sunset we had many and varied conversations. Some of the questions we pondered included:

• Why do we say we go swimming at the beach, when quite clearly what most of us do is just standing?
• Why is it that dog owners mostly suffer from illiteracy?
• Why is that boat travelling south, then north, then south, then north, then south, then north, then south, then north........
  
• Why are we watching a sunset because the sun is very shiny? (Really. This was hotly discussed.)
• What should we have for the dessert that was inevitable after the sunset watching.

We just love the beach. Even more if our feet don't get sandy or wet, so Glenelg is one of our favourite spots. Bike path, strolling path, park benches and grass to picnic on. One day when we grow up we're going to live there. (I really hope we get grown up one day)

Op Shopping!

We visited secondhand shops in Port Elliot on the weekend and I found this wonderful book. I love it. It is full of things crafted, made, fashioned and created by Australian women. I can't tell you just how close to my heart that is. Maybe it's because my mother could and did make so many things that made my life better. When I was young I wore clothing she sewed for me and wore jumpers she had knitted. She sewed and knitted for all of us. She painted and decorated our homes. She hung wallpaper and sewed blinds and curtains. If I needed a desk she built one for me. Her art work hung on our walls and she not only painted her own art work she also framed it herself. She hooked rugs and wove baskets. She made leather handbags and belts for us. And I spent hours watching her do all that! Nowadays quilts adorn her walls and cover her beds. I learnt many things from my mother. From sewing to knitting and beyond, but the thing I learnt best from her was "Only boring people are bored." She was always busy and always had things to do. I don't understand it when people tell me they have nothing to do. I don't have time to do all the things I "should" do let alone all the "want to dos" I have. I have included some of the photos from this fantastic book.



These baby clothes are inspiring me! I am working on some like these for the new grandchild due in two and a half weeks! We are all getting excited. Mrs 25 is getting sick and tired of being pregnant. You know how it goes. If pregnant women didn't get sick of being pregnant, pushing out babies wouldn't be an appealing option at all.


So I am flicking through this book and being inspired, enthralled and totally impressed by what women have done before me. I am wanting to take their lead and have more handmade things adorning my home. Maybe that's what this year is about?

It's February!

February already! I had a lesson last week about gulls. My Bradley and I went to the beach (as we do) and sat on the jetty. A large gull also sat on the jetty and I had no idea what kind of gull it was so when I got home I googled it. Here in Adelaide we see gulls like the one in the photo above all the time. We call them "seagulls". And we see them all over, not just at the beach. I was surprised to learn that these gulls are actually "Silver Gulls". And the gull who shared a moment with us on the jetty was a Juvenile Pacific Gull. Mr 9 was with me at the computer as I did my research and was drinking it all in. When we went to the beach on the weekend and came across a seagull he marvelled at the silver gull. How easy is it to find out about anything with the internet? It's pretty amazing to have such a resource at my fingertips. If I ever "wonder" about anything - I can find out so easily. This week I am hoping to do some sewing. Tonight I started alterations on Miss 13's new school uniform. It doesn't fit nicely and it's something she will wear a lot so I'm altering the sides, pocket and hem. I have been sewing pies over the weekend and will share some photos soon!

Achievement!

Imagine being able to do something on your own that you have never been able to do before. How would that feel? This is what it looks like! Right above grandson's head are the buttons that control the exercise bike. (The buttons that beep when you push them) Guess who can now push them without help. Not safe probably, but immensely satisfying.

A Drive to Port Elliot

I woke up today feeling terrible. So, what do you do when you don't feel so good? I go for a drive. Well, perhaps more correctly, I get driven. My Bradley decided that lunch in Port Elliot would be a good distraction. It is a lovely seaside town. Read about it here. We lunched at The Registry, wandered along The Strand, and watched the ocean.

Mr 9 and his strawberry milkshake. It was warm today, but we sat outside under vines. Very comfortable and pretty!

Horseshoe Bay. The colours were just so beautiful today. How lovely to watch and listen to this every day. I wish!

We drove home via Waitpinga Beach where my Bradley and Mr 9 played in the sand. Now we are home and I am in bed. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow. Perhaps I will sew. It is the best medicine ever invented I think!

Bakery Report

This weeks pies. I stitched pies at my quilt group on Thursday. Don't they look delicious! (Just a thought. If all the pies in my life were made of fabric, I would lose a lot of weight!)

Happy Birthday!

It was back to school today here in Adelaide. Back to school after 6 weeks of summer holidays. Not enough weeks I think, personally! It was a BIG day for Miss 12. It was not only back to school for her - it was back to a brand new school. Slightly scary! It was also her 13th birthday today. She said that when she had to "borrow" textbooks today the teachers wished her a happy birthday because her details came up on their screen. She was nervous last night and didn't get much sleep so she was tired when she got home. We met all the kids at Fasta Pasta for dinner (Miss 13's request!) and we were surprised to find that we are 14 people now. Mrs 25, her bloke and grandson; Miss 23; Mr 21 and his fiance; Miss 19 and her boyfriend; Miss 17; Mr 15; Miss 13; Mr 9; me and my Bradley. Who would have thought that there would be so many of us! It was a fun night which ended at our place with Miss 13 and I giggling at ANYTHING! Well, not really anything. Miss 19 is pretty hysterical and she kept us in stitches!


Speaking of stitches......... this is what I have been working on this week. It is a raw edge applique centre square for a quilt. It is the first time I have used Kelli's (Don't Look Now) applique technique since I went to her workshop last year. So much fun! And I think I'm even improving! (Which has me flabberghasted! I was not so great at this at the workshop so it was good to be able to see some improvement!) Of course, I am still working on the double Irish chain quilt top. Oh, and the pies and tarts too. I really need several projects on the go to keep my attention and prevent boredom. I have only had one finish for January and would like to get another, but I think everything I am working on at the moment is part of a large project which won't be finished any time soon! I'll have to make sure that I have some quick projects on the go in February otherwise I am going to look like a major slacker next to all those over-achievers doing the 2010 OPAM. Lol! Finishing really does seem to be the buzz word of 2010. I see finishes all over the place in blogland. Hope all your finishes come to you too!

What did I do this week? Umm.....

What did I do this week? Umm...... not sure.

• I am busy making a quilt top from Moda's Wiscasset. Beautiful fabrics! (They are the fabrics in the photo above) It will be a double Irish chain quilt and I already love it even though it is nothing more than a few scraps of fabric on my desk!
  
• I worked out that since January is almost over I should probably start using my 2010 diary. So I marked all my classes and retreats I have booked so far. 2010 is looking good! (I am also loving this diary! It's really well set out and I feel happy every time I use it!)
  
• I worked a little on the pies and tarts and thought I should plan out my pies and tarts year so that I can make sure I finish this quilt this year. Didn't actually plan it mind you, but I did think about planning it.
  
• And..... no, that's it!

Can't believe that took me a whole week! Well I'm sure I did some other things as well, but they must have all been boring things! I am looking forward to the weekend and the sewing time I hope to have. Maybe I'll even plan out those pies and tarts!

Quick

Another quick post to let you know that Miss 23 is off to Melbourne to study. I'm sure she will be back and forth quite a bit because we are all quite exciting here in Adelaide. There will be a niece to visit in five weeks time and a nephew who is just getting more and more exciting all the time. He popped in for a short visit today and was busy galloping all over the house. His latest best thing! I'll leave you with a photo of him and his Mum busy playing at the playground. She always was the most fun to play with when she lived at our house and it's not any different at her house!

OPAM Finish

So I actually finished this quilt. I finished the sewing this morning and completed the snipping at the Patchwork Apple's sit n sew this arvo. I quite like the finished feeling. Maybe this is the new feeling for 2010. I might just finish something else.