the great divide.

The Great Divide. Generally it refers to an east-west divide of the mountain variety. There’s “them”, who live on the coast, and major cities (like the old joke goes, what does NSW stand for? Newcastle, Sydney, Woolongong!). And there’s “us”. The country bumpkin cousins, in the colder, drier higher altitudes.

But the great divide that the title of this post refers to, is more a man made one. A north-south divide. Of the canetoad and cheating footballers variety (disclaimer – I didn’t watch Origin *gasp* but the way my twitter and facebook feeds exploded, I’m still not 100% sure if we were talking about a football game or declaring war on our neighbouring statesmen). My brother-in-law is a *cough*Queenslander*cough*, and, I must admit, we don’t mind paying him out constantly a bit of a stir every now and then. But then. A transfer meant a move for my sister and brother-in-law. To the “wrong” side of the border…

So therein lies the basis of the design. The true inspiration was a visit to their home, where I noticed they had two clocks. One for Qld time, one for NSW time (insert preferred curtain fading quip here). And that got the old cogs turning, and hence was born a little mug rug for my sister. The river that marks the border between states. The clock with an hours time difference. The dark side and the light side. I think I’ll leave it up to her to decide which is which!!

 

It’s heading off in today’s post, so hopefully she should have it in a couple of days. She doesn’t know about it, so it should be a (hopefully!) nice surprise in her letter box when it arrives.

 

Today we are all battling the first big hit of winter lurgies. Boy2 is down, I’m down, Butterfly isn’t far behind. Next in line is Daddy and Bear, bother who have started with a niggle. Joy joy. We declared yesterday a movie and jammie day, and did a great deal of nothing. I managed to find myself at the halfway point of a doily I’m crocheting, Boy2 came and sewed with me for a bit and got the top of his Cookie Monster quilt done. Though of course Butterfly thinks she needs a turn on the sewing machine. Darling girl, you are 19 months. How about no? Today is more of the same. I’ve got covers setting for a handbound journal I am making for a friend, and if I get the covers and my doily done, I’ll be a happy camper. Two small children out for the count, an hour until we need to think about school pickup. Time to get busy and kick Tuesday in the butt, lurgy or no lurgy. But just a gentle kick. Let’s do this!

 

{Linking up today for the first time at Diary of a SAHM for I Blog on Tuesday}

in love.

Oh my gee willikers. I seriously do not know how I struggled through without a darning foot until now. I have falling in love with quilting all over again, especially FMQ. I am working on a mug rug at the minute for a special someone, and am having so much fun playing with the various patterns. A little sneak peek to get you through until I can get to the fabric store for more thread and finish it off.

 

Just one segment left to quilt, and then some binding and it’s ready for the recipient. A big shoutout must go to Emma of Sampaguita Quilts for suggesting the wavy back and forth for the middle section, it’s just perfect. Might combine a trip to the fabric store with a trip to the library with the small people and grab some new books. I still doing a happy dance that some of my fabric actually sold, and I have preorders for some precut packs. I’m trying to teach myself Illustrator as I work on some new fabric designs. That blog makeover I mentioned yesterday is still on the list. The sun is shining outside, and I’m thinking it might be a good chance to set the children up with some paint, and I can do some painting too. A quit design to finalise, fabric to order, a postie to stalk for some beads. Maybe some baking to replenish the low stocks in the pantry – I see cookie monster biscuits in my future. A day with my babies is guaranteed to be a good one. It’s Thursday and it is wonderful. Let’s do this!

 

 

Stitch, stitch, stitch…bugger…unpick.

So I had a good run at my Swoon block yesterday. I got to the end, pressed it flat, and despite the imperfections, was please to call it done. Then I looked again. Hang on, something’s not right. Bugger. One corner had not only been stitched in upside down, but the smaller components had also gone in back to front. Out came the unpicker, and 10 minutes later, a correct swoon block emerged!

 

In between Swooning, I also managed to whip up a little friend. A few friends and I had been giggling along to the adventures of Beyonce over at The Bloggess, and wondered whether we all chipped in, how much postage might be to Australia. But it was enough to get the inspiration turning, and I dug through the stash, and soon appeared, Cerise.

Cerise is the official mascot of the Sisterhood of The Travelling Chicken, and I am blessed (?) to be her current hostess. She’s cheeky and demanding, but awfully fun to have around. Head on over to her blog to keep up with her adventures.

 

Good Friday came and went, church, a play in the park with friends, a picnic of fish and chips. Those cheesecake eggs were the bees knees. Shall blog them later. Today it’s been a quiet-ish day. A spot of shopping, a bit of tidying, some blogging and working on my intercessions for church tomorrow. Bear has been keeping me company in the studio and doing some painting. I was thinking of doing another Swoon, or making a bag, or maybe some painting. But I’m feeling kind of lazy, so maybe just a movie and some stitching down of binding. And raiding the fridge for the last cheesecake egg. Shhhh…. Hope you are all having a wonderful Easter x

swoon me up, buttercup

It’s all the rage in the quilting world at the minute – Swoon. The mega-block mega quilt. And so when a sew-a-long was suggested in my online quilting group, I thought I’d best check it out for myself. It looked nice, so I bought the pattern, and started playing with fabric combinations. But it makes 24″ blocks. Yowsers. Big blocks aren’t my style, especially for a quilt with no purpose other than to be sociable and make a quilt! So I rethought my plans, and ended up downsizing the pattern to make 6″ blocks, from which I will make a dolls quilt for Butterfly. Yesterday I started cutting and laying out my first block, and started with the piecing. I think once I find my groove, it’ll come together quickly!

 

 

 

I also managed to squeeze in another quick little project at nap time – a friend was chasing a ruffled nappy cover and wondered if I made them to sell. I said I didn’t, and pointed her to my two stand-by sites for such prettiness, but no luck, so I promised I’d have a go at making a pair, and aside from a couple of small imperfections, was quite pleased with the end result!

 

 

Post nap, Butterfly had a blast hovering in the studio and playing with some scraps, before we popped Dolly in the pram and went for a wander around the street, and had a delightful little chat as we adventured. I love the days where it’s just me and her. I love my boys too, of course, but as the third, her time alone with me to date has been very limited, so it’s nice to share some one on one time with her as well. Though after two boys, it’s like learning to play all over again!

 

We’ve had an easy morning today, after a rough night – Butterfly with a cough, Bubba Boy with a tummy ache. Coffee is my friend. We had an assembly to see Bear get a Principal’s Award at the end of his first term of Kindy. Bubba Boy and I have hung out and read stories and practiced numbers while Butterfly slept off her restless night. Both are now in bed asleep, and the housework calls. So does swoon. And a little painting is tickling the edges of my brain begging for escape. I’m stalking the postie for a parcel or two due to arrive. More coffee is desperately needed. *yawn* one day until holidays. Bring it on!

bento box baby

One of the great things about the Christmas holidays, is having husband home for a couple of weeks. The boys love having outside daddy time, and as such, I’m freed up to get all creative-like while baby girl is sleeping. One of the projects that I finished before New Years, and have just been too slack to blog, is a little Bento Box pram quilt for little miss. For no other reason except to give me an excuse to sew with pink!

 

It’s a handy little size to pop in the nappy bag, for emergency changes, or for somewher for Butterfly to squeeze in her tummy time when out visiting. Or even just hanging out on our deck, watching her big brothers playing.

 

 

Another weekend is here already, and with the house clean, and the boys playing happily outside, I’m hoping to get the sleeping babe in my arms transferred to her cot, and then finish her top – just button holes to go! Then some scrapping. Some painting. Some renovation admiring, dreaming, planning. Stories and playdough with the boys. Maybe a spot of baking. Packing every minute with as much fun as we can.

 

Happy Saturday everyone!

a piece of cake…

Layer Cake that is! I had big plans for today. The children were angels all morning. The house was clean. The fabric came out, and I started sorting. And pinning. And as the children slept, I started to sew, only the thunk of my needle hitting fabric disturbing the silence.

And then life happened. Technology happened. Five hundred spanners in the works. But a couple of work-arounds, and more than a liberal dose of finger-crossing, and we should be good to go. The day started brilliant, went to pot, and is looking up again… Two little snuggly quilts are in my sights. Two days til the weekend, can’t wait! Let’s do this!

The Island of Sodor :: the quilty version

There’s a very special little boy a few hours north of here, that holds a very special place in my heart. A sweet, chubby cheeked little boy, who, just like my boys, loves to play trains.

It was his birthday recently. Ok. It was his 1st birthday at the beginning of the year. You may remember my laments about FMQing back then. We were off for a visit, and wanted to give it to him in person. I busted my chops, got it quilted, binding attached, and hand-stitched for three hours in the car. But failed.

So back home came the quilt. With four inches of binding to be stitched down. But the more I looked at it, the less I liked the look of the quilting. Or the 5000 ends that needed stitching in. So with a bit of help & advice from Emma, I unpicked & re-did the quilting. Not as fancy as what I’d planned, but more in keeping with my level of “skill”.

And so, it’s done. My first bargello quilt. I was aiming for a “Bay of Sodor” feel, with the green meadows for the trains to play, and a beach, for Toby the Tram to ferry his passengers to and fro. I’m reasonably happy with the results. With more time (and fabric!), I would do the strips thinner for more “natural” looking curves, but I was limited in the number of seams I could do, and still produce a reasonable sized play-lap quilt from a single width of fabric.

Today, we’ve been shopping. There’s a layer cake calling my name. An urgent work project keeping me away. Some housework to do. A cubby house has taken over my loungeroom. Plans and dreams have taken over my head space. And time, what’s that? Five minutes more would be nice. Or maybe just a cup of coffee and some of that orange cake we baked yesterday. Mmmm…. coffee…. Short week Wednesday, love the possibilities. Let’s do this!

Cushion

The motivation behind my #quiltinaday wasn’t to challenge myself. It had a purpose. Someone close to me was off to hospital for some pretty massive, life-changing type surgery. With two little boys to care for, and the operation happening 5 hours away, it wasn’t all that practical, or possible, for me to be there. So I wanted a special gift, to show my love & support. The idea sprouted in my mind, around 2am one morning, as I lay waiting for sleep to arrive. By lunchtime that day I was purchasing fabric, wondering out load if I was crazy, inspired, motivated, or a combination of all three. Mainly crazy. But with some fore-thought and a kick up the old mojo, 24 hours later, the quilt was done.

And now, surgery round three is coming up. Big, long, mega-ouchy surgery. Once again, due to small children, pregnancy, and a super-dooper-massive-exictement holiday a week or two later, I can’t be there. So on went the thinking cap. And due to the nature of the surgery, a cushion was just about the perfect solution.

Today, it’s the last day of a long weekend. The boys are asleep. The house is clean. The washing is (somewhat) up to date. And I have a quilt on the go. Almost finished. And two on the design board. Some plotting and planning and juggling to do. Swings and lego and boardgames. Some quiet time, just a cup of tea, husband and I. Mondayitis is in remission, a short week is coming up, and life is rosy (and a wee bit chilly!). Lots exciting happening this week. Let’s do this!

#quiltinaday

I’m always quite envious of those annoying productive types who seem to punch out a king-sized foundation peiced quilt, then FMQ’d in various colours & layers of complicated designs, and get it all done in the blink of a toddlers nap time.  Plus blog it. With mulitple perfectly staged photos. You know who you are.

But yesterday, I made a decision. To make a quilt in a day. If my little project was going to find it’s intended purpose with it’s intended recipient, it needed to be finished by 1pm today. So started the “quiltinaday” project.

After a moderately quick stop at the fabric store (well, quick by fabric-store-standards!), the children were fed, watered and put to bed, the air-con in the studio turned to “Arctic” (hey, it’s was very flippin’ hot here yesterday, then add in the iron, plus me working up a sweat churning out this quilt…), and it was time to get cracking.

The key to success in this project was simplicity. I decided on a simple 3-fabric disappearing nine patch, which I could strip piece. And, so, that is how I managed to go from:

1.42pm Monday

to this:

12.38pm Tuesday:

It’s not a masterpiece, but it is already well-loved. Quilting is just straight lines, rather than the FMQ that I think would really bring this design to life. It is only a small lap quilt, around 42″ across, with very nice bamboo batting. So lovely & soft, that stuff is. The little cream border between the green inner border and pink outer border is actually a flange sandwiched in the seam, inspired by the very talented Emma.

I did it. I made a quilt in 24 hours.Proof that dreaming big actually works. Just don’t ask about the state of my house… So, this afternoon, instead of painting, or drawing, or sewing, or any other variety of creating to make messes in my nice clean studio, I am playing catch-ups. And nursing a ruptured eardrum. Ouch. Maybe I’ll just pass out in front of the air-con and watch a movie with the boys. Thanks for playing nice, Monday. That was a fun project. Let’s do it again sometime.

Houston, we have a quilt!

 

Well, not a quilt, but it’s getting there! I’ve got almost all the fabric for Baby Bear’s cot quilt cut (I need to go buy some more of the red, fingers crossed my LQS has some left!). If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same fabric as Bear’s Jacobs Ladder quilt. I’m hoping to swing a bit of sewing time to start peicing it today. And yes, I know it’s a bit late to be making a cot quilt for a 6 month old baby, but in my defence, our cot converts to a toddler bed, so the quilt will get quite a bit of use. I do need to get it done now, as it is getting quite nippy at night, and it won’t be long before the small one needs more than winter pj’s and a sleeping bag. The plan is to have it sandwiched by the end of this week and get it quilted over the weekend… hmmm… best laid plans and all that!

 

It’s shaping up to be a productive day. The house is clean, the washing up done, and I’ve even managed to cobweb a couple of rooms. I’ve had half a cup of tea, read some stories, a couple of rounds of ‘The Duke of York, and it’s not even nine o’clock yet! On the horizon for today – a wander to the shops for said fabric, a spot of duck feeding, maybe a babycino if the small one behaves, and then swing by the library on the way home and grab some new books for the 50/50 challenge. Some quilt peicing, a painting that came to mind this morning, a coffee I can finish, a new batch of bath fizzers, and 5 million loads of washing.  What a list! Let’s do this!