How happy is that?

Lilly has been learning the drums at school for over 3 terms now, without a real set to practice on.  Thanks to her lovely cousin (and a small swap) Lilly has a set on loan.  Yay, it’s good to finally see the outcome of the lessons we’ve been paying for.  She’s pretty good too (well I think so). 

The bonus is that they fit nicely in the corner of the spare sleepout, away from the house, without disturbing my design wall or the space I use for laying out quilts.  Score !!!

Cameron was delighted with the drums too and I had a hard time convincing him that they weren’t for him.  I might see if I can get him a miniature set for Christmas.

Cameron’s tractor.  Simple yet effective.  He has a great imagination.  I’m not great at pretend play, but Ian and I are good with encouraging engineering.  Cameron spends a lot of time building with Duplo.  He scored some off Aunty Michelle when we visited a few months back.  Not a flash set, just a whole lot of mismatched stuff.  But I think that may have been the best kind to get.  It never built anything specific so it is up to Cam as to what it turns into everyday.  A lot of trucks, trains and planes, some houses.  It’s provided many peaceful hours of play.  I’m looking for some more, but will buy 2nd hand, so comes as another mixed set with no expectations to build a set project.

The piglets survived the night in the new home.  It was a cold night to be away from the Sow, but they obviously kept each other warm, buried in the straw and ate a hearty breakfast.  All is good.

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New girls

“Thelma” and “Louise”

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Just binding to go….

This is one of the few quilt I’ve made that has no solid colour on the front.  The aqua sashing is a fine polka dot.  The only solid is the pink on the back.

I’ve decided that this will go in the quilt sale as well.  The more I put in the sale, the more chance I have of selling some.

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A day at the beach

It was a fabulous day here yesterday so we went to the beach.  Not for swimming, it’s far too cold here for that.  Still another couple of months till it will be warm enough to go swimming in the river, and hardly ever gets warm enough to swim at the beaches round here.  We don’t go to the beach  very often even though they are all about an hour away, as you have to drive horrible windy country roads to get to them and Lilly still gets car sick, me too sometimes.  She was away yesterday at a friends place

So we went out to Tora on the east coast.

We collected shells, saw neat stuff washed up on the beach (including a large bird we later identified as a shag, who knew they were that big in real life?), wrote names in the sand, walked, rolled down sand dunes, etc.  Here’s some pics of the day. 

Hau Nui wind farm (on the way there)

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Rats!

The little buggers have been tipping out my seedling trays trying to steal the seeds.  As if the growing season hasn’t been bad enough already.  The tomatoes are growing at a snails pace, I lost the whole first batch of corn seedlings to inclement weather.  The cabbages were a flop.  The weather has been wet, cold and frosty.  Not the best spring weather.  The only up side is that going into Summer the water tanks are full, they were overflowing on Monday and again on Wednesday.  The rat even ate the one rock melon seedling that i had growing.

In crafty news, I’ve finally been using the free motion skills I learnt a few months back.  Check this out. This is the back…..

This is the front……

I did the flowers on the jumbo log cabins and I think i will do some geometric shapes on the wide sashing.  This is definitely going to be a winter quilt.  I used a recycled woollen blanket for the batting, it’s really heavy.

I got nice mail yesterday too.  I won a giveaway on Karen’s blog My Fat Quarter.  Here’s my awesome package. I lOVE the fabric that she sent

I also got a swap package in the mail, from TNN.  Lovely coasters and even some sweet treats.  Lucky me!!

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I’m bored

It really sucks being stuck at home.  I’m not supposed to drive for another two weeks.  There is a bus stop not far away, going to town, but none on the other side of the road for coming home (what’s that about Transit?).  The nearest one is about 1.5km away.  Cam’s not really up to walking that far, especially on a main highway.  I’m desperate for some quilting supplies to finish some quilts in progress (3 at the moment).  I couldn’t face starting another quilt so this morning I tidied up my fabric shelves.  Usually that gives me a bit of inspiration to start another project, but not today.  I’d had a few visitors recently who wanted to look at quilts I was making, or intended to make, so it was rather a mess.  Looks good now.

I’ve had a few pretty fabrics come in the past week to add to the stash.  Over half of them were from various swaps.

The last set I got from Esty.  The post from the US was pretty quick, about 8 days, but it seems a long time when you’re waiting.  I loved the last Mermaid quilt I made  a while ago so much I had to make another, in a different colourway.  So as soon as the fabric arrived yesterday i got cutting and sewing.  I added in a few of the aqua prints I had left in my stash.  The top is nearly complete, I just need to find some solids to add in for borders, backing and binding, oh and batting too.  Not very organised am I?

I’m going to quilt this one differently than the last one. Taking pics was easy this time.  Necessity being the mother of invention, I finally sorted out a design wall.  I found that I can’t currently kneel down and bend across to layout quilts or baste them on the floor. So I dug  a large flannel sheet out of the linen cupboard and pinned it up on the biggest wall of Matt’s vacant sleep out. Worked a treat to lay out the pieces before sewing, to take pics after sewing, and measuring was easy too.  Pity that it’s not in the sewing room, but still better than none.

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Miscalculated again :-(

I’ve been working on the NZ quilt for our bed for the past day or so.  I got Ian to go down to the local quilt shop and get me more of the sashing fabric I needed, but yet again my calculations suck.  I’m 6 inches short.  All of the top is now finished except the very bottom row.

I’m seriously considering sending this away to be quilted.  It’s the biggest quilt I’ve made yet.  It’s approximately 2.15m square (or 85 inches square).  It’s looking good though.  Nice to have quilt that’s no so feminine.

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October bee blocks

It’s a good feeling when all my bee blocks are up to date and in the post.

This one is for Sew Kid 2

This is a second block for Fabric Lover – Live Piecefully Bee.

That’s all my blocks up to date.  Nothing now till the November blocks start coming in.

A couple of the bee’s I am in aren’t working very well.  People are getting really slack about making blocks, or aren’t responding to messages or letting recipients know if they have received fabric etc.  It’s real shame, as they started out okay.

At least 3 out of the 5 bee’s I am in are okay.

I won’t be adding my name to any more bees though.  It’s a big expense to go to.  The minimum postage cost to participate in an International bee is around $80.  I think from now on I would rather spend that on fabric.  I do like the mini quilt swaps though, and as you are only sending to one person it’s more affordable.

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Yay ! Unfinshed projects now finished.

About time too.  Some of these things have been in my unfinished drawer for over a year.  Just two small bags tobe  finished, then the drawer will be empty.

Bibs, that were half made up.  These are made with a super thirsty and soft cotton velour towelling and flannel backing.

A couple of reversible smocket dresses.

Denim side…..

Brushed cotton side….

Denim side……….

Vintage cotton side….

And a cute little cotton canvas / calico lined shoulder bag (there were 2 of these, but Lilly wanted one).

All of these will now be either bartered for swap, or sold.

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Carrots!!

Yum !!!  These are some of our best ones yet.  I can’t stand the way shop bought ones taste anymore.  Fresh carrots out of our own garden are so superior in flavour.

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